THT Daily: Braves win a close one
by Dave StudemanMay 09, 2008
Major League News for May 9
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 RotoworldRichie Sexson was ejected from Thursday's game for charging the mound versus the Rangers' Kason Gabbard. Felix Hernandez had hit two batters, so Sexson sensed it was retaliatory when Gabbard buzzed him in the fourth, even if the pitch wasn't all that close to hitting him. He was the only player tossed as a result of the incident, though Gabbard was removed soon thereafter. Sexson, who threw his helmet at Gabbard, likely will face a four- or five-game suspension.
Brandon Webb held the Phillies to three runs -- two earned -- in a complete-game victory Thursday, improving to 8-0. Webb got into the ninth inning having allowed just an unearned run, but then ran out of steam a bit, prompting a mound visit from manager Bob Melvin. With a low pitch count and plenty of run support -- including homers from Chris Young and Justin Upton -- Webb was allowed to finish up an 8-3 win. He got 18 ground ball outs and another four via strikeout, walking zero batters while slicing his ERA to 2.41. The last NL pitcher to win his first eight starts of the season was Pedro Martinez for the Expos back in 1997.
Paul Lo Duca fractured the the fourth metacarpal bone in his right hand and is set to miss 4-6 weeks. No word yet on whether the Nats will call up Jesus Flores to start or go with Wil Nieves and Johnny Estrada, both of whom are already on the roster. We'll guess the latter. Elijah Dukes could be activated to replace Lo Duca on the roster.
According to the New York Daily News, Alex Rodriguez (quadriceps) "now looks unlikely" to return from the disabled list when eligible next Thursday. Rodriguez is scheduled to undergo another MRI after participating in Wednesday's pregame workout, and his timetable for beginning a minor league rehab assignment will be determined by the results. "It's less likely that he'd be back when he's eligible," manager Joe Girardi said. "There's nothing that's happened, but they want to make sure on the MRI that it's healed enough for him to take the next step."
Yesterday’s Results
American League NYA 6 CLE 3 (Recap and Boxscore) TB 8 TOR 3 (Recap and Boxscore) CHA 6 MIN 2 (Recap and Boxscore) BOS 5 DET 1 (Recap and Boxscore) BAL 4 KC 1 (Recap and Boxscore) TEX 5 SEA 0 (Recap and Boxscore) National League ATL 5 SD 4 (Recap and Boxscore) FLA 7 MIL 2 (Recap and Boxscore) WAS 8 HOU 3 (Recap and Boxscore) PIT 5 SF 4 (Recap and Boxscore) ARI 8 PHI 3 (Recap and Boxscore) COL 9 STL 3 (Recap and Boxscore)You can download a compact version of yesterday's boxscores from Heater Magazine.
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Today’s Games
National League --------------- Arizona Diamondbacks at Chicago Cubs, 2:20 PM (R) Dan Haren (4-1) vs. (L) Ted Lilly (2-4) Atlanta Braves at Pittsburgh Pirates, 7:05 PM (L) Tom Glavine (0-1) vs. (R) Ian Snell (2-2) Cincinnati Reds at New York Mets, 7:10 PM (R) Matt Belisle (1-2) vs. (R) Mike Pelfrey (2-2) Florida Marlins at Washington Nationals, 7:35 PM (R) Ricky Nolasco (1-3) vs. (R) Tim Redding (4-2) St. Louis Cardinals at Milwaukee Brewers, 8:05 PM (R) Todd Wellemeyer (3-1) vs. (L) Manny Parra (1-2) Colorado Rockies at San Diego Padres, 10:05 PM (R) Aaron Cook (5-1) vs. (R) Jake Peavy (4-1) Philadelphia Phillies at San Francisco Giants, 10:15 PM (L) Cole Hamels (3-3) vs. (L) Pat Misch (0-0) Houston Astros at Los Angeles Dodgers, 10:40 PM (R) Brian Moehler (0-0) vs. (R) Derek Lowe (2-2) American League --------------- New York Yankees at Detroit Tigers, 7:05 PM (L) Kei Igawa (0-0) vs. (L) Kenny Rogers (2-3) Toronto Blue Jays at Cleveland Indians, 7:05 PM (R) Roy Halladay (3-4) vs. (L) C.C. Sabathia (1-5) LA Angels of Anaheim at Tampa Bay Rays, 7:10 PM (R) Jon Garland (4-3) vs. (R) James Shields (3-2) Oakland Athletics at Texas Rangers, 8:05 PM (L) Greg Smith (2-1) vs. (R) Scott Feldman (0-1) Boston Red Sox at Minnesota Twins, 8:10 PM (L) Jon Lester (2-2) vs. (R) Boof Bonser (2-4) Baltimore Orioles at Kansas City Royals, 8:10 PM (R) Steve Trachsel (1-4) vs. (R) Gil Meche (2-4) Chicago White Sox at Seattle Mariners, 10:10 PM (R) Jose Contreras (2-3) vs. (R) Carlos Silva (3-1)
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 23 14 .622 0.0 22 1TB 18 16 .529 3.5 18 0
NYA 18 18 .500 4.5 18 0
BAL 17 18 .486 5.0 17 0
TOR 17 19 .472 5.5 19 -2
American League Central MIN 17 16 .515 0.0 16 1
CHA 16 17 .485 1.0 19 -3
CLE 16 18 .471 1.5 18 -2
KC 15 19 .441 2.5 14 1
DET 15 21 .417 3.5 15 0
American League West LAA 22 14 .611 0.0 19 3
OAK 22 14 .611 0.0 23 -1
TEX 16 20 .444 6.0 15 1
SEA 14 22 .389 8.0 16 -2
National League East Pwins Diff FLA 20 14 .588 0.0 17 3
PHI 20 16 .556 1.0 19 1
ATL 18 15 .545 1.5 21 -3
NYN 17 15 .531 2.0 17 0
WAS 15 20 .429 5.5 14 1
National League Central STL 22 14 .611 0.0 21 1
CHN 19 15 .559 2.0 21 -2
HOU 18 17 .514 3.5 18 0
MIL 16 18 .471 5.0 15 1
PIT 15 19 .441 6.0 15 0
CIN 14 21 .400 7.5 15 -1
National League West ARI 23 12 .657 0.0 23 0
LAN 19 15 .559 3.5 20 -1
COL 14 21 .400 9.0 15 -1
SF 14 21 .400 9.0 12 2
SD 12 23 .343 11.0 12 0
Game of the Day
What a game in Toronto. Edwin Jackson pitched eight shutout innings for Tampa Bay and the Rays had a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth with closer Troy Percival on the mound. However, Percival blew his first save, giving up three runs (off a two-run homer by Vernon Wells, a double by Lyle Overbay and Aaron Hill’s game-tying single) and pushing the game into extra innings. Alex Rios actually tripled to lead off the bottom of the tenth, giving the Blue Jays a 93% chance of winning, but they couldn’t bring him home. The Rays finally put the game away in the 13th inning, scoring five runs due to a key single by Akinori Iwamura and a Dioner Navarro home run.TAMPA BAY (8) VS TORONTO (3) - FINAL IN 13 INNINGS
TAMPA BAY ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
A Iwamura 2b 6 1 1 0 0 2 1 .226
C Crawford dh-lf 5 0 2 1 0 1 1 .284
B Upton cf 5 1 1 0 1 1 1 .291
C Pena 1b 5 2 1 1 1 1 2 .200
E Hinske 3b 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .271
E Longoria 3b 3 0 1 0 0 0 3 .225
D Navarro c 6 2 3 4 0 0 1 .368
G Gross rf 6 1 2 2 0 2 1 .182
N Haynes lf 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 .227
a-J Gomes ph-lf 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 .219
J Howell p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
J Bartlett ss 5 1 2 0 0 0 0 .243
Totals 49 8 13 8 2 8 12
a-flied out to right for N Haynes in the 10th.
BATTING: 2B - D Navarro (3, J Litsch). HR - G Gross (2, 5th inning off J Litsch
1 on, 2 Out), C Pena (8, 7th inning off J Litsch 0 on, 0 Out), D Navarro (1,
13th inning off S Camp 3 on, 2 Out). SF - C Crawford. RBI - G Gross 2 (5), C
Pena (18), C Crawford (20), D Navarro 4 (10). 2-out RBI - G Gross 2, D Navarro
4. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - C Pena 1, N Haynes 1, B Upton 1.
GIDP - D Navarro. Team LOB - 5.
BASERUNNING: SB - C Crawford (9, 2nd base off J Litsch/G Zaun). CS - J
Bartlett (2, 2nd base by J Frasor/G Zaun).
FIELDING: DP: 2 (J Bartlett-A Iwamura-C Pena, A Iwamura-J Bartlett-C Pena).
TORONTO ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
A Rios rf 6 0 1 0 0 2 4 .281
S Stewart lf 6 0 0 0 0 3 1 .229
S Rolen 3b 5 1 3 0 1 1 0 .318
M Stairs dh 6 0 0 0 0 2 5 .277
V Wells cf 5 1 1 2 1 0 1 .279
L Overbay 1b 3 0 2 0 1 0 0 .279
J Inglett pr 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .303
R Barajas 1b 2 0 1 0 0 1 3 .224
A Hill 2b 6 0 2 1 0 0 2 .261
G Zaun c 5 0 1 0 1 0 4 .270
M Scutaro ss 6 0 2 0 0 2 4 .234
Totals 50 3 13 3 4 11 24
BATTING: 2B - L Overbay 2 (6, E Jackson, T Percival); A Hill (11, J Howell). 3B
- S Rolen (1, E Jackson); A Rios (2, D Wheeler). HR - V Wells (5, 9th inning
off T Percival 1 on, 1 Out). RBI - V Wells 2 (24), A Hill (15). Runners left in
scoring position, 2 out - M Scutaro 3, R Barajas 2, V Wells 1, A Rios 1, A Hill
1. GIDP - A Rios, M Stairs. Team LOB - 12.
BASERUNNING: SB - A Hill (3, 2nd base off T Percival/D Navarro).
FIELDING: DP: 1 (R Barajas-M Scutaro-J Accardo).
----------------------------------------------------
TAMPA BAY - 000 020 100 000 5 -- 8
TORONTO - 000 000 003 000 0 -- 3
----------------------------------------------------
TAMPA BAY ip h r er bb so hr era
E Jackson 8 6 0 0 1 3 0 4.04
T Percival (B, 1) 1 4 3 3 0 2 1 2.25
D Wheeler 1 1 0 0 2 3 0 1.42
J Howell (W, 1-0) 3 2 0 0 1 3 0 3.27
TORONTO ip h r er bb so hr era
J Litsch 7 5 3 3 0 2 2 4.24
J Frasor 1 1/3 1 0 0 0 3 0 2.79
J Carlson 2/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.17
B Ryan 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.00
S Downs 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 3.07
J Accardo 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 6.17
S Camp (L, 0-1) 1 4 5 5 1 1 1 6.75
IBB - S Rolen (by D Wheeler), C Pena (by S Camp). Pitches-strikes: E Jackson
112-73; T Percival 28-20; D Wheeler 28-15; J Howell 49-31; J Litsch 95-60; J
Frasor 20-14; J Carlson 2-2; B Ryan 13-8; S Downs 19-11; J Accardo 13-9; S Camp
31-17. Ground balls-fly balls: E Jackson 9-12; T Percival 0-1; D Wheeler 0-0; J
Howell 2-4; J Litsch 13-6; J Frasor 0-0; J Carlson 1-1; B Ryan 0-2; S Downs
2-0; J Accardo 2-1; S Camp 0-2. Batters faced: E Jackson 29; T Percival 7; D
Wheeler 6; J Howell 12; J Litsch 26; J Frasor 4; J Carlson 2; B Ryan 3; S Downs
5; J Accardo 4; S Camp 8.
UMPIRES: HP--Paul Nauert. 1B--Kevin Causey. 2B--Brian O'Nora. 3B--Jerry
Crawford.
T--4:04. Att--21,118.
Weather: INDOORSThe 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 BOS A+ Josh Reddick...... 4 4 0 0 2 1 0 3 R NYM AA F. Martinez....... 4 3 0 0 2 1 1 3 R TEX AA M. Ramirez........ 4 3 1 0 1 1 0 ATL AA Kala Kaaihue...... 3 2 1 0 1 2 1 3 R BOS A+ Reid Engel........ 4 2 0 0 2 1 1 4 RBI SD AAA Chase Headley..... 5 5 1 0 0 1 0 COL AAA Joseph Koshansky.. 4 3 1 0 1 0 1 5 RBI ! OAK AA Cliff Pennington.. 6 3 1 0 0 0 2 3 SB MIN AA Erik Lis.......... 4 3 1 0 1 0 0 3 R SD AAA Nick Hundley...... 4 2 2 0 0 1 0 MIL AA Mat Gamel......... 4 2 1 0 1 0 0 ARI AAA Josh Whitesell.... 3 2 0 0 1 1 0 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes NYM AAA Claudio Vargas.... 7 4 0 0 7 0 0 ATL AAA Charlie Morton.... 7 5 0 0 6 0 0 14 GB STL AAA Jaime Garcia...... 6 6 2 1 6 0 0 15 GB CHC AAA Kevin Hart........ 4 2 0 0 6 0 0 OAK A Craig Italiano.... 5 1 0 0 7 3 0 SEA A Phillippe Aumont.. 3 0 0 0 5 0 0 COL A Bruce Billings.... 5 9 4 4 7 0 0 SF A+ Tim Alderson...... 6 6 2 2 7 3 0 PIT A+ Daniel Moskos..... 7 6 0 0 3 0 0 13 GB NYY AAA Jeffrey Marquez... 6 5 3 1 3 0 0 TEX A Neftali Feliz..... 5 2 0 0 5 3 0 WAN AAA Tyler Clippard.... 5 4 2 2 5 2 0
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Dave is the manager of the Baseball Graphs website.. Comments about this article can be sent to him through the miracle of e-mail.