THT Daily: Cubs sweep Sox

by Dave Studeman
June 23, 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/
On this day at THT: I posted one of my first-year Ten Things articles, learning, among nine other things, that MLB players are fined much less than other athletes.

Player News

Player Headlines are courtesy of Rotoworld

Justin Duchscherer was on yesterday. (Icon/SMI)

Mark Teixeira smacked three home runs to drive in four runs against the Mariners on Sunday. Teixeira hit a pair of solo shots off starter Carlos Silva, then added a two-run blast off reliever Ryan Rowland-Smith. Teixeira didn’t heat up in May as he usually does and hadn’t really done so in June either, but six of his 13 home runs on the season have come this month. He only figures to continue to improve.

Ian Snell will have an MRI on his elbow on Monday after complaining of soreness following Sunday’s game. There was no indication that this was a problem prior to today’s start. “We are going to run some tests tomorrow,” manager John Russell said. “Hopefully it’s not anything major but we’ll get some tests run and go from there. He didn’t feel right today and he has a little irritation.” The Pirates just lost Phil Dumatrait and have no adequate rotation depth, so it’d be a tough blow if Snell goes on the DL.

Yesterday’s Results

Game recaps courtesy of Craig Calcaterra.

Tigers 5, Padres 3: Because I was an 11 year-old obsessed Tigers fan in 1984, I have always thought of the Padres and Tigers as rivals. It makes no sense, really, because they share pretty much nothing apart from that one lopsided, forgone conclusion of a World Series. They have not had an uncommon number of common players, and there have been no further notable matchups. As of now, it’s just another random interleague series, the sort of which become less and less special as the years go on.

Or is it? Longtime ShysterBall reader and Michigan native Luke Himebaugh reports from Saturday night’s Tigers-Padres tilt:

TONS of Tigers fans. TONS. I don’t think, other than a close rivalry, I’ve ever seen so many visiting team logos around. I know a bunch of us out here are transplanted Michiganders, but it was insane! I swear during the 7th inning stretch, you heard more “root, root, root for the TIGERS” than anything.

On that note, I completely missed the Padres half of the 7th. Why? Because two drunk jackholes (one a Padres fan, one a Tigers fan) got into a fight . . . punching. Seriously. My first thought was “uh, aren’t these two sub-.500 teams in the two worst divisions in baseball? What’s there to fight about?” I mean, is the Padres fan holding a grudge from 1984 (he looked old enough to do so)? Or, is it a grudge from 2003, when the Tigers were one of the historically bad teams and they came into San Diego and took two of three en route to their 43-win season? Detroit has visited San Diego exactly 3 times in the 40-year history of the Padres. It’s not like there’s a lot of historic rivalry built up. Really, I was amazed by the amount of Tigers fans there. The amount of Old English D’s on clothing.

I called my San Diego-residing and, unlike me, still-Tiger-faithful brother last night to confirm he wasn’t in the fight (we worry about him sometimes). I got his voicemail. Maybe he’s still in the drunk tank. Maybe he’s on the lam. If anyone saw the fight, he was probably the one wearing a Wings jersey, Dickeys dungarees, and purple Dr. Marten boots.

Angels 3, Phillies 2: The second best division leader in the NL is swept by the second best division leader in the AL. That pretty much sums up this league disparity thing. Which kills an NL guy like me, but there’s no sense continuing to rail against the obvious.

Royals 11, Giants 10: The second to the worst team in the NL loses two of three to the second to the worst team in the AL. That pretty much sums up this league disparity thing. Which kills an NL guy like me, but there’s no sense continuing to rail against the obvious.

Red Sox 5, Cardinals 3: I don’t get to watch much baseball on the weekends. That’s my big time with the kids, and when I’m not playing with them there are too many things that need to be done around the house. Sometimes, though, I plot and plan in order to get a little bit of baseball watching in. I embark on some project that can be done in the basement where, it just so happens, I have a TV set up. Or I get the kids really involved in some self-sufficient activity like building a cushion fort while I sit on the lounger and catch a few innings. This may sound pathetic to a lot of you, but the married-with-kids guys understand.

A Hardball Times Update

by RJ McDaniel

Goodbye for now.

Yesterday was a pretty full damn day, but at some point in the middle of the afternoon my wife went to the grocery store, my daughter went to her room to play with her Polly Pockets, and my son decided to chase one of the cats. I knew it wasn’t the biggest of windows, but I jumped for the remote and turned the Sox and Cards on. Wouldn’t you know it: rain delay. And it went on for like 45 minutes. Just as play was resuming, my wife came home, my daughter came downstairs, my son gave up on the cat, and I was back in family time. It’s OK — I get enough baseball in during the week — but man, those lost opportunities really stink.

Mets 3, Rockies 1: The Mets wrap up a nice, calm, and uneventful 4-2 road trip.

Yankees 4, Reds 1: Andy Pettitte plays stopper again, winning his fifth straight decision and preventing the sweep. Ever since he beat John Smoltz 1-0 in Game Five of the 1996 World Series, I’ve really wanted to hate this guy. To hate his low brim. His slick pickoff move. His stuff that, while crisp enough, looks like it should be more hittable than it is. I’ve tried hard to hate him or, at the very least, to root against him over the years because he always seemed to be giving guys I like better than him hell. But you know what? I just can’t do it. To my knowledge he’s never had a jerk spell off the field. He’s always been ready to take the ball. He always seems to start a game with a plan and with the right mix of caution and confidence, no matter how well or how poorly he’s pitched in recent games. The HGH stuff is irrelevant to my assessment of him, but even if you disagree, you have to admit that he handled it all about as well as anyone could have handled it. I’ve even come to like that low brim, slick pickoff move, and stuff that, while crisp enough, looks like it should be more hittable than it is. I don’t like the Yankees much and I’ve never liked the Astros, but man, I have to admit that I have nothing but respect and admiration for Andy Pettitte.

Rangers 5, Nats 3: Following up on Friday’s advice column post, Charles Kitchen has written in to report on his conduct:

I did not boo until extra innings on Friday night. The game just would not end and I let my frustration get the better of me. I did not boo the next two games.

Good for you, Charles. And you’re excused for booing Friday night’s game. For those who don’t follow the Nats and Rangers closely (i.e. all of you as far as I know, with the exception of Charles, Needham and Royce), the 14 inning affair meant that after-game fireworks were canceled and fans were subjected to two of Washington’s shamelessly derivative Presidents races.

Braves 8, Mariners 3: Teixeira hits three dingers as Atlanta wins in a laugher. The good Tim Hudson showed up. The bad Jeff Francoeur — which is the only Jeff Francoeur — was on the bench. As Mac notes, it’s probably no coincidence that an offensive outburst for Atlanta coincided with Frenchy’s absence from the lineup. In other news, the Mariners first three games under Riggleman all featured Ichiro in right field as opposed to center, which just about everyone on the planet has noted is a poor utilization of resources. Given how bad the Mariners’ season has gone I suppose anything Riggleman does is basically rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic, but you’d think that at least that egregious McLaren error would have been immediately rectified.

Astros 3, Rays 2: A team playing about the worst baseball in the game waltzes into the stadium of one of the best home teams in the game and takes two of three. Go figure.

Dodgers 4, Indians 3: Paul Byrd has definitely been the weak link of the Indians’ rotation this season. No, I suppose four runs over seven innings isn’t terrible, but when they all come in the first inning, it really changes the game, ya know?

Brewers 7, Orioles 3: Prince Fielder ( 3-4, 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI) continues his torrid June during which he has raised his OPS around .100 points. The Brewers are still behind St. Louis, but right now they’re my favorite to win the Wild Card.

A’s 7, Marlins 1: Justin Duchscherer lowers his ERA to 1.99. He’s now 4-0 in June and will probably go to the All-Star game in Yankee Stadium. I’m guessing that exactly 3 baseball writers in the New York Metropolitan area have any idea who he is. Marchman is one because he knows everything. The other ones were the two beat reporters who drew the short straws and had to stay for the whole June 11th game when Duscherer beat the Yankees (everyone else was watching Erin Andrews’ yellow dress that night).

Twins 5, Diamondbacks 3: Look, none of us are proud about those “can Webb win 30?” conversations from last month, so let’s all just pretend they never happened and never speak of it again, OK?

Cubs 7, White Sox 1: A pretty dominating sweep of the Chisox makes for fourteen wins in a row at Wrigley for the Cubbies. Like the Celtics, the Cubs may play in the inferior league/conference, but they are clearly the best team in the game. If you don’t think so, ask yourself: before the season, if someone would have told you that the Cubs were going to lose Soriano and Zambrano to injuries, how many wins would you have put them down for?

Blue Jays 5, Indians 3: Jimmy Key scatters six hits and three runs over nine innings and George Bell and Lloyd Moseby go deep as Cito Gaston gets his first win as Blue Jays’ manager. Meanwhile in West Virginia, a young Shyster has his heart broken via a note informing him that his sophomore crush likes him, but doesn’t like-like him. He keeps his composure, however, and vows to redouble his efforts at attaining her like-like once he gets his driver’s license in July.

You can download a compact version of yesterday’s boxscores from Heater Magazine.

First Inning’s Major and Minor League Daily Reports:

{embed=”pageblocks/FirstInning_Team_Lookup”}

Today’s Games

National League
 ---------------
 Milwaukee Brewers at Atlanta Braves, 7:10 PM
  (R) Ben Sheets (8-1) vs. (L) Jo-Jo Reyes (3-4)
 
 Inter-League
 ------------
 Arizona Diamondbacks at Boston Red Sox, 7:05 PM
  (R) Dan Haren (7-4) vs. (R) Josh Beckett (7-4)
 LA Angels of Anaheim at Washington Nationals, 7:10 PM
  (R) John Lackey (4-1) vs. (R) Jason Bergmann (1-5)
 Seattle Mariners at New York Mets, 7:10 PM
  (R) Felix Hernandez (6-5) vs. (L) Johan Santana (7-5)
 Colorado Rockies at Kansas City Royals, 8:10 PM
  (L) Jeff Francis (3-6) vs. (R) Brian Bannister (6-6)

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     47  31 .603    0.0   46     1    
TB      44  31 .587    1.5   41     3    
NYA     41  35 .539    5.0   40     1    
BAL     38  36 .514    7.0   36     2    
TOR     36  41 .468   10.5   40    -4    
American League Central     
CHA     41  34 .547    0.0   45    -4    
MIN     40  36 .526    1.5   38     2    
DET     36  39 .480    5.0   37    -1    
CLE     35  41 .461    6.5   40    -5    
KC      33  43 .434    8.5   32     1    
American League West        
LAA     46  30 .605    0.0   39     7    
OAK     41  34 .547    4.5   44    -3    
TEX     39  38 .506    7.5   38     1    
SEA     26  49 .347   19.5   29    -3    


National League East        Pwins  Diff
PHI     42  35 .545    0.0   46    -4    
FLA     40  35 .533    1.0   38     2    
NYN     37  37 .500    3.5   38    -1    
ATL     38  39 .494    4.0   43    -5    
WAS     30  47 .390   12.0   28     2    
National League Central     
CHN     48  28 .632    0.0   49    -1    
STL     44  33 .571    4.5   41     3    
MIL     41  34 .547    6.5   37     4    
PIT     36  40 .474   12.0   34     2    
HOU     35  41 .461   13.0   34     1    
CIN     35  42 .455   13.5   34     1    
National League West        
ARI     39  37 .513    0.0   39     0    
LAN     35  40 .467    3.5   37    -2    
COL     32  44 .421    7.0   32     0    
SF      32  44 .421    7.0   33    -1    
SD      32  45 .416    7.5   31     1

Game of the Day

Red Sox 5, Cardinals 3 - FINAL

ST LOUIS               ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
B Barton lf             4  1  1  1   0  1   2  .245
 va-S Schumaker ph-rf   3  0  0  0   0  0   4  .298
A Miles 2b-ss           6  0  5  0   0  0   1  .313
R Ludwick rf-lf         6  0  1  1   0  1   7  .297
T Glaus 3b              4  0  0  0   2  2   2  .260
N Stavinoha dh          6  0  1  0   0  3   4  .167
R Ankiel cf             6  0  0  0   0  2   4  .251
Y Molina 1b-c           6  0  1  0   0  1   0  .290
J LaRue c               3  0  1  0   0  1   0  .228
 vb-C Duncan ph-1b      2  1  1  0   1  0   1  .234
B Ryan ss               3  1  2  0   0  0   1  .286
 vc-A Kennedy ph-2b     3  0  3  1   0  0   0  .269

Totals                 52  3 16  3   3 11  26   ###

BOSTON                 ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
J Ellsbury lf           6  0  1  0   0  1   3  .276
D Pedroia 2b            5  1  4  0   0  0   0  .282
J Drew rf               5  0  0  0   1  1   4  .318
M Ramirez dh            3  0  1  0   1  0   1  .295
 B Moss pr-dh           0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .256
 ha-S Casey ph-dh       2  0  0  0   0  0   2  .365
M Lowell 3b             5  1  3  1   1  0   1  .277
K Youkilis 1b           5  2  2  3   1  2   4  .305
J Varitek c             5  0  0  0   0  0   3  .230
C Crisp cf              4  1  2  0   1  0   0  .265
J Lugo ss               2  0  0  1   0  0   0  .275
 A Cora ss              2  0  0  0   0  1   3  .280

Totals                 44  5 13  5   5  5  21   ###

----------------------------------------------------
    ST LOUIS        - 000 002 001 000 0  --   3 16 0
    BOSTON          - 000 000 120 000 2  --   5 13 0

No outs when winning run scored.
----------------------------------------------------

va-grounded to third for B Barton in the 9th;  vb-walked for J Larue in the 
9th;  vc-doubled to center for B Ryan in the 9th;  ha-flied out to left for B 
Moss in the 10th.

BATTING: 2B - B Ryan 2 (6, J Lester 2); B Barton (6, J Lester); A Kennedy (5, J 
Papelbon); C Duncan (6, J Lopez); D Pedroia 2 (22, R Villone, J Pineiro); J 
Ellsbury (8, K McClellan); M Lowell (15, J Isringhausen). 3B - C Crisp (2, J 
Pineiro). HR - K Youkilis 2 (13, 7th inning off J Pineiro 0 on, 2 Out, 13th 
inning off M Parisi 1 on, 0 Out). S - D Pedroia. SF - J Lugo. RBI - B Barton 
(9), R Ludwick (56), A Kennedy (18), K Youkilis 3 (47), J Lugo (18), M Lowell 
(39). 2-out RBI - A Kennedy, K Youkilis, M Lowell. Runners left in scoring 
position, 2 out - R Ludwick 2, R Ankiel 2, S Schumaker 2, B Barton 1, S Casey 
1, J Drew 1, K Youkilis 2, J Ellsbury 2. GIDP - R Ludwick 2, J Varitek, S 
Casey. Team LOB - ST LOUIS 13, BOSTON 10. BASERUNNING: SB - B Barton (3, 3rd 
base off J Lester/J Varitek), D Pedroia (8, 2nd base off C Perez/J LaRue). CS - 
C Crisp (3, 2nd base by J Pineiro). FIELDING: Outfield assists - J Drew (C 
Duncan at Home). DP:  (A Miles-B Ryan-Y Molina, A Kennedy-A Miles-C Duncan, D 
Pedroia-J Lugo-K Youkilis, J Lugo-D Pedroia-K Youkilis). 

ST LOUIS                     ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
J Pineiro                     7       7   2   2   0   1   1   3.86
C Perez (B, 1)                1       1   1   1   3   1   0   4.20
R Springer                    1       0   0   0   0   0   0   2.38
K McClellan                   1       1   0   0   0   1   0   2.52
J Isringhausen                1       1   0   0   2   2   0   6.17
R Villone                     1       1   0   0   0   0   0   5.65
M Parisi (L, 0-3)             0       2   2   2   0   0   1   8.06

BOSTON                       ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
J Lester                      7 1/3   9   2   2   1   3   0   3.13
M Delcarmen                     2/3   0   0   0   0   2   0   3.48
J Papelbon (B, 4)             1       1   1   1   1   2   0   2.16
H Okajima                     1 2/3   4   0   0   1   1   0   3.00
C Hansen                      1 2/3   0   0   0   0   3   0   5.06
J Lopez (W, 2-0)                2/3   2   0   0   0   0   0   2.45

J Pineiro pitched to 1 batter in the 8th.
M Parisi pitched to 2 batters in the 13th.

Pitches-strikes: J Pineiro 81-57; C Perez 29-12; R Springer 10-8; K McClellan 
11-7; J Isringhausen 24-13; R Villone 6-4; M Parisi 6-3; J Lester 101-66; M 
Delcarmen 15-9; J Papelbon 19-15; H Okajima 28-16; C Hansen 22-17; J Lopez 
10-6. Ground balls-fly balls: J Pineiro 13-6; C Perez 1-1; R Springer 0-3; K 
McClellan 1-1; J Isringhausen 1-0; R Villone 3-0; M Parisi 0-0; J Lester 10-9; 
M Delcarmen 0-0; J Papelbon 1-0; H Okajima 0-4; C Hansen 1-1; J Lopez 0-1. 
Batters faced: J Pineiro 26; C Perez 7; R Springer 3; K McClellan 4; J 
Isringhausen 6; R Villone 3; M Parisi 2; J Lester 30; M Delcarmen 2; J Papelbon 
5; H Okajima 10; C Hansen 5; J Lopez 3. IRS - C Perez. UMPIRES: HP--Tim 
Timmons. 1B--Gary Cederstrom. 2B--Fieldin Culbreth. 3B--Jim Reynolds.   
T--4:25. (Plus rain delay totaling 50 minutes in the 1st). Att--37,085. 
Weather: 84 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 18 mph, out to right.

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.

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
Ronnie Belliard       WAS     Vicente Padilla      TEX     394    401   5  PL
Carlos Beltran        NYM     Greg Reynolds        COL     457    414  11  ND
Brandon Boggs         TEX     John Lannan          WAS     415    403   4  ND
Jeff Clement          SEA     Mike Gonzalez        ATL     411    390   1  JE/L
Prince Fielder        MIL     Ryan Bukvich         BAL     441    437  16  ND
Prince Fielder        MIL     Jamie Walker         BAL     372    366  15  PL
Adrian Gonzalez       SD      Justin Verlander     DET     398    396  20  PL
Ken Griffey           CIN     Kyle Farnsworth      NYY     352    351   8  JE
Bill Hall             MIL     Garrett Olson        BAL     389    388  10  PL
Willie Harris         WAS     Vicente Padilla      TEX     427    425   3  PL
Corey Hart            MIL     Garrett Olson        BAL     414    412  12  JE
Jeremy Hermida        FLA     Justin Duchscherer   OAK     408    412   8  PL
Ian Kinsler           TEX     John Lannan          WAS     396    389  11  PL/L
Casey Kotchman        LAA     Cole Hamels          PHI     402    392   8  ND
Carlos Lee            HOU     Scott Kazmir         TB      375    374  17  PL
Adam Lind             TOR     Ian Snell            PIT     413    403   1  PL
Evan Longoria         TB      Brandon Backe        HOU     421    420  12  JE
Russell Martin        LAD     Paul Byrd            CLE     414    408   7  ND
Brian McCann          ATL     Carlos Silva         SEA     409    399  14  JE/L
Magglio Ordonez       DET     Randy Wolf           SD      376    376  12  PL
Eric Patterson        CHC     Javier Vazquez       CWS     381    379   1  JE
Hunter Pence          HOU     Scott Kazmir         TB      390    389  10  PL
Aramis Ramirez        CHC     Javier Vazquez       CWS     426    423  14  PL
Ivan Rodriguez        DET     Heath Bell           SD      357    349   2  JE/L
Scott Rolen           TOR     Franquelis Osoria    PIT     393    390   4  JE
Mark Teixeira         ATL     Carlos Silva         SEA     361    334  13  PL
Mark Teixeira         ATL     Carlos Silva         SEA     407    390  12  PL/L
Mark Teixeira         ATL     Ryan Rowland-Smith   SEA     373    367  11  PL
Yorvit Torrealba      COL     Joe Smith            NYM     438    411   3  PL
Kevin Youkilis        BOS     Joel Pineiro         STL     343    294  13  JE/L
Kevin Youkilis        BOS     Mike Parisi          STL     384    371  12  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
SD  AA  Kyle Blanks....... 4  3  2  0  1  1  0  
COL AAA Joseph Koshansky.. 3  3  1  0  1  1  0  
MIL AA  Mat Gamel......... 4  3  1  0  1  0  0  
PIT AA  Shelby Ford....... 3  2  0  1  0  1  1  3 SB
COL AA  Eric Young........ 4  3  1  0  0  1  0  2 SB
CIN AA  Daniel Dorn....... 5  2  1  0  1  0  1  
NYM AA  Nick Evans........ 5  2  1  0  1  0  0  
PIT A+  Jamie Romak....... 4  2  2  0  0  1  2  
CLE A+  Jared Goedert..... 4  3  0  0  1  1  0  3 R
ATL A   Cody Johnson...... 4  2  1  0  1  0  2  4 RBI
NYY AAA Brett Gardner..... 1  0  0  0  0  4  0  2 SB
COL AAA Seth Smith........ 4  2  2  0  0  0  0  

ORG LVL PLAYER            IP  H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
SD  A   Jeremy Hefner..... 7  4  0  0 10  1  0  
SD  AAA Wade Leblanc...... 7  2  1  1  9  0  1  
TEX A   Neftali Feliz..... 6  3  0  0 10  2  0  
TB  A+  J. Hellickson..... 7  1  0  0  4  0  0  
CHW AA  Kyle McCulloch.... 7  8  3  2  7  0  0  
MIN A+  Jay Rainville..... 7  9  4  3  7  0  0  
ATL A+  Ryne Reynoso ..... 4  4  2  2  6  1  0  
COL AA  Chaz Roe.......... 6  3  0  0  4  2  0  
PHI A+  Andrew Carpenter.. 8  7  2  2  3  1  0  
OAK AAA Dan Meyer......... 6  4  3  2  6  2  1  
STL AAA P.J. Walters...... 4  5  0  0  6  2  0  
NYM AA  Jonathon Niese.... 6  4  3  3  3  2  0

Access THT’s stats here…

{embed=”content/2005stable”}