THT Daily: Thome’s 500th
by Matthew CarruthSeptember 17, 2007
Major League News for September 17
Today’s LinksPlayer News
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Game of the Day
You can always find the most recent THT Daily at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/content/thtdaily/
THT Links
Catching Up - A random assortment of pertinent Astro-related news items.
This Kid is Not Duncan's Biggest Fan - Yankee Shelley Duncan did not enamor himself to this ten year old Red Sox fan. All in good fun though right?
Interesting Royals - The Royals have a few more minor leaguers do keep an eye on over the winter and next season.
John Smoltz - No specific link here, just wanted to take time to point out John Smoltz who's 40 and holds a 3.02 ERA. It seemed like just recently that he made the switch back to starter (I'm getting old), and he's been lights out since. If there was ever any doubt to his hall of fame credentials, let's put those to rest.
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 .
Player News
Player Headlines are courtesy of RotoworldJim Thome hit the 500th homer of his career on Sunday when he belted a walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Angels. The White Sox were down 7-1 at one point in this game, but they rallied to tie the game with four runs in the seventh and two in the eighth. Then in the ninth, Darin Erstad singled with one out, setting the stage for Thome's dramatic homer to center off reliever Dustin Moseley. Thome is the 23rd member of the 500 home run club and the third person to join the club this season.
The Giants expect Barry Bonds to miss 5-7 days with a strained right big toe. Fantasy leaguers will probably want him reserved this week. Nate Schierholtz figures to get most of the starts in his place.
Yesterday’s Results
American League NYA 4 BOS 3 (Recap and Boxscore) BAL 8 TOR 6 (Recap and Boxscore) CHA 9 LAA 7 (Recap and Boxscore) KC 4 CLE 3 (Recap and Boxscore) DET 6 MIN 4 (Recap and Boxscore) TEX 11 OAK 9 (Recap and Boxscore) TB 9 SEA 2 (Recap and Boxscore) National League PHI 10 NYN 6 (Recap and Boxscore) ATL 3 WAS 0 (Recap and Boxscore) HOU 15 PIT 3 (Recap and Boxscore) MIL 5 CIN 2 (Recap and Boxscore) CHN 4 STL 2 (Recap and Boxscore) COL 13 FLA 0 (Recap and Boxscore) ARI 6 LAN 1 (Recap and Boxscore) SD 5 SF 1 (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 --------------- Florida Marlins at Atlanta Braves, 7:05 PM (R) Byung-Hyun Kim (9-6) vs. (R) John Smoltz (13-7) New York Mets at Washington Nationals, 7:05 PM (R) Brian Lawrence (1-2) vs. (R) Tim Redding (3-5) Cincinnati Reds at Chicago Cubs, 8:05 PM (R) Bronson Arroyo (9-14) vs. (L) Rich Hill (9-8) Milwaukee Brewers at Houston Astros, 8:05 PM (R) Yovani Gallardo (8-4) vs. (R) Matt Albers (4-8) Philadelphia Phillies at St. Louis Cardinals, 8:10 PM (R) Kyle Kendrick (8-4) vs. (R) Brad Thompson (6-5) San Francisco Giants at Arizona Diamondbacks, 9:40 PM (R) Kevin Correia (4-6) vs. (R) Brandon Webb (16-10) Pittsburgh Pirates at San Diego Padres, 10:05 PM (R) John VanBenschoten (0-5) vs. (R) Jack Cassel (0-0) American League --------------- Detroit Tigers at Cleveland Indians, 7:05 PM (L) Kenny Rogers (3-2) vs. (R) Paul Byrd (15-6) Baltimore Orioles at New York Yankees, 7:05 PM (R) Daniel Cabrera (9-16) vs. (R) Phil Hughes (3-3) Boston Red Sox at Toronto Blue Jays, 7:07 PM (R) Tim Wakefield (16-10) vs. (R) Dustin McGowan (10-9) Texas Rangers at Minnesota Twins, 8:10 PM (R) Edinson Volquez (2-1) vs. (R) Kevin Slowey (3-0) Chicago White Sox at Kansas City Royals, 8:10 PM (R) Javier Vazquez (12-8) vs. (R) Kyle Davies (2-5) Tampa Bay Devil Rays at LA Angels of Anaheim, 10:05 PM (R) Edwin Jackson (4-14) vs. (R) Kelvim Escobar (17-7) Seattle Mariners at Oakland Athletics, 10:05 PM (R) Miguel Batista (13-11) vs. (R) Dan Haren (14-7)
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 90 60 .600 0.0 95 -5NYA 85 64 .570 4.5 89 -4
TOR 74 75 .497 15.5 78 -4
BAL 64 84 .432 25.0 66 -2
TB 63 87 .420 27.0 62 1
American League Central CLE 87 62 .584 0.0 84 3
DET 83 67 .553 4.5 82 1
MIN 72 77 .483 15.0 75 -3
KC 64 84 .432 22.5 69 -5
CHA 64 85 .430 23.0 59 5
American League West LAA 87 62 .584 0.0 84 3
SEA 78 70 .527 8.5 71 7
OAK 74 77 .490 14.0 76 -2
TEX 70 79 .470 17.0 72 -2
National League East Pwins Diff NYN 83 65 .561 0.0 81 2
PHI 80 69 .537 3.5 79 1
ATL 76 73 .510 7.5 81 -5
WAS 66 83 .443 17.5 63 3
FLA 65 84 .436 18.5 66 -1
National League Central CHN 78 72 .520 0.0 80 -2
MIL 76 72 .514 1.0 74 2
STL 70 78 .473 7.0 66 4
CIN 68 81 .456 9.5 69 -1
PIT 66 83 .443 11.5 66 0
HOU 65 84 .436 12.5 65 0
National League West ARI 84 66 .560 0.0 72 12
SD 81 67 .547 2.0 81 0
LAN 79 70 .530 4.5 78 1
COL 77 72 .517 6.5 81 -4
SF 66 83 .443 17.5 71 -5
Wildcard Standings American League NYA 85 64 .570 0.0 DET 83 67 .553 2.5 SEA 78 70 .527 6.5 TOR 74 75 .497 11.0 OAK 74 77 .490 12.0 National League SD 81 67 .547 0.0 PHI 80 69 .537 1.5 LAN 79 70 .530 2.5 COL 77 72 .517 4.5 MIL 76 72 .514 5.0
Game of the Day
With the White Sox trying desperately to avoid having the worst record in the American League just two years after winning the World Series, Jim Thome provided a dramatic milestone home run, hitting his 500th career homer in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Angels 9-7. Tampa Bay also won yesterday, leaving them a game “ahead” of Chicago in the “standings.”LA ANGELS (7) VS CHI WHITE SOX (9) - FINAL
LA ANGELS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
R Willits cf 5 1 1 0 0 0 6 .291
O Cabrera ss 4 0 2 0 0 1 0 .304
V Guerrero dh 4 2 1 1 1 0 2 .327
R Quinlan 1b 4 1 2 1 0 1 1 .248
b-C Kotchman ph-1b 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .290
M Izturis 3b 5 1 1 0 0 0 3 .281
H Kendrick 2b 5 1 3 1 0 0 0 .322
J Rivera lf 4 1 2 2 0 1 0 .176
c-E Aybar ph-lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .235
M Napoli c 2 0 2 1 3 0 0 .252
T Evans rf 3 0 0 0 0 0 4 .125
a-K Morales ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 .314
N Haynes rf 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .206
Totals 40 7 15 6 4 4 21
a-struck out swinging for T Evans in the 7th; b-doubled to deep center for R
Quinlan in the 8th; c-grounded to shortstop for J Rivera in the 9th.
BATTING: 2B - R Willits (19, M Buehrle); C Kotchman (36, M MacDougal). HR - V
Guerrero (25, 1st inning off M Buehrle 0 on, 2 Out), J Rivera (1, 4th inning
off M Buehrle 1 on, 1 Out). S - O Cabrera. RBI - V Guerrero (120), J Rivera 2
(3), R Quinlan (21), H Kendrick (33), M Napoli (33). 2-out RBI - V Guerrero.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - M Izturis 1, R Willits 3. GIDP - V
Guerrero, E Aybar. Team LOB - 11.
FIELDING: E - R Willits (3, bobble).
CHI WHITE SOX ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Owens cf 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 .253
J Fields lf 4 1 2 3 0 2 2 .232
D Erstad lf 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .255
J Thome dh 5 1 1 2 0 1 1 .268
P Konerko 1b 3 0 1 0 1 1 1 .264
J Dye rf 3 0 0 0 1 2 3 .251
J Uribe ss 3 1 0 0 1 1 2 .230
D Richar 2b 3 3 2 2 1 0 1 .227
A Gonzalez 3b 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 .192
T Hall c 2 0 1 1 1 0 0 .210
a-A Pierzynski ph-c 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .262
Totals 33 9 10 9 6 9 12
a-fouled out to third for T Hall in the 8th.
BATTING: 2B - J Fields (14, J Saunders); P Konerko (31, J Speier). HR - J
Fields (19, 7th inning off C Bootcheck 2 on, 1 Out), D Richar (5, 8th inning
off S Shields 1 on, 0 Out), J Thome (28, 9th inning off D Moseley 1 on, 0 Out).
RBI - J Owens (14), T Hall (2), J Fields 3 (59), D Richar 2 (12), J Thome 2
(85). 2-out RBI - J Owens. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J Dye 2, J
Fields 2. Team LOB - 6.
BASERUNNING: SB - J Owens (27, 2nd base off C Bootcheck/M Napoli). CS - J
Owens (7, 2nd base by J Saunders).
FIELDING: E - A Gonzalez (8, ground ball). DP: 2 (J Uribe-D Richar-P Konerko,
D Richar-J Uribe-P Konerko).
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LA ANGELS - 100 200 400 -- 7
CHI WHITE SOX - 000 010 422 -- 9
No outs when winning run scored.
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LA ANGELS ip h r er bb so hr era
J Saunders 6 2 1 1 5 7 0 3.82
C Bootcheck 1/3 4 4 4 0 0 1 4.70
J Speier (H, 21) 2/3 1 0 0 0 1 0 3.07
S Shields (B, 6) 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 3.93
D Moseley (L, 4-3) 0 2 2 2 0 0 1 4.60
CHI WHITE SOX ip h r er bb so hr era
M Buehrle 6 1/3 11 7 6 2 3 2 3.55
R Bukvich 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 5.05
M Thornton 2/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 5.05
M MacDougal (W, 2-5) 2 3 0 0 1 0 0 6.35
R Bukvich pitched to 3 batters in the 7th.
D Moseley pitched to 2 batters in the 9th.
IBB - V Guerrero (by M Buehrle). Pitches-strikes: J Saunders 106-59; C
Bootcheck 18-14; J Speier 11-8; S Shields 25-13; D Moseley 9-5; M Buehrle
106-71; R Bukvich 9-5; M Thornton 11-8; M MacDougal 25-13. Ground balls-fly
balls: J Saunders 5-5; C Bootcheck 1-0; J Speier 0-1; S Shields 1-1; D Moseley
0-0; M Buehrle 8-8; R Bukvich 0-0; M Thornton 0-1; M MacDougal 4-2. Batters
faced: J Saunders 24; C Bootcheck 5; J Speier 3; S Shields 5; D Moseley 2; M
Buehrle 32; R Bukvich 3; M Thornton 2; M MacDougal 8.
UMPIRES: HP--Mike Reilly. 1B--Jeff Kellogg. 2B--Eric Cooper. 3B--Andy
Fletcher.
T--3:06. Att--29,010.
Weather: 68 degrees, sunny. Wind: 10 mph, right to left.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.
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.