THT Daily: End of Interleague

by Matthew Carruth
June 29, 2008

Major League News for June 29

Player News
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Top Minor League Performances

You can always find the most recent THT Daily at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/content/thtdaily/

Player News

Player Headlines are courtesy of Rotoworld
Tigers placed outfielder Magglio Ordonez on the 15-day disabled list with a pulled right oblique muscle.
When the Tigers said it was just a spasm, there was hope that he was day-to-day. However, they were downplaying a more serious injury. Marcus Thames should be an everyday player while Ordonez is out, and there will be plenty of at-bats for Matt Joyce in right field. The Tigers will hope to get Ordonez back right after the break.

Hiroki Kuroda pitched a pain-free simulated game Saturday and appears in line to make a start Wednesday in Houston.
Kuroda made 49 throws, utilizing all his pitches. "He didn't have any hesitation with anything that he was doing," manager Joe Torre said. Kuroda has been out since June 12 with tendinitis in his right shoulder.

Chad Billingsley shut out the Angels for seven innings as the Dodgers won 1-0 despite getting no-hit on Saturday night.
Only in Los Angeles. The Dodgers manufactured a run in the fifth after Matt Kemp's dribbler was mishandled by Jered Weaver. Kemp stole second and went to third after Jeff Mathis threw the ball into center field. He then scored on a sac fly from Blake DeWitt. Jonathan Broxton and Takashi Saito finished up the five-hitter for the Dodgers. Billingsley has won three in a row and is 7-7 with a 3.38 ERA.

Nationals placed outfielder Lastings Milledge on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right groin.
Milledge's injury figures to delay a decision on Wily Mo Pena, who could have been let go when Austin Kearns returned. The Nats may bring Kearns back as a center fielder or move Elijah Dukes there once Kearns is activated. For the next few days, they'll have extra at-bats for Willie Harris. Roger Bernadina could also make a couple of starts.

Dan Uggla was diagnosed with a sprained left ankle after leaving Saturday's game.
X-rays were negative, but it's unclear how bad of a sprain it is. The Marlins would lose a lot of offense if they had to go Alfredo Amezaga and Robert Andino at second base for two or three weeks.

Team doctor George Paletta told Jason Isringhausen late Friday night that his right knee strain will not require a stint on the DL.
"[Paletta] said there was a very minute chance that I would hurt it more," Isringhausen said. "So I'll just put a brace on it and take some Tylenol." Izzy will take a few more days off to rest but should be active in the bullpen by the middle of next week.

The Royals have reportedly called up Billy Butler and placed Alberto Callaspo on the disabled list for evaluation and treatment of an unspecified medical condition.
Since when is being an idiot a medical condition? It's good to see Butler back after he tore up Triple-A pitching for a month. He should be a major asset in AL-only leagues the rest of the way, and mixed leaguers need to keep an eye on him.

Interim Mets manager Jerry Manuel said Moises Alou (calf) might be ready by next weekend.
Alou has been out since June 13 after re-aggravating a strain in his right calf. He'll begin a rehab assignment either Monday or Tuesday. "If that's the case [that he plays in the minors on Monday], knowing Moises, he'll want to play in a major-league game Tuesday," Manuel said. "But we'll probably have to watch him a little longer than what we have in the past, just to be sure."

Yesterday’s Results

American League
TOR     9  ATL     5    (Recap and Boxscore)
CHA     6  CHN     5    (Recap and Boxscore)
CIN     5  CLE     0    (Recap and Boxscore)
DET     7  COL     6    (Recap and Boxscore)
STL     5  KC      1    (Recap and Boxscore)
MIL     5  MIN     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
SF      1  OAK     0    (Recap and Boxscore)
PHI     8  TEX     6    (Recap and Boxscore)

National League
ARI     6  FLA     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
NYA     3  NYN     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
BAL     9  WAS     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
HOU    11  BOS    10    (Recap and Boxscore)
PIT     4  TB      3    (Recap and Boxscore)
LAN     1  LAA     0    (Recap and Boxscore)
SEA     4  SD      2    (Recap and Boxscore)

Today’s Games

National League
 ---------------
 Arizona Diamondbacks at Florida Marlins, 1:10 PM
  (R) Dan Haren (8-4) vs. (L) Scott Olsen (4-4)
 
 Inter-League
 ------------
 Cincinnati Reds at Cleveland Indians, 1:05 PM
  (R) Bronson Arroyo (4-7) vs. (L) Aaron Laffey (4-4)
 Colorado Rockies at Detroit Tigers, 1:05 PM
  (R) Greg Reynolds (2-5) vs. (L) Kenny Rogers (5-5)
 Atlanta Braves at Toronto Blue Jays, 1:07 PM
  (L) Jo-Jo Reyes (3-5) vs. (R) A.J. Burnett (7-7)
 New York Yankees at New York Mets, 1:10 PM
  (R) Darrell Rasner (4-5) vs. (L) Oliver Perez (5-5)
 Baltimore Orioles at Washington Nationals, 1:35 PM
  (R) Jeremy Guthrie (4-7) vs. (R) Jason Bergmann (1-5)
 Tampa Bay Rays at Pittsburgh Pirates, 1:35 PM
  (R) Andy Sonnanstine (8-3) vs. (L) Tom Gorzelanny (6-6)
 Boston Red Sox at Houston Astros, 2:05 PM
  (R) Josh Beckett (7-5) vs. (R) Brian Moehler (4-3)
 St. Louis Cardinals at Kansas City Royals, 2:10 PM
  (R) Braden Looper (9-5) vs. (R) Brian Bannister (7-6)
 Milwaukee Brewers at Minnesota Twins, 2:10 PM
  (R) Ben Sheets (9-1) vs. (R) Kevin Slowey (4-6)
 San Francisco Giants at Oakland Athletics, 4:05 PM
  (L) Jonathan Sanchez (7-4) vs. (R) Joe Blanton (4-10)
 Seattle Mariners at San Diego Padres, 4:05 PM
  (L) Erik Bedard (4-4) vs. (R) Jake Peavy (5-4)
 LA Angels of Anaheim at Los Angeles Dodgers, 4:10 PM
  (R) John Lackey (5-1) vs. (R) Derek Lowe (5-7)
 Philadelphia Phillies at Texas Rangers, 6:05 PM
  (L) Jamie Moyer (7-5) vs. (R) Eric Hurley (0-1)
 Chicago Cubs at Chicago White Sox, 8:05 PM
  (L) Sean Marshall (0-1) vs. (L) Mark Buehrle (5-6)

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
BOS     50  33 .602    0.0   49     1    
TB      48  32 .600    0.5   46     2    
NYA     44  37 .543    5.0   43     1    
BAL     41  38 .519    7.0   40     1    
TOR     39  43 .476   10.5   44    -5    
American League Central     
CHA     45  35 .563    0.0   49    -4    
MIN     44  37 .543    1.5   41     3    
DET     40  40 .500    5.0   40     0    
CLE     37  44 .457    8.5   42    -5    
KC      37  44 .457    8.5   36     1    
American League West        
LAA     48  33 .593    0.0   42     6    
OAK     44  36 .550    3.5   48    -4    
TEX     41  41 .500    7.5   40     1    
SEA     30  50 .375   17.5   33    -3    


National League East        Pwins  Diff
PHI     44  38 .537    0.0   49    -5    
FLA     41  39 .513    2.0   38     3    
ATL     40  42 .488    4.0   45    -5    
NYN     39  41 .488    4.0   40    -1    
WAS     32  50 .390   12.0   29     3    
National League Central     
CHN     49  32 .605    0.0   50    -1    
STL     46  36 .561    3.5   44     2    
MIL     44  36 .550    4.5   40     4    
PIT     38  42 .475   10.5   35     3    
HOU     38  43 .469   11.0   37     1    
CIN     37  45 .451   12.5   35     2    
National League West        
ARI     41  40 .506    0.0   41     0    
LAN     38  42 .475    2.5   40    -2    
SF      35  46 .432    6.0   35     0    
COL     32  49 .395    9.0   33    -1    
SD      32  50 .390    9.5   32     0

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.

ORG LVL PLAYER            AB  H 2B 3B HR BB SO  Notes
ATL A+  Eric Campbell..... 3  2  0  0  2  2  0  3 R
HOU AAA Justin Towles..... 4  3  1  0  1  1  0  3 R
TOR A-  David Cooper...... 5  4  2  1  0  0  0  
DET AA  Wilkin Ramirez.... 5  3  0  0  2  0  1  
CLE A-  L. Chisenhall..... 5  3  0  1  1  1  0  
ATL A   Cody Johnson...... 4  2  0  0  2  0  1  
SD  AA  Kyle Blanks....... 4  2  1  0  1  1  1  
STL AAA Brian Barden...... 5  3  0  1  1  0  1  
TB  AAA Joel Guzman....... 4  3  1  0  1  0  0  
CIN AAA Adam Rosales...... 5  3  1  0  1  0  0  4 RBI
MIL AA  Cole Gillespie.... 4  2  1  0  1  0  0  
TEX A+  Ian Gac........... 5  3  2  0  0  0  0  3 R

ORG LVL PLAYER            IP  H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
TEX A   Derek Holland..... 8  3  0  0  7  1  0  
KC  AAA Carlos Rosa....... 5  2  1  1  8  1  0  
BOS A   Felix Doubront.... 6  3  1  1  7  1  0  
BAL A+  Brandon Erbe...... 6  4  3  0  5  0  0  
SF  A   Craig Clark....... 6  2  0  0  4  0  0  
LA  AA  Scott Elbert...... 3  0  0  0  7  1  0  
SF  A+  Jesse English..... 5  3  2  1  6  1  0  
PHI AAA J.A. Happ......... 8  5  1  1  5  2  0  
KC  A   Daniel Duffy...... 5  4  1  1  7  2  0  
CHC AAA Kevin Hart........ 3  0  0  0  5  0  0  
TB  AAA Mitch Talbot...... 7  6  1  1  4  0  0  14 GB
LAA A+  Sean O'Sullivan... 7  5  3  1  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.

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