February 9, 2010
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THT Daily: Head to headby THT StaffSeptember 05, 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 Rotoworld
An MRI Thursday showed inflammation and tendinitis in Carlos Zambrano's rotator cuff. Zambrano received a cortisone shot. He's expected to resume throwing next week, with an eye towards rejoining the rotation in the Sept. 12-14 series against the Astros. Sean Marshall will start in his place Sunday. Ronnie Belliard could miss the rest of the season with a strained groin suffered Thursday. "Yeah, it's a bad groin pull," manager Manny Acta said. "As of up to now, it might look like he's done for the year, but we're going to have an MRI just to confirm what we're wondering." Belliard's absence will leave Kory Casto and Aaron Boone at first base for now, with Dmitri Young potentially entering the mix next week. Belliard wasn't playing much second base anyway, so nothing will change there. Yesterday’s ResultsGame recaps provided by Craig Calcaterra of Shysterball.Reds 8, Pirates 6: You'll forgive me if I don't get into the specifics of this game, but the following passage says more about the state of these two teams than anything I could come up with: "At 59-80, the Pirates are two defeats away from clinching their 16th straight losing season, which would tie the major-league record held by the 1933-48 Phillies. The Reds are 62-78, leaving them within four defeats of their eighth straight losing season. It's their longest such slump in a half-century." That's a bit of a cheap shot at the Pirates inasmuch as those Phillies teams were orders of magnitude worse than Pittsburgh has been over the last 16 years. Those Phillies lost over 100 games seven times in that stretch of futility, and the Pirates have done that only once. Cold comfort for Bucs fans, sure, but when you can't beat a Major League team, at least you can gain a moral victory over the guy who writes the game stories down in Cincinnati. Braves 2, Nationals 0: Who's James Parr? I don't really care, because (a) he pitches for my Braves; and (b) he pitched well, shutting out the Nats on two hits over six innings in his Major League debut. Blue Jays 9, Twins 0: Jesse Litsch tosses a shutout, completing the sweep of Minnesota. The Twins and White Sox need to be careful. They look like they're poised to turn into the Dbacks and the Dodgers. Padres 5, Brewers 2: For that matter, Milwaukee and Chicago are doing much the same thing. I'm just going to warn everyone right now: if the Brewers woof this and the phreakin' Phillies somehow sneak into the wild card, I am pretty much going to ignore the NL playoffs this year. There can be only one ugly NL East team in this bad boy, capice? Royals 5, A's 4: Let's see, two godawful teams + a 4PM makeup game due to a rainout the night before. How many where there? 300? 500? APBA Guy -- did you watch this one? Tell me how bad it was. Royals 9, A's 6: Whenever I get upset about the fact that Tim Hudson likely won't pitch for the Braves again, I remind myself that we got him for nothing. Nothing gave up eight runs on nine hits in three and a third innings last night, completing the second half of this stinkaheader against Kansas City. Angels 7, Tigers 1: Kenny Rogers got knocked around, and after the game said that he felt fine, but that he just couldn't get the job done. From the game story: "Tigers manager Jim Leyland thought Rogers is fighting some nagging pain but didn't think the pitcher would admit it. 'He won't make excuses. He's a professional,' Leyland said." In light of recent events, it's quite obvious that those comments were not truly aimed at praising Rogers' professionalism as much as they were aimed at Justin Verlander's perceived lack thereof. Rays 7, Yankees 5: The Darrell Rasner era continues to go swimmingly in the Bronx (1.1 IP, 6 H, 5 ER). That's just not going to cut it against Scott Kazmir (6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 7K). But it almost cut it against the whole of the Rays' staff, as the Yankees put up five runs in the ninth to make this one a lot closer than it looked like it would be. You can download a compact version of yesterday's boxscores from Heater Magazine.
Today’s GamesNational League --------------- Chicago Cubs at Cincinnati Reds, 7:10 PM (L) Ted Lilly (13-8) vs. (R) Bronson Arroyo (13-10) Philadelphia Phillies at New York Mets, 7:10 PM (R) Brett Myers (8-10) vs. (R) Mike Pelfrey (13-8) Washington Nationals at Atlanta Braves, 7:35 PM (R) Jason Bergmann (2-10) vs. (R) Jair Jurrjens (11-9) San Diego Padres at Milwaukee Brewers, 8:05 PM (R) Josh Geer (1-0) vs. (L) CC Sabathia (9-0) Florida Marlins at St. Louis Cardinals, 8:15 PM (R) Ricky Nolasco (13-7) vs. (R) Braden Looper (12-11) Houston Astros at Colorado Rockies, 9:05 PM (R) Brian Moehler (10-5) vs. (R) Ubaldo Jimenez (9-12) Arizona Diamondbacks at Los Angeles Dodgers, 10:05 PM (R) Dan Haren (14-7) vs. (R) Derek Lowe (11-11) Pittsburgh Pirates at San Francisco Giants, 10:15 PM (L) Zach Duke (4-13) vs. (R) Kevin Correia (3-7) American League --------------- Oakland Athletics at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 PM (L) Dallas Braden (4-3) vs. (L) Chris Waters (2-1) Tampa Bay Rays at Toronto Blue Jays, 7:07 PM (R) Andy Sonnanstine (13-6) vs. (R) Roy Halladay (17-9) Boston Red Sox at Texas Rangers, 8:05 PM (R) Josh Beckett (11-9) vs. (R) Kevin Millwood (9-7) Cleveland Indians at Kansas City Royals, 8:10 PM (R) Anthony Reyes (2-1) vs. (R) Brandon Duckworth (2-0) Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins, 8:10 PM (R) Armando Galarraga (12-4) vs. (L) Francisco Liriano (4-3) LA Angels of Anaheim at Chicago White Sox, 8:11 PM (R) Dustin Moseley (1-3) vs. (L) Mark Buehrle (11-11) New York Yankees at Seattle Mariners, 10:10 PM (L) Andy Pettitte (13-11) vs. (R) Brandon Morrow (1-2) 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 85 53 .616 0.0 79 6 Game of the DayBlue Jays 9, Twins 0 - FINAL
MINNESOTA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
D Span cf 4 0 2 0 0 1 1 .299
A Casilla 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 .290
J Mauer dh 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 .322
va-M Macri ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .344
J Morneau 1b 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 .311
vb-R Ruiz ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .296
J Kubel rf 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .275
vc-J Pridie ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
D Young lf 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 .287
M Redmond c 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .274
M Tolbert 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 .267
N Punto ss 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 .288
Totals 30 0 4 0 2 3 8 ###
TORONTO ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Inglett 2b 4 2 2 2 0 1 3 .304
M Scutaro ss 4 0 1 0 0 1 2 .264
A Rios rf 5 1 2 2 0 0 0 .295
V Wells cf 4 1 2 2 0 0 3 .300
A Lind dh 5 1 3 1 0 0 2 .302
R Barajas c 5 1 1 0 0 1 6 .255
L Overbay 1b 4 0 1 0 0 1 2 .272
S Rolen 3b 4 1 2 0 0 1 1 .250
T Snider lf 3 2 3 2 1 0 0 .467
Totals 38 9 17 9 1 5 19 ###
----------------------------------------------------
MINNESOTA - 000 000 000 -- 0 4 0
TORONTO - 100 011 15x -- 9 17 0
----------------------------------------------------
va-flied out to center for J Mauer in the 9th; vb-struck out swinging for J
Morneau in the 9th; vc-lined out to second for J Kubel in the 9th.
BATTING: 2B - N Punto (17, J Litsch); J Inglett (12, B Korecky); A Lind (12, P
Humber). HR - T Snider (1, 5th inning off K Slowey 0 on, 0 Out), V Wells (16,
7th inning off J Crain 0 on, 2 Out). S - M Scutaro. SF - V Wells. RBI - V Wells
2 (66), T Snider 2 (2), J Inglett 2 (33), A Rios 2 (64), A Lind (38). 2-out RBI
- T Snider, V Wells, A Rios 2, A Lind. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out
- J Morneau 1, J Inglett 1, R Barajas 3, V Wells 1. GIDP - A Casilla, R
Barajas. Team LOB - MINNESOTA 5, TORONTO 9. FIELDING: DP: (M Tolbert-A
Casilla-J Morneau, L Overbay-M Scutaro-L Overbay).
MINNESOTA ip h r er bb so hr era
K Slowey (L, 11-9) 5 2/3 10 3 3 0 3 1 3.75
C Breslow 1/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.33
J Crain 2/3 1 1 1 0 1 1 4.04
D Reyes 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.29
B Korecky 1/3 3 4 4 1 0 0 6.75
P Humber 2/3 3 1 1 0 0 0 13.50
TORONTO ip h r er bb so hr era
J Litsch (W, 10-8) 9 4 0 0 2 3 0 3.76
HBP - J Inglett (by K Slowey). Pitches-strikes: K Slowey 98-67; C Breslow
4-3; J Crain 16-12; D Reyes 5-3; B Korecky 22-13; P Humber 11-9; J Litsch
115-78. Ground balls-fly balls: K Slowey 6-8; C Breslow 0-0; J Crain 0-1; D
Reyes 1-0; B Korecky 0-1; P Humber 2-0; J Litsch 16-8. Batters faced: K Slowey
27; C Breslow 1; J Crain 3; D Reyes 1; B Korecky 5; P Humber 5; J Litsch 32.
IRS - P Humber 2. UMPIRES: HP--Eric Cooper. 1B--Marty Foster. 2B--Derryl
Cousins. 3B--Angel Hernandez. T--2:46. Att--25,128. Weather: 75 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.  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 Willy Aybar TB Alfredo Aceves NYY 373 372 8 PL Daric Barton OAK Brian Bannister KC 398 394 9 JE Jay Bruce CIN Tom Gorzelanny PIT 423 410 15 ND Chris Gomez PIT Josh Fogg CIN 367 369 1 PL Curtis Granderson DET Ervin Santana LAA 428 428 18 PL J.J. Hardy MIL Mike Adams SD 368 365 22 JE Torii Hunter LAA Nate Robertson DET 455 445 20 PL Derek Jeter NYY Jason Hammel TB 374 373 9 PL Nate McLouth PIT Nick Masset CIN 435 410 24 ND Alex Rodriguez NYY Jason Hammel TB 408 407 32 ND Travis Snider TOR Kevin Slowey MIN 418 417 1 JE Will Venable SD Jeff Suppan MIL 421 416 1 PL Joey Votto CIN Jason Davis PIT 401 386 17 PL Vernon Wells TOR Jesse Crain MIN 398 397 16 PL Access THT’s stats here…
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BOS 82 57 .590 3.5 84 -2 
NYA 75 65 .536 11.0 74 1 
TOR 73 66 .525 12.5 79 -6 
BAL 63 76 .453 22.5 66 -3 
American League Central
CHA 78 61 .561 0.0 78 0 
MIN 77 63 .550 1.5 77 0 
CLE 67 71 .486 10.5 73 -6 
DET 67 73 .479 11.5 69 -2 
KC 60 79 .432 18.0 57 3 
American League West
LAA 85 54 .612 0.0 76 9 
TEX 69 72 .489 17.0 65 4 
OAK 63 77 .450 22.5 65 -2 
SEA 54 85 .388 31.0 58 -4 
National League East Pwins Diff
NYN 79 61 .564 0.0 79 0 
PHI 76 64 .543 3.0 79 -3 
FLA 71 69 .507 8.0 67 4 
ATL 61 80 .433 18.5 67 -6 
WAS 54 87 .383 25.5 55 -1 
National League Central
CHN 85 55 .607 0.0 88 -3 
MIL 80 60 .571 5.0 78 2 
STL 75 65 .536 10.0 75 0 
HOU 74 66 .529 11.0 67 7 
CIN 62 78 .443 23.0 60 2 
PIT 59 80 .424 25.5 56 3 
National League West
ARI 71 68 .511 0.0 72 -1 
LAN 70 70 .500 1.5 71 -1 
COL 66 75 .468 6.0 65 1 
SF 60 79 .432 11.0 58 2 
SD 54 86 .386 17.5 58 -4 
Wildcard Standings
American League
BOS 82 57 .590 0.0
MIN 77 63 .550 5.5
NYA 75 65 .536 7.5
TOR 73 66 .525 9.0
TEX 69 72 .489 14.0
National League
MIL 80 60 .571 0.0
PHI 76 64 .543 4.0
STL 75 65 .536 5.0
HOU 74 66 .529 6.0
FLA 71 69 .507 9.0