THT Daily: Tiger offense breaks out
by Dave StudemanApril 15, 2008
Major League News for April 15
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 RotoworldRandy Johnson yielded three unearned runs in five innings Monday against the Giants in his 2008 debut. Johnson struck out seven and yielded just three hits, but he was wild, walking four and throwing only 49 of his 90 pitches for strikes. The important thing was that he appeared to have good break on his slider. As long as he's tough to hit, he can get away with some walks.
Zack Greinke threw his third career complete game Monday in a 5-1 victory over the Mariners. Both of his previous complete games came in 2005. Greinke allowed five hits, walked one and struck out four in a 107-pitch outing. It's almost like he's learning from Brian Bannister, and since he definitely has the better stuff of the two, that's an exciting possibility. He needs to be picked up in shallow mixed leagues.
Although he didn't complain of any soreness, Joe Borowski admitted to a lack of arm strength after Monday's blown save against the Red Sox. Borowski was throwing just 83 mph in the game. "I hope we can pinpoint something," said Borowski. "Right now, it's driving me crazy. I'm grasping at straws. Maybe it's something. Maybe it's nothing." Borowski could land on the DL whether there's a real injury or not. Rafael Betancourt isn't a lock to take over as the sole closer even if it happens, but he should be picked up in all formats.
Scott Kazmir (elbow) threw two innings in an extended spring training game on Monday and is being penciled in for his first rehab start on Friday. The Rays announced that Kazmir's appearance would come Tuesday, but they adjusted his schedule. The current plan is for him to make three minor league starts and then face the Red Sox on May 3.
An MRI showed that Alex Gonzalez still has a fracture in his left knee. When Gonzalez was hurt in February, it looked like he'd be back right about now. However, with the fractured still not having healed, he won't be allowed to run for at least another two to four weeks. That makes Jeff Keppinger the Reds' shortstop through late May anyway. It's also good news for Edwin Encarnacion, Joey Votto and Scott Hatteberg.
Derek Jeter was back at shortstop for Monday's game against the Devil Rays. Jeter missed six days with a strained quad. Since he's back, the Yankees are giving Robinson Cano a day off and playing Alberto Gonzalez at second base.
Yesterday’s Results
American League BAL 4 TOR 3 (Recap and Boxscore) NYA 8 TB 7 (Recap and Boxscore) A-Rod: 4-5, HR OAK 2 CHA 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Greg Smith: 7 IP, 1 R BOS 6 CLE 4 (Recap and Boxscore) Sox: 3 R in 9th, incl. Manny 2R HR DET 11 MIN 9 (Recap and Boxscore) KC 5 SEA 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Greinke: CG, 1R LAA 7 TEX 4 (Recap and Boxscore) National League PIT 6 LAN 4 (Recap and Boxscore) McLouth: 3R HR in 9th SF 5 ARI 4 (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 San Francisco Giants, 4:35 PM (R) Micah Owings (2-0) vs. (R) Kevin Correia (1-1) Houston Astros at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 PM (R) Shawn Chacon (0-0) vs. (R) Adam Eaton (0-0) Washington Nationals at New York Mets, 7:10 PM (L) Odalis Perez (0-2) vs. (R) Mike Pelfrey (1-0) Atlanta Braves at Florida Marlins, 7:10 PM (R) Jair Jurrjens (1-1) vs. (L) Scott Olsen (1-0) Cincinnati Reds at Chicago Cubs, 8:05 PM (R) Aaron Harang (1-1) vs. (R) Ryan Dempster (1-0) Milwaukee Brewers at St. Louis Cardinals, 8:15 PM (R) Dave Bush (0-2) vs. (R) Braden Looper (2-0) Colorado Rockies at San Diego Padres, 10:05 PM (R) Ubaldo Jimenez (1-1) vs. (L) Randy Wolf (0-0) Pittsburgh Pirates at Los Angeles Dodgers, 10:10 PM (R) Matt Morris (0-1) vs. (L) Hong-Chih Kuo (0-0) American League --------------- LA Angels of Anaheim at Texas Rangers, 2:05 PM (R) Dustin Moseley (1-1) vs. (R) Kevin Millwood (1-2) Oakland Athletics at Chicago White Sox, 2:05 PM (L) Dana Eveland (1-0) vs. (L) John Danks (0-1) Kansas City Royals at Seattle Mariners, 6:40 PM (L) John Bale (0-2) vs. (R) Miguel Batista (0-2) Boston Red Sox at Cleveland Indians, 7:05 PM (R) Tim Wakefield (1-0) vs. (R) Paul Byrd (0-2) Toronto Blue Jays at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 PM (R) Shaun Marcum (1-0) vs. (R) Steve Trachsel (1-1) Minnesota Twins at Detroit Tigers, 7:05 PM (R) Scott Baker (2-0) vs. (L) Nate Robertson (0-1) New York Yankees at Tampa Bay Rays, 7:10 PM (L) Andy Pettitte (1-1) vs. (R) Edwin Jackson (2-0)
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 BAL 8 5 .615 0.0 7 1BOS 8 6 .571 0.5 7 1
TOR 7 6 .538 1.0 8 -1
NYA 7 7 .500 1.5 6 1
TB 6 7 .462 2.0 8 -2
American League Central KC 8 5 .615 0.0 8 0
CHA 7 5 .583 0.5 8 -1
MIN 6 7 .462 2.0 6 0
CLE 5 8 .385 3.0 6 -1
DET 3 10 .231 5.0 3 0
American League West OAK 9 5 .643 0.0 8 1
LAA 8 6 .571 1.0 7 1
SEA 6 8 .429 3.0 7 -1
TEX 5 8 .385 3.5 6 -1
National League East Pwins Diff FLA 7 5 .583 0.0 5 2
PHI 6 7 .462 1.5 6 0
NYN 5 6 .455 1.5 7 -2
ATL 5 7 .417 2.0 7 -2
WAS 4 9 .308 3.5 5 -1
National League Central STL 9 4 .692 0.0 8 1
MIL 8 4 .667 0.5 7 1
CHN 7 5 .583 1.5 6 1
PIT 7 6 .538 2.0 6 1
CIN 6 7 .462 3.0 7 -1
HOU 5 8 .385 4.0 6 -1
National League West ARI 9 4 .692 0.0 9 0
SD 7 6 .538 2.0 6 1
SF 6 8 .429 3.5 5 1
COL 5 7 .417 3.5 4 1
LAN 5 8 .385 4.0 7 -2
Game of the Day
The Tigers scored six runs in the bottom of the eighth to notch a big comeback against the Twins, 11-9. The big hit was a two-run triple by I-Rod, worth .442 WPA. After scoring only two runs in the first five innings, the two teams scored 18 in the last 3 and a third.Tigers 11, Twins 9 - FINAL
MINNESOTA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
C Gomez cf 5 1 0 0 0 2 3 .246
D Span rf 4 1 2 0 1 0 1 .300
J Mauer c 2 2 0 0 3 0 3 .238
J Morneau 1b 5 0 1 2 0 1 2 .222
D Young lf 5 3 3 2 0 0 0 .280
J Kubel dh 4 1 2 2 1 1 1 .286
B Harris 2b 4 1 2 2 0 2 1 .351
M Lamb 3b 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 .184
N Punto 3b 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .429
A Everett ss 4 0 2 0 0 1 2 .185
Totals 38 9 13 9 5 7 15 ###
DETROIT ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
C Thomas cf 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 .344
P Polanco 2b 5 0 1 1 0 0 0 .159
G Sheffield dh 5 2 2 0 0 1 1 .212
M Ordonez rf 4 2 3 1 0 0 0 .275
M Cabrera 3b-1b 4 2 2 1 0 0 2 .205
C Guillen 1b 4 1 3 3 0 0 1 .359
B Inge pr-3b 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .282
E Renteria ss 4 1 2 1 0 0 3 .264
I Rodriguez c 4 2 2 3 0 0 3 .222
J Jones lf 3 0 0 1 0 0 1 .194
R Raburn lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
Totals 38 11 16 11 0 1 11 ###
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MINNESOTA - 020 003 400 -- 9 13 1
DETROIT - 000 004 16x -- 11 16 3
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BATTING: 2B - D Young (2, J Bonderman); A Everett (1, F Beltran); M Cabrera (2,
N Blackburn); C Guillen (5, N Blackburn); G Sheffield (2, M Guerrier); M
Ordonez (3, M Guerrier). 3B - I Rodriguez (1, P Neshek); C Thomas (1, P
Neshek). HR - I Rodriguez (1, 7th inning off M Guerrier 0 on, 0 Out). SF - B
Harris , J Jones. RBI - B Harris 2 (2), M Lamb (6), D Young 2 (5), J Kubel 2
(11), J Morneau 2 (11), M Cabrera (3), C Guillen 3 (5), E Renteria (4), I
Rodriguez 3 (5), M Ordonez (4), J Jones (2), P Polanco (3). 2-out RBI - B
Harris, M Lamb, J Kubel, M Cabrera, C Guillen 2, E Renteria, P Polanco. Runners
left in scoring position, 2 out - N Punto 1, J Mauer 1, D Span 1, I Rodriguez
1, C Guillen 1. GIDP - J Mauer, J Jones. Team LOB - MINNESOTA 8, DETROIT 4.
BASERUNNING: SB - D Young (3, 2nd base off J Bonderman/I Rodriguez), C Gomez
(6, 2nd base off J Bonderman/I Rodriguez). FIELDING: E - A Everett (3, throw);
I Rodriguez (1, dropped foul ball); M Cabrera (4, throw); C Thomas (2, bobble).
Outfield assists - D Span (E Renteria at 2nd base), J Jones (J Morneau at 3rd
base). DP: (N Blackburn-A Everett-J Morneau, J Bonderman-E Renteria-C
Guillen).
MINNESOTA ip h r er bb so hr era
N Blackburn 5 2/3 8 4 4 0 0 0 3.57
M Guerrier (H, 4) 1 1/3 5 5 4 0 0 1 9.53
P Neshek (L, 0-1; B, 2) 1 3 2 2 0 1 0 7.50
DETROIT ip h r er bb so hr era
J Bonderman 6 1/3 8 7 4 2 5 0 4.58
B Seay 2/3 3 2 2 1 1 0 4.91
F Beltran (W, 1-0) 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 5.79
T Jones (S, 2) 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0.00
M Guerrier pitched to 4 batters in the 8th.
Pitches-strikes: N Blackburn 89-55; M Guerrier 28-20; P Neshek 25-16; J
Bonderman 104-70; B Seay 19-12; F Beltran 21-12; T Jones 15-8. Ground balls-fly
balls: N Blackburn 10-7; M Guerrier 3-0; P Neshek 1-1; J Bonderman 9-5; B Seay
0-0; F Beltran 2-0; T Jones 1-2. Batters faced: N Blackburn 24; M Guerrier 9; P
Neshek 6; J Bonderman 29; B Seay 5; F Beltran 5; T Jones 5. IRS - B Seay 2, M
Guerrier, P Neshek. UMPIRES: HP--Mike Everitt. 1B--Mike Dimuro. 2B--Tim
Mcclelland. 3B--Larry Vanover. T--3:16. Att--32,002. Weather: 48 degrees,
clear. Wind: 11 mph, in from 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, with a focus on each team’s top prospects.ORG LVL PLAYER AB H 2B 3B HR BB SO Notes OAK AAA Carlos Gonzalez... 4 2 1 0 1 1 1 NYM AA F. Martinez....... 5 3 1 0 0 0 0 BOS AAA George Kottaras... 4 2 0 0 2 0 0 5 RBI ! LAA AAA Brandon Wood...... 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 SEA AAA Jeff Clement...... 5 4 1 0 0 1 1 SEA AAA W. Balentien...... 4 2 1 0 0 2 1 CIN A+ Chris Valaika..... 4 2 0 0 1 1 0 TEX AAA J. Saltalamacchi.. 4 2 0 1 0 1 1 TEX AA M. Ramirez........ 3 2 1 0 1 0 0 TB AAA Reid Brignac...... 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 CIN AA B. Szymanski...... 3 2 1 0 1 1 1 HOU AA Drew Sutton....... 5 2 1 0 1 0 0 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes CIN AAA Homer Bailey...... 6 5 2 2 4 1 0 MIL AAA Yovani Gallardo... 6 7 4 4 7 3 1 ARI AA Brooks Brown...... 5 2 1 1 7 2 0 DET A Ramon Garcia...... 6 9 4 3 8 1 1 TB AA Jacob McGee....... 5 1 2 2 5 3 0 BAL AAA Garrett Olson..... 5 5 2 2 6 1 0 ATL A+ Thomas Hanson..... 5 3 1 0 6 1 0 ATL A Jeffrey Locke..... 5 4 2 2 5 1 0 10 GB BOS AAA Charlie Zink...... 5 1 0 0 4 1 0 LAA AA Stephen Marek..... 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 MIN AA Yohan Pino........ 4 3 0 0 3 1 0 KC AA Carlos Rosa....... 4 3 1 1 4 2 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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