December 4, 2008
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THT Daily: Ninth inningsby THT StaffSeptember 19, 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
Evan Longoria had his first three-homer game in a losing cause Thursday against the Twins. Longoria started off his night with a two-run homer off Glen Perkins and later added solo shots off Philip Humber and Bobby Korecky, giving him 25 homers in 111 games. He's definitely still a favorite for Rookie of the Year honors despite missing five weeks with a broken wrist. Shaun Marcum is done for the rest of the year because of the arm injury that caused him to leave Tuesday's start. It sounds like Marcum might need an operation. Results of his MRI have been sent to Dr. James Andrews for another opinion. "We’ll have confirmation tomorrow," GM J.P. Ricciardi said when asked whether Marcum might require surgery. "I don’t want to speculate on anything." Yesterday’s ResultsGame recaps provided by Craig Calcaterra of Shysterball.Phillies 4, Braves 3: The hospitality of southerners is profuse. So profuse that taverns are but poorly supported. A traveller, with the garb and the manners of a gentleman, finds a welcome at every door. A stranger is riding on horseback through Virginia or Carolina. It is noon. He sees a plantation, surrounded with trees, a little distance from the road. Without hesitation he rides to the door. The gentleman of the house sees his approach and is ready upon the steps. Conversation flows cheeringly, for the southern gentleman has a particular tact in making a guest happy. After dinner you are urged to pass the afternoon and night, and if you are a gentleman in manners and information, your host will be in reality highly gratified by your so doing. Such is the character of southern hospitality.* In other news, the Phillies have won all nine games they played in Atlanta this year. *I'd like to say I wrote that, but I didn't. It's by the 19th century author Jacob Abbot, from his book New England, and Her Institutions. Cubs 7, Brewers 6: There are losses -- and believe me, the Brewers have had many of them lately -- and then there are soul-killing, will-crushing, rip-your-heart-out losses, This was one of those. It's to the point where, if you're a Brewers fan, you have to wonder if it would have been better to be out of the race since May. After all, Nietzsche once said that "hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torments of man." I don't personally believe that and hope Milwaukee fans don't either, but you know at least some of them do right now. Mets 7, Nationals 2: Johan Santana throws seven strong innings, ensuring for at least another couple of days that the Mets' little collapse will play second fiddle to the Brewers' big one. Dodgers 4, Pirates 3: On Wednesday the Dodgers got 18 hits but were blown out. Last night they only got six but won. Eleven walks will do that for you. Royals 12, Mariners 0: I've had some fun at the Royals' expense this week, but this performance deserves some straight-up praise. Zack Greinke was dominant (7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 7K), the lineup produced (13 hits and 8 walks), and Kansas City has now won seven in a row. If you're a Royals fan you can wonder where all of this was earlier in the season. Or you could note that this little surge has come against poor teams with diluted rosters. Or you could talk about how it won't last and that it serves as no indicator of what 2009 will hold. But if you're a healthy Royals fan, you can simply enjoy a nice run during which your team has played some nice baseball. Marlins 8, Astros 1: Speaking of streaks, that's eight for the Marlins and five -- the hard way -- for the Astros. Blue Jays 3, Orioles 2: The definition of a good team blogger: a guy who you can provide the litany of horribles his team has endured, and end the post with "And we're still here. Let's go, O's." Angels 6, A's 4: I'm going to go on record and note that "Josh Outman" is the best name I've heard for a pitcher since Eric Plunk retired. Cardinals 5, Reds 4: It's been a couple of months since I reminded folks that Kyle Lohse (14-6, 3.76 ERA) could have been had by anyone for low money up through the beginning of spring training. Yankees 9, White Sox 2: The day after word leaked to the Post that the Yankees probably aren't bringing him back, Abreu goes out and whacks 6 RBI. Not that letting him dangle isn't a good move, mind you. I just like it when stuff like that happens. Twins 11, Rays 8: It took a major bullpen collapse on the part of the Rays to do it, but the Twins finally gained some ground on the Sox. Diamondbacks 3, Giants 2: 118 pitches for Lincecum as Burch Bochy's quest to put his player's individual accomplishments ahead of team accomplishments continues. Worth noting that Lincecum is now eight strikeouts short of the team record. He should have two more starts left, so that's likely to be reached. Assuming of course his arm doesn't fall off first. You can download a compact version of yesterday's boxscores from Heater Magazine.
Today’s GamesNational League --------------- St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs, 2:20 PM (R) Adam Wainwright (9-3) vs. (R) Carlos Zambrano (14-5) Houston Astros at Pittsburgh Pirates, 7:05 PM (L) Randy Wolf (10-12) vs. (R) Ian Snell (6-11) Milwaukee Brewers at Cincinnati Reds, 7:10 PM (R) Seth McClung (5-6) vs. (R) Ramon Ramirez (0-0) Philadelphia Phillies at Florida Marlins, 7:10 PM (R) Brett Myers (10-11) vs. (R) Josh Johnson (5-1) New York Mets at Atlanta Braves, 7:35 PM (L) Oliver Perez (10-7) vs. (L) Jo-Jo Reyes (3-11) San Diego Padres at Washington Nationals, 7:35 PM (R) Jake Peavy (9-11) vs. (R) Collin Balester (3-6) Arizona Diamondbacks at Colorado Rockies, 8:05 PM (R) Max Scherzer (0-2) vs. (L) Jorge De La Rosa (8-8) San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers, 10:40 PM (L) Barry Zito (9-16) vs. (R) Greg Maddux (7-12) American League --------------- Baltimore Orioles at New York Yankees, 7:05 PM (R) Radhames Liz (6-5) vs. (R) Carl Pavano (3-1) Detroit Tigers at Cleveland Indians, 7:05 PM (R) Armando Galarraga (12-6) vs. (R) Fausto Carmona (8-7) Boston Red Sox at Toronto Blue Jays, 7:07 PM (R) Paul Byrd (11-12) vs. (R) A.J. Burnett (18-10) Minnesota Twins at Tampa Bay Rays, 7:10 PM (R) Nick Blackburn (10-9) vs. (R) Edwin Jackson (11-11) LA Angels of Anaheim at Texas Rangers, 8:05 PM (R) Jon Garland (14-8) vs. (L) Matt Harrison (8-3) Chicago White Sox at Kansas City Royals, 8:10 PM (L) Mark Buehrle (13-11) vs. (R) Brian Bannister (8-15) Seattle Mariners at Oakland Athletics, 10:05 PM (R) Felix Hernandez (9-10) vs. (L) Dana Eveland (8-8) 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 90 61 .596 0.0 84 6 Game of the DayCubs 7, Brewers 6 - FINAL
MILWAUKEE ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
M Cameron cf 5 2 1 1 1 2 0 .243
R Durham 2b 5 1 2 1 1 1 0 .289
R Braun lf 6 0 1 1 0 1 3 .287
P Fielder 1b 4 1 1 1 2 2 0 .272
J Hardy ss 4 0 2 1 2 0 3 .283
C Hart rf 6 0 2 1 0 2 6 .274
C Counsell 3b 4 1 0 0 2 1 5 .227
J Kendall c 6 0 0 0 0 1 3 .246
D Bush p 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 .089
va-M Lamb ph 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 .286
T Coffey p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
vb-B Nelson ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167
E Gagne p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
G Mota p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
S Torres p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
vc-R Weeks ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .232
S McClung p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .294
vd-J Dillon ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .211
C Villanueva p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .125
Totals 45 6 9 6 9 12 23 ###
CHICAGO CUBS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
A Soriano lf 4 0 1 0 2 2 1 .289
R Theriot ss 6 0 0 0 0 1 2 .301
D Lee 1b 6 0 1 1 0 2 1 .293
A Ramirez 3b 4 2 2 1 1 0 0 .287
J Edmonds cf 4 2 2 2 0 0 0 .237
hc-F Pie ph-cf 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .224
M DeRosa 2b 5 1 2 0 0 1 0 .282
G Soto c 5 1 1 3 0 1 2 .285
K Fukudome rf 3 0 0 0 1 1 0 .258
C Marmol p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
K Wood p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
hd-D Ward ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .218
J Marquis pr 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .196
R Harden p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .050
ha-M Hoffpauir ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .306
J Samardzija p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
R Wells p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
hb-M Fontenot ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .288
N Cotts p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
M Wuertz p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
R Johnson rf 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .298
Totals 41 7 9 7 6 9 8 ###
----------------------------------------------------
MILWAUKEE - 100 004 001 000 -- 6 9 0
CHICAGO CUBS - 010 100 004 001 -- 7 9 1
Two outs when winning run scored.
----------------------------------------------------
ha-flied out to right for R Harden in the 5th; va-grounded into fielder's
choice to shortstop for D Bush in the 6th; vb-flied out to center for T Coffey
in the 7th; hb-walked for R Wells in the 8th; vc-struck out looking for S
Torres in the 10th; hc-grounded into fielder's choice to first for J Edmonds
in the 11th; vd-grounded to shortstop for S Mcclung in the 12th; hd-walked
for K Wood in the 12th.
BATTING: 2B - R Durham (33, R Harden); P Fielder (27, N Cotts); C Hart 2 (45, K
Wood, M Wuertz); A Ramirez (42, S Torres). HR - J Edmonds (19, 2nd inning off D
Bush 0 on, 1 Out), A Ramirez (26, 4th inning off D Bush 0 on, 2 Out), G Soto
(23, 9th inning off S Torres 2 on, 2 Out). S - R Johnson. RBI - P Fielder (94),
M Cameron (67), R Durham (45), R Braun (98), J Hardy (72), C Hart (86), J
Edmonds 2 (53), A Ramirez (109), G Soto 3 (86), D Lee (88). 2-out RBI - M
Cameron, R Durham, R Braun, J Hardy, A Ramirez, J Edmonds, G Soto 3, D Lee.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J Dillon 1, C Counsell 2, C Hart 2, J
Hardy 2, G Soto 2. GIDP - D Lee. Team LOB - MILWAUKEE 12, CHICAGO CUBS 6.
BASERUNNING: CS - A Soriano (3, 2nd base by D Bush/J Kendall). FIELDING: E - M
DeRosa (11, ground ball). Outfield assists - A Soriano (J Hardy at Home). DP:
(C Counsell-R Durham-P Fielder).
MILWAUKEE ip h r er bb so hr era
D Bush 5 2 2 2 2 3 2 4.22
T Coffey (H, 1) 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 5.01
E Gagne (H, 6) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.10
G Mota (H, 11) 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 3.95
S Torres 1 4 4 4 0 0 1 3.20
S McClung 2 1 0 0 1 4 0 4.22
C Villanueva (L, 4-7) 2/3 1 1 1 2 0 0 4.23
CHICAGO CUBS ip h r er bb so hr era
R Harden 5 1 1 1 6 7 0 1.66
J Samardzija (B, 2) 2/3 3 4 0 2 0 0 2.25
R Wells 2 1/3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.00
N Cotts 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 4.18
M Wuertz 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 3.92
C Marmol 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 2.67
K Wood (W, 5-4) 2 2 0 0 0 3 0 3.43
N Cotts pitched to 1 batter in the 9th.
IBB - P Fielder 2 (by R Harden, J Samardzija), A Soriano (by C Villanueva).
Pitches-strikes: D Bush 66-43; T Coffey 5-4; E Gagne 4-4; G Mota 22-12; S
Torres 18-12; S McClung 30-20; C Villanueva 20-8; R Harden 115-68; J Samardzija
35-15; R Wells 19-11; N Cotts 1-1; M Wuertz 9-7; C Marmol 12-8; K Wood 33-25.
Ground balls-fly balls: D Bush 4-7; T Coffey 3-0; E Gagne 2-1; G Mota 0-1; S
Torres 1-2; S McClung 1-1; C Villanueva 1-1; R Harden 3-6; J Samardzija 3-0; R
Wells 4-3; N Cotts 0-0; M Wuertz 0-1; C Marmol 1-0; K Wood 3-0. Batters faced:
D Bush 18; T Coffey 3; E Gagne 3; G Mota 4; S Torres 7; S McClung 8; C
Villanueva 5; R Harden 23; J Samardzija 8; R Wells 8; N Cotts 1; M Wuertz 3; C
Marmol 3; K Wood 8. IRS - M Wuertz, R Wells. UMPIRES: HP--Ed Rapuano. 1B--Ed
Hickox. 2B--C.B. Bucknor. 3B--Joe West. EJECTIONS: CHICAGO CUBS' Edmonds by
Rapuano (11th). T--3:47. Att--40,678. Weather: 68 degrees, sunny. Wind: 5
mph, in from right.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 Bobby Abreu NYY Javier Vazquez CWS 392 421 19 ND Bobby Abreu NYY Javier Vazquez CWS 412 440 18 PL Mike Aviles KC Ryan Feierabend SEA 390 374 8 PL Jose Bautista TOR Garrett Olson BAL 388 390 15 PL Pat Burrell PHI Mike Hampton ATL 418 409 32 PL Alexi Casilla MIN Dan Wheeler TB 368 368 7 PL Jim Edmonds CHC Dave Bush MIL 398 393 19 PL Paul Konerko CWS Chris Britton NYY 399 406 17 PL Casey Kotchman ATL Cole Hamels PHI 414 405 13 JE Jason Kubel MIN James Shields TB 411 411 19 ND Evan Longoria TB Glen Perkins MIN 376 375 25 ND Evan Longoria TB Philip Humber MIN 360 360 24 PL Evan Longoria TB Bobby Korecky MIN 334 334 23 PL Bengie Molina SF Juan Cruz ARI 397 382 14 PL Kendry Morales LAA Keith Foulke OAK 416 416 2 PL Mike Napoli LAA Keith Foulke OAK 402 385 17 PL Dioner Navarro TB Glen Perkins MIN 352 351 7 JE Carlos Pena TB Philip Humber MIN 410 408 29 PL Albert Pujols STL Edinson Volquez CIN 422 414 34 PL Aramis Ramirez CHC Dave Bush MIL 385 378 26 PL Brian Schneider NYM Tim Redding WAS 355 368 9 PL Brian Schneider NYM Jason Bergmann WAS 349 358 8 PL Geovany Soto CHC Salomon Torres MIL 400 396 23 PL Brandon Wood LAA Keith Foulke OAK 405 398 5 PL Access THT’s stats here…
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BOS 89 63 .586 1.5 92 -3 
NYA 82 71 .536 9.0 81 1 
TOR 82 71 .536 9.0 87 -5 
BAL 67 84 .444 23.0 70 -3 
American League Central
CHA 84 68 .553 0.0 84 0 
MIN 83 70 .542 1.5 85 -2 
CLE 75 77 .493 9.0 80 -5 
DET 71 80 .470 12.5 75 -4 
KC 69 84 .451 15.5 66 3 
American League West
LAA 93 59 .612 0.0 83 10 
TEX 75 78 .490 18.5 70 5 
OAK 71 81 .467 22.0 73 -2 
SEA 57 95 .375 36.0 62 -5 
National League East Pwins Diff
PHI 86 67 .562 0.0 88 -2 
NYN 85 67 .559 0.5 85 0 
FLA 80 72 .526 5.5 76 4 
ATL 67 86 .438 19.0 73 -6 
WAS 58 95 .379 28.0 60 -2 
National League Central
CHN 92 59 .609 0.0 94 -2 
MIL 84 69 .549 9.0 82 2 
HOU 80 72 .526 12.5 72 8 
STL 79 73 .520 13.5 79 0 
CIN 70 82 .461 22.5 67 3 
PIT 64 89 .418 29.0 63 1 
National League West
LAN 80 73 .523 0.0 81 -1 
ARI 76 76 .500 3.5 77 -1 
COL 70 83 .458 10.0 69 1 
SF 68 85 .444 12.0 65 3 
SD 58 95 .379 22.0 64 -6 
Wildcard Standings
American League
BOS 89 63 .586 0.0
MIN 83 70 .542 6.5
TOR 82 71 .536 7.5
NYA 82 71 .536 7.5
CLE 75 77 .493 14.0
National League
NYN 85 67 .559 0.0
MIL 84 69 .549 1.5
HOU 80 72 .526 5.0
FLA 80 72 .526 5.0
STL 79 73 .520 6.0