THT Daily: Not the World Series
by Matthew CarruthApril 25, 2007
Major League News for April 24
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
April Showers - Greg Goodrich of Western Kentucky University's Geology Department took a look at the weather patterns in six cold-weather non-domed MLB cities and has some interesting scheduling suggestions.
Something to Look Forward To - The Phillies are 33 losses away from becoming the first ever sports franchise to notch 10,000 losses. If they quicken the pace a bit, I might even be around to see it. Join the celebration here.
Ms: 6, Mother Nature: 6 - The Mariners had their franchise record-tying sixth game canceled already this year due to weather. Probably a good thing.
Rule Fivees - Marc Hulet takes a look at this year's Rule 5 selections and their success (or lack) so far.
All About the Revenue - Tom Tango argues that equal pay for both genders when it comes to entertainment is not the right idea, and that entertainment compensation, at it's very basic principle is about who or what generates the most public interest.
Good Ol' Game - PING! That sound irritates me. If it irritates you as well, then you will enjoy the new ban on aluminum bats in the New York school system.
Vizquel is 40 - Omar Vizquel turns 40 and John Shea writes a whole bunch of lines about him.
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 RotoworldRandy Johnson took a loss in his return to the Diamondbacks after giving up six runs in five innings Tuesday against the Padres. Johnson looked pretty good through four, but he fatigued quickly and left too many pitches up in a four-run fifth inning. Johnson ended up allowing six hits, two homers and four walks, two of which were intentional. He struck out seven.
The Jays are concerned that Gregg Zaun suffered a broken hand when he was hit by a foul tip in Tuesday's game. He'll visit a hand specialist on Wednesday. The Jays are planning on placing Zaun on the DL and calling up Sal Fasano regardless of what the tests on his hand discover. Fasano and Jason Phillips will likely split time fairly evenly behind the plate.
Derek Jeter said he'd play Wednesday after leaving Tuesday's game with a bruised left thigh. "It's no big deal. It will be all right tomorrow," he said. Jeter left after being drilled by a Scott Kazmir pitch in the first inning.
Ken Griffey Jr. hit career homer No. 564 on Tuesday, moving him past Reggie Jackson for 10th place on the all-time list. Griffey's first homer came in his 54th at-bat of the season. He is now five homers behind Rafael Palmeiro and nine back of Harmon Killebrew on the career list.
Carl Crawford went 4-for-4 with a seventh-inning grand slam off Mike Myers as the Rays beat the Yankees 6-4 on Tuesday. The Bombers have lost five straight since their terrific comeback against Joe Borowski and the Indians last Thursday. The Rays, now a half-game up on the Yankees in the standings, were down by one run when Crawford took a Mike Myers slider into the right-field bleachers for his first grand slam in 45 at-bats with the bases loaded. The four hits upped his average from .247 to .284.
Nick Swisher expects to avoid the disabled list after straining his left hamstring Tuesday. "It's no big deal. I'll check it out tomorrow and hopefully be back in the lineup as quick as I can," Swisher said. "I feel fine." Even if Swisher isn't going to miss more than a couple of days, the A's may still need to make a move to get a legitimate center fielder on the roster.
Alex Rodriguez, who has the ability to opt out of his contract at season's end, said Tuesday that he has no intention of leaving. "I want to stay in New York, no matter what," Rodriguez said. What else is he going to say? If A-Rod turns in a career year at age 31, he's probably going to ask the club to sweeten the pot, and the Yankees would be crazy not to, given that they're only currently responsible for $48 million of the $81 million he's owed from 2008-2010. Tacking on an extra two or three years to the deal would be a fair compromise.
The Rays expect Akinori Iwamura to miss 4-6 weeks with the strained right oblique he suffered in Monday's game. Ty Wigginton is likely to play third most of the time, so it looks like Carlos Pena will benefit a lot more than Ben Zobrist from Iwamura's injury. If Brendan Harris isn't going to see much time at third, he'll play over Zobrist at short fairly often.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Bartolo Colon's next scheduled start could be pushed back because of an ankle injury suffered Saturday. Colon rolled his ankle in the second inning, but stayed in the game to throw seven innings of one-run ball. Dustin Moseley would likely get the spot start Thursday against the Devil Rays if Colon needs to be skipped.
Yesterday’s Results
American League OAK 4 BAL 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Braden debut: 6 IP, 1 R TOR 10 BOS 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Wells: 4-5, HR; Halladay: 8 IP, 3 R TB 6 NYA 4 (Recap and Boxscore) Crawford: 4-4, 4 RBI; Kazmir: 6.2 IP, 1 ER CHA 9 KC 7 (Recap and Boxscore) A.J.: 3-5, 2 2B; Erstad: 2-4; Ozuna: key single in 9th CLE 5 MIN 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Carmona: 7.2 IP, 2 R LAA 9 DET 8 (Recap and Boxscore) See below National League ATL 11 FLA 6 (Recap and Boxscore) Johnson: 3 BB, 3 RS NYN 2 COL 1 (Recap and Boxscore) 12 innings; El Duque, Cook: 7 IP, 0 R PHI 6 WAS 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Rowand: 2B, HR; PHI: 4th in row MIL 4 CHN 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Suppan: 8 IP, 0 R PIT 3 HOU 0 (Recap and Boxscore) Maholm: 9 IP, 0 R; Bay: 3-4, 2B CIN 10 STL 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Alex Gonzalez: 2 HR, 5 RBI SD 10 ARI 5 (Recap and Boxscore) Greene: 4-5, 2 2B, 4 RBI; Adrian Gonzalez: 3-3, HR SF 5 LAN 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Morris: 7.1 IP, 3 R
Today’s Games
National League --------------- Colorado Rockies at New York Mets, 1:10 PM (R) Josh Fogg (0-1) vs. (R) Mike Pelfrey (0-1) Milwaukee Brewers at Chicago Cubs, 2:20 PM (R) Ben Sheets (1-2) vs. (L) Ted Lilly (1-2) Atlanta Braves at Florida Marlins, 7:05 PM (R) Tim Hudson (3-0) vs. (L) Scott Olsen (2-1) Houston Astros at Pittsburgh Pirates, 7:05 PM (R) Matt Albers (0-0) vs. (L) Zach Duke (1-2) Washington Nationals at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 PM (R) John Patterson (0-3) vs. (R) Jon Lieber (0-0) Cincinnati Reds at St. Louis Cardinals, 8:10 PM (R) Bronson Arroyo (0-2) vs. (R) Braden Looper (3-1) San Diego Padres at Arizona Diamondbacks, 9:40 PM (R) Jake Peavy (3-0) vs. (R) Brandon Webb (1-1) San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers, 10:10 PM (L) Noah Lowry (1-2) vs. (L) Randy Wolf (3-1) American League --------------- Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees, 7:05 PM (R) AJ Burnett (1-1) vs. (L) Andy Pettitte (1-0) Boston Red Sox at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 PM (R) Curt Schilling (2-1) vs. (R) Daniel Cabrera (1-1) Texas Rangers at Cleveland Indians, 7:05 PM (R) Vicente Padilla (0-3) vs. (L) CC Sabathia (3-0) Kansas City Royals at Minnesota Twins, 8:10 PM (L) Odalis Perez (1-2) vs. (R) Sidney Ponson (1-2) Detroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox, 8:11 PM (R) Chad Durbin (0-1) vs. (L) John Danks (0-2) Seattle Mariners at Oakland Athletics, 10:05 PM (L) Jarrod Washburn (0-2) vs. (R) Joe Blanton (2-0) Tampa Bay Devil Rays at LA Angels of Anaheim, 10:05 PM (R) Edwin Jackson (0-2) vs. (R) John Lackey (2-2)
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 12 7 .632 0.0 12 0BAL 11 9 .550 1.5 11 0
TOR 10 10 .500 2.5 11 -1
TB 9 11 .450 3.5 8 1
NYA 8 11 .421 4.0 11 -3
American League Central CLE 10 7 .588 0.0 9 1
CHA 11 8 .579 0.0 10 1
DET 11 9 .550 0.5 11 0
MIN 11 9 .550 0.5 10 1
KC 6 14 .300 5.5 7 -1
American League West OAK 11 9 .550 0.0 11 0
LAA 10 10 .500 1.0 9 1
TEX 8 11 .421 2.5 8 0
SEA 6 9 .400 2.5 6 0
National League East Pwins Diff NYN 13 6 .684 0.0 15 -2
ATL 13 7 .650 0.5 11 2
FLA 9 11 .450 4.5 10 -1
PHI 8 11 .421 5.0 10 -2
WAS 6 14 .300 7.5 5 1
National League Central MIL 13 7 .650 0.0 11 2
CIN 10 10 .500 3.0 10 0
HOU 9 10 .474 3.5 9 0
PIT 8 10 .444 4.0 7 1
STL 8 11 .421 4.5 7 1
CHN 7 13 .350 6.0 11 -4
National League West LAN 13 7 .650 0.0 13 0
SD 12 8 .600 1.0 12 0
SF 10 8 .556 2.0 9 1
ARI 10 11 .476 3.5 10 0
COL 8 13 .381 5.5 8 0
Game of the Day
It was deja vu all over again when the Tigers lost to the Angels on a pitcher error, 9-8 in ten innings. In a play reminiscent of last year's World Series, Tiger pitcher Todd Jones threw wildly to first on Kendry Morales' grounder, allowing Morales to reach second and eventually score the winning run. Jones' wild pitch in the ninth had allowed Vladimir Guerrero to score the tying run. The Angels had led by seven runs earlier in the game, but a huge Tiger comeback, capped by Magglio Ordonez's two-run homer in the top of the ninth, gave the Tigers the lead at 8-7 before Jones' two mistakes.
DETROIT (8) VS LA ANGELS (9) - FINAL IN 10 INNINGS
DETROIT ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
C Granderson cf 6 1 1 1 0 4 5 .296
M Thames lf 4 2 1 0 0 2 0 .182
C Monroe lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .172
G Sheffield dh 4 2 1 0 1 1 1 .149
M Ordonez rf 3 3 3 3 2 0 0 .311
C Guillen ss-1b 5 0 2 1 0 0 1 .303
I Rodriguez c 5 0 1 2 0 2 5 .282
S Casey 1b 5 0 2 0 0 0 2 .188
O Infante pr-ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .294
B Inge 3b 3 0 0 0 1 2 2 .111
N Perez 2b 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .100
a-P Polanco ph-2b 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 .358
Totals 39 8 11 8 6 11 18
a-walked for N Perez in the 8th.
BATTING: 2B - S Casey (3, J Speier); G Sheffield (2, F Rodriguez). HR - C
Granderson (4, 7th inning off J Speier 0 on, 1 Out), M Ordonez (3, 9th inning
off F Rodriguez 1 on, 1 Out). S - B Inge. RBI - M Ordonez 3 (17), C Guillen
(16), I Rodriguez 2 (15), C Granderson (11), P Polanco (8). 2-out RBI - I
Rodriguez 2, P Polanco. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - C Monroe 1, B
Inge 2, C Granderson 2. GIDP - C Guillen, I Rodriguez, G Sheffield. Team LOB -
9.
BASERUNNING: SB - G Sheffield (2, 3rd base off F Rodriguez/J Molina).
FIELDING: E - C Guillen 2 (6, catch, ground ball); T Jones (1, throw). DP: 1
(C Guillen-N Perez-S Casey).
LA ANGELS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
G Matthews Jr cf 4 2 2 0 1 1 1 .269
O Cabrera ss 5 2 3 2 0 0 0 .273
V Guerrero rf 5 2 3 2 0 2 2 .403
G Anderson lf 5 0 0 0 0 1 4 .238
C Kotchman 1b 5 1 0 1 0 2 1 .254
K Morales dh 5 0 2 0 0 1 0 .400
R Willits pr 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .300
M Izturis 3b 4 0 1 1 1 0 2 .266
J Molina c 4 0 1 0 0 3 2 .214
E Aybar 2b 5 1 1 1 0 1 3 .269
Totals 42 9 13 7 2 11 15
BATTING: 2B - O Cabrera (8, J Bonderman); V Guerrero (4, T Jones). S - J
Molina. RBI - O Cabrera 2 (8), C Kotchman (7), M Izturis (11), V Guerrero 2
(18), E Aybar (3). 2-out RBI - O Cabrera. Runners left in scoring position, 2
out - M Izturis 1, G Anderson 1, E Aybar 1. GIDP - E Aybar. Team LOB - 8.
BASERUNNING: SB - G Matthews Jr (6, 2nd base off J Bonderman/I Rodriguez), E
Aybar (1, 2nd base off J Bonderman/I Rodriguez).
FIELDING: E - M Izturis (1, ground ball); E Aybar (2, ground ball). DP: 3 (O
Cabrera-C Kotchman, M Izturis-E Aybar-C Kotchman, O Cabrera-E Aybar-C
Kotchman).
----------------------------------------------------
DETROIT - 000 103 112 0 -- 8
LA ANGELS - 421 000 001 1 -- 9
One out when winning run scored.
----------------------------------------------------
DETROIT ip h r er bb so hr era
J Bonderman 6 11 7 5 1 8 0 3.18
F Rodney 2 0 0 0 0 3 0 6.30
T Jones (L, 0-1; B, 2) 1 1/3 2 2 2 1 0 0 3.37
LA ANGELS ip h r er bb so hr era
K Escobar 5 2/3 5 4 3 2 6 0 3.71
J Speier (H, 5) 2/3 2 1 1 0 1 1 1.50
S Shields (H, 4) 1 1/3 1 1 1 1 1 0 5.23
F Rodriguez (B, 1) 1 1/3 2 2 2 2 2 1 4.00
D Oliver 2/3 1 0 0 1 1 0 11.81
D Moseley (W, 2-0) 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.17
WP - J Bonderman, T Jones. IBB - P Polanco (by D Oliver), M Izturis (by T
Jones). HBP - M Thames (by J Speier). Pitches-strikes: J Bonderman 100-66; F
Rodney 18-16; T Jones 25-14; K Escobar 95-63; J Speier 20-13; S Shields 19-11;
F Rodriguez 40-23; D Oliver 12-6; D Moseley 4-2. Ground balls-fly balls: J
Bonderman 8-4; F Rodney 2-1; T Jones 3-2; K Escobar 9-2; J Speier 1-0; S
Shields 2-1; F Rodriguez 1-1; D Oliver 1-0; D Moseley 0-1. Batters faced: J
Bonderman 31; F Rodney 6; T Jones 8; K Escobar 24; J Speier 5; S Shields 5; F
Rodriguez 8; D Oliver 4; D Moseley 1.
UMPIRES: HP--Jim Joyce. 1B--Jeff Nelson. 2B--Jim Wolf. 3B--Tim Tschida.
T--3:37. Att--36,055.
Weather: 74 degrees, sunny. Wind: 6 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.ORG LVL PLAYER POS AB H 2B 3B HR BB SO Notes BOS AA Cory Keylor DH 5 4 1 1 0 0 0 CIN AAA Joey Votto 1B 4 3 2 0 1 1 0 CIN AAA Dewayne Wise CF 4 3 0 0 2 1 0 3 runs scored DET A+ Michael Hernandez DH 4 4 2 0 0 0 0 .545 OBP during past week KC A+ Jose Duarte CF 4 3 1 0 1 1 0 Hitting .571 over last 21 at bats LA AAA Tony Abreu 2B 5 4 1 1 0 0 0 LAA AAA Matthew Brown 1B 4 3 1 0 1 1 0 4 RBI NYM AAA Ricky Ledee LF 5 4 0 0 1 0 1 7 RBI NYM AAA Andy Tracy 1B 6 5 0 0 1 0 1 4 runs scored SEA AAA Wladimir Balentien RF 5 4 0 0 2 0 0 5 RBI ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes BOS AA Clay Buchholz 5.2 2 0 0 8 1 0 COL A Aneury Rodriguez 7.0 1 0 0 6 2 0 FLA A+ Aaron Thompson 8.0 4 0 0 5 0 0 LA A Clayton Kershaw 6.0 3 1 1 12 1 1 1.08 ERA over past month PHI AA Kyle Kendrick 8.0 5 1 1 6 1 0 SD A Andrew Miller 7.0 0 0 0 11 1 0 21 K over last 15 IP STL A+ Trey Hearne 7.0 3 0 0 6 0 0 TB A+ Wade Davis 7.0 3 1 1 8 0 0 TB A Jeremy Hellickson 6.0 1 1 0 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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