November 20, 2008
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THT Daily: Getting tightby THT StaffSeptember 25, 2008 Player News Yesterday’s Results Today’s Games Standings Game of the Day Yesterday’s Home Runs You can always find the most recent THT Daily at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/content/thtdaily/ and an archive at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/thtdaily_index/ Player NewsPlayer Headlines are courtesy of RotoworldMark Reynolds fanned for the 199th time on Wednesday, tying the major league record set by Ryan Howard last season. Reynolds is three ahead of Howard this year, so it's no lock that he'll finish the season with the record. Still, we're guessing that it'll be a long time before anyone tops his total of strikeouts plus errors in the same season. He committed his 34th error at third base tonight. Todd Helton will have back surgery Tuesday to alleviate a disk problem. "Dr. (Robert) Watkins this afternoon said Todd will benefit from a microdiscectomy," trainer Keith Dugger said. "Basically, they take a small piece of the disk where it’s bulging and it takes pressure off the nerve that’s irritated. He thinks it’ll be a very successful surgery. … One key for him will be not playing in a fatigued state. We need to make sure to be smart and give him rest." It could be that Jeff Baker will start over Helton against left-handers next year. Although he feels like he could play, Carl Crawford (finger) doesn't expect to be available for the ALDS next week. Crawford hasn't been cleared to face live pitching. "I was [going to take batting practice], but then they pulled back on that because the doctor don’t want me swinging this early still," he said. "I feel good. I feel like I could play a game today if I had to, but it’s just kind of put on hold right now. Hank Blalock homered in a fourth straight game Wednesday in the Rangers' 14-4 massacre of the A's. Blalock started the scoring for Texas with a three-run homer in the fourth and later added an RBI single. He has 13 hits, including eight for extra bases, in his last five games. That's raised his OPS from 728 to 845. Todd Jones wrote in his Sporting News column this week that he'll retire at season's end. Jones hasn't pitched since Aug. 15 because of a sore shoulder. The 40-year-old right-hander ends 2008 with a 4.97 ERA, but he still converted 18 of his 21 save chances. He picked up 319 saves in all during his 16 years, ranking him 14th all-time. After saving a total of three games in a three-year span from 2002-04, he reemerged with the best year of his career with the Marlins in 2005 (2.10 ERA, 40 saves). 42 percent of his lifetime saves (133 total) came after he turned 37. Yesterday’s ResultsGame recaps provided by Craig Calcaterra of Shysterball.Twins 3, White Sox 2: And now a statement from Ozzie Guillen, made just after last night's game: Tomorrow morning, the Chicago White Sox will suspend their campaign for the AL Central title and return to Chicago after a nice continental breakfast in the hotel restaurant. We have spoken to the Minnesota Twins and informed them of our decision and have asked them to join us.Cubs 9, Mets 6: Gentlemen, set sphincters to "clench!" Brewers 4, Pirates 2: In CC we trust (7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 11K). I assume that we'll see him again on short rest come Sunday as well. Assuming it's a meaningful game, anyway. I mean, the Mets may be done by then. Rangers 14, A's 4: There was a time four or five years ago when we all assumed that Hank Blalock would hit 30+ homers a year until he got old. That didn't end up coming to pass, but he's had four in his last four games. Yankees 6, Blue Jays 2: When you're not playin' for nothin' anymore, you have to look hard to find the positives. One positive Yankees fans can take from this one: Phil Hughes (8 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 6K, no injuries). Royals 10, Tigers 4: This has been a disgusting display by Detroit. They have dropped 12 of 13 and have looked awful doing it. They have given up. Know what? If I'm Dombrowski, I have to think about whether I even want Jim Leyland back next year, because this is a team that has quit, and that should never happen in this league. UPDATE: OK, so I'm not Dombrowski. Red Sox 5, Indians 4: Cubs vs. Mets were on the next channel down from this one in my hometown. Which one do you think I was watching? Braves 10, Phillies 4: Brett Myers -- who has given up sixteen runs in his last two starts -- has probably picked the wrong part of the season to implode. Marlins 9, Nationals 4: You know, the Marlins were eliminated from the playoffs on Tuesday night just like the Yankees were and no one really made a big fuss about it. At least the Marlins have won a World Series this decade. Rays 11, Orioles 6: The Orioles continues with the inexplicable Radhames Liz experiment, this time showing you how to lose a game in which you touch the other team's starter up for ten hits and six runs in five innings. The guy has had basically one great start in a sea of clunkers (and the Twins are still trying to figure out how he pulled that one off). Astros 5, Reds 0: A short shutout for Randy Wolf. And I just noticed that after being so dominant for so long this year, Lance Berkman's OPS slipped below 1.000 for the first time since April on Sunday. Bummer. Angels 6, Mariners 5: And that's 100 losses for Seattle, as King Felix gives up thirteen hits in six innings. Rockies 15, Giants 6: Clint Barmes goes hog-wild (4-5, 2B, HR, 4 RBI) in a game that inexplicably drew 31,000 people. Must have been free garlic fries night or something. Dodgers 12, Padres 4: The Dodgers clinch a tie for the division, which means . . . Cardinals 4, Diamondbacks 2: . . . That we're to the point now where all Arizona has to play for is Mark Reynolds setting the single-season strikeout record. I kind of hope he gets it. It may be the one thing that determines whether he'll have a post-baseball after-dinner speaking career or if he'll actually having to work for a living. You can download a compact version of yesterday's boxscores from Heater Magazine.
Today’s GamesNational League --------------- Arizona Diamondbacks at St. Louis Cardinals, 2:15 PM (L) Doug Davis (6-8) vs. (R) Joel Pineiro (6-7) Chicago Cubs at New York Mets, 7:10 PM (R) Rich Harden (5-1) vs. (R) Pedro Martinez (5-6) Florida Marlins at Washington Nationals, 7:10 PM (R) Anibal Sanchez (2-5) vs. (R) Collin Balester (3-6) Pittsburgh Pirates at Milwaukee Brewers, 8:05 PM (L) Zach Duke (5-14) vs. (R) Yovani Gallardo (0-0) Cincinnati Reds at Houston Astros, 8:05 PM (R) Johnny Cueto (9-13) vs. (R) Roy Oswalt (16-10) San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Dodgers, 10:10 PM (R) Jake Peavy (9-11) vs. (R) Greg Maddux (7-13) Colorado Rockies at San Francisco Giants, 10:15 PM (L) Jorge De La Rosa (9-8) vs. (L) Barry Zito (10-16) American League --------------- Tampa Bay Rays at Detroit Tigers, 1:05 PM (L) Scott Kazmir (12-7) vs. (R) Armando Galarraga (12-6) Cleveland Indians at Boston Red Sox, 7:05 PM (L) Jeremy Sowers (4-8) vs. (L) Jon Lester (15-6) New York Yankees at Toronto Blue Jays, 7:07 PM (R) Carl Pavano (4-1) vs. (R) Roy Halladay (19-11) Chicago White Sox at Minnesota Twins, 8:10 PM (R) Gavin Floyd (16-8) vs. (R) Kevin Slowey (12-11) LA Angels of Anaheim at Seattle Mariners, 10:10 PM (R) Dustin Moseley (2-4) vs. (L) Cesar Jimenez (0-2) 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 TB 96 62 .608 0.0 90 6 Game of the DayCubs 9, Mets 6 - FINAL
CHICAGO CUBS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
A Soriano lf 5 0 2 1 1 1 0 .285
F Pie cf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .247
R Theriot ss 6 2 3 0 0 0 3 .304
D Lee 1b 3 2 1 1 3 0 1 .293
A Ramirez 3b 3 2 2 2 3 1 1 .289
M DeRosa rf 3 1 2 3 0 0 3 .285
K Fukudome pr-rf 3 1 0 0 0 0 3 .260
R Johnson cf-lf 5 0 2 1 0 3 0 .308
R Cedeno 2b 5 1 0 0 0 1 2 .269
H Blanco c 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 .289
va-M Hoffpauir ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .333
K Hart p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
J Samardzija p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
vc-J Edmonds ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .235
B Howry p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
K Wood p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
C Zambrano p 3 0 0 0 0 1 3 .341
N Cotts p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
vb-D Ward ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .219
K Hill c 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .154
Totals 43 9 15 8 7 8 18 ###
NY METS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Reyes ss 5 1 1 0 1 1 4 .300
D Murphy lf 4 1 1 0 1 1 3 .339
D Wright 3b 4 1 1 1 1 2 2 .300
C Delgado 1b 4 2 2 4 1 0 2 .274
C Beltran cf 3 0 1 0 2 0 0 .280
R Church rf 5 0 0 0 0 2 4 .277
B Schneider c 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .257
hb-N Evans ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .262
R Castro c 2 0 0 0 0 1 5 .245
A Reyes 2b 3 0 1 0 0 1 1 .218
B Stokes p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .667
R Parnell p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
hc-E Chavez ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .269
L Ayala p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
hd-L Castillo ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .245
O Perez p 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 .109
D Sanchez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
ha-M Anderson ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .215
J Smith p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
R Rincon p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
R Martinez 2b 2 0 1 1 1 0 0 .333
Totals 37 6 8 6 9 9 23 ###
----------------------------------------------------
CHICAGO CUBS - 010 040 100 3 -- 9 15 0
NY METS - 005 000 010 0 -- 6 8 1
----------------------------------------------------
ha-walked for D Sanchez in the 5th; hb-struck out swinging for B Schneider in
the 6th; va-singled to right for H Blanco in the 7th; vb-popped out to
shortstop for N Cotts in the 7th; hc-intentionally walked for R Parnell in the
8th; vc-struck out looking for J Samardzija in the 9th; hd-grounded to second
for L Ayala in the 10th.
BATTING: 2B - M DeRosa (30, O Perez); A Soriano (27, B Stokes); D Lee (41, L
Ayala); R Martinez (1, K Hart); C Delgado (32, J Samardzija). 3B - D Murphy (3,
B Howry). HR - M Derosa (21, 2nd inning off O Perez 0 on, 0 Out), C Delgado
(38, 3rd inning off C Zambrano 3 on, 2 Out), A Ramirez (27, 10th inning off L
Ayala 1 on, 2 Out). RBI - M DeRosa 3 (87), R Johnson (50), A Soriano (75), D
Lee (90), A Ramirez 2 (111), D Wright (123), C Delgado 4 (114), R Martinez (1).
2-out RBI - A Soriano, D Lee, A Ramirez 2, D Wright, C Delgado 4, R Martinez.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - C Zambrano 1, M DeRosa 2, R Theriot
2, K Fukudome 1, C Delgado 1, R Castro 2, D Wright 1, J Reyes 2, A Reyes 1.
GIDP - R Theriot, K Fukudome. Team LOB - CHICAGO CUBS 11, NY METS 10.
BASERUNNING: SB - R Theriot (22, 2nd base off L Ayala/R Castro), C Beltran 3
(24, 2nd base off N Cotts/H Blanco, 2nd base off J Samardzija/K Hill, 3rd base
off N Cotts/H Blanco). FIELDING: E - D Murphy (1, bobble). DP: (D Lee, J
Reyes-C Delgado, R Martinez-J Reyes-C Delgado).
CHICAGO CUBS ip h r er bb so hr era
C Zambrano 4 2/3 3 5 5 4 2 1 3.91
N Cotts 1 1/3 0 0 0 1 3 0 3.97
K Hart (H, 1) 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 6.84
J Samardzija (B, 3) 1 2 1 1 2 1 0 2.33
B Howry (W, 7-4) 1 1 0 0 2 2 0 5.19
K Wood (S, 34) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 3.31
NY METS ip h r er bb so hr era
O Perez 4 1/3 6 5 5 5 6 1 4.25
D Sanchez 2/3 2 0 0 0 0 0 4.32
J Smith 2/3 1 0 0 1 0 0 3.67
R Rincon 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.45
B Stokes 1 3 1 1 0 0 0 3.48
R Parnell 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1.93
L Ayala (L, 2-10) 2 3 3 3 0 2 1 5.69
IBB - E Chavez (by J Samardzija), C Delgado (by B Howry), C Beltran (by B
Howry). Pitches-strikes: C Zambrano 87-50; N Cotts 27-18; K Hart 17-10; J
Samardzija 27-15; B Howry 26-12; K Wood 17-12; O Perez 105-58; D Sanchez 17-10;
J Smith 18-11; R Rincon 4-3; B Stokes 13-10; R Parnell 12-5; L Ayala 37-25.
Ground balls-fly balls: C Zambrano 5-7; N Cotts 0-1; K Hart 0-2; J Samardzija
2-0; B Howry 1-0; K Wood 1-1; O Perez 3-4; D Sanchez 1-1; J Smith 1-1; R Rincon
0-1; B Stokes 2-1; R Parnell 3-0; L Ayala 3-1. Batters faced: C Zambrano 21; N
Cotts 5; K Hart 4; J Samardzija 7; B Howry 6; K Wood 3; O Perez 23; D Sanchez
4; J Smith 4; R Rincon 1; B Stokes 6; R Parnell 3; L Ayala 9. IRS - D Sanchez
2. UMPIRES: HP--Jim Wolf. 1B--Jerry Layne. 2B--Randy Marsh. 3B--Phil Cuzzi.
T--4:04. Att--54,416. Weather: 63 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 10 mph, in from
left.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.  Yesterday’s Home RunsThe following stats are provided by Hit Tracker, which logs the projected “true” distance of each home run (if it were to land uninterrupted at field level) and its "standard" distance, which is corrected for weather conditions. Each homer is also categorized into one of three types: Just Enough (JE) for homers that cleared the fence by ten feet or less, Plenty (PL) for those that were sure home runs but not “blasts,” and No Doubt (ND) for true “blasts”—homers that cleared the fence by at least 20 feet and landed at least 50 feet beyond the fence.Hitter Team Pitcher Team True Stnd. # Type Bobby Abreu NYY Jesse Carlson TOR 368 369 20 PL Garrett Atkins COL Kevin Correia SF 0 0 20 0 Jeff Baker COL Kevin Correia SF 0 0 12 0 Clint Barmes COL Jonathan Sanchez SF 386 388 10 JE Lance Berkman HOU Ramon Ramirez CIN 0 0 29 0 Hank Blalock TEX Dana Eveland OAK 401 392 10 PL John Bowker SF Livan Hernandez COL 372 376 10 PL Nelson Cruz TEX Dana Eveland OAK 432 426 6 PL Jack Cust OAK Matt Harrison TEX 431 426 32 PL Carlos Delgado NYM Carlos Zambrano CHC 396 399 36 PL Chris Denorfia OAK Josh Rupe TEX 415 412 1 PL Mark DeRosa CHC Oliver Perez NYM 369 372 21 PL Nomar Garciaparra LAD Shawn Estes SD 377 373 8 PL Ken Griffey CWS Nick Blackburn MIN 371 366 18 ND Mike Hessman DET Kip Wells KC 417 422 5 ND Ryan Howard PHI Jo-Jo Reyes ATL 428 429 47 PL Chipper Jones ATL Scott Eyre PHI 384 384 22 PL Adam LaRoche PIT Salomon Torres MIL 427 424 23 PL Travis Metcalf TEX Dan Meyer OAK 415 405 6 PL Placido Polanco DET Ron Mahay KC 394 404 8 PL Aramis Ramirez CHC Luis Ayala NYM 382 387 27 PL Hanley Ramirez FLA Tim Redding WAS 414 432 33 PL Manny Ramirez LAD Cla Meredith SD 422 418 36 PL Scott Rolen TOR Phil Hughes NYY 403 403 11 PL Mark Teixeira LAA Mark Lowe SEA 387 403 33 ND Chase Utley PHI Jo-Jo Reyes ATL 379 379 32 PL Josh Willingham FLA Levale Speigner WAS 387 406 13 PL Access THT’s stats here…
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BOS 93 65 .589 3.0 95 -2 
NYA 87 71 .551 9.0 84 3 
TOR 83 75 .525 13.0 89 -6 
BAL 67 91 .424 29.0 72 -5 
American League Central
CHA 86 71 .548 0.0 87 -1 
MIN 86 72 .544 0.5 88 -2 
CLE 79 79 .500 7.5 83 -4 
KC 73 86 .459 14.0 70 3 
DET 71 86 .452 15.0 75 -4 
American League West
LAA 98 60 .620 0.0 87 11 
TEX 77 82 .484 21.5 73 4 
OAK 75 83 .475 23.0 75 0 
SEA 58 100 .367 40.0 64 -6 
National League East Pwins Diff
PHI 89 70 .560 0.0 91 -2 
NYN 87 71 .551 1.5 88 -1 
FLA 82 76 .519 6.5 79 3 
ATL 71 88 .447 18.0 77 -6 
WAS 59 99 .373 29.5 61 -2 
National League Central
CHN 96 61 .611 0.0 97 -1 
MIL 87 71 .551 9.5 85 2 
HOU 83 74 .529 13.0 75 8 
STL 82 76 .519 14.5 82 0 
CIN 74 84 .468 22.5 71 3 
PIT 65 93 .411 31.5 65 0 
National League West
LAN 83 75 .525 0.0 85 -2 
ARI 79 79 .500 4.0 81 -2 
COL 73 85 .462 10.0 72 1 
SF 70 88 .443 13.0 66 4 
SD 61 97 .386 22.0 66 -5 
Wildcard Standings
American League
BOS 93 65 .589 0.0
NYA 87 71 .551 6.0
MIN 86 72 .544 7.0
TOR 83 75 .525 10.0
CLE 79 79 .500 14.0
National League
MIL 87 71 .551 0.0
NYN 87 71 .551 0.0
HOU 83 74 .529 3.5
STL 82 76 .519 5.0
FLA 82 76 .519 5.0