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THT Daily: Bad shoulders

by THT Staff
August 05, 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/

Player News
Player Headlines are courtesy of Rotoworld
image
Joba knows life in the dugout can be boring. (Icon/SMI)

The Yankees said Joba Chamberlain left Monday's game with right shoulder stiffness. Chamberlain allowed five runs in 4 2/3 innings before exiting the game against the Rangers. The Yankees figure to be especially cautious with a player so key to their future, so we're guessing that Chamberlain lands on the DL, even if it's just for two weeks. Darrell Rasner could move right back into the rotation, but Ian Kennedy is another possibility.

Eric Chavez will undergo season-ending surgery on his right shoulder next week. Chavez has tried again to rehab the shoulder, progressing to batting practice last week, but he's decided to give it up and try another surgery. There's now considerable doubt about whether he'll be able to make it back as a third baseman. The A's might use him at DH or first base next year.

Marlon Byrd hit a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth as the Rangers topped the Yankees on Monday night. With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the frame, Byrd laced the ball over the right field fence, ending Texas' 10-game home losing streak to the Yankees. He finished the night 2-for-4 with two runs scored and the four RBI, raising his line to .254/.347/.421 on the season.

Bronson Arroyo allowed just one run in six innings to lead the Reds over the Brewers on Monday night. Arroyo struck out six and allowed just four hits in the outing. He wasn't just effective on the mound, either: Arroyo hit a two-run double to break a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fifth, and came around to score to tally Cincinnati's third run of the night. Arroyo's record improves to 10-8 despite an ugly 5.55 ERA.

Prince Fielder got into an altercation with Manny Parra in the dugout after Parra was removed from his start on Monday. Cameras caught Fielder shoving Parra to the dugout floor. Parra had just departed after giving up six runs in six innings in the contest. Fielder remained in the game afterwards.

Yesterday’s Results
Game recaps courtesy of Craig Calcaterra of Shysterball.

Astros 2, Cubs 0: Lighting and even a tornado warning shortened this one. The same system moved through Columbus early this morning, causing both ShysterKids to seek refuge in my room. That just never leads to a good night's sleep, and that's why these recaps may be a little cursory this morning. Apologies. It may be slow going for the next couple of hours as well, but I suspect we'll be back up to cruising speed by lunchtime.

Reds 6, Brewers 3: Manny Parra and Prince Fielder scuffle in the dugout as the Brewers lose the first game of a stretch in which they face the NL's three weakest teams (Cincy, Washington, San Diego). What on Earth can happen in a game against the Reds that would cause two players on a playoff contender to fight like that? Did Parra welsh on his promise to get the tab at the Montgomery Inn before the game? It's the Reds! You beat them, go back to the hotel and rest, and then come back and beat them again tomorrow.

Indians 5, Rays 2: Remember the mini-flap earlier this season in which some bloggers were talking up Cliff Lee's great start and others were talking down those bloggers for talking it up due to small sample size? Well, the sample size is getting pretty big now, and it looks as though there is no slowing Lee down. Last night he threw seven innings of two run ball. Though I'm no scout, he's looked confident and at times dominant in every start I've seen of his this year. He obviously figured something out since last season, and the only bummer about it is that he hasn't had a lick of help from any of his teammates.

Blue Jays 6, A's 1: Halladay gave up a run on four hits, walked one and struck out eight over eight innings. He's another one of the 1960s guys I referred to in yesterday's post about Zambrano. Throw him out there as much as possible and let good things happen.

Rangers 9, Yankees 5: Not one of the 1960s guys? Joba Chamberlain. Leaves with shoulder tightness in the fifth which, if serious, is an absolutely revoltin' development for Yankees' fans. So how did this game end? Take it away ShysterBall's only known Rangers' fan, Royce The Hack:
Rangers Fans in North Texas are in a state of delirium, tonight. My Primo Amigo, Marlon Bryd jacked a two-out Grand Slam in the bottom of the ninth to put a clear punctuation mark on the first of a four-game series with the Hated Yankees.

I have grown to really enjoy watching Byrd play this season. He's no Roberto Clemente, but the man knows his way around right field. And after you spend a few minutes rowing through his collegiate and professional background, you can figure out that if he didn't do well this year, he was likely destined to spend the remainder of his baseball career bouncing round AA and AAA, with an occasional trip to The Show for a week here and there. But, he's done very well in the Rangers' lineup all summer. I think every Rangers fan saw and felt his disappointment at Nady's HR in the 4th - it looked like the ball literally bounced off of the top row of stiching in his glove and flopped over the wall.

With that, his triumphant slammer in the bottom of the 9th was that much more enjoyable. I was jumping around the house and going crazy when he hit it. I felt like they won a playoff game - it was great. Even my dopey old Labrador sat up and wondered what was going on.
Mariners 11, Twins 6: I sometimes turn a game off around the sixth or seventh inning if there's a big lead. Say, five runs or so. Here's hoping the Twins fans who did that last night are sitting down when they read the box score this morning. Giving up ten runs in one inning is pretty damn bad, but the thing about this one is that it could have been worse in that the third out of the inning came when Willie Bloomquist was thrown out at home trying to score from first on a single. If he holds up, Adrian Beltre -- who was already 3-4 at that point -- gets to bat again. Mercy.

Giants 4, Braves 2: The Braves have lost eight of ten, and the way they've been hitting there was no way they were going to hit Matt Cain, who is much, much better than that 7-9 record suggests.

Angels 6, Orioles 5: K-Rod blows the save, but All-Star George Sherrill loses the game with a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth. Ever been to a game that ends on a bases loaded walk? I have once, and it's just the strangest feeling. The crowd cheers, but their hearts aren't in it in the same way they would be for a game ending single or even a strikeout by the visitors or something. Walks are simply hard to get excited about as they happen. Which is one of the handful of reasons, by the way, that I suspect that sabermetrics are hard for many to accept.

Royals 4, Red Sox 3: As Neyer pointed out the other day, the Royals have a pretty darn good bullpen that, as so many color commentators like to say, serves to shorten games. This one was certainly shortened, as it were, even if Soria gave up a run.

Diamondbacks 13, Pirates 7: Arizona doesn't have the sexy midseason acquisition like the Dodgers do, but they'll take 18 hits. This is the kind of thing they were simply unable to do earlier in the season when their starter came out of the gate struggling like Danny Haren did last night.

Nationals 9, Rockies 4: Washington takes advantage of a rare bad outing by Aaron Cook. Folks in Colorado are kind of hoping for another miracle surge like the Rockies had last year. If it's going to happen, it's gotta happen now.

You can download a compact version of yesterday's boxscores from Heater Magazine.

First Inning's Major and Minor League Daily Reports:

Today’s Games
National League
 ---------------
 Houston Astros at Chicago Cubs, 2:20 PM
  (L) Wandy Rodriguez (6-4) vs. (R) Rich Harden (1-1)
 Florida Marlins at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 PM
  (R) Josh Johnson (1-0) vs. (L) Jamie Moyer (10-6)
 Milwaukee Brewers at Cincinnati Reds, 7:10 PM
  (R) Dave Bush (5-9) vs. (R) Edinson Volquez (13-4)
 San Diego Padres at New York Mets, 7:10 PM
  (R) Chris Young (4-4) vs. (R) Mike Pelfrey (9-7)
 Los Angeles Dodgers at St. Louis Cardinals, 8:15 PM
  (R) Chad Billingsley (11-9) vs. (R) Chris Carpenter (0-0)
 Washington Nationals at Colorado Rockies, 9:05 PM
  (L) John Lannan (6-11) vs. (L) Jorge De La Rosa (5-6)
 Pittsburgh Pirates at Arizona Diamondbacks, 9:40 PM
  (L) Zach Duke (4-9) vs. (R) Brandon Webb (15-4)
 Atlanta Braves at San Francisco Giants, 10:15 PM
  (L) Mike Hampton (0-0) vs. (L) Jonathan Sanchez (8-7)
 
 American League
 ---------------
 Oakland Athletics at Toronto Blue Jays, 7:07 PM
  (L) Greg Smith (5-10) vs. (R) Scott Richmond (0-1)
 Cleveland Indians at Tampa Bay Rays, 7:10 PM
  (R) Fausto Carmona (5-3) vs. (R) Edwin Jackson (7-7)
 New York Yankees at Texas Rangers, 8:05 PM
  (L) Andy Pettitte (12-8) vs. (L) Matt Harrison (2-2)
 Boston Red Sox at Kansas City Royals, 8:10 PM
  (R) Josh Beckett (9-8) vs. (R) Brian Bannister (7-9)
 Detroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox, 8:11 PM
  (L) Nate Robertson (6-8) vs. (R) Gavin Floyd (11-6)
 Baltimore Orioles at LA Angels of Anaheim, 10:05 PM
  (L) Chris Waters (0-0) vs. (R) Jon Garland (10-6)
 Minnesota Twins at Seattle Mariners, 10:10 PM
  (R) Scott Baker (7-3) vs. (R) R.A. Dickey (3-6)

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
TB      66  45 .595    0.0   61     5    sparkline graph
BOS     64  49 .566    3.0   66    -2    sparkline graph
NYA     61  51 .545    5.5   61     0    sparkline graph
TOR     56  56 .500   10.5   60    -4    sparkline graph
BAL     53  58 .477   13.0   54    -1    sparkline graph
American League Central     
CHA     61  49 .555    0.0   62    -1    sparkline graph
MIN     62  50 .554    0.0   59     3    sparkline graph
DET     55  56 .495    6.5   57    -2    sparkline graph
KC      53  60 .469    9.5   50     3    sparkline graph
CLE     49  62 .441   12.5   56    -7    sparkline graph
American League West        
LAA     70  42 .625    0.0   61     9    sparkline graph
TEX     59  54 .522   11.5   54     5    sparkline graph
OAK     53  58 .477   16.5   58    -5    sparkline graph
SEA     43  69 .384   27.0   49    -6    sparkline graph


National League East        Pwins  Diff
PHI     61  50 .550    0.0   63    -2    sparkline graph
FLA     59  53 .527    2.5   54     5    sparkline graph
NYN     58  53 .523    3.0   59    -1    sparkline graph
ATL     51  61 .455   10.5   57    -6    sparkline graph
WAS     42  70 .375   19.5   44    -2    sparkline graph
National League Central     
CHN     67  46 .593    0.0   70    -3    sparkline graph
MIL     62  51 .549    5.0   58     4    sparkline graph
STL     62  52 .544    5.5   60     2    sparkline graph
HOU     54  57 .486   12.0   51     3    sparkline graph
CIN     52  61 .460   15.0   49     3    sparkline graph
PIT     51  61 .455   15.5   49     2    sparkline graph
National League West        
ARI     58  54 .518    0.0   59    -1    sparkline graph
LAN     56  55 .505    1.5   58    -2    sparkline graph
COL     51  63 .447    8.0   51     0    sparkline graph
SF      47  64 .423   10.5   46     1    sparkline graph
SD      43  69 .384   15.0   44    -1    sparkline graph

Game of the Day
Mariners 11, Twins 6 - FINAL

MINNESOTA              ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
D Span rf               4  1  1  0   1  0   1  .313
N Punto 2b              3  3  1  1   2  1   2  .285
J Mauer c               5  1  2  0   0  1   3  .317
J Morneau 1b            3  1  2  2   2  0   0  .315
M Lamb dh               5  0  2  1   0  2   3  .232
D Young lf              2  0  0  1   2  0   2  .291
B Buscher 3b            4  0  0  1   0  1   6  .303
B Harris ss             5  0  2  0   0  2   0  .261
C Gomez cf              3  0  1  0   1  0   2  .256

Totals                 34  6 11  6   8  7  19   ###

SEATTLE                ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
I Suzuki rf             3  2  2  0   2  0   0  .305
W Bloomquist cf         4  1  1  0   1  0   3  .281
R Ibanez lf             5  2  3  6   0  1   2  .284
A Beltre 3b             5  1  3  0   0  1   1  .256
J Lopez 2b              5  1  3  1   0  0   0  .306
J Vidro dh              5  0  2  0   0  0   4  .234
B LaHair 1b             3  0  0  0   0  1   2  .293
 ha-M Cairo ph-1b       1  1  0  0   1  0   1  .244
K Johjima c             3  0  1  0   0  0   0  .211
 hb-J Clement ph-c      1  1  1  1   0  0   0  .185
Y Betancourt ss         4  2  2  1   0  0   1  .258

Totals                 39 11 18  9   4  3  14   ###

----------------------------------------------------
    MINNESOTA       - 103 200 000   --   6 11 2
    SEATTLE         - 000 001 (10)0x   --  11 18 1
----------------------------------------------------

ha-walked for B Lahair in the 7th;  hb-singled to right for K Johjima in the 
7th.

BATTING: 2B - M Lamb (11, M Batista); D Span (8, M Batista); J Morneau (28, J 
Woods); K Johjima (14, G Perkins); A Beltre (20, B Bass). HR - N Punto (2, 3rd 
inning off M Batista 0 on, 0 Out), R Ibanez (16, 7th inning off G Perkins 3 on, 
1 Out). SF - B Buscher , D Young. RBI - M Lamb (30), N Punto (21), D Young 
(44), B Buscher (29), J Morneau 2 (89), R Ibanez 6 (73), J Lopez (61), J 
Clement (13), Y Betancourt (31). 2-out RBI - M Lamb, J Clement, Y Betancourt, R 
Ibanez 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J Mauer 1, D Young 2, C 
Gomez 1, W Bloomquist 1, J Vidro 1, A Beltre 1, B LaHair 1. GIDP - B Buscher, B 
LaHair, J Vidro. Team LOB - MINNESOTA 11, SEATTLE 8. BASERUNNING: SB - N Punto 
(6, 2nd base off M Batista/K Johjima). FIELDING: E - D Span (4, throw); B 
Harris (10, throw); Y Betancourt (16, throw). Outfield assists - W Bloomquist 
(J Morneau at Home). PB - J Mauer 2. DP:  (J Morneau-B Harris-J Morneau, B 
Harris-J Morneau, B LaHair-Y Betancourt-J Woods). 

MINNESOTA                    ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
G Perkins                     6 1/3  12   5   5   1   2   1   4.38
B Bass (L, 3-4; B, 1)         0       2   2   2   0   0   0   5.01
C Breslow                       1/3   0   1   1   1   0   0   2.42
M Guerrier                      1/3   3   3   3   2   0   0   3.97
B Bonser                      1       1   0   0   0   1   0   6.60

SEATTLE                      ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
M Batista                     3       7   6   6   4   2   1   6.80
J Woods                       3       4   0   0   4   4   0   0.00
R Corcoran (W, 2-0)           1       0   0   0   0   1   0   3.80
C Jimenez                     1       0   0   0   0   0   0   1.02
M Lowe                        1       0   0   0   0   0   0   4.41

M Batista pitched to 2 batters in the 4th.
B Bass pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.

IBB - D Young 2 (by J Woods), I Suzuki (by M Guerrier). Pitches-strikes: G 
Perkins 87-64; B Bass 9-4; C Breslow 10-3; M Guerrier 19-10; B Bonser 19-13; M 
Batista 82-41; J Woods 61-33; R Corcoran 10-7; C Jimenez 10-9; M Lowe 10-8. 
Ground balls-fly balls: G Perkins 9-8; B Bass 0-0; C Breslow 0-1; M Guerrier 
0-0; B Bonser 1-1; M Batista 3-4; J Woods 3-1; R Corcoran 2-0; C Jimenez 2-1; M 
Lowe 3-0. Batters faced: G Perkins 30; B Bass 2; C Breslow 2; M Guerrier 5; B 
Bonser 4; M Batista 20; J Woods 15; R Corcoran 3; C Jimenez 3; M Lowe 3. IRS - 
M Guerrier 2, J Woods 2. UMPIRES: HP--Marvin Hudson. 1B--Mike Winters. 
2B--Randy Marsh. 3B--Mike Muchlinski.   T--3:01. Att--27,758. Weather: 76 
degrees, clear. Wind: 3 mph, in from left.

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.

image

Yesterday’s Home Runs
The 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
Ryan Braun            MIL     David Weathers       CIN     402    394  30  ND
Jay Bruce             CIN     Manny Parra          MIL     402    394  10  ND
Marlon Byrd           TEX     Damaso Marte         NYY     425    413   7  PL
Asdrubal Cabrera      CLE     Matt Garza           TB      371    371   3  PL
Mike Cameron          MIL     Gary Majewski        CIN     383    376  17  JE
Robinson Cano         NYY     Vicente Padilla      TEX     438    422  10  ND
Bobby Crosby          OAK     Roy Halladay         TOR     407    402   5  PL
David Dellucci        CLE     Matt Garza           TB      433    431  10  ND
Jesus Flores          WAS     Aaron Cook           COL     427    401   8  ND
Jason Giambi          NYY     Vicente Padilla      TEX     432    417  21  ND
Alex Gordon           KC      Clay Buchholz        BOS     426    416  13  ND
Vladimir Guerrero     LAA     Dennis Sarfate       BAL     413    401  19  JE/L
Willie Harris         WAS     Matt Herges          COL     400    364   9  PL
Raul Ibanez           SEA     Glen Perkins         MIN     380    378  16  PL
Jason Michaels        PIT     Tony Pena            ARI     408    397   7  JE
Doug Mientkiewicz     PIT     Dan Haren            ARI     391    381   2  PL
David Murphy          TEX     Joba Chamberlain     NYY     384    372  15  PL
Xavier Nady           NYY     Frank Francisco      TEX     374    363  17  JE/L
Nick Punto            MIN     Miguel Batista       SEA     373    371   2  PL
Mark Reynolds         ARI     Denny Bautista       PIT     410    399  23  PL
Michael Young         TEX     Joba Chamberlain     NYY     397    385   9  JE

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, with a focus on each team’s top prospects.
ORG LVL PLAYER            AB  H 2B 3B HR BB SO  Notes
ATL A+  Eric Campbell..... 3  3  2  0  1  3  0  3 R
ATL A+  Tyler Flowers..... 3  2  0  0  2  3  0  5 RBI !
CHC A-  Ryan Flaherty..... 5  4  2  1  0  0  0  
FLA AA  Gaby Sanchez...... 4  2  0  0  2  1  0  
OAK AAA Matt Murton....... 5  3  0  1  1  0  0  3 R
TOR AAA Kevin Melillo..... 3  2  1  0  1  1  0  
NYY AA  Austin Jackson.... 5  4  2  0  0  0  1  3 R
NYY A   Bradley Suttle.... 5  3  0  1  1  0  0  
PIT AAA Neil Walker....... 5  3  1  1  0  0  1  4 LD
MIL AA  Alcides Escobar... 3  2  0  0  1  1  1  
OAK AAA Eric Patterson.... 5  2  0  0  1  0  0  
CLE AA  Joshua Rodriguez.. 6  2  1  1  0  0  2  

ORG LVL PLAYER            IP  H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
CLE AA  Scott Lewis....... 6  1  0  0 10  2  0  
BAL AA  C. Tillman........ 6  4  2  2 11  1  1  
ATL AA  Thomas Hanson..... 6  4  2  2 10  1  1  
CLE A   Ryan Morris....... 5  0  0  0  7  2  0  
COL AA  Brandon Hynick.... 7  3  1  1  3  0  0  13 GB
LAA AAA Anthony Ortega.... 5  6  3  2  7  2  0  
PIT AAA Tom Gorzelanny.... 6  6  3  0  4  0  0  
CHC A-  Mark Pawelek...... 3  1  2  2  6  2  0  
TB  AAA Wade Davis........ 6  5  0  0  5  2  0  
CHW AAA Lance Broadway.... 6  5  3  3  7  4  0  
SF  AA  Adam Cowart....... 4  2  0  0  4  1  0  
NYY A+  Christian Garcia.. 3  6  2  1  6  1  0  

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