THT Daily: 2,000 and 450 for A-Rod

Major League News for July 22

Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Game of the Day
Yesterday’s Home Runs
Top Minor League Performances
Player News
Stats

Yesterday’s Results

American League
TOR     7  NYA     3    (Recap and Boxscore) Glaus: 2-2, 4 RBI; Burnett: 7.1 IP, 3 R
TEX    10  CHA     3    (Recap and Boxscore) Young: 4 RBI
TB     14  BAL     7    (Recap and Boxscore) Cantu: GS HR, 5 RBI
BOS     9  SEA     4    (Recap and Boxscore) BOS: 5 HR
DET     7  OAK     4    (Recap and Boxscore) Verlander: 6 IP, 1 R
MIN    14  CLE     6    (Recap and Boxscore) White: 4-5, 4 RBI; Cuddyer: 4 RBI
KC      8  LAA     3    (Recap and Boxscore) Hernandez: 7.1 IP, 3 R

National League
SF      8  SD      2    (Recap and Boxscore) Cain: 8.2 IP, 2 R; Peavy routed
STL     2  LAN     0    (Recap and Boxscore) Suppan: 7 IP, 0 R
FLA     4  PIT     1    (Recap and Boxscore) Olsen: 6.2 IP, 1 R, 11 K
PHI     6  ATL     5    (Recap and Boxscore)
NYN     7  HOU     0    (Recap and Boxscore) Maine: CG shutout; Valentin: GS HR
WAS     7  CHN     6    (Recap and Boxscore) Ramirez: 2 HR; Prior routed
CIN     6  MIL     5    (Recap and Boxscore) CIN bullpen: 4 IP, 0 R
ARI     6  COL     2    (Recap and Boxscore) Vargas: 6 IP, 2 R

Today’s Games

Visitors                        Home                                 Time
CHC - Rusch G.* (3-7, 7.14)     WAS - Hernandez L. (6-8, 5.87)        1:20
HOU - Backe B. (1-0, 2.25)      NYM - Hernandez O. (5-8, 5.52)        1:20
OAK - Blanton J. (9-8, 4.73)    DET - Miner Z. (6-2, 3.30)            1:20
ATL - James C.* (4-0, 3.72)     PHI - Myers B. (6-3, 3.77)            4:05
BOS - Gabbard K.* (0-0, -)      SEA - Hernandez F. (8-8, 4.89)        4:05
NYY - Wang C. (10-4, 3.92)      TOR - Lilly T.* (9-8, 3.86)           4:07
PIT - Wells K. (0-4, 9.13)      FLA - Nolasco R. (7-6, 4.67)          6:05
MIL - Bush D. (6-7, 4.42)       CIN - Mays J. (0-1, 6.56)             6:10
MIN - Baker S. (3-5, 5.89)      CLE - Sowers J.* (1-3, 7.15)          7:05
TEX - Koronka J.* (6-6, 5.22)   CWS - Garcia F. (10-6, 5.07)          7:05
LAA - Escobar K. (6-9, 3.88)    KC - Hudson L. (2-3, 5.40)            7:10
BAL - Lopez R. (6-10, 6.44)     TB - Corcoran T. (4-1, 2.48)          7:15
SD - Williams W. (4-1, 3.38)    SF - Schmidt J. (6-6, 3.06)           9:05
COL - Fogg J. (7-5, 4.23)       ARI - Gonzalez E. (3-2, 4.99)         9:40
STL - Weaver J. (0-1, 13.50)    LAD - Sele A. (6-3, 3.34)            10:10

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 gray 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     59  36 .621    0.0   54      5      
NYA     55  39 .585    3.5   55      0      
TOR     54  42 .563    5.5   53      1      
BAL     44  54 .449   16.5   42      2      
TB      40  57 .412   20.0   39      1      
American League Central
DET     65  31 .677    0.0   62      3      
CHA     58  37 .611    6.5   55      3      
MIN     55  40 .579    9.5   53      2      
CLE     42  53 .442   22.5   50     -8      
KC      34  62 .354   31.0   36     -2      
American League West
OAK     50  46 .521    0.0   48      2      
TEX     50  47 .515    0.5   51     -1      
LAA     48  48 .500    2.0   48      0      
SEA     45  51 .469    5.0   48     -3      

National League East         Pwins Diff
NYN     58  38 .604    0.0   56      2      
PHI     44  50 .468   13.0   44      0      
ATL     45  51 .469   13.0   50     -5      
FLA     43  52 .453   14.5   46     -3      
WAS     41  56 .423   17.5   42     -1      
National League Central
STL     54  41 .568    0.0   49      5      
CIN     51  46 .526    4.0   47      4      
MIL     46  51 .474    9.0   42      4      
HOU     46  51 .474    9.0   46      0      
CHN     37  58 .389   17.0   38     -1      
PIT     35  63 .357   20.5   42     -7      
National League West
SD      50  46 .521    0.0   48      2      
SF      50  47 .515    0.5   49      1      
ARI     49  47 .510    1.0   48      1      
LAN     47  50 .485    3.5   51     -4      
COL     45  50 .474    4.5   48     -3      

Game of the Day

The Minnesota Twins won their eighth straight game by beating the Indians 14-6. It was the third time the Twins have won at least eight games in a row, and they are now just three games behind the White Sox in the AL Central and wildcard race.

MINNESOTA (14) VS CLEVELAND (6) - FINAL

MINNESOTA              ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
L Castillo 2b           6  1  1  0   0  1   5  .285
N Punto 3b              5  1  1  0   1  4   2  .319
J Mauer c               5  2  3  2   1  0   1  .381
M Cuddyer rf            5  3  3  4   0  1   2  .271
J Morneau 1b            4  4  2  0   2  0   1  .308
R White lf              5  1  4  4   0  0   0  .221
J Rabe dh               5  1  2  1   1  2   4  .333
J Tyner cf              5  1  2  1   0  0   2  .375
J Bartlett ss           2  0  0  2   1  0   4  .298

Totals                 42 14 18 14   6  8  21

BATTING: 2B - L Castillo (17, C Sabathia); J Mauer (23, C Sabathia); M Cuddyer 
(23, C Sabathia); R White (9, J Davis); J Morneau (19, E Mujica). 3B - J Mauer 
(2, G Mota). SF - M Cuddyer , J Bartlett 2. RBI - J Mauer 2 (50), J Tyner (7), 
J Bartlett 2 (11), M Cuddyer 4 (58), R White 4 (25), J Rabe (1). 2-out RBI - J 
Mauer, M Cuddyer 3, R White 3, J Rabe. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out 
- M Cuddyer 1, L Castillo 1, J Tyner 1. GIDP - J Bartlett. Team LOB - 11. 
 
FIELDING: E - J Bartlett (3, ground ball). Outfield assists - M Cuddyer (T 
Hafner at Home). 

CLEVELAND              ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
G Sizemore cf           4  2  3  1   2  1   1  .298
J Michaels lf           5  1  1  2   0  1   8  .266
T Hafner dh             6  0  1  1   0  3   4  .309
V Martinez c            5  1  3  1   0  0   1  .319
B Broussard 1b          4  0  1  0   1  0   2  .318
C Blake rf              4  1  3  0   1  0   1  .303
J Peralta ss            3  1  2  1   1  0   3  .261
J Inglett 2b            4  0  1  0   0  0   5  .280
A Boone 3b              5  0  1  0   0  0   5  .255

Totals                 40  6 16  6   5  5  30

BATTING: 2B - G Sizemore (28, C Silva); V Martinez 2 (23, C Silva 2); J 
Michaels (14, C Silva); A Boone (19, J Crain). S - J Inglett. SF - J Michaels , 
J Peralta. RBI - T Hafner (78), J Peralta (44), J Michaels 2 (33), V Martinez 
(58), G Sizemore (46). 2-out RBI - V Martinez. Runners left in scoring 
position, 2 out - J Michaels 3, T Hafner 1, J Inglett 3, B Broussard 2, J 
Peralta 1. Team LOB - 15. 
 
FIELDING: E - A Boone (15, ground ball). DP: 1 (J Peralta-B Broussard). 

----------------------------------------------------
    MINNESOTA       - 100 802 201   --  14
    CLEVELAND       - 101 220 000   --   6
----------------------------------------------------

MINNESOTA                    ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
C Silva                       4 1/3  13   6   5   2   1   0   6.91
K Lohse                         1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   7.14
D Reyes (W, 2-0)                2/3   0   0   0   1   0   0   1.42
J Crain                       2 1/3   3   0   0   1   2   0   4.47
P Neshek                      1 1/3   0   0   0   1   2   0   0.00

CLEVELAND                    ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
C Sabathia (L, 7-6)           3 2/3   6   8   3   4   4   0   3.73
J Davis                       1 1/3   5   3   3   1   0   0   5.68
E Mujica                      1 2/3   5   2   2   0   2   0   2.63
B Sikorski                    1 1/3   0   0   0   1   2   0   3.86
G Mota                        1       2   1   1   0   0   0   5.89

J Davis pitched to 2 batters in the 6th.

WP - J Crain. IBB - G Sizemore (by C Silva). HBP - R White (by C Sabathia). 
Pitches-strikes: C Silva 100-65; K Lohse 1-1; D Reyes 10-6; J Crain 41-22; P 
Neshek 19-13; C Sabathia 90-51; J Davis 26-18; E Mujica 39-27; B Sikorski 
20-13; G Mota 18-13. Ground balls-fly balls: C Silva 4-8; K Lohse 0-1; D Reyes 
1-1; J Crain 3-2; P Neshek 1-1; C Sabathia 4-3; J Davis 3-1; E Mujica 1-2; B 
Sikorski 1-1; G Mota 1-2. Batters faced: C Silva 28; K Lohse 1; D Reyes 3; J 
Crain 11; P Neshek 5; C Sabathia 22; J Davis 10; E Mujica 10; B Sikorski 5; G 
Mota 5. 
 
UMPIRES: HP--Chris Guccione. 1B--Charlie Reliford. 2B--Larry Vanover. 
3B--Paul Nauert. 
EJECTIONS:  CLEVELAND's Sabathia by Guccione (4th). 
T--3:43. Att--29,695. 
Weather: 79 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 7 mph, in from center.

Yesterday’s Home Runs

The following stats are provided by Hit Tracker, which logs the projected distance of each home run (if it were to land uninterrupted at field level) and its “standard” distance, which is corrected for weather conditions.

Hitter                       Pitcher                       True Dist  Std. Dist.  HR #
Rodriguez, Alex      NYY     Burnett, A.J.        TOR          453         449      21
Ramirez, Aramis      CHC     Gryboski, Kevin      WAS          436         448      19
Duncan, Chris        STL     Penny, Brad          LAD          451         432       5
Teixeira, Mark       TEX     Buehrle, Mark        CWS          424         423      13
Glaus, Troy          TOR     Wilson, Kris         NYY          425         421      25
Coste, Chris         PHI     Smoltz, John         ATL          420         421       2
Cantu, Jorge         TB      Loewen, Adam         BAL          420         419       8
Rollins, Jimmy       PHI     Smoltz, John         ATL          418         410      11
Thome, Jim           CWS     Wasdin, John         TEX          429         409      32
Atkins, Garrett      COL     Vargas, Claudio      ARI          420         406      12
Crawford, Carl       TB      Ortiz, Russ          BAL          405         404      14
Izturis, Maicer      LAA     Hernandez, Runelvys  KC           409         403       2
Thorman, Scott       ATL     Lidle, Corey         PHI          418         402       4
Ramirez, Aramis      CHC     Astacio, Pedro       WAS          397         401      18
Gonzalez, Alex       BOS     Moyer, Jamie         SEA          408         400       7
DeJesus, David       KC      Colon, Bartolo       LAA          400         397       5
Francoeur, Jeff      ATL     Gordon, Tom          PHI          395         396      18
Grudzielanek, Mark   KC      Donnelly, Brendan    LAA          393         396       4
Encarnacion, Edwin   CIN     Capuano, Chris       MIL          401         392       7
Inge, Brandon        DET     Haren, Dan           OAK          391         392      18
Wilkerson, Brad      TEX     Tracey, Sean         CWS          384         391      15
Varitek, Jason       BOS     Moyer, Jamie         SEA          397         390      10
Greene, Khalil       SD      Cain, Matt           SF           389         389      14
LaRue, Jason         CIN     Capuano, Chris       MIL          390         386       5
Young, Michael       TEX     Buehrle, Mark        CWS          372         384       8
Ross, Cody           FLA     Maholm, Paul         PIT          376         382       6
Ramirez, Manny       BOS     Moyer, Jamie         SEA          386         379      26
Youkilis, Kevin      BOS     Moyer, Jamie         SEA          386         379      11
Lugo, Julio          TB      Rodriguez, Eddy      BAL          378         378      10
Crede, Joe           CWS     Littleton, Wes       TEX          388         377      20
Delgado, Carlos      NYM     Buchholz, Taylor     HOU          376         374      24
Navarro, Dioner      TB      Rodriguez, Eddy      BAL          375         374       3
Mabry, John          CHC     Astacio, Pedro       WAS          372         371       2
Mench, Kevin         TEX     Cotts, Neal          CWS          356         370      12
Renteria, Edgar      ATL     Lidle, Corey         PHI          361         365      10
Valentin, Jose       NYM     Buchholz, Taylor     HOU          372         364      11
Ortiz, David         BOS     Moyer, Jamie         SEA          368         362      33

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
CLE A+  Rodney Choy Foo    DH  3  3  0  0  1  1  0  4 runs scored
LA  A+  Andrew Locke       DH  4  3  1  0  1  0  0   
NYM AA  Corey Ragsdale     SS  3  3  1  0  1  0  0   
NYM A-  Dustin Martin      LF  4  4  1  0  0  0  0   
OAK AA  Matthew Allegra    CF  4  3  0  0  2  0  0  5 RBI
PHI AAA Carlos Ruiz         C  2  2  0  0  1  1  0   
PIT A   Eddie Prasch       3B  4  4  1  0  2  0  0  4 runs scored
PIT A+  Juan Tejeda        DH  5  4  1  0  1  0  0  6 RBI
SD  A+  Peter Ciofrone     LF  5  3  0  0  2  0  1   
SF  A+  Carlos Sosa        LF  2  2  0  0  1  2  0   
 
ORG LVL PLAYER             IP   H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
CHC A-  Mark Pawelek       5.0  1  0  0  5  1  0   
CIN AA  Homer Bailey       6.2  3  1  1  6  2  0  0.88 ERA over past month
CLE AAA Jeremy Guthrie     7.0  3  0  0  3  3  0   
CLE A   Jeffrey Stevens    5.0  1  0  0  5  1  0   
DET A   Lucas French       9.0  1  0  0  7  3  0   
FLA A   Ryan Tucker        6.0  2  0  0  7  5  0   
FLA AA  Jose Garcia        7.0  3  2  2 10  0  0  34 K over last 29 IP
LA  AA  Spike Lundberg     6.0  4  0  0  6  1  0   
OAK AA  David Bradley      6.1  3  0  0  4  3  0   
SD  AA  Jose Oyervidez     7.0  3  1  1  6  4  1   

Player News

Player news items are provided by CBS SportsLine.com.

Shea Hillenbrand was traded to the San Francisco Giants along with relief pitcher Vinnie Chulk late on Friday night for relief pitcher Jeremy Accardo.

Jose Valentin hit a grand slam for the Mets. That was the Mets’ fourth grand slam in their last five games — Cliff Floyd and Carlos Beltran each hit grannies on Sunday in Chicago and Beltran had another on Tuesday in Cincinnati. According to Elias, the Mets are the first team in major league history to hit four grand slams in a five-game span.

Mark Prior (oblique) was activated from the 15-day disbled list on Friday and he started at Washington. He lasted just 3 1/3 innings, allowing four earned runs, four hits and three walks. He did not figure into the decision.

Alex Rodriguez, who turns 31 in six days, recorded the 2,000th hit of his major league career. A-Rod is the eighth player in major league history to reach 2,000 hits before turning 31. A-Rod’s 2,000th hit was also his 450th home run. He’s the first player in major league history to get to 450 home runs before his 31st birthday. The previous youngest player at that milestone was Ken Griffey Jr., who was 31 years, 261 days old when he got there in 2001. (Source: Elias)

Mike Piazza also had the 2,000th hit of his career, a second-inning double. It was the second time this year that two players reached 2,000 hits on the same day. Garret Anderson and Manny Ramirez did it on July 1. Before that, it had not happened since Pete Rose and Willie Davis reached that milestone on June 19, 1973.

Barry Bonds left Friday’s game against the Padres in the bottom of the third inning. He was hit by a pitch on the left kneecap in the bottom of the first inning, but stayed in the game. He then had trouble running to first following a leadoff single in the third.

John Maine, told at 5pm that he would start Friday’s game against Houston in place of Orlando Hernandez, allowed just four hits and a walk in a complete game shutout. “How about that, huh?” manager Willie Randolph said. “Johnny Maine threw the ball great. He did an outstanding job. He kept hitting his spots and putting up zeroes. He was strong and stayed in his rythym.”

C.C. Sabathia did not enjoy pitching on his 26th birthday on Friday night against the Twins. He allowed eight runs — three earned — and six hits in just 3 2/3 innings to take the loss and fall to 7-6. He also walked four batters and struck out just four.

Mark Buehrle allowed five earned runs and seven hits in seven innings on Friday against the Rangers. It was only the second time in his career that he’s lost four in a row.

Pete Walker (shoulder) has elected to have season-ending surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder, according to the Toronto Star.

The Detroit Tigers optioned Ramon Santiago to Triple-A Toledo on Friday, as they made room for Dmitri Young on the active roster.

Ryan Theriot was optioned to Triple-A Iowa on Friday.

The San Diego Padres optioned Brian Sweeney and Mike Thompson to Triple-A Portland, recalled Terrmel Sledge and purchased the contract of Justin Leone.

The Boston Red Sox will recall Kason Gabbard from Triple-A Pawtucket to start Saturday’s game against the Seattle Mariners in his major league debut.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that J.J. Hardy’s surgery on his ankle tendon was successful Thursday.

The Baltimore Orioles purchased the contract of third baseman Fernando Tatis from Triple-A Ottawa. To make room for Tatis, the Orioles outrighted utility player Howie Clark to Ottawa. Baltimore also recalled pitcher Hayden Penn (appendix) from his rehab assignment and optioned him to Ottawa.

The Houston Astros optioned left-hander Wandy Rodriguez to Triple-A Round Rock on Thursday and called up right-hander Matt Albers from Double-A. Albers was 10-2 with a 2.17 ERA in 19 starts for Corpus Christi.

The Angels’ Kelvim Escobar (shoulder irritation) is expected to come off of the 15-day disabled list on Saturday to start at Kansas City.

THT Stats

Here’s a list of the major league leaders in baserunner pickoffs. I’ve also thrown in stolen base stats so you can see each pitcher’s total baserunning picture. Most of the leaders are lefties, though Detroit’s Justin Verlander stands out as a righthanded pitcher who does a great job controlling the running game.

Last        First       Team     SB     CS     PO
Maholm      Paul G      PIT       8      7      6
Verlander   Justin B    DET       1      3      5
Kazmir      Scott E     TB       15      2      4
Capuano     Chris       MIL       1      2      4
Rodriguez   Wandy E     HOU       5      6      4
Buehrle     Mark        CHA       2      3      4
Duke        Zach        PIT       8      8      4
Wright      Jamey       SF       13      5      4
Moyer       Jamie       SEA       2      5      4
Olsen       Scott M     FLA       7      7      3
Morris      Matt        SF       10      3      3
Rogers      Kenny       DET       1      2      2
Glavine     Tom         NYN       3      6      2
Meche       Gil         SEA       3      6      2
Lilly       Ted         TOR       9      3      2
Vazquez     Javier      CHA       6      4      2
Pettitte    Andy        HOU       9      3      2
Vargas      Claudio     ARI       4      3      2
Wakefield   Tim         BOS      21      4      2
Westbrook   Jake        CLE       7      1      2
Koronka     John V      TEX       6      3      2
Washburn    Jarrod      SEA       3      3      2
Fossum      Casey       TB        8      3      2
Elarton     Scott       KC        4      3      2

Access all of THT’s stats here…