November 20, 2008
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THT Daily: Braves win another close oneby Dave StudemanJune 04, 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/ Player NewsPlayer Headlines are courtesy of Rotoworld
Making his first start after a two-month stint on the disabled list, Pedro Martinez allowed three runs over six innings and earned a win as the Mets beat the Giants 9-3. Martinez was supposed to throw about 80 pitches, so it was stunning to see him come back out for the sixth even though he was already over that mark. He ended up throwing 109 pitches, 63 for strikes. Martinez showed very good life on his fastball tonight, touching 90 mph with regularity. He made things harder on himself in the fifth because he intentionally walked light-hitting Omar Vizquel to bring the pitcher up with two outs in the fourth. It "worked out," but he cost himself an easy out in the fifth and he went on to allow two runs in the frame. Joba Chamberlain pitched just 2 1/3 innings in his first major league start against the Blue Jays and left after allowing one run. Chamberlain walked four, including the last batter he faced, causing the quick exit. The inherited runner came around the score off Dan Giese, but since there was a throwing error in the inning, the run it added to Chamberlain's total was unearned. The hope was that Joba would go four innings of so, but it took him 62 pitches to get seven outs. Milton Bradley homered twice Tuesday in the Rangers' 12-7 defeat of the Indians. The Rangers used six pitchers, all of whom gave up at least one run, yet the team still won. Josh Hamilton went back-to-back with Bradley in the first inning, and Bradley added a second solo homer in the eighth. He also walked twice. He's been terribly overshadowed by Hamilton's awesome start, but he's going to deserve to make the All-Star team if he can stay healthy. He leads the AL in OPS at 1020. Albert Pujols came out of Tuesday's game in the fourth inning with left calf tightness. Pujols has had problems with the calf, and it must have tightened up on him during the length rain delay tonight. Rick Ankiel replaced him, and Joe Mather moved to first base. Yesterday’s ResultsGame recaps courtesy of Craig Calcaterra.Blue Jays 9, Yankees 3: How should a Yankee fan feel the morning after Joba Chamberlain walked four guys and couldn't make it out of the third inning in his much hyped debut? On the one hand, Henry Ward Beecher once said "one's best success comes after their greatest disappointments," so perhaps optimism is in order. On the other hand, Thomas Hardy once said "the sudden disappointment of a hope leaves a scar which the ultimate fulfillment of that hope never entirely removes." I love Hardy and respect Beecher, but I'm going to have to go with the Post for philosophical guidance on this one: "Joba is stopped for Jay-Walking." Mets 9, Giants 6: Pedro has always been good on 62 days rest. 6 IP, 3 H, 3 ER is about as much as could be expected from him, so the Mets have to be pleased. The 2-3 with an RBI single was just gravy. Barry Zito (4.1 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 5 BB, 1 K, zero velocity) continues to be the world's most expensive batting practice pitcher. Phillies 3, Reds 2: Someone found Jay Bruce's kryptonite. Well, relatively speaking, anyway: he only got on base in half of his plate appearances, sending that OBP plummeting from .667 to .649 and lowering his slugging percentage to triple digits. So, yeah, I guess the league has figured him out. In other news, Dusty sat Griffey again. One suspects that he'll play sparingly between now and the end of the current road trip in order to maximize the possibility that he'll hit #600 at home. That seems silly to me. I mean, there are six games left on this road trip. Given how things have gone for him so far this season, Griffey is going to need at least 15-20 more games in order to hit that dinger, so there's no need to worry. Astros 2, Pirates 0: I haven't thought much about the Astros this season, so I spent a few minutes looking at their roster and stats. Quite the catching combination they have going there at the moment. J.R. Towles: .145/.270/.282; Brad Ausmus: .178/.187/.260. They have to be on pace to become least productive catching duo in baseball history, right? Red Sox 7, Rays 4: The Sox begin the Ortizless portion of their season with the uber-D alignment: outfield of Drew, Crisp, and Ellsbury, with Manny at DH. I think that's how I'd do it to. At least until I thought Manny was becoming even more distracted than he usually is as a result of all the down time, then I'd send him out to left and let Casey DH once or twice. Brewers 7, Diamondbacks 1: The day after moaning about playing time and (maybe) demanding a trade, Bill Hall gets the start at third base. Not that anyone cared about his complaining -- it was simply a matter of a lefty on the hill. Seth McClung beat Randy Johnson. McClung is better suited than most to overcome the intimidation that accompanies facing the Big Unit. Like me, McClung is from the great state of West Virginia. He spent his entire childhood beating dudes with mullets. Braves 5, Marlins 4: Maybe Atlanta has turned a corner or something, because this is the kind of game that they've lost just about every time this year. Down by a run after coughing up an early lead and going into what Mac Thomason calls "hibernation mode" for six innings, I would have bet my son's teddy bear that the Braves were going to lose it. Eighth inning rolls around, however, and its single-double-double-lead, with Soriano sending the Fish out 1-2-3 in the ninth. Wait -- I'm going to check and see that the team names weren't reversed in the box score. I'll be damned. White Sox 9, Royals 5: Yesterday Neyer sarcastically mused that maybe Guillen's tirade was calculated. He immediately dismissed that notion, and was probably right to do so. But you know, maybe we should give it a bit more thought. After all, Guillen knew that he was going back to his home park to face the team playing the worst baseball in the league right now. He knew that, after giving his 15 HR-hitting, 50 RBI-driving in left fielder Sunday off, he'd be returning Quentin to the lineup last night. Maybe he knew a win was around the corner and he wanted to make himself look like a motivational genuius? Yeah, calling out Kenny Williams like that was probably a bridge too far, but I actually like Guillen for some absurd reason, and I think everybody is being too hard on him. By the way: Kenny didn't do anything and apart from starting Quentin, it was nothing but some minor flip flops. Rangers 12, Indians 7: That's the second crisp and clean game between these two finely-honed blades in as many nights. Coming in at a brisk 3:48 and featuring 31 hits and eight walks, this is one to tape and play back at the little league clinic next spring. One of those walks, by the way, was an intentional one to Josh Hamilton in the bottom of the second inning. Amazingly, that's the first intentional walk he's received all season. A's 5, Tigers 4: Dontrelle Willis returns to the rotation. The good: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 ER. The bad: 5 BB. The ugly: Pitchers for both teams combined for 22 walks. Angels 5, Mariners 4: Joe Saunders ups his record to 9-2, exceeding his career-high win total on June 3rd. The Angels have a 3.5 game lead over Oakland. The Cubs and Diamondbacks have the same lead on their nearest opponents, but really, doesn't the Angels' lead seem safer to you than the others? In other news, Richie Sexson's new stance doesn't change a thing (0-4, 2K). Rockies 3, Dodgers 0: Fisticuffsmanship! Well, more like a turgid wrestling match, as Matt Kemp starts shoving Yorvit Torrealba, who shoved back and, well, you know how those things go. Double ejections and some video that will dominate SportsCenter while no attention is paid to Jeff Francis' 7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER performance. Cubs 9, Padres 6: It's June. No swoon? Orioles 5, Twins 3: Radhames Liz makes his first start of the year. I don't know much about him and have never seen him, but from what I've read, this guy is supposed to be a beast. Raw, to be sure, but with high 90s gas (he was "only" at 94 or so last night) you can get away with a lot. Fun fact from his Wikipedia page: "Early in his professional career, Liz received attention because of a clicking sound which is sometimes loud enough to be heard in the stands and occurs whenever he throws a pitch. Some have thought it to be his thumb clicking against his index finger. Oriole's head athletic trainer Richie Bancells discovered that Liz's scapula caused the clicking." Will Carroll has been asked to carry his cell phone with him and remain on alert at all times during Liz's starts this year. Cardinals 6, Nats 1: The rain delays lasted longer (2:40) than the actual time it took to play the game (2:27). The Cards weren't happy with how long it took the DC crew to get the field covered and uncovered after the dealys. Kyle Lohse: "I don't want to get down on the grounds crew, but maybe they could tighten up a little bit next time." Oh, snap! You can download a compact version of yesterday's boxscores from Heater Magazine.
Today’s GamesNational League --------------- Florida Marlins at Atlanta Braves, 1:10 PM (L) Mark Hendrickson (7-3) vs. (L) Tom Glavine (2-2) Arizona Diamondbacks at Milwaukee Brewers, 2:05 PM (R) Micah Owings (6-3) vs. (L) Manny Parra (3-2) Colorado Rockies at Los Angeles Dodgers, 3:10 PM (R) Aaron Cook (7-3) vs. (L) Clayton Kershaw (0-0) New York Mets at San Francisco Giants, 3:45 PM (R) John Maine (5-4) vs. (R) Matt Cain (2-3) Cincinnati Reds at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 PM (R) Edinson Volquez (7-2) vs. (R) Brett Myers (3-6) Houston Astros at Pittsburgh Pirates, 7:05 PM (R) Roy Oswalt (4-5) vs. (L) Zach Duke (2-4) St. Louis Cardinals at Washington Nationals, 7:10 PM (R) Todd Wellemeyer (6-1) vs. (L) John Lannan (4-5) Chicago Cubs at San Diego Padres, 10:05 PM (L) Ted Lilly (5-4) vs. (R) Greg Maddux (3-4) American League --------------- Detroit Tigers at Oakland Athletics, 3:35 PM (L) Nate Robertson (3-5) vs. (R) Justin Duchscherer (4-4) LA Angels of Anaheim at Seattle Mariners, 4:40 PM (R) Jered Weaver (4-6) vs. (R) Carlos Silva (3-5) Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees, 7:05 PM (R) Jesse Litsch (7-1) vs. (R) Mike Mussina (8-4) Tampa Bay Rays at Boston Red Sox, 7:05 PM (R) Edwin Jackson (3-4) vs. (R) Josh Beckett (5-4) Cleveland Indians at Texas Rangers, 8:05 PM (L) Cliff Lee (8-1) vs. (R) Sidney Ponson (4-1) Baltimore Orioles at Minnesota Twins, 8:10 PM (R) Daniel Cabrera (5-1) vs. (L) Glen Perkins (2-2) Kansas City Royals at Chicago White Sox, 8:11 PM (R) Luke Hochevar (3-5) vs. (L) John Danks (4-4) 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 TB 35 23 .603 0.0 32 3 Game of the DayBraves 5, Marlins 4 - FINAL
FLORIDA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
H Ramirez ss 3 1 1 0 1 0 2 .292
J Hermida rf 4 0 1 0 0 1 2 .267
J Cantu 3b 3 0 1 1 0 0 3 .267
M Jacobs 1b 4 1 1 0 0 2 1 .252
D Uggla 2b 3 2 2 3 1 0 0 .302
L Gonzalez lf 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 .294
J Nelson p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
C Ross cf 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 .202
M Treanor c 4 0 1 0 0 2 0 .274
B Badenhop p 2 0 1 0 0 1 2 .091
D Waechter p 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000
R Pinto p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
M Lindstrom p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
T Tankersley p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
J Jones lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .087
Totals 33 4 8 4 2 8 12 ###
ATLANTA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
Y Escobar ss 4 1 1 0 1 1 6 .300
K Johnson 2b 3 1 0 0 1 0 1 .294
C Jones 3b 4 2 2 3 0 1 0 .409
M Teixeira 1b 3 1 1 0 1 0 0 .276
G Norton lf 3 0 1 2 1 0 1 .182
R Soriano p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
J Francoeur rf 4 0 0 0 0 2 3 .251
C Miller c 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 .069
hc-O Infante ph-lf 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .250
G Blanco cf 3 0 1 0 1 2 2 .274
J Campillo p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .100
ha-R Gotay ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .229
J Bennett p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167
hb-J Anderson ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .167
W Ohman p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
hd-B McCann ph-c 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .313
Totals 29 5 6 5 8 7 16 ###
----------------------------------------------------
FLORIDA - 110 200 000 -- 4 8 0
ATLANTA - 300 000 02x -- 5 6 1
----------------------------------------------------
ha-walked for J Campillo in the 4th; hb-popped out to shortstop for J Bennett
in the 7th; hc-walked for C Miller in the 8th; hd-walked for W Ohman in the
8th.
BATTING: 2B - H Ramirez (9, J Campillo); J Cantu (12, W Ohman); M Teixeira (15,
M Lindstrom); G Norton (2, M Lindstrom). HR - C Jones (13, 1st inning off B
Badenhop 2 on, 0 Out), D Uggla 2 (18, 2nd inning off J Campillo 0 on, 0 Out,
4th inning off J Campillo 1 on, 0 Out). SF - J Cantu. RBI - J Cantu (29), D
Uggla 3 (41), C Jones 3 (38), G Norton 2 (7). Runners left in scoring position,
2 out - L Gonzalez 1, H Ramirez 1, K Johnson 1, Y Escobar 4. GIDP - J Cantu 2.
Team LOB - FLORIDA 5, ATLANTA 8. BASERUNNING: CS - Y Escobar (3, 2nd base by B
Badenhop/M Treanor). FIELDING: E - C Jones (8, ground ball). DP: (C Jones-K
Johnson-M Teixeira 2).
FLORIDA ip h r er bb so hr era
B Badenhop 5 3 3 3 5 3 1 6.59
D Waechter (H, 6) 1 2/3 0 0 0 1 1 0 2.12
R Pinto (H, 10) 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.51
M Lindstrom (L, 1-1; B, 1) 1/3 3 2 2 1 1 0 3.86
T Tankersley 1/3 0 0 0 1 1 0 7.16
J Nelson 1/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.93
ATLANTA ip h r er bb so hr era
J Campillo 4 6 4 4 1 3 2 1.79
J Bennett 3 1 0 0 0 4 0 3.23
W Ohman (W, 3-0) 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 2.59
R Soriano (S, 2) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.25
WP - R Pinto. IBB - D Uggla (by W Ohman). Pitches-strikes: B Badenhop 89-43;
D Waechter 26-16; R Pinto 5-3; M Lindstrom 16-8; T Tankersley 10-5; J Nelson
5-3; J Campillo 80-51; J Bennett 39-25; W Ohman 20-12; R Soriano 9-8. Ground
balls-fly balls: B Badenhop 5-6; D Waechter 1-3; R Pinto 0-1; M Lindstrom 0-0;
T Tankersley 0-0; J Nelson 0-0; J Campillo 6-3; J Bennett 4-1; W Ohman 2-1; R
Soriano 2-0. Batters faced: B Badenhop 22; D Waechter 6; R Pinto 1; M Lindstrom
5; T Tankersley 2; J Nelson 1; J Campillo 19; J Bennett 9; W Ohman 5; R Soriano
3. UMPIRES: HP--Brian Runge. 1B--Charlie Reliford. 2B--Adrian Johnson. 3B--Greg
Gibson. T--2:59. Att--25,476. Weather: 87 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 7
mph, left to right.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 Ryan Braun MIL Randy Johnson ARI 428 423 16 ND Pat Burrell PHI Aaron Harang CIN 373 344 14 PL Eric Chavez OAK Armando Galarraga DET 373 378 1 JE Travis Denker SF Scott Schoeneweis NYM 387 408 1 JE Mark DeRosa CHC Bryan Corey SD 400 382 6 JE/L J.D. Drew BOS Matt Garza TB 447 426 6 ND Edwin Encarnacion CIN Adam Eaton PHI 353 331 10 JE/L Prince Fielder MIL Max Scherzer ARI 421 417 10 PL J.J. Hardy MIL Max Scherzer ARI 380 376 3 JE Chris Iannetta COL Cory Wade LAD 385 385 5 PL Akinori Iwamura TB Justin Masterson BOS 389 359 4 JE/L Jose Lopez SEA Joe Saunders LAA 378 357 4 PL/L Mike Lowell BOS Matt Garza TB 378 347 8 PL/L Yadier Molina STL Odalis Perez WAS 0 0 3 0 Carlos Pena TB Justin Masterson BOS 393 361 11 PL/L Alfonso Soriano CHC Carlos Guevara SD 0 0 14 0 Geovany Soto CHC Bryan Corey SD 420 406 10 PL 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 SEA AA Michael Saunders.. 4 2 0 0 2 2 1 3 R MIL AA Matt LaPorta...... 5 3 3 0 0 1 0 DET A+ James Skelton..... 4 3 2 0 0 2 0 3 R DET AAA Brent Clevlen..... 3 2 0 0 2 1 0 5 RBI ! MIL AA Angel Salome...... 4 3 0 0 1 2 0 6 RBI ! FLA AA John Raynor....... 4 2 1 0 0 1 0 2 SB SF AA Travis Ishikawa... 4 2 1 0 1 0 1 4 RBI SF A+ Pablo Sandoval.... 5 2 1 0 1 0 1 HOU A Matthew Cusick.... 2 1 0 0 1 3 1 NYM A Francisco Pena.... 4 2 1 0 1 0 2 KC AAA Billy Butler...... 5 3 1 1 0 0 0 3 LD CIN AA Chris Valaika..... 4 3 1 0 0 1 0 3 R ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes ATL AAA Charlie Morton.... 8 1 0 0 13 1 0 LAA A Jordan Walden..... 7 1 0 0 9 2 0 BOS AA Michael Bowden.... 7 3 1 1 6 0 0 MIN A+ Jeffrey Manship... 9 4 0 0 5 1 0 STL AAA Jaime Garcia...... 7 3 2 2 9 2 1 STL A+ Matt Clement...... 6 1 0 0 5 0 0 SEA A Phillippe Aumont.. 7 6 1 1 6 0 0 TOR AA Brett Cecil....... 5 3 1 0 7 1 0 MIN A David Bromberg.... 6 3 0 0 8 4 0 WAN AAA Collin Balester... 5 2 1 1 6 0 1 SF A+ Clayton Tanner.... 6 4 0 0 5 1 0 PIT A Brad Lincoln...... 6 5 1 1 6 0 1 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: Blame it on Rios>> <<Previous Article: Superdupersubs (Part 3: 1971-1989) | |||||||
BOS 36 25 .590 0.5 35 1 
TOR 32 28 .533 4.0 34 -2 
BAL 28 29 .491 6.5 27 1 
NYA 28 30 .483 7.0 28 0 
American League Central
CHA 31 26 .544 0.0 33 -2 
MIN 30 28 .517 1.5 28 2 
CLE 26 32 .448 5.5 30 -4 
DET 24 34 .414 7.5 27 -3 
KC 23 35 .397 8.5 23 0 
American League West
LAA 36 24 .600 0.0 31 5 
OAK 32 27 .542 3.5 34 -2 
TEX 30 30 .500 6.0 29 1 
SEA 21 38 .356 14.5 23 -2 
National League East Pwins Diff
PHI 35 25 .583 0.0 36 -1 
FLA 31 26 .544 2.5 29 2 
ATL 31 28 .525 3.5 35 -4 
NYN 29 28 .509 4.5 29 0 
WAS 24 35 .407 10.5 23 1 
National League Central
CHN 38 21 .644 0.0 39 -1 
STL 35 25 .583 3.5 33 2 
HOU 31 28 .525 7.0 28 3 
MIL 31 28 .525 7.0 29 2 
CIN 28 31 .475 10.0 27 1 
PIT 27 31 .466 10.5 26 1 
National League West
ARI 32 27 .542 0.0 34 -2 
LAN 28 30 .483 3.5 30 -2 
SF 25 34 .424 7.0 25 0 
SD 23 37 .383 9.5 23 0 
COL 21 38 .356 11.0 22 -1 