THT Daily: The Return of Percival
by Matthew CarruthJune 27, 2007
Major League News for June 27
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
NRAA Approved - Of the 30 starting pitchers today, an amazing seven of them are 40 or older.
He'll Scare You Into Throwing Meatballs (subscription required) - Nationals young SS prospect Stephen King homered for the third straight game in the Gulf Coast League. He's got the power tool certainly, but the real question is how good his horror-writing tool is.
Play For Yourselves! - Weeeeee. Shea Hillenbrand, recently losing playing time because he, well, sucks, has been complaining again asking for more playing time or to be traded. This is the same guy who rode his way out of Toronto last season for the same reasons. Here's a hint Shea, when your OPS is under .600 and you're a DH, you do not get to complain about anything.
Prize of Trade Market, Off it? - News of a turnaround in Chicago where reports are leaking that the White Sox and Mark Buehrle might sign an extension in the range of four years and $50 million as soon as this weekend. Just when I was able to write out Buehrle's name without looking it up too.
And Again... - Felix Hernandez looked hittable again last night suffering from poor command and obvious pitch patterns. Will somebody tell him that the only thing Felix is establishing in the first innings is a deficit.
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 RotoworldFOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal reports that the Jacque Jones-to-Florida deal won't happen, "barring an unexpected reversal." The Marlins wanted Jones as their primary center fielder, but apparently the Cubs weren't quite desperate enough to get rid of him. Either they refused to pay the majority of the $7 million he's still owed or they wanted a better prospect in return if they were going to eat the salary.
Cardinals purchased the contract of RHP Troy Percival from Triple-A Memphis. Percival allowed one run -- that coming in his first appearance -- over 6 2/3 innings for Memphis, enabling him to complete his comeback and return to the majors. The Cards will use him in middle relief for now, but he'll be put into a setup role if he's successful.
Randy Johnson (back) will come off the disabled list and face the Dodgers on Thursday. Johnson was cleared to go after experiencing no problems Tuesday following Monday's simulated game. "Today was a big day," he said. "I didn't feel that bad, relatively speaking. It's nothing that I haven't felt already -- last year when I was pitching or earlier this year." Johnson is fine to activate in fantasy leagues for tomorrow's start, but it sounds like he might need another stint on the DL in order to get through the rest of the season. "I don't know how much longer I can pitch with it," Johnson said. "So I'm going in with a positive frame of mind. I'll go as hard as I can as long as I can. When I was in New York, I pitched through a lot of discomfort."
Cubs placed RHP Ryan Dempster on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to June 23, with a strained left oblique. Dempster won't be back until after the All-Star break. Bob Howry will continue to serve as the closer while Dempster is out. Carlos Marmol and Mike Wuertz will also see more work in close games.
Miguel Tejada was instructed to keep his left wrist in a splint for two more weeks during an examination on Tuesday. Tejada wanted to return as soon as his 15 days were up, but now he's going to miss at least a month with the injury sustained last week. Freddie Bynum and Chris Gomez will continue to fill in at shortstop.
Yesterday’s Results
American League BAL 3 NYA 2 (Recap and Boxscore) CHA 6 TB 1 (Recap and Boxscore) CLE 8 OAK 5 (Recap and Boxscore) TEX 9 DET 6 (Recap and Boxscore) MIN 2 TOR 1 (Recap and Boxscore) 12 innings KC 12 LAA 4 (Recap and Boxscore) SEA 8 BOS 7 (Recap and Boxscore) National League ATL 6 WAS 2 (Recap and Boxscore) PIT 3 FLA 2 (Recap and Boxscore) STL 5 NYN 3 (Recap and Boxscore) 11 innings PHI 11 CIN 4 (Recap and Boxscore) CHN 8 COL 5 (Recap and Boxscore) MIL 11 HOU 5 (Recap and Boxscore) LAN 6 ARI 5 (Recap and Boxscore) 10 innings SD 3 SF 2 (Recap and Boxscore) 10 innings
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Today’s Games
National League --------------- Houston Astros at Milwaukee Brewers, 2:05 PM (R) Woody Williams (3-10) vs. (R) Jeff Suppan (8-7) Colorado Rockies at Chicago Cubs, 2:20 PM (R) Jason Hirsh (3-6) vs. (R) Carlos Zambrano (8-6) San Diego Padres at San Francisco Giants, 3:35 PM (R) Greg Maddux (6-4) vs. (R) Matt Cain (2-8) Pittsburgh Pirates at Florida Marlins, 7:05 PM (R) John VanBenschoten (0-2) vs. (R) Sergio Mitre (2-3) Cincinnati Reds at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 PM (R) Aaron Harang (8-2) vs. (L) Jamie Moyer (7-5) St. Louis Cardinals at New York Mets, 7:10 PM (R) Anthony Reyes (0-9) vs. (L) Tom Glavine (6-5) Washington Nationals at Atlanta Braves, 7:35 PM (L) Micah Bowie (4-2) vs. (R) John Smoltz (8-4) Los Angeles Dodgers at Arizona Diamondbacks, 9:40 PM (R) Derek Lowe (8-6) vs. (R) Brandon Webb (7-5) American League --------------- Texas Rangers at Detroit Tigers, 1:05 PM (R) Kevin Millwood (4-6) vs. (L) Kenny Rogers (1-0) Kansas City Royals at LA Angels of Anaheim, 3:35 PM (L) Jorge De La Rosa (4-9) vs. (R) Jered Weaver (6-3) Boston Red Sox at Seattle Mariners, 4:35 PM (R) Daisuke Matsuzaka (9-5) vs. (L) Ryan Feierabend (1-2) New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 PM (R) Roger Clemens (1-2) vs. (L) Erik Bedard (5-4) Oakland Athletics at Cleveland Indians, 7:05 PM (L) Lenny DiNardo (2-4) vs. (R) Fausto Carmona (8-3) Chicago White Sox at Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 7:10 PM (L) Mark Buehrle (4-4) vs. (R) Andrew Sonnanstine (1-2) Toronto Blue Jays at Minnesota Twins, 8:10 PM (R) Josh Towers (2-5) vs. (R) Boof Bonser (5-3)
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 48 28 .632 0.0 46 2TOR 38 38 .500 10.0 40 -2
NYA 36 38 .486 11.0 43 -7
TB 33 42 .440 14.5 30 3
BAL 33 43 .434 15.0 37 -4
American League Central CLE 45 31 .592 0.0 44 1
DET 45 31 .592 0.0 47 -2
MIN 39 36 .520 5.5 39 0
CHA 31 42 .425 12.5 30 1
KC 32 46 .410 14.0 33 -1
American League West LAA 49 29 .628 0.0 46 3
SEA 41 33 .554 6.0 38 3
OAK 39 37 .513 9.0 41 -2
TEX 32 45 .416 16.5 35 -3
National League East Pwins Diff NYN 42 33 .560 0.0 42 0
PHI 40 36 .526 2.5 38 2
ATL 40 38 .513 3.5 37 3
FLA 36 41 .468 7.0 36 0
WAS 32 45 .416 11.0 29 3
National League Central MIL 45 32 .584 0.0 42 3
CHN 37 39 .487 7.5 41 -4
STL 34 40 .459 9.5 30 4
PIT 32 44 .421 12.5 31 1
HOU 32 45 .416 13.0 34 -2
CIN 29 48 .377 16.0 34 -5
National League West LAN 44 33 .571 0.0 42 2
SD 43 33 .566 0.5 47 -4
ARI 44 34 .564 0.5 39 5
COL 38 39 .494 6.0 37 1
SF 33 43 .434 10.5 38 -5
Game of the Day
Cleveland scored five in the ninth inning to overcome a two-run deficit and beat the A’s, 8-5. The key blows were a game-tying double by Travis Hafner and a game-winning home run by Kelly Shoppach. It was Oakland’s fifth loss in a row.OAKLAND (5) VS CLEVELAND (8) - FINAL
OAKLAND ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
S Stewart lf 5 2 3 1 0 0 0 .283
M Ellis 2b 5 1 4 3 0 1 2 .276
N Swisher rf 2 0 0 0 2 1 1 .281
E Chavez 3b 4 0 0 0 0 1 6 .236
J Cust dh 4 1 1 1 0 1 3 .269
B Crosby ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 .234
D Johnson 1b 4 0 1 0 0 1 0 .249
M Kotsay cf 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 .233
J Kendall c 3 1 1 0 1 0 0 .215
Totals 35 5 10 5 3 6 13
BATTING: 2B - J Kendall (8, C Lee); M Ellis (14, T Mastny). HR - J Cust (12,
2nd inning off C Lee 0 on, 0 Out), M Ellis (8, 5th inning off C Lee 1 on, 1
Out), S Stewart (5, 9th inning off R Betancourt 0 on, 2 Out). RBI - J Cust
(29), M Ellis 3 (40), S Stewart (22). 2-out RBI - S Stewart. Runners left in
scoring position, 2 out - J Cust 2. Team LOB - 6.
BASERUNNING: CS - M Ellis (2, 3rd base by R Perez/V Martinez).
FIELDING: DP: 1 (E Chavez-D Johnson).
CLEVELAND ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
G Sizemore cf 3 3 2 1 2 0 1 .282
C Blake 3b-1b 5 1 1 0 0 0 3 .273
V Martinez c 3 0 1 0 2 1 1 .313
B Francisco pr 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000
T Hafner dh 4 1 1 3 1 0 3 .259
J Peralta ss 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 .281
R Garko 1b 4 0 1 0 0 0 3 .292
M Rouse pr-3b 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .122
a-K Shoppach ph 1 1 1 3 0 0 0 .382
T Nixon rf 4 0 0 0 0 3 1 .239
J Michaels lf 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 .298
J Barfield 2b 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 .267
Totals 36 8 11 8 6 6 15
a-homered to left for M Rouse in the 9th.
BATTING: 2B - G Sizemore (14, D Haren); V Martinez (16, D Haren); T Hafner (9,
A Embree). HR - G Sizemore (13, 3rd inning off D Haren 0 on, 0 Out), K Shoppach
(4, 9th inning off A Embree 2 on, 2 Out). RBI - J Peralta (44), G Sizemore
(35), T Hafner 3 (50), K Shoppach 3 (16). 2-out RBI - J Peralta, T Hafner 2, K
Shoppach 3. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - T Hafner 2, R Garko 2.
Team LOB - 8.
FIELDING: Outfield assists - J Michaels (M Ellis at 2nd base). DP: 1 (V
Martinez-C Blake).
----------------------------------------------------
OAKLAND - 010 020 101 -- 5
CLEVELAND - 102 000 005 -- 8
Two outs when winning run scored.
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OAKLAND ip h r er bb so hr era
D Haren 6 2/3 8 3 3 3 4 1 1.91
S Casilla (H, 2) 1 1/3 1 0 0 0 2 0 0.66
A Embree (L, 1-1; B, 2) 2/3 2 5 5 3 0 1 4.25
CLEVELAND ip h r er bb so hr era
C Lee 6 6 3 3 2 3 2 5.37
T Mastny 1/3 2 1 1 1 0 0 5.23
R Perez 2 0 0 0 0 3 0 0.87
R Betancourt (W, 1-0) 2/3 2 1 1 0 0 1 1.35
WP - D Haren. IBB - N Swisher (by T Mastny), J Peralta (by A Embree).
Pitches-strikes: D Haren 105-66; S Casilla 30-21; A Embree 24-11; C Lee 95-63;
T Mastny 15-8; R Perez 21-13; R Betancourt 11-10. Ground balls-fly balls: D
Haren 9-6; S Casilla 0-2; A Embree 0-2; C Lee 4-11; T Mastny 0-1; R Perez 1-1;
R Betancourt 0-1. Batters faced: D Haren 30; S Casilla 5; A Embree 7; C Lee 26;
T Mastny 4; R Perez 5; R Betancourt 3.
UMPIRES: HP--Paul Nauert. 1B--Gerry Davis. 2B--Brian Gorman. 3B--Mike
Everitt.
T--3:15. Att--18,494.
Weather: 89 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 2 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 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 COL AAA Ian Stewart....... 5 2 1 0 1 0 0 COL AAA Joseph Koshansky.. 5 2 0 0 2 0 1 CIN AA Jay Bruce......... 5 2 1 0 0 0 1 DET A+ Cameron Maybin.... 4 2 1 0 1 0 1 TOR A Travis Snider..... 6 3 2 0 0 0 3 4 RBI COL A+ C. Nelson......... 3 2 0 1 1 2 0 ARI A+ Aaron Cunningham.. 4 4 1 1 0 1 0 PIT AA Neil Walker....... 4 2 1 0 1 0 0 DET AA Jeff Larish....... 4 3 1 0 1 0 1 4 RBI COL A Daniel Mayora..... 5 3 1 0 1 0 0 ARI A Gerardo Parra..... 5 4 2 0 0 0 0 SEA AAA W. Balentien...... 4 2 1 0 0 1 2 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes PHI AA Carlos Carrasco... 6 3 2 2 6 2 0 BAL A Pedro Beato....... 7 5 2 2 8 2 0 CHW AA Gio Gonzalez...... 6 7 1 1 5 1 0 OAK A Andrew Bailey..... 6 5 1 0 6 1 0 TB AAA Mitch Talbot...... 7 7 5 4 4 1 0 TB AA Wade Davis........ 5 5 2 2 7 2 1 MIN AAA Matt Garza........ 5 10 4 4 6 0 1 FLA A+ Ryan Tucker....... 7 1 0 0 4 5 0 CIN A+ Travis Wood....... 5 4 1 1 6 3 0 CIN AA Johnny Cueto...... 6 5 1 1 6 2 1 NYY AA Ian Kennedy....... 5 3 1 1 4 2 0 COL A+ Chaz Roe.......... 7 6 4 4 6 4 0 12 GB
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Matthew Carruth is an editor for The Hardball Times. He welcomes any and all sorts of communication at his email.