THT Daily: Phils in First

by Matthew Carruth
September 28, 2007

Major League News for September 28

Today’s Links
Player News
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Game of the Day

You can always find the most recent THT Daily at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/content/thtdaily/

THT Links

Coming soon.

Player News

Player Headlines are courtesy of Rotoworld

Kyle Kendrick pitched six innings of three-run ball as the Phillies beat the Braves 6-4 on Thursday to move into a tie for first place in the NL East. The loss eliminated the Braves from contention. Chipper Jones and Mark Teixeira homered off Kendrick, but that accouted for all of the damage and the bullpen was able to hold the lead, even after Jeff Francoeur homered to start the ninth.

Ryan Howard passed Adam Dunn for the all-time single-season strikeout record with his first K on Thursday. Howard hit his 44th homer in his first at-bat, but he later fanned twice, putting him up to 197 for the season. Dunn used to have the top two strikeout seasons, with 195 Ks in 2004 and 194 last year.

In the post-game celebration after the Yankees clinched a playoff spot Wednesday, Alex Rodriguez, who can opt out of his deal after the season, hinted he wants to stay in New York. "This feels like home. It's hard to believe that I played for another two organizations. So much has happened to me here - adversity, some success - that I feel like anything but New York feels weird for me now," Rodriguez said. Perhaps that was just the champagne talking, but this is the clearest indication yet that A-Rod will remain a Yankee in 2008.

Yesterday’s Results

American League
BAL     8  TOR     5    (Recap and Boxscore)
MIN     5  BOS     4    (Recap and Boxscore)
NYA     3  TB      1    (Recap and Boxscore)
CHA    10  KC      0    (Recap and Boxscore)
SEA     4  CLE     2    (Recap and Boxscore)

National League
FLA     6  CHN     4    (Recap and Boxscore)
STL     3  NYN     0    (Recap and Boxscore)
PHI     6  ATL     4    (Recap and Boxscore)
HOU     4  CIN     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
SD      9  MIL     5    (Recap and Boxscore)
ARI     8  PIT     0    (Recap and Boxscore)
COL    10  LAN     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
 ---------------
 St. Louis Cardinals at Pittsburgh Pirates, 7:05 PM
  (R) Todd Wellemeyer (3-2) vs. (L) Zach Duke (3-8)
 Washington Nationals at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 PM
  (R) Tim Redding (3-5) vs. (L) Cole Hamels (14-5)
 Chicago Cubs at Cincinnati Reds, 7:10 PM
  (R) Carlos Zambrano (17-13) vs. (R) Bronson Arroyo (9-14)
 Florida Marlins at New York Mets, 7:10 PM
  (R) Byung-Hyun Kim (9-8) vs. (L) Oliver Perez (15-9)
 Atlanta Braves at Houston Astros, 8:05 PM
  (L) Jo-Jo Reyes (1-2) vs. (R) Matt Albers (4-10)
 San Diego Padres at Milwaukee Brewers, 8:05 PM
  (R) Greg Maddux (13-11) vs. (R) Ben Sheets (12-5)
 Arizona Diamondbacks at Colorado Rockies, 8:05 PM
  (R) Brandon Webb (17-10) vs. (L) Jeff Francis (17-8)
 San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers, 10:40 PM
  (R) Kevin Correia (4-6) vs. (L) David Wells (8-9)
 
 American League
 ---------------
 New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 PM
  (R) Mike Mussina (11-10) vs. (R) Jon Leicester (2-3)
 Minnesota Twins at Boston Red Sox, 7:05 PM
  (R) Kevin Slowey (4-0) vs. (R) Daisuke Matsuzaka (14-12)
 Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Toronto Blue Jays, 7:07 PM
  (R) Andrew Sonnanstine (6-9) vs. (R) Dustin McGowan (11-10)
 Cleveland Indians at Kansas City Royals, 8:10 PM
  (L) CC Sabathia (18-7) vs. (R) Kyle Davies (3-6)
 Detroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox, 8:11 PM
  (L) Kenny Rogers (3-3) vs. (R) Javier Vazquez (14-8)
 LA Angels of Anaheim at Oakland Athletics, 10:05 PM
  (R) John Lackey (18-9) vs. (R) Dan Haren (15-8)
 Texas Rangers at Seattle Mariners, 10:05 PM
  (R) Edinson Volquez (2-1) vs. (R) Jeff Weaver (7-13)

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     94  65 .591    0.0  100    -6    
NYA     92  67 .579    2.0   96    -4    
TOR     81  78 .509   13.0   85    -4    
BAL     68  91 .428   26.0   69    -1    
TB      65  94 .409   29.0   65     0    
American League Central     
CLE     94  65 .591    0.0   90     4    
DET     87  72 .547    7.0   87     0    
MIN     78  81 .491   16.0   79    -1    
CHA     70  89 .440   24.0   66     4    
KC      68  91 .428   26.0   72    -4    
American League West        
LAA     92  67 .579    0.0   88     4    
SEA     85  74 .535    7.0   77     8    
OAK     75  84 .472   17.0   78    -3    
TEX     75  84 .472   17.0   78    -3    


National League East        Pwins  Diff
NYN     87  72 .547    0.0   85     2    
PHI     87  72 .547    0.0   85     2    
ATL     83  76 .522    4.0   87    -4    
WAS     72  87 .453   15.0   69     3    
FLA     69  90 .434   18.0   70    -1    
National League Central     
CHN     83  76 .522    0.0   85    -2    
MIL     81  78 .509    2.0   82    -1    
STL     75  84 .472    8.0   68     7    
CIN     71  88 .447   12.0   73    -2    
HOU     71  88 .447   12.0   71     0    
PIT     68  91 .428   15.0   69    -1    
National League West        
ARI     89  70 .560    0.0   78    11    
SD      88  71 .553    1.0   88     0    
COL     87  72 .547    2.0   88    -1    
LAN     80  79 .503    9.0   81    -1    
SF      70  89 .440   19.0   75    -5    


Wildcard Standings
American League             
NYA     92  67 .579    0.0
DET     87  72 .547    5.0
SEA     85  74 .535    7.0
TOR     81  78 .509   11.0
MIN     78  81 .491   14.0
National League             
SD      88  71 .553    0.0
COL     87  72 .547    1.0
ATL     83  76 .522    5.0
MIL     81  78 .509    7.0
LAN     80  79 .503    8.0

Game of the Day

The Phillies moved into a first-place tie with the Mets in the National League East, the first time they've been in first all season. The Phils finish the season with three games against the Nationals, while the Mets play their final three games against the Marlins.

ATLANTA (4) VS PHILADELPHIA (6) - FINAL

ATLANTA                ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
K Johnson 2b            4  0  0  0   1  2   2  .277
E Renteria ss           4  1  1  0   0  0   3  .332
C Jones 3b              4  1  1  2   0  0   0  .339
M Teixeira 1b           3  1  1  1   1  0   1  .320
B McCann c              4  0  0  0   0  0   1  .270
J Francoeur rf          4  1  2  1   0  1   0  .292
A Jones cf              4  0  1  0   0  0   1  .222
M Diaz lf               4  0  3  0   0  0   1  .340
J Smoltz p              0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .093
 a-S Thorman ph         1  0  0  0   0  0   1  .220
 R Mahay p              0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 J Devine p             0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 b-W Harris ph          1  0  1  0   0  0   0  .279
 M Acosta p             0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 R Ring p               0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 P Moylan p             0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 c-Y Escobar ph         1  0  0  0   0  0   1  .330

Totals                 34  4 10  4   2  3  11

a-grounded to second for J Smoltz in the 5th;  b-doubled to deep right for J 
Devine in the 7th;  c-lined out to third for P Moylan in the 9th.

BATTING: 2B - W Harris (20, T Gordon). HR - C Jones (29, 6th inning off K 
Kendrick 1 on, 1 Out), M Teixeira (17, 6th inning off K Kendrick 0 on, 1 Out), 
J Francoeur (18, 9th inning off B Myers 0 on, 0 Out). S - J Smoltz. RBI - C 
Jones 2 (102), M Teixeira (55), J Francoeur (102). Runners left in scoring 
position, 2 out - K Johnson 1, E Renteria 2. GIDP - B McCann, M Diaz, M 
Teixeira. Team LOB - 6. 
 
FIELDING: E - J Smoltz (3, throw); M Teixeira (4, ground ball); K Johnson 
(14, ground ball). DP: 2 (E Renteria-M Teixeira, M Acosta-E Renteria-M 
Teixeira). 
 
PHILADELPHIA           ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
J Rollins ss            4  1  1  0   0  1   2  .295
S Victorino rf          4  1  1  0   0  1   3  .284
C Utley 2b              4  1  0  0   0  2   1  .331
R Howard 1b             4  1  1  2   0  2   0  .265
A Rowand cf             4  1  2  0   0  2   0  .312
P Burrell lf            2  1  1  2   1  1   0  .259
 C Roberson pr          0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .286
 M Bourn lf             1  0  1  0   0  0   0  .274
G Dobbs 3b              3  0  0  0   0  1   1  .274
 A Nunez 3b             1  0  0  0   0  1   2  .235
C Ruiz c                3  0  2  0   1  0   2  .259
K Kendrick p            2  0  0  0   0  2   2  .154
 a-P LaForest ph        1  0  0  0   0  0   2  .278
 T Gordon p             0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 J Romero p             0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 B Myers p              0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000

Totals                 33  6  9  4   2 13  15

a-grounded to shortstop for K Kendrick in the 6th.

BATTING: 2B - A Rowand (45, J Smoltz); C Ruiz (28, J Smoltz). HR - R Howard 
(44, 1st inning off J Smoltz 1 on, 0 Out), P Burrell (30, 3rd inning off J 
Smoltz 1 on, 2 Out). RBI - R Howard 2 (130), P Burrell 2 (97). 2-out RBI - P 
Burrell 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - S Victorino 2, C Ruiz 1. 
GIDP - P LaForest, S Victorino. Team LOB - 5. 
 
BASERUNNING: SB - J Rollins (38, 2nd base off J Smoltz/B McCann). 
 
FIELDING: E - C Utley (10, throw). DP: 3 (C Utley-J Rollins-R Howard 2, A 
Nunez-C Utley-R Howard). 
 
----------------------------------------------------
    ATLANTA         - 000 003 001   --   4
    PHILADELPHIA    - 402 000 00x   --   6
----------------------------------------------------

ATLANTA                      ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
J Smoltz (L, 14-8)            4       7   6   5   0   8   2   3.11
R Mahay                       1       0   0   0   0   3   0   2.39
J Devine                      1       0   0   0   2   0   0   1.17
M Acosta                      1       0   0   0   0   1   0   2.38
R Ring                          1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   2.79
P Moylan                        2/3   2   0   0   0   1   0   1.81

PHILADELPHIA                 ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
K Kendrick (W, 10-4)          6       6   3   3   1   2   2   3.87
T Gordon (H, 13)              1       2   0   0   1   0   0   4.93
J Romero (H, 22)              1       0   0   0   0   0   0   1.34
B Myers (S, 21)               1       2   1   1   0   1   1   4.45

WP - J Smoltz, J Devine. Pitches-strikes: J Smoltz 67-47; R Mahay 16-10; J 
Devine 15-6; M Acosta 10-8; R Ring 4-3; P Moylan 17-11; K Kendrick 79-50; T 
Gordon 13-8; J Romero 13-8; B Myers 17-12. Ground balls-fly balls: J Smoltz 
3-1; R Mahay 0-0; J Devine 3-0; M Acosta 2-0; R Ring 0-1; P Moylan 1-0; K 
Kendrick 6-10; T Gordon 2-1; J Romero 3-0; B Myers 1-1. Batters faced: J Smoltz 
20; R Mahay 3; J Devine 4; M Acosta 3; R Ring 1; P Moylan 4; K Kendrick 24; T 
Gordon 5; J Romero 3; B Myers 5. 
 
UMPIRES: HP--Ed Rapuano. 1B--Ed Hickox. 2B--C.B. Bucknor. 3B--Joe West. 

T--2:34. Att--40,589. 
Weather: 80 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 11 mph, out to center.

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.

Access THT’s stats here…

Player Search:

Matthew Carruth is an editor for The Hardball Times. He welcomes any and all sorts of communication at his email.

Now available

Search THT:

THT E-book