THT Daily: What a comeback
by THT StaffJuly 04, 2008
Player News
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Game of the Day
Yesterday’s Home Runs
Top Minor League Performances
You can always find the most recent THT Daily at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/content/thtdaily/ and an archive at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/thtdaily_index/
Player News
Player Headlines are courtesy of Rotoworld |
| He'll be practicing that swing in the minors. (Icon/SMI) |
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution confirms previous reports that Jeff Francoeur will be sent to Double-A Mississippi. The team apparently wants him to work with Mississippi manager Phillip Wellman, who has tutored Francoeur in the past. Francoeur's agent says that he'll be flying to Mississippi on Friday afternoon and could be in the Double-A lineup as soon as tonight. Jason Perry is expected to be called up to replace him, but the Braves are making a big defensive downgrade in hopes that a minor league stint will bust Francoeur out of his slump.
Sources told FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal that the Brewers are offering Matt LaPorta in a proposed deal for C.C. Sabathia. Or at least that's what the Indians are telling other suitors in order to drive up the price. If it's true, then Milwaukee shouldn't need to add much more to the pot. Rosenthal says that shortstop Alcides Escobar could also be involved, but it's hard to imagine that happening unless the Indians sent additional talent Milwaukee's way (Rafael Betancourt? Masa Kobayashi?).
According to the Baltimore Sun, the Orioles' interest in Felipe Lopez has waned and the team is now talking to the Blue Jays about David Eckstein. This goes hand in hand with the rumor that the Jays want to trade A.J. Burnett for a shortstop. They don't think Eckstein is the answer at the position, so they might be willing to trade him immediately. He will carry a higher price tag than Lopez, though. Since he's a free agent at season's end and the Orioles still aren't at all likely to contend for a playoff spot, it'd be a mistake to surrender a quality prospect.
Mets placed second baseman Luis Castillo on 15-day disabled list with a strained hip flexor. Castillo is done through the All-Star break. The Mets will replace him with Damion Easley, who is a fine short-term pickup in NL-only leagues. Argenis Reyes will take over Easley's reserve role.
Yesterday’s Results
Game recaps provided by Craig Calcaterra of Shysterball.I'm not gonna be blogging today. There are parades to attend, meat products to grill, fireworks to watch, and alcohol to consume. And my afternoon is pretty packed too.
But I do feel obligated to recap last night's action as it's The American Thing To Do.
Diamondbacks 6, Brewers 5: Milwaukee led 5-0 entering the bottom of the ninth. This should be easy work! Single. Walk. Single. Double. Single. Double. Single. Ballgame. The best part: you know that given the score half the people left the park before the inning started.
Phillies 4, Braves 1: The Braves are now seven back of Philadelphia. They have lost eight of nine to the Phillies this year. You do the math.
Dodgers 5, Astros 2: According to the game story, Chad Billingsley said he threw only three offspeed pitches through the first four innings and didn't start throwing breaking balls until the fifth."I was getting the fastball in for strikes on the first pitch and I was able to get ahead in the count," Billingsley said. "I was just sticking with the fastball." In other words, the Astros were only able to muster two runs against batting practice.
Reds 5, Nationals 3: I watched most of this game from Chez Shyster. This was fun: top of the fourth inning, Former Red Dimitri Young at the plate. Reds' announcers George Grande and Chris Welsh are talking about the good old days:
Grande: Young always produced when he was with the Reds. In his four years here, he was at .310, .300, .303, and .302.Giants 8, Cubs 3: Tim Lincecum (6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 8K) sat down on his legs, relaxed his shoulders, got his left side on target, and picked up the frickin' dollar.
Welsh: Are you talking about his weight?
Red Sox 7, Yankees 0: Jon Lester shuts out the Yankees. I don't mean to shortchange his effort, but making New York miss wasn't that hard given that lately Yankee players are more concerned with trying to avoid process servers than they are about playing baseball.
Royals 10, Orioles 7: Tony Pena hit a home run. That was his fourth career home run in 726 at bats. If there is any justice in the world Garrett Olson -- the man who gave up that home run -- is, as we speak, being forced to buy the drinks for each and every person on the Orioles active roster.
A's 3, White Sox 2: Quite a duel between Vazquez (CG, 4 H, 3 ER, 10K) and Duchscherer (7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER), but the guy with the 1.96 ERA won it behind blasts from Jack Cust and Donnie Murphy.
Mets 11, Cardinals 1: Mitchell Boggs had given up nine runs through three innings, but La Russa didn't pull him. Why? The Cards had used six pitchers in Wednesday night's win, and dammit, the bullpen needed rest. This was Boggs' turn to wear it, and wear it he did, throwing his 100+ pitches, giving up his ten hits, eleven runs, and six walks, and taking one for the team in every sense of the word. We rightfully celebrate outstanding performances and understandably boo poor ones, but I have always found there to be an admirable nobility in a pitcher wearing one like Boggs did. It would probably be unseemly in front of the hometown fans and on television for his teammates to high five him after such an ugly loss, but I hope that the Cardinals players gave Boggs some modest fist bumps and respectful nods back in the clubhouse.
Tigers 8, Mariners 4: This could be fun: "During his pregame session with reporters, Tigers manager Jim Leyland said 'it's a possibility' when asked if Joel Zumaya could be a starter next season."
Rockies 6, Marlins 5: Due to a postgame fireworks show, over 48,000 people showed up at Coors Field. I'm guessing that was pretty unsettling for the Marlins.
You can download a compact version of yesterday's boxscores from Heater Magazine.
| First Inning's Major and Minor League Daily Reports: |
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Today’s Games
National League --------------- Washington Nationals at Cincinnati Reds, 1:15 PM (R) Jason Bergmann (1-5) vs. (R) Bronson Arroyo (5-7) Pittsburgh Pirates at Milwaukee Brewers, 2:05 PM (L) Tom Gorzelanny (6-6) vs. (R) Ben Sheets (9-2) Los Angeles Dodgers at San Francisco Giants, 4:05 PM (R) Derek Lowe (5-8) vs. (L) Jonathan Sanchez (8-4) New York Mets at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 PM (L) Johan Santana (7-7) vs. (L) JA Happ (0-0) Houston Astros at Atlanta Braves, 7:35 PM (R) Brian Moehler (4-3) vs. (R) Tim Hudson (8-6) Florida Marlins at Colorado Rockies, 8:05 PM (L) Scott Olsen (4-4) vs. (R) Greg Reynolds (2-6) Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals, 8:15 PM (R) Carlos Zambrano (8-3) vs. (R) Braden Looper (9-5) San Diego Padres at Arizona Diamondbacks, 9:40 PM (R) Cha Seung Baek (1-3) vs. (R) Dan Haren (8-4) American League --------------- Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees, 1:05 PM (R) Josh Beckett (7-5) vs. (R) Darrell Rasner (4-6) Detroit Tigers at Seattle Mariners, 4:10 PM (L) Kenny Rogers (6-5) vs. (L) Erik Bedard (5-4) Texas Rangers at Baltimore Orioles, 4:35 PM (R) Vicente Padilla (10-4) vs. (R) Jeremy Guthrie (4-7) Kansas City Royals at Tampa Bay Rays, 5:10 PM (R) Brian Bannister (7-7) vs. (R) Edwin Jackson (4-6) Oakland Athletics at Chicago White Sox, 7:05 PM (R) Joe Blanton (4-11) vs. (L) Mark Buehrle (6-6) Cleveland Indians at Minnesota Twins, 7:10 PM (R) Paul Byrd (3-9) vs. (R) Livan Hernandez (8-5) Toronto Blue Jays at LA Angels of Anaheim, 9:05 PM (R) A.J. Burnett (8-7) vs. (R) Jered Weaver (7-8)
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 TB 52 32 .619 0.0 48 4BOS 51 37 .580 3.0 52 -1
NYA 45 41 .523 8.0 45 0
BAL 43 41 .512 9.0 42 1
TOR 41 45 .477 12.0 46 -5
American League Central CHA 49 36 .576 0.0 52 -3
MIN 47 38 .553 2.0 44 3
DET 43 42 .506 6.0 42 1
KC 39 47 .453 10.5 38 1
CLE 37 48 .435 12.0 43 -6
American League West LAA 51 34 .600 0.0 44 7
OAK 46 39 .541 5.0 49 -3
TEX 44 42 .512 7.5 41 3
SEA 33 52 .388 18.0 36 -3
National League East Pwins Diff PHI 47 39 .547 0.0 51 -4
FLA 44 41 .518 2.5 41 3
NYN 42 43 .494 4.5 43 -1
ATL 40 46 .465 7.0 46 -6
WAS 34 53 .391 13.5 31 3
National League Central CHN 51 35 .593 0.0 52 -1
STL 49 38 .563 2.5 46 3
MIL 46 39 .541 4.5 42 4
PIT 40 44 .476 10.0 38 2
HOU 40 46 .465 11.0 39 1
CIN 40 47 .460 11.5 37 3
National League West ARI 43 43 .500 0.0 44 -1
LAN 41 44 .482 1.5 43 -2
SF 38 48 .442 5.0 39 -1
COL 35 51 .407 8.0 36 -1
SD 33 53 .384 10.0 33 0
Game of the Day
Diamondbacks 6, Brewers 5 - FINAL
MILWAUKEE ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
R Weeks 2b 5 0 0 0 0 2 2 .213
J Hardy ss 5 1 4 1 0 0 2 .283
C Hart rf 5 0 3 0 0 1 2 .297
P Fielder 1b 5 0 0 0 0 1 3 .264
R Branyan 3b 4 2 1 0 1 1 4 .263
G Kapler lf 4 1 1 0 0 2 2 .306
M Cameron cf 3 1 1 2 0 0 0 .223
J Kendall c 4 0 2 1 0 0 0 .274
M Parra p 2 0 0 0 1 1 2 .194
M Stetter p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
va-C Counsell ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .238
E Gagne p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
G Mota p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
B Shouse p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
S Torres p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 38 5 12 4 2 8 17 ###
ARIZONA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
S Drew ss 3 0 0 0 1 1 2 .256
C Robertson p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
L Rosales p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
hb-C Tracy ph 1 1 1 3 0 0 0 .273
J Upton rf 5 1 1 0 0 2 4 .237
O Hudson 2b 4 1 2 1 1 2 4 .300
C Jackson 1b 5 0 2 2 0 0 3 .312
M Reynolds 3b 3 0 0 0 1 1 2 .258
C Young cf 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .237
R Hammock c 4 1 1 0 0 1 3 .192
C Burke lf 3 1 1 0 1 0 3 .173
B Webb p 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 .152
J Cruz p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
ha-A Ojeda ph-ss 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 .310
Totals 35 6 11 6 5 7 22 ###
----------------------------------------------------
MILWAUKEE - 021 002 000 -- 5 12 1
ARIZONA - 000 000 006 -- 6 11 0
No outs when winning run scored.
----------------------------------------------------
ha-walked for J Cruz in the 7th; va-flied out to left for M Stetter in the
8th; hb-doubled to deep center for L Rosales in the 9th.
BATTING: 2B - J Hardy 2 (19, B Webb 2); C Hart (23, J Cruz); C Tracy (3, B
Shouse); O Hudson (21, S Torres). HR - J Hardy (9, 3rd inning off B Webb 0 on,
1 Out), M Cameron (13, 6th inning off B Webb 1 on, 1 Out). RBI - J Kendall
(25), J Hardy (32), M Cameron 2 (32), C Tracy 3 (14), O Hudson (36), C Jackson
2 (46). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - R Branyan 2, G Kapler 1, P
Fielder 2, J Hardy 1, O Hudson 1, C Jackson 1, M Reynolds 1. GIDP - C Burke.
Team LOB - MILWAUKEE 9, ARIZONA 10. BASERUNNING: SB - R Branyan (1, 2nd base
off B Webb/R Hammock), J Kendall (6, 2nd base off B Webb/R Hammock). FIELDING:
E - R Branyan (1, ground ball). DP: (J Hardy-R Weeks-P Fielder, B Webb-M
Reynolds-O Hudson-M Reynolds-O Hudson-M Reynolds-O Hudson).
MILWAUKEE ip h r er bb so hr era
M Parra 6 4 0 0 3 4 0 3.69
M Stetter 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 2.45
E Gagne 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 6.64
G Mota 0 2 3 3 1 0 0 5.06
B Shouse 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 2.15
S Torres (L, 4-2; B, 3) 0 3 2 2 0 0 0 2.89
ARIZONA ip h r er bb so hr era
B Webb 6 9 5 5 2 6 2 3.43
J Cruz 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 3.23
C Robertson 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.25
L Rosales (W, 1-0) 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1.29
G Mota pitched to 3 batters in the 9th.
B Shouse pitched to 1 batter in the 9th.
S Torres pitched to 3 batters in the 9th.
WP - B Webb. HBP - M Cameron (by B Webb). Pitches-strikes: M Parra 100-59; M
Stetter 21-13; E Gagne 9-6; G Mota 11-5; B Shouse 1-1; S Torres 13-10; B Webb
95-63; J Cruz 12-10; C Robertson 9-6; L Rosales 13-9. Ground balls-fly balls: M
Parra 8-6; M Stetter 0-1; E Gagne 0-2; G Mota 0-0; B Shouse 0-0; S Torres 0-0;
B Webb 6-5; J Cruz 1-0; C Robertson 1-2; L Rosales 1-2. Batters faced: M Parra
25; M Stetter 5; E Gagne 3; G Mota 3; B Shouse 1; S Torres 3; B Webb 29; J Cruz
4; C Robertson 3; L Rosales 5. IRS - B Shouse 3, S Torres. UMPIRES: HP--Adrian
Johnson. 1B--Tim Tschida. 2B--Jim Joyce. 3B--Jeff Nelson. T--2:50.
Att--23,842. Weather: INDOORSThe 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.
Yesterday’s Home Runs
The following stats are provided by Hit Tracker, which logs the projected “true” distance of each home run (if it were to land uninterrupted at field level) and its "standard" distance, which is corrected for weather conditions. Each homer is also categorized into one of three types: Just Enough (JE) for homers that cleared the fence by ten feet or less, Plenty (PL) for those that were sure home runs but not “blasts,” and No Doubt (ND) for true “blasts”—homers that cleared the fence by at least 20 feet and landed at least 50 feet beyond the fence.Hitter Team Pitcher Team True Stnd. # Type Rich Aurilia SF Carlos Marmol CHC 387 406 6 PL Jeff Baker COL Andrew Miller FLA 398 361 6 PL Billy Butler KC Garrett Olson BAL 389 370 2 PL Mike Cameron MIL Brandon Webb ARI 347 341 13 PL Jorge Cantu FLA Taylor Buchholz COL 388 364 15 PL Jack Cust OAK Javier Vazquez CWS 384 367 14 PL Carlos Delgado NYM Mitchell Boggs STL 418 413 15 ND Elijah Dukes WAS Johnny Cueto CIN 391 386 5 PL Andre Ethier LAD Brandon Backe HOU 368 367 9 PL Pedro Feliz PHI Jair Jurrjens ATL 406 401 10 PL J.J. Hardy MIL Brandon Webb ARI 375 368 9 PL Michael Hollimon DET Mark Lowe SEA 402 391 1 PL Ryan Howard PHI Jair Jurrjens ATL 392 385 22 PL Aubrey Huff BAL Kyle Davies KC 381 364 17 PL Aubrey Huff BAL Kyle Davies KC 389 380 16 ND James Loney LAD Brandon Backe HOU 341 340 7 JE Donnie Murphy OAK Javier Vazquez CWS 414 405 3 PL Tony Pena KC Garrett Olson BAL 373 352 1 JE/L Chase Utley PHI Jair Jurrjens ATL 373 361 24 PL Dewayne Wise CWS Justin Duchscherer OAK 379 368 2 PL
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 NYY A Bradley Suttle.... 4 3 0 0 2 0 0 BAL AA Nolan Reimold..... 4 2 0 0 2 0 2 PHI AA Lou Marson........ 2 2 0 0 1 2 0 BAL AA Matt Wieters...... 4 2 1 0 1 0 1 PIT A+ James Negrych..... 5 2 2 0 0 1 1 KC AAA Ryan Shealy....... 5 3 0 0 1 0 0 DET AAA Jeff Larish....... 4 2 2 0 0 0 1 STL AA Jose Martinez..... 5 3 0 0 1 0 0 5 RBI ! SD A+ Eric Sogard....... 5 2 1 1 0 0 1 LAA AAA Sean Rodriguez.... 5 2 0 0 1 0 1 SF AAA Eugenio Velez..... 4 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 SB FLA AAA Dallas McPherson.. 4 1 0 0 1 0 1 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes TEX A Derek Holland..... 6 5 1 1 11 1 0 COL A+ Aneury Rodriguez.. 8 3 0 0 6 2 0 OAK AA James Simmons..... 8 4 0 0 5 1 0 ARI A Jarrod Parker..... 6 3 0 0 7 2 0 SD A Jeremy Hefner..... 5 2 0 0 8 3 0 CHW AAA Clayton Richard... 6 5 3 3 7 2 0 LA A Bryan Morris...... 5 1 1 1 5 2 0 KC A Daniel Duffy...... 4 4 2 1 5 0 0 MIL A Robert Bryson..... 3 1 1 0 4 0 0 LAA A Jordan Walden..... 7 6 2 1 3 1 0 18 GB TEX AAA Matt Harrison..... 6 7 1 1 5 2 0 12 GB MIN AAA Kevin Mulvey...... 7 5 2 2 5 2 1
Access THT’s stats here…
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