THT Daily: Sosa Smacks Two
by Matthew CarruthApril 27, 2007
Major League News for April 27
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
Harden the new Snelling? - Rich Harden is now battling shoulder soreness and will miss a few more starts. Harden specifically reduced the amount of breaking balls he was throwing in order to ease pressure on his elbow and now his shoulder is acting up.
Small Sample Size Theater - It is early, but Andrew at True Blue LA is worried about Brad Penny and his peripherals, namely, his absurdly low strikeout rate.
Hudson Redux - Marc Normandin takes a look back at his initial profile on Tim Hudson.
Brewers Can Survive - Jeff Sackmann cautions Brewers fans to back away from the ledge in regards to Ben Sheets' latest injury concerns.
Prospect Showdown - John Sickels matches up Will Inman and Josh Outman.
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 RotoworldThe Rays aren't counting on Rocco Baldelli playing at all this weekend against the A's. Baldelli left Thursday's game with a right leg contusion sustained in a collision with the center-field wall. The Rays figure to go with Elijah Dukes in center field and either Jonny Gomes or Jorge Cantu at DH.
Josh Beckett became the first pitcher to five wins this year when he allowed two runs over eight innings Thursday against the Orioles. Beckett was in line for the loss until the Red Sox came back in the top of the eighth. The win makes him only the third Boston pitcher to win five games in April. The other two are rather big names: Babe Ruth and Pedro Martinez.
Phil Hughes surrendered four runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings Wednesday in his major league debut against the Jays. Hughes struggled with his command early, and though he got better at spotting his fastball as the night went on, he never could get his curveball down. He was still effective enough to be worthy of another start. AL-only leaguers can keep him active when he takes on the Rangers next week. Mixed leaguers should have him reserved.
Braves signed RHP John Smoltz to a one-year contract extension with club options for 2009 and 2010. Smoltz will earn $14 million next year. A $12 million option for 2009 becomes guaranteed with 200 innings in 2008, and there's another option for 2010 worth $13 million if he pitches 200 innings in '09 or $12 million if he falls short of that total. Since the Braves are only promising him one more year, it's a smart signing the club. Smoltz turns 40 next month, but he's seen remarkably little drop off in his stuff through the years.
Derek Jeter was a late scratch from Thursday's lineup because of his bruised left thigh. Jeter kept saying the injury wouldn't be a problem, but he's sitting in favor of Miguel Cairo tonight.
Bartolo Colon, pitching with a sore ankle, surrendered two runs in seven innings and struck out 11 to beat the Devil Rays on Thursday. Another very impressive showing from Colon, who was still throwing 94 mph in the seventh inning. Even Jonny Gomes, who was 10-for-14 with four homers versus Colon, went 0-for-3 against the right-hander today. Colon is 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA since returning from a partially torn rotator cuff.
Ken Griffey Jr., scratched Thursday because of soreness in his chest, said he woke up this morning and was in a lot of pain. However, he was feeling better after the game. Griffey said his stomach feels fine and this is the first time he's felt this kind of pain in his chest. It's unclear whether he's going to be sent for tests of any sort. Perhaps he'll be in Friday's lineup.
Ben Sheets is probable for his next start after undergoing treatment Thursday for a mild groin strain. An MRI showed no serious problems. "Ben was very upbeat today, felt a whole lot better," said Brewers assistant GM Gord Ash, who oversees the club's medical program. "[Dr. William] Raasch does not see anything significant on the MRI, and on the examination there is nothing to be alarmed about." Sheets is scheduled to face the Cardinals Tuesday.
Sammy Sosa hit a pair of solo homers Thursday in the loss to the Indians. Sosa broke a tie with Ken Griffey Jr. and Fred McGriff by homering in a 44th different ballpark, the most of all-time. The only current parks in which he hasn't homered are RFK Stadium and the new Busch Stadium in St. Louis. He's now up to 594 career homers. Sosa is batting .239 and hasn't done nearly enough yet to secure his status as an everyday player. However, he hasn't been close to the Rangers' biggest problem this year.
Torii Hunter is listed as day-to-day after receiving three stitches for a laceration on the inside of his lip. Hunter got hit in the face by a Zack Greinke pitch in the second inning of Thursday's game. Jason Tyner might have to start in his place on Friday.
Yesterday’s Results
American League BOS 5 BAL 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Pena: GS HR; Beckett: 8 IP, 2 R; Loewen: 6 IP, 1 R TOR 6 NYA 0 (Recap and Boxscore) Burnett: 7 IP, 0 R; Wells: 3-3 CLE 9 TEX 4 (Recap and Boxscore) Sosa: 2 HR; Blalock: 2 2B MIN 1 KC 0 (Recap and Boxscore) 11 innings; Greinke: 7 IP, 0 R; Bonser: 5 IP, 0 R LAA 11 TB 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Hillenbrand: 3-4; Matthews: 3-5; Colon: 7 IP, 2 R SEA 4 OAK 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Vidro: 3-5; Lopez: HR National League WAS 4 PHI 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Hill: 8 IP, 2 R PIT 5 HOU 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Armas: 5 IP, 1 R; Loretta: 4-4 STL 7 CIN 5 (Recap and Boxscore) Schumaker: 3-5; Kennedy: 2 2B; Phillips: 2B, HR; ARI 7 SD 4 (Recap and Boxscore) Clark: 2 HR; Hernandez: 7 IP, 3 R; Cruz: 3-3, 2 2B SF 5 LAN 4 (Recap and Boxscore) See below
Today’s Games
National League --------------- Florida Marlins at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 PM (R) Anibal Sanchez (2-0) vs. (R) Freddy Garcia (1-1) Cincinnati Reds at Pittsburgh Pirates, 7:05 PM (L) Eric Milton (0-3) vs. (R) Ian Snell (1-1) New York Mets at Washington Nationals, 7:05 PM (L) Oliver Perez (2-1) vs. (L) Matt Chico (1-2) Milwaukee Brewers at Houston Astros, 8:05 PM (L) Chris Capuano (3-0) vs. (R) Roy Oswalt (3-1) Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals, 8:10 PM (R) Jason Marquis (2-1) vs. (R) Anthony Reyes (0-3) Atlanta Braves at Colorado Rockies, 9:05 PM (L) Chuck James (2-2) vs. (L) Jeff Francis (1-2) San Francisco Giants at Arizona Diamondbacks, 9:40 PM (L) Barry Zito (2-2) vs. (L) Doug Davis (1-2) Los Angeles Dodgers at San Diego Padres, 10:05 PM (L) Mark Hendrickson (1-0) vs. (R) Clay Hensley (1-3) American League --------------- Baltimore Orioles at Cleveland Indians, 7:05 PM (R) Steve Trachsel (1-1) vs. (R) Jake Westbrook (0-2) Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees, 7:05 PM (R) Daisuke Matsuzaka (2-2) vs. (L) Andy Pettitte (1-0) Minnesota Twins at Detroit Tigers, 7:05 PM (R) Ramon Ortiz (3-1) vs. (R) Justin Verlander (1-0) Texas Rangers at Toronto Blue Jays, 7:07 PM (R) Robinson Tejeda (2-1) vs. (R) Josh Towers (1-2) LA Angels of Anaheim at Chicago White Sox, 8:11 PM (R) Ervin Santana (2-2) vs. (R) Jon Garland (0-1) Kansas City Royals at Seattle Mariners, 10:05 PM (L) Jorge De La Rosa (2-1) vs. (L) Horacio Ramirez (1-1) Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Oakland Athletics, 10:05 PM (R) James Shields (1-0) vs. (R) Chad Gaudin (1-0)
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 14 7 .667 0.0 14 0TOR 11 10 .524 3.0 12 -1
BAL 11 11 .500 3.5 11 0
TB 9 13 .409 5.5 8 1
NYA 8 12 .400 5.5 11 -3
American League Central CLE 12 7 .632 0.0 10 2
DET 12 9 .571 1.0 12 0
CHA 11 9 .550 1.5 10 1
MIN 12 10 .545 1.5 11 1
KC 7 15 .318 6.5 8 -1
American League West LAA 12 10 .545 0.0 12 0
OAK 11 11 .500 1.0 11 0
SEA 8 9 .471 1.5 7 1
TEX 8 13 .381 3.5 9 -1
National League East Pwins Diff NYN 13 7 .650 0.0 15 -2
ATL 13 8 .619 0.5 11 2
FLA 10 11 .476 3.5 10 0
PHI 9 12 .429 4.5 11 -2
WAS 7 15 .318 7.0 6 1
National League Central MIL 13 8 .619 0.0 11 2
PIT 10 10 .500 2.5 9 1
STL 10 11 .476 3.0 9 1
CIN 10 12 .455 3.5 10 0
HOU 9 12 .429 4.0 10 -1
CHN 8 13 .381 5.0 12 -4
National League West SF 12 8 .600 0.0 10 2
LAN 13 9 .591 0.0 14 -1
SD 12 10 .545 1.0 12 0
ARI 12 11 .522 1.5 11 1
COL 9 13 .409 4.0 9 0
Game of the Day
The Giants, who were last in the NL West just 10 days ago, tied the Dodgers for first by finishing a series sweep over LA with a 5-4 win. The Giants have won eight in a row and 10 of the last 11.
The hero of this game was Ray Durham, who knocked in the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth. Armando Benitez notched his seventh save and the Dodgers’ Andre Ethier smacked a double and a home run.
SAN FRANCISCO (5) VS LA DODGERS (4) - FINAL
SAN FRANCISCO ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
D Roberts cf 5 0 1 1 0 0 1 .227
O Vizquel ss 4 2 2 0 1 1 0 .219
R Klesko 1b 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .294
B Bonds lf 3 1 1 0 1 0 2 .345
B Hennessey p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
A Benitez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
R Durham 2b 4 1 2 2 0 0 1 .288
B Molina c 4 0 2 2 0 0 0 .299
P Feliz 3b 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 .214
K Correia p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
a-T Linden ph-lf 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .219
R Winn rf 4 1 2 0 0 1 2 .234
R Ortiz p 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .200
S Kline p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
R Aurilia 3b 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 .307
Totals 34 5 11 5 3 3 12
a-walked for K Correia in the 8th.
BATTING: 2B - R Winn (5, B Penny); O Vizquel (1, B Penny); R Durham (5, J
Beimel). S - R Ortiz. RBI - D Roberts (3), R Durham 2 (11), B Molina 2 (7).
2-out RBI - R Durham 2, B Molina 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - R
Winn 1, P Feliz 2. GIDP - R Klesko, D Roberts, B Bonds. Team LOB - 6.
FIELDING: DP: 1 (O Vizquel-R Durham-R Klesko).
LA DODGERS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
R Furcal ss 5 0 2 1 0 0 2 .211
J Pierre cf 5 1 0 0 0 1 2 .263
N Garciaparra 1b 5 0 1 1 0 2 0 .293
J Kent 2b 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 .342
L Gonzalez lf 4 0 1 0 0 0 3 .297
R Martin c 3 1 1 0 1 1 0 .338
W Betemit 3b 3 1 1 0 0 1 3 .136
A Ethier rf 4 1 2 2 0 0 3 .246
B Penny p 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 .273
a-O Saenz ph 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200
J Beimel p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
J Broxton p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b-M Anderson ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .182
C Tsao p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 35 4 10 4 1 6 15
a-hit by pitch for B Penny in the 6th; b-grounded to second for J Broxton in
the 8th.
BATTING: 2B - R Martin (6, R Ortiz); A Ethier (3, R Ortiz); W Betemit (2, R
Ortiz). HR - A Ethier (3, 8th inning off B Hennessey 0 on, 2 Out). RBI - N
Garciaparra (17), A Ethier 2 (10), R Furcal (5). 2-out RBI - A Ethier. Runners
left in scoring position, 2 out - R Furcal 1, J Pierre 1, A Ethier 2. GIDP - L
Gonzalez. Team LOB - 8.
BASERUNNING: SB - J Pierre (8, 2nd base off R Ortiz/B Molina). CS - A Ethier
(3, Home by R Ortiz/B Molina).
FIELDING: DP: 3 (R Furcal-N Garciaparra, J Beimel-R Furcal-N Garciaparra, W
Betemit-R Furcal-N Garciaparra).
----------------------------------------------------
SAN FRANCISCO - 001 002 020 -- 5
LA DODGERS - 120 000 010 -- 4
----------------------------------------------------
SAN FRANCISCO ip h r er bb so hr era
R Ortiz 5 1/3 8 3 3 1 3 0 4.50
S Kline 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.86
K Correia (W, 1-1) 1 1/3 1 0 0 0 2 0 5.87
B Hennessey (H, 4) 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 3.24
A Benitez (S, 7) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.16
LA DODGERS ip h r er bb so hr era
B Penny 6 7 3 3 1 2 0 1.95
J Beimel (L, 1-1) 1 2/3 3 2 2 1 0 0 3.00
J Broxton 1/3 1 0 0 1 0 0 0.75
C Tsao 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.00
IBB - B Bonds (by B Penny). HBP - J Kent (by R Ortiz); W Betemit (by R
Ortiz); O Saenz (by K Correia). Pitches-strikes: R Ortiz 88-49; S Kline 1-1; K
Correia 36-20; B Hennessey 17-11; A Benitez 16-10; B Penny 85-51; J Beimel
25-14; J Broxton 10-4; C Tsao 10-7. Ground balls-fly balls: R Ortiz 9-3; S
Kline 1-0; K Correia 1-1; B Hennessey 2-1; A Benitez 1-1; B Penny 12-4; J
Beimel 4-1; J Broxton 0-1; C Tsao 1-1. Batters faced: R Ortiz 25; S Kline 1; K
Correia 6; B Hennessey 4; A Benitez 3; B Penny 25; J Beimel 7; J Broxton 3; C
Tsao 3.
UMPIRES: HP--Derryl Cousins. 1B--Kerwin Danley. 2B--Doug Eddings. 3B--Dana
Demuth.
T--3:06. Att--56,000.
Weather: 64 degrees, clear. Wind: 8 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 FLA AA Jai Miller CF 5 3 0 0 2 0 2 3 runs scored LA A+ Adam Godwin CF 3 3 1 0 1 1 0 LAA AA Adam Morrissey 2B 4 3 1 0 1 1 0 3 runs scored MIL A Darren Ford CF 6 5 1 0 1 0 1 .564 OBP during past week MIN AA Trevor Plouffe SS 5 4 2 0 1 0 0 STL A+ Allen Craig 1B 5 3 0 0 2 0 1 4 RBI STL AA Joe Mather 1B 4 3 1 0 2 0 0 3 runs scored TEX A+ John Mayberry RF 5 3 0 0 3 0 0 7 RBI WAN A Alex Nunez 3B 3 2 0 0 2 0 0 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes CHW AA Adam Russell 6.0 3 0 0 5 1 0 LAA A+ Brok Butcher 7.0 7 0 0 6 1 0 1.16 ERA over past month LAA AA Nick Green 7.0 1 0 0 5 1 0 MIN A Alex Burnett 8.0 4 2 2 5 1 0 SD A Nathanial Culp 8.0 4 1 0 7 1 0 SD AAA Justin Germano 7.0 3 1 1 5 0 0 SF A Adam Cowart 6.0 3 0 0 4 1 0 1 ER allowed over last 25 IP TB A Lewis Rollins 5.0 0 0 0 7 4 0 31 K over last 21 IP TOR A+ Russ Savickas 7.0 3 0 0 3 1 0
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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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