THT Daily: One-Sided Contests
by Matthew CarruthApril 19, 2008
Major League News for April 19
Player News
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Top Minor League Performances
You can always find the most recent THT Daily at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/content/thtdaily/
Player News
Player Headlines are courtesy of RotoworldMLB suspended RHP Kyle Farnsworth three games and fined him $2,000 for throwing behind Manny Ramirez's head Thursday night.
Farnsworth was not ejected from the game, and only issued a warning by the home plate umpire. Farnsworth said after the game he had no intention of hitting Manny. "It just slipped. I was trying to be aggressive and go in on him." He will most likely appeal the decision, especially with Joba Chamberlain away dealing with family issues.
Mike Gonzalez has pitched effectively in simulated games at extended spring training and is ahead of schedule in his recovery from Tommy John Surgery.
Originally, after Gonzalez underwent the surgery, he wasn't expected back until the All-Star break. He showed progress at spring training which pushed his return to early June. Now the Braves are talking about him being ready by late May. He has another month of simulated games, then could start a rehab assignment.
The Cincinnati Enquirer suggests Matt Belisle might make his first start of the season for the Reds Monday.
Belisle (forearm) allowed one run over seven innings Wednesday at Triple-A Louisville. "He looked good," general manager Wayne Krivsky said. "He pitched seven innings the night I saw. He went over 100 pitches. He threw all his pitches, threw them for strikes, got ahead of the hitters. He had a good outing."
Tigers manager Jim Leyland said he wanted to give Placido Polanco the day off on Saturday because of lower-back stiffness.
"I think he's affected by it," Leyland said. "Exactly how much, I don't know, but I think he's definitely affected." Something has to be blamed for Polanco's .148 average.
General manager Pat Gillick said Jimmy Rollins will be available off the bench Saturday and should be in the lineup Sunday.
Rollins has missed nine games with a sprained left ankle.
Erik Bedard (hip) will throw off a mound Saturday and could return on Thursday.
"We want to see how he's able to drive off the mound with his hip," said manager John McLaren. Bedard is eligible to come off the disabled list April 24 and it's possible he could start that day against his former team, the Orioles. That is, of course, if he is able to pitch without pain over the next few days.
Angels placed second baseman Howie Kendrick on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to April 14, with a strained hamstring.
Kendrick's struggles to come back from what look like relatively minor injuries are becoming a source of concern. He's a top-notch talent, but what does it matter if he can't stay on the field? The Angels will go with Maicer Izturis and Sean Rodriguez at second base for the next two weeks. Erick Aybar gets to act as the everyday shortstop.
Scott Kazmir (elbow) allowed an unearned run and a hit in three innings Friday for Single-A Vero Beach.
Kazmir didn't have any problems at all. He topped out at 92 mph while throwing 47 pitches, most of them fastballs. "My game is basically working off my fastball," Kazmir said. "I feel like that's what I need to work on most before I get back to the major leagues. I just want to make sure I have that fastball command." Kazmir will make two more rehab starts before returning on May 3.
Ben Sheets wasn't sure whether he'd need a stint on the disabled list after leaving Friday's game with what was described as right triceps tightness.
"It's just sore," Sheets said, acknowledging he was a little worried. "It's really sore. It's kind of a crampiness in there." Sheets said it was bothering him going into the game, though that was hardly apparent from the way he was throwing. It's so early in the season that the Brewers would be foolish to take any chances, especially with Yovani Gallardo ready to come back and rejoin the rotation.
Yesterday’s Results
American League BAL 8 NYA 2 (Recap and Boxscore) BOS 11 TEX 3 (Recap and Boxscore) CHA 9 TB 2 (Recap and Boxscore) DET 8 TOR 4 (Recap and Boxscore) CLE 4 MIN 0 (Recap and Boxscore) LAA 5 SEA 4 (Recap and Boxscore) OAK 13 KC 2 (Recap and Boxscore) National League ATL 6 LAN 1 (Recap and Boxscore) WAS 6 FLA 4 (Recap and Boxscore) NYN 6 PHI 4 (Recap and Boxscore) CHN 3 PIT 2 (Recap and Boxscore) MIL 5 CIN 2 (Recap and Boxscore) COL 11 HOU 5 (Recap and Boxscore) STL 11 SF 1 (Recap and Boxscore) ARI 9 SD 0 (Recap and Boxscore)
Today’s Games
National League --------------- Pittsburgh Pirates at Chicago Cubs, 1:05 PM (L) Tom Gorzelanny (1-1) vs. (R) Jason Marquis (0-0) Milwaukee Brewers at Cincinnati Reds, 1:10 PM (R) Jeff Suppan (1-0) vs. (R) Johnny Cueto (1-1) San Francisco Giants at St. Louis Cardinals, 1:10 PM (R) Tim Lincecum (2-0) vs. (R) Joel Pineiro (0-1) New York Mets at Philadelphia Phillies, 3:55 PM (L) Oliver Perez (1-0) vs. (L) Jamie Moyer (1-0) Los Angeles Dodgers at Atlanta Braves, 3:55 PM (R) Chad Billingsley (0-2) vs. (L) Chuck James (0-1) Colorado Rockies at Houston Astros, 7:05 PM (R) Aaron Cook (1-1) vs. (L) Wandy Rodriguez (1-0) Washington Nationals at Florida Marlins, 7:10 PM (R) Shawn Hill (0-0) vs. (R) Burke Badenhop (0-1) San Diego Padres at Arizona Diamondbacks, 8:10 PM (R) Chris Young (1-1) vs. (R) Edgar Gonzalez (0-1) American League --------------- Detroit Tigers at Toronto Blue Jays, 1:07 PM (R) Jeremy Bonderman (1-1) vs. (R) Dustin McGowan (0-1) Cleveland Indians at Minnesota Twins, 3:55 PM (R) Jake Westbrook (1-1) vs. (R) Nick Blackburn (0-1) Kansas City Royals at Oakland Athletics, 4:05 PM (R) Zack Greinke (3-0) vs. (L) Greg Smith (1-0) Texas Rangers at Boston Red Sox, 7:05 PM (R) Jason Jennings (0-3) vs. (L) Jon Lester (1-2) New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 PM (R) Ian Kennedy (0-1) vs. (L) Brian Burres (1-1) Chicago White Sox at Tampa Bay Rays, 7:10 PM (L) Mark Buehrle (1-1) vs. (R) Andy Sonnanstine (1-1) Seattle Mariners at LA Angels of Anaheim, 9:05 PM (L) Jarrod Washburn (1-2) vs. (R) Ervin Santana (2-0)
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 BOS 11 7 .611 0.0 9 2BAL 10 7 .588 0.5 8 2
NYA 9 9 .500 2.0 8 1
TOR 8 9 .471 2.5 10 -2
TB 7 10 .412 3.5 9 -2
American League Central CHA 10 6 .625 0.0 11 -1
KC 9 8 .529 1.5 8 1
CLE 7 10 .412 3.5 8 -1
MIN 7 10 .412 3.5 7 0
DET 6 11 .353 4.5 5 1
American League West LAA 11 7 .611 0.0 10 1
OAK 10 8 .556 1.0 10 0
SEA 9 9 .500 2.0 10 -1
TEX 7 10 .412 3.5 7 0
National League East Pwins Diff NYN 9 6 .600 0.0 10 -1
FLA 9 7 .563 0.5 6 3
PHI 8 9 .471 2.0 9 -1
ATL 7 9 .438 2.5 10 -3
WAS 5 12 .294 5.0 6 -1
National League Central STL 12 5 .706 0.0 11 1
CHN 10 6 .625 1.5 9 1
MIL 10 6 .625 1.5 9 1
PIT 7 9 .438 4.5 6 1
CIN 7 10 .412 5.0 8 -1
HOU 6 11 .353 6.0 7 -1
National League West ARI 12 4 .750 0.0 12 0
COL 8 8 .500 4.0 7 1
SD 8 9 .471 4.5 6 2
LAN 7 9 .438 5.0 9 -2
SF 6 11 .353 6.5 4 2
Top Minor League Games
The 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.ORG LVL PLAYER AB H 2B 3B HR BB SO Notes OAK AAA Carlos Gonzalez... 4 1 0 0 1 1 1 OAK A+ J. Mitchell....... 4 3 1 0 1 0 0 BOS AAA Brandon Moss...... 6 3 2 0 1 0 0 5 RBI ! PIT AA James Boone....... 4 3 0 0 2 1 0 3 R NYM AA F. Martinez....... 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 NYY AAA Eric Duncan....... 3 2 0 0 2 0 0 MIL A Brent Brewer...... 3 2 2 0 0 3 0 2 SB BOS AAA Chris Carter...... 6 5 1 0 0 0 1 STL AAA Colby Rasmus...... 4 2 1 0 0 1 1 HOU AA Eli Iorg.......... 4 3 2 0 0 0 0 PIT AA Melvin Dorta...... 5 5 2 0 0 0 0 3 LD OAK A+ Matthew Sulentic.. 4 2 1 0 0 0 0 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes BAL AAA Hayden Penn....... 7 4 3 2 9 2 0 TEX AAA Eric Hurley....... 6 5 2 2 7 2 0 TB AAA Mitch Talbot...... 6 4 3 1 5 1 0 FLA AAA E. De La Cruz..... 6 5 1 1 6 1 0 STL AAA Trey Hearne....... 6 4 5 3 7 3 0 11 GB PHI AA Carlos Carrasco... 7 5 1 1 7 3 1 NYY A Z. McAllister..... 6 4 3 1 5 1 0 11 GB STL AA Adam Ottavino..... 6 6 5 5 5 1 0 ATL AAA Jo-Jo Reyes....... 5 2 0 0 4 2 0 ATL A Steven Evarts..... 6 4 1 1 3 1 0 11 GB SEA AAA Ryan Feierabend... 8 5 2 2 2 1 1 CLE AA Ryan Edell........ 6 5 3 3 6 3 1
Access all of THT’s stats here…
|
|
Matthew Carruth is an editor for The Hardball Times. He welcomes any and all sorts of communication at his email.