THT Daily: Damien’s on fire
by Matthew CarruthJuly 03, 2007
Major League News for July 3
Today’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 Links
Stock watch - Marc Hulet of Baseball Analysts looks at four top prospects who are struggling a bit after breaking out in 2007.
Relief ace - Apparently, the Twins are considering using Johan Santana out of the pen this week before the All-Star break, when they play four games in three days against the White Sox. While he would have more time to recover, it does seem like an unnecessary risk given the great season they're getting from their pen.
All-Star bonuses - Alex Rodriguez is earning the highest All-Star bonus this season at $200,000, with a total of $2.13 million being divided between 41 of the 62 All-Stars. Personally, I've always found the idea of an All-Star bonus a bit perverse, since it seems like only the best players get them. Shouldn't the best players be expected to be All-Stars and worse players rewarded with a bonus for exceeding expectations?
Almonte cut - Deadspin reports that former Little League World Series star Danny Almonte was cut by his Frontier League team after posting a 5.28 ERA.
How to get a job - It's now July, and many recent graduates are still bumming around looking (or perhaps not looking) for gainful employment. Fishstripes passes on a story of how one woman got a job with the Florida Marlins.
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 THT Links.
Player News
Player Headlines are courtesy of RotoworldWhite Sox GM Ken Williams said Monday that his latest offer to Mark Buehrle includes no-trade protection except for in an 18-month window in the middle of the deal. We assume that window will be closed by Buehrle's 10-and-5 rights when he reaches 10 years of service time during the 2010 season. Still, Buehrle should insist on a full no-trade clause if he's going to accept a below-market deal. After all, if he's traded during the window, he'll lose his potential 10-and-5 rights on his new team. Williams may know this, which is why he's opted to tell the media about his offer. If Buehrle turns it down, at least everyone will know Williams tried.
In his fourth attempt, Roger Clemens finally earned his 350th career victory with eight innings of one-run ball Monday against the Twins. Not only was he very good, but he gave the Yankees the innings they needed after a long weekend for the bullpen. Clemens allowed just two hits -- a Joe Mauer double and a Michael Cuddyer single -- on his way to becoming the first major leaguer to win 350 games since Warren Spahn accomplished the feat on Sept. 29, 1963. Mariano Rivera finished up the 5-1 game.
Rangers placed second baseman Ian Kinsler on the 15-day disabled list with a stress fracture in his left foot. An MRI confirmed the injury. The Rangers say Kinsler will miss at least three weeks. A six- to eight-week absence is a real possibility, depending on how the fracture heals. The Rangers will go with Ramon Vazquez at second and Travis Metcalf at third for now, with Jerry Hairston Jr. serving as a backup at both positions. All three should have some value in AL-only leagues until either Kinsler or Hank Blalock returns.
The Yankees confirmed that Alex Rodriguez had a strained left hamstring, but they won't update his status until Tuesday. He'll see a doctor in the morning. It didn't seem to be a major injury when he left, so even though hamstrings can be tricky, we're calling him day-to-day. Miguel Cairo might have to start in his place for a couple of days.
The Marlins are calling Hanley Ramirez day-to-day with a left hamstring tightness. It didn't seem to be just tightness. According to MLB.com, Ramirez was slow getting out of the batter's box on his third-inning hit and jogged all the way to second. With Ramirez grimacing with hands on knees at second base, the trainer and manager Fredi Gonzalez came out to look at him and pulled him from the game.
Yesterday’s Results
American League BOS 7 TEX 3 (Recap and Boxscore) NYA 5 MIN 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Abreu: 3-4, HR; Clemens: 8 IP, 1 R BAL 7 CHA 6 (Recap and Boxscore) See below CLE 10 TB 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Francisco: 3-3, 2B, HR; Carmona: 6 IP, 2 R KC 3 SEA 2 (Recap and Boxscore) 11 innings; Hernandez: 8 IP, 2 R TOR 11 OAK 7 (Recap and Boxscore) Wells: 4-5, 2 HR National League CHN 7 WAS 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Lilly: 7 IP, 1 R HOU 7 PHI 5 (Recap and Boxscore) Biggio: 2 2B MIL 10 PIT 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Miller: 2 HR, 7 RBI; McLouth: 2 2B STL 11 ARI 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Rolen: 3B, 4 RBI COL 6 NYN 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Hirsh: 6 IP, 0 R LAN 8 ATL 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Martin: 4-5; Lowe: 5 IP, 1 R SD 3 FLA 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Wells: 6.2 IP, 0 R
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Today’s Games
National League --------------- Milwaukee Brewers at Pittsburgh Pirates, 4:05 PM (L) Chris Capuano (5-5) vs. (L) Shane Youman (0-0) Chicago Cubs at Washington Nationals, 7:05 PM (R) Carlos Zambrano (9-6) vs. (R) Tim Redding (0-0) San Francisco Giants at Cincinnati Reds, 7:10 PM (L) Barry Zito (6-8) vs. (R) Aaron Harang (8-2) New York Mets at Colorado Rockies, 8:05 PM (L) Jason Vargas (0-0) vs. (R) Aaron Cook (4-5) Philadelphia Phillies at Houston Astros, 8:05 PM (R) Adam Eaton (7-5) vs. (R) Roy Oswalt (7-5) Arizona Diamondbacks at St. Louis Cardinals, 8:10 PM (L) Randy Johnson (4-3) vs. (R) Todd Wellemeyer (2-0) Florida Marlins at San Diego Padres, 10:05 PM (L) Scott Olsen (6-6) vs. (R) Greg Maddux (7-4) Atlanta Braves at Los Angeles Dodgers, 10:10 PM (R) Kyle Davies (3-7) vs. (L) Randy Wolf (9-6) American League --------------- Minnesota Twins at New York Yankees, 7:05 PM (R) Carlos Silva (6-8) vs. (R) Chien-Ming Wang (7-4) Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Boston Red Sox, 7:05 PM (L) Scott Kazmir (5-4) vs. (R) Daisuke Matsuzaka (9-5) Cleveland Indians at Detroit Tigers, 7:05 PM (R) Paul Byrd (7-3) vs. (L) Nate Robertson (4-6) Seattle Mariners at Kansas City Royals, 8:10 PM (L) Ryan Feierabend (1-2) vs. (L) Jorge De La Rosa (5-9) Baltimore Orioles at Chicago White Sox, 8:11 PM (R) Daniel Cabrera (6-8) vs. (R) Javier Vazquez (4-5) LA Angels of Anaheim at Texas Rangers, 8:35 PM (R) Ervin Santana (5-8) vs. (R) Kevin Millwood (4-7) Toronto Blue Jays at Oakland Athletics, 10:05 PM (R) Jesse Litsch (1-2) vs. (R) Joe Blanton (7-4)
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 BOS 50 31 .617 0.0 49 1TOR 40 42 .488 10.5 42 -2
NYA 38 41 .481 11.0 45 -7
BAL 36 45 .444 14.0 40 -4
TB 33 48 .407 17.0 31 2
American League Central CLE 50 32 .610 0.0 47 3
DET 47 33 .588 2.0 48 -1
MIN 42 39 .519 7.5 43 -1
CHA 35 44 .443 13.5 33 2
KC 35 48 .422 15.5 36 -1
American League West LAA 51 31 .622 0.0 48 3
SEA 45 34 .570 4.5 41 4
OAK 42 40 .512 9.0 45 -3
TEX 34 48 .415 17.0 37 -3
National League East Pwins Diff NYN 46 35 .568 0.0 45 1
ATL 43 40 .518 4.0 41 2
PHI 42 41 .506 5.0 40 2
FLA 38 45 .458 9.0 38 0
WAS 33 49 .402 13.5 29 4
National League Central MIL 48 34 .585 0.0 46 2
CHN 41 40 .506 6.5 44 -3
STL 37 42 .468 9.5 33 4
HOU 36 47 .434 12.5 38 -2
PIT 35 47 .427 13.0 34 1
CIN 31 51 .378 17.0 36 -5
National League West SD 47 34 .580 0.0 50 -3
LAN 47 36 .566 1.0 46 1
ARI 46 38 .548 2.5 39 7
COL 40 43 .482 8.0 39 1
SF 35 45 .438 11.5 41 -6
Game of the Day
It was a heart-breaking game for White Sox fans. In what may have been Mark Buerhle’s last game as a White Sock, the Pale Hose lost to the Orioles, 7-6, after blowing a 6-2 seven-inning lead. The Orioles scored three in the eighth and two in the ninth off All-Star Bobby Jenks. The big blows were singles by Brian Roberts and Kevin Millar, a key double by Corey Patterson (who went 4 for 4) and an eighth-inning triple by Jay Payton.BALTIMORE (7) VS CHI WHITE SOX (6) - FINAL
BALTIMORE ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
B Roberts 2b 5 1 1 1 0 0 3 .325
C Gomez 3b 4 1 1 0 0 0 2 .294
N Markakis rf 4 1 2 1 1 1 1 .274
K Millar 1b 5 1 3 2 0 1 2 .282
A Huff dh 5 0 1 0 0 1 5 .264
R Hernandez c 5 1 1 1 0 1 4 .243
J Payton lf 4 0 1 2 0 0 1 .279
B Fahey ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .143
a-J Gibbons ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .201
F Bynum ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .243
C Patterson cf 4 2 4 0 0 0 0 .239
Totals 40 7 14 7 1 5 20
a-struck out swinging for B Fahey in the 8th.
BATTING: 2B - C Patterson 2 (18, M Buehrle, B Jenks); N Markakis (22, M
Buehrle); C Gomez (3, M Buehrle); R Hernandez (8, R Bukvich). 3B - J Payton (3,
R Bukvich). S - C Gomez. RBI - N Markakis (45), K Millar 2 (28), R Hernandez
(34), J Payton 2 (30), B Roberts (25). 2-out RBI - N Markakis, K Millar, R
Hernandez, J Payton 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - R Hernandez 1,
J Gibbons 1. Team LOB - 8.
BASERUNNING: SB - B Roberts (26, 3rd base off B Jenks/A Pierzynski), N
Markakis (8, 2nd base off B Jenks/A Pierzynski).
CHI WHITE SOX ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
A Gonzalez lf 3 1 1 0 1 1 2 .246
a-R Mackowiak ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .239
T Iguchi 2b 5 0 0 0 0 1 1 .247
J Thome dh 3 1 2 2 1 1 0 .273
P Konerko 1b 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 .251
A Pierzynski c 4 1 1 0 0 0 2 .247
J Dye rf 4 0 0 0 0 3 1 .226
J Fields 3b 3 1 1 2 1 0 0 .235
L Terrero cf 3 1 1 0 1 2 0 .247
J Uribe ss 3 1 1 2 1 1 2 .235
Totals 33 6 7 6 5 10 11
a-struck out swinging for A Gonzalez in the 9th.
BATTING: HR - J Thome (11, 1st inning off E Bedard 1 on, 1 Out), J Uribe (7,
5th inning off E Bedard 1 on, 0 Out), J Fields (3, 6th inning off E Bedard 1
on, 1 Out). RBI - J Thome 2 (33), J Uribe 2 (29), J Fields 2 (14). Runners left
in scoring position, 2 out - A Pierzynski 1, A Gonzalez 1. Team LOB - 5.
BASERUNNING: CS - J Uribe (2, 2nd base by P Shuey/R Hernandez).
FIELDING: E - J Fields (1, ground ball).
----------------------------------------------------
BALTIMORE - 002 000 032 -- 7
CHI WHITE SOX - 200 022 000 -- 6
----------------------------------------------------
BALTIMORE ip h r er bb so hr era
E Bedard 5 2/3 5 6 6 4 5 3 3.67
P Shuey 2/3 1 0 0 1 0 0 2.70
K Birkins 2/3 1 0 0 0 0 0 13.50
R Bell (W, 1-1) 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 2.70
C Ray (S, 14) 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 5.02
CHI WHITE SOX ip h r er bb so hr era
M Buehrle 7 2/3 9 4 2 0 3 0 3.26
R Bukvich (H, 2) 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 5.59
B Logan (H, 5) 1/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 3.86
B Jenks (L, 2-4; B, 3) 1 3 2 2 1 1 0 3.21
R Bukvich pitched to 2 batters in the 8th.
WP - R Bukvich. IBB - N Markakis (by B Jenks). Pitches-strikes: E Bedard
101-57; P Shuey 15-7; K Birkins 14-10; R Bell 12-8; C Ray 15-9; M Buehrle
117-81; R Bukvich 8-5; B Logan 5-4; B Jenks 28-16. Ground balls-fly balls: E
Bedard 5-7; P Shuey 1-0; K Birkins 0-2; R Bell 1-0; C Ray 0-0; M Buehrle 9-10;
R Bukvich 0-0; B Logan 0-0; B Jenks 2-0. Batters faced: E Bedard 26; P Shuey 3;
K Birkins 3; R Bell 3; C Ray 3; M Buehrle 32; R Bukvich 2; B Logan 1; B Jenks
7.
UMPIRES: HP--Mark Carlson. 1B--Larry Young. 2B--Ted Barrett. 3B--Angel
Hernandez.
T--2:53. Att--35,161.
Weather: 71 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 11 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.
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 LAA AAA Brandon Wood...... 5 2 0 0 1 0 1 CIN AA Jay Bruce......... 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 LA AAA Andy LaRoche...... 4 1 0 0 1 0 0 COL AAA Ian Stewart....... 4 2 1 0 0 1 1 TB AA Chris Nowak....... 4 3 0 1 1 0 1 3 R LA A+ Blake Dewitt...... 5 5 1 0 0 0 0 CLE AA Trevor Crowe...... 4 2 1 0 0 1 0 COL A+ Eric Young........ 3 2 1 0 0 2 0 2 SB DET A Scott Sizemore.... 3 2 2 0 0 2 0 ATL A+ Elvis Andrus...... 4 3 1 0 1 1 0 TEX AAA Jason Botts....... 4 2 2 0 0 0 1 CIN A Chris Valaika..... 3 1 0 0 1 2 2 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes TB A+ Jacob McGee....... 7 2 0 0 13 0 0 HOU AAA Juan Gutierrez.... 7 3 1 1 8 3 0 ATL A Jamie Richmond.... 7 5 2 2 7 1 0 ATL AAA Jo-Jo Reyes....... 5 5 0 0 9 2 0 TEX AA Edinson Volquez... 5 5 3 3 7 2 1 MIN A Alex Burnett...... 5 2 1 1 7 1 0 CHC AA Donald Veal....... 6 5 1 1 6 3 0 SF A Adam Cowart....... 7 6 2 2 6 2 0 14 GB MIN A+ Oswaldo Sosa...... 7 4 0 0 7 3 0 CIN A+ Travis Wood....... 5 5 4 4 9 3 1 NYY A+ Kevin Whelan...... 5 1 0 0 3 2 0 BAL A Pedro Beato....... 6 8 4 4 4 1 0
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Matthew Carruth is an editor for The Hardball Times. He welcomes any and all sorts of communication at his email.