December 4, 2008
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THT Daily: no no hittersby Dave StudemanApril 04, 2008 Major League News for April 3Player 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 NewsPlayer Headlines are courtesy of RotoworldJohnny Cueto dominated the Diamondbacks in his major league debut, allowing just one hit -- a Justin Upton homer--and striking out 10 in seven innings. Cueto walked none in a brilliant performance. He was perfect for five innings before Upton supplied Arizona's lone hit of the day, and that didn't cause him to stumble at all afterwards. Cueto, of course, isn't always going to show the same kind of command that he did today. However, when he's at his best, there's not going to be an NL offense that can handle him. It could be worth riding out the bumps in the road and making him an every week starter in mixed leagues. Francisco Rodriguez admitted he has been pitching with an ankle injury since late last season and has modified his delivery slightly to accomodate it. That explains a lot. Rodriguez said the ankle he injured when he slipped on the mound last year continued to bother him during winter ball and spring training so he and Angels pitching coach Mike Butcher worked on taking a little of the violence out of his delivery. His velocity hasn't been quite the same since the change, though he's still throwing hard enough to get outs. If the changes lead to better command, they could prove beneficial in the future. Randy Johnson (back) was tagged for five runs and eight hits in four innings for Triple-A Tucson on Thursday. Johnson said afterwards that he thought he was regressing, though he didn't complain of any problems with his back. "It's frustrating because I put in a lot of time and effort this whole off-season into being ready," he said. "The biggest reward is when you can go and get the results that you want and feel confident and feel like you're making progress." Johnson is expected to make one more start in the minors and debut for the Diamondbacks on April 14. Bartolo Colon faced just one batter over the minimum in five scoreless innings Thursday for Triple-A Pawtucket. Colon hit 95 and 96 mph on the guy in the game against Indianapolis. Clay Buchholz's margin for error is getting smaller by the day. If Colon remains successful, the Red Sox will have to give him a look at the back of their rotation. Gary Sheffield tore a tendon in his ring finger while sliding into second base in the eighth inning Thursday, but he intends to play through the injury. Until the swelling subsides, he won't know for sure if he can play. He would have come out had his turn come up again in today's game. "He would have not been able to hit if we came around to him in the ninth," manager Jim Leyland said. "I don’t know how serious it was, but he couldn’t bend it." If Sheffield joins Curtis Granderson on the DL, the Tigers would likely go with Marcus Thames at DH and call up Mike Hessman. The Braves will place Mike Hampton on the 15-day disabled list with a strained pectoral and recall Jo-Jo Reyes prior to Friday's game. Reyes' promotion should be short-lived, as the Braves are expected to activate Chuck James to start in Hampton's place next week. Jeff Bennett will return to the bullpen. Jack Wilson left Thursday's game in the seventh inning with an apparent left calf injury. It looked pretty bad, though Wilson clearly didn't want to come out. Chris Gomez is going to replace him at shortstop. If it's more than a day-to-day injury, the Pirates should call up Brian Bixler to take over at shortstop. Yesterday’s ResultsAmerican League NYA 3 TOR 2 (Recap and Boxscore) CHA 2 CLE 1 (Recap and Boxscore) KC 4 DET 1 (Recap and Boxscore) LAA 5 MIN 4 (Recap and Boxscore) National League PIT 4 ATL 3 (Recap and Boxscore) PHI 8 WAS 7 (Recap and Boxscore) CHN 6 MIL 3 (Recap and Boxscore) CIN 3 ARI 2 (Recap and Boxscore) STL 3 COL 0 (Recap and Boxscore) SD 3 HOU 2 (Recap and Boxscore)You can download a compact version of yesterday's boxscores from Heater Magazine.
Today’s GamesNational League --------------- San Francisco Giants at Milwaukee Brewers, 2:05 PM (L) Jonathan Sanchez (0-0) vs. (R) Carlos Villanueva (0-0) Houston Astros at Chicago Cubs, 2:20 PM (R) Chris Sampson (0-0) vs. (L) Rich Hill (0-0) Arizona Diamondbacks at Colorado Rockies, 4:05 PM (R) Micah Owings (0-0) vs. (L) Mark Redman (0-0) Pittsburgh Pirates at Florida Marlins, 7:10 PM (R) Matt Morris (0-0) vs. (L) Scott Olsen (0-0) Philadelphia Phillies at Cincinnati Reds, 7:10 PM (R) Kyle Kendrick (0-0) vs. (R) Josh Fogg (0-0) New York Mets at Atlanta Braves, 7:35 PM (R) John Maine (0-0) vs. (R) Tim Hudson (0-0) Washington Nationals at St. Louis Cardinals, 8:15 PM (L) Odalis Perez (0-0) vs. (R) Braden Looper (0-0) Los Angeles Dodgers at San Diego Padres, 10:05 PM (R) Hiroki Kuroda (0-0) vs. (R) Justin Germano (0-0) American League --------------- Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers, 1:05 PM (R) Jose Contreras (0-0) vs. (L) Nate Robertson (0-0) Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees, 7:05 PM (R) Edwin Jackson (0-0) vs. (R) Ian Kennedy (0-0) Seattle Mariners at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 PM (L) Jarrod Washburn (0-0) vs. (L) Adam Loewen (0-0) Boston Red Sox at Toronto Blue Jays, 7:15 PM (R) Tim Wakefield (0-0) vs. (R) Shaun Marcum (0-0) Kansas City Royals at Minnesota Twins, 8:10 PM (L) John Bale (0-0) vs. (R) Scott Baker (0-0) Texas Rangers at LA Angels of Anaheim, 10:05 PM (L) Kason Gabbard (0-0) vs. (R) Dustin Moseley (0-0) Cleveland Indians at Oakland Athletics, 10:05 PM (R) Paul Byrd (0-0) vs. (R) Justin Duchscherer (0-0) 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 BOS 3 1 .750 0.0 2 1 Game of the DayJohnny Cueto wasn’t the only pitcher to try for a no-hitter. Both starting pitching in the White Sox/Indians game—John Danks and Jake Westbrook—made their own attempts. Westbrook didn’t allow a hit until the 5th inning and Danks made it to the 6th without allowing a hit. Joe Crede’s home run in the eighth was the deciding blow as the White Sox won, 2-1.CHI WHITE SOX (2) VS CLEVELAND (1) - FINAL
CHI WHITE SOX ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
N Swisher cf 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .250
B Anderson pr-cf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
O Cabrera ss 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .273
J Thome dh 3 0 0 0 1 2 2 .167
P Konerko 1b 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 .100
J Dye rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .417
A Pierzynski c 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .500
C Quentin lf 4 0 1 0 0 0 3 .250
J Crede 3b 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 .250
J Uribe 2b 4 1 1 1 0 2 2 .250
Totals 34 2 7 2 2 5 13
BATTING: HR - J Uribe (1, 6th inning off J Westbrook 0 on, 0 Out), J Crede (1,
8th inning off J Westbrook 0 on, 0 Out). RBI - J Uribe (1), J Crede (2).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J Uribe 1, P Konerko 2, J Crede 1.
GIDP - C Quentin. Team LOB - 7.
FIELDING: E - N Swisher (1, fly ball).
CLEVELAND ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
G Sizemore cf 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .333
J Michaels lf 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000
a-V Martinez ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .667
D Dellucci lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
J Peralta ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 .154
T Hafner dh 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 .273
R Garko 1b 3 0 1 1 1 0 0 .273
F Gutierrez rf 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 .333
A Cabrera 2b 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 .250
C Blake 3b 3 0 1 0 0 0 2 .200
K Shoppach c 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .286
Totals 29 1 2 1 2 4 9
a-flied out to left for J Michaels in the 8th.
BATTING: 2B - R Garko (1, J Danks). S - K Shoppach. RBI - R Garko (2). Runners
left in scoring position, 2 out - J Michaels 1, C Blake 2. Team LOB - 4.
FIELDING: E - C Blake (1, ground ball). PB - K Shoppach. DP: 1 (J Westbrook-J
Peralta-R Garko).
----------------------------------------------------
CHI WHITE SOX - 000 001 010 -- 2
CLEVELAND - 000 000 100 -- 1
----------------------------------------------------
CHI WHITE SOX ip h r er bb so hr era
J Danks 6 2/3 2 1 1 2 2 0 1.35
O Dotel (W, 1-1) 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 20.25
S Linebrink (H, 1) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.00
B Jenks (S, 1) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.00
CLEVELAND ip h r er bb so hr era
J Westbrook (L, 0-1) 7 1/3 6 2 2 1 3 2 2.45
J Lewis 1 2/3 1 0 0 1 2 0 7.71
WP - J Westbrook. Pitches-strikes: J Danks 87-55; O Dotel 4-4; S Linebrink
17-11; B Jenks 12-9; J Westbrook 100-67; J Lewis 27-17. Ground balls-fly balls:
J Danks 12-6; O Dotel 0-1; S Linebrink 1-1; B Jenks 1-1; J Westbrook 12-7; J
Lewis 1-2. Batters faced: J Danks 25; O Dotel 1; S Linebrink 3; B Jenks 3; J
Westbrook 29; J Lewis 7.
UMPIRES: HP--Bruce Dreckman. 1B--Sam Holbrook. 2B--Gerry Davis. 3B--Brian
Gorman.
T--2:27. Att--15,785.
Weather: 52 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 8 mph, left to
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.  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 COL AAA Ian Stewart....... 5 2 1 0 1 0 2 STL AAA Colby Rasmus...... 5 3 1 0 0 0 1 CLE AA Trevor Crowe...... 4 1 0 1 0 1 2 COL AAA Jonathan Herrera.. 4 2 0 0 2 0 0 4 RBI FLA AA Cameron Maybin.... 4 1 0 0 1 0 2 TOR AAA Adam Lind......... 4 1 0 0 1 0 0 PHI A+ Adrian Cardenas... 4 3 2 0 0 0 0 PIT AA Brad Corley....... 3 2 1 1 0 0 1 TOR A+ Brian Dopirak..... 3 1 0 0 1 2 2 COL AAA Joseph Koshansky.. 5 1 1 0 0 0 2 SD AAA Matt Antonelli.... 4 2 0 1 0 0 1 HOU AA Eli Iorg.......... 5 2 1 0 0 1 0 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes TB AA Jacob McGee....... 6 3 1 1 7 0 0 TEX AA Matt Harrison..... 6 4 1 1 6 0 0 DET A Ramon Garcia...... 6 4 0 0 5 0 0 CIN AAA Homer Bailey...... 7 5 1 1 2 1 1 NYY A Dellin Betances... 5 3 2 2 8 2 1 LA AAA Miguel Pinango.... 6 4 2 2 5 1 0 SEA AAA Ryan Feierabend... 6 4 0 0 7 3 0 TEX AAA Eric Hurley....... 5 7 3 3 7 2 1 TOR AAA David Purcey...... 6 2 0 0 7 2 0 TB AAA Jeff Niemann...... 5 4 2 1 5 2 1 KC AA Carlos Rosa....... 4 6 3 2 5 0 0 9 GB BOS AA Justin Masterson.. 4 3 0 0 3 0 0 9 GB Access THT’s stats here…
Dave is the manager of the Baseball Graphs website.. Comments about this article can be sent to him through the miracle of e-mail. 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: March 30-April 5, 1969>> <<Previous Article: The worst pitches ever | |||||
NYA 2 1 .667 0.5 1 1 
BAL 1 1 .500 1.0 1 0 
TB 1 1 .500 1.0 1 0 
TOR 1 2 .333 1.5 2 -1 
American League Central
KC 3 0 .000 0.0 2 1 
CLE 2 1 .667 1.0 2 0 
CHA 1 2 .333 2.0 1 0 
MIN 1 3 .250 2.5 1 0 
DET 0 3 .000 3.0 1 -1 
American League West
LAA 3 1 .750 0.0 3 0 
SEA 2 1 .667 0.5 2 0 
TEX 1 2 .333 1.5 1 0 
OAK 1 3 .250 2.0 2 -1 
National League East Pwins Diff
WAS 3 1 .750 0.0 3 0 
NYN 2 1 .667 0.5 3 -1 
FLA 1 2 .333 1.5 0 1 
PHI 1 2 .333 1.5 1 0 
ATL 1 3 .250 2.0 2 -1 
National League Central
STL 2 1 .667 0.0 2 0 
CIN 2 1 .667 0.0 2 0 
MIL 2 1 .667 0.0 2 0 
PIT 2 1 .667 0.0 1 1 
CHN 1 2 .333 1.0 1 0 
HOU 1 3 .250 1.5 2 -1 
National League West
SD 3 1 .750 0.0 2 1 
LAN 2 1 .667 0.5 2 0 
ARI 1 2 .333 1.5 2 -1 
COL 1 2 .333 1.5 1 0 
SF 1 2 .333 1.5 1 0 