THT Daily: Finally!
by Matthew CarruthAugust 08, 2007
Major League News for August 8
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
The Take - Brian Gunn blows everyone else out of the water with his take on the Barry Bonds story. Read this.
Ouch - Marlin Josh Willingham has been the target of his own body, suffering from kidney stones that have already landed him in the hospital for pain earlier this week.
Soriano's Replacement - Alfonso Soriano is going to be iffy for awhile and the Cubs, right in the thick of a playoff race, don't call up their best option Felix Pie, but instead Eric Patterson.
The Yankee Offensive - 9.4 runs a game. That's what the Yankees averaged from July 21 to August 5. Their team OPS was .964. Incredible.
No Streak for You - People weren't ready to count the Athletics out until the summer came, expecting to see another post-All-Star Break run where the A's play magically different baseball. Not this year. This team is going nowhere right now and with a pretty barren farm system, might be down there for awhile.
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 .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Player News
Player Headlines are courtesy of RotoworldBarry Bonds set the all-time record for home runs when he hit the 756th of his career off the Nationals Mike Bacsik in the fifth inning on Tuesday. Bonds worked a 3-2 count on Bacsik before fouling off the sixth pitch of the at-bat. On the seventh pitch, Bacsik challenged Bonds and the home run king smacked the pitch a few rows deep into the seats in right center field. Hank Aaron was not at the game, but he did give an inspiring message in a pre-taped speech that was broadcast over the big screen after the blast. Bonds then thanked his father in an emotional speech. It was a nice event to witness in a vacuum, but the controversy surrounding the star will greatly cloud the memory in the minds of many.
Justin Upton missed hitting for the cycle by just a single against the Pirates on Tuesday. Upton tripled in the second, hit a solo homer in the fourth, and then doubled in the seventh. He received just one more at-bat in the contest, grounding out to second against closer Matt Capps to end the game. The homer, which was a deep drive to left off starter Tom Gorzelanny, was his first in the major leagues. Upton is 19-years-old and has been in the majors less than a week yet has already almost hit for the cycle. He's got a decent little future ahead of himself.
Ryan Howard hit a pair of solo homers and added a third RBI on a groundout as the Phillies blew out the Marlins 11-1 on Tuesday. Howard hit a solo homer off reliever Carlos Martinez in the fourth, then added a second blast off reliever Mauro Zarate in the sixth. Despite playing in just 94 games this season, Howard has an impressive 32 homers and 93 RBI. In addition to Howard's big day, Aaron Rowand scored three times and homered while Jayson Werth reached base on four occasions. Today's win combined with a Mets' loss leaves the Phillies four games out in the NL East.
Roger Clemens was tossed from Tuesday's game in the seventh inning for throwing at and hitting Alex Rios with a pitch. Josh Towers previously hit Alex Rodriguez with a pitch that everyone assumed was intenional. Once the game was pretty much decided, Clemens finally followed suit and drilled the Jays' best player. He should be suspended, but that would only back up one of his starts by a day or two. Clemens allowed two hits in six-plus scoreless innings before exiting.
According to the Arizona Republic, Eric Byrnes has agreed to a three-year contract extension with the Diamondbacks. The deal is said to be worth around $30 million and comes shortly after the two sides reportedly broke off negotiations. The newspaper speculates that with Byrnes signed long term and both Chris Young and Justin Upton not going anywhere, the Diamondbacks may look to part with Carlos Quentin.
Yankees activated 1B/DH Jason Giambi from the 15-day disabled list. Giambi returns despite hitting just .227 in nine minor league rehab games. Manager Joe Torre said Monday that Giambi won't see time at first base, so he'll have to beat out Johnny Damon for designated hitter at-bats.
Yankees purchased the contract of RHP Joba Chamberlain from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. After beginning the season as a starter, Chamberlain moved to the bullpen with an eye on joining the Yankees down the stretch as a potential setup man for Mariano Rivera. He struck out 18 batters in eight scoreless innings at Triple-A, giving him 135 strikeouts in 88 1/3 total minor league innings this season, and has the potential to be a dominant late-inning reliever.
Yesterday’s Results
American League SEA 10 BAL 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Ibanez: 2 HR, 4 RBI; Guillen: 4-6, 2B NYA 9 TOR 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Cabrera: 2 2B, 3B; Clemens: 6 IP, 1 R CLE 2 CHA 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Westbrook: 8 IP, 1 R; Danks: 6 IP, 2 R DET 9 TB 6 (Recap and Boxscore) Raburn: 2 2B; Crawford: 4-5; Gomes: 4 RBI KC 5 MIN 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Teahen: 4-4, 2 2B; DeJesus: 2 2B; Bannister: 7 IP, 1 R LAA 10 BOS 4 (Recap and Boxscore) Matthews: 2B, HR; Kotchman: 2 2B TEX 8 OAK 6 (Recap and Boxscore) Ellis: 2B, HR National League ATL 7 NYN 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Francoeur: 2 2B, HR; Chipper: 2B, 3B PHI 11 FLA 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Howard: 2 HR; Moyer: 6 IP, 1 R CIN 4 LAN 0 (Recap and Boxscore) Arroyo: 6.2 IP, 0 R HOU 5 CHN 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Williams: 6 IP, 1 R SD 4 STL 0 (Recap and Boxscore) Peavy: 6 IP, 0 R; Reyes: 7 IP, 1 R PIT 8 ARI 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Wilson: 2 2B; Gorzelanny: 7 IP, 2 R COL 11 MIL 4 (Recap and Boxscore) Helton: 2 HR, 4 RBI WAS 8 SF 6 (Recap and Boxscore) See below
| First Inning's Major and Minor League Daily Reports: |
Today’s Games
National League --------------- Milwaukee Brewers at Colorado Rockies, 3:05 PM (R) Yovani Gallardo (4-1) vs. (L) Jeff Francis (12-5) Florida Marlins at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 PM (L) Dontrelle Willis (7-11) vs. (R) Kyle Lohse (6-12) Atlanta Braves at New York Mets, 7:10 PM (R) John Smoltz (10-6) vs. (R) Orlando Hernandez (7-4) Los Angeles Dodgers at Cincinnati Reds, 7:10 PM (R) Chad Billingsley (7-2) vs. (R) Aaron Harang (10-3) Chicago Cubs at Houston Astros, 8:05 PM (R) Carlos Zambrano (14-7) vs. (R) Roy Oswalt (11-6) San Diego Padres at St. Louis Cardinals, 8:10 PM (R) Greg Maddux (7-8) vs. (R) Kip Wells (4-13) Pittsburgh Pirates at Arizona Diamondbacks, 9:40 PM (L) Paul Maholm (7-13) vs. (R) Byung-Hyun Kim (6-5) Washington Nationals at San Francisco Giants, 10:15 PM (R) Tim Redding (1-2) vs. (R) Matt Cain (3-12) American League --------------- Seattle Mariners at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 PM (R) Felix Hernandez (7-6) vs. (R) Jeremy Guthrie (7-3) Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Detroit Tigers, 7:05 PM (R) James Shields (8-7) vs. (R) Chad Durbin (7-3) New York Yankees at Toronto Blue Jays, 7:07 PM (R) Chien-Ming Wang (13-5) vs. (R) Roy Halladay (12-5) Minnesota Twins at Kansas City Royals, 8:10 PM (L) Johan Santana (11-9) vs. (L) Odalis Perez (6-10) Cleveland Indians at Chicago White Sox, 8:11 PM (L) CC Sabathia (14-6) vs. (R) Jon Garland (8-7) Oakland Athletics at Texas Rangers, 8:35 PM (L) Lenny DiNardo (5-6) vs. (R) Kevin Millwood (7-9) Boston Red Sox at LA Angels of Anaheim, 10:05 PM (L) Jon Lester (1-0) vs. (R) Dustin Moseley (4-1)
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 68 45 .602 0.0 69 -1NYA 63 50 .558 5.0 71 -8
TOR 56 56 .500 11.5 59 -3
BAL 52 59 .468 15.0 56 -4
TB 42 70 .375 25.5 40 2
American League Central CLE 64 49 .566 0.0 62 2
DET 63 49 .563 0.5 63 0
MIN 57 55 .509 6.5 57 0
CHA 52 60 .464 11.5 47 5
KC 49 62 .441 14.0 52 -3
American League West LAA 66 46 .589 0.0 63 3
SEA 61 49 .555 4.0 55 6
OAK 54 60 .474 13.0 58 -4
TEX 49 64 .434 17.5 50 -1
National League East Pwins Diff NYN 63 49 .563 0.0 61 2
ATL 60 53 .531 3.5 61 -1
PHI 59 53 .527 4.0 61 -2
FLA 52 61 .460 11.5 52 0
WAS 52 61 .460 11.5 48 4
National League Central MIL 60 54 .526 0.0 59 1
CHN 58 54 .518 1.0 61 -3
STL 51 59 .464 7.0 45 6
HOU 50 63 .442 9.5 50 0
CIN 48 64 .429 11.0 51 -3
PIT 45 64 .413 12.5 45 0
National League West ARI 63 51 .553 0.0 53 10
SD 61 51 .545 1.0 62 -1
COL 58 54 .518 4.0 59 -1
LAN 58 54 .518 4.0 58 0
SF 48 63 .432 13.5 54 -6
Wildcard Standings American League DET 63 49 .563 0.0 NYA 63 50 .558 0.5 SEA 61 49 .555 1.0 MIN 57 55 .509 6.0 TOR 56 56 .500 7.0 National League SD 61 51 .545 0.0 ATL 60 53 .531 1.5 PHI 59 53 .527 2.0 LAN 58 54 .518 3.0 CHN 58 54 .518 3.0
Game of the Day
Barry Bonds broke the all-time record for most home runs in a career by blasting his 755th homer off Mike Bacsik. But the Nationals won the game, 8-6, thanks to a four-run rally in the eighth. The Nationals’ hitting stars were Austin Kearns, who led off the eighth with a double (and also hit a home run) and Felipe Lopez, who delivered the go-ahead RBI (and also went three for four). Bonds was 3 for 3, hitting a double and single before his record-setting blast.WASHINGTON (8) VS SAN FRANCISCO (6) - FINAL
WASHINGTON ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
F Lopez ss 4 1 3 2 1 0 0 .247
R Belliard 2b 3 1 1 0 2 0 0 .298
R Zimmerman 3b 4 0 1 1 0 0 4 .272
D Young 1b 5 0 0 0 0 2 7 .334
J Rauch p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
C Cordero p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
A Kearns rf 4 2 2 2 1 0 1 .250
R Church lf 3 0 0 0 1 1 2 .262
R Langerhans lf 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .160
B Schneider c 4 2 1 1 1 0 1 .234
N Logan cf 4 1 1 1 0 1 1 .270
M Bacsik p 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 .136
a-J Flores ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .233
C Schroder p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b-T Batista ph-1b 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 .250
Totals 36 8 10 8 6 5 17
a-popped out to second for M Bacsik in the 6th; b-singled to left for C
Schroder in the 8th.
BATTING: 2B - A Kearns (24, J Sanchez); F Lopez (20, K Correia). 3B - R
Zimmerman (3, B Zito). HR - F Lopez (7, 3rd inning off B Zito 0 on, 0 Out), A
Kearns (9, 3rd inning off B Zito 1 on, 2 Out), B Schneider (6, 4th inning off B
Zito 0 on, 0 Out). SF - R Zimmerman. RBI - F Lopez 2 (43), A Kearns 2 (46), B
Schneider (40), N Logan (11), T Batista (11), R Zimmerman (62). 2-out RBI - A
Kearns 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - R Church 2, D Young 2, A
Kearns 1. Team LOB - 8.
BASERUNNING: SB - F Lopez (16, 3rd base off B Zito/B Molina), R Belliard (2,
2nd base off B Zito/B Molina), N Logan (15, 3rd base off K Correia/B Molina).
FIELDING: E - F Lopez (10, ground ball).
SAN FRANCISCO ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
R Davis cf-lf 5 1 2 0 0 1 2 .274
R Klesko 1b 5 0 0 0 0 2 1 .269
R Winn rf 5 0 1 1 0 0 0 .294
B Bonds lf 3 3 3 1 0 0 0 .277
J Sanchez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
K Correia p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500
R Messenger p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
B Molina c 4 1 2 3 0 1 1 .273
R Durham 2b 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 .229
P Feliz 3b 4 0 2 0 0 1 1 .251
K Frandsen ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .227
B Zito p 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 .098
D Roberts cf 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 .257
Totals 37 6 10 6 1 8 8
BATTING: 2B - B Bonds (12, M Bacsik); R Davis (3, C Schroder); P Feliz (18, J
Rauch). HR - B Molina (12, 3rd inning off M Bacsik 1 on, 2 Out), B Bonds (22,
5th inning off M Bacsik 0 on, 1 Out). S - J Sanchez. RBI - B Molina 3 (62), B
Zito (1), B Bonds (51), R Winn (36). 2-out RBI - B Molina 2. Runners left in
scoring position, 2 out - B Molina 1, D Roberts 1, R Davis 2. Team LOB - 6.
FIELDING: E - P Feliz (6, dropped foul ball).
----------------------------------------------------
WASHINGTON - 003 100 040 -- 8
SAN FRANCISCO - 022 010 100 -- 6
----------------------------------------------------
WASHINGTON ip h r er bb so hr era
M Bacsik 5 7 5 5 1 5 2 4.47
C Schroder (W, 1-0) 2 2 1 1 0 2 0 1.46
J Rauch (H, 21) 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 3.67
C Cordero (S, 24) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.57
SAN FRANCISCO ip h r er bb so hr era
B Zito 5 6 4 4 3 2 3 5.16
J Sanchez (H, 3) 2 1/3 1 2 2 2 2 0 4.29
K Correia (L, 1-6; B, 3) 0 3 2 2 1 0 0 4.21
R Messenger 1 2/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.75
K Correia pitched to 4 batters in the 8th.
WP - B Zito. IBB - A Kearns (by B Zito), R Belliard (by K Correia).
Pitches-strikes: M Bacsik 92-62; C Schroder 32-21; J Rauch 14-11; C Cordero
12-7; B Zito 95-55; J Sanchez 35-20; K Correia 17-7; R Messenger 12-10. Ground
balls-fly balls: M Bacsik 6-4; C Schroder 2-2; J Rauch 0-2; C Cordero 1-2; B
Zito 5-8; J Sanchez 3-2; K Correia 0-0; R Messenger 3-1. Batters faced: M
Bacsik 24; C Schroder 8; J Rauch 4; C Cordero 3; B Zito 24; J Sanchez 10; K
Correia 4; R Messenger 5.
UMPIRES: HP--John Hirschbeck. 1B--Wally Bell. 2B--Laz Diaz. 3B--Bill Welke.
T--3:12 Att--43,154.
Weather: 62 degrees, clear. Wind: 18 mph, out to center.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 ATL AAA Brandon Jones..... 5 3 1 0 1 0 0 CIN AAA Jay Bruce......... 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 MIL A+ Mat Gamel......... 5 3 0 0 2 0 2 3 R WAN A+ Justin Maxwell.... 3 2 0 0 1 2 1 2 SB TB AAA Evan Longoria..... 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 DET AA Jeff Larish....... 3 2 1 0 1 1 1 ATL AAA B. Lillibridge.... 5 3 1 0 1 0 0 DET A+ Cameron Maybin.... 4 1 0 0 1 0 2 NYY A+ Jose Tabata....... 4 1 0 0 1 0 0 NYM AA Brett Harper...... 4 3 0 0 2 0 0 6 RBI ! OAK A- Matthew Sulentic.. 4 3 0 0 0 1 1 LAA AAA Terry Evans....... 5 2 0 0 1 0 2 4 RBI ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes CHW AA Gio Gonzalez...... 6 3 1 1 11 3 0 BOS A+ Kris Johnson...... 6 4 1 1 10 1 1 SEA AA Andrew Baldwin.... 7 5 4 4 9 0 2 KC A+ Blake Johnson..... 4 0 1 0 6 1 0 BAL A+ Jason Berken...... 6 5 2 2 8 3 0 NYM AAA Mike Pelfrey...... 6 7 2 2 5 1 1 MIN A Brian Kirwan...... 6 7 5 5 9 1 1 MIN AA Oswaldo Sosa...... 6 6 3 3 7 0 1 DET AA Jair Jurrjens..... 7 5 2 1 4 1 1 14 GB OAK AAA Dan Meyer......... 6 3 2 2 7 1 1 NYY A- Z. McAllister..... 2 0 0 0 4 0 0 CHC A- Mark Pawelek...... 2 0 0 0 3 0 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.