THT Daily: Cardinals cllinch
by Dave StudemanSeptember 27, 2009
Major League News for September 27
Player News
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
You can always find the most recent THT Daily at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/content/thtdaily/
Player News
Player Headlines are courtesy of RotoworldThe Rangers plan to give Julio Borbon several starts in center field once the team is eliminated from the postseason.
You would think the Rangers would be more interested in evaluating Borbon than pretending they're still in the thick of the race. Manager Ron Washington said it's too early to tell if the rookie is the team's centerfielder of the future. The key to the 23-year old manning center next season is dependent on reading the ball off the bat. Borbon should be on your fantasy radar for 2010, especially if Texas thins out their outfield depth by letting Marlon Byrd leave as a free agent.
It is not yet known when Pedro Martinez (neck) will make his next start.
Martinez was scratched from his scheduled Saturday start and is scheduled to pitch Thursday against Houston. However, 'Petey' could return earlier. "Pedro will pitch when he is healthy," pitching coach Rich Dubee said.
Adam Wainwright held the Rockies to three runs -- two earned -- over eight innings Saturday as the Cardinals clinched the NL Central crown.
The final score was 6-3. Wainwright probably should have been pulled after the sixth inning, but the Cardinals were on a mission to wrap up their division. And the 28-year-old right-hander has never exhibited problems with stamina. He tossed a career-high 130 pitches -- 89 of which were strikes -- and fanned 11 Rockies hitters. With a 19-8 record, 204 strikeouts, a 2.58 ERA and 1.21 WHIP, he may be the frontrunner for the NL Cy Young Award.
Ronnie Belliard went 3-for-5 with a solo homer Saturday night as the Dodgers topped the Pirates 8-4 in Pittsburgh.
Belliard started at third base in place of the injured Casey Blake and stayed hot at the plate. He's been fantastic since arriving in the Dodgers clubhouse and should continue to see time at the plate. The Dodgers' magic number to clinch the NL West now rests at 3
Denard Span went 4-for-5 and drove in six runs Saturday as the Twins picked up an 11-6 victory over the Royals.
Span collected his 10th triple in the top of the fourth inning, clearing a loaded basepath in the process. He showed no lingering signs of a concussion and is now batting .311 on the year. The Twins weren't able to gain ground in the AL Central standings because the Tigers also won, but this Minnesota club is on quite a late-season tear.
Ryan Braun hit a walk-off three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday to help the Brewers defeat the Phillies 7-5.
Braun finished 3-for-5 with three RBI. The Brewers are out of the hunt for a playoff spot, but showed no give against the Phillies Saturday night. 11 hits were tallied, with Craig Counsell and Felipe Lopez helping out in the RBI department. Braun is batting .314 with 30 homers and 106 RBI.
Miguel Cabrera finished 4-for-6 with four RBI Saturday as the Tigers topped the White Sox 12-5 and maintained their lead in the AL Central.
The Tigers have faltered a bit down the stretch, but showed impressive resolve Saturday after going down 5-0 in the first four innings. Cabrera led the charge, picking up his 32nd home run and running his season-long RBI total to 100. He's batting .331 on the year.
CC Sabathia tossed seven shutout innings on Saturday afternoon as the Yankees topped the rival Red Sox 3-0.
The Yankees' magic number to clinch the AL East now rests at 1. Sabathia racked up eight strikeouts against just two walks. He allowed just one hit -- a single -- against a tough Red Sox lineup, lowering his ERA to 3.21 and his WHIP to 1.10. At 19-7, he'll surely receive some AL Cy Young votes, but we're still fans of Zack Greinke for the award.
Yesterday’s Results
For the full scoop regarding yesterday's games, read "And That Happened" at Shysterball.American League NYA 3 BOS 0 (Recap and Boxscore) TOR 5 SEA 4 (Recap and Boxscore) DET 12 CHA 5 (Recap and Boxscore) CLE 9 BAL 8 (Recap and Boxscore) MIN 11 KC 6 (Recap and Boxscore) OAK 15 LAA 10 (Recap and Boxscore) TEX 15 TB 3 (Recap and Boxscore) National League FLA 9 NYN 6 (Recap and Boxscore) ATL 11 WAS 5 (Recap and Boxscore) CIN 10 HOU 4 (Recap and Boxscore) MIL 7 PHI 5 (Recap and Boxscore) LAN 8 PIT 4 (Recap and Boxscore) ARI 8 SD 5 (Recap and Boxscore) STL 6 COL 3 (Recap and Boxscore) CHN 6 SF 2 (Recap and Boxscore)Check out Fangraphs' scoreboard to see all the games in action.
Today’s Games
RedSox (91-63) @ Yankees (99-56), 1:05pm
Paul Byrd (38, RHP) vs. Andy Pettitte (37, LHP)
Orioles (60-94) @ Indians (63-91), 1:05pm
Chris Tillman (21, RHP) vs. David Huff (24, LHP)
Mariners (80-75) @ Blue Jays (71-84), 1:07pm
Ryan Rowland-Smith (26, LHP) vs. Brian Tallet (31, LHP)
Tigers (83-71) @ WhiteSox (74-81), 2:05pm
Edwin Jackson (25, RHP) vs. Daniel Hudson (22, RHP)
Twins (81-73) @ Royals (63-92), 2:10pm
Francisco Liriano (25, LHP) vs. Zack Greinke (25, RHP)
Rays (78-76) @ Rangers (85-69), 3:05pm
David Price (23, LHP) vs. Brandon McCarthy (25, RHP)
Athletics (75-80) @ Angels (90-64), 3:35pm
Edgar Gonzalez (26, RHP) vs. Joe Saunders (28, LHP)
Mets (66-89) @ Marlins (83-72), 1:10pm
Patrick Misch (27, LHP) vs. Josh Johnson (25, RHP)
Braves (84-70) @ Nationals (52-102), 1:35pm
Derek Lowe (36, RHP) vs. Livan Hernandez (34, RHP)
Dodgers (93-62) @ Pirates (57-96), 1:35pm
Clayton Kershaw (21, LHP) vs. Daniel McCutchen (26, RHP)
Phillies (89-65) @ Brewers (77-78), 2:05pm
Joe Blanton (28, RHP) vs. David Bush (29, RHP)
Reds (74-81) @ Astros (71-83), 2:05pm
Johnny Cueto (23, RHP) vs. Wandy Rodriguez (30, LHP)
Cardinals (90-65) @ Rockies (87-68), 3:10pm
Kyle Lohse (30, RHP) vs. Jorge de la Rosa (28, LHP)
Cubs (81-73) @ Giants (82-73), 4:05pm
Randy Wells (26, RHP) vs. Matt Cain (24, RHP)
Padres (72-84) @ D'backs (67-88), 4:10pm
Edward Mujica (25, RHP) vs. Billy Buckner (25, RHP)
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 NYA 99 56 .639 0.0 92 7BOS 91 63 .591 7.5 91 0
TB 78 76 .506 20.5 81 -3
TOR 71 84 .458 28.0 79 -8
BAL 60 94 .390 38.5 64 -4
American League Central DET 83 71 .539 0.0 78 5
MIN 81 73 .526 2.0 81 0
CHA 74 81 .477 9.5 75 -1
CLE 63 91 .409 20.0 69 -6
KC 63 92 .406 20.5 64 -1
American League West LAA 90 64 .584 0.0 87 3
TEX 85 69 .552 5.0 83 2
SEA 80 75 .516 10.5 71 9
OAK 75 80 .484 15.5 79 -4
National League East Pwins Diff PHI 89 65 .578 0.0 88 1
ATL 84 70 .545 5.0 87 -3
FLA 83 72 .535 6.5 78 5
NYN 66 89 .426 23.5 67 -1
WAS 52 102 .338 37.0 60 -8
National League Central STL 90 65 .581 0.0 88 2
CHN 81 73 .526 8.5 82 -1
MIL 77 78 .497 13.0 75 2
CIN 74 81 .477 16.0 72 2
HOU 71 83 .461 18.5 65 6
PIT 57 96 .373 32.0 62 -5
National League West LAN 93 62 .600 0.0 97 -4
COL 87 68 .561 6.0 86 1
SF 82 73 .529 11.0 81 1
SD 72 84 .462 21.5 64 8
ARI 67 88 .432 26.0 71 -4
Wildcard Standings American League BOS 91 63 .591 0.0 TEX 85 69 .552 6.0 MIN 81 73 .526 10.0 SEA 80 75 .516 11.5 TB 78 76 .506 13.0 National League COL 87 68 .561 0.0 ATL 84 70 .545 2.5 FLA 83 72 .535 4.0 SF 82 73 .529 5.0 CHN 81 73 .526 5.5
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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.
The Dodgers magic number is actually 1, not 3.