THT Daily: Twins edge closerer
by Dave StudemanSeptember 20, 2009
Major League News for September 20
Player News
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
You can always find the most recent THT Daily at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/content/thtdaily/
Player News
Player Headlines are courtesy of RotoworldCC Sabathia allowed just one unearned run over eight dominant innings Saturday as the Yankees routed the Mariners.
Sabathia started strong and finished even stronger. He was nailed by a comebacker in the sixth inning and trainers headed toward the mound, but he waved them off quickly and looked almost rejuvenated by the shot. Sabathia tallied 10 strikeouts against two walks, lowering his ERA to 3.29 and his WHIP to 1.13. The Yankees' magic number is down to nine.
Carlos Gonzalez went 2-for-5 with a solo homer as the Rockies topped the Diamondbacks 10-4 on Saturday night in Arizona.
Gonzalez has hit a minor slump in the month of September after a scorching August, but is still batting .282/.354/.518 on the season with 12 dingers and 26 RBI in 245 at-bats. With 16 stolen bases on top of it all, he's quickly forming into a fantastic fantasy player.
Jake Peavy allowed three earned runs over five innings Saturday in his White Sox debut against the Royals.
Peavy was only allowed to throw 73 pitches and will probably be held under 90 again next week. He gave up a home run, and had a rough second inning, but looked decent considering his time off. The right-hander will face a tough Tigers lineup next week, but he should have an easier time finding a groove in his second start with the White Sox.
Jack Wilson (heel) is in danger of missing the rest of the season.
"We don't know if he'll be able to play the rest of the year," manager Don Wakamatsu said Saturday. "We're hoping." Wilson suffered a bruised heel last week while running out a bunt hit. He's hit just .224 with one home run and eight RBI in 31 games since joining the Mariners.
Aaron Cook (shoulder) threw a 50-pitch simulated game Saturday and is on track to start Thursday against the Padres.
Cook has been sidelined August 21 with a right shoulder strain, but reported improvement Saturday after his workout. "I felt g-o-o-d," Cook kidded. "Seriously, I felt really good. I would like to start, but I'm going to do whatever the club needs." He's 10-6 with a 4.47 ERA.
Zack Greinke (elbow) played catch Saturday and should be fine to make his scheduled start Tuesday against the Red Sox.
"As long as there are no setbacks, it will be Zack on his regular day," manager Trey Hillman said. "He felt fine. There's a little bit of swelling in his forearm. It's continuing to go south. We hope that's dissipated in the next 72 hours before Tuesday." Greinke currently holds a league-leading 2.14 ERA, but Boston's lineup will present a great challenge for the Cy Young Award hopeful.
Brad Penny was hammered for seven earned runs over just 2 2/3 innings Saturday in a loss to the Dodgers.
The Dodgers got to Penny early, tallying five runs in the bottom of the first inning. Perhaps it was revenge for his effective start last week, or maybe the Dodgers simply wanted to give their former teammate a rude welcome back to Chavez Ravine. Either way, the Giants are now three games behind the Rockies in the NL Wild Card race with only 14 contests to play.
Michael Cuddyer hit a three-run homer in a five-run eighth inning Saturday as the Twins rallied for a 6-2 victory over the Tigers.
The Twins were held to one run over the first seven frames, but had runners on the Metrodome bases all day and eventually fought through for five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Cuddyer's blast came soon after a go-ahead two-run single by Jason Kubel. The Twins stand just two games back of the Tigers in the American League Central standings.
Brendan Ryan hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday as the Cardinals topped the Cubs 2-1.
Another epic game in the storied rivalry. Ryan knocked a solo home run in the fifth inning that tipped off Bobby Scales' glove and bounced over the left field wall, capturing a 1-0 lead for the Cardinals. The Cubs then rallied for a run in the top of the ninth, but Ryan played the hero just moments later. St. Louis' magic number is now four.
Yesterday’s Results
For the full scoop regarding yesterday's games, read "And That Happened" at Shysterball.American League BOS 11 BAL 5 (Recap and Boxscore) TB 4 TOR 0 (Recap and Boxscore) CHA 13 KC 3 (Recap and Boxscore) MIN 6 DET 2 (Recap and Boxscore) OAK 8 CLE 4 (Recap and Boxscore) NYA 10 SEA 1 (Recap and Boxscore) TEX 3 LAA 2 (Recap and Boxscore) National League ATL 6 PHI 4 (Recap and Boxscore) NYN 3 WAS 2 (Recap and Boxscore) FLA 3 CIN 2 (Recap and Boxscore) MIL 7 HOU 2 (Recap and Boxscore) SD 2 PIT 1 (Recap and Boxscore) STL 2 CHN 1 (Recap and Boxscore) COL 10 ARI 4 (Recap and Boxscore) LAN 12 SF 1 (Recap and Boxscore)Check out Fangraphs' scoreboard to see all the games in action.
Today’s Games
Angels (88-60) @ Rangers (81-66), 1:05pm
John Lackey (30, RHP) vs. Derek Holland (22, LHP)
RedSox (88-59) @ Orioles (60-88), 1:35pm
Daisuke Matsuzaka (28, RHP) vs. Jason Berken (25, RHP)
Blue Jays (66-82) @ Rays (76-73), 1:38pm
Roy Halladay (32, RHP) vs. David Price (23, LHP)
Royals (60-88) @ WhiteSox (73-76), 2:05pm
Robinson Tejeda (27, RHP) vs. Freddy Garcia (34, RHP)
Tigers (78-70) @ Twins (76-72), 2:10pm
Nate Robertson (31, LHP) vs. Scott Baker (27, RHP)
Indians (61-87) @ Athletics (70-78), 4:05pm
Fausto Carmona (25, RHP) vs. Dana Eveland (25, LHP)
Yankees (95-54) @ Mariners (77-72), 4:10pm
Joba Chamberlain (23, RHP) vs. Ian Snell (27, RHP)
Marlins (80-69) @ Reds (68-81), 1:10pm
Sean West (23, LHP) vs. Kip Wells (32, RHP)
Nationals (51-97) @ Mets (64-85), 1:10pm
Garrett Mock (26, RHP) vs. John Maine (28, RHP)
Phillies (86-61) @ Braves (79-69), 1:30pm
Cliff Lee (30, LHP) vs. Tommy Hanson (22, RHP)
Padres (67-82) @ Pirates (56-90), 1:35pm
Kevin Correia (28, RHP) vs. Paul Maholm (27, LHP)
Astros (70-78) @ Brewers (73-75), 2:05pm
Felipe Paulino (25, RHP) vs. Yovani Gallardo (23, RHP)
Rockies (84-65) @ D'backs (65-84), 4:10pm
Ubaldo Jimenez (25, RHP) vs. Danny Haren (28, RHP)
Giants (80-68) @ Dodgers (89-60), 4:10pm
Tim Lincecum (25, RHP) vs. Randy Wolf (32, LHP)
Cubs (75-72) @ Cardinals (87-62), 8:05pm
Carlos Zambrano (28, RHP) vs. Adam Wainwright (27, RHP)
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 NYA 95 54 .638 0.0 89 6BOS 88 59 .599 6.0 87 1
TB 76 73 .510 19.0 80 -4
TOR 66 82 .446 28.5 74 -8
BAL 60 88 .405 34.5 63 -3
American League Central DET 78 70 .527 0.0 73 5
MIN 76 72 .514 2.0 76 0
CHA 73 76 .490 5.5 74 -1
CLE 61 87 .412 17.0 68 -7
KC 60 88 .405 18.0 61 -1
American League West LAA 88 60 .595 0.0 84 4
TEX 81 66 .551 6.5 79 2
SEA 77 72 .517 11.5 68 9
OAK 70 78 .473 18.0 73 -3
National League East Pwins Diff PHI 86 61 .585 0.0 85 1
FLA 80 69 .537 7.0 76 4
ATL 79 69 .534 7.5 82 -3
NYN 64 85 .430 23.0 65 -1
WAS 51 97 .345 35.5 60 -9
National League Central STL 87 62 .584 0.0 84 3
CHN 75 72 .510 11.0 76 -1
MIL 73 75 .493 13.5 72 1
HOU 70 78 .473 16.5 65 5
CIN 68 81 .456 19.0 65 3
PIT 56 90 .384 29.5 61 -5
National League West LAN 89 60 .597 0.0 92 -3
COL 84 65 .564 5.0 83 1
SF 80 68 .541 8.5 78 2
SD 67 82 .450 22.0 59 8
ARI 65 84 .436 24.0 69 -4
Wildcard Standings American League BOS 88 59 .599 0.0 TEX 81 66 .551 7.0 SEA 77 72 .517 12.0 MIN 76 72 .514 12.5 TB 76 73 .510 13.0 National League COL 84 65 .564 0.0 SF 80 68 .541 3.5 FLA 80 69 .537 4.0 ATL 79 69 .534 4.5 CHN 75 72 .510 8.0
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