December 4, 2008
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THT Daily: Oh yeah?by THT StaffJuly 09, 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
Cubs acquired RHPs Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin from the Oakland Athletics for RHP Sean Gallagher, OF Matt Murton, INF Eric Patterson and C Josh Donaldson. The Cubs are looking to end a 100-year drought by acquiring a pitcher who can't stay healthy for more than 100 innings a year. Harden is 5-1 with a 2.34 ERA in 13 starts this season, and has 92 strikeouts in 77 innings, but he's going from one of the better pitcher's parks to one of the worst. He also hasn't pitched more than 50 innings in the last two seasons, so the Cubs will risk making Harden even more injury-prone (is that possible) if they expect him to pitch regularly over the rest of the season. It's not a huge haul for Oakland, but these injury concerns likely drove the price down. The Chicago Tribune reports that Bobby Jenks will be placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to June 30 as a precautionary measure. Jenks played catch without any pain on Tuesday, but he felt uncomfortable trying to throw off a mound. With the All-Star break coming up, there's little reason not to free up a roster spot for another pitcher this week. Jenks said he plans to be ready after the break on July 18. Erik Bedard (back) won't make another start until after the All-Star break. Manager Jim Riggleman said he'd rather not risk sending Bedard back out to the mound before he's sure he's healthy. The Seattle Times says he's likely to start the fourth game after the break, which would be June 21 against the Red Sox in Boston. That would allow the Mariners to place him on the DL until then. Ryan Spilborghs left Tuesday's game after straining his oblique while rounding second base. "I normally don't talk about injuries," manager Clint Hurdle said. "But he's flying home tomorrow; he'll be on the disabled list with an oblique strain." The Rockies will likely bring Seth Smith back to provide outfield depth. Dustin McGowan will undergo an MRI on Wednesday morning after leaving his Tuesday start with shoulder soreness. He was pulled after allowing four runs in four innings, but just two were earned. Still, it was the fifth consecutive game in which he's allowed four runs, which the shoulder soreness might help explain. Mets placed OF Ryan Church on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Sunday. The Mets' handling of his multiple concussions this season is just more fodder to criticize the team. Church is out indefinitely with the lasting effects of said concussions. Yesterday’s ResultsGame recaps provided by Craig Calcaterra of ShysterballCubs 7, Reds 3: You wanna know how to win the NL Central? They pull a knife, you pull a gun. They send one of yours to the hospital, you send one of theirs to the morgue! That's the Chicago way! Brewers 7, Rockies 3: CC makes his debut in a Brewers' uniform. He wasn't on top of his game (five hits and five walks in six innings) but it was enough for the win, and that's why he's there. Well, that and to stand next to Prince Fielder to make him seem skinny. Mets 7, Giants 0: Mike Pelfrey (7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER) and Carlos Beltran (3-4, HR, 4 RBI) lead the Mets in a romp over San Francisco, and the Mets are now 1.5 back. That's five better than they were the day Willie was fired and six better than their low point this season. Cardinals 2, Phillies 0: If it weren't for playing the Braves, the Phillies would be in third place right now. Diamondbacks 2, Nationals 0: Sensing a pattern here? Did any team who lost last night not get shutout? The Nats placed Elijah Dukes on the DL. This interests me greatly, because that means there's a decent chance he'll get a rehab start here in Columbus some time towards the end of this month, and Columbus could use a little shakin' up. Yankees 5, Rays 0: Yet another shutout, eight innings of which were authored by Andy Pettitte (8 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 5K). Quick -- somebody read this game story and tell me if I'm crazy for thinking that it was written by a Yankee blogger. From the Jeter love, to Pettitte's "determined" effort, to even the mention of this as the Yankees' "90th game" -- a counting convention many Yankees' blogs employ -- I got the feeling that I was reading an advocacy document instead of a reporting one. Tigers 9, Indians 2: It's worth remembering that even as they've shaved five games off of their deficit, the Tigers still haven't gotten much from Miguel Cabrera this year. Last night he went 4-4 with a couple of homers and 3 RBI. If that's a sign that he's on the verge of asploding, the White Sox and Twins had better watch out. As for Cleveland, last night would have been CC Sabathia's turn in the rotation. The replacement -- Jeremy Sowers and his seven runs on ten hits in five and two-thirds -- did not exactly make Tribe fans forget the big guys' absence. Blue Jays 7, Orioles 6: The game ended when Freddie Bynum couldn't corral a grounder to short in the bottom of the ninth. Freddie Bynum had entered the game that inning as a defensive replacement. It's like a black fly in your chardonnay. Red Sox 6, Twins 5: Manny plays hero for the second night in a row, this time tying the game up in the eighth with a two-run bomb. Rangers 3, Angels 2: According to the game story, Joe Saunders (8 IP, 6 H, 3 ER) pitched this game as his wife was back home in California, three days overdue for the birth of their first child. In contrast, Mrs. Shyster would not let me go out to the yard without two cell phones, a walkie-talkie, and a SkyPager within six weeks of the birth of ShysterDaughter. White Sox 8, Royals 7: I'll turn this one over to Ozzie Guillen: "The only good thing about this game is we win. That's a pretty bad, a real bad game. Mistakes, bad pitching. For both sides, it was real poor game-playing." Padres 10, Marlins 1: Why are none of these runs available when Greg Maddux is pitching? Braves 9, Dodgers 3: Two Brian McCann homers and three RBI from Yunel Escobar help the Braves wash the bad taste of the previous night's one-hitter out of their mouths. Sign that I'm not following the Braves as closely as I used to: I hadn't noticed that they had signed Julian Tavarez for the pen. Sign that I don't particularly care that I'm not following the Braves as closely as I used to: I can't work up what would normally be the proper level of indignation at the signing of Julian Tavarez. A's 2, Mariners 0: Harden? We ain't got no Harden. We don't need no Harden. I don't have to show you any stinkin' Harden. Justin Duchscherer (CG, 2 H, SHO) helps calm A's Nation after a most curious trade. Look, I don't like the trade on paper, but remember back when Beane traded Jeremy Giambi -- who believe it or not, people thought was gonna be real good, myself included -- for John Mabry? I'm pretty sure they're still rebuilding after the post-trade riots for that one. The point is that Beane was right. He knew something -- that Giambi was an overrated, drug-addled, head case of a player who had already reached his ceiling. Obviously Harden is a different deal, but one has to think that Beane again knows something we don't -- likely to do with Harden's health, which may make the Mulder trade the better analog -- that will make this trade look good for Oakland eventually. At the very least Beane has earned the benefit of the doubt here, hasn't he? Pirates 4, Astros 3: Lotsa rain delays pushed this one late into the night. I'm not a big Astros fan, but I feel pretty bad for these guys. They played for 17 innings -- with a rain delay as well -- on Sunday, they took their necessary beating due to a lack of bullpen on Monday, and then they had a marathon of misery resulting in a loss last night. They have to be looking at the All-Star break like a drowning man looks at a life preserver right now. You can download a compact version of yesterday's boxscores from Heater Magazine.
Today’s GamesNational League --------------- Florida Marlins at San Diego Padres, 3:35 PM (L) Scott Olsen (4-4) vs. (R) Cha Seung Baek (2-3) St. Louis Cardinals at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 PM (L) Mark Mulder (0-0) vs. (L) J.A. Happ (0-0) Houston Astros at Pittsburgh Pirates, 7:05 PM (R) Brian Moehler (4-4) vs. (R) John Van Benschoten (1-2) Arizona Diamondbacks at Washington Nationals, 7:10 PM (R) Micah Owings (6-7) vs. (L) John Lannan (4-9) San Francisco Giants at New York Mets, 7:10 PM (L) Jonathan Sanchez (8-4) vs. (L) Johan Santana (7-7) Cincinnati Reds at Chicago Cubs, 8:05 PM (R) Johnny Cueto (7-8) vs. (R) Carlos Zambrano (9-3) Colorado Rockies at Milwaukee Brewers, 8:05 PM (L) Glendon Rusch (1-3) vs. (R) Ben Sheets (10-2) Atlanta Braves at Los Angeles Dodgers, 10:10 PM (R) Tim Hudson (9-6) vs. (R) Derek Lowe (6-8) American League --------------- Minnesota Twins at Boston Red Sox, 1:05 PM (R) Livan Hernandez (9-5) vs. (R) Josh Beckett (8-5) Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees, 1:05 PM (R) Edwin Jackson (5-6) vs. (R) Sidney Ponson (5-1) Cleveland Indians at Detroit Tigers, 7:05 PM (R) Paul Byrd (3-10) vs. (R) Eddie Bonine (2-1) Baltimore Orioles at Toronto Blue Jays, 7:07 PM (L) Garrett Olson (6-3) vs. (R) A.J. Burnett (8-8) LA Angels of Anaheim at Texas Rangers, 8:05 PM (R) Jered Weaver (8-8) vs. (L) Michael Ballard (0-0) Chicago White Sox at Kansas City Royals, 8:10 PM (R) Javier Vazquez (7-7) vs. (R) Brian Bannister (7-8) Seattle Mariners at Oakland Athletics, 10:05 PM (R) Miguel Batista (4-10) vs. (R) Joe Blanton (5-11) 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 55 34 .618 0.0 52 3 Game of the DayBlue Jays 7, Orioles 6 - FINAL
BALTIMORE ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
B Roberts 2b 3 1 0 0 2 0 0 .292
N Markakis rf 4 0 2 2 0 0 0 .300
A Huff dh 3 1 1 2 0 1 3 .282
K Millar 1b 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 .246
L Scott lf 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 .261
M Mora 3b 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 .234
R Hernandez c 3 1 0 0 1 0 1 .243
A Jones cf 4 1 1 1 0 1 1 .281
B Fahey ss 2 1 1 0 0 0 1 .250
va-J Payton ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .238
F Bynum ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .187
Totals 32 6 6 5 3 4 9 ###
TORONTO ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Inglett 2b 5 1 2 0 0 0 2 .310
M Scutaro ss 4 1 0 0 1 1 1 .258
A Rios rf 4 2 1 3 1 1 1 .283
V Wells cf 4 1 2 2 1 1 1 .284
M Stairs dh 3 0 1 0 2 0 1 .259
S Rolen 3b 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 .271
R Barajas c 4 1 2 1 0 0 4 .276
L Overbay 1b 3 0 0 0 1 1 2 .262
A Lind lf 4 1 1 0 0 1 4 .213
B Wilkerson lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .232
Totals 34 7 9 6 7 5 18 ###
----------------------------------------------------
BALTIMORE - 102 100 200 -- 6 6 2
TORONTO - 100 100 401 -- 7 9 1
Two outs when winning run scored.
----------------------------------------------------
va-grounded to pitcher for B Fahey in the 9th.
BATTING: 2B - A Jones (17, D McGowan); B Fahey (5, J Frasor). 3B - A Rios (3, D
Sarfate). HR - A Huff (18, 1st inning off D McGowan 0 on, 2 Out). S - B Fahey.
SF - A Huff. RBI - A Huff 2 (56), A Jones (37), N Markakis 2 (49), V Wells 2
(41), R Barajas (27), A Rios 3 (36). 2-out RBI - A Huff, A Jones, V Wells 2, A
Rios 3. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - K Millar 1, B Fahey 1, R
Barajas 2, A Lind 1. GIDP - M Scutaro, A Lind. Team LOB - BALTIMORE 4, TORONTO
9. BASERUNNING: SB - B Roberts (25, 2nd base off D McGowan/R Barajas), S Rolen
(5, 2nd base off D Cabrera/R Hernandez), A Rios (22, 2nd base off J Johnson/R
Hernandez). FIELDING: E - R Hernandez (8, throw); F Bynum (4, ground ball); S
Rolen (4, ground ball). DP: (M Mora-B Roberts-K Millar 2).
BALTIMORE ip h r er bb so hr era
D Cabrera 6 1/3 6 4 4 4 3 0 4.40
D Sarfate (B, 1) 1/3 2 2 2 1 0 0 3.60
A Castillo 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 ###
C Bradford 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.76
J Johnson (L, 2-3) 1 2/3 0 1 0 2 2 0 1.81
TORONTO ip h r er bb so hr era
D McGowan 4 4 4 2 1 2 1 4.37
B Tallet 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.83
J Frasor 1/3 1 2 2 1 1 0 4.10
S Downs 1 2/3 1 0 0 1 1 0 1.73
B Ryan (W, 2-3) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.70
A Castillo pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.
WP - D McGowan. IBB - B Roberts (by S Downs), M Stairs (by J Johnson). HBP -
S Rolen (by A Castillo). Pitches-strikes: D Cabrera 101-54; D Sarfate 14-7; A
Castillo 8-3; C Bradford 2-1; J Johnson 29-14; D McGowan 66-39; B Tallet 26-17;
J Frasor 20-11; S Downs 21-11; B Ryan 16-9. Ground balls-fly balls: D Cabrera
9-7; D Sarfate 0-1; A Castillo 0-0; C Bradford 1-0; J Johnson 1-3; D McGowan
5-5; B Tallet 4-2; J Frasor 0-0; S Downs 4-0; B Ryan 2-1. Batters faced: D
Cabrera 27; D Sarfate 4; A Castillo 2; C Bradford 1; J Johnson 8; D McGowan 18;
B Tallet 6; J Frasor 3; S Downs 7; B Ryan 3. IRS - D Sarfate 2, S Downs 2.
UMPIRES: HP--Ed Montague. 1B--Jim Wolf. 2B--Ed Rapuano. 3B--Jerry Layne.
T--3:03. Att--23,276. Weather: INDOORSThe 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 Rick Ankiel STL Cole Hamels PHI 411 383 19 JE/L Carlos Beltran NYM Tim Lincecum SF 374 369 14 PL Ryan Braun MIL Mark Redman COL 412 384 22 ND Melky Cabrera NYY Gary Glover TB 406 371 8 PL/L Miguel Cabrera DET Jeremy Sowers CLE 383 375 15 PL Miguel Cabrera DET Brian Slocum CLE 363 371 14 PL Joe Crede CWS Kyle Davies KC 406 399 15 PL Chris Davis TEX Joe Saunders LAA 428 421 5 PL Carlos Delgado NYM Tim Lincecum SF 416 412 16 PL Mike Fontenot CHC Aaron Harang CIN 415 411 6 JE Scott Hairston SD Doug Waechter FLA 419 417 12 ND Jeremy Hermida FLA Randy Wolf SD 418 411 9 PL Aubrey Huff BAL Dustin McGowan TOR 410 409 18 PL Carlos Lee HOU T.J. Beam PIT 423 413 21 PL Ryan Ludwick STL Cole Hamels PHI 446 415 18 ND Brian McCann ATL Chad Billingsley LAD 391 390 18 JE Brian McCann ATL Cory Wade LAD 381 359 17 PL Nate McLouth PIT Dave Borkowski HOU 413 414 17 ND Brian Myrow SD Logan Kensing FLA 423 411 1 PL Hunter Pence HOU Ian Snell PIT 428 418 11 PL Jhonny Peralta CLE Justin Verlander DET 387 391 14 PL Manny Ramirez BOS Matt Guerrier MIN 381 340 17 JE/L Ivan Rodriguez DET Brian Slocum CLE 409 397 4 ND Geovany Soto CHC Aaron Harang CIN 391 384 16 PL Fernando Tatis NYM Kevin Correia SF 433 429 3 PL Mark Teixeira ATL Cory Wade LAD 393 366 17 PL Marcus Thames DET Jeremy Sowers CLE 359 372 17 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 LAA AAA Sean Rodriguez.... 5 3 1 0 2 1 0 8 RBI ! KC AA Kila Kaaihue...... 5 4 0 0 2 0 0 6 RBI ! STL AAA Nick Stavinoha.... 4 3 0 0 2 0 0 TEX AA Jose Vallejo...... 3 3 0 1 0 2 0 2 SB BOS AA Aaron Bates....... 4 3 1 0 1 0 1 TOR AA J. Arencibia...... 5 3 1 0 1 0 1 DET AAA Michael Hollimon.. 4 3 1 1 0 0 1 CLE AAA Asdrubal Cabrera.. 3 2 1 0 1 0 1 FLA AA John Raynor....... 4 2 0 1 1 0 2 MIN AA Luke Hughes....... 4 2 2 0 0 1 1 SF AA Pablo Sandoval.... 3 2 1 0 1 0 0 LA A+ Carlos Santana.... 3 2 0 0 1 2 0 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes OAK AA James Simmons..... 8 2 0 0 11 0 0 OAK AAA Dan Meyer......... 8 2 0 0 8 0 0 SF A+ Kevin Pucetas..... 6 1 0 0 9 0 0 TEX A+ Kasey Kiker....... 6 4 0 0 7 0 0 CHW AA Kyle McCulloch.... 7 4 1 1 4 1 0 PHI A+ Joe Savery........ 7 6 1 1 4 1 0 14 GB DET A+ Rick Porcello..... 6 1 0 0 2 1 0 NYM A Scott Moviel...... 7 3 1 1 2 1 0 13 GB TEX AAA Paul Kometani..... 3 1 0 0 4 0 0 SF AA Benjamin Snyder... 6 4 1 1 3 1 0 ARI AA Cesar Valdez...... 6 4 1 1 6 4 0 FLA AA G. Hernandez...... 6 6 3 3 4 0 1 Access THT’s stats here…
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BOS 54 39 .581 3.0 55 -1 
NYA 48 42 .533 7.5 48 0 
BAL 44 44 .500 10.5 44 0 
TOR 43 47 .478 12.5 47 -4 
American League Central
CHA 52 37 .584 0.0 54 -2 
MIN 50 40 .556 2.5 48 2 
DET 45 44 .506 7.0 45 0 
KC 40 51 .440 13.0 39 1 
CLE 37 52 .416 15.0 43 -6 
American League West
LAA 54 36 .600 0.0 48 6 
OAK 49 41 .544 5.0 52 -3 
TEX 47 44 .516 7.5 43 4 
SEA 35 55 .389 19.0 38 -3 
National League East Pwins Diff
PHI 48 43 .527 0.0 53 -5 
FLA 46 44 .511 1.5 42 4 
NYN 46 44 .511 1.5 47 -1 
ATL 43 48 .473 5.0 49 -6 
WAS 34 57 .374 14.0 32 2 
National League Central
CHN 54 36 .600 0.0 55 -1 
STL 51 40 .560 3.5 47 4 
MIL 50 40 .556 4.0 46 4 
CIN 43 48 .473 11.5 39 4 
PIT 42 47 .472 11.5 39 3 
HOU 41 50 .451 13.5 41 0 
National League West
ARI 45 45 .500 0.0 46 -1 
LAN 44 46 .489 1.0 46 -2 
SF 39 51 .433 6.0 40 -1 
COL 38 53 .418 7.5 38 0 
SD 36 55 .396 9.5 37 -1 