THT Daily: East Coast Slugfests

Major League News for July 30

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
OAK     7  TOR     4    (Recap and Boxscore) Glaus: GS HR
KC      5  TEX     3    (Recap and Boxscore) De La Rosa: 6 IP, 2 R
TB     19  NYA     6    (Recap and Boxscore) Tomas Perez: 4 2B; Hollins: 5 RBI
SEA     3  CLE     1    (Recap and Boxscore) Washburn: 6.1 IP, 1 R; Westbrook: 8 IP, 2 R
DET     8  MIN     6    (Recap and Boxscore) Last 44 G: DET: 33-11; MIN: 34-10
CHA    13  BAL    11    (Recap and Boxscore)
BOS     7  LAA     6    (Recap and Boxscore) 11 innings; Ortiz: 4-5, 4 RBI

National League
PIT     4  SF      3    (Recap and Boxscore) Gorzelanny: 7 IP, 2 R
SD      4  COL     2    (Recap and Boxscore) Young: 5 IP, 1 R
CHN     4  STL     2    (Recap and Boxscore) Maddux: 6 IP, 1 R
PHI    12  FLA     3    (Recap and Boxscore) Hamels: 7.1 IP, 3 R; Willis: 2.1 IP, 8 R
NYN    11  ATL     3    (Recap and Boxscore) Beltran: 2 HR, 5 RBI: El Duque: 8 IP, 0 ER
LAN     7  WAS     5    (Recap and Boxscore) Martin: 2B, HR, 4 RBI
MIL     6  CIN     3    (Recap and Boxscore) MIL pen: 4 IP, 0 H; Hall: 2B, HR
HOU     4  ARI     1    (Recap and Boxscore) Oswalt: 8 IP, 1 R

Today’s Games

Visitors                           Home                                 Time
SEA - Pineiro J. (7-8, 5.72)       CLE - Lee C.* (9-8, 4.78)            1:05
NYM - Glavine T.* (11-4, 3.69)     ATL - James C.* (4-1, 3.53)          1:05
TB - Shields J. (4-4, 5.46)        NYY - Mussina M. (12-3, 3.44)        1:05
SF - Morris M. (8-8, 4.82)         PIT - Duke Z.* (7-9, 5.51)           1:35
CWS - Vazquez J. (9-6, 5.31)       BAL - Chen B.* (0-6, 7.09)           1:35
FLA - Sanchez A. (4-0, 3.00)       PHI - Wolf R.* (0-0, -)              1:35
CIN - Harang A. (11-6, 3.52)       MIL - Sheets B. (1-3, 5.27)          2:05
ARI - Batista M. (9-5, 4.65)       HOU - Clemens R. (2-4, 2.45)         2:05
DET - Bonderman J. (11-4, 3.66)    MIN - Santana J.* (12-5, 3.04)       2:10
STL - Carpenter C. (10-4, 2.68)    CHC - Zambrano C. (11-3, 3.27)       2:20
SD - Thompson M. (3-2, 4.32)       COL - Jennings J. (6-9, 3.70)        3:05
TOR - Halladay R. (13-2, 3.06)     OAK - Komine S. (0-0, -)             4:05
WAS - Ortiz R. (7-9, 4.87)         LAD - Hendrickson M.* (0-4, 4.97)    4:10
FLA - Moehler B. (5-7, 6.84)       PHI - Madson R. (8-7, 6.18)          7:35
KC - Redman M.* (7-5, 5.03)        TEX - Eaton A. (0-1, 7.36)           8:05
LAA - Lackey J. (9-6, 2.89)        BOS - Schilling C. (13-3, 3.60)      8:05

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     62  40 .608    0.0   58      4      
NYA     60  41 .594    1.5   58      2      
TOR     57  47 .548    6.0   57      0      
BAL     47  58 .448   16.5   45      2      
TB      43  61 .413   20.0   42      1      
American League Central
DET     70  33 .680    0.0   65      5      
CHA     61  41 .598    8.5   59      2      
MIN     59  43 .578   10.5   56      3      
CLE     45  57 .441   24.5   54     -9      
KC      37  66 .359   33.0   40     -3      
American League West
OAK     54  50 .519    0.0   52      2      
LAA     53  50 .515    0.5   53      0      
TEX     51  53 .490    3.0   52     -1      
SEA     50  53 .485    3.5   52     -2      

National League East         Pwins Diff
NYN     62  41 .602    0.0   60      2      
FLA     48  54 .471   13.5   50     -2      
PHI     47  54 .465   14.0   48     -1      
ATL     48  55 .466   14.0   53     -5      
WAS     46  58 .442   16.5   46      0      
National League Central
STL     58  45 .563    0.0   54      4      
CIN     55  49 .529    3.5   51      4      
MIL     49  55 .471    9.5   45      4      
HOU     49  55 .471    9.5   49      0      
CHN     42  61 .408   16.0   42      0      
PIT     39  66 .371   20.0   46     -7      
National League West
SD      55  49 .529    0.0   53      2      
ARI     52  51 .505    2.5   51      1      
SF      51  53 .490    4.0   52     -1      
COL     49  54 .476    5.5   53     -4      
LAN     49  55 .471    6.0   54     -5      

Game of the Day

There was a four-hour slugfest in Baltimore, where the White Sox beat the Orioles 13-11. The game included 37 hits, 12 walks and an error, and only once did the side go down in order. A.J. Pierzynski was 5-5 with 4 RBI, and Tadahito Iguchi had a home run and 4 RBI’s for the Sox. For the Orioles, Nick Markakis was 4-5 and Miguel Tejada was 4-6 with 3 RBI.

CHI WHITE SOX (13) VS BALTIMORE (11) - FINAL

CHI WHITE SOX          ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
S Podsednik lf          6  1  1  0   0  1   5  .270
 R Mackowiak lf         0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .311
T Iguchi 2b             5  1  2  4   1  0   3  .291
J Thome dh              2  4  0  0   4  0   1  .289
J Dye rf                6  2  3  1   0  0   3  .317
A Pierzynski c          5  2  5  4   0  0   0  .314
J Crede 3b              4  0  1  2   0  0   2  .291
R Gload 1b              4  1  1  0   0  1   3  .288
J Uribe ss              5  0  3  1   0  0   0  .251
B Anderson cf           4  2  2  1   1  1   1  .214

Totals                 41 13 18 13   6  3  18

BATTING: 2B - J Uribe (18, J Johnson); J Dye (19, J Johnson); B Anderson (13, J 
Johnson). HR - T Iguchi (12, 3rd inning off J Johnson 2 on, 2 Out), J Dye (27, 
4th inning off R Ortiz 0 on, 0 Out), A Pierzynski (8, 4th inning off R Ortiz 0 
on, 0 Out). SF - J Crede. RBI - A Pierzynski 4 (35), J Crede 2 (69), J Uribe 
(52), B Anderson (25), T Iguchi 4 (48), J Dye (71). 2-out RBI - A Pierzynski, T 
Iguchi 4, J Crede. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J Dye 1, R Gload 
1, T Iguchi 2. Team LOB - 9. 
 
BASERUNNING: SB - J Dye (4, 2nd base off J Johnson/R Hernandez), B Anderson 
(4, 2nd base off L Hawkins/R Hernandez), T Iguchi (6, 2nd base off L Hawkins/R 
Hernandez). CS - S Podsednik (13, 2nd base by R Ortiz/R Hernandez). 
 
FIELDING: E - J Crede (9, throw). DP: 3 (J Uribe-T Iguchi-R Gload 2, J 
Garland-J Uribe-R Gload). 
 
BALTIMORE              ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
B Roberts 2b            6  1  2  1   0  1   3  .300
M Mora 3b               5  3  3  1   1  1   4  .288
M Tejada ss             6  3  4  3   0  0   3  .331
J Gibbons dh            4  0  1  0   2  1   2  .273
J Conine lf             4  0  1  2   1  0   3  .265
C Patterson cf          5  1  3  1   0  1   3  .286
K Millar 1b             4  0  0  0   1  0   5  .247
R Hernandez c           4  1  1  0   1  0   3  .265
N Markakis rf           5  2  4  1   0  0   1  .290

Totals                 43 11 19  9   6  4  27

BATTING: 2B - J Conine (17, J Garland); J Gibbons (13, J Garland); N Markakis 2 
(13, J Garland, M MacDougal); B Roberts (26, N Cotts); C Patterson (13, M 
MacDougal). HR - M Tejada (19, 6th inning off B McCarthy 1 on, 1 Out). SF - J 
Conine. RBI - M Tejada 3 (75), J Conine 2 (41), C Patterson (38), B Roberts 
(36), M Mora (54), N Markakis (27). 2-out RBI - J Conine, N Markakis. Runners 
left in scoring position, 2 out - B Roberts 1, J Conine 2, R Hernandez 2, K 
Millar 2, M Mora 1, C Patterson 1. GIDP - K Millar, N Markakis, J Gibbons. Team 
LOB - 12. 
 
BASERUNNING: SB - C Patterson (34, 2nd base off B McCarthy/A Pierzynski). 
 
FIELDING: Outfield assists - N Markakis (J Dye at Home), C Patterson (J Uribe 
at 1st base). DP: 1 (C Patterson-K Millar). 
 
----------------------------------------------------
    CHI WHITE SOX   - 107 201 011   --  13
    BALTIMORE       - 301 004 111   --  11
----------------------------------------------------

CHI WHITE SOX                ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
J Garland (W, 11-3)           5      11   6   6   2   3   0   5.01
B McCarthy                    1       3   2   2   2   1   1   4.17
N Cotts (H, 13)                 2/3   2   1   1   1   0   0   3.19
M MacDougal (H, 1)            1       2   1   1   0   0   0   1.29
M Thornton (H, 7)               1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   3.25
B Jenks (S, 28)               1       1   1   1   1   0   0   3.42

BALTIMORE                    ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
J Johnson (L, 0-1)            3       9   8   8   3   0   1  24.00
R Ortiz                       4 1/3   5   3   3   1   1   2  11.57
K Birkins                       1/3   1   1   1   1   0   0   4.94
L Hawkins                     1 1/3   3   1   1   1   2   0   4.37

J Garland pitched to 2 batters in the 6th.

WP - M MacDougal. IBB - J Thome (by L Hawkins). HBP - R Gload (by J Johnson). 
Pitches-strikes: J Garland 97-63; B McCarthy 36-21; N Cotts 24-13; M MacDougal 
17-11; M Thornton 4-2; B Jenks 17-9; J Johnson 93-54; R Ortiz 56-37; K Birkins 
12-4; L Hawkins 29-17. Ground balls-fly balls: J Garland 6-6; B McCarthy 1-1; N 
Cotts 0-2; M MacDougal 3-0; M Thornton 0-1; B Jenks 3-0; J Johnson 5-3; R Ortiz 
7-3; K Birkins 0-1; L Hawkins 2-0. Batters faced: J Garland 27; B McCarthy 8; N 
Cotts 5; M MacDougal 5; M Thornton 1; B Jenks 4; J Johnson 21; R Ortiz 17; K 
Birkins 3; L Hawkins 8. 
 
UMPIRES: HP--Jim Joyce. 1B--Dusty  Dellinger. 2B--Chad  Fairchild. 3B--Dana 
Demuth. 

T--3:46. Att--34,598. 
Weather: 97 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 10 mph, out to left.

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 #
Cantu, Jorge        TB      Chacon, Shawn      NYY          426        425       9
Fielder, Prince     MIL     Standridge, Jason  CIN          419        418      19
Greene, Khalil      SD      Francis, Jeff      COL          443        413      15
Howard, Ryan        PHI     Willis, Dontrelle  FLA          426        413      34
Ibanez, Raul        SEA     Westbrook, Jake    CLE          424        412      22
Giambi, Jason       NYY     Seo, Jae           TB           433        409      30
Gomes, Jonny        TB      Beam, T.J.         NYY          405        409      20
Granderson, Curtis  DET     Lohse, Kyle        MIN          415        408      12
Laird, Gerald       TEX     De La Rosa, Jorge  KC           418        407       5
Furcal, Rafael      LAD     O'Connor, Michael  WAS          422        404       6
Ortiz, David        BOS     Shields, Scot      LAA          436        402      35
Johnson, Nick       WAS     Lowe, Derek        LAD          418        402      15
Morneau, Justin     MIN     Robertson, Nate    DET          407        400      28
Beltran, Carlos     NYM     Hudson, Tim        ATL          419        398      29
Willingham, Josh    FLA     Hamels, Cole       PHI          408        397      12
Hall, Bill          MIL     Germano, Justin    CIN          401        397      24
Rowand, Aaron       PHI     Vargas, Jason      FLA          392        397      10
Pride, Curtis       LAA     Hansen, Craig      BOS          421        395       1
Jeter, Derek        NYY     Seo, Jae           TB           390        395       7
Burnitz, Jeromy     PIT     Wright, Jamey      SF           414        394      15
Glaus, Troy         TOR     Zito, Barry        OAK          387        393      27
Pierzynski, A.J.    CWS     Ortiz, Russ        BAL          418        386       8
Utley, Chase        PHI     Vargas, Jason      FLA          401        382      20
Martin, Russell     LAD     O'Connor, Michael  WAS          392        379       5
DeRosa, Mark        TEX     De La Rosa, Jorge  KC           390        378       7
Young, Dmitri       DET     Neshek, Pat        MIN          381        375       3
Broussard, Ben      SEA     Sikorski, Brian    CLE          383        372      14
Rabe, Josh          MIN     Robertson, Nate    DET          377        371       1
Dye, Jermaine       CWS     Ortiz, Russ        BAL          389        370      27
Beltran, Carlos     NYM     Paronto, Chad      ATL          388        369      30
Tejada, Miguel      BAL     McCarthy, Brandon  CWS          404        367      19
Biggio, Craig       HOU     Cruz, Juan         ARI          366        365      11
Burrell, Pat        PHI     Willis, Dontrelle  FLA          354        358      21
Iguchi, Tadahito    CWS     Johnson, Jim       BAL          374        357      12
Young, Eric         SD      Francis, Jeff      COL          374        356       3
Lee, Travis         TB      Myers, Mike        NYY          351        355       7
Hollins, Damon      TB      Johnson, Randy     NYY          367        342      11
Snyder, Chris       ARI     Oswalt, Roy        HOU           NA         NA       4

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
ARI A   Steve Mena         2B  3  3  1  0  0  1  0   
ATL A+  Carl Loadenthal    RF  3  3  2  0  0  1  0   
ATL A+  Steve Doetsch      PH  2  2  1  1  0  0  0   
ATL A   Manuel O. Rodriguez1B  4  2  0  0  2  0  0  .519 OBP during past week
CIN A   Adam Rosales       SS  4  3  0  0  2  1  1  4 runs scored
HOU A-  Jordan Parraz      RF  3  2  1  0  1  0  0   
LAA A+  Patrick Reilly     LF  4  3  0  0  2  0  1   
NYM A   Jonel Pacheco      LF  3  2  0  1  1  1  0   
PIT A+  Steven Pearce      1B  4  3  0  0  1  1  0   
TEX A-  Joe Napoli         LF  2  2  0  0  1  2  0   
 
ORG LVL PLAYER             IP   H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
BAL A-  Jason Berken       7.0  2  0  0  4  2  0   
HOU A+  Raymar Diaz        7.0  4  0  0  7  1  0   
KC  A+  D. Christensen     6.2  2  2  2  7  3  0   
LA  A   James McDonald     7.0  4  0  0  5  4  0   
LA  A+  Adam Thomas        6.0  5  0  0  9  0  0  23 K over last 13 IP
NYM AA  Michael Devaney    7.0  2  0  0  4  5  0   
NYM A   Deolis Guerra      5.2  3  0  0  4  1  0   
NYM A+  Philip Humber      5.0  2  0  0  7  2  0   
PHI A+  Derek Griffith     8.0  4  0  0  6  1  0   
PHI A   Carlos Carrasco    7.0  3  2  1  7  3  0   

Player News

Player news items are provided by CBS SportsLine.com.

David Ortiz had another walkoff hit, his 11th since joining the Red Sox in 2003. That’s two more than any other major league player over that span. Albert Pujols has nine walkoff hits since 2003. According to Elias, the last major league player to have 11 or more walkoff hits over a four-season span was current Houston manager Phil Garner. “Scrap Iron” had 11 walkoff hits for the Astros from 1982-85.

Dontrelle Willis (6-8) gave up eight runs — six earned — and five hits in 2 1/3 innings in Saturday’s start at Phildaelphia, his shortest outing since lasting one inning against San Francisco on April 30, 2004. “I was just bad,” Willis said. “I didn’t do the job.”

Nate Robertson (10-6) allowed five runs and nine hits in six-plus innings, striking out four in Saturday’s win at Minnesota. He joined teammates Justin Verlander (13-4), Jeremy Bonderman (11-4) and Kenny Rogers (11-4) with double-digit victories. “A lot of us got off to a very, very good start and it’s all about consistency,” Robertson said. “You win games with pitching. Fortunately our offense has been very, very good the last couple of weeks.”

Barry Zito settled down after giving up a first-inning grand slam to move the Oakland Athletics back into first place in the AL West with a 7-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday. The A’s fell behind 4-0 just four batters into the game as the first three Blue Jays reached against Zito before Troy Glaus hit his first grand slam in nearly four years. But Zito (11-7) found his groove after that and didn’t give up another run. Zito won his 97th career game with Oakland, allowing four runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings.

Tomas Perez tied a major league record with four doubles, going 5-for-5 and leading the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to a 19-6 rout of Randy Johnson and the New York Yankees on Saturday. Perez, batting ninth, scored four times and drove in two runs. He raised his average from .194 to .219, setting a franchise record for doubles in a game.

Jered Weaver’s attempt to become the first pitcher in 25 years to win his first eight major league starts resulted in a no decision Saturday at Boston. He left the game with a 5-3 lead, but the bullpen could not hold it. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up three runs, seven hits, struck out four and walked two over 6 2/3 innings, but his ERA rose from a paltry 1.15 to 1.51.

Chone Figgins stole his AL-leading 39th and 40th bases Saturday at Boston.

John Koronka (6-6) will start Sunday night for the Rangers instead of Adam Eaton, who made his season debut Tuesday after recovering from finger surgery. Eaton had a bout of food poisoning Saturday.

Zack Greinke (personal) worked six scoreless innings in Saturday’s Double-A game at Arkansas, allowing just three hits and no walks while striking out five. He improved his record to 5-2 with the quality start and win.

The Dodgers recalled 1B James Loney as roster insurance for a day Saturday because recently-acquired 3B Wilson Betemit hadn’t arrived from Atlanta.

The Detroit Tigers recalled outfielder Brent Clevlen from Double-A Erie on Saturday and returned pitcher Colby Lewis to Triple-A Toledo.

The Philadelphia Phillies recalled Danny Sandoval from Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre and gave the infielder his first major league start Saturday night against the Florida Marlins. He batted eighth and played shortstop in place of the injured Jimmy Rollins.

Scott Kazmir’s next turn in Tampa Bay’s rotation was pushed back again Saturday, and the All-Star pitcher could be placed on the disabled list because of a sore left shoulder. “It’s just a guarded situation,” manager Joe Maddon said before his team played the Yankees. “Nothing alarming or out of the ordinary. If he had to, if this was more of a September playoff situation, he probably would pitch on his normal turn. But under the circumstances that we have right now, we felt it would be more prudent to refrain at this point and push him back. It only makes sense.”

Third baseman Morgan Ensberg began a rehabilitation assignment at Round Rock on Saturday. He has been on the disabled list since July 10 with a bruised right shoulder.

The Houston Astros optioned rookie right-hander Taylor Buchholz to Triple-A Round Rock on Saturday and recalled right-hander Chris Sampson. The 24-year-old Buchholz (6-9) has made 18 starts for the Astros this season, but lost his last three. On Thursday, Buchholz lasted only two innings, giving up six runs and six hits in an 8-4 loss to Cincinnati.

The Baltimore Orioles activated Jay Gibbons from the 15-day disabled list Saturday, hopeful that his ailing knee can hold up for rest of the season. To make room for Gibbons on the roster, the Orioles designated outfielder Luis Terrero for assignment.

Since being recalled on July 14, Howie Kendrick is 14-for-29 with three multi-hit games and he hit his first major-league homer on Wednesday.

Wily Mo Pena has been the subject of numerous trade rumors. Though at the time of his acquisition he seemed like a logical heir apparent to OF Trot Nixon, his defensive struggles in Fenway’s massive right field raise some question about whether he will be able to crack a Sox outfield that already features OFs Manny Ramirez and Coco Crisp signed beyond next year. As such, he could emerge as the most logical chip for the Sox to deal in exchange for pitching.

Alex Rodriguez, the subject of much booing at Yankee Stadium, heard fans chanting his name in support on Friday. He finished 1-for-3 with two walks and an RBI. He also got a nice ovation after a simple base hit on Saturday in the third inning after he had struck out in his first at-bat.

Derek Jeter has hit safely in seven straight games and 15 of the last 16. He was 3-for-5 on Friday, raising his batting average to .351. He also hit a solo homer in the first inning of Saturday’s game.

The Toronto Blue Jays called up right-hander Dustin McGowan from Triple-A Syracuse to start Saturday against the Oakland Athletics. McGowan, who made five relief appearances for Toronto earlier in the season, made his first career start for the Blue Jays. He was 3-5 with a 4.73 ERA in 20 games at Syracuse. To make room for McGowan, the Blue Jays optioned infielder Russ Adams to Syracuse.

Keith Foulke’s 12-pitch rehab assignment for Class A Lowell on Friday night went well, according to MLB.com. The reliever will go to Pawtucket for multiple outings, beginning on Sunday. “The next step is, he’ll go back and pitch multiple innings or back-to-back days,” manager Terry Francona said. “We’ll sit and talk to him and the medical staff and [general manager] Theo [Epstein].”

For the first time since his July 4 rehab start was cut short, right-hander Matt Clement threw off a mound on Saturday, according to MLB.com. It was just a side session, but nonetheless, it was the most significant progress Clement has shown in a while.

The Seattle Mariners placed right-handed reliever Rafael Soriano on the 15-day disabled list with shoulder fatigue and activated right-hander Sean Green from the DL before Saturday’s game at Cleveland.

The team’s official website reports Scott Schoeneweis might be placed on the 15-day disabled list on Sunday due to a hyperextended knee. He injured himself on Thursday while running before a game.

The team’s official website reports veteran Chan Ho Park has been diagnosed with anemia. He is expected to have additional tests on Sunday and will not make his scheduled start on Sunday at Colorado.

Jonathan Sanchez was optioned to Triple-A Fresno on Saturday to make room for newly-acquired veteran Mike Stanton from the Washington Nationals.

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