November 8, 2009
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THT Daily: One more timeby THT StaffJuly 10, 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
Carlos Quentin went 2-for-3 with two homers as the White Sox came from behind to beat the Royals on Wednesday night. Quentin drove in four runs, scoring three times in the stellar performance. Despite all the fireworks he provided at the plate, the Sox ended up winning the game when Robinson Tejada balked him home from third, plating the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth. Quentin is hitting .274/.376/.522 with 21 homers and 65 RBI so far this season. Mark Mulder, making his first start in ten months, left Wednesday's game after throwing 16 pitches. He struck out Jimmy Rollins to start the game and then walked Shane Victorino and Chase Utley. He was visited by a trainer and manager Tony LaRussa, and quickly was taken out of the game. Frankly, it's probably better for the Cardinals that Mulder isn't starting: he hasn't been effective at any level during his comeback attempt this season and the Cardinals appeared to be jamming him into the starting rotation. Blue Jays placed RHP Dustin McGowan on the 15-day disabled list with soreness in his right shoulder. The team made the decision before finding out the results of his MRI, which isn't a great sign. The team has publicly admitted they're out of it in the last couple days, and will play it very safe with their young pitcher. Dont' be surprised if he's out months instead of weeks. It's worth noting that McGowan threw 125 pitches in a complete game on June 10, and has allowed four runs in each of his five starts since. White Sox placed RHP Bobby Jenks on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to June 30, with left scapula bursitis. Jenks felt soreness when he tried to throw off a mound earlier this week, so the White Sox decided to play it safe and shut him down through the All-Star break. Scott Linebrink will fill in at closer, with Octavio Dotel remaining in a setup role. Yesterday’s ResultsGame recaps provided by Craig Calcaterra of Shysterball.Yankees 2, Rays 1: Did you know that Sidney Ponson was made a knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands in 2003? It's true! I find that no less plausible than the fact that he has an ERA under 4.00 at the All-Star break. More fun than Sidney Ponson: the Yankees provided fans and employees fake mustaches to wear (see Mike Mussina wearing his on the right) on the same day the tabloids reported that A-Rod was in the habit of wearing fake mustaches in order to sneak into Madonna's house. AWK-ward! Red Sox 18, Twins 5: It wasn't really sporting for the Sox to go for that two point conversion following the second touchdown, now was it? Marlins 5, Padres 2: The only good thing about a team playing as poorly as San Diego is right now is the quality of their message boards. Go to a Red Sox blog anytime in the past two or three years and everyone's so goddamn serious. Go to a Padres blog right now and you find 15 straight posters speculating -- in excessive detail -- about the exact nature of the compromising photos of Bud Black possessed by Khalil Greene which are enabling him to stay in the lineup. Tigers 8, Indians 6: Remember, fans, Thursday is Die Hard Night. Free admission for anyone who was actually alive the last time the Indians won a ballgame. Astros 6, Pirates 4: The Pirates spotted the Astros four runs, then tied it up, than gave up two more to blow the game. As a fan, I always find losses like that to be the worst kind. At least with a blowout you can turn your TV off in the third inning and go for a walk in the neighborhood or something. Nationals 5, Diamondbacks 0: Last year David Pinto proposed a new stat called the "short shutout." The idea is that since hard pitch counts have become the rule, no one gets real shutouts anymore, so Pinto suggests giving a gold star -- a short shutout -- to anyone who goes six innings or more without allowing any runs. By that rationale, John Lannan (6 IP, 0 ER) gets a short shutout in this game. Personally, however, I don't think Pinto is going far enough. What about the relievers who aren't even given a chance to get a shutout? They should have something too! Under my new scoring system, Joel Hanrahan (1 IP, 0 ER), Luis Ayala (1 IP, 0 ER), and Jon Rauch (1 IP, 0 ER) all get short-short shutouts for the Nats. Tomorrow: I'll explain the concept of "meta-hits." Mets 5, Giants 0: Johan picks up his first win since June 1st. Yeah, it's been a rougher than expected first half for him, but there he is, his ERA under 3.00 and his team knocking on the door. Given the recent reversal of the Mets' and Phillies' fortunes, there's no reason to think that the Mets can't win this thing and that Santana won't be carrying them on his back to the finish line. If that happens, all of the recent "what's wrong with Santana" articles will have been forgotten. Blue Jays 9, Orioles 8: A.J. Burnett picks up one of the weaker wins you'll see this year: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 7 ER. Cubs 5, Reds 1: Rich Harden is nice to have around, but Cubs fans know that Big Z is The Man, and he delivered last night (8 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 5K 0 BB). Rockies 8, Brewers 3: CC Sabathia is nice to have around, but Brewers fans know that Ben Sheets is The Man, but he didn't deliver last night. OK, that's a lie in service of pointless symmetry. He delivered pretty darn respectably (6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 11K), keeping his team in the game until Guillermo Mota came in and took a dump all over the box score (1 IP, 4 H, 4 ER). Phillies 4, Cardinals 2: Mark Mulder left in the first inning with shoulder soreness. He is on record saying that if the doctors tell him he needs more shoulder surgery, he is simply going to retire, because it ain't worth it. So what I'm saying is, we may have just seen the end of Mark Mulder's career. White Sox 7, Royals 6: Like the Indians earlier in the evening, the Royals jumped out to a big lead, only to fritter it away. Maybe "fritter" isn't the right word given Carlos Quentin's two two-run homers off of Brian Bannister. It was more like they had a lead, only to get bashed in the back of the head and have it ripped from their hands. Rangers 5, Angels 4: You don't see K-Rod get slapped around like this very often (.2 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, BB, blown save), but this sort of thing is bound to happen every once in a while when you face guys like Josh Hamilton. Dodgers 2, Braves 1: Two days after letting Kuroda take a perfect game into the eighth, Derek Lowe takes a perfect game into the seventh. The Braves have either caught the Dodgers' pitching staff at its best this year, or else they're simply making them look good through their own ineptness. I have a theory. Mariners 6, A's 4: And the funny thing about it is that going into the season, Joe Blanton (6 IP, 9 H, 6 ER) was supposed to be the big chit should Billy Beane decide to get all tradey. You can download a compact version of yesterday's boxscores from Heater Magazine.
Today’s GamesNational League --------------- St. Louis Cardinals at Philadelphia Phillies, 1:05 PM (R) Braden Looper (9-6) vs. (L) Jamie Moyer (7-6) San Francisco Giants at New York Mets, 1:10 PM (L) Barry Zito (4-12) vs. (R) John Maine (8-6) Colorado Rockies at Milwaukee Brewers, 2:05 PM (L) Jorge De La Rosa (3-4) vs. (R) Dave Bush (4-8) Cincinnati Reds at Chicago Cubs, 2:20 PM (R) Bronson Arroyo (6-7) vs. (L) Ted Lilly (9-5) Arizona Diamondbacks at Washington Nationals, 7:10 PM (R) Dan Haren (8-5) vs. (R) Jason Bergmann (1-6) Florida Marlins at Los Angeles Dodgers, 10:10 PM (R) Josh Johnson (0-0) vs. (R) Chan Ho Park (4-2) American League --------------- Minnesota Twins at Detroit Tigers, 1:05 PM (R) Kevin Slowey (6-6) vs. (L) Kenny Rogers (6-6) Seattle Mariners at Oakland Athletics, 3:35 PM (R) R.A. Dickey (2-4) vs. (L) Greg Smith (5-7) Tampa Bay Rays at Cleveland Indians, 7:05 PM (R) Andy Sonnanstine (10-3) vs. (L) Aaron Laffey (4-5) Baltimore Orioles at Toronto Blue Jays, 7:07 PM (R) Jeremy Guthrie (5-7) vs. (R) Roy Halladay (10-6) LA Angels of Anaheim at Texas Rangers, 8:05 PM (R) John Lackey (6-2) vs. (R) Scott Feldman (3-3) Chicago White Sox at Kansas City Royals, 8:10 PM (L) Mark Buehrle (6-7) vs. (R) Zack Greinke (7-5) Inter-League ------------ New York Yankees at Pittsburgh Pirates, 7:05 PM (R) Mike Mussina (11-6) vs. (L) Paul Maholm (5-5) 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 35 .611 0.0 52 3 Game of the DayRangers 5, Angels 4 - FINAL
LA ANGELS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
C Figgins 3b 4 0 1 0 0 1 0 .278
C Kotchman 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .287
M Izturis ss 3 1 2 0 1 0 0 .270
V Guerrero rf 4 0 1 0 0 2 2 .291
T Hunter cf 3 2 1 0 1 0 1 .271
G Anderson dh 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .267
J Rivera lf 3 1 1 3 0 1 1 .194
R Willits lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167
H Kendrick 2b 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 .320
J Mathis c 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .227
Totals 31 4 8 3 2 5 8 ###
TEXAS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
I Kinsler 2b 5 0 1 0 0 3 3 .335
F Catalanotto dh 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 .280
M Young ss 5 1 3 1 0 1 1 .297
J Hamilton rf 5 1 1 2 0 1 4 .307
D Murphy lf 3 1 2 0 1 0 2 .273
M Byrd cf 2 1 1 0 1 0 1 .238
C Davis 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 5 .195
J Saltalamacchia c 3 0 1 2 0 2 2 .217
G Duran 3b 3 0 1 0 0 1 3 .224
ha-R Vazquez ph 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 .317
Totals 34 5 10 5 3 9 23 ###
----------------------------------------------------
LA ANGELS - 010 100 200 -- 4 8 2
TEXAS - 000 101 003 -- 5 10 0
Two outs when winning run scored.
----------------------------------------------------
ha-walked for G Duran in the 9th.
BATTING: 3B - H Kendrick (2, F Francisco). HR - J Rivera (3, 7th inning off F
Francisco 1 on, 2 Out), J Hamilton (20, 9th inning off F Rodriguez 1 on, 2
Out). S - M Byrd. SF - J Rivera , J Saltalamacchia. RBI - J Rivera 3 (10), J
Saltalamacchia 2 (19), M Young (47), J Hamilton 2 (89). 2-out RBI - J Rivera 2,
J Saltalamacchia, M Young, J Hamilton 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2
out - J Mathis 1, D Murphy 1, J Saltalamacchia 1, G Duran 1. GIDP - H Kendrick,
C Kotchman, T Hunter. Team LOB - LA ANGELS 3, TEXAS 9. BASERUNNING: SB - T
Hunter (10, 2nd base off F Francisco/J Saltalamacchia), M Young (6, 2nd base
off F Rodriguez/J Mathis). FIELDING: E - J Rivera (2, bobble); V Guerrero (1,
fly ball). DP: (C Kotchman, G Duran-I Kinsler-C Davis, I Kinsler-M Young-C
Davis 2).
LA ANGELS ip h r er bb so hr era
J Weaver 6 7 2 1 2 5 0 4.03
J Arredondo (H, 8) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.29
S Shields (H, 18) 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 2.50
F Rodriguez (L, 0-2; B, 3) 2/3 2 3 3 1 1 1 2.54
TEXAS ip h r er bb so hr era
W Madrigal 3 4 1 1 0 1 0 9.95
J Rupe 3 1 1 1 1 2 0 4.24
F Francisco 1 2 2 2 1 0 1 3.75
J Wright (W, 5-3) 2 1 0 0 0 2 0 4.26
HBP - F Catalanotto (by J Weaver). Pitches-strikes: J Weaver 102-64; J
Arredondo 10-7; S Shields 13-11; F Rodriguez 21-11; W Madrigal 46-29; J Rupe
40-23; F Francisco 27-13; J Wright 32-21. Ground balls-fly balls: J Weaver
3-10; J Arredondo 2-0; S Shields 0-1; F Rodriguez 1-0; W Madrigal 5-3; J Rupe
3-4; F Francisco 0-3; J Wright 3-1. Batters faced: J Weaver 28; J Arredondo 3;
S Shields 4; F Rodriguez 5; W Madrigal 11; J Rupe 10; F Francisco 6; J Wright
7. UMPIRES: HP--Bob Davidson. 1B--Alfonso Marquez. 2B--Andy Fletcher. 3B--Mike
Reilly. T--2:58. Att--24,515. Weather: 96 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 8
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 Garrett Atkins COL Ben Sheets MIL 406 386 14 PL Garrett Atkins COL Guillermo Mota MIL 394 381 13 JE/L Geoff Blum HOU John Van Benschoten PIT 380 369 6 JE John Buck KC Javier Vazquez CWS 409 399 5 JE Miguel Cabrera DET Jensen Lewis CLE 371 349 16 JE/L Kevin Cash BOS Brian Bass MIN 425 379 2 ND Ramon Castro NYM Jonathan Sanchez SF 379 354 3 PL/L Jack Cust OAK Miguel Batista SEA 410 407 16 JE Adam Dunn CIN Carlos Zambrano CHC 433 427 23 PL Pedro Feliz PHI Chris Perez STL 357 356 11 JE Jesus Flores WAS Connor Robertson ARI 397 381 5 PL Jeff Francoeur ATL Derek Lowe LAD 368 365 9 JE Scott Hairston SD Scott Olsen FLA 373 383 13 JE Bill Hall MIL Glendon Rusch COL 433 410 12 ND Josh Hamilton TEX Francisco Rodriguez LAA 375 366 20 JE/L Ryan Howard PHI Kyle McClellan STL 372 370 25 PL Mike Jacobs FLA Cha Seung Baek SD 370 362 19 JE/L Adam Jones BAL A.J. Burnett TOR 400 397 5 PL Matt Joyce DET Rafael Betancourt CLE 371 367 6 PL Matt Kemp LAD Tim Hudson ATL 430 427 8 PL Joe Koshansky COL Guillermo Mota MIL 421 405 2 PL/L Jason Kubel MIN Josh Beckett BOS 408 380 13 JE/L Nick Markakis BAL B.J. Ryan TOR 394 401 14 JE Justin Morneau MIN Josh Beckett BOS 425 396 13 PL Carlos Pena TB Sidney Ponson NYY 406 381 14 PL/L Carlos Quentin CWS Brian Bannister KC 423 410 21 PL Carlos Quentin CWS Brian Bannister KC 419 408 20 PL Aramis Ramirez CHC Johnny Cueto CIN 393 387 16 PL Hanley Ramirez FLA Cha Seung Baek SD 363 364 22 PL Juan Rivera LAA Frank Francisco TEX 427 422 3 PL Kevin Youkilis BOS Dennys Reyes MIN 407 362 14 ND 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 SF AAA Travis Ishikawa... 4 3 3 0 0 0 0 CHC AA Sam Fuld.......... 3 2 0 1 1 2 0 OAK A+ Chris Carter...... 4 2 0 0 2 0 1 MIN A+ Wilson Ramos...... 5 2 0 0 2 0 2 4 RBI LA A Andrew Lambo...... 3 2 0 1 1 1 1 COL AAA Ian Stewart....... 4 2 1 0 1 0 0 TB AAA Joel Guzman....... 4 2 2 0 0 0 1 MIN AA Daniel Valencia... 4 3 2 0 0 0 1 FLA AA John Raynor....... 3 2 0 0 1 1 0 NYY A Jesus Montero..... 2 2 0 0 1 2 0 TB AAA Dan Johnson....... 4 3 0 0 1 0 0 CIN AA Chris Valaika..... 5 3 0 0 1 0 0 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes CHW AAA Jack Egbert....... 7 2 0 0 7 0 0 12 GB TEX A Derek Holland..... 6 3 0 0 7 0 0 OAK AAA Gio Gonzalez...... 6 1 1 0 7 1 0 DET A Jonathan Kibler... 8 4 1 1 7 2 0 BAL A+ Jake Arrieta...... 7 1 0 0 7 3 0 NYM A+ Dylan Owen........ 7 4 0 0 6 1 0 LAA A Jordan Walden..... 7 4 1 1 8 3 0 KC A Daniel Duffy...... 5 4 1 1 7 0 0 WAN AA J. Zimmermann..... 7 6 0 0 6 1 0 LA A Bryan Morris...... 6 2 1 1 8 4 0 BOS AA Michael Bowden.... 5 5 1 1 8 2 0 WAN A+ Ross Detwiler..... 6 3 0 0 5 1 0 Access THT’s stats here…
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BOS 55 39 .585 2.0 56 -1 
NYA 49 42 .538 6.5 49 0 
BAL 44 45 .494 10.5 45 -1 
TOR 44 47 .484 11.5 48 -4 
American League Central
CHA 53 37 .589 0.0 55 -2 
MIN 50 41 .549 3.5 47 3 
DET 46 44 .511 7.0 46 0 
KC 40 52 .435 14.0 39 1 
CLE 37 53 .411 16.0 43 -6 
American League West
LAA 54 37 .593 0.0 48 6 
OAK 49 42 .538 5.0 52 -3 
TEX 48 44 .522 6.5 44 4 
SEA 36 55 .396 18.0 39 -3 
National League East Pwins Diff
PHI 49 43 .533 0.0 54 -5 
FLA 47 44 .516 1.5 43 4 
NYN 47 44 .516 1.5 48 -1 
ATL 43 49 .467 6.0 49 -6 
WAS 35 57 .380 14.0 33 2 
National League Central
CHN 55 36 .604 0.0 56 -1 
STL 51 41 .554 4.5 48 3 
MIL 50 41 .549 5.0 46 4 
CIN 43 49 .467 12.5 40 3 
PIT 42 48 .467 12.5 39 3 
HOU 42 50 .457 13.5 42 0 
National League West
ARI 45 46 .495 0.0 46 -1 
LAN 45 46 .495 0.0 46 -1 
SF 39 52 .429 6.0 40 -1 
COL 39 53 .424 6.5 39 0 
SD 36 56 .391 9.5 37 -1 