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THT Daily: Slumps in the westby Matthew CarruthJuly 24, 2007 Major League News for July 24Today’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 LinksLong road - Jon Lester made his first start in the majors since being diagnosed with cancer yesterday. What if... - Dave Cameron images what the Mariners would be like if they were a second-hand store. Rumor mill - MLB Trade Rumors has the latest word on Octavio Dotel. Fantasy owners take note. Counting stats - Alex Rodriguez hit his 100th RBI of the season last night. No wonder I haven't heard anything about him from the New York media lately. Checkers vs. poker - Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield has apparently asked for Troy Glaus in return for Jack Wilson in trade talks with the Blue Jays. The ensuing discussion over at Bucs Dugout includes this nugget: DL thinks this is fantasy baseball. If he sends enough horrible trades, maybe someone will hit "accept trade" by accident.Hang in there Pirates fans. Hang in there. 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 NewsPlayer Headlines are courtesy of RotoworldThe Braves and Angels are the most aggressive suitors for Mark Teixeira, says FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal. Rosenthal labels the Yankees, Red Sox and Giants as on the periphery. The Braves would likely have to part with Jarrod Saltalamacchia to pull off a deal. Yunel Escobar shouldn't be as of much interest to Texas, and Escobar is more useful to the Braves right now anyway. Having Casey Kotchman and Ervin Santana go the other way is the deal that would make the most sense for the Angels. A source told Rosenthal that the chances of a Teixeira deal are 50-50. Hunter Pence will be out four to six weeks with a small chip fracture in his right wrist. Ryan Braun probably just claimed Rookie of the Year honors. Pence said he'd play today after hurting his wrist during Sunday's game, but the chip fracture was found when an MRI was performed today. The Astros will likely make Chris Burke their full-time center fielder. Craig Biggio could go back to playing more frequently at second base as a result. Bartolo Colon was pulled with right elbow irritation after giving up four runs in an inning Monday against the A's. Colon hasn't been 100 percent at any point since returning from a torn rotator cuff, and the Angels should consider shutting him down for a few weeks to see if he can come back at 100 percent for the stretch run. If it happens, Dustin Moseley might be the favorite to become the fifth starter. Ervin Santana had a nice first start in Triple-A Sunday, but the Angels won't want to go back to him yet. Jon Lester won his 2007 debut by allowing two runs over six innings and striking out six against the Indians on Monday. A two-run homer from Grady Sizemore in the third accounted for the damage. Lester got into big trouble in the fourth, allowing a leadoff double and a walk. Franklin Gutierrez then helped him out by striking out on what would have been ball four, but that was followed with a four-pitch walk to Kelly Shoppach. That got Julian Tavarez up in the pen. Fortunately, a grounder back to the pitcher followed, resulting in a force play at home, and Sizemore fanned to end the inning. Lester came back out and faced the minimum over the next two frames. He'll get one more start this weekend against the Rays before Curt Schilling returns. Aaron Harang pitched 10 innings of one-run ball and struck out 10 Monday against the Brewers, but he wasn't involved in the decision in a game in which the Reds won in 12. Pinch-hitter Javier Valentin singled in pinch-runner Norris Hopper in the bottom of the 12th to give Jared Burton his frist career victory. Harang, who threw 121 pitches, became the first Reds pitcher to go 10 innings since the late Rick Mahler went that long on Aug. 30, 1989. He has a 2.43 ERA this month, and he's undefeated in 12 starts since May 20. Nationals signed second baseman Ronnie Belliard to a two-year, $3.5 million extension through 2009. He'll earn $1.6 million in 2008 and $1.9 million in 2009. Multiyear deals for utilitymen rarely work out well, but this is a fine move for the Nats. Belliard remains an adequate choice as a regular second baseman, and he can serve as a backup at third and first. He's even made three starts at shortstop this year. Since the Nationals won't let this stand in the way should an opportunity to acquire a young middle infielder present itself, it was definitely worth it. Athletics activated RHP Huston Street from the 15-day disabled list. Street will pitch in middle relief in his first couple of appearances back, but expect him to reclaim the closer's role from Alan Embree by the end of the week. Yesterday’s ResultsAmerican League TOR 6 MIN 4 (Recap and Boxscore) DET 9 CHA 6 (Recap and Boxscore) BOS 6 CLE 2 (Recap and Boxscore) NYA 9 KC 2 (Recap and Boxscore) OAK 12 LAA 6 (Recap and Boxscore) TEX 8 SEA 7 (Recap and Boxscore) National League CIN 2 MIL 1 (Recap and Boxscore) LAN 10 HOU 2 (Recap and Boxscore) ARI 4 FLA 3 (Recap and Boxscore) COL 7 SD 5 (Recap and Boxscore) ATL 4 SF 2 (Recap and Boxscore)
Today’s GamesNational League --------------- Washington Nationals at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 PM (R) Jason Bergmann (2-5) vs. (R) Kyle Kendrick (4-1) Milwaukee Brewers at Cincinnati Reds, 7:10 PM (R) Yovani Gallardo (2-1) vs. (R) Matt Belisle (5-6) Pittsburgh Pirates at New York Mets, 7:10 PM (R) Ian Snell (7-7) vs. (R) John Maine (10-5) Los Angeles Dodgers at Houston Astros, 8:05 PM (L) Mark Hendrickson (4-5) vs. (R) Jason Jennings (1-6) Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals, 8:10 PM (R) Carlos Zambrano (12-7) vs. (R) Kip Wells (4-12) San Diego Padres at Colorado Rockies, 9:05 PM (R) Chris Young (9-3) vs. (R) Ubaldo Jimenez (0-0) Florida Marlins at Arizona Diamondbacks, 9:40 PM (R) Sergio Mitre (4-4) vs. (R) Livan Hernandez (5-6) Atlanta Braves at San Francisco Giants, 10:15 PM (R) Tim Hudson (10-5) vs. (R) Matt Morris (7-6) American League --------------- Detroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox, 2:05 PM (R) Jeremy Bonderman (10-1) vs. (R) Javier Vazquez (7-5) Seattle Mariners at Texas Rangers, 5:05 PM (L) Ryan Feierabend (1-3) vs. (L) John Rheinecker (0-0) Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 PM (L) Scott Kazmir (7-6) vs. (R) Daniel Cabrera (6-10) Boston Red Sox at Cleveland Indians, 7:05 PM (R) Daisuke Matsuzaka (11-7) vs. (L) CC Sabathia (13-4) Minnesota Twins at Toronto Blue Jays, 7:07 PM (R) Scott Baker (4-3) vs. (R) Dustin McGowan (6-5) Seattle Mariners at Texas Rangers, 8:05 PM (L) Jarrod Washburn (8-7) vs. (R) Kameron Loe (5-8) New York Yankees at Kansas City Royals, 8:10 PM (R) Chien-Ming Wang (10-5) vs. (R) Scott Elarton (2-3) Detroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox, 8:11 PM (R) Virgil Vasquez (0-1) vs. (R) Gavin Floyd (0-1) Oakland Athletics at LA Angels of Anaheim, 10:05 PM (L) Lenny DiNardo (4-6) vs. (R) Kelvim Escobar (11-3) StandingsThe 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 60 39 .606 0.0 61 -1 Game of the DayIt took twelve innings for the Reds to beat the Brewers, 2-1. Aaron Harang pitched ten innings of one-run ball, while Chris Capuano pitched eight innings of the same. Ryan Braun supplied the Brewers’ only offense with a home run and two other hits. Braun now has 16 home runs in 51 games. Milwaukee’s lead over Chicago is now just three games.MILWAUKEE (1) VS CINCINNATI (2) - FINAL IN 12 INNINGS
MILWAUKEE ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
C Hart cf 6 0 1 0 0 3 3 .284
J Hardy ss 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 .264
R Braun 3b 5 1 3 1 0 2 0 .345
P Fielder 1b 4 0 2 0 1 1 0 .283
J Estrada c 5 0 0 0 0 1 4 .277
G Jenkins lf 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 .256
K Mench rf 5 0 1 0 0 0 4 .276
C Counsell 2b 5 0 1 0 0 1 0 .245
C Capuano p 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250
D Turnbow p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
a-T Graffanino ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .247
M Wise p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
B Shouse p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b-R Weeks ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .222
G Balfour p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 43 1 8 1 2 10 15
a-popped out to second for D Turnbow in the 10th; b-walked for B Shouse in the
12th.
BATTING: 2B - C Hart (17, A Harang). HR - R Braun (16, 4th inning off A Harang
0 on, 0 Out). RBI - R Braun (43). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J
Estrada 1, K Mench 2, C Hart 1, J Hardy 1. GIDP - J Estrada, C Hart. Team LOB -
9.
CINCINNATI ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
R Freel cf 5 0 0 0 0 2 1 .240
J Keppinger 3b 5 0 1 0 0 1 1 .323
K Griffey Jr rf 5 0 1 0 0 0 1 .278
B Phillips 2b 5 0 1 0 0 1 2 .280
A Dunn lf 5 0 1 0 0 1 1 .259
J Conine 1b 4 0 1 0 1 2 0 .256
N Hopper pr 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .268
P Lopez ss 4 0 0 0 1 1 2 .184
D Ross c 4 1 2 1 0 0 0 .195
A Harang p 3 0 1 0 0 1 1 .128
a-S Hatteberg ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .304
D Weathers p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
M Stanton p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
J Burton p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b-J Valentin ph 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 .260
Totals 42 2 9 2 2 9 9
a-fouled out to third for A Harang in the 10th; b-singled to right for J
Burton in the 12th.
BATTING: 2B - D Ross (5, C Capuano). HR - D Ross (15, 3rd inning off C Capuano
0 on, 0 Out). S - D Ross. RBI - D Ross (33), J Valentin (16). Runners left in
scoring position, 2 out - A Harang 1, P Lopez 1. Team LOB - 10.
FIELDING: E - P Lopez (1, pop up). DP: 2 (J Conine-D Ross-J Conine, B
Phillips-P Lopez-J Conine).
----------------------------------------------------
MILWAUKEE - 000 100 000 000 -- 1
CINCINNATI - 001 000 000 001 -- 2
No outs when winning run scored.
----------------------------------------------------
MILWAUKEE ip h r er bb so hr era
C Capuano 8 7 1 1 0 7 1 4.64
D Turnbow 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 3.30
M Wise 1 2/3 1 0 0 0 0 0 2.70
B Shouse 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.28
G Balfour (L, 0-2) 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 20.25
CINCINNATI ip h r er bb so hr era
A Harang 10 7 1 1 0 10 1 3.45
D Weathers 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 3.22
M Stanton 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 5.29
J Burton (W, 1-1) 2/3 0 0 0 1 0 0 3.37
G Balfour pitched to 4 batters in the 12th.
HBP - G Jenkins (by D Weathers). Pitches-strikes: C Capuano 107-74; D Turnbow
10-9; M Wise 25-17; B Shouse 4-2; G Balfour 14-6; A Harang 121-87; D Weathers
23-12; M Stanton 2-1; J Burton 6-2. Ground balls-fly balls: C Capuano 9-8; D
Turnbow 0-1; M Wise 1-4; B Shouse 1-0; G Balfour 1-0; A Harang 7-13; D Weathers
2-1; M Stanton 0-1; J Burton 2-0. Batters faced: C Capuano 31; D Turnbow 3; M
Wise 6; B Shouse 1; G Balfour 4; A Harang 37; D Weathers 6; M Stanton 1; J
Burton 2.
UMPIRES: HP--John Hirschbeck. 1B--Laz Diaz. 2B--Adrian Johnson. 3B--Bill
Welke.
T--3:09. Att--23,489.
Weather: 79 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 7 mph, left to right.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 GamesThe 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 ARI AA Justin Upton...... 4 2 2 0 0 1 1 CLE AAA Andy Marte........ 3 2 0 0 1 0 0 TOR A Travis Snider..... 8 5 1 0 0 1 0 4 LD OAK A J. Mitchell....... 3 2 1 0 1 1 0 SEA AAA Adam Jones........ 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 ARI AA Carlos Gonzalez... 5 1 1 0 0 0 1 CIN AAA Jay Bruce......... 4 1 0 1 0 0 1 LA AAA Andy LaRoche...... 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 CLE AA Brian Barton...... 6 4 1 0 1 0 1 OAK AA Javier Herrera.... 4 2 0 0 1 0 1 TB AAA Elliot Johnson.... 4 2 0 0 1 0 1 TEX A Chad Tracy........ 4 3 0 0 1 1 0 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes MIN A+ Jeffrey Manship... 7 6 1 1 12 3 0 OAK A Trevor Cahill..... 7 4 1 1 5 1 1 TB AA Wade Davis........ 6 3 1 1 7 3 0 CLE AAA Sean Smith........ 7 2 1 1 6 2 1 FLA A+ C. Volstad........ 7 3 3 3 6 2 1 CHC AA Donald Veal....... 4 3 5 0 7 0 1 STL A+ Adam Ottavino..... 6 7 2 1 7 1 0 MIL AA William Inman..... 7 3 2 2 5 2 1 PHI A+ Joshua Outman..... 7 5 1 1 5 1 0 CHC AA Grant Johnson..... 3 1 2 0 5 1 0 LA AA Greg Miller....... 4 4 1 1 7 3 0 STL A Tyler Herron...... 5 6 2 2 6 2 1 Access THT’s stats here…
Matthew Carruth is an editor for The Hardball Times. He welcomes any and all sorts of communication at his email. Do you have a general question or comment for one of THT's writers? Send it in to our weekly mailbag We also welcome unsolicited op-ed pieces of approximately 500 words for consideration. We reserve the right to edit for length, clarity and consistency of style. Please include your whole name and location to be considered. If you have a comment about this specific article, please email the writer. Next Article: Injury wrapup>> <<Previous Article: Fun and games in the NL Central | |||||
NYA 52 46 .531 7.5 60 -8 
TOR 49 50 .495 11.0 51 -2 
BAL 44 53 .454 15.0 49 -5 
TB 38 60 .388 21.5 36 2 
American League Central
DET 59 38 .608 0.0 58 1 
CLE 58 41 .586 2.0 55 3 
MIN 51 48 .515 9.0 54 -3 
CHA 43 55 .439 16.5 40 3 
KC 43 55 .439 16.5 46 -3 
American League West
LAA 57 41 .582 0.0 53 4 
SEA 54 42 .563 2.0 48 6 
OAK 47 52 .475 10.5 51 -4 
TEX 43 56 .434 14.5 45 -2 
National League East Pwins Diff
NYN 55 43 .561 0.0 52 3 
ATL 53 47 .530 3.0 52 1 
PHI 50 48 .510 5.0 51 -1 
FLA 48 52 .480 8.0 49 -1 
WAS 42 56 .429 13.0 38 4 
National League Central
MIL 55 44 .556 0.0 53 2 
CHN 51 46 .526 3.0 54 -3 
STL 45 50 .474 8.0 40 5 
HOU 42 57 .424 13.0 43 -1 
PIT 41 56 .423 13.0 40 1 
CIN 42 58 .420 13.5 45 -3 
National League West
LAN 56 44 .560 0.0 54 2 
SD 53 45 .541 2.0 55 -2 
ARI 53 48 .525 3.5 47 6 
COL 50 49 .505 5.5 49 1 
SF 41 56 .423 13.5 47 -6 