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THT Daily: Buehrle stays!by Matthew CarruthJuly 09, 2007 Major League News for July 9Today’s LinksPlayer News Yesterday’s Results Today’s Games Standings Game of the Day Top Minor League Performances You can always find the most recent THT Daily at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/content/thtdaily/ THT LinksAwesome - What happens when George Brett discovers Baseball Reference? The same thing when any of us do. Awesomer - A while back, Dave Cameron at USS Mariner wrote an open letter to Mariners pitching coach Rafael Chaves concerning Felix Hernandez's tendency to throw nothing but fastballs at the beginnings of games, with poor results. Apparently, the letter actually made its way to Chaves and eventually to Felix himself, and he actually took notice. The Continuing Saga of Kyle Davies - Talking Chop declares that the evil version of Kyle Davies has been vanquished, for now at least. Oops - ESPN broke the All-Star lineups before the selection show on TBS, which held the rights, had finished. As punishment, MLB has suspended ESPN's right to have the Baseball Tonight crew onsite in San Francisco. Granderson is Lonely - I guess it's athletes and the Internet day. Curtis Granderson had his MySpace page deleted a few days ago. Now that he has it back up, he's lost his friends list. Bless You Boys doesn't want Curtis to go without friends. The Take on Buehrle - Lichtman and Tango take on the Mark Buehrle extension. Their conclusion? He is/was overvalued. 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 . Player NewsPlayer Headlines are courtesy of RotoworldWhite Sox signed LHP Mark Buehrle to a four-year contract extension through 2011. ESPN is reporting that the deal is worth $56 million and includes a clause that would make it a five-year, $75 million if he's traded. That would seem to suggest that Buehrle didn't get the full no-trade clause he wanted. It's a very good deal for the White Sox when compared to what he would have received as a free agent. Still, that doesn't necessarily mean he'll be worth the money. Buehrle has far more mileage on his arm than most 28-year-olds, and while it is very encouraging the way he's bounced back this year, he could have more seasons like his 2006 in his future. Dodgers prospect Chin-Lung Hu was named MVP of the Futures Game in the World Team's 7-2 win over the United States on Sunday. Canadian Joey Votto and James Van Ostrand homered for the World Team. Hu, who is getting promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas after the break, went 2-for-2 with two RBI and a stolen base. Justin Upton hit the only homer for the U.S. team, though Jay Bruce's 430-foot bomb to right-center would have gone out of 29 parks. It hit high off the wall at AT&T and resulted in a triple. Jeff Niemann took the loss after allowing three runs—two earned—in the first. Joe Blanton was ejected from Sunday's game in the seventh inning for his role in a bench-clearing incident against the Mariners. He was going to be taken out anyway. Raul Ibanez had a three-run double in the seventh to give the Mariners a 5-3 lead. On the play, the ball got past the catcher, and Ichiro Suzuki, who had scored, happened to be standing near where it landed. Blanton, backing up the play, shoved Ichiro rather harmlessly to get to the ball, and that's where it should have ended. However, Jason Ellison, who had also scored, decided to push Blanton, setting off the incident that led to both benches clearing. We understand Ellison getting feisty when he's only in the lineup once a month, but he should have minded his own business this time. Miguel Cabrera didn't play Sunday because of a jammed left shoulder and has been scratched from Monday's Home Run Derby. Cabrera was hurt making a diving attempt on a grounder in Saturday's game. It's unknown whether he'll play in the All-Star Game, but he'll probably be ready to go when play resumes after the break. Alex Rodriguez belted his 30th homer of the season on Sunday when he took Angels reliever Chris Resop deep in the fourth inning of a 12-0 Yankees win. The three-run shot put the Yankees up 10-0, and the club cruised from there. A-Rod added an RBI single in the first inning, bringing his first half total to 86 RBI in 85 games. Robinson Cano and Hideki Matsui added three-run blasts in the win as the Yankees recorded 12 hits. Chris Carpenter pitched three scoreless innings Sunday in his second rehab start for Single-A Palm Beach. Carpenter allowed two hits, walked one and struck out two while throwing 39 pitches. It seems like a nice step forward from a poor first outing. Still, that he threw only 39 pitches suggests he's going to need at least two more starts in the minors. Yesterday’s ResultsAmerican League NYA 12 LAA 0 (Recap and Boxscore) Wang: 6.1 IP, 0 R; A-Rod: HR, 4 RBI TOR 1 CLE 0 (Recap and Boxscore) See below CHA 6 MIN 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Thome: 3-4, HR; Vazquez: 9 IP, 3 R DET 6 BOS 5 (Recap and Boxscore) Sheffield: 2 2B, HR; Lugo: 2B, HR KC 12 TB 4 (Recap and Boxscore) Pena: 3 2B, 4 RBI; Gomes: 2 2B, HR SEA 7 OAK 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Lopez: 3-5, HR; Ellison: 4-4; SEA: 2.5 GB TEX 2 BAL 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Millwood: 6 IP, 1 R; Cabrera: 6 IP, 2 R National League WAS 7 MIL 2 (Recap and Boxscore) CIN 4 ARI 3 (Recap and Boxscore) 11 innings; Hatteberg: 4-5, HR; Harang: 8 IP, 1 R HOU 8 NYN 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Burke: HR, 3 RS; Oswalt: 7 IP, 3 R PIT 6 CHN 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Youman: 6 IP, 2 R STL 7 SF 0 (Recap and Boxscore) Ludwick: 2 2B; Wellemeyer: 5 IP, 0 R PHI 8 COL 4 (Recap and Boxscore) LAN 9 FLA 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Ethier, Martin: 2 H, HR, 3 RBI ATL 5 SD 4 (Recap and Boxscore) Davies: 6 IP, 1 R
Today’s GamesNational League --------------- Arizona Diamondbacks at Cincinnati Reds, 1:15 PM (R) Yusmeiro Petit (1-1) vs. (R) Aaron Harang (9-2) Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh Pirates, 1:35 PM (R) Carlos Zambrano (10-6) vs. (L) Shane Youman (1-0) Milwaukee Brewers at Washington Nationals, 1:35 PM (L) Chris Capuano (5-5) vs. (R) Tim Redding (0-1) New York Mets at Houston Astros, 2:05 PM (L) Dave Williams (0-0) vs. (R) Roy Oswalt (7-5) San Francisco Giants at St. Louis Cardinals, 2:15 PM (L) Barry Zito (6-8) vs. (R) Todd Wellemeyer (2-1) Philadelphia Phillies at Colorado Rockies, 3:05 PM (R) Adam Eaton (7-5) vs. (R) Aaron Cook (5-5) Florida Marlins at Los Angeles Dodgers, 4:10 PM (L) Scott Olsen (6-6) vs. (L) Mark Hendrickson (2-4) Atlanta Braves at San Diego Padres, 8:05 PM (R) Kyle Davies (3-7) vs. (R) Greg Maddux (7-5) American League --------------- LA Angels of Anaheim at New York Yankees, 1:05 PM (R) Ervin Santana (5-9) vs. (R) Chien-Ming Wang (8-4) Boston Red Sox at Detroit Tigers, 1:05 PM (R) Daisuke Matsuzaka (10-5) vs. (L) Nate Robertson (4-6) Cleveland Indians at Toronto Blue Jays, 1:07 PM (R) Paul Byrd (7-3) vs. (R) Josh Towers (4-5) Minnesota Twins at Chicago White Sox, 2:05 PM (R) Carlos Silva (6-9) vs. (R) Javier Vazquez (5-5) Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Kansas City Royals, 2:10 PM (L) Scott Kazmir (5-5) vs. (L) Jorge De La Rosa (6-9) Baltimore Orioles at Texas Rangers, 3:05 PM (R) Daniel Cabrera (6-9) vs. (R) Kevin Millwood (5-7) Seattle Mariners at Oakland Athletics, 4:05 PM (L) Ryan Feierabend (1-3) vs. (R) Joe Blanton (8-4)\ 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 BOS 53 34 .609 0.0 53 0 Game of the DayIf chicks love a pitching duel and Grady Sizemore, then there was plenty to love in Toronto yesterday, where the Blue Jays beat the Indians, 1-0, on a ninth-inning double by Reed Johnson and subsequent single by Alexis Rios. The unlikely pairing of Cleveland Paul Byrd and Toronto’s Josh Towers produced eight innings of goose eggs before the final frame. Alas, Sizemore didn’t figure in the outcome. CLEVELAND (0) VS TORONTO (1) - FINAL
CLEVELAND ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
G Sizemore cf 4 0 0 0 0 2 2 .280
C Blake 3b 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 .276
V Martinez 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .324
T Hafner dh 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 .262
J Peralta ss 4 0 0 0 0 2 4 .277
T Nixon rf 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .238
J Michaels lf 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 .284
K Shoppach c 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .330
J Barfield 2b 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 .260
Totals 31 0 3 0 1 6 8
BATTING: Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J Peralta 2, G Sizemore 1.
Team LOB - 5.
BASERUNNING: SB - J Barfield (9, 2nd base off J Towers/G Zaun).
TORONTO ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
V Wells cf 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .253
R Johnson lf 4 1 1 0 0 1 2 .244
A Rios rf 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 .294
F Thomas dh 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .251
M Stairs 1b 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .287
G Zaun c 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .240
R Clayton ss 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 .236
H Clark 2b 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 .250
J McDonald 3b 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 .288
Totals 30 1 5 1 0 2 7
BATTING: 2B - R Clayton (14, P Byrd); R Johnson (3, P Byrd). RBI - A Rios (53).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - R Johnson 1, J McDonald 1. Team LOB -
4.
FIELDING: E - M Stairs (5, catch).
----------------------------------------------------
CLEVELAND - 000 000 000 -- 0
TORONTO - 000 000 001 -- 1
One out when winning run scored.
----------------------------------------------------
CLEVELAND ip h r er bb so hr era
P Byrd (L, 7-4) 8 1/3 4 1 1 0 2 0 4.41
R Betancourt 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.13
TORONTO ip h r er bb so hr era
J Towers 8 3 0 0 0 4 0 5.07
S Downs 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.41
J Accardo (W, 2-3) 2/3 0 0 0 1 2 0 2.80
J Towers pitched to 1 batter in the 9th.
R Betancourt pitched to 1 batter in the 9th.
Pitches-strikes: P Byrd 96-70; R Betancourt 3-2; J Towers 92-68; S Downs 2-1;
J Accardo 18-11. Ground balls-fly balls: P Byrd 8-15; R Betancourt 0-0; J
Towers 11-9; S Downs 1-0; J Accardo 0-0. Batters faced: P Byrd 29; R Betancourt
1; J Towers 27; S Downs 1; J Accardo 4.
UMPIRES: HP--Bruce Dreckman. 1B--Gary Darling. 2B--Jerry Meals. 3B--Larry
Poncino.
T--2:17. Att--28,239.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.  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 AAA Adam Jones........ 4 3 1 0 2 0 0 4 RBI BOS AA Jed Lowrie........ 6 3 1 0 2 0 1 3 R SF AAA Nate Schierholtz.. 3 2 1 0 1 1 1 TEX A Marcus Lemon...... 4 3 1 0 0 1 0 3 SB HOU A Nicholas Moresi... 3 2 1 0 1 0 1 SD A+ Craig Cooper...... 4 3 2 0 0 0 1 COL AAA Joseph Koshansky.. 4 1 0 0 1 0 2 TB AAA Elliot Johnson.... 4 2 0 1 0 0 2 CHC AAA Eric Patterson.... 5 2 1 0 0 0 1 ARI AAA Chris Carter...... 4 3 1 0 0 0 0 3 LD OAK AA Richie Robnett.... 4 2 2 0 0 0 1 OAK A+ Justin Sellers.... 3 1 1 0 0 1 0 2 SB ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes COL AAA Ubaldo Jimenez.... 7 5 1 1 8 3 0 COL A+ Brandon Hynick.... 9 4 1 1 11 2 1 ARI A+ Matthew Torra..... 7 8 2 1 9 1 0 TB AAA Juan Salas........ 2 1 0 0 5 0 0 LAA AAA Joe Saunders...... 7 7 4 4 7 0 2 WAN AA Garrett Mock...... 4 2 2 2 5 2 0 OAK A+ Vincent Mazzaro... 6 3 2 2 5 2 1 CIN A+ Travis Wood....... 3 3 0 0 5 0 0 MIN A+ Jeffrey Manship... 5 2 4 2 4 2 0 WAN A+ Craig Stammen..... 6 4 2 0 4 2 0 COL AA Juan Morillo...... 2 2 0 0 4 0 0 CHC A Juan Mateo........ 6 3 1 1 6 2 0 Access THT’s stats here…
Matthew Carruth is an editor for The Hardball Times. He welcomes any and all sorts of communication at his email. 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: 2007 over- and underperformers>> <<Previous Article: THT Dartboard: July 8, 2007 | |||||
NYA 42 43 .494 10.0 50 -8 
TOR 43 44 .494 10.0 45 -2 
BAL 38 49 .437 15.0 43 -5 
TB 34 53 .391 19.0 32 2 
American League Central
DET 52 34 .605 0.0 53 -1 
CLE 52 36 .591 1.0 49 3 
MIN 45 43 .511 8.0 48 -3 
CHA 39 47 .453 13.0 36 3 
KC 38 50 .432 15.0 41 -3 
American League West
LAA 53 35 .602 0.0 49 4 
SEA 49 36 .576 2.5 44 5 
OAK 44 44 .500 9.0 47 -3 
TEX 38 50 .432 15.0 40 -2 
National League East Pwins Diff
NYN 48 39 .552 0.0 46 2 
ATL 47 42 .528 2.0 45 2 
PHI 44 44 .500 4.5 43 1 
FLA 42 47 .472 7.0 41 1 
WAS 36 52 .409 12.5 33 3 
National League Central
MIL 49 39 .557 0.0 48 1 
CHN 44 43 .506 4.5 46 -2 
STL 40 45 .471 7.5 36 4 
PIT 40 48 .455 9.0 38 2 
HOU 39 50 .438 10.5 41 -2 
CIN 36 52 .409 13.0 41 -5 
National League West
SD 49 38 .563 0.0 52 -3 
LAN 49 40 .551 1.0 48 1 
ARI 47 43 .522 3.5 42 5 
COL 44 44 .500 5.5 43 1 
SF 38 48 .442 10.5 43 -5 