THT Daily: Hot tigers
by Dave StudemanSeptember 06, 2009
Major League News for September 6
Player 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 News
Player Headlines are courtesy of RotoworldJosh Hamilton (pinched nerve in back) is flying back to Texas to receive a second root-nerve injection.
The first injection Friday didn't clear up the inflammation, and the hope is the second one will more more successful. Hamilton will rejoin the team in Cleveland Tuesday, but may not play as the first injection gave Hamilton lingering pain.
Mariano Rivera (groin) has pronounced himself "ready to go."
Rivera threw a pain-free bullpen session Saturday in anticipation of returning Sunday. Manager Joe Girardi plans to take it slow with Mo. "I'm going to ask him every day how his groin is," added Girardi. It's the smart move -- they need the closer healthy in October, not September.
Agent Gregg Clifton told the Boston Globe that Tom Glavine is not likely to attempt a comeback for the 2010 season.
Back in June, Glavine said he would not return to the majors in 2009 after being released by Atlanta. He mentioned returning for 2010 and has been linked to the Washington Nationals, but apparently that has changed. If true, the left-hander ends his career having played from 1987-2008, all but five years (Mets) with the Braves. He as a 305-203 record with a 3.54 ERA in 682 starts and should have no trouble entering the Hall of Fame. The 43-year old won the Cy Young in 1991 and 1998, finishing second or third three other times. Clifton mentioned that he has received calls about broadcasting opportunities for the 10-time All-Star, so look for him on the tubes, not on the mound, in 2010.
Brad Lidge blew his 10th save and fell to 0-7 on the season after giving up two runs in the ninth Saturday against the Astros.
Making it all the more notable that Brett Myers pitched a hitless eighth tonight in his first appearance back from the DL. Ryan Madson has been extremely shaky in the ninth and Lidge's meltdown has reached historical proportions, so it might not be long before Myers gets a chance to close games.
Ross Ohlendorf became the 40th pitcher in major league history to strike out the side in nine pitches Saturday in a no-decision against the Cardinals.
Manager Tony La Russa did Ohlendorf a huge favor by sitting Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday and Yadier Molina all on the same day, and Ohlendorf responded by allowing just an unearned run and striking out a career-high 11 in eight innings. It's just too bad Ohlendorf is a Pirate, so he took a no-decision in an extra-inning loss anyway. Ohlendorf fanned Khalil Greene, Julio Lugo and Jason LaRue on nine pitches in the seventh inning. Making the feat even more memorable is that each strikeout ended with Ryan Doumit failing to come up with the ball and having to throw to first to record the out.
The Jon Garland trade intended to send Tony Abreu to Arizona has hit a snag.
The Dodgers and Tony Abreu were in the midst of a grievance stemming from 2007. The settlement awards Abreu enough service days to likely file for arbitration in 2011, not 2012 -- depriving the Diamondbacks of an additional year of league-minimum salary. The Diamondbacks contend they had no way of knowing about the grievance and believe the Dodgers did not negotiate in good faith. It is unclear what will happen next: the Diamondbacks could request another player or cash to cover the possible arbitration filing. Whatever happens, the Dodgers and Diamondbacks likely won't hook up for a trade again any time soon.
Gordon Beckham left Saturday's game due to a "sore right side."
Beckham felt a little twinge on his last batting practice swing. After testing it, he decided to play in the game. "I went out on the field, I just kind of felt it even more. It's like it stiffened up a little more. I don't think it's too big of a deal just because we caught it quick." Manager Ozzie Guillen said Beckham will not be in the lineup Sunday. It doesn't sound serious; the White Sox want to protect their investment.
Gavin Floyd took a perfect game into the sixth and struck out a career-high 11 over eight innings Saturday in a 5-1 win over the Red Sox.
Nick Green ended the no-hitter with a single in the sixth, and Jason Bay spoiled the shutout bid by homering in the eighth. Floyd allowed three hits in all and walked none. He had previously fanned 10 batters twice in his career, including once this year against the Yankees. He's now 11-9 with a 3.84 ERA.
Yorvit Torrealba has been named the starting catcher for the Rockies.
Interim manager Jim Tracy confirmed the news. The Rockies feel that Torrealba playing better defense than Iannetta (usually the defensive guru of the two). In addition, Iannetta has a .625 OPS over the last 14 days while Torrealba has a .833 OPS over the same span. Iannetta still remains the long-term catcher in Colorado, but there's nothing wrong with riding the hot hand... as long as the Rockies don't hesitate to switch back when it's time.
Yesterday’s Results
For the full scoop regarding yesterday's games, read "And That Happened" at Shysterball.American League BAL 5 TEX 4 (Recap and Boxscore) DET 8 TB 6 (Recap and Boxscore) NYA 6 TOR 4 (Recap and Boxscore) CHA 5 BOS 1 (Recap and Boxscore) MIN 4 CLE 1 (Recap and Boxscore) LAA 2 KC 1 (Recap and Boxscore) OAK 9 SEA 5 (Recap and Boxscore) National League CIN 3 ATL 1 (Recap and Boxscore) CHN 5 NYN 3 (Recap and Boxscore) FLA 9 WAS 5 (Recap and Boxscore) HOU 5 PHI 4 (Recap and Boxscore) SF 3 MIL 2 (Recap and Boxscore) STL 2 PIT 1 (Recap and Boxscore) COL 4 ARI 1 (Recap and Boxscore) LAN 7 SD 4 (Recap and Boxscore)Check out Fangraphs' scoreboard to see all the games in action.
Today’s Games
Twins (68-67) @ Indians (59-76), 1:05pm
Nick Blackburn (27, RHP) vs. David Huff (24, LHP)
Yankees (87-49) @ Blue Jays (60-75), 1:07pm
Sergio Mitre (28, RHP) vs. Brian Tallet (31, LHP)
Rangers (76-59) @ Orioles (55-81), 1:35pm
Derek Holland (22, LHP) vs. Jeremy Guthrie (30, RHP)
Tigers (74-61) @ Rays (72-63), 1:38pm
Edwin Jackson (25, RHP) vs. Unknown()
RedSox (78-57) @ WhiteSox (68-69), 2:05pm
Jon Lester (25, LHP) vs. John Danks (24, LHP)
Angels (80-54) @ Royals (51-84), 2:10pm
Joe Saunders (28, LHP) vs. Luke Hochevar (25, RHP)
Mariners (72-65) @ Athletics (60-76), 4:05pm
Doug Fister (25, RHP) vs. Gio Gonzalez (23, LHP)
Cardinals (81-56) @ Pirates (53-81), 2nd Game
Joel Pineiro (30, RHP) vs. Paul Maholm (27, LHP)
Cubs (68-66) @ Mets (61-75), 1:10pm
Randy Wells (26, RHP) vs. Mike Pelfrey (25, RHP)
Reds (62-73) @ Braves (70-66), 1:30pm
Johnny Cueto (23, RHP) vs. Tim Hudson (33, RHP)
Marlins (72-64) @ Nationals (46-90), 1:35pm
Anibal Sanchez (25, RHP) vs. J.D. Martin (26, RHP)
Giants (75-61) @ Brewers (65-70), 2:05pm
Jonathan Sanchez (26, LHP) vs. Braden Looper (34, RHP)
Phillies (77-56) @ Astros (65-70), 2:05pm
Cole Hamels (25, LHP) vs. Bud Norris (24, RHP)
D'backs (61-76) @ Rockies (76-60), 3:10pm
Yusmeiro Petit (24, RHP) vs. Jorge de la Rosa (28, LHP)
Padres (60-77) @ Dodgers (81-56), 8:10pm
Tim Stauffer (27, RHP) vs. Hiroki Kuroda (34, RHP)
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 NYA 87 49 .640 0.0 81 6BOS 78 57 .578 8.5 77 1
TB 72 63 .533 14.5 75 -3
TOR 60 75 .444 26.5 68 -8
BAL 55 81 .404 32.0 59 -4
American League Central DET 74 61 .548 0.0 70 4
MIN 68 67 .504 6.0 68 0
CHA 68 69 .496 7.0 69 -1
CLE 59 76 .437 15.0 64 -5
KC 51 84 .378 23.0 52 -1
American League West LAA 80 54 .597 0.0 76 4
TEX 76 59 .563 4.5 74 2
SEA 72 65 .526 9.5 63 9
OAK 60 76 .441 21.0 64 -4
National League East Pwins Diff PHI 77 56 .579 0.0 76 1
FLA 72 64 .529 6.5 68 4
ATL 70 66 .515 8.5 74 -4
NYN 61 75 .449 17.5 62 -1
WAS 46 90 .338 32.5 55 -9
National League Central STL 81 56 .591 0.0 78 3
CHN 68 66 .507 11.5 69 -1
HOU 65 70 .481 15.0 59 6
MIL 65 70 .481 15.0 64 1
CIN 62 73 .459 18.0 58 4
PIT 53 81 .396 26.5 58 -5
National League West LAN 81 56 .591 0.0 83 -2
COL 76 60 .559 4.5 76 0
SF 75 61 .551 5.5 72 3
ARI 61 76 .445 20.0 66 -5
SD 60 77 .438 21.0 54 6
Wildcard Standings American League BOS 78 57 .578 0.0 TEX 76 59 .563 2.0 TB 72 63 .533 6.0 SEA 72 65 .526 7.0 MIN 68 67 .504 10.0 National League COL 76 60 .559 0.0 SF 75 61 .551 1.0 FLA 72 64 .529 4.0 ATL 70 66 .515 6.0 CHN 68 66 .507 7.0
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.ORG LVL PLAYER AB H 2B 3B HR BB SO Notes MIN A Angel Morales..... 3 2 1 1 0 2 0 3 R BOS A Peter Hissey...... 4 3 1 1 0 0 0 3 R ARI AA Evan Frey......... 5 3 1 1 0 0 1 LA AAA Blake Dewitt...... 5 2 1 1 0 0 1 PIT AA Brian Friday...... 5 2 2 0 0 0 1 HOU A+ Jonathan Gaston... 4 2 0 0 1 1 0 BOS A+ Anthony Rizzo..... 5 2 2 0 0 0 1 TOR A+ Eric Thames....... 4 2 1 1 0 0 1 MIN A Aaron Hicks....... 4 2 1 0 0 2 1 3 R FLA AAA Gaby Sanchez...... 2 1 0 0 1 1 0 CIN AAA Chris Heisey...... 4 2 1 0 0 0 0 OAK AA Josh Donaldson.... 4 2 0 0 1 0 0 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes SF A Eric Surkamp...... 9 2 1 1 12 0 1 TB A- Kyle Lobstein..... 6 4 0 0 9 1 0 KC A+ Daniel Duffy...... 6 4 0 0 8 1 0 SEA AA Daniel Cortes..... 7 2 2 1 7 3 0 HOU A Jordan Lyles...... 6 4 1 1 6 0 0 BAL AA Brandon Erbe...... 7 1 1 1 5 0 1 TB A+ Mitch Talbot...... 3 1 0 0 6 0 0 KC A Timothy Melville.. 5 4 0 0 6 1 0 CHC AA Andrew Cashner.... 7 2 0 0 2 1 0 CLE A+ Bryan Price....... 7 4 5 4 6 1 2 ARI A+ Wade Miley........ 5 5 2 0 4 1 0 9 GB TEX AA Daniel Gutierrez.. 5 3 2 2 3 0 1 9 GB
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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.