The Hardball Times

THT Daily: Yankees Rediscover Winning

by Matthew Carruth
May 04, 2007

Major League News for May 4
Today’s Links
Player 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

Don't Miss This One - Tim Lincecum appears set to start Sunday for the Giants with RUss Ortiz landing on the DL.

Master of Value - Billy Beane lands another favorite player, Jack Cust from the Padres, again for a PTBNL or cash considerations.

Future of MLB.tv - From the MIX'07 conference, here's a copy of the MLBAM presentation on how they will be using the amazing new Silverlight product from Microsoft to enhance their already good product.

Rangers Off to Bad Start - How bad? Well, I wasn't even born yet the last time they started the season this poorly.

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 Rotoworld

Sammy Sosa, who left Thursday night's game when he was beaned by Brian Bruney, could be back in the lineup this weekend. Sosa took the pitch off his helmet and was down for a couple of minutes before walking off the field. "He checked out fine," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "We'll see how he feels when he comes in tomorrow.”

Reggie Sanders has a torn left hamstring and will be put on the 15-day disabled list Friday. He's likely to miss a month or two. This would seem to make Billy Butler a near lock to stick around after Ryan Shealy comes off the disabled list. Emil Brown also benefits. Surprisingly, it's Shane Costa, not Joey Gathright, who will get the nod as Sanders' replacement. The Royals would seem to benefit more from having a second center fielder on the roster than another corner guy.

Giants placed RHP Russ Ortiz on the 15-game disabled list, retroactive to May 2, with elbow neuritis in his right arm. Could it be Tim Lincecum time? There hasn't been any indication yet, but it'd be hard to pick anyone else to replace him in the rotation. If Lincecum comes up and pitches well, Ortiz shouldn't have a spot once he's ready to return.

A source close to the right-hander told the Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo that Carl Pavano will likely require Tommy John surgery. Cafardo writes that "preliminary indications are that the ligament to the elbow is pretty messed up. Not completely torn, but stretched." If Pavano undergoes surgery, he'll miss the rest of the season. He might not be ready for 2008.

Kevin Millwood was scratched from his scheduled Thursday afternoon start because of a hamstring injury. Mike Wood will now start Game 1 of the Rangers' doubleheader against the Yankees. Robinson Tejeda is still scheduled to start Game 2.

Yesterday’s Results
American League
BOS     8  SEA     7    (Recap and Boxscore) Ramirez: 2 HR; Matsuzaka: First 5 batters: 3 BB, HBP
TB      6  MIN     4    (Recap and Boxscore) Shields: 7.1 IP, 3 R; MIN: 12 1B, no XBH
CLE     6  TOR     5    (Recap and Boxscore) Martinez: 4-4, 2B; Phillips: 2 2B
KC      5  LAA     2    (Recap and Boxscore) Gload: 4-4, 2B, 3B; Meche: 7 IP, 2 R
NYA     4  TEX     3    (Recap and Boxscore) Pettitte: 6 IP, 2 R; Matsui: 2 2B
NYA     5  TEX     2    (Recap and Boxscore) Mussina: 5 IP, 1 R

National League
HOU     7  CIN     5    (Recap and Boxscore) Griffey: 3-5, HR; Wandy: 7 IP, 2R
PIT     4  MIL     2    (Recap and Boxscore) Gorzelanny: 7 IP, 2 R; Bautista: 2-3, HR
NYN     9  ARI     4    (Recap and Boxscore) See below
PHI     9  SF      7    (Recap and Boxscore) Rollins: 2 3B; Victorino: 3-3

Today’s Games
National League
 ---------------
 Washington Nationals at Chicago Cubs, 2:20 PM
  (R) Jason Bergmann (0-2) vs. (R) Carlos Zambrano (2-2)
 San Diego Padres at Florida Marlins, 7:05 PM
  (R) Greg Maddux (2-2) vs. (L) Dontrelle Willis (5-1)
 Colorado Rockies at Cincinnati Reds, 7:10 PM
  (R) Jason Hirsh (2-2) vs. (R) Matt Belisle (3-1)
 Los Angeles Dodgers at Atlanta Braves, 7:35 PM
  (R) Brett Tomko (0-2) vs. (R) John Smoltz (3-1)
 Pittsburgh Pirates at Milwaukee Brewers, 8:05 PM
  (L) Paul Maholm (1-3) vs. (R) Claudio Vargas (2-0)
 Houston Astros at St. Louis Cardinals, 8:10 PM
  (R) Chris Sampson (3-1) vs. (R) Adam Wainwright (1-2)
 New York Mets at Arizona Diamondbacks, 9:40 PM
  (R) John Maine (4-0) vs. (L) Randy Johnson (0-1)
 Philadelphia Phillies at San Francisco Giants, 10:15 PM
  (L) Jamie Moyer (3-1) vs. (R) Matt Morris (3-1)
 
 American League
 ---------------
 Seattle Mariners at New York Yankees, 7:05 PM
  (R) Cha Seung Baek (0-0) vs. (L) Kei Igawa (2-1)
 Cleveland Indians at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 PM
  (R) Paul Byrd (2-1) vs. (L) Erik Bedard (3-2)
 Oakland Athletics at Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 7:10 PM
  (R) Danny Haren (3-2) vs. (L) Casey Fossum (2-2)
 Toronto Blue Jays at Texas Rangers, 8:05 PM
  (R) Tomo Ohka (2-2) vs. (R) Brandon McCarthy (1-4)
 Boston Red Sox at Minnesota Twins, 8:10 PM
  (R) Tim Wakefield (2-3) vs. (R) Carlos Silva (2-1)
 Detroit Tigers at Kansas City Royals, 8:10 PM
  (R) Justin Verlander (1-1) vs. (R) Brian Bannister (0-1)
 Chicago White Sox at LA Angels of Anaheim, 10:05 PM
  (R) Jose Contreras (2-2) vs. (R) Kelvim Escobar (2-1)

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     18   9 .667    0.0   18     0    sparkline graph
TB      13  15 .464    5.5   10     3    sparkline graph
TOR     13  15 .464    5.5   15    -2    sparkline graph
NYA     12  14 .462    5.5   15    -3    sparkline graph
BAL     12  16 .429    6.5   13    -1    sparkline graph
American League Central     
CLE     17   8 .680    0.0   14     3    sparkline graph
DET     16  11 .593    2.0   15     1    sparkline graph
MIN     15  13 .536    3.5   16    -1    sparkline graph
CHA     12  13 .480    5.0   12     0    sparkline graph
KC      10  19 .345    9.0   11    -1    sparkline graph
American League West        
LAA     16  13 .552    0.0   15     1    sparkline graph
SEA     12  11 .522    1.0   11     1    sparkline graph
OAK     13  14 .481    2.0   14    -1    sparkline graph
TEX     10  18 .357    5.5   10     0    sparkline graph


National League East        Pwins  Diff
ATL     17  10 .630    0.0   15     2    sparkline graph
NYN     17  10 .630    0.0   19    -2    sparkline graph
FLA     13  14 .481    4.0   14    -1    sparkline graph
PHI     13  15 .464    4.5   14    -1    sparkline graph
WAS      9  19 .321    8.5    7     2    sparkline graph
National League Central     
MIL     18  10 .643    0.0   16     2    sparkline graph
PIT     13  14 .481    4.5   11     2    sparkline graph
CIN     13  15 .464    5.0   15    -2    sparkline graph
CHN     12  14 .462    5.0   16    -4    sparkline graph
HOU     12  15 .444    5.5   12     0    sparkline graph
STL     10  16 .385    7.0    8     2    sparkline graph
National League West        
LAN     17  11 .607    0.0   16     1    sparkline graph
SD      15  13 .536    2.0   16    -1    sparkline graph
ARI     16  14 .533    2.0   15     1    sparkline graph
SF      14  13 .519    2.5   14     0    sparkline graph
COL     11  17 .393    6.0   12    -1    sparkline graph
Game of the Day

The Mets scored six runs in the ninth inning to beat the Diamondbacks, 9-4 in Arizona. The big blow was a three-run home run by Damion Easley off Jose Valverde (.628 WPA). In the sixth inning, Orlando Hudson had put the Dbacks ahead, 4-3, with a home run off Tom Glavine. In the first inning, Glavine struck out Hudson for his 2,500th career strikeout (29th pitcher to reach that level).

The Mets have won 11 straight at Arizona’s Chase Field.
NY METS (9) VS ARIZONA (4) - FINAL

NY METS                ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
J Reyes ss              5  1  2  0   0  0   1  .347
D Wright 3b             5  1  1  3   0  0   1  .269
C Beltran cf            3  2  1  1   2  1   0  .348
C Delgado 1b            5  0  1  0   0  2   2  .196
M Alou lf               2  1  2  1   1  0   0  .348
 E Chavez pr-lf         2  0  0  0   0  2   1  .360
S Green rf              3  1  0  0   1  0   2  .346
P Lo Duca c             3  1  1  1   1  1   1  .253
D Easley 2b             4  1  1  3   0  2   0  .241
T Glavine p             2  0  1  0   0  0   0  .250
 a-D Newhan ph          1  0  0  0   0  1   0  .133
 P Feliciano p          0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 A Heilman p            0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 b-J Franco ph          0  1  0  0   1  0   0  .200
 S Schoeneweis p        0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000

Totals                 35  9 10  9   6  9   8

a-struck out swinging for T Glavine in the 7th;  b-walked for A Heilman in the 
9th.

BATTING: 2B - M Alou (7, M Owings). HR - C Beltran (7, 6th inning off M Owings 
0 on, 0 Out), D Easley (3, 9th inning off J Valverde 2 on, 1 Out), D Wright (2, 
9th inning off D Nippert 2 on, 1 Out). RBI - M Alou (12), P Lo Duca (9), C 
Beltran (25), D Easley 3 (5), D Wright 3 (11). 2-out RBI - M Alou, P Lo Duca. 
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - P Lo Duca 1. GIDP - S Green. Team LOB 
- 5. 
 
BASERUNNING: Picked Off - J Reyes (1st base, T Pena). 
 

ARIZONA                ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
C Young cf              4  0  0  0   0  0   0  .202
C Jackson 1b            4  0  0  0   0  0   0  .206
 J Valverde p           0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 D Nippert p            0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
O Hudson 2b             4  1  1  1   0  1   0  .345
E Byrnes lf             3  1  1  0   1  1   0  .287
C Quentin rf            4  0  0  0   0  0   2  .212
S Drew ss               4  1  3  1   0  0   0  .260
C Snyder c              4  1  1  2   0  0   3  .250
A Callaspo 3b           3  0  0  0   0  0   1  .192
M Owings p              2  0  0  0   0  2   0  .167
 T Pena p               0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 B Lyon p               0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 a-S Hairston ph        1  0  0  0   0  0   0  .217
 T Clark 1b             0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .240

Totals                 33  4  6  4   1  4   6

a-popped out to shortstop for B Lyon in the 8th.

BATTING: 3B - E Byrnes (2, T Glavine). HR - C Snyder (2, 5th inning off T 
Glavine 1 on, 0 Out), O Hudson (3, 6th inning off T Glavine 0 on, 1 Out). RBI - 
S Drew (11), C Snyder 2 (5), O Hudson (23). Runners left in scoring position, 2 
out - C Snyder 1. Team LOB - 3. 
 
FIELDING: E - T Clark (1, ground ball). DP: 1 (A Callaspo-O Hudson-C 
Jackson). 
 
----------------------------------------------------
    NY METS         - 000 201 006   --   9
    ARIZONA         - 010 021 000   --   4
----------------------------------------------------

NY METS                      ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
T Glavine                     6       5   4   4   0   4   2   3.27
P Feliciano                   1       0   0   0   0   0   0   0.00
A Heilman (W, 2-2)            1       0   0   0   0   0   0   3.75
S Schoeneweis                 1       1   0   0   1   0   0   1.59

ARIZONA                      ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
M Owings                      6       5   3   3   4   5   1   3.37
T Pena (H, 4)                 1       1   0   0   0   1   0   1.56
B Lyon (H, 7)                 1       0   0   0   0   1   0   1.38
J Valverde (L, 0-2; B, 2)       1/3   2   5   4   2   1   1   4.76
D Nippert                       2/3   2   1   1   0   1   1   3.48

WP - T Glavine, M Owings. Pitches-strikes: T Glavine 88-53; P Feliciano 7-5; 
A Heilman 13-10; S Schoeneweis 24-14; M Owings 103-62; T Pena 9-7; B Lyon 16-9; 
J Valverde 28-14; D Nippert 20-11. Ground balls-fly balls: T Glavine 7-7; P 
Feliciano 1-2; A Heilman 1-2; S Schoeneweis 2-1; M Owings 8-4; T Pena 0-1; B 
Lyon 1-1; J Valverde 0-0; D Nippert 0-1. Batters faced: T Glavine 23; P 
Feliciano 3; A Heilman 3; S Schoeneweis 5; M Owings 25; T Pena 3; B Lyon 3; J 
Valverde 6; D Nippert 4. 
 
UMPIRES: HP--Gary Darling. 1B--Marty Foster. 2B--Paul Schrieber. 3B--Brian 
Knight. 

T--2:54. Att--19,710. 
Weather: 84 degrees, clear. Wind: 8 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.

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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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