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THT Daily: Hard luck Hardenby THT StaffJuly 22, 2008 Player News Yesterday’s Results Today’s Games Standings Game of the Day Yesterday’s Home Runs Top Minor League Performances 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 Rotoworld
Yankees placed catcher Jorge Posada on the 15-day disabled list. Posada was scheduled to see Mets medical director Dr. David Altchek on Tuesday to get an MRI. It's beginning to look like season-ending surgery is a possibility for him. The Yankees could utilize him as a DH even if he couldn't catch, but he's not hitting like he did last year and might not be an upgrade in the spot. Also, if he waits to undergo surgery, then there's a good chance he wouldn't be ready for the start of 2009. The Yankees will go with Jose Molina behind the plate for now. They have Chad Moeller on the roster as a backup, but they'll likely look for an alternative there (Gregg Zaun?) if Posada chooses surgery. Miguel Cabrera went 5-for-6 with six RBI as the Tigers beat the Royals 19-4 on Monday night. The Tigers hadn't beaten the Royals in six tries this season, but that streak all but ended when they tallied ten runs in an eighth inning that saw Cabrera drive in four and Gary Sheffield hit a three-run homer. The five hits and six RBI for Cabrera match career highs, and gives him 31 RBI in his past 35 games. He's now hitting .290/.355/.496 on the year, but that .851 OPS is over 100 points lower than his average over the previous three seasons. Billy Wagner still had some tightness on Monday, so he's scheduled to have his shoulder examined on Tuesday. There's still no MRI schedule. Wagner pitched yesterday even though he had trouble getting loose in the pen. If the left-hander needs to go on the DL, the Mets would probably turn to Duaner Sanchez as their primary closer. Phillies recalled RHP Brett Myers from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Demoted to the minors on July 1, Myers posted a 3.00 ERA and 28/7 K/BB ratio in 27 innings spread over four starts. He was 3-9 with a 5.84 ERA in 17 starts for the Phillies prior to the demotion, but will rejoin the rotation with a start Wednesday against the Mets. The Dodgers will recall Clayton Kershaw and have him start Tuesday against the Rockies. Jason Johnson was supposed to join the rotation and start tomorrow, but he'll either be left in the pen or get sent back down. It seems unlikely that spending three weeks in the minors did Kershaw a lot of good. He's worth owning in NL-only leagues, but he probably shouldn't be used as Coors Field. According to ESPN's Buster Olney, the Astros are in serious discussions with the Padres regarding Randy Wolf. The Astros are in fifth place, 12 games back of the Cubs in the Central and 10 back in the wild card. Also, they have probably the game's worst farm system. Trading one or two of their semi-prospects for a free-agent-to-be would just be another boneheaded move from a team with a deluded owner and an incompetent GM (or it could be the other way around). Maybe the Padres can steal Triple-A bound J.R. Towles as the return. Yesterday’s ResultsGame recaps provided by Craig Calcaterra of Shysterball.Tigers 19, Royals 4: Remember when Trey Hillman publicly shamed his team back in spring training? Look for the Royals to be doing community service or going into the witness protection program after this one. Bright side: at least the Royals have finally found Tony Pena's true calling, as he pitched a scoreless ninth with a strikeout to boot. Reader Adam Thomas notes: "Probably the best Royals inning, pitching-wise, in the game. Low-90s fastballs and 75mph curves. Pretty hilarious, and makes you wonder about the Royals' dogged insistence for keeping him on the roster." Clearly, Pena was a secret weapon, just waiting to be deployed. Braves 4, Marlins 0: Jorge Campillo, a 29 year-old junkballing rookie, stymies the team that leads the majors in home runs with 140. Who are you really, Jorge, and what were you before? What did you do and what did you think, huh? Well, Campillo spent eight or nine years in the Mexican League, came to the states, got Tommy John surgery, and then shuttled between Seattle and Tacoma for a spell. This season he's been exceeding everyone's expectations in Atlanta, dazzling them with stardust, because he doesn't possess a fastball. Wait, we said no questions. Oh well, here's looking at you kid. Rays 4, A's 0: As you went to sleep last night, Wallace Matthews was writing a draft of his Tuesday column about how sad it is that Scott Kazmir is on steroids, as it still never occurs to him that the A's can't hit a lick. Orioles 8, Blue Jays 3: Adam Jones in July: .321/.381/.482. Radhames Liz had an interesting line: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 6 BB, 4 K. Still got the W, though, so he must know how to win or something. Also, if you look up the word "project" in the dictionary, I think a photo of Liz appears. It's not the first photo -- there are about 15 former NBA centers there ahead of him -- but he is there. Yankees 12, Twins 4: The Bombers go Boom, giving Sidney Ponson yet another victory. Someone is going to sign that fella to a deal they're gonna regret next year, and Ponson had better send the Yankees and Rangers' offenses boxes of chocolates for all of their help. Padres 6, Reds 4: That makes the second Francisco Cordero ninth inning implosion since the All-Star break. Personally, I blame Adam Dunn. Not sure why, really, but that's what you do around here. Brewers 6, Cardinals 3: Rickie Weeks (2-5, HR, 3 RBI) woke up the day after some competition joined the clubhouse. Funny how that works. Rangers 6, White Sox 1: The Rangers allowed 20 runs in their first two games after the break, and have allowed only one run in the last two. The White Sox haven't come out of the gate looking like world beaters themselves, dropping three of four to teams they should probably be beating if they are true contenders. Dodgers 16, Rockies 10: 26 runs scored on 38 hits, and only one of 'em was a homer. Diamondbacks 2, Cubs 0: Harden strikes out 10 and gives up only one run over seven innings but still loses because the Unit and his pals in the bullpen gave up none. Johnson always used to seem to lose these games, so it's nice to see him finally come out on the other side for once. Couldn't get to the rest of the games this morning, unfortunately, so we'll have to settle for a score roll: Pirates 9, Astros 3; Indians 5, Angels 2; Red Sox 4, Mariners 0. You can download a compact version of yesterday's boxscores from Heater Magazine.
Today’s GamesNational League --------------- Philadelphia Phillies at New York Mets, 7:10 PM (R) Joe Blanton (0-0) vs. (L) Johan Santana (8-7) San Diego Padres at Cincinnati Reds, 7:10 PM (R) Jake Peavy (7-6) vs. (R) Johnny Cueto (7-9) Atlanta Braves at Florida Marlins, 7:10 PM (R) Charlie Morton (2-2) vs. (R) Rick Vanden Hurk (0-1) Pittsburgh Pirates at Houston Astros, 8:05 PM (L) Paul Maholm (6-6) vs. (R) Jack Cassel (1-0) Milwaukee Brewers at St. Louis Cardinals, 8:15 PM (R) Jeff Suppan (5-6) vs. (R) Kyle Lohse (12-2) Los Angeles Dodgers at Colorado Rockies, 9:05 PM (L) Clayton Kershaw (0-2) vs. (R) Ubaldo Jimenez (5-9) Chicago Cubs at Arizona Diamondbacks, 9:40 PM (R) Jason Marquis (6-5) vs. (R) Yusmeiro Petit (0-1) Washington Nationals at San Francisco Giants, 10:15 PM (R) Jason Bergmann (1-6) vs. (L) Barry Zito (4-12) American League --------------- Toronto Blue Jays at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 PM (R) Shaun Marcum (5-4) vs. (L) Garrett Olson (6-5) Minnesota Twins at New York Yankees, 7:05 PM (R) Kevin Slowey (6-6) vs. (R) Darrell Rasner (5-7) Oakland Athletics at Tampa Bay Rays, 7:10 PM (L) Dallas Braden (1-0) vs. (R) Andy Sonnanstine (10-4) Detroit Tigers at Kansas City Royals, 8:10 PM (L) Kenny Rogers (7-6) vs. (R) Kyle Davies (3-1) Texas Rangers at Chicago White Sox, 8:11 PM (R) Luis Mendoza (2-3) vs. (L) Mark Buehrle (7-8) Cleveland Indians at LA Angels of Anaheim, 10:05 PM (R) Matt Ginter (1-0) vs. (R) Jered Weaver (8-8) Boston Red Sox at Seattle Mariners, 10:10 PM (R) Daisuke Matsuzaka (10-1) vs. (R) R.A. Dickey (2-4) 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 58 40 .592 0.0 54 4 Game of the DayPirates 9, Astros 3 - FINAL
PITTSBURGH ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
N McLouth cf 6 1 3 0 0 1 4 .280
F Sanchez 2b 6 2 3 4 0 0 3 .234
R Doumit c 6 0 0 0 0 2 1 .321
J Bay lf 5 1 4 2 0 0 1 .287
X Nady rf 5 1 3 0 0 2 2 .327
A LaRoche 1b 4 1 2 2 1 1 4 .258
J Bautista 3b 5 1 2 0 0 0 3 .253
J Van Benschoten p 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 .000
va-D Mientkiewicz ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .256
S Burnett p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333
J Grabow p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
vb-C Gomez ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .303
T Yates p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
vc-J Michaels ph 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 .241
D Bautista p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200
Ja Wilson ss 5 1 1 1 0 1 6 .280
Totals 44 9 18 9 4 9 25 ###
HOUSTON ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
K Matsui 2b 5 1 3 0 0 0 1 .283
M Bourn cf 3 1 1 0 2 0 0 .219
L Berkman 1b 3 0 0 0 2 2 4 .339
C Lee lf 4 0 2 2 0 0 5 .306
D Erstad lf 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .277
M Tejada ss 5 0 0 0 0 1 5 .278
H Pence rf 5 1 1 0 0 2 2 .265
T Wigginton 3b 2 0 0 0 1 2 3 .270
G Geary p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
ha-D Newhan ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .269
D Brocail p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
J Valverde p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
T Byrdak p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200
hb-G Blum ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .212
B Ausmus c 3 0 2 1 1 0 1 .227
R Hernandez p 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 .250
M Loretta 3b 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 .256
Totals 37 3 10 3 6 9 27 ###
----------------------------------------------------
PITTSBURGH - 001 010 007 -- 9 18 1
HOUSTON - 001 110 000 -- 3 10 0
----------------------------------------------------
va-walked for J Van Benschoten in the 6th; ha-struck out swinging for G Geary
in the 7th; vb-struck out swinging for J Grabow in the 8th; vc-walked for T
Yates in the 9th; hb-flied out to right for T Byrdak in the 9th.
BATTING: 2B - N McLouth (34, R Hernandez); K Matsui (18, J Van Benschoten); B
Ausmus (7, J Van Benschoten). HR - J Bay (20, 9th inning off J Valverde 0 on, 1
Out), A Laroche (12, 9th inning off J Valverde 1 on, 1 Out), F Sanchez (6, 9th
inning off T Byrdak 2 on, 2 Out). RBI - J Bay 2 (56), F Sanchez 4 (39), A
LaRoche 2 (48), Ja Wilson (13), C Lee 2 (80), B Ausmus (15). 2-out RBI - J Bay,
F Sanchez 3, C Lee. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - A LaRoche 2, Ja
Wilson 2, F Sanchez 1, N McLouth 1, T Wigginton 1, M Loretta 1, M Tejada 1, C
Lee 2, G Blum 1, K Matsui 1. GIDP - F Sanchez, C Lee. Team LOB - PITTSBURGH 12,
HOUSTON 13. BASERUNNING: SB - K Matsui (16, 2nd base off J Van Benschoten/R
Doumit), H Pence (6, 2nd base off J Van Benschoten/R Doumit). FIELDING: E - J
Bautista (11, ground ball). DP: (J Bautista-F Sanchez-A LaRoche, M Tejada-K
Matsui-L Berkman).
PITTSBURGH ip h r er bb so hr era
J Van Benschoten 5 6 3 2 4 4 0 8.27
S Burnett 1/3 1 0 0 2 0 0 4.50
J Grabow 1 2/3 2 0 0 0 2 0 3.17
T Yates (W, 4-2) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 3.99
D Bautista 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 3.86
HOUSTON ip h r er bb so hr era
R Hernandez 5 1/3 8 2 2 2 3 0 8.38
G Geary (H, 6) 1 2/3 2 0 0 1 2 0 2.14
D Brocail (H, 18) 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 3.69
J Valverde (L, 4-3; B, 6) 1/3 5 6 6 1 0 2 4.86
T Byrdak 2/3 1 1 1 0 2 1 2.23
WP - D Bautista. Pitches-strikes: J Van Benschoten 92-50; S Burnett 19-7; J
Grabow 35-27; T Yates 12-9; D Bautista 18-15; R Hernandez 87-56; G Geary 29-18;
D Brocail 18-11; J Valverde 28-18; T Byrdak 12-9. Ground balls-fly balls: J Van
Benschoten 10-1; S Burnett 0-1; J Grabow 2-1; T Yates 1-1; D Bautista 0-1; R
Hernandez 8-5; G Geary 0-3; D Brocail 1-0; J Valverde 0-1; T Byrdak 0-0.
Batters faced: J Van Benschoten 25; S Burnett 4; J Grabow 7; T Yates 3; D
Bautista 4; R Hernandez 25; G Geary 8; D Brocail 5; J Valverde 7; T Byrdak 3.
IRS - T Byrdak 2. UMPIRES: HP--Fieldin Culbreth. 1B--Jim Reynolds. 2B--Chris
Tiller. 3B--Tim Timmons. T--3:42. Att--34,624. Weather: INDOORSThe 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 Jason Bay PIT Jose Valverde HOU 0 0 20 0 Casey Blake CLE Ervin Santana LAA 400 386 11 PL Robinson Cano NYY Boof Bonser MIN 388 380 8 ND Edwin Encarnacion CIN Josh Banks SD 391 377 18 PL Ken Griffey CIN Josh Banks SD 377 364 13 PL Scott Hairston SD Homer Bailey CIN 357 346 16 JE/L Bill Hall MIL Ryan Franklin STL 419 389 13 PL/L Ramon Hernandez BAL Jason Frasor TOR 408 395 10 PL/L Derek Jeter NYY Boof Bonser MIN 399 383 6 PL Adam Jones BAL Jesse Litsch TOR 390 376 6 PL Howie Kendrick LAA Rafael Perez CLE 407 400 3 JE/L Adam LaRoche PIT Jose Valverde HOU 0 0 11 0 Andy Marte CLE Ervin Santana LAA 411 395 2 PL Jhonny Peralta CLE Justin Speier LAA 413 404 17 PL Alex Rodriguez NYY Nick Blackburn MIN 446 437 21 PL Freddy Sanchez PIT Tim Byrdak HOU 372 362 6 JE Jason Varitek BOS Jarrod Washburn SEA 374 371 8 PL Rickie Weeks MIL Joel Pineiro STL 419 388 9 PL/L 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, with a focus on each team’s top prospects.ORG LVL PLAYER AB H 2B 3B HR BB SO Notes TOR A+ Brian Dopirak..... 4 3 1 0 2 1 1 6 RBI ! DET AAA Brent Clevlen..... 4 2 0 0 2 1 0 TOR AA Scott Campbell.... 4 3 2 0 0 2 1 3 R CIN A Devin Mesoraco.... 4 3 0 0 2 0 1 MIN A Ben Revere........ 4 4 1 0 0 1 0 2 SB TOR A John Tolisano..... 5 3 1 0 1 1 0 STL AAA David Freese...... 4 4 2 0 0 0 0 3 LD TOR AA Travis Snider..... 2 1 0 0 1 4 0 3 R NYM AA Mike Carp......... 4 2 1 0 1 1 0 3 R SEA A+ Carlos Triunfel... 5 3 1 0 1 0 0 4 RBI BOS A+ Jonathan Still.... 5 2 1 0 1 0 2 CIN A+ Juan Francisco.... 4 2 1 0 1 0 0 4 RBI ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes PHI A+ Andrew Carpenter.. 9 4 1 1 7 0 1 TOR AAA David Purcey...... 6 6 2 1 7 0 0 WAN AAA Garrett Mock...... 7 5 1 0 6 1 0 TOR A+ Bradley Mills..... 6 3 0 0 7 3 0 STL A Nicholas Additon.. 7 1 1 1 6 2 1 STL AAA Jason Motte....... 2 0 0 0 5 0 0 MIN AA Jeffrey Manship... 6 5 2 1 4 1 0 12 GB STL A+ Blake King........ 2 1 0 0 4 1 0 BOS AAA Michael Bowden.... 4 7 3 3 4 0 0 OAK AAA Alex Leon......... 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 BAL A+ Pedro Beato....... 7 9 4 4 4 2 0 ARI AAA Matthew Torra..... 8 5 1 0 1 2 0 Access THT’s stats here…
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BOS 58 43 .574 1.5 60 -2 
NYA 54 45 .545 4.5 54 0 
BAL 48 50 .490 10.0 49 -1 
TOR 48 51 .485 10.5 52 -4 
American League Central
CHA 55 43 .561 0.0 57 -2 
MIN 55 44 .556 0.5 52 3 
DET 50 49 .505 5.5 52 -2 
KC 45 55 .450 11.0 43 2 
CLE 44 54 .449 11.0 50 -6 
American League West
LAA 60 39 .606 0.0 53 7 
TEX 52 48 .520 8.5 47 5 
OAK 51 48 .515 9.0 56 -5 
SEA 38 61 .384 22.0 42 -4 
National League East Pwins Diff
NYN 53 46 .535 0.0 53 0 
PHI 53 46 .535 0.0 57 -4 
FLA 52 47 .525 1.0 47 5 
ATL 47 52 .475 6.0 53 -6 
WAS 38 61 .384 15.0 39 -1 
National League Central
CHN 58 41 .586 0.0 60 -2 
MIL 56 43 .566 2.0 53 3 
STL 57 44 .564 2.0 54 3 
CIN 48 53 .475 11.0 45 3 
HOU 46 53 .465 12.0 44 2 
PIT 45 54 .455 13.0 42 3 
National League West
ARI 49 50 .495 0.0 50 -1 
LAN 49 50 .495 0.0 51 -2 
COL 43 58 .426 7.0 43 0 
SF 40 58 .408 8.5 41 -1 
SD 38 62 .380 11.5 39 -1 