THT Daily: Fielder’s 40th
by Dave StudemanSeptember 21, 2009
Major League News for September 21
Player News
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
You can always find the most recent THT Daily at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/content/thtdaily/
Player News
Player Headlines are courtesy of RotoworldYovani Gallardo tossed five scoreless innings and picked up a win over the Astros on Sunday in his final start of the 2009 season.
The Brewers are shutting their young ace down to try and limit his innings while out of the playoff picture. Gallardo finishes the year 13-12 with a 3.73 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, and 204 strikeouts over 30 starts. The right-hander uncharacteristically walked 94 batters on the season, and if he can get that number back in line with his previous performance he's set to take a big jump next season.
Prince Fielder belted his 40th homer of the season on Sunday by taking Astro starter Felipe Paulino deep for a solo blast.
Fielder is just the fourth player this season to reach the 40-homer mark, all of whom are in the National League. The RBI gives him 128 on the season and pushes him into the major league lead pending Albert Pujols's Sunday night start. Fielder also drew two walks in the contest, bringing his season total to 101 and setting a new Brewers' record.
The Sun-Times reports that Milton Bradley has been suspended for the rest of the season because of his comments to the media.
The Cubs wouldn't have had the guts to make the move if they were still in the postseason race, but as is, it's hard to blame them for taking this step. Bradley has a lot of nerve complaining about an organization that gave him a fat contract and kept him in the lineup even when his play didn't warrant it. It's hard to imagine either side relenting now, so expect to see Bradley elsewhere next year, even though the Cubs will have to eat some contract to make it happen. Micah Hoffpauir, Bobby Scales and maybe Jake Fox will get extra at-bats with Bradley done.
Giants prospect Angel Villalona has been detained in connection to a murder in the Dominican Republic on Saturday night.
A police spokesman told the AP that Villalona is the prime suspect in the shooting death of 25-year-old Mario Felix de Jesus Velete. Villalona turned himself into the police on Sunday and is set to appear in court on Monday. The 19-year-old has been a top prospect since receiving a $2.1 million bonus at age 16 and is widely viewed as the Giants' first baseman of the future.
Joe Crede (back) has been shut down for the rest of the season.
Crede, 31, is scheduled to undergo back surgery next week in Dallas. He'll finish the 2009 season with a .229/.293/.421 batting line, 15 homers and 48 RBI in 328 at-bats. The impending free agent may have a tough time convincing teams he's healthy this winter.
Zack Greinke (elbow) threw a side session Sunday and declared himself ready to start Tuesday against the Red Sox.
Greinke departed his last start in the sixth inning shortly after taking a comebacker off his throwing elbow. He looked great during a game of catch Saturday and is an obvious must-start, even against a tough Boston lineup. With a league-leading 2.14 ERA, he's a favorite for the AL Cy Young Award.
Michael Young admitted Sunday morning that he re-injured his hamstring last week and won't be able to return to action for a while.
Young, who hasn't played a full game since September 1, attempted a comeback on Tuesday but was pulled after one at-bat. "What it comes down to is I came back too early and re-aggravated it," Young said. "It's frustrating. I knew it was risky but I rolled the dice." He could be done for the season.
Yesterday’s Results
For the full scoop regarding yesterday's games, read "And That Happened" at Shysterball.American League BOS 9 BAL 3 (Recap and Boxscore) TB 3 TOR 1 (Recap and Boxscore) KC 2 CHA 1 (Recap and Boxscore) DET 6 MIN 2 (Recap and Boxscore) OAK 11 CLE 4 (Recap and Boxscore) SEA 7 NYA 1 (Recap and Boxscore) LAA 10 TEX 5 (Recap and Boxscore) National League PHI 4 ATL 2 (Recap and Boxscore) NYN 6 WAS 2 (Recap and Boxscore) CIN 8 FLA 1 (Recap and Boxscore) MIL 6 HOU 0 (Recap and Boxscore) SD 4 PIT 0 (Recap and Boxscore) CHN 6 STL 3 (Recap and Boxscore) COL 5 ARI 1 (Recap and Boxscore) LAN 6 SF 2 (Recap and Boxscore)Check out Fangraphs' scoreboard to see all the games in action.
Today’s Games
Orioles (60-89) @ Blue Jays (66-83), 7:07pm
Chris Tillman (21, RHP) vs. David Purcey (27, LHP)
RedSox (89-59) @ Royals (61-88), 8:10pm
Tim Wakefield (42, RHP) vs. Lenny DiNardo (29, LHP)
Twins (76-73) @ WhiteSox (73-77), 8:11pm
Nick Blackburn (27, RHP) vs. Daniel Hudson (22, RHP)
Rangers (81-67) @ Athletics (71-78), 10:05pm
Kevin Millwood (34, RHP) vs. Edgar Gonzalez (26, RHP)
Yankees (95-55) @ Angels (89-60), 10:05pm
Andy Pettitte (37, LHP) vs. Joe Saunders (28, LHP)
Padres (68-82) @ Pirates (56-91), 7:05pm
Wade LeBlanc (24, LHP) vs. Daniel McCutchen (26, RHP)
Braves (79-70) @ Mets (65-85), 7:10pm
Derek Lowe (36, RHP) vs. Patrick Misch (27, LHP)
Cardinals (87-63) @ Astros (70-79), 8:05pm
Kyle Lohse (30, RHP) vs. Wandy Rodriguez (30, LHP)
Cubs (76-72) @ Brewers (74-75), 8:05pm
Tom Gorzelanny (26, LHP) vs. Braden Looper (34, RHP)
Giants (80-69) @ D'backs (65-85), 9:40pm
Barry Zito (31, LHP) vs. Doug Davis (33, LHP)
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 NYA 95 55 .633 0.0 89 6BOS 89 59 .601 5.0 88 1
TB 77 73 .513 18.0 81 -4
TOR 66 83 .443 28.5 74 -8
BAL 60 89 .403 34.5 63 -3
American League Central DET 79 70 .530 0.0 74 5
MIN 76 73 .510 3.0 76 0
CHA 73 77 .487 6.5 74 -1
CLE 61 88 .409 18.0 67 -6
KC 61 88 .409 18.0 62 -1
American League West LAA 89 60 .597 0.0 85 4
TEX 81 67 .547 7.5 79 2
SEA 78 72 .520 11.5 69 9
OAK 71 78 .477 18.0 75 -4
National League East Pwins Diff PHI 87 61 .588 0.0 85 2
FLA 80 70 .533 8.0 76 4
ATL 79 70 .530 8.5 82 -3
NYN 65 85 .433 23.0 66 -1
WAS 51 98 .342 36.5 60 -9
National League Central STL 87 63 .580 0.0 84 3
CHN 76 72 .514 10.0 77 -1
MIL 74 75 .497 12.5 73 1
HOU 70 79 .470 16.5 65 5
CIN 69 81 .460 18.0 66 3
PIT 56 91 .381 29.5 62 -6
National League West LAN 90 60 .600 0.0 93 -3
COL 85 65 .567 5.0 84 1
SF 80 69 .537 9.5 78 2
SD 68 82 .453 22.0 60 8
ARI 65 85 .433 25.0 69 -4
Wildcard Standings American League BOS 89 59 .601 0.0 TEX 81 67 .547 8.0 SEA 78 72 .520 12.0 TB 77 73 .513 13.0 MIN 76 73 .510 13.5 National League COL 85 65 .567 0.0 SF 80 69 .537 4.5 FLA 80 70 .533 5.0 ATL 79 70 .530 5.5 CHN 76 72 .514 8.0
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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.
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