November 23, 2009
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THT Daily: GEUTPby Dave StudemanAugust 24, 2009 Major League News for August 24Player 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 NewsPlayer Headlines are courtesy of RotoworldCC Sabathia became the first 15-game winner of 2009 by allowing four runs -- three earned -- over 6 2/3 innings Sunday in a defeat of the Red Sox. With an assist from Larry Vanover, who had no problem calling breaking balls six inches off the plate for strikes. As one might expect, neither typically patient offense drew a walk all night. Sabathia struck out eight and allowed eight hits. He's won five straight starts and seven of eight. He's still outside of the top 10 in ERA, but if he finishes the year as the AL win leader, he'll be in the mix for Cy Young votes. John Smoltz tossed five scoreless innings and struck out nine Padres in the process to record a win on Sunday. The National League does wonders for a pitcher. Smoltz did show better command than he had in Boston and his splitter also looked improved, but most of today's credit goes to the awful Padres' lineup. This late in the year it's worth gambling on Smoltz if you need pitching or have plenty of FAAB left, even if he still has plenty left to prove. Albert Pujols hit a solo homer off Padres reliever Edward Mujica on Sunday, giving him 40 on the season. Pujols is the first to 40 homers this season. It's also his fifth 40-homer campaign, making him just the 20th player in MLB history to accomplish the feat five times. He's a little good. Eric Bruntlett turned an unassisted triple play in the bottom of the ninth inning of a 9-7 game to beat the Mets on Sunday. The Phillies started the inning with two errors and a third near-error, the latter two of which were by Bruntlett himself. However, the Mets sent the runners on a 3-2 count and Jeff Francouer lined it right to Bruntlett as he was covering second base. He then stepped on second and tagged Daniel Murphy for the 14th unassisted triple play in baseball's regular season history and the first since Asdrubal Cabrera last season. Adam Jones left Sunday's game in the first inning with an apparent back injury. Jones was hurt while taking a swing. Felix Pie replaced him against the White Sox. He'd start in center field if Jones needs some time off. Carlos Gonzalez could miss about a week after cutting his left hand with a steak knife in a home accident Saturday. Todd Helton's venison strikes again! Seth Smith and Ryan Spilborghs will pick up Gonzalez's at-bats this week. Reds activated third baseman Scott Rolen from the 15-day disabled list. Rolen suffered a concussion in his second game with the Reds and was eventually forced to the disabled list. He appeared healthy during two rehab games at Triple-A Louisville. The Gold Glove third baseman, acquired at the July 31 deadline, has collected just 14 at-bats in a Cincinnati uniform. Reds placed RHP Aaron Harang on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to August 22, following an emergency appendectomy. Harang isn't expected to return to the Reds this year. It'll end as a dissapointing season for the big right-hander, who finishes up with a 4.21 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and 6-14 record. He'll aim to be at full strength by spring training 2010. With Harang out, the Reds will have room for Justin Lehr and Micah Owings to stay in the rotation after Johnny Cueto returns. Perhaps Matt Maloney will get the open spot for now. According to MLB.com, the Rockies are close to agreement on a minor league deal with right-hander Russ Ortiz. The Rockies are also expected to announce the signing of Jason Giambi on Sunday. Loading up on veterans isn't a bad idea for a team in the playoff hunt. Ortiz went 2-1 with a 1.59 ERA in a handful of starts within the Yankees' farm system and is worth the risk for a club that just lost Aaron Cook. Yesterday’s ResultsFor the full scoop regarding yesterday's games, read "And That Happened" at Shysterball.American League NYA 8 BOS 4 (Recap and Boxscore) TEX 4 TB 0 (Recap and Boxscore) TOR 8 LAA 3 (Recap and Boxscore) BAL 5 CHA 4 (Recap and Boxscore) CLE 6 SEA 1 (Recap and Boxscore) MIN 10 KC 3 (Recap and Boxscore) OAK 9 DET 4 (Recap and Boxscore) National League ATL 7 FLA 5 (Recap and Boxscore) PHI 9 NYN 7 (Recap and Boxscore) WAS 8 MIL 3 (Recap and Boxscore) ARI 7 HOU 5 (Recap and Boxscore) CIN 4 PIT 1 (Recap and Boxscore) COL 4 SF 2 (Recap and Boxscore) CHN 3 LAN 1 (Recap and Boxscore) STL 5 SD 2 (Recap and Boxscore)Check out Fangraphs' scoreboard to see all the games in action. Today’s GamesRays (67-56) @ Blue Jays (57-65), 7:07pmJeff Niemann (26, RHP) vs. Roy Halladay (32, RHP) WhiteSox (63-61) @ RedSox (70-53), 7:10pm Jose Contreras (37, RHP) vs. Clay Buchholz (24, RHP) Orioles (51-73) @ Twins (61-63), 8:10pm Chris Tillman (21, RHP) vs. Scott Baker (27, RHP) Indians (54-69) @ Royals (47-76), 8:10pm Jeremy Sowers (26, LHP) vs. Gil Meche (30, RHP) Tigers (65-58) @ Angels (74-48), 10:05pm Justin Verlander (26, RHP) vs. Jered Weaver (26, RHP) Athletics (55-68) @ Mariners (63-61), 10:10pm Vin Mazzaro (22, RHP) vs. Ian Snell (27, RHP) Phillies (71-50) @ Mets (57-67), 1:10pm Cliff Lee (30, LHP) vs. Bobby Parnell (24, RHP) Brewers (60-63) @ Nationals (44-80), 4:35pm Yovani Gallardo (23, RHP) vs. Collin Balester (23, RHP) Giants (67-57) @ Rockies (70-54), 8:40pm Barry Zito (31, LHP) vs. Jason Marquis (30, RHP) 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 NYA 78 46 .629 0.0 72 6 Top Minor League GamesThe 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 SF AAA Jesus Guzman...... 5 4 1 0 1 0 1 DET AA Ryan Strieby...... 3 2 0 0 2 1 0 5 RBI ! SF AAA Kevin Frandsen.... 4 2 0 0 2 0 0 LAA AAA Sean Rodriguez.... 4 3 2 0 0 0 1 SF A+ Thomas Neal....... 3 2 2 0 0 2 0 STL A+ Charles Cutler.... 4 3 0 2 0 1 1 4 R COL AAA Eric Young........ 5 3 0 0 1 0 0 PIT A+ Chase D'Arnaud.... 3 2 1 0 0 1 0 2 SB NYY A+ David Adams....... 3 2 1 0 1 0 0 4 RBI WAN A Derek Norris...... 3 3 1 0 0 2 0 NYM A+ David Havens...... 4 2 0 0 1 2 0 4 R SEA AAA Matt Tuiasosopo... 6 3 0 0 1 0 1 3 LD ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes SEA A+ Mauricio Robles... 7 3 0 0 8 3 0 TEX A Carlos Pimentel... 5 4 0 0 7 0 0 BAL A+ Richard Zagone.... 6 4 2 2 7 0 1 NYY A- Adam Warren....... 5 4 1 1 7 2 0 OAK AA Tyson Ross........ 7 2 0 0 4 2 0 12 GB CIN AAA Matthew Maloney... 6 6 4 4 7 2 0 ATL AAA Tim Hudson........ 6 6 3 3 5 1 0 11 GB NYY A+ D.J. Mitchell..... 5 4 0 0 4 1 0 10 GB SF A- Jorge Bucardo..... 6 3 1 1 4 3 0 11 GB KC A+ Daniel Gutierrez.. 5 3 0 0 4 2 0 NYY AAA Jason Hirsh....... 6 6 1 1 4 0 1 CLE AAA Hector Rondon..... 7 8 1 1 3 1 0
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. Commenting is not available in this weblog entry. Do you have a general question or comment for one of THT's writers? Send it in to our weekly mailbag We also welcome unsolicited op-ed pieces of approximately 500 words for consideration. We reserve the right to edit for length, clarity and consistency of style. Please include your whole name and location to be considered. If you have a comment about this specific article, please email the writer. Next Article: Are pitchers clutch when they try to avoid losing 20?>> <<Previous Article: THT Daily: Rays in the Race | ||
BOS 70 53 .569 7.5 71 -1 
TB 67 56 .545 10.5 69 -2 
TOR 57 65 .467 20.0 63 -6 
BAL 51 73 .411 27.0 53 -2 
American League Central
DET 65 58 .528 0.0 63 2 
CHA 63 61 .508 2.5 63 0 
MIN 61 63 .492 4.5 63 -2 
CLE 54 69 .439 11.0 59 -5 
KC 47 76 .382 18.0 48 -1 
American League West
LAA 74 48 .607 0.0 68 6 
TEX 69 54 .561 5.5 68 1 
SEA 63 61 .508 12.0 56 7 
OAK 55 68 .447 19.5 58 -3 
National League East Pwins Diff
PHI 71 50 .587 0.0 71 0 
ATL 66 58 .532 6.5 68 -2 
FLA 65 59 .524 7.5 62 3 
NYN 57 67 .460 15.5 56 1 
WAS 44 80 .355 28.5 52 -8 
National League Central
STL 72 54 .571 0.0 70 2 
CHN 62 60 .508 8.0 63 -1 
HOU 61 63 .492 10.0 55 6 
MIL 60 63 .488 10.5 58 2 
CIN 52 71 .423 18.5 51 1 
PIT 51 71 .418 19.0 55 -4 
National League West
LAN 74 51 .592 0.0 76 -2 
COL 70 54 .565 3.5 70 0 
SF 67 57 .540 6.5 66 1 
ARI 55 70 .440 19.0 57 -2 
SD 52 74 .413 22.5 47 5 
Wildcard Standings
American League
BOS 70 53 .569 0.0
TEX 69 54 .561 1.0
TB 67 56 .545 3.0
CHA 63 61 .508 7.5
SEA 63 61 .508 7.5
National League
COL 70 54 .565 0.0
SF 67 57 .540 3.0
ATL 66 58 .532 4.0
FLA 65 59 .524 5.0
CHN 62 60 .508 7.0