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THT Daily: Pitching Gems

by Matthew Carruth
May 15, 2007

Major League News for May 15
Links
Player News
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Top Minor League Performances
Stats

Links

Who is Jason Bergmann? - Being an AL guy, I don't really follow the senior circuit that much, so I hadn't even heard of this guy until just now. One of those feel good, untouted low minors player goes from rags to riches ones though. Federal Baseball goes over his professional career.

Hot Start - Is Jeff Francouer for real? JC Bradbury takes a look.

The Voice on the TV - You know Michael Kay the broadcaster. But do you know Michael Kay the guy who has never had soup because the slurping sound is "grotesque"? A strange encounter with the voice of the Yankees.

Grade A - Marc Hulet of Baseball Analysts takes a look at the best teams in Single-A. Good news for fans of the Indians, Red Sox and Royals.

42 - Life's most important question: Should I blow my waiver position to pick up ________ in my fantasy league? Roto Authority considers Scott Baker.

Rerun - Rich Harden feels good about his rehab and is on track to return soon. I wonder if Susan Slusser (who does a great job) has a macro for that in Word.

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 THT Links.

Player News
Player news items are provided by Rotoworld
Greg Maddux threw a five-hitter for his first complete game since 2005 in Monday's 7-1 win over the Reds.
The curse of Edwin Encarnacion remains in effect. Maddux retired the first 16 batters he faced in his 109th career complete game. He kept the shutout going until there were two outs in the ninth, when Ken Griffey Jr. had a sac fly. Brandon Phillips struck out to end it as Maddux moved to 3-2 with a 3.20 ERA.

Daisuke Matsuzaka, who had 72 complete games in Japan, got his first in the U.S. in Monday's 7-1 win over the Tigers.
Curtis Granderson's third-inning homer was the only damage. Dice-K allowed six hits, walked none and struck out five in a 124-pitch outing. It's the first time this year he's thrown 120 pitches. Considering that he was working on four days' rest and will do the same again Saturday, it's kind of surprising the Red Sox let him go the distance. The victory improved Matszuaka's record to 5-2. He's lowered his ERA from 5.45 to 4.17 with back-to-back strong showings.

According to Skip Caray, John Smoltz suffered a dislocated pinkie on his pitching hand making a tag in Monday's game.
It'd be good news if it's just dislocated. However, with a dislocation could come tendon damage. That's what's going to keep Joel Zumaya sidelined for three months. We might know tomorrow how much time Smoltz will miss. If the Braves need to replace him, they could bring back Mark Redman without having him make another rehab start.

Jason Bergmann threw no-hit ball for seven innings before Brian McCann took him yard, and he he wound up winning his first game of the season Monday as Washington edged Atlanta 2-1.
With John Patterson and Shawn Hill each on the DL, Bergmann is the de facto ace of the Nats' staff, and -- for a night anyways -- pitched like it. He lasted eight-plus innings, giving up a mere two hits, while striking out 10 and walking one. Bergmann, a full-time reliever until the Nats got desperate a year ago, lowered his ERA to an eye-catching 2.76. If he can show this kind of command more often, he'll really be on to something. Still, he's likely to be a long-term reliever.

The Rangers aren't sure when Kevin Millwood will pitch again after he left Monday's game in the second inning.
Millwood aggravated his left hamstring. "I kind of misstepped, actually to the first batter in the game," he said. "It got sorer as I went on. In the second inning, I couldn't get out over my front leg. It's not easy to pitch that way." The Rangers may place Millwood back on the DL.

Troy Glaus is playing third base and batting fifth Monday against the Orioles.
Very surprising news. Glaus said he felt a pop in his foot when he left Friday's game, and even yesterday, the Jays said it'd be a couple of more days before he had any chance of playing. It's still unlikely that we've heard the last of this injury.

Yesterday’s Results
American League
BOS     7  DET     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
TOR     5  BAL     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
KC      2  OAK     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
LAA     7  TEX     2    (Recap and Boxscore)

National League
NYN     5  CHN     4    (Recap and Boxscore)
PHI     8  MIL     6    (Recap and Boxscore)
WAS     2  ATL     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
PIT     7  FLA     0    (Recap and Boxscore)
STL     8  LAN     4    (Recap and Boxscore)
SD      7  CIN     1    (Recap and Boxscore)


Today’s Games
National League
 ---------------
 Atlanta Braves at Washington Nationals, 7:05 PM
  (R) Tim Hudson (4-1) vs. (R) Jerome Williams (0-4)
 Florida Marlins at Pittsburgh Pirates, 7:05 PM
  (R) Sergio Mitre (0-2) vs. (L) Paul Maholm (2-4)
 Milwaukee Brewers at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 PM
  (R) Claudio Vargas (3-0) vs. (R) Adam Eaton (3-3)
 Chicago Cubs at New York Mets, 7:10 PM
  (R) Carlos Zambrano (3-3) vs. (R) John Maine (5-0)
 San Francisco Giants at Houston Astros, 8:05 PM
  (R) Matt Morris (4-1) vs. (R) Woody Williams (1-5)
 Arizona Diamondbacks at Colorado Rockies, 8:35 PM
  (L) Randy Johnson (0-2) vs. (R) Jason Hirsh (2-3)
 Cincinnati Reds at San Diego Padres, 10:05 PM
  (R) Aaron Harang (5-1) vs. (L) David Wells (1-2)
 St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers, 10:10 PM
  (R) Adam Wainwright (3-2) vs. (R) Derek Lowe (3-4)
 
 American League
 ---------------
 Detroit Tigers at Boston Red Sox, 7:05 PM
  (R) Justin Verlander (3-1) vs. (R) Tim Wakefield (4-3)
 Minnesota Twins at Cleveland Indians, 7:05 PM
  (R) Ramon Ortiz (3-3) vs. (R) Paul Byrd (2-1)
 Baltimore Orioles at Toronto Blue Jays, 7:07 PM
  (R) Daniel Cabrera (3-3) vs. (R) Jesse Litsch (0-0)
 Texas Rangers at Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 7:10 PM
  (R) Brandon McCarthy (3-4) vs. (R) James Shields (3-0)
 New York Yankees at Chicago White Sox, 8:11 PM
  (R) Mike Mussina (2-1) vs. (L) John Danks (1-4)
 Kansas City Royals at Oakland Athletics, 10:05 PM
  (R) Brian Bannister (0-2) vs. (L) Joe Kennedy (1-2)
 LA Angels of Anaheim at Seattle Mariners, 10:05 PM
  (R) Kelvim Escobar (4-1) vs. (R) Felix Hernandez (2-1)


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     26  11 .703    0.0   26     0    sparkline graph
NYA     17  19 .472    8.5   20    -3    sparkline graph
BAL     18  21 .462    9.0   18     0    sparkline graph
TOR     16  22 .421   10.5   17    -1    sparkline graph
TB      15  22 .405   11.0   13     2    sparkline graph
American League Central     
DET     23  14 .622    0.0   20     3    sparkline graph
CLE     21  14 .600    1.0   19     2    sparkline graph
CHA     18  16 .529    3.5   16     2    sparkline graph
MIN     18  19 .486    5.0   20    -2    sparkline graph
KC      13  26 .333   11.0   14    -1    sparkline graph
American League West        
LAA     22  17 .564    0.0   22     0    sparkline graph
SEA     17  16 .515    2.0   15     2    sparkline graph
OAK     19  18 .514    2.0   22    -3    sparkline graph
TEX     15  23 .395    6.5   16    -1    sparkline graph


National League East        Pwins  Diff
NYN     24  13 .649    0.0   24     0    sparkline graph
ATL     24  14 .632    0.5   21     3    sparkline graph
PHI     18  20 .474    6.5   20    -2    sparkline graph
FLA     16  22 .421    8.5   17    -1    sparkline graph
WAS     13  25 .342   11.5   12     1    sparkline graph
National League Central     
MIL     25  13 .658    0.0   23     2    sparkline graph
HOU     18  19 .486    6.5   19    -1    sparkline graph
CHN     17  19 .472    7.0   21    -4    sparkline graph
PIT     17  20 .459    7.5   15     2    sparkline graph
STL     16  20 .444    8.0   13     3    sparkline graph
CIN     15  24 .385   10.5   19    -4    sparkline graph
National League West        
LAN     23  16 .590    0.0   23     0    sparkline graph
SD      21  18 .538    2.0   23    -2    sparkline graph
SF      19  18 .514    3.0   20    -1    sparkline graph
ARI     20  19 .513    3.0   18     2    sparkline graph
COL     16  22 .421    6.5   14     2    sparkline graph


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
CLE AAA Andy Marte........ 4  4  0  0  1  0  0  3 LD
ARI AA  Justin Upton...... 3  1  0  0  1  1  1  
ARI AA  Carlos Gonzalez... 4  2  1  0  0  0  1  
SEA AAA Adam Jones........ 3  1  0  0  0  2  0  3 R
TB  AA  Evan Longoria..... 4  3  0  0  1  1  0  3 R
ARI AAA Danny Richar...... 5  4  0  1  1  1  0  3 R
CIN AA  Cody Strait....... 6  3  1  0  1  0  0  3 R
OAK AAA Kurt Suzuki....... 4  1  0  0  1  1  0  
STL AAA Nick Stavinoha.... 4  2  1  0  1  1  0  4 RBI
TB  AA  John Jaso......... 5  3  0  0  1  0  0  4 RBI
CHC AAA Felix Pie......... 4  2  0  0  1  0  0  
ARI AAA Alex Romero....... 6  4  0  0  1  0  0  4 RBI

ORG LVL PLAYER            IP  H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
TB  AAA A. Sonnanstine.... 7  2  1  1 10  2  1  
COL A+  Chaz Roe.......... 8  3  1  0  7  1  0  
ARI A+  Brooks Brown...... 7  5  2  2  6  0  0  
BOS AAA Kason Gabbard..... 5  2  1  0  7  1  0  
BAL A   Pedro Beato....... 5  3  2  2  5  2  0  
KC  A   Brent Fisher...... 5  1  0  0  3  1  0  
ARI A   Anthony Barnette.. 6  7  5  5  7  1  1  
KC  AA  Carlos Rosa....... 5  5  2  2  3  1  0  
LAA A+  Stephen Marek..... 6  7  5  5  5  3  0  
HOU AA  Felipe Paulino.... 4  4  2  1  3  1  0  
HOU AAA Juan Gutierrez.... 6  5  4  4  4  0  2  
CHW AA  Gio Gonzalez...... 5  4  2  2  4  2  1  


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



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