THT Daily: Astros sweep
by Dave StudemanMay 12, 2008
Major League News for May 12
Player NewsYesterday’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/
Player News
Player Headlines are courtesy of RotoworldRangers placed RHP Kevin Millwood on the 15-day disabled list with a strained groin. The Rangers have Thursday off, so they won't need to replace Millwood in the rotation until May 20. A.J. Murray could be recalled then. Doug Mathis will take Millwood's spot on the roster and work in middle relief.
Because of cold and rainy conditions, the Diamondbacks have opted to scratch Randy Johnson and start Edgar Gonzalez on Sunday. Johnson will now pitch Tuesday, with Micah Owings and Dan Haren following in the series versus the Rockies. "With a guy that’s had the problems he has with his back," manager Bob Melvin said, "to send him out there in those conditions, not only with what will certainly be a wet field, but also windy conditions play on the back, there are a lot of reasons not to pitch him today."
The Brewers have removed Eric Gagne from the closer's role for now, though manager Ned Yost didn't name a replacement. Guillermo Mota looks like the favorite for saves for us, but Salomon Torres is also worth grabbing in NL-only leagues. Gagne is expected to get a chance to win back the job if he turns it around. "He probably needs a little bit of a mental break," Yost said. "He's really pushing himself really hard and taking it really, really hard. We'll probably just mix and match."
Jason Schmidt (shoulder) is scheduled to begin a minor league rehab assignment Sunday at Single-A Inland Empire. Schmidt had a few setbacks this past week, but must finally feel good enough to begin his trek back to the majors.
Freddy Sanchez revealed Sunday that he still feels pain in his surgically repaired right shoulder. "I'm playing through it, but there are times when it's killing me," Sanchez said. "It's hurting every time I throw right now. I don't understand why it keeps coming back. I'm just trying to get over the hump." Sanchez has been on a tear offensively, so hopefully the soreness isn't bad enough to pull him from the lineup.
Yesterday’s Results
American League TB 8 LAA 5 (Recap and Boxscore) KC 4 BAL 0 (Recap and Boxscore) MIN 9 BOS 8 (Recap and Boxscore) SEA 6 CHA 3 (Recap and Boxscore) OAK 12 TEX 6 (Recap and Boxscore) National League NYN 8 CIN 3 (Recap and Boxscore) FLA 5 WAS 4 (Recap and Boxscore) CHN 6 ARI 4 (Recap and Boxscore) MIL 5 STL 3 (Recap and Boxscore) HOU 8 LAN 5 (Recap and Boxscore) SD 6 COL 1 (Recap and Boxscore) SF 4 PHI 3 (Recap and Boxscore)You can download a compact version of yesterday's boxscores from Heater Magazine.
| First Inning's Major and Minor League Daily Reports: |
| {embed="pageblocks/FirstInning_Team_Lookup"} |
Today’s Games
National League --------------- Atlanta Braves at Pittsburgh Pirates, 12:35 PM (R) Jair Jurrjens (4-2) vs. (L) Zach Duke (1-2) Atlanta Braves at Pittsburgh Pirates, 3:35 PM (R) Tim Hudson (5-2) vs. (L) Phil Dumatrait (1-1) Florida Marlins at Cincinnati Reds, 7:10 PM (R) Burke Badenhop (1-2) vs. (R) Aaron Harang (1-5) Washington Nationals at New York Mets, 7:10 PM (L) Odalis Perez (0-3) vs. (R) Nelson Figueroa (2-2) St. Louis Cardinals at Milwaukee Brewers, 8:05 PM (R) Adam Wainwright (3-1) vs. (R) Dave Bush (0-4) San Diego Padres at Chicago Cubs, 8:05 PM (L) Randy Wolf (2-2) vs. (R) Jason Marquis (1-2) Houston Astros at San Francisco Giants, 10:15 PM (R) Roy Oswalt (3-3) vs. (L) Barry Zito (0-7) American League --------------- Toronto Blue Jays at Cleveland Indians, 4:05 PM (R) A.J. Burnett (3-3) vs. (R) Fausto Carmona (3-1) Boston Red Sox at Minnesota Twins, 7:05 PM (R) Clay Buchholz (2-2) vs. (R) Livan Hernandez (5-1) Toronto Blue Jays at Cleveland Indians, 7:05 PM (R) Shaun Marcum (4-2) vs. (L) Cliff Lee (6-0) New York Yankees at Tampa Bay Rays, 7:10 PM (R) Chien-Ming Wang (6-1) vs. (R) Matt Garza (1-1) Seattle Mariners at Texas Rangers, 8:05 PM (L) Erik Bedard (2-2) vs. (R) Vicente Padilla (5-2) Chicago White Sox at LA Angels of Anaheim, 10:05 PM (L) Mark Buehrle (1-4) vs. (R) Nick Adenhart (0-0)
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 24 16 .600 0.0 23 1TB 21 16 .568 1.5 20 1
BAL 19 19 .500 4.0 18 1
NYA 19 19 .500 4.0 19 0
TOR 17 21 .447 6.0 18 -1
American League Central MIN 19 17 .528 0.0 17 2
CHA 18 18 .500 1.0 21 -3
CLE 18 18 .500 1.0 21 -3
KC 16 21 .432 3.5 15 1
DET 16 22 .421 4.0 16 0
American League West OAK 23 16 .590 0.0 24 -1
LAA 22 17 .564 1.0 20 2
TEX 18 21 .462 5.0 16 2
SEA 15 24 .385 8.0 17 -2
National League East Pwins Diff FLA 23 14 .622 0.0 20 3
NYN 19 16 .543 3.0 19 0
PHI 21 18 .538 3.0 21 0
ATL 18 17 .514 4.0 22 -4
WAS 15 23 .395 8.5 14 1
National League Central CHN 22 15 .595 0.0 24 -2
STL 23 16 .590 0.0 22 1
HOU 21 17 .553 1.5 21 0
MIL 18 19 .486 4.0 16 2
PIT 17 19 .472 4.5 16 1
CIN 15 23 .395 7.5 16 -1
National League West ARI 23 15 .605 0.0 23 0
LAN 19 18 .514 3.5 20 -1
SF 16 22 .421 7.0 14 2
COL 15 23 .395 8.0 16 -1
SD 14 24 .368 9.0 14 0
Game of the Day
Houston hasn’t scored the most runs in the majors but their offensive WPA leads the majors, thanks to games like this one. The ‘Stros failed to get a hit until the seventh inning, but then exploded for six runs in the eighth to overtake a 3-1 Dodger lead and eventually win, 8-5. Houston swept the three-game series from the Dodgers and are only one-and-a-half games out of first in the competitive NL Central.HOUSTON (8) VS LA DODGERS (5) - FINAL
HOUSTON ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
M Bourn cf 4 0 0 1 0 0 4 .198
K Matsui 2b 4 1 1 0 1 2 1 .267
M Tejada ss 4 2 2 0 0 1 1 .342
L Berkman 1b 4 1 1 1 0 1 1 .382
D Brocail p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
J Valverde p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
C Lee lf 5 1 1 1 0 0 1 .282
H Pence rf 4 2 3 2 1 1 0 .273
T Wigginton 3b 4 0 0 0 1 1 4 .220
J Towles c 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .152
a-G Blum ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .218
B Ausmus c 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 .214
S Chacon p 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .200
b-M Loretta ph 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 .211
W Wright p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
G Geary p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
c-D Erstad ph-1b 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .296
Totals 35 8 10 8 5 7 12
a-walked for J Towles in the 7th; b-walked for S Chacon in the 7th; c-doubled
to right for G Geary in the 8th.
BATTING: 2B - D Erstad (6, H Kuo); H Pence (8, H Kuo). S - D Brocail. SF - M
Bourn. RBI - M Loretta (9), L Berkman (36), C Lee (26), H Pence 2 (21), B
Ausmus 2 (3), M Bourn (6). 2-out RBI - M Loretta, H Pence. Runners left in
scoring position, 2 out - T Wigginton 1, M Tejada 1, K Matsui 1, M Bourn 2.
Team LOB - 8.
BASERUNNING: SB - H Pence 2 (4, 2nd base off J Broxton/R Martin, 3rd base off
J Beimel/R Martin), T Wigginton (3, 2nd base off J Beimel/R Martin).
FIELDING: E - M Tejada (4, throw); K Matsui (6, catch). DP: 2 (K Matsui-M
Tejada-L Berkman, M Tejada-K Matsui-L Berkman).
LA DODGERS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Pierre lf 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .281
J Broxton p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
H Kuo p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333
b-M Sweeney ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .154
A Ethier rf-lf 5 1 3 0 0 1 2 .306
M Kemp cf-rf 4 0 1 0 0 1 2 .313
J Loney 1b 4 1 1 2 0 0 1 .286
R Martin c 3 0 1 0 1 0 1 .287
B Dewitt 3b 4 2 3 0 0 0 1 .323
D Young 2b 3 1 1 0 0 2 3 .304
C Hu ss 3 0 0 1 1 0 1 .208
H Kuroda p 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .133
J Beimel p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
a-J Kent ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .250
A Jones pr-cf 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .170
Totals 34 5 12 4 2 4 14
a-grounded into fielder's choice to pitcher for J Beimel in the 7th; b-singled
to center for H Kuo in the 9th.
BATTING: 2B - R Martin (6, S Chacon); B Dewitt (5, W Wright); A Ethier (8, D
Brocail); D Young (1, D Brocail). HR - J Loney (4, 1st inning off S Chacon 1
on, 2 Out). S - D Young. SF - A Jones. RBI - J Loney 2 (27), C Hu (5), A Jones
(5). 2-out RBI - J Loney 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - R Martin
1, D Young 1. GIDP - C Hu, J Pierre. Team LOB - 6.
BASERUNNING: CS - R Martin (3, 2nd base by S Chacon), M Kemp (3, 2nd base by
S Chacon/J Towles).
FIELDING: PB - R Martin.
----------------------------------------------------
HOUSTON - 000 000 161 -- 8
LA DODGERS - 200 000 102 -- 5
----------------------------------------------------
HOUSTON ip h r er bb so hr era
S Chacon 6 7 2 2 1 3 1 3.53
W Wright 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 3.46
G Geary (W, 1-1) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.59
D Brocail 1 2/3 4 2 2 0 1 0 3.37
J Valverde (S, 8) 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 4.66
LA DODGERS ip h r er bb so hr era
H Kuroda 6 2/3 1 1 1 3 5 0 3.59
J Beimel (H, 3) 1/3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0.67
J Broxton (L, 1-1; B, 1) 1/3 6 6 6 0 1 0 5.28
H Kuo 1 2/3 3 1 1 0 1 0 2.77
W Wright pitched to 3 batters in the 7th.
HBP - M Tejada (by H Kuroda). Pitches-strikes: S Chacon 95-58; W Wright 8-3;
G Geary 8-5; D Brocail 39-26; J Valverde 9-6; H Kuroda 98-54; J Beimel 12-4; J
Broxton 21-15; H Kuo 21-13. Ground balls-fly balls: S Chacon 8-5; W Wright 1-0;
G Geary 3-0; D Brocail 2-2; J Valverde 0-1; H Kuroda 5-10; J Beimel 0-1; J
Broxton 0-0; H Kuo 3-1. Batters faced: S Chacon 23; W Wright 3; G Geary 2; D
Brocail 9; J Valverde 1; H Kuroda 25; J Beimel 3; J Broxton 7; H Kuo 8.
UMPIRES: HP--Chuck Meriwether. 1B--Bill Welke. 2B--Chris Guccione. 3B--Tim
Welke.
T--3:31. Att--40,217.
Weather: 68 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 7 mph, out to
center.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 LA AAA Andy LaRoche...... 2 2 0 0 1 4 0 OAK A+ Sean Doolittle.... 5 4 1 0 1 0 0 TEX A Ian Gac........... 4 2 0 0 2 1 1 CHW AAA Christopher Getz.. 3 2 1 0 1 1 0 SEA A+ Matt Mangini...... 5 5 0 0 1 0 0 3 LD STL AAA Bryan Anderson.... 5 3 1 1 0 0 0 DET AA Wilkin Ramirez.... 4 2 1 0 1 0 1 MIL AA Angel Salome...... 5 3 2 0 0 0 0 STL AAA Colby Rasmus...... 6 3 0 0 1 0 0 DET AAA Brent Clevlen..... 3 1 0 0 1 2 2 3 R COL AAA Ian Stewart....... 4 2 2 0 0 0 1 PHI AA Gregory Golson.... 5 3 0 0 1 0 0 3 R ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes LAA A Trevor Reckling... 8 3 3 2 5 2 0 16 GB WAN AA J. Zimmermann..... 7 5 3 3 8 1 1 FLA AA C. Volstad........ 7 7 2 2 5 0 0 14 GB CHC AAA Rich Hill......... 6 3 0 0 8 4 0 TB AAA Mitch Talbot...... 6 8 2 2 6 0 0 13 GB SEA AAA Ryan Feierabend... 6 3 1 1 3 0 0 LA AA James McDonald.... 6 6 2 2 7 1 1 TB AA Wade Davis........ 6 6 3 3 6 3 0 TEX A Blake Beavan...... 5 6 1 1 5 1 0 9 GB LA A+ Timothy Sexton.... 6 5 0 0 4 2 0 12 GB OAK AAA Dan Meyer......... 5 3 3 3 8 4 1 CHC AAA Jose Ascanio...... 1 0 0 0 2 0 0
Access THT’s stats here…
{embed="content/2005stable"}
Dave was called a "national treasure" by Rob Neyer. Seriously. Comments about this article can be sent to him through the miracle of e-mail.
<< Return to Article