THT Daily: Rays comeback

by THT Staff
August 07, 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 News

Player Headlines are courtesy of Rotoworld

David Murphy can't reach this Elijah Dukes home run earlier this year. And now they're placed on the DL on the same day. What are the odds??? (Icon/SMI)

The Yankees said Joba Chamberlain was diagnosed with rotator cuff tendinitis and that he's been told to rest his arm for a week. The smart move for the Yankees would be to try to get by without Joba for the rest of the month and bring him back when rosters expand. They'll definitely be careful with such a big piece of their future.

David Murphy was diagnosed with a strained knee ligament after Wednesday's game and will go on the DL. Though Murphy was the one who stayed in initially, he clearly got the worst of the collision with Ivan Rodriguez. The Rangers will give his at-bats to Brandon Boggs and Marlon Byrd for now. This would seem to be the perfect time to give Nelson Cruz one more chance, but he recently went on the DL in Triple-A.

The Nationals plan to put Elijah Dukes on the disabled list with a strained right calf. It was supposed to be a cramp, caused by Dukes hitting himself in the leg with his backswing. Now it's somehow turned into a strain, and he's expected to miss 4-6 weeks. The latest injury could eliminate any chance of the Nationals penciling him in as a regular for 2009. Willie Harris will start in his place for now, and Garrett Mock is expected to be called up to join the pen.

Yesterday’s Results

Game recaps provided by Craig Calcaterra of Shysterball.

Pirates 2, Diamondbacks 0: What with Joba's shoulder, do you think the Yankees are wishing they had Karstens? Certainly his near-perfect game cum shutout has to make the Pirates feel pretty good about that deal. Randy Johnson pitches well, but as so often happens with him, he takes the loss anyway. Speaking of Johnson, I learned something very disturbing last night. While watching one of my favorite shows -- Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" on the Travel Channel -- I learned that RJ co-owns a sports-themed restaurant in Phoenix with Alice Cooper called "Cooper'stown." The centerpiece of the menu: a two foot long hotdog called "The Big Unit." Let that one sink in for a moment, and then try to unimagine what you have imagined.

Blue Jays 5, A's 1: To call the A's lineup impotent would be an insult to the non-virile. For their part, the A's haven't been able to get it up for more than three runs in any of their nine straight losses. Perhaps a visit to Cooper'stown would inspire them?

Angels 9, Orioles 4: The win was nice, but you know Mike Scioscia went to bed angry. I mean, if Santana had somehow given up one more run in this one, K-Rod would have had another chance at a save, and Scioscia just can't stand to pass up those opportunities. "Maybe I should have had Arredondo walk the bases loaded in the ninth," mused Scioscia as late night turned to early morning. "It's in the rules. They'd have to give him a save in that situation."

Rays 10, Indians 7 : There's ugly, and then there's Indians' bullpen ugly. Ed Mujica and MasaKobayashi cough up six runs in the ninth inning to allow the Rays to claw back from a 7-4 deficit. A localized outbreak of antihustleitis had an impact on this game as well. B.J. Upton was benched because he didn't run out a grounder on Tuesday night, and Ryan Garko was yanked from the game after failing to leave the box on a slow roller down the line in the second. In response, Eric Wedge and Joe Maddon have each made waiver claims on Van McCoy and the Soul City Symphony.

Brewers 6, Reds 3: I was offered some nice tickets to this game but declined because I had things to do last night. It wasn't until I checked out the box score that I realized it was a day game. Man, I'm an idiot. That's OK though, because it doesn't look like it was that inspiring of a game. The not-so-usual suspects -- Rickie Weeks, Mike Cameron, and Jason Kendall -- knock in five of the Brewers' six runs, as they right the ship after getting all shovey on Monday. Of course this shouldn't be that surprising seeing how the Reds have a knack for curing the ills that ail their opponents.

Cubs 11, Astros 4: Mark DeRosa hits a grand slam and knocks in five and Jason Marquis pitches six acceptable innings to get the win. Meanwhile, Braves fans look on longingly, wishing those guys were still on their team.

Giants 3, Braves 2: Tim Lincecum did Tim Lincecum things (8 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 8K), and the Braves did Braves things (retired on four pitches in the third inning), as they drop their 12th of 19 since the All-Star break.

Phillies 5, Marlins 0: Two and a half up on Florida, three on the Mets. Can Philly pull away from the pack?

Twins 7, Mariners 3: The loss was understandable. Without Jose Vidro around, there was simply no one to "move some runners and hit and run and that kind of stuff."

White Sox 5, Tigers 1: Jim Leyland, who is apparently afraid of his bullpen these days, kept Verlander out for 130 pitches. Didn't do him any good, though, as he left the game with the Tigers trailing and the bases loaded. The White Sox, who were 87% less insane with Guillen serving his suspension, remain a game ahead of Minnesota.

Padres 4, Mets 2: With Billy Wagner on the DL and everyone else kind of stinkin' right now, it's probably no surprise that the Mets' bullpen couldn't get Pedro off the hook when the game was tied in the seventh. At this rate we're going to see McDowell, Orosco, and the Earthly remains of Tug McGraw activated pretty soon.

Yankees 5, Rangers 3: Sidney Ponson: stopper. He had help, though. In the second inning, it looked like he was about to be lit up like a pinball machine when Abreu nailed David Murphy at the plate with Pudge blocking for the third out. Pudge and Murphy both went down and eventually out of the game. It would be a very bad thing for the Yankees if Rodriguez is really hurt. It would be a good thing for the New Molina World Order, however, and that's an operation I wholeheartedly support. Also: an early draft of the AP game story reads "Jason Giambi homered for the first time since shaving the most famous mustache in baseball . . ." I hope that is changed in later editions, because it is insulting to the scores of far superior mustaches that graced the upper lips of ballplayers in the 70s and 80s. Giambi's 'stache, while respectable, wouldn't have even qualified him to be Wade Boggs' mustache brush caddy back in the day.

Red Sox 8, Royals 2: Youkilis was hit in the wrist in the first inning and had to leave the game. I have no idea if the HBP was a case of Hochevar throwing at him on purpose, but if it was, don't you feel pretty demoralized if you're a Red Sox player and the guy who has to retaliate -- Wakefield -- can't break 70 on the radar gun? Seems unfair somehow.

Cardinals 9, Dodgers 6: Derek Lowe was shellacked for 13 hits and eight runs in just over three innings of work and Albert Pujols goes 4-4 with a double a homer, and four RBI. The Dodgers, by the way, have lost three of five and find themselves a half game worse off in the standings since Manny Ramirez joined the team. Ain't his fault, but that's what's happened.

Washington v. Colorado : From MetroDenver.org: "Metro Denver is situated on the high plains at the base of the Rocky Mountains. Moderate temperatures, low levels of humidity, and abundant sunshine provide an ideal climate for year-round activities. Metro Denver has 300 sunny days a year – more annual days of sunshine than either San Diego or Miami Beach." Unfortunately yesterday was not one of those days, and the Nats-Rockies game had to be postponed.

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
 ---------------
 San Diego Padres at New York Mets, 12:10 PM
  (R) Josh Banks (3-4) vs. (L) Johan Santana (9-7)
 Florida Marlins at Philadelphia Phillies, 1:05 PM
  (R) Chris Volstad (2-2) vs. (L) Cole Hamels (9-7)
 Los Angeles Dodgers at St. Louis Cardinals, 2:15 PM
  (L) Clayton Kershaw (1-3) vs. (R) Kyle Lohse (13-3)
 Washington Nationals at Colorado Rockies, 3:05 PM
  (R) Jason Bergmann (1-8) vs. (L) Jeff Francis (3-7)
 Washington Nationals at Colorado Rockies, 6:35 PM
  (L) Odalis Perez (4-8) vs. (R) Ubaldo Jimenez (8-9)
 Houston Astros at Cincinnati Reds, 7:10 PM
  (R) Roy Oswalt (8-8) vs. (R) Josh Fogg (2-3)
 Atlanta Braves at Arizona Diamondbacks, 9:40 PM
  (R) Charlie Morton (2-5) vs. (R) Yusmeiro Petit (1-2)
 
 American League
 ---------------
 Oakland Athletics at Toronto Blue Jays, 7:07 PM
  (R) Justin Duchscherer (10-7) vs. (R) A.J. Burnett (13-9)
 New York Yankees at Texas Rangers, 8:05 PM
  (R) Mike Mussina (14-7) vs. (R) Scott Feldman (4-4)
 Detroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox, 8:11 PM
  (R) Zach Miner (5-4) vs. (R) Javier Vazquez (8-9)
 Tampa Bay Rays at Seattle Mariners, 10:10 PM
  (R) Andy Sonnanstine (11-6) vs. (R) Felix Hernandez (7-7)

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
TB      68  45 .602    0.0   62     6    
BOS     66  49 .574    3.0   68    -2    
NYA     62  52 .544    6.5   62     0    
TOR     58  56 .509   10.5   61    -3    
BAL     54  59 .478   14.0   55    -1    
American League Central     
CHA     63  49 .563    0.0   64    -1    
MIN     63  51 .553    1.0   60     3    
DET     55  58 .487    8.5   58    -3    
KC      53  62 .461   11.5   50     3    
CLE     49  64 .434   14.5   56    -7    
American League West        
LAA     71  43 .623    0.0   62     9    
TEX     60  55 .522   11.5   55     5    
OAK     53  60 .469   17.5   58    -5    
SEA     44  70 .386   27.0   49    -5    


National League East        Pwins  Diff
PHI     62  51 .549    0.0   64    -2    
FLA     60  54 .526    2.5   55     5    
NYN     59  54 .522    3.0   60    -1    
ATL     52  62 .456   10.5   59    -7    
WAS     42  71 .372   20.0   44    -2    
National League Central     
CHN     69  46 .600    0.0   72    -3    
MIL     64  51 .557    5.0   60     4    
STL     64  52 .552    5.5   61     3    
HOU     54  59 .478   14.0   51     3    
PIT     52  62 .456   16.5   50     2    
CIN     52  63 .452   17.0   49     3    
National League West        
ARI     59  55 .518    0.0   60    -1    
LAN     56  57 .496    2.5   59    -3    
COL     52  63 .452    7.5   52     0    
SF      48  65 .425   10.5   47     1    
SD      44  70 .386   15.0   45    -1

Game of the Day

Rays 10, Indians 7 - FINAL

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 Runs

The 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
Rod Barajas           TOR     Carlos Gonzalez      OAK     430    414   9  ND
Jay Bruce             CIN     Jeff Suppan          MIL     410    400  11  JE/L
Bobby Crosby          OAK     Shaun Marcum         TOR       0      0   6  0
Mark DeRosa           CHC     Brandon Backe        HOU     393    386  12  PL
Jacoby Ellsbury       BOS     Ron Mahay            KC      421    430   6  JE
Jody Gerut            SD      Pedro Martinez       NYM     432    427   8  PL
Jason Giambi          NYY     Tommy Hunter         TEX     422    413  22  JE
Brian Giles           SD      Pedro Martinez       NYM     433    428   6  ND
Gabe Gross            TB      Edward Mujica        CLE     463    462   8  ND
Vladimir Guerrero     LAA     Garrett Olson        BAL     441    414  20  ND
Franklin Gutierrez    CLE     Scott Kazmir         TB      335    333   5  JE
Chase Headley         SD      Eddie Kunz           NYM     417    413   7  PL
Ryan Howard           PHI     Anibal Sanchez       FLA     401    394  32  PL
Carlos Lee            HOU     Jason Marquis        CHC     369    364  27  PL
Ryan Ludwick          STL     Derek Lowe           LAD     407    410  29  PL
Nick Markakis         BAL     Ervin Santana        LAA     400    382  16  PL
Jeff Mathis           LAA     Garrett Olson        BAL     408    383   9  JE/L
Luis Montanez         BAL     Ervin Santana        LAA     415    390   1  PL/L
Dioner Navarro        TB      Jeremy Sowers        CLE     356    356   6  JE
Carlos Pena           TB      Masahide Kobayashi   CLE     418    416  20  JE
Jhonny Peralta        CLE     Scott Kazmir         TB      413    412  19  JE
Albert Pujols         STL     Derek Lowe           LAD     427    429  23  ND
Manny Ramirez         LAD     Joel Pineiro         STL     410    406  22  PL
Aaron Rowand          SF      Chuck James          ATL     413    408  10  PL
Freddy Sanchez        PIT     Randy Johnson        ARI     380    362   8  PL
Alfonso Soriano       CHC     Brandon Backe        HOU     378    370  21  PL
Jim Thome             CWS     Justin Verlander     DET     379    349  22  JE/L
Michael Young         TEX     Sidney Ponson        NYY     390    379  10  JE/L

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
ATL AAA Josh Anderson..... 4  3  2  0  1  0  0  
HOU A+  Koby Clemens...... 6  4  1  0  1  1  1  5 RBI !
SEA AAA Matt Tuiasosopo... 4  2  0  0  2  1  1  3 R
CIN AA  Daniel Dorn....... 6  3  0  0  2  0  1  5 RBI !
PHI A+  Michael Taylor.... 5  3  3  0  0  0  1  
ATL AA  Brandon Hicks..... 4  3  1  1  0  1  1  4 R
MIN AA  Brian Dinkelman... 5  3  0  1  1  0  0  3 R
CLE A+  Carlos Rivero..... 4  2  1  0  1  1  0  
SF  AAA Travis Ishikawa... 4  2  1  0  1  0  0  
STL AAA David Freese...... 4  2  1  0  1  0  0  
LAA AAA Brandon Wood...... 4  2  1  0  1  0  0  
CLE A+  Carlos Santana.... 5  2  1  0  1  0  2  

ORG LVL PLAYER            IP  H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
ARI A   Jarrod Parker..... 7  4  1  1 10  0  1  
LA  AAA James McDonald.... 6  2  1  1 10  2  1  
SD  AA  William Inman..... 6  5  1  1  7  0  0  
KC  AA  Julio Pimentel.... 7  6  3  2  8  0  1  
LA  A+  Steven Johnson.... 6  7  5  1  9  0  1  
TEX A+  Derek Holland..... 5  6  5  5  8  1  0  
DET AA  Luis Marte........ 6  4  3  3  7  2  0  
ARI AAA Matthew Torra..... 8  5  0  0  3  0  0  
SD  A   Jeremy Hefner..... 5  2  0  0  6  2  0  
NYY AA  George Kontos..... 7  4  0  0  5  2  0  
TEX A   Michael Main...... 6  4  0  0  6  2  0  
PHI AA  Andrew Carpenter.. 7  6  2  2  7  1  1

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