THT Daily: A record streak
by Matthew CarruthAugust 24, 2007
Major League News for August 23
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
Plan 9 From... San Diego? - So the Dodgers had some ideas about their contingency plans in the rotation. They all failed. To the rescue comes David Wells.
Nostalgic for Ye Olde Goode Days of Yore? - Then you might want to check out the vintage Baseball Federation, headed by none other than former major leaguer and author Jim Bouton.
Advanced Theoretical Baseball - McCovey Chronicles has published a seminal piece of scientific work on the underlying processes governing rebuilding a franchise. Warning: post-graduate math degrees are recommended to enjoy the full benefit of this wonderful piece.
Friday Irreverence - You know what baseball needs more of? Tiny bats.
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 RotoworldKevin Millar set an Orioles record by reaching base safely in a 50th straight game Thursday against the Twins. Millar last failed to reach base safely in a game when he struck out as a pinch-hitter on June 17 (he went 0-for-3 two days earlier, so that appearance of the bench had little effect on the streak). He's actually lost 20 points off his average over the last five weeks, but he's kept finding some way to first every game. It's a pretty impressive feat that just isn't getting any attention because Millar walks about as often as he singles.
David Wells has reached a preliminary agreement with the Dodgers and is expected to start for the club Sunday against the Mets. Besides paying him the league minimum, the Dodgers are believed to have met Wells' request for incentives based on games started. He's scheduled to take Brett Tomko's place in the rotation.
Braves placed shortstop Edgar Renteria on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained ankle. Here we go again. Renteria will miss at least another two weeks after aggravating his ankle in his first at-bat in his return Wednesday. Yunel Escobar is going to fill in at shortstop.
Cubs acquired outfielder Craig Monroe and cash from the Tigers for a player to be named. It seems they weren't satisfied with Matt Murton's performance. Monroe will help out in left field while Alfonso Soriano is out and then likely act as the right fielder against left-handers when Soriano returns. His power should give him a little value in NL-only leagues.
Yesterday’s Results
American League MIN 5 BAL 2 (Recap and Boxscore) OAK 12 TB 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Piazza: 2 2B, HR, 5 RBI; Gaudin: 7 IP, 1 R, 10 K CLE 3 DET 1 (Recap and Boxscore) 10 innings; See below TOR 5 LAA 4 (Recap and Boxscore) Vlad: 2 HR SEA 9 TEX 4 (Recap and Boxscore) National League SD 9 NYN 8 (Recap and Boxscore) 10 innings LAN 5 PHI 2 (Recap and Boxscore) CIN 9 ATL 7 (Recap and Boxscore) 12 innings; Chipper: 2 2B, HR, 5 RBI WAS 7 HOU 6 (Recap and Boxscore) Lee: 2 HR, 5 RBI FLA 11 STL 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Willingham: 2 HR, 6 RBI PIT 5 COL 1 (Recap and Boxscore) SF 4 CHN 1 (Recap and Boxscore)
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Today’s Games
National League --------------- San Diego Padres at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 PM (R) Greg Maddux (9-9) vs. (L) Jamie Moyer (11-9) Florida Marlins at Cincinnati Reds, 7:10 PM (L) Dontrelle Willis (8-12) vs. (R) Aaron Harang (12-3) Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Mets, 7:10 PM (R) Brad Penny (14-3) vs. (L) Oliver Perez (11-8) Pittsburgh Pirates at Houston Astros, 8:05 PM (R) Ian Snell (8-10) vs. (R) Matt Albers (3-6) Atlanta Braves at St. Louis Cardinals, 8:10 PM (R) John Smoltz (11-6) vs. (R) Kip Wells (6-13) Washington Nationals at Colorado Rockies, 9:05 PM (R) Shawn Hill (3-3) vs. (L) Jeff Francis (13-6) Chicago Cubs at Arizona Diamondbacks, 9:40 PM (L) Sean Marshall (6-6) vs. (R) Micah Owings (6-6) Milwaukee Brewers at San Francisco Giants, 10:15 PM (R) Claudio Vargas (10-4) vs. (L) Noah Lowry (13-7) American League --------------- Boston Red Sox at Chicago White Sox, 2:05 PM (R) Josh Beckett (15-5) vs. (R) Jon Garland (8-9) Minnesota Twins at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 PM (L) Johan Santana (13-9) vs. (R) Jeremy Guthrie (7-4) New York Yankees at Detroit Tigers, 7:05 PM (R) Roger Clemens (5-5) vs. (L) Andrew Miller (5-4) Oakland Athletics at Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 7:10 PM (L) Lenny DiNardo (8-6) vs. (R) James Shields (9-8) Boston Red Sox at Chicago White Sox, 8:05 PM (R) Curt Schilling (7-5) vs. (L) John Danks (6-11) Cleveland Indians at Kansas City Royals, 8:10 PM (L) CC Sabathia (14-6) vs. (R) Zack Greinke (5-5) Seattle Mariners at Texas Rangers, 8:35 PM (R) Felix Hernandez (9-6) vs. (R) Kevin Millwood (8-10) Toronto Blue Jays at LA Angels of Anaheim, 10:05 PM (R) Roy Halladay (14-5) vs. (R) Jered Weaver (8-6)
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 51 .598 0.0 78 -2NYA 71 56 .559 5.0 78 -7
TOR 64 63 .504 12.0 67 -3
BAL 58 68 .460 17.5 61 -3
TB 48 79 .378 28.0 46 2
American League Central CLE 70 56 .556 0.0 68 2
DET 68 59 .535 2.5 68 0
MIN 64 63 .504 6.5 65 -1
CHA 56 70 .444 14.0 52 4
KC 56 70 .444 14.0 60 -4
American League West LAA 74 53 .583 0.0 71 3
SEA 72 53 .576 1.0 65 7
OAK 65 64 .504 10.0 68 -3
TEX 56 71 .441 18.0 60 -4
National League East Pwins Diff NYN 71 55 .563 0.0 69 2
PHI 66 60 .524 5.0 66 0
ATL 66 62 .516 6.0 68 -2
WAS 58 70 .453 14.0 54 4
FLA 57 71 .445 15.0 59 -2
National League Central CHN 65 61 .516 0.0 68 -3
MIL 65 62 .512 0.5 63 2
STL 61 63 .492 3.0 55 6
CIN 57 70 .449 8.5 57 0
HOU 57 71 .445 9.0 56 1
PIT 55 71 .437 10.0 56 -1
National League West ARI 72 56 .563 0.0 61 11
SD 68 58 .540 3.0 70 -2
LAN 66 61 .520 5.5 66 0
COL 64 63 .504 7.5 67 -3
SF 56 72 .438 16.0 62 -6
Wildcard Standings American League SEA 72 53 .576 0.0 NYA 71 56 .559 2.0 DET 68 59 .535 5.0 MIN 64 63 .504 9.0 TOR 64 63 .504 9.0 National League SD 68 58 .540 0.0 PHI 66 60 .524 2.0 LAN 66 61 .520 2.5 ATL 66 62 .516 3.0 MIL 65 62 .512 3.5
Game of the Day
The Indians increased their AL Central lead to two and a half games with an extra-inning win over the Tigers, 3-1. Jake Westbrook and Nate Robertson exchanged goose eggs for eight innings, and neither team scored until the tenth, when the Indians finally plated three runs on two groundball singles.CLEVELAND (3) VS DETROIT (1) - FINAL IN 10 INNINGS
CLEVELAND ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
G Sizemore cf 5 0 2 0 0 2 2 .276
C Blake 3b 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 .262
V Martinez c 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .301
J Barfield pr 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .243
K Shoppach c 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .260
T Hafner dh 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 .252
R Garko 1b 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 .307
A Cabrera pr-2b 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .290
J Peralta ss 3 1 1 0 1 0 1 .274
F Gutierrez rf 4 0 0 0 0 2 4 .275
J Michaels lf 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .262
a-K Lofton ph-lf 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 .297
C Gomez 2b-1b 4 0 1 2 0 0 0 .303
Totals 35 3 7 3 2 5 10
a-reached on infield single to shortstop for J Michaels in the 10th.
BATTING: 2B - J Peralta (21, N Robertson); G Sizemore (26, N Robertson); V
Martinez (33, J Zumaya). RBI - K Lofton (27), C Gomez 2 (18). 2-out RBI - K
Lofton, C Gomez 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - C Blake 1, F
Gutierrez 1, G Sizemore 1. GIDP - J Peralta, C Blake. Team LOB - 4.
FIELDING: Outfield assists - F Gutierrez (B Inge at 2nd base). DP: 1 (F
Gutierrez-C Gomez-J Peralta).
DETROIT ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
C Granderson cf 5 0 1 0 0 1 4 .285
P Polanco 2b 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .340
S Casey dh 5 0 0 0 0 1 3 .282
M Ordonez rf 4 1 2 0 1 0 2 .353
C Guillen 1b 4 0 1 0 1 1 2 .305
M Thames lf 5 0 2 1 0 0 2 .251
C Maybin pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .267
M Rabelo c 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 .283
I Rodriguez pr-c 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .278
B Inge 3b 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 .238
R Santiago ss 3 0 1 0 0 0 2 .500
Totals 36 1 9 1 3 4 19
BATTING: 2B - M Ordonez (42, J Borowski); M Thames (10, J Borowski). S - R
Santiago , P Polanco. RBI - M Thames (40). 2-out RBI - M Thames. Runners left
in scoring position, 2 out - M Thames 1, I Rodriguez 2, M Ordonez 1, C Guillen
1, B Inge 1, C Granderson 1. Team LOB - 12.
BASERUNNING: SB - M Ordonez (4, 2nd base off J Westbrook/V Martinez).
FIELDING: DP: 2 (R Santiago-P Polanco-C Guillen 2).
----------------------------------------------------
CLEVELAND - 000 000 000 3 -- 3
DETROIT - 000 000 000 1 -- 1
----------------------------------------------------
CLEVELAND ip h r er bb so hr era
J Westbrook 8 5 0 0 2 3 0 4.40
R Betancourt 2/3 1 0 0 1 0 0 1.50
R Perez (W, 1-1) 1/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.83
J Borowski (S, 36) 1 3 1 1 0 0 0 5.51
DETROIT ip h r er bb so hr era
N Robertson 8 2/3 4 0 0 0 3 0 4.80
J Zumaya (L, 1-2) 1 3 3 3 2 1 0 4.82
B Seay 1/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 3.06
IBB - M Ordonez (by J Westbrook), T Hafner (by J Zumaya). HBP - M Rabelo (by
J Westbrook); B Inge (by J Westbrook). Pitches-strikes: J Westbrook 104-70; R
Betancourt 12-8; R Perez 6-4; J Borowski 16-11; N Robertson 91-64; J Zumaya
30-16; B Seay 4-3. Ground balls-fly balls: J Westbrook 13-7; R Betancourt 0-2;
R Perez 0-0; J Borowski 1-2; N Robertson 11-12; J Zumaya 2-0; B Seay 0-0.
Batters faced: J Westbrook 32; R Betancourt 4; R Perez 1; J Borowski 6; N
Robertson 28; J Zumaya 8; B Seay 1.
UMPIRES: HP--Tim Welke. 1B--Gary Cederstrom. 2B--Lance Barksdale. 3B--Jim
Reynolds.
T--3:00. Att--40,946.
Weather: 82 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 9 mph, right to 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 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 ARI AAA Carlos Quentin.... 4 2 2 0 0 1 2 3 R TOR AAA Adam Lind......... 3 3 1 1 1 0 0 4 RBI CHC AAA Geovany Soto...... 3 3 1 0 2 1 0 4 R COL A Daniel Mayora..... 4 3 3 0 0 1 0 CLE AA Michael Aubrey.... 3 3 0 0 2 2 0 TB AA Reid Brignac...... 3 2 1 0 0 2 1 OAK AAA Daric Barton...... 3 2 0 0 1 1 1 CIN AAA Jay Bruce......... 4 2 0 0 0 0 2 ARI AA Carlos Gonzalez... 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 CLE AA Stephen Head...... 4 3 2 0 0 1 0 SF A+ E. Martinez Este.. 3 2 2 0 0 1 1 BAL A C. Vinyard........ 4 3 2 0 1 0 0 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes OAK A+ Andrew Bailey..... 8 3 2 2 9 0 1 CLE AA Scott Lewis....... 6 3 1 1 8 1 1 SEA AAA Ryan Feierabend... 7 3 3 2 9 3 0 CIN AAA Matthew Maloney... 6 3 2 2 8 2 1 MIL A Jeremy Jeffress... 4 0 2 0 8 4 0 NYY AAA Jeff Karstens..... 6 5 2 2 5 2 0 NYY AA Steven Jackson.... 3 4 3 1 3 0 0 6 GB BOS A- Felix Doubront.... 5 1 0 0 3 2 0 OAK AAA Dan Meyer......... 5 7 2 2 6 0 1 ATL AAA Joey Devine....... 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 BOS A Joseph Guerra..... 7 6 2 2 0 0 0 18 GB OAK AAA Brad Ziegler...... 3 0 0 0 2 0 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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