THT Daily: A-Rod’s 6th Home Run
by Dave StudemanApril 11, 2007
Major League News for April 11
Today's Links
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Game of the Day
Yesterday’s Home Runs
Top Minor League Performances
Player News
THT Links
Pitching Matchup of the Year: Tonight, 7pm Eastern. ESPN2 National Broadcast. Felix Hernandez against Daisuke Matsuzaka making his home debut. It's not likely to get better than this all season.
No Ties in Baseball Right? - The Brewers-Marlins game was the first game to evoke the new MLB rule changes surrounding tie games after 5 innings of play that need to be called off. The game was suspended and will pick up exactly where they left off tonight.
Lidge Unhappy - Brad Lidge has been demoted out of the closer role in Houston and he's not happy about it. Cannot say I didn't see this one coming.
Matsuzaka or Zito - Art Thiel of the Seattle PI asks about why, if the Mariners, and other teams, were willing to throw $100+ million at Barry Zito as his overrated services, there hotter competition for Daisuke Matsuzaka? Was it all due to the uncertainty surrounding the posting fee? We never really get an answer.
Not Sure on Bud, but No Aaron - Hank Aaron has stated that he will not be in attendence when Barry Bonds goes to break his homerun record.
Mets Sanchez has Shoulder Surgery - RP Duaner Sanchez had shoulder surgery yesterday inserting pins into a broken bone. Sanchez will need about 12-16 weeks to recover and get back to baseball meaning he will miss most, if not all, of 2007.
Padres Lock up Young - The Padres signed RHP Chris Young to an extension yesterday that covers his arbitration years for $14.5 million over the remaining four years and includes an option of $8.5 million on his first free agency year.
Wednesday at THT
Legends Among Us: National League Pitchers - There are probably 50 or 60 future Hall of Famers playing the major leagues right now. Jeff tries to figure out who they are.
Baseball Injury Report - Including a special look at the number of players on the disabled list.
THT Links represents the best efforts of our editors in scouring the various tubes of the interweb for both relevant and irrelevant news items. If you have happened upon a story that we have overlooked or wish to give feedback of any sort, please notify us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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Yesterday’s Results
American League DET 3 BAL 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Robertson: 7.1 IP, 0 R BOS 14 SEA 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Beckett: 7 IP, 1 R; Weaver: 2 IP, 7 R KC 6 TOR 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Greinke: 6 IP, 1 R CLE 7 LAA 6 (Recap and Boxscore) Kendrick: 4 for 4 NYA 10 MIN 1 (Recap and Boxscore) A-Rod: 6th HR; Pettitte: 6 IP, 0 R OAK 2 CHA 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Garland: 7 IP, 0 R; OAK: 2 in 9th to win TEX 12 TB 9 (Recap and Boxscore) Lofton: 3 for 3, HR; Catalanotto & Wigginton: 4 RBI National League ATL 8 WAS 0 (Recap and Boxscore) Francoeur: 5 RBI; Hudson: 7 IP, 0 R HOU 4 CHN 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Sampson: 5 IP, 0 R STL 3 PIT 2 (Recap and Boxscore) See below ARI 5 CIN 4 (Recap and Boxscore) 11 innings; Hairston: GW Hit LAN 2 COL 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Tomko: 6 IP, 0 R, 1 H SF 6 SD 5 (Recap and Boxscore) Gonzalez: 2 HR, 4 RBI Note: the Milwaukee/Florida game was suspended due to rain with the score tied 2-2 in the top of the 11th.
Today’s Games
National League --------------- St. Louis Cardinals at Pittsburgh Pirates, 12:35 PM (R) Adam Wainwright (1-0) vs. (L) Paul Maholm (0-1) Houston Astros at Chicago Cubs, 2:20 PM (L) Wandy Rodriguez (0-1) vs. (L) Rich Hill (1-0) Milwaukee Brewers at Florida Marlins, 7:05 PM (R) Dave Bush (0-1) vs. (R) Sergio Mitre (0-1) Philadelphia Phillies at New York Mets, 7:10 PM (R) Adam Eaton (0-1) vs. (L) Oliver Perez (1-0) Washington Nationals at Atlanta Braves, 7:35 PM (R) Jerome Williams (0-1) vs. (L) Chuck James (1-0) Cincinnati Reds at Arizona Diamondbacks, 9:40 PM (R) Matt Belisle (1-0) vs. (R) Micah Owings (1-0) San Francisco Giants at San Diego Padres, 10:05 PM (L) Noah Lowry (0-1) vs. (R) Greg Maddux (0-1) Colorado Rockies at Los Angeles Dodgers, 10:10 PM (R) Jason Hirsh (1-0) vs. (R) Brad Penny (1-0) American League --------------- Chicago White Sox at Oakland Athletics, 3:35 PM (L) Mark Buehrle (0-0) vs. (L) Joe Kennedy (0-1) Detroit Tigers at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 PM (R) Justin Verlander (0-0) vs. (L) Adam Loewen (1-0) Seattle Mariners at Boston Red Sox, 7:05 PM (R) Felix Hernandez (1-0) vs. (R) Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-0) LA Angels of Anaheim at Cleveland Indians, 7:05 PM (L) Joe Saunders (0-0) vs. (R) Jake Westbrook (0-0) Kansas City Royals at Toronto Blue Jays, 7:07 PM (L) Jorge De La Rosa (1-0) vs. (L) Gustavo Chacin (0-0) Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Texas Rangers, 8:05 PM (R) James Shields (0-0) vs. (R) Robinson Tejeda (1-0) New York Yankees at Minnesota Twins, 8:10 PM (R) Mike Mussina (0-1) vs. (R) Ramon Ortiz (1-0)
Standings
The graphics next to each team are called "sparklines.” They depict each team’s performance over the last month. Each "up" bar is a victory and a "down" bar is a loss. There are horizontal lines for home games and red bars represent games decided by two runs or less. "PWins" is short for Projected Wins, based on each team’s Run Differential, and is often a better measure of a team’s true strength. Other team graphs and stats can be found on our Team Page.American League East Pwins Diff BOS 4 3 .571 0.0 4 0NYA 4 3 .571 0.0 5 -1
TOR 4 3 .571 0.0 4 0
BAL 3 5 .375 1.5 3 0
TB 2 5 .286 2.0 2 0
American League Central CLE 3 1 .750 0.0 3 0
DET 4 3 .571 0.5 3 1
MIN 4 3 .571 0.5 3 1
CHA 3 4 .429 1.5 3 0
KC 3 5 .375 2.0 3 0
American League West LAA 5 3 .625 0.0 5 0
SEA 2 2 .500 1.0 1 1
TEX 4 4 .500 1.0 4 0
OAK 4 5 .444 1.5 4 0
National League East Pwins Diff ATL 6 1 .857 0.0 4 2
FLA 5 2 .714 1.0 5 0
NYN 5 2 .714 1.0 6 -1
PHI 1 6 .143 5.0 2 -1
WAS 1 7 .125 5.5 1 0
National League Central CIN 4 4 .500 0.0 5 -1
PIT 4 4 .500 0.0 4 0
STL 4 4 .500 0.0 3 1
MIL 3 4 .429 0.5 4 -1
CHN 3 5 .375 1.0 4 -1
HOU 3 5 .375 1.0 3 0
National League West ARI 7 2 .778 0.0 6 1
LAN 5 3 .625 1.5 4 1
SD 5 3 .625 1.5 5 0
COL 4 4 .500 2.5 5 -1
SF 2 6 .250 4.5 2 0
Game of the Day
Trailing 2-0 in the ninth inning, the Cardinals tied the game on a two-run single by Scott Spiezio and eventually won the game in the 12th inning thanks to a key double by Aaron Miles. The Pirates blew a great starting performance by Tom Gorzelanny, who threw seven shutout innings. Miles was 4 for 5 for the Cardinals.
ST LOUIS (3) VS PITTSBURGH (2) - FINAL IN 12 INNINGS
ST LOUIS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
D Eckstein ss 5 1 2 0 0 0 2 .290
C Duncan lf 3 1 0 0 2 1 1 .292
A Pujols 1b 5 0 0 0 0 2 3 .167
S Spiezio 3b 5 0 1 2 0 0 2 .300
P Wilson rf 5 0 0 0 0 1 1 .182
G Bennett c 5 1 3 0 0 0 0 .500
J Isringhausen p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
A Miles 2b 5 0 4 0 0 0 1 .400
S Taguchi cf 2 0 0 0 0 1 3 .154
a-J Edmonds ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .222
J Hancock p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
R Flores p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
c-A Kennedy ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .136
B Thompson p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
d-Y Molina ph-c 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .261
R Keisler p 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000
R Springer p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b-S Schumaker ph-cf 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 .167
Totals 41 3 11 3 3 6 15
a-lined out to first for S Taguchi in the 8th; b-flied out to center for R
Springer in the 8th; c-grounded to shortstop for R Flores in the 10th;
d-intentionally walked for B Thompson in the 12th.
BATTING: 2B - A Miles (1, J Wasdin). S - D Eckstein. SF - S Schumaker. RBI - S
Spiezio 2 (2), S Schumaker (1). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - S
Spiezio 1, D Eckstein 2, S Taguchi 1. GIDP - P Wilson, A Kennedy. Team LOB - 7.
BASERUNNING: CS - A Miles (1, 2nd base by T Gorzelanny/R Paulino).
FIELDING: E - D Eckstein (1, throw). DP: 2 (D Eckstein-A Miles-A Pujols, J
Isringhausen-D Eckstein-A Pujols).
PITTSBURGH ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
C Duffy cf 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 .233
J Wilson ss 5 0 1 0 1 0 3 .286
F Sanchez 2b 6 1 3 0 0 2 3 .357
J Bay lf 4 0 1 1 1 1 4 .242
X Nady rf 5 0 0 0 0 0 4 .233
A LaRoche 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 4 .097
S Chacon p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b-N McLouth ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .500
J Wasdin p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
R Paulino c 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 .138
J Bautista 3b 5 1 1 1 0 1 3 .290
T Gorzelanny p 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000
a-D Kelly ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
M Capps p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
S Torres p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
B Eldred 1b 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 .333
Totals 42 2 7 2 5 6 23
a-popped out to third for T Gorzelanny in the 7th; b-singled to right for S
Chacon in the 11th.
BATTING: 2B - F Sanchez (2, R Keisler). HR - J Bautista (1, 5th inning off R
Keisler 0 on, 1 Out). RBI - J Bautista (4), J Bay (4). Runners left in scoring
position, 2 out - A LaRoche 2, J Bay 1, B Eldred 1. GIDP - J Bay, F Sanchez.
Team LOB - 10.
FIELDING: DP: 4 (R Paulino-F Sanchez-A LaRoche, A LaRoche, J Wilson-F
Sanchez-A LaRoche, S Chacon-J Wilson-B Eldred).
----------------------------------------------------
ST LOUIS - 000 000 002 001 -- 3
PITTSBURGH - 000 011 000 000 -- 2
----------------------------------------------------
ST LOUIS ip h r er bb so hr era
R Keisler 6 5 2 2 1 3 1 3.00
R Springer 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 10.12
J Hancock 1 1/3 1 0 0 1 0 0 9.00
R Flores 2/3 0 0 0 1 1 0 0.00
B Thompson (W, 1-0) 2 1 0 0 1 2 0 4.26
J Isringhausen (S, 3) 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2.25
PITTSBURGH ip h r er bb so hr era
T Gorzelanny 7 4 0 0 0 5 0 1.50
M Capps (H, 4) 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
S Torres (B, 1) 1 2 2 2 1 0 0 5.40
S Chacon 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 1.50
J Wasdin (L, 0-1) 1 2 1 1 1 1 0 9.00
IBB - Y Molina (by J Wasdin). HBP - C Duffy (by B Thompson). Pitches-strikes:
R Keisler 89-52; R Springer 9-7; J Hancock 16-8; R Flores 14-7; B Thompson
30-20; J Isringhausen 13-6; T Gorzelanny 94-58; M Capps 12-8; S Torres 24-13; S
Chacon 29-19; J Wasdin 20-12. Ground balls-fly balls: R Keisler 6-9; R Springer
0-3; J Hancock 2-2; R Flores 1-0; B Thompson 1-3; J Isringhausen 2-1; T
Gorzelanny 7-8; M Capps 0-2; S Torres 2-1; S Chacon 5-1; J Wasdin 1-1. Batters
faced: R Keisler 24; R Springer 3; J Hancock 5; R Flores 3; B Thompson 10; J
Isringhausen 3; T Gorzelanny 24; M Capps 3; S Torres 5; S Chacon 8; J Wasdin 6.
UMPIRES: HP--Hunter Wendelstedt. 1B--Randy Marsh. 2B--Bob Davidson. 3B--Sam
Holbrook.
T--3:30. Att--12,468.
Weather: 44 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 5 mph, out to center.The following graph tracks the game's Win Probability, courtesy of Fan Graphs. You can also view live WPA graphs at Fangraphs during any ballgame all season long.
Yesterday’s Home Runs
The following stats are provided by Hit Tracker, which logs the projected distance of each home run (if it were to land uninterrupted at field level) and its "standard" distance, which is corrected for weather conditions.Hitter Pitcher True Dist. Std. Dist. HR # Rodriguez, Alex NYY Bonser, Boof MIN 449 443 6 Dunn, Adam CIN Gonzalez, Edgar ARI 458 436 4 Drew, J.D. BOS Weaver, Jeff SEA 413 435 1 Snyder, Chris ARI Lohse, Kyle CIN 443 432 1 Gonzalez, Adrian SD Correia, Kevin SF 430 429 2 Jones, Andruw ATL Chico, Matt WAS 421 416 1 Patterson, Corey BAL Zumaya, Joel DET 395 411 1 Kinsler, Ian TEX Seo, Jae TB 412 410 3 Bautista, Jose PIT Keisler, Randy STL 403 408 1 Young, Delmon TB Chen, Bruce TEX 403 406 2 Gordon, Alex KC Towers, Josh TOR 400 399 1 Lofton, Kenny TEX Seo, Jae TB 388 399 1 Shoppach, Kelly CLE Santana, Ervin LAA 395 395 1 Catalanotto, Frank TEX Seo, Jae TB 389 394 2 Phillips, Brandon CIN Gonzalez, Edgar ARI 404 392 2 Gonzalez, Adrian SD Benitez, Armando SF 401 389 3 Zaun, Gregg TOR Peralta, Joel KC 390 389 1 Wigginton, Ty TB Wright, Jamey TEX 389 387 2 Blake, Casey CLE Santana, Ervin LAA 387 387 1 Francoeur, Jeff ATL King, Ray WAS 378 375 2 Hamilton, Josh CIN Gonzalez, Edgar ARI 383 367 1 Tracy, Chad ARI Lohse, Kyle CIN 373 364 1 Damon, Johnny NYY Bonser, Boof MIN 353 348 1
Top Minor League Games
The following list, provided by First Inning, includes the top minor league batting (based on Runs Created) and pitching (based on Game Score) performances from yesterday.ORG LVL PLAYER POS AB H 2B 3B HR BB SO Notes ARI A+ Brandon Burgess 3B 3 2 0 0 2 1 1 6 RBI ATL AA J. Saltalamacchia C 4 3 0 0 2 1 1 3 runs scored CHC A Russell Canzler 1B 3 3 1 1 0 1 0 3 runs scored CHW A+ M. Schnurstein 1B 5 4 1 0 1 0 1 4 runs scored LA AAA Tony Abreu 2B 5 5 0 0 1 0 0 3 runs scored LA AAA Larry Bigbie CF 5 4 1 1 0 0 1 3 runs scored LAA AA Sean Rodriguez SS 4 3 1 0 1 0 1 NYY AAA Shelley Duncan LF 3 3 0 0 1 1 0 STL AAA Rick Ankiel CF 4 3 1 0 1 1 0 4 RBI STL AA Joe Mather 1B 4 3 1 0 1 0 0 3 runs scored ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes COL AA Gregory Reynolds 7.0 2 0 0 7 0 0 LA AA Scott Elbert 5.0 0 0 0 9 2 0 MIN AA Brad Baker 5.2 2 0 0 5 1 0 PIT AAA Marty McLeary 5.0 1 0 0 6 0 0 WAN AAA Tim Redding 6.0 3 0 0 7 1 0
Player News
Player Headlines are courtesy of RotoworldJosh Hamilton's first major league hit was a two-run homer off Edgar Gonzalez Tuesday against the Diamondbacks. Hamilton also walked twice while filling in for Ryan Freel atop the order. He'll probably get a start in place of Ken Griffey Jr. sometime this week. Still, playing time will be hard to come by until either Freel or Griffey gets hurt. Adam Dunn can't sit at all with the way he's playing, and the Reds seem resistant to the idea of using Freel in the infield now that he's a regular outfielder.
Bartolo Colon (shoulder) gave up two runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings Tuesday in his second rehab start for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga. He struck out five and walked none. Colon is probably going to make two more starts before coming off the disabled list.
Jorge Julio blew another save on Tuesday after giving up a run in the ninth against the Brewers. Henry Owens is looking like a better option every day. A leadoff walk to Rickie Weeks, a stolen base and a J.J. Hardy ground-rule double did Julio in tonight. He did preserve the tie, thanks to a fine over-the-shoulder catch from Josh Willingham in left field. Still, the Marlins can't keep turning to him in save situations when he's performing like this. Owens, who earned a save on Monday, would likely be the favorite to close if Julio is sent to middle relief.
Jaret Wright left Tuesday's game in the sixth inning with right shoulder tightness. Typical. Wright pitched well tonight, going five scoreless innings before the first two reached against him in the sixth. He left then, and both runners came around to score, though one of the runs was unearned. If Wright lands on the DL -- and given his history, it seems likely -- Hayden Penn could be called up to join the rotation.
With the Giants off to a 1-6 start, Barry Bonds has been dropped to the cleanup spot in Tuesday's lineup. It's not going to make much difference, but manager Bruce Bochy felt he had to do something to shake things up. The Giants' lack of offense has a lot more to do with Dave Roberts (.240 OBP) and Omar Vizquel (.192) contributing nothing to date. Rich Aurilia is batting third ahead of Bonds, giving his value a boost for however long this lasts. Ray Durham is still hitting behind Bonds, but he's now doing so from the fifth spot.
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Dave was called a "national treasure" by Rob Neyer. Seriously. Comments about this article can be sent to him through the miracle of e-mail.