THT Daily: Mr. Clutch
by Dave StudemanMay 15, 2008
Major League News for May 15
Player NewsYesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Game of the Day
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 RotoworldCubs signed outfielder Jim Edmonds for the remainder of the season. Edmonds passed his physical, so his signing was confirmed after Wednesday's game. He'll take over as the center fielder against right-handers, with Reed Johnson likely to play against lefties. The smaller ballpark should do him some good, but Edmonds isn't going to hit for average or be a big RBI guy. He should have only modest value in NL-only leagues. Johnson won't be worth using again until a starter gets hurt.
C.C. Sabathia struck out eleven en route to pitching a complete game shutout against the Athletics on Wednesday night. Sabathia allowed just five hits and walked two in the effort, picking up his third win and lowering his ERA to 5.47. After a brutal start to the season, Sabathia has rounded into his old form, with quality starts in four of his last five trips to the mound. If there was any doubt, the buy low window has closed.
Rays agreed to terms with LHP Scott Kazmir on a three-year, $28.5 million contract with a club option for 2012. The Rays buy out his first year of free agency and get an option for the second. Signing Kazmir is perhaps the riskiest move the Rays have ever made, given the potential for more arm problems, but it's not like they were ever going to come up with a suitable replacement in free agency if they opted to let him go. At this price, it doesn't seem like a bad investment.
According to the New York Post, Luis Castillo reported continued soreness in his strained left quad on Friday, making a trip to the disabled list likely. GM Omar Minaya indicated that the Mets could wait a couple of more days before making it final. Castillo hasn't played since Sunday. Damion Easley will continue to be the primary replacement at second base, but Fernando Tatis might get a look there at some point.
Red Sox placed RHP Clay Buchholz on the disabled list, retroactive to May 13, with a broken nail on his right middle finger. Buchholz was knocked around by the Twins in his last outing, giving him a 5.53 ERA on the year. The Red Sox were considering him probable for his start Sunday, but since caution was always advised with the 23-year-old and an extra outfielder was needed, placing him on the DL makes sense. It's probably too early to call up Bartolo Colon to replace him on Sunday. For that reason, Justin Masterson may get brought up to make a spot start.
Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner said Tuesday that "team is not playing the way it is capable of playing" and "these players are being paid a lot of money and they had better decide for themselves to earn that money." Surely being publicly scolded by George Steinbrenner's media-loving son will have a huge effect on the Yankees' performance. "We've got to forget about all the injuries and start playing our butts off," Steinbrenner said. "We have good professional hitters and I have a lot of faith in them. I'm not saying they are not giving the effort, but they need to be playing harder."
Yesterday’s Results
American League BAL 6 BOS 3 (Recap and Boxscore) NYA 2 TB 1 (Recap and Boxscore) CLE 2 OAK 0 (Recap and Boxscore) KC 2 DET 0 (Recap and Boxscore) TOR 6 MIN 5 (Recap and Boxscore) CHA 6 LAA 1 (Recap and Boxscore) SEA 4 TEX 3 (Recap and Boxscore) National League WAS 5 NYN 3 (Recap and Boxscore) ATL 8 PHI 6 (Recap and Boxscore) CHN 8 SD 5 (Recap and Boxscore) CIN 7 FLA 6 (Recap and Boxscore) LAN 6 MIL 4 (Recap and Boxscore) STL 5 PIT 1 (Recap and Boxscore) ARI 4 COL 3 (Recap and Boxscore) HOU 6 SF 3 (Recap and Boxscore)You can download a compact version of yesterday's boxscores from Heater Magazine.
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Today’s Games
National League --------------- Los Angeles Dodgers at Milwaukee Brewers, 1:05 PM (R) Chad Billingsley (2-5) vs. (R) Ben Sheets (4-0) Washington Nationals at New York Mets, 1:10 PM (R) Jason Bergmann (0-1) vs. (R) Mike Pelfrey (2-3) Pittsburgh Pirates at St. Louis Cardinals, 1:15 PM (R) Ian Snell (2-2) vs. (R) Joel Pineiro (2-2) San Diego Padres at Chicago Cubs, 2:20 PM (R) Greg Maddux (3-3) vs. (R) Ryan Dempster (4-1) Houston Astros at San Francisco Giants, 3:45 PM (R) Chris Sampson (2-3) vs. (R) Tim Lincecum (5-1) Atlanta Braves at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 PM (L) Chuck James (2-2) vs. (L) Cole Hamels (4-3) Florida Marlins at Cincinnati Reds, 7:10 PM (L) Andrew Miller (3-2) vs. (R) Matt Belisle (1-3) Colorado Rockies at Arizona Diamondbacks, 9:40 PM (R) Aaron Cook (6-1) vs. (R) Brandon Webb (8-0) American League --------------- Oakland Athletics at Cleveland Indians, 12:05 PM (L) Greg Smith (2-2) vs. (L) Aaron Laffey (1-2) Toronto Blue Jays at Minnesota Twins, 1:10 PM (R) Dustin McGowan (2-3) vs. (L) Glen Perkins (0-1) Detroit Tigers at Kansas City Royals, 2:10 PM (L) Kenny Rogers (3-3) vs. (R) Gil Meche (2-5) New York Yankees at Tampa Bay Rays, 4:10 PM (R) Ian Kennedy (0-2) vs. (L) Scott Kazmir (1-1) Chicago White Sox at LA Angels of Anaheim, 10:05 PM (R) Javier Vazquez (4-3) vs. (R) Jon Garland (4-3)
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 TB 23 17 .575 0.0 22 1BOS 24 19 .558 0.5 24 0
BAL 21 19 .525 2.0 20 1
NYA 20 21 .488 3.5 20 0
TOR 20 22 .476 4.0 21 -1
American League Central CLE 21 19 .525 0.0 23 -2
MIN 20 19 .513 0.5 19 1
CHA 19 20 .487 1.5 22 -3
KC 18 21 .462 2.5 16 2
DET 16 24 .400 5.0 17 -1
American League West LAA 24 18 .571 0.0 21 3
OAK 23 18 .561 0.5 24 -1
TEX 20 22 .476 4.0 18 2
SEA 16 26 .381 8.0 18 -2
National League East Pwins Diff FLA 23 17 .575 0.0 21 2
PHI 22 19 .537 1.5 21 1
NYN 20 18 .526 2.0 20 0
ATL 20 19 .513 2.5 24 -4
WAS 17 24 .415 6.5 16 1
National League Central CHN 24 16 .600 0.0 26 -2
STL 24 18 .571 1.0 23 1
HOU 23 18 .561 1.5 23 0
MIL 20 20 .500 4.0 18 2
PIT 19 21 .475 5.0 18 1
CIN 18 23 .439 6.5 18 0
National League West ARI 25 15 .625 0.0 25 0
LAN 20 19 .513 4.5 21 -1
SF 17 24 .415 8.5 15 2
COL 15 25 .375 10.0 16 -1
SD 15 26 .366 10.5 14 1
Game of the Day
The Dodgers staged a three-run ninth inning against the Brewers’ bullpen to beat Milwaukee, 6-4. Juan Pierre delivered two key hits for LA, including a key double in the ninth.Dodgers 6, Brewers 4 - FINAL
LA DODGERS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Pierre lf 5 1 3 3 0 0 0 .293
T Saito p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
A Jones cf 5 0 2 1 0 1 2 .179
M Kemp rf 5 0 0 0 0 3 2 .309
J Kent 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 .242
R Martin c 3 0 1 0 1 1 0 .302
J Loney 1b 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .284
B Dewitt 3b 3 2 1 1 1 0 1 .320
C Hu ss 3 1 1 0 0 0 2 .204
vb-D Young ph 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 .292
L Maza ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
D Lowe p 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .294
va-M Sweeney ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .143
S Proctor p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
J Beimel p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
J Broxton p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
vc-A Ethier ph-lf 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .301
Totals 36 6 10 5 3 6 11 ###
MILWAUKEE ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
M Cameron cf 4 0 0 0 0 3 3 .190
J Hardy ss 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 .254
R Braun lf 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 .287
P Fielder 1b 3 1 1 0 1 0 0 .252
C Hart rf 4 1 2 1 0 0 0 .308
G Mota p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
B Hall 3b 4 0 0 0 0 3 4 .195
C Counsell 2b 2 1 0 0 2 1 0 .240
M Parra p 3 0 1 2 0 1 3 .214
D Riske p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
S Torres p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
B Shouse p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
G Kapler rf 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .277
J Kendall c 3 0 1 1 1 0 0 .285
Totals 32 4 6 4 4 10 12 ###
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LA DODGERS - 000 010 203 -- 6 10 0
MILWAUKEE - 030 001 000 -- 4 6 1
----------------------------------------------------
va-reached on error for D Lowe in the 7th; vb-walked for C Hu in the 9th;
vc-singled to deep right for J Broxton in the 9th.
BATTING: 2B - J Pierre (5, G Mota). HR - B Dewitt (3, 5th inning off M Parra 0
on, 1 Out). RBI - B Dewitt (19), J Pierre 3 (15), A Jones (6), M Parra 2 (3), J
Kendall (12), C Hart (19). 2-out RBI - J Pierre. Runners left in scoring
position, 2 out - A Jones 1, C Hu 1, M Parra 2. GIDP - M Kemp, M Cameron. Team
LOB - LA DODGERS 6, MILWAUKEE 5. BASERUNNING: SB - J Pierre (14, 3rd base off G
Mota/J Kendall), C Hart (6, 2nd base off D Lowe/R Martin). CS - J Pierre (2,
2nd base by M Parra/J Kendall). FIELDING: E - P Fielder (4, ground ball). DP:
(B Dewitt-J Loney, J Hardy-C Counsell-P Fielder).
LA DODGERS ip h r er bb so hr era
D Lowe 6 6 4 4 3 6 0 4.62
S Proctor 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 5.79
J Beimel 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.66
J Broxton (W, 2-1) 2/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 5.06
T Saito (S, 6) 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 1.65
MILWAUKEE ip h r er bb so hr era
M Parra 6 2/3 7 3 1 2 4 1 5.03
D Riske (H, 6) 2/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 4.71
S Torres (H, 5) 1/3 1 0 0 0 0 0 2.77
B Shouse (H, 6) 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.92
G Mota (L, 1-2; B, 1) 1 2 3 3 1 1 0 3.63
WP - M Parra. IBB - P Fielder (by D Lowe), C Counsell (by D Lowe).
Pitches-strikes: D Lowe 95-55; S Proctor 19-12; J Beimel 3-2; J Broxton 8-4; T
Saito 16-11; M Parra 103-64; D Riske 7-6; S Torres 10-6; B Shouse 2-1; G Mota
33-20. Ground balls-fly balls: D Lowe 10-2; S Proctor 0-1; J Beimel 1-0; J
Broxton 1-1; T Saito 1-0; M Parra 12-3; D Riske 0-1; S Torres 1-0; B Shouse
0-1; G Mota 2-0. Batters faced: D Lowe 26; S Proctor 4; J Beimel 1; J Broxton
2; T Saito 3; M Parra 28; D Riske 2; S Torres 2; B Shouse 1; G Mota 6. UMPIRES:
HP--James Hoye. 1B--Ed Hickox. 2B--C.B. Bucknor. 3B--Joe West. T--3:04.
Att--27,562. 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.
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 AAA Jay Bruce......... 3 3 1 1 1 2 0 TEX AA Elvis Andrus...... 4 3 2 0 0 1 0 3 SB MIN AA Erik Lis.......... 4 3 3 0 0 0 0 CHW AAA Christopher Getz.. 4 4 0 0 1 1 0 3 R STL AA Steve Hill........ 4 4 2 0 0 0 0 TOR AAA Curtis Thigpen.... 4 2 1 0 1 1 1 3 R MIL AA Michael Brantley.. 4 3 1 0 0 1 0 TEX AA C. Davis.......... 5 2 1 0 1 0 0 PIT A+ Jamie Romak....... 4 2 2 0 0 1 1 3 R TOR AAA Adam Lind......... 6 2 1 0 1 0 3 4 RBI ATL A F. Freeman........ 7 2 1 0 1 0 1 SF A Angel Villalona... 6 3 2 0 0 0 3 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes TEX A+ Tommy Hunter...... 8 6 2 2 8 0 1 OAK A+ Trevor Cahill..... 8 2 1 0 6 2 0 14 GB SD AA Steve Garrison.... 7 4 0 0 4 0 0 TB A+ J. Hellickson..... 6 5 2 2 9 0 2 OAK A Craig Italiano.... 6 2 0 0 4 2 0 STL AA C. Mortensen...... 7 4 2 1 4 2 0 16 GB BAL AA Jason Berken...... 7 5 1 1 4 0 1 DET AA Luis Marte........ 8 4 1 1 3 3 0 15 GB DET A Brandon Hamilton.. 4 0 0 0 6 4 0 STL A+ Mark McCormick.... 3 1 0 0 5 2 0 WAN A+ Ross Detwiler..... 5 5 3 3 6 3 0 MIL A+ Zach Braddock..... 3 2 1 1 3 1 0
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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.