THT Daily: Gonzalez and Hernandez Day

Major League News for July 23

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
NYA     5  TOR     4    (Recap and Boxscore)
TEX     3  CHA     1    (Recap and Boxscore) Koronka: 6 IP, 1 R; Garcia: 7 IP, 1 R
TB     13  BAL    12    (Recap and Boxscore) See below
SEA     5  BOS     2    (Recap and Boxscore) Hernandez: 7 IP, 2 R
OAK     9  DET     5    (Recap and Boxscore) DET: 5 R in 1st, 0 R after
CLE    11  MIN     0    (Recap and Boxscore) Sowers: CG Shutout; 
LAA     4  KC      3    (Recap and Boxscore) 10 innings

National League
SF      4  SD      3    (Recap and Boxscore) SF in first place
STL     6  LAN     1    (Recap and Boxscore) Weaver: 5.2 IP, 1 R; Edmonds: 4 HR in 5 G
FLA     5  PIT     0    (Recap and Boxscore) Nolasco: 7.1 IP, 0 R
NYN     4  HOU     3    (Recap and Boxscore) El Duque: 7 IP, 3 R
WAS     7  CHN     3    (Recap and Boxscore) Soriano: 4-5, 3 2B, 3B
CIN     8  MIL     7    (Recap and Boxscore)
ARI     4  COL     3    (Recap and Boxscore)

Today’s Games

Visitors                          Home                                Time
MIN - Liriano F.* (11-2, 1.94)    CLE - Westbrook J. (7-5, 4.44)      1:05
CHC - Marmol C. (3-3, 3.86)       WAS - Armas T. (6-5, 4.61)          1:05
PIT - Gorzelanny T.* (0-2, 9.26)  FLA - Willis D.* (6-7, 3.94)        1:05
OAK - Loaiza E. (4-5, 6.38)       DET - Robertson N.* (8-6, 3.61)     1:05
NYY - Ponson S. (0-0, 5.40)       TOR - Marcum S. (0-0, 4.91)         1:07
HOU - Oswalt R. (6-7, 3.22)       NYM - Pelfrey M. (2-0, 3.27)        1:10
BAL - Bedard E.* (11-6, 4.02)     TB - Kazmir S.* (10-7, 3.40)        1:15
MIL - Ohka T. (2-1, 3.23)         CIN - Milton E.* (6-5, 5.48)        1:15
TEX - Padilla V. (10-5, 4.15)     CWS - Garland J. (9-3, 5.12)        2:05
LAA - Weaver J. (6-0, 1.12)       KC - Duckworth B. (1-3, 4.78)       2:10
SD - Hensley C. (6-7, 4.61)       SF - Wright J. (6-8, 4.95)          4:05
BOS - Lester J.* (5-0, 2.38)      SEA - Washburn J.* (4-10, 4.41)     4:05
STL - Marquis J. (11-7, 5.97)     LAD - Billingsley C. (1-2, 3.66)    4:10
COL - Kim B. (5-6, 4.78)          ARI - Cruz J. (3-5, 4.53)           4:40
ATL - Ramirez H.* (5-3, 4.39)     PHI - Myers B. (6-3, 3.77)          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 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  37 .615    0.0   54      5      
NYA     56  39 .589    2.5   56      0      
TOR     54  43 .557    5.5   53      1      
BAL     44  55 .444   16.5   42      2      
TB      41  57 .418   19.0   40      1      
American League Central
DET     65  32 .670    0.0   62      3      
CHA     58  38 .604    6.5   56      2      
MIN     55  41 .573    9.5   53      2      
CLE     43  53 .448   21.5   51     -8      
KC      34  63 .351   31.0   36     -2      
American League West
OAK     51  46 .526    0.0   49      2      
TEX     51  47 .520    0.5   52     -1      
LAA     49  48 .505    2.0   49      0      
SEA     46  51 .474    5.0   49     -3      

National League East         Pwins Diff
NYN     59  38 .608    0.0   57      2      
PHI     44  50 .468   13.5   44      0      
ATL     45  51 .469   13.5   50     -5      
FLA     44  52 .458   14.5   47     -3      
WAS     42  56 .429   17.5   43     -1      
National League Central
STL     55  41 .573    0.0   50      5      
CIN     52  46 .531    4.0   48      4      
MIL     46  52 .469   10.0   42      4      
HOU     46  52 .469   10.0   46      0      
CHN     37  59 .385   18.0   38     -1      
PIT     35  64 .354   21.5   42     -7      
National League West
SF      51  47 .520    0.0   50      1      
ARI     50  47 .515    0.5   49      1      
SD      50  47 .515    0.5   49      1      
LAN     47  51 .480    4.0   51     -4      
COL     45  51 .469    5.0   49     -4      

Game of the Day

The Devil Rays beat the Orioles, 13-12, in a slugfest at Tampa Bay. Julio Lugo had two home runs, Russell Branyan had four RBI’s and Corey Patterson was 5 for 5. All the scoring occurred in four half-innings.

It was only the fourth game in major league history in which each team posted an inning of nine-or-more runs. The last time was on June 3, 1933, when the Philadelphia Athletics, with a lineup featuring future Hall-of-Famers Jimmie Foxx and Mickey Cochrane, scored 11 runs in the third inning at Yankee Stadium, only to see the Ruth-and-Gehrig Yankees respond with 10 in the fifth and go on to a 17-11 victory. (Source: Elias)

BALTIMORE (12) VS TAMPA BAY (13) - FINAL

BALTIMORE              ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
B Roberts 2b            6  2  4  1   0  0   5  .307
B Fahey lf              3  0  2  1   0  0   1  .273
 a-L Terrero ph         1  1  1  0   0  0   0  .138
 b-R Hernandez ph-1b    2  0  0  1   0  0   3  .266
M Mora 3b               5  3  2  2   1  1   3  .283
M Tejada ss             5  1  4  0   1  1   1  .321
J Conine 1b-lf          4  1  2  3   1  0   4  .261
K Millar dh             4  1  0  0   2  2   4  .253
C Patterson cf          5  1  5  2   0  0   0  .286
J Lopez c               3  1  1  1   2  0   1  .273
N Markakis rf           3  1  1  1   2  1   3  .276

Totals                 41 12 22 12   9  5  25

a-reached on infield single to third for B Fahey in the 7th;  b-grounded to 
third for L Terrero in the 7th.

BATTING: 2B - B Roberts 2 (22, T Corcoran, S Camp); C Patterson 2 (12, T 
Corcoran 2). SF - J Conine. RBI - B Fahey (19), J Conine 3 (35), C Patterson 2 
(37), J Lopez (29), N Markakis (24), B Roberts (34), R Hernandez (65), M Mora 2 
(51). 2-out RBI - C Patterson, M Mora 2, J Conine. Runners left in scoring 
position, 2 out - J Lopez 1, K Millar 1, N Markakis 2. GIDP - M Mora, J Conine, 
B Roberts, R Hernandez. Team LOB - 12. 
 
BASERUNNING: SB - C Patterson (32, 2nd base off B Meadows/D Navarro). CS - M 
Tejada (1, 3rd base by T Corcoran/D Navarro), B Fahey (3, 2nd base by T 
Corcoran/D Navarro). 
 
FIELDING: DP: 1 (M Mora-B Roberts-J Conine). 

TAMPA BAY              ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
J Lugo ss               4  2  2  4   0  1   1  .310
 T Perez ss             2  0  0  0   0  1   3  .185
C Crawford lf           4  1  2  0   1  1   0  .312
R Baldelli cf           5  1  2  1   0  1   3  .297
T Wigginton 3b          5  1  1  0   0  1   1  .260
G Norton dh             3  2  1  1   2  0   1  .272
J Cantu 2b              4  0  2  0   1  1   3  .267
T Lee 1b                5  1  1  1   0  1   5  .207
R Branyan rf            5  3  3  4   0  1   3  .219
 D Hollins rf           0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .218
D Navarro c             3  2  3  2   2  0   0  .289

Totals                 40 13 17 13   6  8  20

BATTING: 2B - R Branyan 2 (8, R Lopez, T Williams); C Crawford (14, K Birkins). 
3B - C Crawford (10, R Lopez); T Lee (1, T Williams). HR - J Lugo 2 (12, 5th 
inning off R Lopez 1 on, 0 Out, 5th inning off K Birkins 1 on, 2 Out), R 
Branyan (11, 5th inning off K Birkins 2 on, 2 Out). RBI - D Navarro 2 (5), J 
Lugo 4 (27), R Baldelli (23), G Norton (13), R Branyan 4 (24), T Lee (18). 
2-out RBI - R Branyan 4, J Lugo 2, T Lee, D Navarro. Runners left in scoring 
position, 2 out - T Perez 1, R Branyan 1, R Baldelli 1. GIDP - R Baldelli. Team 
LOB - 9. 
 
FIELDING: DP: 5 (J Cantu-T Lee, J Cantu-J Lugo-T Lee, J Lugo-J Cantu-T Lee, T 
Perez-J Cantu-T Lee, J Cantu-T Perez-T Lee). 

----------------------------------------------------
    BALTIMORE       - 300 000 900   --  12
    TAMPA BAY       - 000 0103 00x   --  13
----------------------------------------------------

BALTIMORE                    ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
R Lopez (L, 6-11)             4 1/3   9   7   7   3   5   1   6.73
K Birkins                       1/3   3   3   3   1   0   2   3.94
C Britton                       1/3   0   0   0   0   1   0   2.87
T Williams                      2/3   3   3   3   1   0   0   4.82
B Chen                          1/3   0   0   0   0   1   0   7.03
L Hawkins                     2       2   0   0   1   1   0   3.86


TAMPA BAY                    ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
T Corcoran                    3       7   3   3   4   3   0   3.09
S Camp (W, 3-0)               2       3   0   0   0   1   0   4.98
J Switzer                     1       3   2   2   1   0   0   3.65
R Lugo                          1/3   2   4   4   2   0   0   4.34
C Harville                      1/3   2   3   3   1   0   0   7.28
B Meadows (S, 5)              2 1/3   5   0   0   1   1   0   3.76

J Switzer pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.

WP - J Switzer, T Williams. Pitches-strikes: R Lopez 95-60; K Birkins 24-13; 
C Britton 5-4; T Williams 26-12; B Chen 4-3; L Hawkins 32-20; T Corcoran 82-49; 
S Camp 31-20; J Switzer 24-17; R Lugo 21-10; C Harville 16-9; B Meadows 38-26. 
Ground balls-fly balls: R Lopez 4-4; K Birkins 0-1; C Britton 0-0; T Williams 
1-1; B Chen 0-0; L Hawkins 1-4; T Corcoran 2-1; S Camp 5-0; J Switzer 3-0; R 
Lugo 0-1; C Harville 1-0; B Meadows 4-2. Batters faced: R Lopez 24; K Birkins 
5; C Britton 1; T Williams 6; B Chen 1; L Hawkins 9; T Corcoran 17; S Camp 7; J 
Switzer 6; R Lugo 5; C Harville 4; B Meadows 12. 
 
UMPIRES: HP--Brian Onora. 1B--Chuck Meriwether. 2B--Phil Cuzzi. 3B--Jerry 
Crawford. 

T--4:09. Att--17,347. Weather: INDOORS

The following graph tracks the game’s Win Probability, courtesy of Fan Graphs.

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 #
Bradley, Milton  OAK    Ledezma, Wilfredo    DET           440       450       5
Williams, Bernie NYY    Lilly, Ted           TOR           420       419       7
Atkins, Garrett  COL    Gonzalez, Enrique    ARI           430       417      13
Miller, Damian   MIL    Mays, Joe            CIN           435       415       6
Gonzalez, Luis   ARI    Mesa, Jose           COL           427       414       8
Tracy, Chad      ARI    Fogg, Josh           COL           423       411      14
Berkman, Lance   HOU    Hernandez, Orlando   NYM           418       410      26
Hall, Bill       MIL    Weathers, David      CIN           415       404      20
Ramirez, Aramis  CHC    Hernandez, Livan     WAS           420       401      20
Quentin, Carlos  ARI    Fogg, Josh           COL           413       401       2
Escobar, Alex    WAS    Ohman, Will          CHC           409       396       3
Edmonds, Jim     STL    Sele, Aaron          LAD           434       395      15
Hatteberg, Scott CIN    Bush, Dave           MIL           408       395       9
Freel, Ryan      CIN    Bush, Dave           MIL           384       394       6
Lowell, Mike     BOS    Hernandez, Felix     SEA           376       393      13
Konerko, Paul    CWS    Koronka, John        TEX           386       390      24
Cameron, Mike    SD     Schmidt, Jason       SF            382       389      13
Hinske, Eric     TOR    Wang, Chien-Ming     NYY           389       388       9
Freel, Ryan      CIN    Gonzalez, Geremi     MIL           386       387       7
Carroll, Jamey   COL    Gonzalez, Enrique    ARI           397       385       4
Hafner, Travis   CLE    Baker, Scott         MIN           358       382      29
Kearns, Austin   WAS    Marshall, Sean       CHC           399       381      17
Nady, Xavier     NYM    Backe, Brandon       HOU           413       378      14
Ramirez, Aramis  CHC    Hernandez, Livan     WAS           396       377      21
Lugo, Julio      TB     Birkins, Kurt        BAL           378       377      12
Branyan, Russell TB     Birkins, Kurt        BAL           378       377      11
Duncan, Chris    STL    Beimel, Joe          LAD           414       376       6
Kotsay, Mark     OAK    Miner, Zach          DET           370       375       7
Pujols, Albert   STL    Sele, Aaron          LAD           407       367      32
Wilson, Preston  HOU    Hernandez, Orlando   NYM           364       358       9
Lugo, Julio      TB     Lopez, Rodrigo       BAL           352       351      11
Scutaro, Marco   OAK    Colon, Roman         DET           NA        NA        2

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+  Jon Zeringue       LF  4  3  0  0  1  0  0   
CIN AA  Javier Colina      2B  4  3  0  0  1  0  1   
HOU A+  Louis Santangelo    C  5  4  0  0  3  0  0  4 RBI
HOU AA  Mark Saccomanno    3B  3  3  2  0  1  1  0  3 runs scored
LA  A   Lucas May          LF  3  2  1  0  1  1  0  4 RBI
NYY A+  Edwar Gonzalez     RF  4  3  0  0  2  0  0  4 RBI
OAK A+  Tommy Everidge     1B  5  4  2  0  0  0  0  .519 OBP during past week
PHI A   Clay Harris        DH  5  4  1  0  1  0  1   
PIT A+  Pedro Powell       CF  2  2  0  0  0  2  0   
SF  AA  Tyler Von Schell   1B  3  2  1  0  1  2  0   
 
ORG LVL PLAYER             IP   H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
BAL AA  Beau Hale          5.2  1  0  0  5  3  0   
BOS AAA Jason Johnson      7.0  4  1  1  5  1  1   
COL MLB Tommy Phelps       6.0  4  0  0  3  0  0   
DET A+  Andrew Kown        8.0  6  1  1  5  2  0   
HOU A-  Victor Garate      3.0  0  0  0  8  0  0  1.31 ERA over past month
HOU AAA Jason Hirsh        6.0  2  0  0  4  3  0  1 ER allowed over last 32 IP
KC  AA  Billy Buckner      7.0  5  0  0  5  1  0   
LA  MLB Aaron Tressler     8.0  3  1  1  9  1  0   
PIT AA  Ron Chiavacci      5.0  2  2  0  9  1  0 

Player News

Player news items are provided by CBS SportsLine.com.

Michael Young’s two-run, two-out single produced the winning margin in the Rangers’ 3-1 win over the White Sox. Young is now batting .429 this season (15-for-35) with two outs and runners in scoring position. That’s the second-highest average in the majors this season in such situations (minimum: 25 at-bats) to Freddy Sanchez’s .459.

Plus, Young is batting .727 (8-for-11) in the situations mentioned above when it’s the potential tying or go-ahead run that is in scoring position. That’s the highest batting average in the majors in those situations (minimum: 10 at-bats), ahead of Melvin Mora (.667, 10-for-15), Manny Ramirez (.636, 7-for-11) and David Ortiz (.600, 6-for-10). (Source: Elias)

Derek Jeter drew a bases-loaded walk from Justin Speier with two outs in the seventh inning to give the Yankees the go-ahead and eventual game-deciding run in their 5-4 triumph at Toronto. It was the 12th time this season that the Bombers have scored with a bases-loaded walk, the highest total for any major-league team.

The San Diego Padres found the bullpen help they were seeking, acquiring right-hander Scott Williamson on Saturday from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for two minor league pitchers. The Cubs received Class-A pitchers Fabian Jimenez and Joel Santo in the deal.

The Mets’ Xavier Nady fought back from an 0-2 count to blast a three-run homer in the fourth inning to overcome an early 3-1 Houston lead. Nady is the major leagues’ leading hitter this season (minimum: 50 at-bats) on at-bats during which he has fallen behind in the count, 0-2. In those at-bats — in which the overall big-league batting average hovers just above .180 — Nady has collected 19 hits in 52 at-bats for a .365 batting average. But Saturday’s homer marked the first time this season that the X-Man had battled back from a no-balls-two-strikes count to connect for a four-bagger. (Elias)

Placido Polanco went 4-for-5 in the Tigers’ loss to Oakland. In 16 career games against the Athletics, Polanco is now batting .493 (33-for-67), the highest batting average against a particular team by any active major-leaguer with at least 50 at-bats against that team. (Elias)

The Cincinnati Reds placed Kent Mercker on the 15-day disabled list on Saturday due to a sore elbow. It has been troubling him over the past few days and is the same injury which forced him to the DL from May 14-25.

Chris Bootcheck was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake, as the team activated veteran Kelvin Escobar (elbow) from the 15-day disabled list. Escobar (elbow) allowed three earned runs and nine hits over seven strong innings. He also walked two and struck out three in the quality start, but he did not figure into the decision with the game being decided in extra innings.

Manager Clint Hurdle decided to shake things up for Saturday’s game at Arizona, promoting Garrett Atkins into the third spot of the order and moving Todd Helton down to the five-hole. Atkins responded with a 1-for-4 effort, including a two-run home run (14). “Right now, our best hitter’s Garrett Atkins,” Hurdle said. “It gives us a little different look. We’ve got nothing to lose.”

The San Francisco Giants optioned Santos to Triple-A Fresno and transferred Tim Worrell (neck) from the 15-day to the 60-day disabled listto make room for newly-acquired Shea Hillenbrand and Vinnie Chulk.

Hillenbrand made his debut for the San Francisco Giants on Saturday, singling in his first at-bat against the Padres. He also had a run scored and a strikeout. “I have a little bit different humor than people perceive,” Hillenbrand said. “Sometimes that can be misconstrued. The things I was doing were innocent with teammates. That’s in the past. I just want to put that behind me and thank the Giants up and down for giving me the opportunity to come play here and hopefully help them win.”

The Royals optioned Peralta to Triple-A Omaha on Saturday. He was 1-2 with a 4.63 ERA in 38 games with the Royals.

Bobby Jenks allowed two earned runs, two hits and three walks in an inning of work in Saturday’s game against the Rangers to take the loss and fall to 2-2.

Despite saying earlier this month that he would monitor the innings of rookie Justin Verlander closely, manager Jim Leyland said he wasn’t concerned about it. Verlander (12-4) has pitched 123 2-3 innings this year after throwing 130 in 2005, his only previous professional season. “You’ve got a problem if you’re worried about that,” Leyland said

If Mike Maroth (elbow) can return from the 15-day disabled list in mid-August, manageR Jim Leyland said a six-man rotation would be an option to give each starter an extra day of rest.

Blue Jays general manager J.P. Riccardi said Saturday that Alex Rios is expected to return to the team Aug. 1 at New York. Rios hasn’t played in a month because of an infection in his left leg.

Struggling Alex Rodriguez was the Yankees’ designated hitter Saturday at Toronto after committing five errors in five games — and his woes shifted to the plate. He went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts, including one with the bases loaded in the sixth.

Normally reliable shortstop Alex Gonzalez’s sixth-inning throwing error allowed Eduardo Perez to score the tiebreaking run, spoiling Kason Gabbard’s major league debut and helping the Seattle Mariners beat the Boston Red Sox 5-2 on Saturday. Gabbard, 24, allowed three runs — two earned — and eight hits in his 5 1/3 innings while slinging the ball from over the top, nearly sidearm and many angles in between. He walked two and struck out three in just his sixth start above Double-A.

Pedro Martinez, on the disabled list with a sore right hip, threw 80 pitches in a simulated game Saturday and said he felt strong. He threw all his pitches and said he’d like to start next weekend in Atlanta, as long as he keeps feeling good.

Houston starter Brandon Backe came off the disabled list and lasted four innings in his first start in more than three months Saturday at the N.Y. Mets. Backe blew an early 3-0 lead when he surrendered a home run to Cliff Floyd that gave the Mets a 4-3 lead. “I had it tonight. I just let it slip away with one pitch, a slider,” Backe said. He allowed four runs, four hits and four walks in his first outing since April 13 in San Francisco. The right-hander left that start after only two innings because of soreness in his pitching elbow and wound up on the 60-day DL with a sprained right elbow.

Popular backup catcher Sal Fasano was designated for assignment by the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday. Assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said the Phillies have to trade, release or send Fasano outright to the minors by July 31. Fasano was placed on the disabled list on July 4 with left knee inflammation.

Aramis Ramirez hit solo home runs in the first and fifth innings Saturday at Washington, giving the third baseman two consecutive two-homer games.

THT Stats

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