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THT Daily: Yankees’ Woes Continueby Matthew CarruthMay 02, 2007 Major League News for May 2Today’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 LinksApril Review - Jayson Stark has some ramblings about what happened in April and what it all means. Lesson Learned - Do not shine flashlights into players eyes. A Mets fan received a three-year ban from Shea stadium after shining a flashlight into the eyes of Tim Hudson and Edgar Renteria. Efficient - Jeff Suppan walked Albert Pujols on just three balls. It's hard to fathom that the pitcher, the batter, the umpire and the scorekeeper also screwed that one up, but they did. Return to Factory - Apparently, Khalil Greene makes for a very creepy looking robot. Check it Out - Jon Stewart helped to produce a sitcom about baseball that was canned by Comedy Central before the pilot even aired. Lucky for us, the show's creators put it on youtube. 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 . Player NewsPlayer Headlines are courtesy of RotoworldPhilip Hughes is expected to miss 4-6 weeks after straining his hamstring Tuesday in his start against the Rangers. Incredible. At least the Yankees are getting Mike Mussina back this week, and Hughes showed enough tonight to indicate that he could be of a lot of use after the break. In truth, this injury might have been the best thing for his long-term health, as the Yankees won't be tempted to overuse him to compensate for the shortcomings of the rest of the staff. This means Kei Igawa will likely stay in the rotation following Mussina's return. Royals purchased the contract of outfielder Billy Butler from Triple-A Omaha. So now both Alex Gordon and Butler are going to be accruing service time in a year in which the Royals are going absolutely nowhere. Having the two arbitration eligible after 2009 is going to hurt the GM Dayton Moore's chances of putting a competitive team on the field when the club may actually be in position to contend. Butler is probably ready to hit in the majors right now, but he'll be a significant liability in left field. The team isn't going to give up on designated hitter Mike Sweeney yet, so this looks like a bad move all around. Still, AL-only leaguers should go ahead and pick him up. Even if he's not up for good, he'll likely have short-term value. Brian McCann is day-to-day with a bruised left index finger after leaving Tuesday's game in the second inning. X-rays were negative. Brayan Pena might have to start in his place tomorrow. The A's reportedly called the Red Sox to gauge interest in Rich Harden, according to Yahoo! Sports' Tim Brown. After he got hurt? No word on what the conversations entailed, but if they progressed it all, it can be assumed the A's asked about both Wily Mo Pena and top pitching prospect Clay Buchholz. A healthy Harden is about as dominant as any pitcher in baseball, but the A's wouldn't be able to get equal value for him unless he comes back this month and then blows AL hitters away for a month or so. An in-season trade is quite unlikely. Yesterday’s ResultsAmerican League OAK 5 BOS 4 (Recap and Boxscore) See below MIN 9 TB 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Ponson: 7 IP, 1 R CLE 12 TOR 4 (Recap and Boxscore) Peralta: 2B, HR, 5 RBI DET 5 BAL 4 (Recap and Boxscore) Polanco: 4-5 LAA 7 KC 5 (Recap and Boxscore) Matthews: 4-5, 2B, 3B; Guerrero: GS HR SEA 5 CHA 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Washburn: 7 IP, 2 R NYA 10 TEX 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Hughes: 6.1 IP, 0 H, Injury; Cano: 4-5, 2 2B National League PHI 6 ATL 4 (Recap and Boxscore) Barajas: 2-2, HR; Chipper: 2 HR FLA 5 NYN 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Willingham: 3B, HR, 5 RBI; Nolasco: 5 IP, 1 R CIN 11 HOU 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Griffey: 3-3, HR; Dunn: 2B, HR; Arroyo: 7 IP, 1 R MIL 12 STL 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Hardy: 4-5, 2 2B; Jenkins: 4-5, HR; Sheets: 6 IP, 2 R CHN 6 PIT 5 (Recap and Boxscore) Game suspended after 7, to be finished today LAN 2 ARI 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Saenz: 1B in 9th to win (.359 WPA) SD 3 WAS 0 (Recap and Boxscore) Young: 8 IP, 0 R COL 9 SF 7 (Recap and Boxscore) Holliday: 3-5, HR, 4 RBI Today’s GamesNational League --------------- Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh Pirates, 12:35 PM (R) Jason Marquis (3-1) vs. (R) Ian Snell (2-1) St. Louis Cardinals at Milwaukee Brewers, 1:05 PM (R) Anthony Reyes (0-4) vs. (L) Chris Capuano (4-0) Florida Marlins at New York Mets, 1:10 PM (R) Anibal Sanchez (2-0) vs. (L) Oliver Perez (2-2) Arizona Diamondbacks at Los Angeles Dodgers, 3:10 PM (L) Doug Davis (2-2) vs. (L) Mark Hendrickson (1-0) Philadelphia Phillies at Atlanta Braves, 7:35 PM (R) Freddy Garcia (1-1) vs. (L) Chuck James (3-2) Cincinnati Reds at Houston Astros, 8:05 PM (R) Kyle Lohse (1-1) vs. (R) Roy Oswalt (3-2) Washington Nationals at San Diego Padres, 10:05 PM (L) Matt Chico (2-2) vs. (R) Clay Hensley (1-3) Colorado Rockies at San Francisco Giants, 10:15 PM (L) Jeff Francis (1-3) vs. (L) Barry Zito (2-3) American League --------------- Baltimore Orioles at Detroit Tigers, 1:05 PM (R) Steve Trachsel (1-2) vs. (L) Nate Robertson (2-1) Chicago White Sox at Seattle Mariners, 3:35 PM (L) John Danks (0-3) vs. (R) Miguel Batista (2-2) Oakland Athletics at Boston Red Sox, 7:05 PM (R) Chad Gaudin (1-1) vs. (R) Josh Beckett (5-0) Toronto Blue Jays at Cleveland Indians, 7:05 PM (R) Victor Zambrano (0-1) vs. (R) Jake Westbrook (1-2) Minnesota Twins at Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 7:10 PM (R) Boof Bonser (0-1) vs. (R) Jae Seo (1-2) New York Yankees at Texas Rangers, 8:05 PM (L) Andy Pettitte (1-1) vs. (R) Robinson Tejeda (3-1) LA Angels of Anaheim at Kansas City Royals, 8:10 PM (R) Ervin Santana (2-3) vs. (L) Jorge De La Rosa (2-2) 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 16 9 .640 0.0 17 -1 Game of the DayWith the Red Sox leading, 4-2 in the top of the ninth, closer Jonathan Papelbon blew his first save by yielding a two-run home run to the Athletics’ Travis Buck, and the A’s went on to beat the Red Sox in ten innings, 5-4. The deciding blow was Dan Johnson’s double in the tenth. The game also featured a strong start by Curt Schilling, who gave up only two runs in seven innings. OAKLAND (5) VS BOSTON (4) - FINAL IN 10 INNINGS
OAKLAND ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
S Stewart lf 4 0 1 0 1 0 1 .243
M Ellis 2b 5 0 1 0 0 0 4 .256
E Chavez 3b 5 0 0 0 0 1 5 .257
M Piazza dh 5 1 1 0 0 2 0 .270
D Johnson 1b 5 1 2 2 0 1 0 .300
B Crosby ss 5 1 2 0 0 2 1 .226
T Buck rf 5 2 3 2 0 1 1 .221
J Kendall c 5 0 2 0 0 1 3 .181
R Langerhans cf 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 .000
a-T Walker ph 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 .233
D Putnam cf 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .188
Totals 42 5 13 5 1 10 17
a-hit sacrifice fly to center for R Langerhans in the 7th.
BATTING: 2B - M Ellis (6, C Schilling); T Buck (5, C Schilling); M Piazza (7, B
Donnelly); D Johnson (1, B Donnelly). HR - D Johnson (1, 4th inning off C
Schilling 0 on, 1 Out), T Buck (3, 9th inning off J Papelbon 1 on, 0 Out). SF -
T Walker. RBI - D Johnson 2 (4), T Walker (3), T Buck 2 (12). Runners left in
scoring position, 2 out - M Ellis 1, J Kendall 2, E Chavez 3. Team LOB - 9.
BOSTON ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Lugo ss 5 0 0 0 0 1 0 .242
C Crisp cf 4 2 1 0 1 0 2 .236
D Ortiz dh 5 1 2 0 0 1 1 .302
M Ramirez lf 4 0 2 1 0 1 2 .215
K Youkilis 1b 4 1 1 1 0 0 2 .289
M Lowell 3b 3 0 1 1 1 0 2 .315
J Varitek c 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 .225
E Hinske rf 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 .286
D Pedroia 2b 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .172
a-A Cora ph-2b 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .360
Totals 36 4 8 3 3 6 11
a-intentionally walked for D Pedroia in the 9th.
BATTING: 2B - E Hinske (2, J Duchscherer). SF - M Ramirez , K Youkilis. RBI - M
Ramirez (14), M Lowell (21), K Youkilis (9). 2-out RBI - M Lowell. Runners left
in scoring position, 2 out - E Hinske 1, C Crisp 2. Team LOB - 7.
BASERUNNING: SB - C Crisp (4, 2nd base off J Blanton/J Kendall), K Youkilis
(1, 2nd base off J Blanton/J Kendall), M Lowell (1, 2nd base off J Blanton/J
Kendall).
----------------------------------------------------
OAKLAND - 000 100 102 1 -- 5
BOSTON - 301 000 000 0 -- 4
----------------------------------------------------
OAKLAND ip h r er bb so hr era
J Blanton 7 6 4 4 2 4 0 3.82
A Embree 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3.86
J Duchscherer (W, 2-1) 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 4.63
H Street (S, 7) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.57
BOSTON ip h r er bb so hr era
C Schilling 7 8 2 2 0 7 1 3.15
H Okajima (H, 6) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.66
J Papelbon (B, 1) 1 3 2 2 1 0 1 1.74
B Donnelly (L, 0-1) 1 2 1 1 0 2 0 1.29
IBB - A Cora (by J Duchscherer). Pitches-strikes: J Blanton 106-70; A Embree
12-8; J Duchscherer 24-14; H Street 14-8; C Schilling 100-70; H Okajima 17-10;
J Papelbon 35-24; B Donnelly 20-14. Ground balls-fly balls: J Blanton 6-11; A
Embree 1-2; J Duchscherer 2-0; H Street 0-2; C Schilling 1-13; H Okajima 1-1; J
Papelbon 1-2; B Donnelly 0-1. Batters faced: J Blanton 29; A Embree 4; J
Duchscherer 5; H Street 3; C Schilling 29; H Okajima 3; J Papelbon 7; B
Donnelly 5.
UMPIRES: HP--Charlie Reliford. 1B--Larry Vanover. 2B--Greg Gibson. 3B--Tom
Hallion.
EJECTIONS: OAKLAND's Geren by Reliford (5th).
T--3:16. Att--37,052.
Weather: 59 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 6 mph, in from left.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.ORG LVL PLAYER POS AB H 2B 3B HR BB SO Notes ARI AA Chris Rahl LF 4 3 2 0 1 1 0 CHW A Michael Grace 3B 4 3 2 1 0 0 0 CLE AAA Keith Ginter 3B 5 3 0 0 2 0 1 Hit 4 HR over past three days CLE A LF 3 3 0 0 1 2 0 3 runs scored COL A Daniel Mayora 2B 4 3 1 0 1 0 1 3 runs scored COL A Victor Ferrante RF 4 3 1 0 1 0 0 MIN AA Rashad Eldridge RF 5 4 2 0 1 0 0 4 RBI NYM AAA Jason Alfaro SS 3 3 1 0 1 0 0 3 runs scored OAK AAA Donnie Murphy SS 4 4 2 0 0 1 0 .517 OBP during past week OAK A Alexander Valdez 3B 3 2 0 1 1 1 1 4 RBI ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes BOS AA Clay Buchholz 7.0 1 0 0 9 0 0 27 K over last 22 IP CLE A Jeanmar Gomez 7.0 1 0 0 2 0 0 COL A Simon Ferrer 7.0 3 0 0 1 0 0 FLA A Graham Taylor 8.0 4 1 1 8 0 0 LA A Francisco Felix 6.0 1 0 0 5 1 0 0 ER allowed over last 14 IP LAA A+ Brok Butcher 7.1 6 0 0 6 0 0 0.88 ERA over past month SD AAA Justin Germano 8.0 6 0 0 5 0 0 SD A Nathanial Culp 7.0 4 1 1 7 0 0 SEA A+ Marwin Vega 7.0 2 0 0 6 2 0 TOR A+ Russ Savickas 7.0 2 0 0 4 1 0 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: Business of Baseball Report>> <<Previous Article: If It Ain't Broke | |||
TOR 13 13 .500 3.5 14 -1 
BAL 12 15 .444 5.0 13 -1 
TB 11 15 .423 5.5 9 2 
NYA 10 14 .417 5.5 13 -3 
American League Central
CLE 15 8 .652 0.0 13 2 
DET 15 11 .577 1.5 14 1 
MIN 15 11 .577 1.5 15 0 
CHA 12 12 .500 3.5 11 1 
KC 8 19 .296 9.0 10 -2 
American League West
LAA 16 11 .593 0.0 15 1 
SEA 11 10 .524 2.0 10 1 
OAK 13 13 .500 2.5 14 -1 
TEX 10 16 .385 5.5 10 0 
National League East Pwins Diff
ATL 16 10 .615 0.0 14 2 
NYN 15 10 .600 0.5 17 -2 
FLA 13 13 .500 3.0 13 0 
PHI 12 14 .462 4.0 13 -1 
WAS 9 18 .333 7.5 7 2 
National League Central
MIL 17 9 .654 0.0 14 3 
CIN 13 13 .500 4.0 14 -1 
PIT 12 12 .500 4.0 10 2 
CHN 10 14 .417 6.0 15 -5 
HOU 10 15 .400 6.5 11 -1 
STL 10 15 .400 6.5 8 2 
National League West
LAN 16 11 .593 0.0 16 0 
ARI 16 12 .571 0.5 15 1 
SF 13 12 .520 2.0 13 0 
SD 14 13 .519 2.0 15 -1 
COL 11 16 .407 5.0 11 0 