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THT Daily: Back in the racesby Dave StudemanJune 16, 2008 Player News Yesterday’s Results Today’s Games Standings Game of the Day Yesterday’s Home Runs Top Minor League Performances You can always find the most recent THT Daily at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/content/thtdaily/ and an archive at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/thtdaily_index/ On this day at THT: Four years ago, Steve Treder wrote one of his classics: Bobo at Dusk. Player NewsPlayer Headlines are courtesy of Rotoworld
The Yankees are calling Chien-Ming Wang's right leg injury a sprained foot. That doesn't tell us anything. Wang will return to New York and undergo an MRI on Monday. The Yankees will hold out hope that there's no Achilles' tendon damage, but a DL stint seems likely regardless. "It hurts a lot," said Wang before leaving the clubhouse on a golf cart today. Yadier Molina sustained a mild concussion in Sunday's collision at home plate and will be kept overnight in the hospital as a precaution. Molina complained of neck soreness following his collision with Eric Bruntlett, but the Cardinals haven't said anything about any damage there. A DL stint remains a real possibility here, but it doesn't look like Molina suffered any long-term damage. Jason LaRue will fill in behind the plate. Mark Johnson could be called up to serve as a backup. Paul Konerko said he actually has an intercostal strain that caused him to miss Sunday's game. He's not sure whether he'll need to go on the DL. The White Sox originally said it was an oblique strain. It doesn't make a big difference. The White Sox will decide Tuesday whether to place Konerko on the DL. Since Jim Thome doesn't appear to be an option at first base, the team would probably go with Nick Swisher there until Konerko returns. Jerry Owens could be called up to help in the outfield. Yesterday’s ResultsGame recaps courtesy of Craig Calcaterra. Rangers 8, Mets 7; Mets 4, Rangers 2: The Mets take two of three from the Rangers after reports that the weekend could make or break Willie Randolph. Which is silly of course. Based on those reports it seems like he's a dead man walking regardless of what happened in the Texas series, and Minaya's quotes after the second game bear that out: "These are our coaches today. They are our coaches. As the GM I leave myself room to evaluate things. I think we're not playing to our potential. I always leave room to evaluate things." Does that sound to you like a guy who was waiting for the weekend's results to make up his mind? The only question is what, exactly, is Omar waiting for? Cardinals 7, Phillies 6: Scary moment as Yadier Molina is taken off the field on a back board. Mitigating the situation: (a) later reports seem to indicate that he's OK; and (b) even if he wasn't, the Molina home world is standing by to replicate additional Molinas as needed. On a more serious note: Everyone is lauding Molina for being tough, but I've watched the reply several times, and it seems clear that if the throw from Chris Duncan had been online, Bruntlett would have likely gotten to Molina before the ball did. In other words, Molina was blocking the plate without the ball. It happens all the time, but a catcher shouldn't be allowed to do that, and if he wasn't doing that, he wouldn't have had his back turned to the runner when the ball came in, and probably wouldn't be in a hospital bed as you're reading this. Just sayin'. Indians 7, Padres 3: C.C. Sabathia continues his Yankees' audition (8 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 10K) and bests Greg Maddux in the process. Actually, since all the stuff came out about the Yankees' rumors the other day, I'm way less inclined to believe that a trade will actually happen. Partially because those of you out there who know the Yankees' system have convinced me that the available parts don't match up, but mostly because I'm not convinced that Cleveland has any intention of giving up on the playoffs unless and until they go on some nasty skid. Right now, they basically have Grady Sizemore and no one else performing consistently, yet they've gained a game on Chicago in the last week and stand 5.5 games out. If I'm Shapiro, I probably don't think about unloading Sabathia until the All Star break, and then not at all if the margin is around the same or smaller. Why? I know my team is better than it has shown, and I have no faith in the While Sox keeping it up all year. Someone has to win this division, and I think Cleveland is as good a bet as Chicago, even with the 5.5 game deficit. Tigers 5, Dodgers 4: The Dodgers have lost 15 of 20. By all rights they should be buried, but since Arizona has played pretty poorly too, they're still theoretically in the race. The Dodgers lost their designated hitter by moving Russell Martin to catcher in the eighth inning. How does Joe Torre make that mistake after managing in the AL for the past 12 years? Red Sox 9, Reds 0: Homer Bailey is as lost as George Bailey was just before jumping off the bridge to save Clarence. Cubs 7, Blue Jays 4: The Cubs lineup is obviously in flux now that Soriano is out for a while. I like the move of Fukudome up to the two-hole, which seems like a natural place for him. On the other hand, the only basis I can think for batting Jim Edmonds ahead of Geovany Soto is that Soto has an RBI incentive clause the Cubs are trying to avoid reaching maturity. Brewers 4, Twins 3: Some controversy in the eighth inning as Brendan Harris called for time, didn't get it, and wasn't looking when strike three came over the plate from Guillermo Mota. Harris complained. Gardenhire was ejected for arguing it. Silly me. I thought you were supposed to pay attention unless and until the ump actually calls time. While we're talking about this, I'll note that this is one area in which I'd like to see umps become more aggressive in an effort to shorten games. It's not the umpire's job to ensure that the batter has optimized everything prior to taking a pitch. He only has to be sure that the guy is generally ready to go. My view would be that unless the batter has crap in his eye or unless the pitcher is really pushing the envelope with respect to Rule 8.04, the batter is committed once he digs in, and the next thing that should happen is either a pitch or a called ball in the event the pitcher takes more than 12 seconds. Pirates 5, Orioles 4: Matt Capps blows his third save opportunity in four games, but manages to hang around through the 10th to pick up the win. His quote after the game: "Obviously it would have been a whole lot better to have the game end in the ninth inning, but I am what I am. I am who I am." What's that, a vulture? Yankees 13, Astros 0: The Yankees have won four in a row and 9 of 12, but a 13-0 win that ends with Wang leaving on crutches can't feel like much of a victory. As for the Astros, whose reign as the NL's Team-Frisky is officially over now that the Pirates, of all teams, have passed them in the standings, Cecil Cooper said it best: "Today, we didn't even show up, didn't even compete. A total embarrassment." Marlins 9, Rays 3: Congratulations Ricky Nolasco! You have now taken the lead for most pitches thrown by a starter in a game this season with 132. Even better, there was no competitive reason for it! Your team was up by seven as you entered the ninth, and your manager has admitted that sending you out again was for purely trivial purposes: "It would have been my first [complete game] as a manager as well. I've never had one, so I guess we were both cheering hard for it." To repeat: no shutout or milestone of any type was on the line, and the game was not in doubt. Fredi Gonzalez just thought it would be kind of cool to shred your arm. A's 5, Giants 3: Oakland has swept the Giants twice in a row now. The Giants still have the questionable legal right to keep the A's off the peninsula and out of San Jose, imperiling the future of the franchise. Let's call it a wash. Rockies 5, White Sox 3: After getting right against Detroit and Minnesota, the White Sox have hit the offensive skids again. How many reporters do you think were hanging around Ozzie Guillen at the end of this one, waiting for red meat? Royals 8, Diamondbacks 3: After losing Friday's game 1-0 on a 10th inning walkoff homer, and after getting blown out on Saturday, I was at a loss to predict just how the Royals would lose this one. They showed me, though, actually winning it. One wonders what Arizona's intensity level is these days, what with knowing that no one in the NL west really appears able or willing to challenge them no matter how bad they play. Angels 2, Braves 0: The Angels salvage one behind seven and a third scoreless innings from Joe Saunders. Chipper goes 0-4, and is one more bad game away from dipping below .400. In other news, I'm not going to say that I'm losing touch with my favorite team, but until yesterday I had no idea that the "exciting new Braves starter" Jorge Campillo turns 30 in August. Still, a 2.17 ERA after six starts is nothing to sneeze at, even when he takes a hard luck loss like this one. Nats 6, Mariners 2: The lowly Nats sweep the lowlier Mariners and now Seattle has lost approximately a gajillion straight home games. I scrolled down to the paid attendance, figuring it would be pretty pathetic. I was mistaken: 38,548, which is an 81% capacity crowd. This on a cloudy, cool day too. My first thought: promotion day. Second thought: not even free bats or balls could draw this many people to watch this crap team lose this crap matchup on what looked like a crap day. It must have been "free money day" or some promotion where every 10th customer gets a chance to play an inning at first base for the home team. I mean, at least that would explain Miguel Cairo's place in the lineup. What? Really? The MAJOR league roster? Wow. You can download a compact version of yesterday's boxscores from Heater Magazine.
Today’s GamesNational League --------------- Atlanta Braves at Colorado Rockies, 8:05 PM (R) Jair Jurrjens (6-3) vs. (R) Ubaldo Jimenez (1-6) Inter-League ------------ Boston Red Sox at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 PM (R) Bartolo Colon (4-1) vs. (L) Cole Hamels (6-4) New York Mets at LA Angels of Anaheim, 10:05 PM (R) Mike Pelfrey (2-6) vs. (R) Jered Weaver (6-6) Florida Marlins at Seattle Mariners, 10:10 PM (L) Andrew Miller (4-5) vs. (R) Carlos Silva (3-7) Detroit Tigers at San Francisco Giants, 10:15 PM (R) Justin Verlander (3-9) vs. (R) Tim Lincecum (8-1) StandingsThe 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 44 28 .611 0.0 43 1 Game of the DayPirates 5, Orioles 4 - FINAL
PITTSBURGH ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
N McLouth cf 4 1 2 1 1 0 0 .296
F Sanchez 2b 4 0 0 0 1 1 3 .232
J Bay lf 3 3 2 0 2 0 0 .288
R Doumit dh-c 4 1 1 0 0 0 3 .346
J Michaels rf 5 0 1 2 0 2 5 .300
A LaRoche 1b 2 0 1 1 2 0 0 .221
J Bautista 3b 5 0 1 1 0 1 4 .251
Ja Wilson ss 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 .291
R Chavez c 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 .250
va-D Mientkiewicz ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 .232
Totals 36 5 8 5 7 4 19 ###
BALTIMORE ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
B Roberts 2b 5 1 1 2 0 2 2 .285
J Payton lf 5 0 2 0 0 0 2 .258
G Sherrill p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
L Cormier p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
N Markakis rf 5 0 1 0 0 1 2 .285
K Millar dh-1b 4 0 0 0 1 2 1 .248
A Huff 3b 4 1 2 1 1 0 2 .258
A Jones cf 5 0 0 0 0 3 3 .252
O Salazar 1b-ss 3 1 0 0 1 1 2 .250
G Quiroz c 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 .213
hb-L Scott ph-lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .281
F Bynum ss 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .202
ha-M Mora ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .243
A Cintron ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .313
hc-R Hernandez ph-c 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .229
Totals 38 4 7 4 4 11 18 ###
----------------------------------------------------
PITTSBURGH - 003 010 000 1 -- 5 8 1
BALTIMORE - 000 011 002 0 -- 4 7 1
----------------------------------------------------
ha-flied out to center for F Bynum in the 7th; hb-flied out to right for G
Quiroz in the 9th; hc-struck out swinging for A Cintron in the 9th;
va-grounded to second for R Chavez in the 10th.
BATTING: 2B - J Bay (15, D Cabrera). HR - N Mclouth (15, 3rd inning off D
Cabrera 0 on, 1 Out), G Quiroz (2, 5th inning off P Maholm 0 on, 0 Out), A Huff
(10, 6th inning off P Maholm 0 on, 2 Out), B Roberts (5, 9th inning off M Capps
1 on, 2 Out). RBI - N McLouth (47), J Michaels 2 (20), J Bautista (27), A
LaRoche (28), G Quiroz (6), A Huff (36), B Roberts 2 (29). 2-out RBI - J
Michaels 2, J Bautista, A Huff, B Roberts 2. Runners left in scoring position,
2 out - J Michaels 2, D Mientkiewicz 2, J Bautista 1, O Salazar 1, J Payton 2,
A Huff 1. GIDP - J Bautista, F Sanchez. Team LOB - PITTSBURGH 10, BALTIMORE 8.
BASERUNNING: SB - J Bay (6, 2nd base off D Cabrera/G Quiroz). FIELDING: E - J
Bautista (7, ground ball); A Huff (2, ground ball). DP: (B Roberts-O Salazar,
F Bynum-O Salazar).
PITTSBURGH ip h r er bb so hr era
P Maholm 6 4 2 2 3 4 2 4.45
J Grabow (H, 5) 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 2.36
D Marte (H, 14) 1 1 0 0 0 3 0 3.51
M Capps (W, 1-2; B, 3) 2 2 2 0 0 3 1 2.88
BALTIMORE ip h r er bb so hr era
D Cabrera 6 6 4 4 5 2 1 4.45
J Walker 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5.12
J Johnson 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.17
G Sherrill (L, 2-2) 1/3 2 1 1 1 1 0 3.48
L Cormier 2/3 0 0 0 1 0 0 2.33
P Maholm pitched to 1 batter in the 7th.
WP - J Grabow, D Cabrera. HBP - R Doumit (by D Cabrera); A LaRoche (by D
Cabrera). Pitches-strikes: P Maholm 94-56; J Grabow 16-9; D Marte 17-13; M
Capps 30-22; D Cabrera 109-59; J Walker 11-6; J Johnson 18-12; G Sherrill 16-8;
L Cormier 10-4. Ground balls-fly balls: P Maholm 8-6; J Grabow 0-2; D Marte
0-0; M Capps 1-2; D Cabrera 9-6; J Walker 2-1; J Johnson 4-1; G Sherrill 0-0; L
Cormier 2-0. Batters faced: P Maholm 25; J Grabow 4; D Marte 4; M Capps 9; D
Cabrera 29; J Walker 3; J Johnson 6; G Sherrill 4; L Cormier 3. UMPIRES:
HP--Fieldin Culbreth. 1B--Jim Reynolds. 2B--Tim Timmons. 3B--Gary Cederstrom.
T--3:03. Att--31,107. Weather: 88 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 7 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 RunsThe following stats are provided by Hit Tracker, which logs the projected “true” distance of each home run (if it were to land uninterrupted at field level) and its "standard" distance, which is corrected for weather conditions. Each homer is also categorized into one of three types: Just Enough (JE) for homers that cleared the fence by ten feet or less, Plenty (PL) for those that were sure home runs but not “blasts,” and No Doubt (ND) for true “blasts”—homers that cleared the fence by at least 20 feet and landed at least 50 feet beyond the fence.Hitter Team Pitcher Team True Stnd. # Type Mike Cameron MIL Scott Baker MIN 408 384 10 PL/L Kory Casto WAS Mark Lowe SEA 349 311 1 PL/L Coco Crisp BOS Homer Bailey CIN 385 392 4 PL David DeJesus KC Micah Owings ARI 404 395 7 PL J.D. Drew BOS Homer Bailey CIN 371 372 11 JE Jermaine Dye CWS Aaron Cook COL 412 378 11 PL/L Jacoby Ellsbury BOS Homer Bailey CIN 405 407 5 PL Ben Francisco CLE Greg Maddux SD 365 358 4 JE Troy Glaus STL Brett Myers PHI 415 370 9 PL/L Brad Hawpe COL Jose Contreras CWS 397 350 7 PL/L Chris Iannetta COL Boone Logan CWS 414 370 7 PL Casey Kotchman LAA Jorge Campillo ATL 351 342 7 JE/L Jason Kubel MIN Seth McClung MIL 422 402 10 JE/L Dustin Pedroia BOS Gary Majewski CIN 377 373 5 PL Jorge Posada NYY Wesley Wright HOU 401 400 3 JE Alex Rodriguez NYY Wesley Wright HOU 369 368 12 PL Skip Schumaker STL Brett Myers PHI 406 355 4 PL/L Grady Sizemore CLE Cla Meredith SD 0 0 17 0 Top Minor League GamesThe 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, with a focus on each team’s top prospects.ORG LVL PLAYER AB H 2B 3B HR BB SO Notes ATL A+ Brandon Hicks..... 4 3 1 1 1 0 1 LA A Jaime Ortiz....... 4 3 1 1 1 0 0 HOU A+ Collin DeLome..... 5 3 1 1 0 1 0 4 R TEX A+ Julio Borbon...... 4 4 0 0 1 0 0 2 SB ARI AAA James D'Antona.... 5 3 2 0 0 1 0 MIN AAA Jason Pridie...... 4 3 2 0 0 0 0 3 R COL AAA Jayson Nix........ 6 2 1 0 1 0 1 4 RBI TEX AAA Taylor Teagarden.. 4 2 0 1 1 0 0 STL AAA David Freese...... 4 2 1 0 1 0 1 DET AAA Matthew Joyce..... 3 2 2 0 0 1 1 HOU A+ Jordan Parraz..... 4 2 0 0 1 2 1 COL A+ Troy Tulowitzki... 2 1 1 0 0 4 1 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes LAA AA Anthony Ortega.... 9 3 0 0 10 2 0 ATL AAA Chuck James....... 7 3 0 0 8 0 0 OAK A+ Brett Anderson.... 7 3 1 1 7 0 0 MIN AAA F. Liriano........ 7 5 2 2 5 0 0 BAL A+ Jake Arrieta...... 6 8 2 2 8 1 0 CLE A+ Hector Rondon..... 5 5 0 0 7 1 0 TEX AAA Luis Mendoza...... 7 7 2 1 5 0 0 12 GB SF A+ Tim Alderson...... 7 4 0 0 4 1 0 TOR A Bradley Mills..... 6 6 4 4 7 0 1 FLA AAA E. De La Cruz..... 6 5 1 1 9 3 1 BOS AA Kris Johnson...... 6 5 2 2 7 3 0 LAA A Jordan Walden..... 6 3 0 0 4 2 0 Access THT’s stats here…
Dave is the manager of the Baseball Graphs website.. Comments about this article can be sent to him through the miracle of e-mail. Do you have a general question or comment for one of THT's writers? Send it in to our weekly mailbag We also welcome unsolicited op-ed pieces of approximately 500 words for consideration. We reserve the right to edit for length, clarity and consistency of style. Please include your whole name and location to be considered. If you have a comment about this specific article, please email the writer. Next Article: What? a screwball?>> <<Previous Article: THT Dartboard: June 15, 2008 | |||||||
TB 40 29 .580 2.5 37 3 
NYA 37 33 .529 6.0 36 1 
BAL 34 34 .500 8.0 33 1 
TOR 35 36 .493 8.5 38 -3 
American League Central
CHA 38 31 .551 0.0 42 -4 
MIN 34 36 .486 4.5 32 2 
CLE 33 37 .471 5.5 37 -4 
DET 32 37 .464 6.0 34 -2 
KC 28 42 .400 10.5 29 -1 
American League West
LAA 42 28 .600 0.0 35 7 
OAK 38 31 .551 3.5 41 -3 
TEX 35 36 .493 7.5 34 1 
SEA 24 45 .348 17.5 27 -3 
National League East Pwins Diff
PHI 41 30 .577 0.0 44 -3 
FLA 37 32 .536 3.0 34 3 
ATL 34 36 .486 6.5 39 -5 
NYN 33 35 .485 6.5 35 -2 
WAS 29 42 .408 12.0 27 2 
National League Central
CHN 45 25 .643 0.0 46 -1 
STL 42 29 .592 3.5 38 4 
MIL 36 33 .522 8.5 33 3 
PIT 34 36 .486 11.0 33 1 
HOU 33 37 .471 12.0 32 1 
CIN 33 38 .465 12.5 32 1 
National League West
ARI 37 33 .529 0.0 38 -1 
LAN 31 38 .449 5.5 34 -3 
SD 31 40 .437 6.5 30 1 
SF 30 40 .429 7.0 31 -1 
COL 28 41 .406 8.5 28 0 