THT Daily: Guzman Out

by Matthew Carruth
June 26, 2007

Major League News for June 26

Today’s Links
Player News
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Game of the Day
Top Minor League Performances

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THT Links

Coming soon.

Player News

Player Headlines are courtesy of Rotoworld

Cristian Guzman underwent season-ending surgery Monday to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb. He wasn't hurt enough to leave the game Sunday, but now he's done for the year. The Nationals will likely go with Felipe Lopez at short the rest of the way. Ronnie Belliard will play second base, but he remains a candidate to be traded and the Nats may look to bring someone younger in. D'Angelo Jimenez is expected to take over as the top backup.

The Dodgers will make Nomar Garciaparra their starting third baseman, effective Friday. The move opens up first base for James Loney, turn Wilson Betemit back into a reserve and probably result in Tony Abreu eventually making his way back to Triple-A, if only until Nomar gets hurt Saturday or Sunday. The Dodgers are making the switch because they're not getting enough offense out of third base. Of course, that ignores the fact that Betemit has 80 points of OPS on Nomar. Betemit even has a better OPS than Loney did in Triple-A. We're pleased to see Loney getting additional playing time, but this isn't the answer, not unless Nomar suddenly turns it around.

Brad Penny became the NL's first 10-game winner by allowing one run in eight innings Monday against the Diamondbacks. Penny has given up one run in each of his last four starts, and the Dodgers won with him on the mound for the seventh straight time. The team is 10-13 during the other 23 games in that span.

Rich Harden didn't come back out for a second inning of relief Monday because he felt soreness in his first frame against the Indians. "He was a little achy after the first so we felt one inning was enough," manager Bob Geren said. "Hopefully it's nothing major. Obviously we'll know more tomorrow. I was liking what I saw. He was throwing 95. He looked like the guy we saw earlier in the season. I saw nothing at all to indicate (there's something major wrong)." The A's may get to the point at which they ask Harden to pitch through it.

C.C. Sabathia joined Josh Beckett at 11 wins with a complete game Monday against the A's in the Indians' 5-2 victory. Sabathia got into trouble in the ninth, hitting Jack Cust with a pitch and then allowing a two-out double to Dan Johnson. Still, Eric Wedge left him in and he struck out Mark Kotsay to end it. Sabathia struck out eight and walked none. He retired 20 of the final 24 batters he faced. It was just Sabathia's second career win in 12 starts against the team he grew up rooting for.

Justin Morneau flew back to Minnesota on Monday after spending three nights in a hospital in Florida. Morneau was released this morning after another checkup on his bruised lung. While a DL stint still hasn't been ruled out, the Twins are hoping he'll be ready to play by the end of the week.

In just his second start since his promotion, Manny Parra pitched a perfect game and struck out 11 for Triple-A Nashville on Monday. Parra beat the Astros' affiliate, just like Milwaukee beat Houston tonight. The 24-year-old left-hander is back looking like a very legitimate prospect this year after battling shoulder problems the previous three seasons. The Brewers might want to take a look at him as a reliever during the second half.

Yesterday’s Results

American League
CHA     5  TB      4    (Recap and Boxscore)
CLE     5  OAK     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
TEX     8  DET     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
TOR     8  MIN     5    (Recap and Boxscore)
KC      5  LAA     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
SEA     9  BOS     4    (Recap and Boxscore)

National League
ATL     4  WAS     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
NYN     2  STL     1    (Recap and Boxscore) 11 innings; NYN: 3 H, 2 HR
CHN    10  COL     9    (Recap and Boxscore) See below
MIL     6  HOU     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
LAN     8  ARI     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
SF      4  SD      3    (Recap and Boxscore) 11 innings

First Inning's Major and Minor League Daily Reports:

Today’s Games

National League
 ---------------
 Pittsburgh Pirates at Florida Marlins, 7:05 PM
  (L) Paul Maholm (3-10) vs. (L) Dontrelle Willis (7-6)
 Cincinnati Reds at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 PM
  (R) Homer Bailey (2-0) vs. (R) Kyle Kendrick (1-0)
 St. Louis Cardinals at New York Mets, 7:10 PM
  (R) Todd Wellemeyer (2-0) vs. (L) Oliver Perez (7-6)
 Washington Nationals at Atlanta Braves, 7:35 PM
  (L) Mike Bacsik (1-4) vs. (R) Buddy Carlyle (1-2)
 Colorado Rockies at Chicago Cubs, 8:05 PM
  (R) Rodrigo Lopez (4-0) vs. (L) Ted Lilly (5-4)
 Houston Astros at Milwaukee Brewers, 8:05 PM
  (L) Wandy Rodriguez (4-6) vs. (R) Claudio Vargas (6-1)
 Los Angeles Dodgers at Arizona Diamondbacks, 9:40 PM
  (R) Chad Billingsley (4-0) vs. (R) Edgar Gonzalez (3-2)
 San Diego Padres at San Francisco Giants, 10:15 PM
  (L) David Wells (3-5) vs. (L) Barry Zito (6-8)
 
 American League
 ---------------
 New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 PM
  (L) Andy Pettitte (4-5) vs. (R) Jeremy Guthrie (4-1)
 Texas Rangers at Detroit Tigers, 7:05 PM
  (R) Willie Eyre (2-3) vs. (L) Nate Robertson (4-6)
 Oakland Athletics at Cleveland Indians, 7:05 PM
  (R) Danny Haren (9-2) vs. (L) Cliff Lee (4-4)
 Chicago White Sox at Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 7:10 PM
  (R) Jon Garland (4-5) vs. (R) James Shields (6-2)
 Toronto Blue Jays at Minnesota Twins, 8:10 PM
  (R) Shaun Marcum (4-2) vs. (R) Scott Baker (2-2)
 Kansas City Royals at LA Angels of Anaheim, 10:05 PM
  (R) Gil Meche (4-6) vs. (R) Ervin Santana (5-7)
 Boston Red Sox at Seattle Mariners, 10:05 PM
  (L) Kason Gabbard (1-0) vs. (R) Felix Hernandez (4-4)

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     48  27 .640    0.0   46     2    
TOR     38  37 .507   10.0   39    -1    
NYA     36  37 .493   11.0   42    -6    
TB      33  41 .446   14.5   30     3    
BAL     32  43 .427   16.0   36    -4    
American League Central     
DET     45  30 .600    0.0   46    -1    
CLE     44  31 .587    1.0   43     1    
MIN     38  36 .514    6.5   39    -1    
CHA     30  42 .417   13.5   29     1    
KC      31  46 .403   15.0   32    -1    
American League West        
LAA     49  28 .636    0.0   46     3    
SEA     40  33 .548    7.0   37     3    
OAK     39  36 .520    9.0   41    -2    
TEX     31  45 .408   17.5   34    -3    


National League East        Pwins  Diff
NYN     42  32 .568    0.0   41     1    
PHI     39  36 .520    3.5   37     2    
ATL     39  38 .506    4.5   36     3    
FLA     36  40 .474    7.0   36     0    
WAS     32  44 .421   11.0   29     3    
National League Central     
MIL     44  32 .579    0.0   41     3    
CHN     36  39 .480    7.5   40    -4    
STL     33  40 .452    9.5   29     4    
HOU     32  44 .421   12.0   34    -2    
PIT     31  44 .413   12.5   30     1    
CIN     29  47 .382   15.0   34    -5    
National League West        
ARI     44  33 .571    0.0   39     5    
LAN     43  33 .566    0.5   41     2    
SD      42  33 .560    1.0   46    -4    
COL     38  38 .500    5.5   36     2    
SF      33  42 .440   10.0   37    -4

Game of the Day

The Cubs gave up a four-run lead in the ninth, letting the Rockies take a 9-8 lead, but battled back to win the game, 10-9, on a two-out two-run single by Alfonso Soriano. Mike Fontenot was 5 for 5 for the Cubbies.

COLORADO (9) VS CHICAGO CUBS (10) - FINAL

COLORADO               ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
W Taveras cf            4  0  0  0   0  1   4  .306
 T Martin p             0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 b-J Baker ph           1  0  0  0   0  1   1  .239
 J Julio p              0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 c-C Sullivan ph-cf     1  0  0  0   0  1   0  .333
K Matsui 2b             5  2  2  0   0  2   0  .311
M Holliday lf           4  1  1  1   1  1   0  .354
T Helton 1b             3  1  1  1   2  0   0  .326
G Atkins 3b             4  2  2  1   1  0   2  .246
B Hawpe rf              4  2  2  1   1  1   2  .295
T Tulowitzki ss         5  1  2  3   0  0   2  .276
Y Torrealba c           3  0  2  0   1  0   0  .241
J Francis p             2  0  0  0   0  1   4  .120
 a-R Spilborghs ph-cf   3  0  1  2   0  0   1  .290
 B Fuentes p            0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000

Totals                 39  9 13  9   6  8  16

a-singled to right for J Francis in the 6th;  b-struck out swinging for T 
Martin in the 8th;  c-struck out swinging for J Julio in the 9th.

BATTING: 2B - T Tulowitzki (12, S Eyre); T Helton (18, S Eyre). HR - T 
Tulowitzki (7, 9th inning off B Howry 2 on, 0 Out). RBI - M Holliday (60), R 
Spilborghs 2 (15), T Helton (39), G Atkins (38), B Hawpe (52), T Tulowitzki 3 
(35). 2-out RBI - R Spilborghs 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - B 
Hawpe 1, J Baker 1, J Francis 1, W Taveras 2. GIDP - G Atkins, R Spilborghs. 
Team LOB - 10. 
 
BASERUNNING: SB - K Matsui (15, 2nd base off J Marquis/R Bowen). 
 
FIELDING: E - K Matsui (1, ground ball). 

CHICAGO CUBS           ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
A Soriano lf            6  0  1  2   0  1   2  .307
M Fontenot 2b           5  2  5  2   0  0   0  .397
D Lee 1b                5  1  3  0   0  0   2  .350
A Ramirez 3b            5  1  1  0   0  0   5  .298
M DeRosa rf             5  1  3  3   0  0   1  .274
 F Pie pr               0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .227
A Pagan cf              4  1  1  3   1  1   3  .289
R Bowen c               4  0  0  0   1  2   1  .242
 J Jones pr             0  1  0  0   0  0   0  .234
C Izturis ss            3  0  1  0   0  1   3  .253
 M Wuertz p             0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 S Eyre p               1  0  0  0   0  0   1  .000
 B Howry p              0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 a-K Hill ph            1  1  1  0   0  0   0  .219
J Marquis p             2  0  0  0   0  1   1  .167
 R Theriot ss           3  2  2  0   0  0   2  .257

Totals                 44 10 18 10   2  6  21

a-singled to left for B Howry in the 9th.

BATTING: 2B - M Fontenot 2 (6, J Francis, J Julio); R Theriot (11, J Julio). HR 
- A Pagan (3, 1st inning off J Francis 2 on, 2 Out). RBI - M DeRosa 3 (36), A 
Pagan 3 (11), M Fontenot 2 (11), A Soriano 2 (30). 2-out RBI - M DeRosa, A 
Pagan 3, A Soriano 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - C Izturis 2, S 
Eyre 1, A Ramirez 1, A Pagan 1. Team LOB - 10. 
 
BASERUNNING: SB - R Theriot (13, 3rd base off J Julio/Y Torrealba). CS - M 
Fontenot (1, 2nd base by J Francis). 
 
FIELDING: E - C Izturis (7, ground ball). DP: 2 (A Ramirez-M Fontenot-D Lee, 
R Theriot-M Fontenot-D Lee). 
 
----------------------------------------------------
    COLORADO        - 100 002 006   --   9
    CHICAGO CUBS    - 401 011 012   --  10

Two outs when winning run scored.
----------------------------------------------------

COLORADO                     ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
J Francis                     5      10   6   6   2   4   1   3.80
T Martin                      2       3   1   1   0   0   0   3.79
J Julio                       1       2   1   1   0   1   0   6.35
B Fuentes (L, 0-2; B, 4)        2/3   3   2   0   0   1   0   2.36

CHICAGO CUBS                 ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
J Marquis                     5 2/3   7   3   3   2   5   0   3.46
M Wuertz (H, 6)               1       0   0   0   2   0   0   3.31
S Eyre (H, 2)                 1 1/3   3   3   3   2   2   0   6.92
B Howry (W, 4-4; B, 4)        1       3   3   3   0   1   1   4.30

S Eyre pitched to 3 batters in the 9th.

BALK - T Martin. HBP - Y Torrealba (by J Marquis). Pitches-strikes: J Francis 
93-57; T Martin 32-21; J Julio 15-10; B Fuentes 18-12; J Marquis 97-67; M 
Wuertz 23-12; S Eyre 36-18; B Howry 20-15. Ground balls-fly balls: J Francis 
6-4; T Martin 5-1; J Julio 1-1; B Fuentes 1-0; J Marquis 8-4; M Wuertz 2-1; S 
Eyre 2-0; B Howry 2-0. Batters faced: J Francis 26; T Martin 9; J Julio 5; B 
Fuentes 6; J Marquis 27; M Wuertz 5; S Eyre 8; B Howry 6. 
 
UMPIRES: HP--Ron Kulpa. 1B--Dale Scott. 2B--Dan Iassogna. 3B--Adam Dowdy. 

T--3:34. Att--40,269. 
Weather: 77 degrees, clear. Wind: 7 mph, right to 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.

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
CIN AA  Jay Bruce......... 6  4  1  0  2  0  1  5 RBI !
LAA AAA Brandon Wood...... 6  3  0  0  1  0  0  
COL AAA Ian Stewart....... 5  3  0  1  0  0  1  
PIT A+  Brad Corley....... 3  2  0  0  2  1  0  4 RBI
ATL AA  Van Pope.......... 4  2  1  0  1  0  1  
TB  AA  Reid Brignac...... 4  1  0  0  1  1  0  
OAK A   J. Mitchell....... 4  3  0  0  0  0  0  2 SB
LAA AAA Jeff Mathis....... 4  1  0  0  1  2  0  
BOS AAA Bobby Scales...... 4  4  3  0  0  0  0  
ATL AA  Brandon Jones..... 4  2  1  0  0  1  1  3 R
TB  AAA Ben Zobrist....... 4  2  1  0  0  1  0  
ARI AAA Alberto Callaspo.. 5  2  2  0  0  0  0  3 LD

ORG LVL PLAYER            IP  H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
MIL AAA Manny Parra....... 9  0  0  0 11  0  0  
BOS AA  Clay Buchholz..... 6  4  1  1 11  1  0  
STL A+  Adam Ottavino..... 8  4  0  0  7  0  0  
HOU AAA Matt Albers....... 7  8  1  1  6  1  0  
LAA A+  Robert Mosebach... 8  8  2  2  6  0  0  
PHI AA  Matthew Maloney... 8  4  2  2  7  2  1  
ARI A   Anthony Barnette.. 6  7  2  2  8  1  0  
NYY AA  Alan Horne........ 5  4  2  1  6  1  0  
SF  AA  Nick Pereira...... 7  5  0  0  6  3  0  12 GB
SEA AA  Andrew Baldwin.... 6  10  5  5  6  0  0  12 GB
TEX AAA Eric Hurley....... 5  6  5  4  4  2  0  
FLA A+  C. Volstad........ 5  5  3  2  5  3  0  9 GB

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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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