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THT Daily: NL West action

by Dave Studeman
September 13, 2009

Major League News for September 13

Player News
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings

You can always find the most recent THT Daily at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/content/thtdaily/

Player News

Player Headlines are courtesy of Rotoworld
The Pirates have shut Ross Ohlendorf down for the rest of the season.
Ohlendorf entered his 6 1/3-inning Saturday start with 163 1/3 frames under his belt, over 30 innings more than his previous career high. "It's gonna be tough," manager John Russell said after the game. "He's fun to watch. You talk to him, and he'll tell you there's a lot he wants to accomplish." He'll finish the 2009 season with an 11-10 record, 4.03 ERA and 1.25 WHIP.

Brian Bannister (shoulder) has been shut down for the rest of the season.
Bannister headed to New York earlier this week for a second opinion on his fatigued right arm, and was told to take the rest of the season off. He should be fine by the start of spring training 2010. "No surgery is necessary," he said, "and I will begin a stretching and strengthening program (Sunday)."

Casey McGehee went 4-for-5 with two home runs and six RBI, leading his Brewers over the Diamondbacks 9-2 on Saturday night.
McGehee continues to draw playing time over Mat Gamel, and for good reason. He's hitting .306/.367/.522 this season with 15 home runs and 57 RBI, and deserves mention in the NL Rookie of the Year race.

Dave Bush tossed seven innings of one-run ball on Saturday evening to help the Brewers defeat the Diamondbacks.
Bush carved up the D'Backs, striking out 11 and walking none in an out-of-nowhere prefromance. He's just 4-7 this season with a disappointing 5.85 ERA and 1.37 WHIP, but has risen to the occasion in consecutive starts and may be a guy to target down the stretch.

Tim Lincecum (back) tossed a successful bullpen session Saturday and is still aiming to return Monday against the Rockies.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy will announce Sunday whether Lincecum will draw the Monday start. "The Freak" was scratched from a start last Tuesday with back discomfort, but reported feeling "normal" after a game of catch Friday and his bullpen session went off without a hitch Saturday. All signs are good for the potential NL Cy Young Award winner.

Ryan Madson blew his sixth save of the season Saturday after allowing a David Wright two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning.
What do the Phillies do now? Madson was named the Phillies' temporary closer just a few days ago, but has allowed three earned runs in his last two innings of work. Perhaps Brett Myers will be trusted next time Philadelphia holds a lead in the ninth inning. He should be added in most leagues.

Brian McCann hit a go-ahead two-run double in the top of the ninth inning Saturday as the Braves topped the Cardinals 7-6.
McCann is finding a groove. He went 4-for-5 with a double and two RBI Thursday night, 1-for-3 with a run scored Friday night, and turned in a 3-for-5 performance Saturday. The catcher has upped his batting average to .281 for the season, and currently has 34 doubles, 18 home runs and 79 RBI in 430 at-bats.

David Wright finished 3-for-5 with two dingers and six RBI as the Mets rallied for a 10-9 victory over the Phillies on Saturday afternoon.
Wright played the hero with a two-run go-ahead homer in the top of the ninth. But the Mets wouldn't have been in the position for victory were it not for his two-run shot, and David Murphy's RBI single in the eighth. It was an impressive show of late-innings offense by a team headed for October anonymity. Wright is batting .318 this season with 10 dingers and 66 RBI in 466 at-bats.

John Smoltz will not make his scheduled start against the Marlins on Monday due to shoulder tendinitis.
Smoltz is expected to miss just one start, with Todd Wellemeyer taking his turn in the rotation. Smoltz is 1-1 with a 3.27 ERA and 0.97 WHIP in four starts since joining the Cardinals.

Yesterday’s Results

For the full scoop regarding yesterday's games, read "And That Happened" at Shysterball.

American League
BOS     9  TB      1    (Recap and Boxscore)
BAL     7  NYA     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
CLE    13  KC      6    (Recap and Boxscore)
TOR     8  DET     6    (Recap and Boxscore)
OAK     4  MIN     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
CHA     4  LAA     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
SEA     8  TEX     3    (Recap and Boxscore)

National League
FLA    11  WAS     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
NYN    10  PHI     9    (Recap and Boxscore)
CIN     7  CHN     5    (Recap and Boxscore)
HOU     4  PIT     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
ATL     7  STL     6    (Recap and Boxscore)
MIL     9  ARI     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
SD      3  COL     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
LAN     9  SF      1    (Recap and Boxscore)

Check out Fangraphs' scoreboard to see all the games in action.

Today’s Games

Rays (72-69) @ RedSox (82-58), 12:00pm
    Matt Garza (25, RHP) vs. Clay Buchholz (24, RHP)
Mariners (73-69) @ Rangers (79-61), 2nd Game
    Felix Hernandez (23, RHP) vs. Derek Holland (22, LHP)
Blue Jays (65-77) @ Tigers (75-66), 1:05pm
    Ricky Romero (24, LHP) vs. Rick Porcello (20, RHP)
Royals (56-86) @ Indians (61-80), 1:05pm
    Kyle Davies (25, RHP) vs. Carlos Carrasco (22, RHP)
Orioles (58-83) @ Yankees (91-52), 1:05pm
    Jeremy Guthrie (30, RHP) vs. C.C. Sabathia (28, LHP)
Mariners (73-69) @ Rangers (79-61), 1:35pm
    Doug Fister (25, RHP) vs. Tommy Hunter (22, RHP)
Athletics (64-77) @ Twins (70-72), 2:10pm
    Gio Gonzalez (23, LHP) vs. Brian Duensing (26, LHP)
WhiteSox (71-72) @ Angels (85-56), 3:35pm
    Mark Buehrle (30, LHP) vs. Scott Kazmir (25, LHP)
Rays (72-69) @ RedSox (82-58), 5:00pm
    James Shields (27, RHP) vs. Jon Lester (25, LHP)
Mets (63-79) @ Phillies (80-60), 1:05pm
    John Maine (28, RHP) vs. Kyle Kendrick (24, RHP)
Nationals (49-93) @ Marlins (76-66), 1:10pm
    John Lannan (24, LHP) vs. Chris Volstad (22, RHP)
Pirates (54-86) @ Astros (70-72), 2:05pm
    Paul Maholm (27, LHP) vs. Felipe Paulino  (25, RHP)
Braves (74-68) @ Cardinals (84-59), 2:15pm
    Javier Vazquez (32, RHP) vs. Chris Carpenter (34, RHP)
Reds (64-78) @ Cubs (72-68), 2:20pm
    Homer Bailey (23, RHP) vs. Ted Lilly (33, LHP)
Dodgers (85-58) @ Giants (76-66), 4:05pm
    Chad Billingsley (24, RHP) vs. Brad Penny (31, RHP)
Rockies (82-61) @ Padres (64-79), 4:05pm
    Jason Marquis (30, RHP) vs. Clayton Richard (25, LHP)
Brewers (68-73) @ D'backs (62-81), 4:10pm
    Chris Narveson (27, LHP) vs. Max Scherzer (24, RHP)
Mets (63-79) @ Phillies (80-60), 8:05pm
    Tim Redding (31, RHP) vs. Pedro Martinez (37, 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     91  52 .636    0.0   85     6    
BOS     82  58 .586    7.5   81     1    
TB      72  69 .511   18.0   76    -4    
TOR     65  77 .458   25.5   72    -7    
BAL     58  83 .411   32.0   62    -4    
American League Central     
DET     75  66 .532    0.0   72     3    
CHA     71  72 .497    5.0   71     0    
MIN     70  72 .493    5.5   71    -1    
CLE     61  80 .433   14.0   66    -5    
KC      56  86 .394   19.5   56     0    
American League West        
LAA     85  56 .603    0.0   80     5    
TEX     79  61 .564    5.5   77     2    
SEA     73  69 .514   12.5   65     8    
OAK     64  77 .454   21.0   68    -4    


National League East        Pwins  Diff
PHI     80  60 .571    0.0   79     1    
FLA     76  66 .535    5.0   73     3    
ATL     74  68 .521    7.0   78    -4    
NYN     63  79 .444   18.0   63     0    
WAS     49  93 .345   32.0   58    -9    
National League Central     
STL     84  59 .587    0.0   82     2    
CHN     72  68 .514   10.5   73    -1    
HOU     70  72 .493   13.5   63     7    
MIL     68  73 .482   15.0   68     0    
CIN     64  78 .451   19.5   61     3    
PIT     54  86 .386   28.5   59    -5    
National League West        
LAN     85  58 .594    0.0   88    -3    
COL     82  61 .573    3.0   81     1    
SF      76  66 .535    8.5   74     2    
SD      64  79 .448   21.0   57     7    
ARI     62  81 .434   23.0   66    -4    


Wildcard Standings
American League             
BOS     82  58 .586    0.0
TEX     79  61 .564    3.0
SEA     73  69 .514   10.0
TB      72  69 .511   10.5
CHA     71  72 .497   12.5
National League             
COL     82  61 .573    0.0
SF      76  66 .535    5.5
FLA     76  66 .535    5.5
ATL     74  68 .521    7.5
CHN     72  68 .514    8.5

First Inning's Major and Minor League Daily Reports:

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