THT Daily: 10 RBI’s
by Matthew CarruthAugust 22, 2007
Major League News for August 22
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
The Faults of OPS - Walk Like a Sabermetrician has an interesting take on OPS, what it's good for and (mostly) what it's not good for.
More Stealing - Carl Bialik of the Wall Street Journal looks at the rise in stolen base percentage this season. For examples in high steal percentage, check out Ichiro Suzuki who has 80 swipes over the past two seasons while only being caught four times.
Schilling to Rays Looks More Promising - Curt Schilling may end up a Devil Ray after all next year. Also, are we a blog? If so, this blog just cited the DRaysBay blog, whose post I linked to cited from Topkin's blog, which in turn got the information from Schilling's blog.
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 RotoworldGarret Anderson set an Angels record by driving in 10 runs with a grand slam, a three-run homer and a pair of doubles Tuesday against the Yankees. Anderson has had big problems coming through with runners in scoring position this season (.204 average), but he made up for a bunch of failures with a huge night. The 35-year-old hit his 7th and 8th homers of the season off Edwar Ramirez and Sean Henn, respectively. He now has 50 RBI on the year, 35 of which have come since the All-Star break.
Mark Reynolds tied a major league record by striking out in nine straight at-bats before he was hit by a pitch in his third plate appearance Tuesday. He's the sixth player to fan nine straight times. The last was Bo Jackson in 1988. Despite his recent struggles, Reynolds is batting .396 with 13 RBI in 16 games this month. He'll likely remain inconsistent because of his troubles making contact and his vulnerability to high fastballs.
Chone Figgins left Tuesday's game after three innings with a sprained left wrist. Figgins was injured on a check-swing. With Maicer Izturis DHing, Robb Quinlan took over at third base tonight. Izturis would start if Figgins needs to miss a few days.
Cole Hamels will miss his scheduled start Wednesday because of a mild MCL strain in his left elbow. Uh oh. Whether it wrecks their postseason chances or not, the Phillies need to be very cautious here. Team physician Michael Ciccotti said Hamels could miss one to three weeks, pending the results of an MRI. The Phillies will move up the rest of the rotation one day and go with J.D. Durbin on Wednesday. They could call up J.A. Happ to start Saturday, but a trade for Steve Trachsel or someone similar will have to be considered.
Astros placed RHP Jason Jennings on the 15-day disabled list with a torn flexor tendon in his right elbow. So it wasn't the shoulder after all. A torn flexor tendon isn't such bad news for Jennings. It will end his season, but he should be recovered by next spring. A major shoulder injury -- which may still be a possibility -- would have made it far less likely that he'd be 100 percent at any point during 2008. Jennings probably will have to take an incentive-laden, one-year deal as a free agent this winter. That might be for the best, too. Hunter Pence is coming off the DL to replace Jennings on the roster. Juan Gutierrez, who is already starting this week in place of Roy Oswalt, figures to take Jennings' spot in the rotation. The Astros will still need a spot starter this weekend, though.
Yesterday’s Results
American League BAL 6 TEX 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Tejada: 3-4, HR; Bedard: 7 IP, 11 K, 0 BB, 2 R BOS 8 TB 6 (Recap and Boxscore) OAK 6 TOR 4 (Recap and Boxscore) Thomas: 2 HR; CHA 5 KC 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Thome: 2B, HR; Vazquez: 6 IP, 2 R DET 2 CLE 1 (Recap and Boxscore) See below SEA 7 MIN 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Washburn: 6 IP, 2 R LAA 18 NYA 9 (Recap and Boxscore) Anderson: 2 2B, 2 HR, 10 RBI; A-Rod: 2 HR National League NYN 7 SD 6 (Recap and Boxscore) Beltran: 2B, HR, 5 RBI PHI 5 LAN 4 (Recap and Boxscore) CIN 8 ATL 7 (Recap and Boxscore) WAS 11 HOU 6 (Recap and Boxscore) Nook: 5-6; Zimmerman: 3B, HR; Biggio: 2B, HR STL 5 FLA 2 (Recap and Boxscore) MIL 7 ARI 4 (Recap and Boxscore) Bush: 6 IP, 2 R COL 9 PIT 2 (Recap and Boxscore) CHN 5 SF 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Marquis: 7 IP, 1 R
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Today’s Games
National League --------------- Los Angeles Dodgers at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 PM (R) Derek Lowe (9-11) vs. (R) J.D. Durbin (5-2) Atlanta Braves at Cincinnati Reds, 7:10 PM (R) Lance Cormier (0-3) vs. (R) Bronson Arroyo (6-13) San Diego Padres at New York Mets, 7:10 PM (R) Jake Peavy (13-5) vs. (R) Brian Lawrence (1-0) Washington Nationals at Houston Astros, 8:05 PM (L) Mike Bacsik (5-6) vs. (R) Woody Williams (7-12) Florida Marlins at St. Louis Cardinals, 8:10 PM (L) Scott Olsen (9-10) vs. (R) Braden Looper (10-10) Pittsburgh Pirates at Colorado Rockies, 9:05 PM (L) Tom Gorzelanny (11-7) vs. (R) Josh Fogg (7-8) Milwaukee Brewers at Arizona Diamondbacks, 9:40 PM (R) Jeff Suppan (8-10) vs. (R) Brandon Webb (13-8) Chicago Cubs at San Francisco Giants, 10:15 PM (L) Rich Hill (7-7) vs. (L) Barry Zito (9-11) American League --------------- Oakland Athletics at Toronto Blue Jays, 12:37 PM (R) Esteban Loaiza (0-0) vs. (R) AJ Burnett (7-6) Seattle Mariners at Minnesota Twins, 1:10 PM (R) Miguel Batista (13-8) vs. (R) Carlos Silva (9-12) Kansas City Royals at Chicago White Sox, 2:05 PM (R) Brian Bannister (9-7) vs. (R) Jose Contreras (6-15) Texas Rangers at Baltimore Orioles, 5:05 PM (L) Kason Gabbard (5-1) vs. (R) Daniel Cabrera (9-12) Cleveland Indians at Detroit Tigers, 7:05 PM (R) Paul Byrd (11-5) vs. (R) Justin Verlander (13-4) Boston Red Sox at Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 7:10 PM (R) Daisuke Matsuzaka (13-9) vs. (R) Edwin Jackson (3-12) Texas Rangers at Baltimore Orioles, 8:35 PM (L) John Rheinecker (1-1) vs. (L) Garrett Olson (1-2) New York Yankees at LA Angels of Anaheim, 10:05 PM (L) Andy Pettitte (10-7) vs. (R) John Lackey (15-7)
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 BOS 76 50 .603 0.0 78 -2NYA 70 56 .556 6.0 77 -7
TOR 63 62 .504 12.5 66 -3
BAL 58 65 .472 16.5 63 -5
TB 47 78 .376 28.5 45 2
American League Central CLE 68 56 .548 0.0 67 1
DET 68 57 .544 0.5 68 0
MIN 62 63 .496 6.5 63 -1
CHA 56 69 .448 12.5 52 4
KC 55 70 .440 13.5 59 -4
American League West LAA 74 51 .592 0.0 71 3
SEA 71 52 .577 2.0 64 7
OAK 63 64 .496 12.0 65 -2
TEX 54 70 .435 19.5 56 -2
National League East Pwins Diff NYN 71 53 .573 0.0 69 2
PHI 66 58 .532 5.0 67 -1
ATL 66 60 .524 6.0 67 -1
WAS 57 69 .452 15.0 53 4
FLA 56 70 .444 16.0 58 -2
National League Central CHN 64 60 .516 0.0 67 -3
MIL 65 61 .516 0.0 62 3
STL 60 62 .492 3.0 55 5
HOU 56 70 .444 9.0 55 1
CIN 55 70 .440 9.5 55 0
PIT 53 71 .427 11.0 54 -1
National League West ARI 71 56 .559 0.0 60 11
SD 66 58 .532 3.5 68 -2
COL 64 61 .512 6.0 67 -3
LAN 64 61 .512 6.0 63 1
SF 55 71 .437 15.5 61 -6
Wildcard Standings American League SEA 71 52 .577 0.0 NYA 70 56 .556 2.5 DET 68 57 .544 4.0 TOR 63 62 .504 9.0 MIN 62 63 .496 10.0 National League PHI 66 58 .532 0.0 SD 66 58 .532 0.0 ATL 66 60 .524 1.0 LAN 64 61 .512 2.5 COL 64 61 .512 2.5
Game of the Day
The season-long AL Central battle between the Indians and Tigers tightened last night in a tremendous pitcher’s duel. Detroit won the game, 2-1, pulling within a half game of Cleveland. They managed only three hits, but two of them were back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning. Cleveland only managed one hit (also a home run) off rookie Jair Jurrjens, who was pulled an inning after losing his no-hit bid. He was making only his second major league start; the previous one had also been against Cleveland’s Fausto Carmona. Arguably, Carmona pitched a better game than Jurrjens, allowing only the two home runs, pitching a complete game and walking none.CLEVELAND (1) VS DETROIT (2) - FINAL
CLEVELAND ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
K Lofton lf 2 0 0 0 2 1 0 .293
C Blake 3b 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .263
G Sizemore cf 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 .274
V Martinez c 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .301
T Hafner dh 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 .252
R Garko 1b 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 .307
T Nixon rf 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .259
J Peralta ss 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 .273
A Cabrera 2b 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .269
Totals 26 1 1 1 4 2 5
BATTING: HR - J Peralta (18, 6th inning off J Jurrjens 0 on, 1 Out). RBI - J
Peralta (61). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - C Blake 1. GIDP - R
Garko. Team LOB - 2.
BASERUNNING: SB - K Lofton (22, 2nd base off J Jurrjens/I Rodriguez).
FIELDING: Outfield assists - K Lofton (C Granderson at 2nd base). DP: 1 (K
Lofton-A Cabrera).
DETROIT ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
C Granderson cf 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 .288
P Polanco 2b 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .342
G Sheffield dh 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 .279
M Ordonez rf 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 .351
C Guillen ss 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 .304
I Rodriguez c 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .280
S Casey 1b 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .283
M Thames lf 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 .247
R Raburn 3b 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .341
B Inge 3b 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .242
Totals 26 2 3 2 0 5 1
BATTING: 2B - C Granderson (31, F Carmona). HR - M Ordonez (23, 5th inning off
F Carmona 0 on, 0 Out), C Guillen (16, 5th inning off F Carmona 0 on, 0 Out).
RBI - M Ordonez (111), C Guillen (79). Team LOB - 0.
FIELDING: Outfield assists - C Granderson (K Lofton at 1st base). DP: 2 (C
Granderson-C Guillen-S Casey, P Polanco-C Guillen-S Casey).
----------------------------------------------------
CLEVELAND - 000 001 000 -- 1
DETROIT - 000 020 00x -- 2
----------------------------------------------------
CLEVELAND ip h r er bb so hr era
F Carmona (L, 14-8) 8 3 2 2 0 5 2 3.11
DETROIT ip h r er bb so hr era
J Jurrjens (W, 1-1) 6 2/3 1 1 1 4 1 1 3.29
J Zumaya (H, 4) 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.57
F Rodney (H, 9) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4.33
T Jones (S, 32) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 4.56
Pitches-strikes: F Carmona 77-59; J Jurrjens 78-50; J Zumaya 5-3; F Rodney
9-6; T Jones 15-12. Ground balls-fly balls: F Carmona 12-6; J Jurrjens 8-10; J
Zumaya 1-0; F Rodney 1-2; T Jones 0-2. Batters faced: F Carmona 26; J Jurrjens
23; J Zumaya 1; F Rodney 3; T Jones 3.
UMPIRES: HP--Lance Barksdale. 1B--Jim Reynolds. 2B--Tim Welke. 3B--Gary
Cederstrom.
T--1:59. Att--42,868.
Weather: 69 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 5 mph, swirling.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 CIN AAA Jay Bruce......... 3 2 0 0 1 1 0 ARI AA Carlos Gonzalez... 5 2 1 0 0 0 2 CLE AAA Andy Marte........ 4 1 0 0 1 0 1 CLE AA Trevor Crowe...... 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 COL A Daniel Mayora..... 5 4 3 0 0 0 0 BOS AAA Brandon Moss...... 3 2 0 0 2 1 1 BAL A Billy Rowell...... 5 2 0 0 1 0 2 4 RBI TB AAA Wes Bankston...... 4 2 0 0 2 0 1 SF AAA Nate Schierholtz.. 5 3 0 1 1 0 0 3 R SEA AAA Jeff Clement...... 4 2 0 0 1 1 2 6 RBI ! CHW AAA Ryan Sweeney...... 5 3 0 0 1 0 0 CHC A+ Ryan Harvey....... 5 3 2 0 0 0 1 3 R ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes TEX AAA Edinson Volquez... 7 2 0 0 8 3 0 MIN AA Anthony Swarzak... 8 6 0 0 8 1 0 PHI AA Carlos Carrasco... 6 0 0 0 8 2 0 MIN AAA Kevin Slowey...... 6 3 1 1 4 0 0 SF AAA Jonathan Sanchez.. 5 5 2 2 10 1 0 ARI A+ Matthew Torra..... 7 5 2 1 9 1 1 CLE AA Chuck Lofgren..... 5 8 4 4 8 1 1 TB AA Jacob McGee....... 6 5 3 3 8 2 1 STL A Tyler Herron...... 5 4 4 4 6 0 0 NYM AA Kevin Mulvey...... 7 3 0 0 6 3 0 COL A+ Brandon Hynick.... 7 5 1 1 6 1 0 ATL A Jamie Richmond.... 6 4 1 1 6 2 0
Access THT’s stats here…
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Matthew Carruth is an editor for The Hardball Times. He welcomes any and all sorts of communication at his email.
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NYA 70 56 .556 6.0 77 -7
TOR 63 62 .504 12.5 66 -3
BAL 58 65 .472 16.5 63 -5
TB 47 78 .376 28.5 45 2
American League Central
CLE 68 56 .548 0.0 67 1
DET 68 57 .544 0.5 68 0
MIN 62 63 .496 6.5 63 -1
CHA 56 69 .448 12.5 52 4
KC 55 70 .440 13.5 59 -4
American League West
LAA 74 51 .592 0.0 71 3
SEA 71 52 .577 2.0 64 7
OAK 63 64 .496 12.0 65 -2
TEX 54 70 .435 19.5 56 -2
National League East Pwins Diff
NYN 71 53 .573 0.0 69 2
PHI 66 58 .532 5.0 67 -1
ATL 66 60 .524 6.0 67 -1
WAS 57 69 .452 15.0 53 4
FLA 56 70 .444 16.0 58 -2
National League Central
CHN 64 60 .516 0.0 67 -3
MIL 65 61 .516 0.0 62 3
STL 60 62 .492 3.0 55 5
HOU 56 70 .444 9.0 55 1
CIN 55 70 .440 9.5 55 0
PIT 53 71 .427 11.0 54 -1
National League West
ARI 71 56 .559 0.0 60 11
SD 66 58 .532 3.5 68 -2
COL 64 61 .512 6.0 67 -3
LAN 64 61 .512 6.0 63 1
SF 55 71 .437 15.5 61 -6
Wildcard Standings
American League
SEA 71 52 .577 0.0
NYA 70 56 .556 2.5
DET 68 57 .544 4.0
TOR 63 62 .504 9.0
MIN 62 63 .496 10.0
National League
PHI 66 58 .532 0.0
SD 66 58 .532 0.0
ATL 66 60 .524 1.0
LAN 64 61 .512 2.5
COL 64 61 .512 2.5