THT Daily: Mr. Clutch delivers again
by Dave StudemanJune 07, 2009
Major League News for June 7
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 RotoworldHeath Bell earned his major league-leading 16th save of the season Saturday against the Diamondbacks.
We've never been a fan of ignoring closers stuck on bad teams, and Bell is making us look fantastic this season. He actually allowed an earned run tonight, but it's been a rarity this season as he boasts a 1.61 ERA and 0.94 WHIP in 22 1/3 innings.
According to the Dayton Daily News, there is no indication when Joey Votto might return from the disabled list.
When asked Saturday if Votto will return the day he's eligible, June 14, Reds manager Dusty Baker spoke from the heart. "Probably not. We're not there yet, but we'll probably send him out on rehab when he does come back because he hasn't hit in a while. I know he's "The Natural," but he ain't that natural." Votto has been out since late May due to stress-related issues.
Mets manager Jerry Manuel suggested Saturday that John Maine may be suffering from some "dead arm" issues.
"I would hope that John Maine may be going through a period of dead arm or whatever," said the manager. "I just didn't see the electric stuff we've been known to see. That's a little concerning when that happens." Maine acknowledged that he "had nothing" and that his shoulder is "still a little tight." Perhaps he'll need to skip a start. Stay tuned.
Jon Lester retired the first 19 batters he faced Saturday in a complete game as the Red Sox beat the Rangers 8-1.
Lester was awesome through six innings, striking out 10 of the 18 hitters he faced and needing just 62 pitches in the process. Unfortunately, a long wait while the Red Sox scored four times in the bottom of the sixth seemed to cost him a bat. After Ian Kinsler hit a a sharp liner right at Dustin Pedroia to start the seventh, Michael Young followed with a double to left-center. Lester got out of that inning, but he did give up a run in the ninth, costing him his third career shutout. The complete game was his first of the season. He now ranks third in the AL with 85 strikeouts, 12 behind Justin Verlander.
Chad Qualls admitted Saturday that he's still feeling some tightness in his right forearm.
Qualls doesn't believe the injury is serious, but he's had similar issues this season and probably won't be available for the next few games. "If anything, it's a little stiff," he said. "It's nothing alarming. It's more frustrating."
Andre Ethier blasted a game-winning walkoff home run in the bottom of the 12th inning Saturday to lift his Dodgers over the Phillies 3-2.
It was Ethier's second straight day of heroics. He also knocked in a game-winning double in the bottom of the ninth inning Friday night, and has bumped his batting average to .271. Ethier finished Saturday's contest with two solo home runs, and now has eight dingers and 34 RBI in 203 at-bats this season.
Yesterday’s Results
For the full scoop regarding yesterday's games, read "And That Happened" at Shysterball.American League BOS 8 TEX 1 (Recap and Boxscore) TB 9 NYA 7 (Recap and Boxscore) KC 6 TOR 2 (Recap and Boxscore) CHA 4 CLE 2 (Recap and Boxscore) DET 2 LAA 1 (Recap and Boxscore) OAK 9 BAL 4 (Recap and Boxscore) SEA 2 MIN 1 (Recap and Boxscore) National League MIL 3 ATL 0 (Recap and Boxscore) FLA 5 SF 4 (Recap and Boxscore) WAS 7 NYN 1 (Recap and Boxscore) CIN 4 CHN 3 (Recap and Boxscore) PIT 6 HOU 4 (Recap and Boxscore) COL 10 STL 1 (Recap and Boxscore) LAN 3 PHI 2 (Recap and Boxscore) SD 6 ARI 4 (Recap and Boxscore)Check out Fangraphs' scoreboard to see all the games in action.
Today’s Games
National League --------------- Chicago Cubs at Cincinnati Reds, 1:10 PM (R) Randy Wells (0-2) vs. (R) Bronson Arroyo (7-4) New York Mets at Washington Nationals, 1:35 PM (R) Livan Hernandez (4-1) vs. (R) Craig Stammen (0-1) Milwaukee Brewers at Atlanta Braves, 1:35 PM (L) Manny Parra (3-7) vs. (R) Tommy Hanson (0-0) Pittsburgh Pirates at Houston Astros, 2:05 PM (R) Ian Snell (1-6) vs. (R) Felipe Paulino (1-4) Colorado Rockies at St. Louis Cardinals, 2:15 PM (R) Ubaldo Jimenez (3-6) vs. (R) Joel Pineiro (5-5) Arizona Diamondbacks at San Diego Padres, 4:05 PM (R) Dan Haren (4-4) vs. (R) Josh Geer (1-1) San Francisco Giants at Florida Marlins, 5:05 PM (R) Tim Lincecum (4-1) vs. (R) Ricky Nolasco (2-5) Philadelphia Phillies at Los Angeles Dodgers, 8:00 PM (L) Antonio Bastardo (1-0) vs. (L) Randy Wolf (3-1) American League --------------- Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees, 1:05 PM (R) Matt Garza (4-4) vs. (R) Joba Chamberlain (3-1) LA Angels of Anaheim at Detroit Tigers, 1:05 PM (L) Joe Saunders (6-4) vs. (R) Rick Porcello (6-4) Kansas City Royals at Toronto Blue Jays, 1:07 PM (R) Kyle Davies (2-5) vs. (R) Roy Halladay (9-1) Texas Rangers at Boston Red Sox, 1:35 PM (R) Vicente Padilla (3-3) vs. (R) Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-3) Cleveland Indians at Chicago White Sox, 2:05 PM (L) David Huff (0-2) vs. (R) Bartolo Colon (3-5) Baltimore Orioles at Oakland Athletics, 4:05 PM (L) Rich Hill (2-0) vs. (R) Vin Mazzaro (1-0) Minnesota Twins at Seattle Mariners, 4:10 PM (R) Kevin Slowey (8-1) vs. (L) Erik Bedard (4-2)
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 33 23 .589 0.0 32 1NYA 32 23 .582 0.5 30 2
TOR 31 27 .534 3.0 31 0
TB 29 28 .509 4.5 33 -4
BAL 24 32 .429 9.0 23 1
American League Central DET 29 25 .537 0.0 30 -1
MIN 28 29 .491 2.5 29 -1
CHA 26 29 .473 3.5 25 1
KC 24 31 .436 5.5 23 1
CLE 24 34 .414 7.0 28 -4
American League West TEX 32 23 .582 0.0 30 2
LAA 28 26 .519 3.5 27 1
SEA 27 29 .482 5.5 25 2
OAK 24 30 .444 7.5 25 -1
National League East Pwins Diff PHI 32 22 .593 0.0 30 2
NYN 29 25 .537 3.0 28 1
ATL 26 28 .481 6.0 26 0
FLA 27 30 .474 6.5 26 1
WAS 15 39 .278 17.0 21 -6
National League Central MIL 33 23 .589 0.0 30 3
STL 31 25 .554 2.0 30 1
CIN 29 26 .527 3.5 28 1
CHN 27 26 .509 4.5 27 0
PIT 26 29 .473 6.5 28 -2
HOU 24 30 .444 8.0 24 0
National League West LAN 39 19 .672 0.0 38 1
SF 28 26 .519 9.0 27 1
SD 26 29 .473 11.5 23 3
ARI 24 32 .429 14.0 25 -1
COL 23 32 .418 14.5 28 -5
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 COL AAA Eric Young........ 4 3 2 0 0 1 0 3 R CLE AAA Michael Brantley.. 5 4 0 0 1 1 0 3 LD CHC AA Tony Thomas....... 3 3 1 0 0 1 0 2 SB WAN A+ Michael Burgess... 3 2 1 0 1 0 1 BOS A Anthony Rizzo..... 5 2 1 0 1 0 1 5 RBI ! PIT A+ Pedro Alvarez..... 3 2 1 0 1 0 1 CLE AA Carlos Santana.... 3 2 0 0 1 1 0 OAK A Jeremy Barfield... 2 2 1 0 0 2 0 WAN A+ C. Marrero........ 4 2 2 0 0 0 0 PIT A Robbie Grossman... 4 2 0 0 1 0 2 CHW AA Tyler Flowers..... 4 2 2 0 0 0 1 CIN AAA Daniel Dorn....... 4 3 0 0 1 0 1 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes TB A Matthew Moore..... 7 0 0 0 12 2 0 STL AAA Mitchell Boggs.... 7 5 1 1 10 2 0 PIT AA Brad Lincoln...... 7 3 0 0 8 1 0 CIN AA Zachary Stewart... 6 2 1 1 8 3 0 CHC AAA Mitch Atkins...... 6 7 1 1 7 0 1 CLE AAA Chuck Lofgren..... 7 5 0 0 3 0 0 OAK A+ Tyson Ross........ 5 3 5 2 7 1 1 KC A+ Daniel Duffy...... 6 2 0 0 5 3 0 NYM AA Jenrry Mejia...... 7 5 0 0 5 3 0 CLE A T.J. House........ 4 4 3 2 5 1 0 9 GB ARI A Wade Miley........ 7 10 3 3 6 0 1 12 GB SD AAA William Inman..... 6 4 1 1 1 0 0 14 GB
| First Inning's Major and Minor League Daily Reports: |
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.