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THT Daily: New York, New Yorkby THT StaffJuly 25, 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
Low Single-A Peoria's Julio Castillo was arrested on felony assault charges after throwing a baseball into the stands and sending a fan to the hospital on Thursday. Castillo was one of 15 or 17 players (depending on the report) ejected in a game against Dayton that included two beanings and a broken leg sustained by the fielder on a hard slide into second. With the managers already arguing, Castillo got the brawl started by firing a ball towards the Dayton dugout, apparently with the intention of drilling a player, not a fan. The 20-year-old Dominican is expected to be arraigned on Friday. It seems highly unlikely that he'll be back on a minor league mound this season, and if he's convicted of a felony, he'll probably have his visa revoked. To top it off, we imagine he's going to face a lawsuit as well. Cubs placed RHP Kerry Wood on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to July 14, with a blister on his right index finger. He wasn't immediately replaced on the roster, which is rather surprising given how much time the Cubs have spent contemplating the move. Carlos Marmol is expected to get whatever save chances the Cubs generate before Wood returns, probably next week. Matt Cain outdueled Tim Redding by delivering his second career shutout Thursday in a 1-0 game against the Nationals. Redding also threw a complete game, though he didn't have to pitch the ninth. The Giants got their only run on Dave Roberts' single in the eighth. Cain lowered his ERA under 4.00 for the first time since mid-April. He's 6-8 with a 3.82 ERA for the season. In just one of his six wins have the Giants scored more than four runs, and they've totaled nine runs while he's gone 2-3 in his last six starts. Yesterday’s ResultsGame recaps provided by Craig Calcaterra of Shysterball.Giants 1, Nats 0: That's how you play a game on getaway day! The teams combined for 11 hits and no walks, and the whole deal was done in two hours on the nose. Cain pitched a four hit shutout, and the only Giants' run came on an eighth inning sequence of single/sacrifice/single that had fundamental-loving traditionalists pitching tents in their sansabelt slacks. Mets 3, Phillies 1: Talk about not getting a win you deserve: Oliver Perez (7.2 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 12K) shuts the Phillies down, but gets in a jam in the eighth, makes way for Aaron Heilman who throws three pitches, and then who goes on to claim the win for himself when the Mets rally in the bottom of the inning. Of course the real culprit was the Mets' offense, who couldn't do a thing against Old Man Moyer, but a win's a win, and the Mets are now all alone in first place. Blue Jays 7, Orioles 1: Lots of dominant pitching performances yesterday, no? Halladay gives up one run over seven, making quick work of the O's. Yesterday lots of folks were reporting that the Jays were shopping Halladay. Late in the day the Jays denied it. If I had to guess, they are shopping him, as any team in their position should be given the kinds of returns teams are getting for starters this year. Sabathia, Harden, and Bedard all brought back value, and given how well Sabathia has pitched in particular, you can bet that there are some teams out there thinking about how to get the same kind of magic on their side. Blue Jays 5, Orioles 1: Because this was the continuation of the suspended game, A.J. Burnett picked up a win some 14 hours after the game began. Such a thing hasn't happened since Steve Trachsel was DFA'd last month. Pirates 9, Padres 1: The Padres were blanked for six innings by a 27 year-old rookie who, before this game, had given up 13 earned runs on 19 hits in his previous six innings over the course of two games. Brewers 4, Cardinals 3: Ryan Braun homered to left center off of Ryan Franklin, blowing the game in the top of the ninth. Right now, the Cardinals are in the midst of an 18-game stretch without a day off, and as I'm typing this, they are showering off an awful loss and preparing to take a bus to a charter flight that will take them to New York to face the Mets. In the face of all of that, it will take every bit of magic genius dust in La Russa's possession to get this team off the mat. I'm often wrong in these situations, but for now, this humble blogger is left with the distinct feeling that we have seen the last of "St. Louis Cardinals: pennant contenders" this season. Sorry, Sara. Cubs 6, Marlins 3: It's nice to be home. After a 2-4 road trip, the Cubs right the ship at Wrigley behind Zambrano and a big fifth inning. Eight and a half games separated the Cubs and Brewers a little over a month ago. Now the lead is one. They have A LOT of games left to play against one another. Whereof what's past is prologue, what to come is in Chicago's and Milwaukee's discharge. You can download a compact version of yesterday's boxscores from Heater Magazine.
Today’s GamesNational League --------------- Florida Marlins at Chicago Cubs, 2:20 PM (R) Josh Johnson (0-0) vs. (R) Ryan Dempster (11-4) San Diego Padres at Pittsburgh Pirates, 7:05 PM (R) Cha Seung Baek (2-4) vs. (L) Zach Duke (4-7) Atlanta Braves at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 PM (R) Jair Jurrjens (9-5) vs. (R) Kyle Kendrick (8-4) St. Louis Cardinals at New York Mets, 7:10 PM (R) Mitchell Boggs (3-1) vs. (R) Mike Pelfrey (8-6) Colorado Rockies at Cincinnati Reds, 7:10 PM (R) Aaron Cook (12-6) vs. (R) Edinson Volquez (12-3) Houston Astros at Milwaukee Brewers, 8:05 PM (L) Wandy Rodriguez (5-3) vs. (L) Manny Parra (9-2) Arizona Diamondbacks at San Francisco Giants, 10:15 PM (R) Dan Haren (9-5) vs. (L) Jonathan Sanchez (8-5) Washington Nationals at Los Angeles Dodgers, 10:40 PM (L) John Lannan (6-9) vs. (R) Chad Billingsley (9-9) American League --------------- New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox, 7:05 PM (R) Joba Chamberlain (2-3) vs. (R) Josh Beckett (9-6) LA Angels of Anaheim at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 PM (L) Joe Saunders (12-5) vs. (L) Brian Burres (7-6) Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers, 7:05 PM (R) Gavin Floyd (10-6) vs. (L) Nate Robertson (6-8) Minnesota Twins at Cleveland Indians, 7:05 PM (R) Livan Hernandez (10-6) vs. (L) Cliff Lee (13-2) Seattle Mariners at Toronto Blue Jays, 7:07 PM (R) Miguel Batista (4-11) vs. (L) John Parrish (1-0) Tampa Bay Rays at Kansas City Royals, 8:10 PM (R) Edwin Jackson (5-7) vs. (R) Brian Bannister (7-8) Texas Rangers at Oakland Athletics, 10:05 PM (R) Vicente Padilla (11-5) vs. (R) Sean Gallagher (1-0) 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 59 42 .584 0.0 55 4 Game of the DayBrewers 4, Cardinals 3 - FINAL
MILWAUKEE ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
R Durham 2b 5 0 0 0 0 2 1 .286
S Torres p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
J Hardy ss 5 2 3 0 0 0 0 .300
R Braun lf 4 1 4 2 1 0 0 .301
P Fielder 1b 3 1 2 0 2 1 2 .278
C Hart rf 5 0 0 1 0 0 7 .281
B Hall 3b 4 0 0 0 1 1 3 .231
M Cameron cf 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 .230
J Kendall c 2 0 0 1 2 1 1 .256
B Sheets p 3 0 0 0 0 1 4 .091
va-R Branyan ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .246
E Gagne p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
C Counsell 2b 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .246
Totals 35 4 10 4 7 6 19 ###
ST LOUIS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
S Schumaker lf 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 .294
A Miles ss-2b 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .320
A Pujols 1b 2 0 0 1 1 0 1 .349
R Ankiel cf 4 0 1 1 0 0 2 .276
T Glaus 3b 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 .278
R Ludwick rf 3 1 0 0 1 2 0 .290
J LaRue c 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 .240
T Wellemeyer p 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 .176
R Springer p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
K McClellan p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
R Franklin p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
A Kennedy 2b 2 1 0 0 1 0 1 .268
C Izturis ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .225
Totals 30 3 5 2 3 7 9 ###
----------------------------------------------------
MILWAUKEE - 000 110 002 -- 4 10 1
ST LOUIS - 101 100 000 -- 3 5 0
----------------------------------------------------
va-lined out to third for B Sheets in the 8th.
BATTING: 2B - P Fielder (18, R Franklin); A Miles (10, B Sheets). HR - R Braun
(26, 9th inning off R Franklin 1 on, 1 Out). SF - A Pujols. RBI - J Kendall
(27), C Hart (60), R Braun 2 (74), R Ankiel (58), A Pujols (56). 2-out RBI - J
Kendall, R Ankiel. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - B Sheets 2, B Hall
2, C Hart 1, R Ankiel 1, A Kennedy 1. GIDP - C Hart 2, A Miles. Team LOB -
MILWAUKEE 11, ST LOUIS 4. BASERUNNING: SB - S Schumaker (8, 2nd base off B
Sheets/J Kendall). FIELDING: E - C Hart (5, bobble). DP: (R Durham-J Hardy-P
Fielder, T Glaus-A Pujols, A Miles-A Kennedy-A Pujols).
MILWAUKEE ip h r er bb so hr era
B Sheets 7 4 3 2 2 4 0 2.87
E Gagne (W, 3-2) 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 6.75
S Torres (S, 19) 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 2.63
ST LOUIS ip h r er bb so hr era
T Wellemeyer 5 5 2 2 5 2 0 4.19
R Springer (H, 6) 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1.97
K McClellan (H, 22) 1 1/3 2 0 0 1 0 0 2.89
R Franklin (L, 3-4; B, 5) 1 2/3 3 2 2 0 3 1 3.94
Pitches-strikes: B Sheets 96-62; E Gagne 14-8; S Torres 13-9; T Wellemeyer
92-58; R Springer 12-6; K McClellan 26-17; R Franklin 35-21. Ground balls-fly
balls: B Sheets 4-13; E Gagne 2-1; S Torres 0-0; T Wellemeyer 6-7; R Springer
0-2; K McClellan 4-0; R Franklin 0-2. Batters faced: B Sheets 27; E Gagne 4; S
Torres 3; T Wellemeyer 24; R Springer 4; K McClellan 6; R Franklin 8. UMPIRES:
HP--Todd Tichenor. 1B--C.B. Bucknor. 2B--Joe West. 3B--Ed Rapuano. T--2:49.
Att--41,233. Weather: 72 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 5 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 Jason Bay PIT Clay Hensley SD 414 412 22 PL Henry Blanco CHC Scott Olsen FLA 379 363 2 PL Ryan Braun MIL Ryan Franklin STL 416 410 25 PL Ronny Cedeno CHC Scott Olsen FLA 391 359 2 PL Nate McLouth PIT Bryan Corey SD 370 364 21 PL Xavier Nady PIT Clay Hensley SD 417 414 13 PL Hanley Ramirez FLA Carlos Zambrano CHC 382 354 24 PL/L Jayson Werth PHI Oliver Perez NYM 434 430 13 PL 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 CHC AAA Felix Pie......... 5 4 1 1 0 1 1 3 R COL AAA Jayson Nix........ 3 2 0 0 2 1 0 LA A+ Austin Gallagher.. 5 3 0 0 2 0 0 KC AAA Chris Lubanski.... 3 2 1 0 1 1 1 CHC AAA Micah Hoffpauir... 5 2 1 0 1 1 0 4 RBI FLA AAA Jai Miller........ 5 2 1 0 1 0 0 LAA AAA Sean Rodriguez.... 3 2 0 0 2 0 0 BOS AAA Chris Carter...... 4 3 1 1 0 1 0 CIN A+ Juan Francisco.... 5 2 1 0 1 1 1 5 RBI ! ARI AAA Josh Whitesell.... 5 4 0 0 1 0 0 OAK AAA Eric Patterson.... 5 3 1 0 0 1 1 COL AAA Joseph Koshansky.. 3 2 1 0 1 0 0 4 RBI ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes NYM A- Bradley Holt...... 6 2 0 0 14 2 0 NYY AAA Ian Kennedy....... 7 1 1 0 7 0 0 OAK AA James Simmons..... 8 7 3 0 8 1 0 TEX A+ Derek Holland..... 6 4 3 3 10 1 1 NYM AA Jonathon Niese.... 7 6 0 0 8 1 0 STL AA Adam Ottavino..... 7 5 1 0 7 1 0 TEX A- Martin Perez...... 5 2 0 0 5 0 0 SEA AAA Ryan Feierabend... 6 3 0 0 4 0 0 STL A+ Mark Diapoules.... 7 4 1 1 7 2 1 NYY A+ Ivan Nova......... 8 5 1 1 5 1 1 BAL AA David Hernandez... 4 5 4 1 9 3 0 TB AAA Jeff Niemann...... 6 8 2 1 5 0 0 Access THT’s stats here…
Do you have a general question or comment for one of THT's writers? Send it in to our weekly mailbag We also welcome unsolicited op-ed pieces of approximately 500 words for consideration. We reserve the right to edit for length, clarity and consistency of style. Please include your whole name and location to be considered. If you have a comment about this specific article, please email the writer. Next Article: This annotated week in baseball history: July 20 - July 26, 1958>> <<Previous Article: Breaking down the draft: Picks 36-44 | |||||||
BOS 60 43 .583 0.0 61 -1 
NYA 56 45 .554 3.0 56 0 
TOR 51 51 .500 8.5 55 -4 
BAL 48 53 .475 11.0 49 -1 
American League Central
CHA 57 43 .570 0.0 59 -2 
MIN 55 46 .545 2.5 52 3 
DET 52 49 .515 5.5 54 -2 
KC 46 57 .447 12.5 43 3 
CLE 44 56 .440 13.0 51 -7 
American League West
LAA 62 39 .614 0.0 54 8 
OAK 52 49 .515 10.0 57 -5 
TEX 52 50 .510 10.5 47 5 
SEA 38 63 .376 24.0 43 -5 
National League East Pwins Diff
NYN 55 47 .539 0.0 55 0 
PHI 54 48 .529 1.0 58 -4 
FLA 53 49 .520 2.0 48 5 
ATL 48 53 .475 6.5 54 -6 
WAS 38 64 .373 17.0 39 -1 
National League Central
CHN 60 42 .588 0.0 62 -2 
MIL 59 43 .578 1.0 55 4 
STL 57 47 .548 4.0 55 2 
CIN 50 53 .485 10.5 47 3 
PIT 48 54 .471 12.0 45 3 
HOU 46 55 .455 13.5 44 2 
National League West
ARI 50 51 .495 0.0 51 -1 
LAN 49 52 .485 1.0 51 -2 
COL 45 58 .437 6.0 45 0 
SF 43 58 .426 7.0 43 0 
SD 38 65 .369 13.0 40 -2 