THT Daily: Dead Heat in the West

Major League News for July 4

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     3  TEX     2    (Recap and Boxscore) Halladay: 7.2 IP, 0 R
TB      9  BOS     6    (Recap and Boxscore) Fossum: 5 IP, 1 R
LAA    14  SEA     6    (Recap and Boxscore) Rivera: 2 HR, 5 RBI
OAK     2  DET     1    (Recap and Boxscore) 10 Innings; Verlander and Haren: 7 IP, 1 R
CLE    19  NYA     1    (Recap and Boxscore) See below
KC      7  MIN     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
CHA    13  BAL     0    (Recap and Boxscore) Uribe: 5 RBI, HR; Contreras: 6.2 IP, 0 R

National League
COL     6  SF      1    (Recap and Boxscore) Francis: 5 IP, 0 R
PHI     6  SD      5    (Recap and Boxscore) PHI: 11 straight wins over SD since 2004
STL     6  ATL     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
NYN     7  PIT     6    (Recap and Boxscore) Nady: 3 RBI, go-ahead single in 8th
WAS     6  FLA     4    (Recap and Boxscore) Zimmerman: 3R Walkoff HR
MIL     5  CIN     2    (Recap and Boxscore) Davis: 8.2 IP, 2 R
LAN    11  ARI     3    (Recap and Boxscore) Ethier: 4 RBI; Drew: 2 2B; Sele: 6 IP, 2 R
HOU     7  CHN     2    (Recap and Boxscore) Pettitte: 6 IP, 1 R; Lamb: 3 RBI

Today’s Games

Visitors                       Home                               Time
DET - Rogers K.* (10-3, 3.72)  OAK - Saarloos K. (3-4, 4.61)      3:35
NYY - Mussina M. (9-3, 3.17)   CLE - Byrd P. (6-5, 4.10)          7:05
SD - Peavy J. (4-8, 4.50)      PHI - Mathieson S. (0-2, 6.75)     7:05
FLA - Petit Y. (0-1, 7.36)     WAS - O'Connor M.* (3-5, 3.77)     7:05
PIT - Wells K. (0-3, 15.19)    NYM - Hernandez O. (4-8, 5.55)     7:10
BOS - Johnson J. (3-9, 6.22)   TB - Corcoran T. (2-0, 1.17)       7:15
STL - Suppan J. (6-4, 5.17)    ATL - James C.* (2-0, 2.13)        7:35
BAL - Cabrera D. (4-5, 5.13)   CWS - Garland J. (7-3, 5.60)       8:05
TOR - Janssen C. (6-6, 4.38)   TEX - Padilla V. (7-5, 4.47)       8:05
CIN - Ramirez E. (3-6, 4.11)   MIL - Villanueva C. (0-1, 4.50)    8:05
CHC - Marshall S.* (4-7, 5.19) HOU - Oswalt R. (6-4, 3.27)        8:05
MIN - Radke B. (7-7, 5.11)     KC - Duckworth B. (1-1, 5.57)      8:10
SF - Wright J. (5-7, 4.92)     COL - Fogg J. (6-5, 4.58)          9:05
LAA - Colon B. (0-4, 5.77)     SEA - Moyer J.* (5-7, 3.39)       10:05
ARI - Vargas C. (7-4, 4.82)    LAD - Penny B. (9-2, 2.94)        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     50  31 .617    0.0   46      4      
TOR     47  36 .566    4.0   46      1      
NYA     46  35 .568    4.0   46      0      
BAL     39  46 .459   13.0   37      2      
TB      37  47 .440   14.5   35      2      
American League Central
DET     56  28 .667    0.0   54      2      
CHA     54  29 .651    1.5   51      3      
MIN     46  36 .561    9.0   44      2      
CLE     39  43 .476   16.0   46     -7      
KC      28  54 .341   27.0   28      0      
American League West
OAK     44  39 .530    0.0   41      3      
TEX     42  42 .500    2.5   43     -1      
SEA     42  43 .494    3.0   44     -2      
LAA     39  44 .470    5.0   40     -1      

National League East         Pwins Diff
NYN     49  34 .590    0.0   47      2      
PHI     38  44 .463   10.5   37      1      
FLA     35  45 .438   12.5   39     -4      
WAS     37  48 .435   13.0   38     -1      
ATL     36  48 .429   13.5   40     -4      
National League Central
STL     45  37 .549    0.0   43      2      
CIN     44  40 .524    2.0   41      3      
HOU     42  42 .500    4.0   40      2      
MIL     42  43 .494    4.5   36      6      
CHN     30  53 .361   15.5   31     -1      
PIT     29  56 .341   17.5   38     -9      
National League West
SD      43  40 .518    0.0   43      0      
LAN     43  40 .518    0.0   47     -4      
COL     43  40 .518    0.0   43      0      
SF      43  41 .512    0.5   43      0      
ARI     40  44 .476    3.5   40      0      

Game of the Day

It was George Steinbrenner’s 76th birthday, but the Cleveland Indians showed no mercy, routing the Yankees 19-1. Victor Martinez went 5-for-6 and Jhonny Peralta and Travis Hafner each hit two of Cleveland’s six home runs to lead the Cleveland attack. The Yankees’ only run was unearned.

According to Elias, this game marked the third time the Indians have beaten the Yankees by at least 18 runs. They won 24-6 in June 1928 and 22-0 in August 2004. Aside from those three games, the Yankees have lost only one other game by 18 or more runs in their history: A 19-1 loss to the Tigers in June 1925.

NY YANKEES (1) VS CLEVELAND (19) - FINAL

NY YANKEES             ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
J Damon cf              3  1  0  0   0  0   1  .292
 M Cairo 2b             2  0  1  0   0  0   1  .229
D Jeter ss              3  0  1  0   0  0   2  .341
 K Stinnett c           2  0  1  0   0  1   2  .222
J Giambi dh             3  0  0  0   1  0   3  .269
A Rodriguez 3b          4  0  3  0   0  0   1  .291
J Posada c              2  0  1  0   0  0   1  .289
 a-B Crosby ph-cf       2  0  0  0   0  0   1  .217
A Phillips 1b           4  0  0  0   0  1   4  .259
M Cabrera lf            4  0  1  0   0  0   2  .261
K Reese rf              3  0  1  0   1  0   1  .417
N Green 2b-ss           3  0  0  0   1  2   3  .104

Totals                 35  1  9  0   3  4  22

a-lined out to first for J Posada in the 6th.

BATTING: 2B - A Rodriguez (12, J Westbrook). Runners left in scoring position, 
2 out - A Phillips 2, D Jeter 1, J Posada 1, K Stinnett 1. GIDP - J Giambi, M 
Cabrera. Team LOB - 10. 
 
BASERUNNING: SB - K Reese (1, 2nd base off J Westbrook/V Martinez). 
 
FIELDING: E - J Posada (5, catch). PB - J Posada 2. 

CLEVELAND              ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
G Sizemore cf           3  3  3  1   2  0   0  .304
 F Gutierrez cf-rf      1  1  1  0   0  0   0  .245
R Belliard 2b           5  1  2  4   0  0   4  .293
J Peralta ss            5  3  2  3   1  0   1  .252
T Hafner dh             5  4  3  4   1  0   1  .318
V Martinez c            6  2  5  3   0  0   0  .307
B Broussard 1b          6  1  1  0   0  4   3  .327
J Michaels lf           4  1  0  0   1  1   2  .272
T Hollandsworth rf      4  2  3  2   0  0   0  .256
 a-J Inglett ph-cf      1  0  0  0   0  0   0  .125
A Boone 3b              4  0  1  2   0  1   3  .253
 R Vazquez 3b           0  1  0  0   1  0   0  .159

Totals                 44 19 21 19   6  6  14

a-grounded to second for T Hollandsworth in the 7th.

BATTING: 2B - G Sizemore 2 (25, S Chacon, T Beam); V Martinez (18, S Chacon); T 
Hollandsworth (10, T Beam); T Hafner (16, T Beam); R Belliard (19, S Proctor). 
HR - J Peralta 2 (9, 1st inning off S Chacon 1 on, 1 Out, 5th inning off T Beam 
0 on, 2 Out), V Martinez (11, 1st inning off S Chacon 1 on, 1 Out), T Hafner 2 
(24, 2nd inning off S Chacon 2 on, 1 Out, 6th inning off S Proctor 0 on, 1 
Out), R Belliard (8, 5th inning off T Beam 1 on, 2 Out). S - R Belliard. RBI - 
J Peralta 3 (39), V Martinez 3 (56), T Hafner 4 (70), G Sizemore (42), R 
Belliard 4 (41), T Hollandsworth 2 (25), A Boone 2 (34). 2-out RBI - G 
Sizemore, R Belliard 2, J Peralta, V Martinez, T Hollandsworth 2, A Boone 2. 
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J Michaels 1, T Hafner 1, R Belliard 
1, A Boone 1. Team LOB - 9. 
 
FIELDING: E - A Boone (11, ground ball). DP: 2 (R Belliard-J Peralta-B 
Broussard, R Belliard-B Broussard). 

----------------------------------------------------
    NY YANKEES      - 100 000 000   --   1
    CLEVELAND       - 430 091 20x   --  19
----------------------------------------------------

NY YANKEES                   ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
S Chacon (L, 4-3)             1 1/3   6   7   7   3   1   3   6.71
R Villone                     2 2/3   2   0   0   0   2   0   1.99
T Beam                          2/3   6   6   6   0   1   2  12.15
M Myers                         1/3   3   3   2   2   0   0   1.65
S Proctor                     2       4   3   3   1   1   1   4.58
K Farnsworth                  1       0   0   0   0   1   0   4.62

CLEVELAND                    ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
J Westbrook (W, 7-4)          7       5   1   0   3   3   0   4.09
E Mujica                      2       4   0   0   0   1   0   0.00

HBP - J Michaels (by S Chacon). Pitches-strikes: S Chacon 56-26; R Villone 
36-26; T Beam 26-17; M Myers 22-11; S Proctor 28-19; K Farnsworth 9-6; J 
Westbrook 101-61; E Mujica 44-25. Ground balls-fly balls: S Chacon 1-2; R 
Villone 0-6; T Beam 1-0; M Myers 1-0; S Proctor 2-3; K Farnsworth 0-2; J 
Westbrook 14-4; E Mujica 1-4. Batters faced: S Chacon 14; R Villone 10; T Beam 
8; M Myers 6; S Proctor 11; K Farnsworth 3; J Westbrook 28; E Mujica 10. 

UMPIRES: HP--John Hirschbeck. 1B--Wally Bell. 2B--Mark Carlson. 3B--C.B. 
Bucknor. 

T--3:10. Att--29,638. 
Weather: 79 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 7 mph, left to right.

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 #
Ramirez, Manny     BOS    Camp, Shawn      TB            451        451      23
Gomes, Jonny       TB     Schilling, Curt  BOS           433        431      18
Uribe, Juan        CWS    Lopez, Rodrigo   BAL           403        420      11
Hinske, Eric       TOR    Koronka, John    TEX           417        415       7
DeJesus, David     KC     Bonser, Boof     MIN           426        414       4
Ruiz, Carlos       PHI    Hensley, Clay    SD            409        412       1
Adams, Russ        TOR    Koronka, John    TEX           407        410       3
Sexson, Richie     SEA    Santana, Ervin   LAA           403        404      16
Hafner, Travis     CLE    Chacon, Shawn    NYY           407        401      23
Hafner, Travis     CLE    Proctor, Scott   NYY           403        399      24
Ford, Lew          MIN    Gobble, Jimmy    KC            403        399       3
Rivera, Juan       LAA    Meche, Gil       SEA           398        399       7
Wilson, Vance      DET    Haren, Dan       OAK           382        397       4
Wigginton, Ty      TB     Schilling, Curt  BOS           397        396      16
Konerko, Paul      CWS    Chen, Bruce      BAL           390        393      21
Encarnacion, Juan  STL    Thomson, John    ATL           418        390      11
Lugo, Julio        TB     Schilling, Curt  BOS           390        389       9
Giles, Marcus      ATL    Carpenter, Chris STL           421        388       7
Atkins, Garrett    COL    Taschner, Jack   SF            438        387      11
Peralta, Jhonny    CLE    Chacon, Shawn    NYY           391        386       8
Kapler, Gabe       BOS    Fossum, Casey    TB            385        385       2
Ortiz, David       BOS    Harville, Chad   TB            385        384      27
Zimmerman, Ryan    WAS    Borowski, Joe    FLA           376        382      12
Koskie, Corey      MIL    Arroyo, Bronson  CIN           394        381      12
Blanco, Henry      CHC    Lidge, Brad      HOU           382        381       4
Ramirez, Hanley    FLA    Rauch, Jon       WAS           379        381       5
Helton, Todd       COL    Schmidt, Jason   SF            422        379      10
Ibanez, Raul       SEA    Santana, Ervin   LAA           379        379      19
Peralta, Jhonny    CLE    Beam, T.J.       NYY           386        374       9
Byrd, Marlon       WAS    Olsen, Scott     FLA           364        370       5
Martinez, Victor   CLE    Chacon, Shawn    NYY           381        368      11
Belliard, Ronnie   CLE    Beam, T.J.       NYY           362        362       8
Hudson, Orlando    ARI    Sele, Aaron      LAD           379        360       6
Hatteberg, Scott   CIN    Davis, Doug      MIL           371        353       7
Rivera, Juan       LAA    Soriano, Rafael  SEA           336        334       8

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
CIN AAA Chris Denorfia     CF  5  4  2  1  0  0  0   
COL AAA Chris Iannetta      C  3  3  2  0  1  1  0  .524 OBP during past week
DET AAA Ryan Ludwick       RF  5  3  0  1  2  0  0  3 runs scored
KC  A+  Brian Mc Fall      RF  4  3  2  0  1  0  1   
LA  A+  Andrew Locke       LF  4  3  1  0  1  0  1  4 RBI
LA  AAA Joel Guzman        LF  4  3  1  0  1  0  1   
MIL AA  Drew Anderson      LF  4  3  2  0  1  1  0  4 runs scored
NYM A-  Jonathan Sanchez   RF  4  3  0  2  0  1  0  3 runs scored
TB  A+  Fernando Perez     CF  4  4  0  1  0  1  0  5 RBI
TOR AAA Jason Phillips      C  3  3  0  0  1  1  0   
 
ORG LVL PLAYER             IP   H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
ARI AA  Matt Chico         8.0  3  1  1  5  2  0   
ARI A   Cody Evans         8.0  4  0  0  8  1  0   
ATL AAA Dan Curtis         8.0  3  0  0  7  2  0   
BAL A+  Luis Ramirez       8.0  1  1  1  4  1  1   
BAL AAA Adam Loewen        7.0  3  0  0 10  0  0   
CHC A+  Donald Veal        7.0  3  0  0  6  1  0  0.74 ERA over past month
COL AAA Jose Acevedo       7.0  3  1  1  6  0  0   
KC  A+  John Gragg III     8.0  3  2  2  7  2  1   
LA  AA  T.J. Nall          9.0  2  0  0 12  0  0  57 K over last 44 IP
MIL AA  Travis Phelps      7.0  4  1  1 10  0  0  

Player News

Player news items are provided by CBS SportsLine.com.

Jose Contreras earned the win in Chicago’s 13-0 whitewash of Baltimore, his 17th consecutive victory. Only three other living pitchers have won 17 straight decisions in the majors: Johan Santana (17 straight in 2004-05), Roger Clemens (20 in a row from 1998-99) and Elroy Face (22 consecutive victories from 1958-59). (Source: Elias)

Pittsburgh is the first team in major-league history to have a season in which it lost 25 games by one run by the Fourth of July. The previous record was held by the Astros, who lost 24 times by one run through games of July 4, 1971. (Source: Elias)

The San Francisco Giants optioned Kevin Frandsen to Triple-A Fresno and recalled relief pitcher Jack Taschner.

The Los Angeles Dodgers purchased the contract of Giovanni Carrara and optioned Hong-Chih Kuo to Triple-A Las Vegas. Ricky Ledee (groin) was moved from the 15-day to the 60-day disabled list.

Cole Hamels worked only two innings on Tuesday against the Padres, allowing one run and a hit. He also walked two and struck out two, but he was not permitted to come back into the game after an hour rain delay. “I kept my arm warm by throwing every 10-15 minutes, but I didn’t get the chance to go back in,” Hamels said. “That was (the coaching staff’s) call.”

Cliff Floyd left Tuesday’s game against the Pirates in the fifth inning due to a mild concussion. He was injured in a collision with shortstop Jose Reyes while pursuing a fly ball.

Ben Sheets (right shoulder tendinitis) tossed a 45-pitch simulated game. Manager Ned Yost said that he threw great, but the team would wait to see how he responds on Wednesday before deciding whether he will head out for a rehab start in the minors or not.

Outfielder Jason Michaels was activated from the 15-day disabled list by the Cleveland Indians and was in the starting lineup for Tuesday night’s game against the New York Yankees. To make room for Michaels, first baseman Ryan Garko was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo.

Billy Wagner earned his 300th save. He recorded three outs for his 16th save in 20 chances this season. “Like (Carlos) Delgado told me, it means that I’m getting old,” Wagner said, referring to his milestone. “No, it’s special. It means a lot to me.”

Needing a fresh arm, the New York Mets purchased pitcher Jose Lima’s contract from Triple-A Norfolk on Tuesday and optioned reliever Heath Bell to their top farm club. To make room for Lima on the 40-man roster, right-hander Mike Adams was designated for assignment.

Boston pitcher Matt Clement cut short his first minor league rehabilitation start after one inning Tuesday with the Gulf Coast League Red Sox after hurting his biceps. “He did go back out for the second inning and on the second warm-up pitch he walked off the mound,” Boston manager Terry Francona said before the Red Sox played at Tampa Bay. “He felt some biceps soreness, so we immediately shut him down.”

Chipper Jones is scheduled to see a specialist Wednesday about his injured right foot, and Braves manager Bobby Cox said the reports don’t sound encouraging. Tests have revealed Jones has a partial tear of the plantar plate of his right second toe and an inflamed ligament.

The Philadelphia Phillies placed catcher Sal Fasano on the 15-day disabled list with a knee injury, recalled catcher Carlos Ruiz and outfielder Chris Roberson from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and designated right-hander Adam Bernero for assignment on Tuesday.

Mariners’ utility player Mike Morse, who was recently optioned to Triple-A Tacoma, tore cartilage in his right knee and will have arthroscopic surgery this week.

All-Star RF Alex Rios was still hospitalized with a staph infection on Monday, but the Blue Jays expect him back immediately after the break.

The New York Yankees have signed 16-year-old Venezuelan catcher Jesus Montero to a $2 million deal, according to published reports. The Yankees outbid Boston, Cleveland and the Mets for Montero shortly after the international signing period began late Saturday night, several newspapers reported.

THT Stats

When batters hit flyballs, they like to hit them a long way. In particular, they like to hit them out of the infield. Following is a list of the twenty major league batters who have hit the least flyballs in the infield (as a percentage of total flyballs). As you can see, most of them have a BABIP (Batting Average on Balls in Play) higher than the major league average of .311.

Last        First     Team     IF/F    BABIP
Abreu       Bobby     PHI        0%     .359
Green       Shawn     ARI        0%     .346
Gonzalez    Adrian    SD         1%     .304
Kennedy     Adam      LAA        1%     .316
Jones       Chipper   ATL        2%     .344
Mauer       Joe       MIN        2%     .424
Jeter       Derek     NYA        2%     .393
Roberts     Brian     BAL        3%     .356
Rios        Alexis I  TOR        3%     .356
Giles       Marcus    ATL        3%     .283
Sullivan    Cory      COL        3%     .359
Granderson  Curtis    DET        3%     .366
Young       Michael   TEX        4%     .355
Posada      Jorge     NYA        4%     .320
Youkilis    Kevin E   BOS        4%     .362
Howard      Ryan J    PHI        4%     .315
Barfield    Joshua L  SD         4%     .315
Delgado     Carlos    NYN        4%     .265
Rodriguez   Ivan      DET        4%     .335
Figgins     Chone     LAA        4%     .300

Access all of THT’s stats here…