THT Daily: Pedro’s back
by Matthew CarruthSeptember 04, 2007
Major League News for September 4
Today’s LinksPlayer News
Yesterday’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/
THT Links
Wait til next year - For those teams already out of the race ... here's a handy analysis of this year's crop of free agents from Rich Lederer over at Baseball Analysts.
Bum shoulder - Marlins sensation Hanley Ramirez is consiering offseason surgery on his shoulder. He's a great player to watch, so hopefully he'll be okay.
Farewell, Canada - The Ottawa Lynx, the Phillies' Triple-A affiliate, played their last game in Ottawa yesterday. They'll be moving to Pennsylvania next season, leaving the Blue Jays as the only pro-baseball team in Canada above Single-A ball.
THT Links represents the best efforts of our editors in scouring the various tubes of the interweb for both relevant and irrelevant news items. If you have happened upon a story that we have overlooked or wish to give feedback of any sort, please notify us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Player News
Player Headlines are courtesy of RotoworldIn his return from shoulder surgery, Pedro Martinez gave up three runs—two earned—and five hits over five innings Monday versus the Reds. He fanned four, including Aaron Harang in the second for the 3,000th strikeout of his career. Martinez typically worked in the low-80s, and when he reached back for more, it got him to only 87. Still, he was able to limit the damage against a lineup that's pretty good against righthanders. It was an encouraging beginning, but he is working with very little margin for error when he tries to sneak 82-mph fastballs by major league hitters.
Roger Clemens went for an MRI on his right elbow after giving up five runs in four innings and taking the loss to the Mariners on Monday. According to Joe Torre, Clemens felt "grabbing" in the fourth inning. The Rocket is expected to miss at least one start, putting Mike Mussina back into the rotation.
Yesterday’s Results
American League BOS 13 TOR 10 (Recap and Boxscore) SEA 7 NYA 1 (Recap and Boxscore) TB 9 BAL 7 (Recap and Boxscore) CLE 5 MIN 0 (Recap and Boxscore) LAA 9 OAK 5 (Recap and Boxscore) KC 8 TEX 1 (Recap and Boxscore) National League ATL 5 PHI 1 (Recap and Boxscore) WAS 6 FLA 3 (Recap and Boxscore) LAN 11 CHN 3 (Recap and Boxscore) NYN 10 CIN 4 (Recap and Boxscore) HOU 9 MIL 7 (Recap and Boxscore) PIT 11 STL 0 (Recap and Boxscore) SD 10 ARI 2 (Recap and Boxscore) COL 7 SF 4 (Recap and Boxscore)You can download a compact version of yesterday's boxscores from Heater Magazine.
| First Inning's Major and Minor League Daily Reports: |
Today’s Games
National League --------------- Florida Marlins at Washington Nationals, 7:05 PM (L) Dontrelle Willis (8-14) vs. (R) Shawn Hill (3-3) New York Mets at Cincinnati Reds, 7:10 PM (L) Oliver Perez (12-9) vs. (R) Matt Belisle (7-8) Philadelphia Phillies at Atlanta Braves, 7:35 PM (R) Kyle Lohse (7-12) vs. (R) Tim Hudson (15-7) Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago Cubs, 8:05 PM (R) Brad Penny (14-4) vs. (R) Steve Trachsel (0-0) Houston Astros at Milwaukee Brewers, 8:05 PM (R) Brandon Backe (0-0) vs. (R) Carlos Villanueva (6-3) Pittsburgh Pirates at St. Louis Cardinals, 8:10 PM (R) Matt Morris (8-8) vs. (R) Joel Pineiro (3-2) San Francisco Giants at Colorado Rockies, 8:35 PM (R) Tim Lincecum (7-4) vs. (L) Franklin Morales (0-2) San Diego Padres at Arizona Diamondbacks, 9:40 PM (R) Chris Young (9-5) vs. (L) Doug Davis (12-11) American League --------------- Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers, 7:05 PM (R) Jon Garland (8-10) vs. (R) Jeremy Bonderman (11-7) Seattle Mariners at New York Yankees, 7:05 PM (L) Horacio Ramirez (8-4) vs. (R) Chien-Ming Wang (16-6) Toronto Blue Jays at Boston Red Sox, 7:05 PM (R) Roy Halladay (14-6) vs. (R) Josh Beckett (16-6) Baltimore Orioles at Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 7:10 PM (R) Jeremy Guthrie (7-5) vs. (L) Scott Kazmir (11-8) Kansas City Royals at Texas Rangers, 8:05 PM (R) Billy Buckner (0-0) vs. (R) Kevin Millwood (9-11) Cleveland Indians at Minnesota Twins, 8:10 PM (L) Aaron Laffey (2-1) vs. (R) Kevin Slowey (3-0) Oakland Athletics at LA Angels of Anaheim, 10:05 PM
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 83 55 .601 0.0 88 -5NYA 76 62 .551 7.0 81 -5
TOR 70 67 .511 12.5 73 -3
BAL 59 77 .434 23.0 62 -3
TB 57 81 .413 26.0 55 2
American League Central CLE 79 58 .577 0.0 76 3
DET 73 64 .533 6.0 75 -2
MIN 69 69 .500 10.5 70 -1
KC 62 75 .453 17.0 66 -4
CHA 58 79 .423 21.0 53 5
American League West LAA 81 56 .591 0.0 78 3
SEA 74 62 .544 6.5 69 5
OAK 68 71 .489 14.0 69 -1
TEX 63 74 .460 18.0 65 -2
National League East Pwins Diff NYN 77 60 .562 0.0 75 2
PHI 72 65 .526 5.0 73 -1
ATL 70 68 .507 7.5 74 -4
WAS 61 77 .442 16.5 58 3
FLA 60 78 .435 17.5 62 -2
National League Central CHN 70 66 .515 0.0 72 -2
MIL 69 68 .504 1.5 68 1
STL 67 67 .500 2.0 60 7
CIN 62 76 .449 9.0 62 0
HOU 62 76 .449 9.0 61 1
PIT 60 77 .438 10.5 61 -1
National League West SD 76 61 .555 0.0 77 -1
ARI 76 63 .547 1.0 65 11
LAN 72 65 .526 4.0 72 0
COL 71 66 .518 5.0 73 -2
SF 62 76 .449 14.5 67 -5
Wildcard Standings American League NYA 76 62 .551 0.0 SEA 74 62 .544 1.0 DET 73 64 .533 2.5 TOR 70 67 .511 5.5 MIN 69 69 .500 7.0 National League ARI 76 63 .547 0.0 PHI 72 65 .526 3.0 LAN 72 65 .526 3.0 COL 71 66 .518 4.0 ATL 70 68 .507 5.5
Game of the Day
The National League Central is the division no team wants to win: each contender lost yesterday, including Milwaukee’s 9=7 loss to Houston. The erratic Derrick Turnbow and the Brewer bullpen gave the game away, allowing six runs in the last three innings. Astro rookie Hunter Pence provided the big blow, a two-run triple in the eighth.HOUSTON (9) VS MILWAUKEE (7) - FINAL
HOUSTON ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
H Pence cf 4 2 3 2 1 0 0 .327
C Burke 2b 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 .222
B Lidge p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
J Anderson lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
L Berkman 1b 4 1 1 1 1 1 2 .278
C Lee lf 4 1 1 0 1 0 3 .301
T Miller p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
C Qualls p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
M Loretta ss-2b 5 1 1 1 0 0 2 .273
L Scott rf 3 2 0 0 2 2 0 .252
T Wigginton 3b 3 1 1 0 1 1 2 .281
B Ausmus c 2 0 1 2 1 1 0 .231
a-M Lamb ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .292
B Backe pr 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000
E Bruntlett ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .240
R Oswalt p 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 .138
C Sampson p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .154
D Borkowski p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b-O Palmeiro ph 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .234
c-C Biggio ph 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 .253
E Munson c 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .248
Totals 31 9 9 7 9 5 14
a-walked for B Ausmus in the 8th; b-hit for R Oswalt in the 8th; c-hit
sacrifice fly to right for O Palmeiro in the 8th.
BATTING: 2B - C Lee (39, B Sheets); H Pence (28, B Sheets). 3B - B Ausmus (3, B
Sheets); H Pence (8, G Aquino). HR - L Berkman (28, 9th inning off C Spurling 0
on, 0 Out). S - C Burke. SF - C Biggio. RBI - M Loretta (33), B Ausmus 2 (24),
C Biggio (47), H Pence 2 (55), L Berkman (89). 2-out RBI - B Ausmus 2, H Pence
2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - R Oswalt 2, M Loretta 1. GIDP - C
Lee 2. Team LOB - 6.
BASERUNNING: Picked Off - H Pence (1st base, B Sheets).
FIELDING: Outfield assists - H Pence (J Estrada at 3rd base). DP: 2 (C
Burke-M Loretta-L Berkman, T Wigginton-C Burke-L Berkman).
MILWAUKEE ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
G Gross rf-lf 3 1 2 0 1 0 0 .254
K Mench lf 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .273
J Hardy ss 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 .277
R Braun 3b 3 2 2 1 1 0 0 .332
D Turnbow p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
B Shouse p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
G Aquino p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b-V Rottino ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000
C Spurling p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
P Fielder 1b 4 0 1 0 1 0 1 .283
C Hart cf-rf 5 2 2 1 0 1 1 .286
G Jenkins lf 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 .262
B Hall pr-cf 2 1 1 1 0 1 2 .259
J Estrada c 4 1 2 0 1 0 3 .283
C Counsell 2b-3b 4 0 2 3 0 0 1 .223
B Sheets p 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 .071
a-J Dillon ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .400
S McClung p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
S Linebrink p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
R Weeks 2b 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .231
Totals 37 7 15 7 4 4 15
a-flied out to center for B Sheets in the 6th; b-grounded to second for G
Aquino in the 8th.
BATTING: 2B - C Hart (24, R Oswalt); R Braun (21, C Sampson); K Mench (20, B
Lidge). 3B - C Counsell (2, R Oswalt). S - J Hardy. SF - B Hall. RBI - G
Jenkins (57), C Counsell 3 (23), C Hart (64), R Braun (72), B Hall (57). 2-out
RBI - G Jenkins, C Counsell 3. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J
Estrada 2, J Dillon 1, V Rottino 2. GIDP - J Hardy 2. Team LOB - 9.
BASERUNNING: SB - C Hart (22, 2nd base off R Oswalt/B Ausmus).
FIELDING: E - C Counsell (2, throw). PB - J Estrada. DP: 2 (R Braun-C
Counsell-P Fielder, J Hardy-C Counsell-P Fielder).
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HOUSTON - 000 300 141 -- 9
MILWAUKEE - 000 203 200 -- 7
----------------------------------------------------
HOUSTON ip h r er bb so hr era
R Oswalt 5 2/3 10 5 5 2 3 0 3.35
C Sampson 2/3 2 2 2 2 0 0 4.65
D Borkowski (W, 4-3) 2/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 5.05
B Lidge (H, 7) 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 2.97
T Miller (H, 15) 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 4.89
C Qualls (S, 4) 2/3 1 0 0 0 1 0 3.11
MILWAUKEE ip h r er bb so hr era
B Sheets 6 5 3 3 6 5 0 3.36
S McClung (H, 1) 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 6.23
S Linebrink (H, 18) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.86
D Turnbow (H, 32) 1/3 1 3 3 2 0 0 4.30
B Shouse (H, 19) 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.27
G Aquino (L, 0-1; B, 2) 1/3 1 1 0 0 0 0 5.62
C Spurling 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 5.01
S McClung pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.
WP - B Sheets, C Sampson, G Aquino. IBB - B Ausmus (by B Sheets), J Estrada
(by R Oswalt), P Fielder (by C Sampson). Pitches-strikes: R Oswalt 113-75; C
Sampson 22-9; D Borkowski 7-5; B Lidge 13-10; T Miller 5-4; C Qualls 12-9; B
Sheets 118-72; S McClung 17-10; S Linebrink 11-6; D Turnbow 22-10; B Shouse
2-2; G Aquino 9-5; C Spurling 13-8. Ground balls-fly balls: R Oswalt 8-5; C
Sampson 1-1; D Borkowski 1-1; B Lidge 2-1; T Miller 0-1; C Qualls 0-1; B Sheets
3-9; S McClung 0-0; S Linebrink 3-0; D Turnbow 0-1; B Shouse 0-1; G Aquino 1-0;
C Spurling 2-1. Batters faced: R Oswalt 26; C Sampson 6; D Borkowski 2; B Lidge
5; T Miller 1; C Qualls 3; B Sheets 27; S McClung 2; S Linebrink 2; D Turnbow
4; B Shouse 1; G Aquino 2; C Spurling 4.
UMPIRES: HP--Paul Schrieber. 1B--Fieldin Culbreth. 2B--Tim Mcclelland.
3B--Marty Foster.
T--3:50. Att--31,226.
Weather: 84 degrees, sunny. Wind: 5 mph, in from 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.
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, with a focus on each team’s top prospects.ORG LVL PLAYER AB H 2B 3B HR BB SO Notes LAA AAA Brandon Wood...... 5 3 2 0 0 0 1 ATL AA Van Pope.......... 6 3 3 0 0 0 1 CLE AA Stephen Head...... 4 2 1 0 1 1 1 CLE AAA Andy Marte........ 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 PIT AAA Andrew McCutchen.. 3 2 1 0 0 1 1 BAL A Billy Rowell...... 4 2 0 0 1 0 1 NYY AAA Eric Duncan....... 2 2 0 0 1 1 0 CIN A Drew Stubbs....... 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 OAK AAA Kevin Melillo..... 4 3 1 0 0 1 0 ARI AA Chris Rahl........ 6 5 1 0 0 0 1 3 R NYY AAA Brett Gardner..... 5 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 SB CLE AA Matthew McBride... 4 3 2 0 0 0 0 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes KC AAA Luke Hochevar..... 6 2 2 2 5 3 1 CIN AA Johnny Cueto...... 7 4 2 2 8 0 0 DET AAA Chris Lambert..... 6 1 0 0 10 2 0 PIT A+ Todd Redmond...... 7 1 1 1 7 2 0 WAN AAA Collin Balester... 6 4 2 2 8 1 1 BAL A+ Jason Berken...... 7 4 0 0 7 1 0 OAK AAA Andrew Bailey..... 8 3 1 1 4 1 0 SEA AA Justin Thomas..... 7 8 5 2 6 1 0 15 GB CHC AA Mitch Atkins...... 3 1 0 0 3 0 0 TOR AA Ricky Romero...... 6 9 4 4 4 2 0 STL AAA Mike Parisi....... 6 7 2 1 5 1 1 BAL A Pedro Beato....... 2 0 0 0 2 0 0
Access THT’s stats here…
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Matthew Carruth is an editor for The Hardball Times. He welcomes any and all sorts of communication at his email.