THT Daily: Mets Sweep Cardinals

Major League News for August 25

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

Yesterday’s Results

American League
MIN    11  BAL     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
TEX     4  TB      3    (Recap and Boxscore)
CHA    10  DET     0    (Recap and Boxscore)
CLE     8  KC      4    (Recap and Boxscore)
BOS     2  LAA     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
SEA     4  NYA     2    (Recap and Boxscore)

National League
NYN     6  STL     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
CHN    11  PHI     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
MIL    12  COL     6    (Recap and Boxscore)
PIT     5  HOU     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
CIN     6  SF      3    (Recap and Boxscore)

Today’s Games

Visitors                         Home                       Starts (EDT)
DET - Bonderman J. (11-5, 3.86)  CLE - Sowers J.* (5-3, 3.48)    7:05 pm
HOU - Clemens R. (5-4, 2.58)     PIT - Santos V. (5-8, 5.65)     7:05 pm
 TB - Hammel J. (0-1, 10.80)     BAL - Cabrera D. (6-8, 4.94)    7:05 pm
 KC - Hudson L. (6-4, 5.77)      TOR - Marcum S. (1-3, 6.49)     7:07 pm
PHI - Wolf R.* (2-0, 5.61)       NYM - Hernandez O. (9-9, 5.29)  7:10 pm
MIL - Bush D. (9-9, 4.71)        FLA - Nolasco R. (11-8, 4.14)   7:35 pm
WAS - Ortiz R. (9-11, 5.31)      ATL - James C.* (6-3, 4.19)     7:35 pm
CHC - Mateo J. (1-1, 3.79)       STL - Suppan J. (9-7, 5.03)     8:10 pm
MIN - Radke B. (12-9, 4.35)      CWS - Vazquez J. (11-8, 5.13)   8:35 pm
OAK - Zito B.* (13-8, 3.76)      TEX - Volquez E. (1-2, 4.02)    8:35 pm
 SD - Thompson M. (3-4, 4.40)    COL - Francis J.* (9-10, 3.38)  9:05 pm
LAD - Maddux G. (11-11, 4.27)    ARI - Vargas C. (10-8, 4.89)    9:40 pm
NYY - Wright J. (9-7, 4.63)      LAA - Lackey J. (10-9, 3.52)   10:05 pm
BOS - Schilling C. (14-5, 3.84)  SEA - Woods J.* (3-1, 3.88)    10:05 pm
CIN - Harang A. (13-8, 3.72)      SF - Morris M. (8-11, 4.67)   10:15 pm

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
NYA     76  50 .603    0.0   74     2    
BOS     71  56 .559    5.5   67     4    
TOR     67  60 .528    9.5   66     1    
BAL     56  71 .441   20.5   55     1    
TB      52  76 .406   25.0   52     0    
American League Central     
DET     81  47 .633    0.0   78     3    
CHA     75  52 .591    5.5   73     2    
MIN     74  52 .587    6.0   71     3    
CLE     58  68 .460   22.0   69   -11    
KC      46  83 .357   35.5   48    -2    
American League West        
OAK     72  55 .567    0.0   66     6    
LAA     67  61 .523    5.5   66     1    
TEX     66  63 .512    7.0   68    -2    
SEA     58  69 .457   14.0   60    -2    


National League East        Pwins  Diff
NYN     78  48 .619    0.0   73     5    
PHI     64  63 .504   14.5   65    -1    
FLA     60  66 .476   18.0   61    -1    
ATL     59  67 .468   19.0   64    -5    
WAS     54  73 .425   24.5   55    -1    
National League Central     
STL     66  60 .524    0.0   63     3    
CIN     67  61 .523    0.0   63     4    
MIL     62  65 .488    4.5   57     5    
HOU     60  68 .469    7.0   62    -2    
CHN     54  73 .425   12.5   52     2    
PIT     50  78 .391   17.0   56    -6    
National League West        
LAN     66  61 .520    0.0   68    -2    
SD      65  62 .512    1.0   65     0    
ARI     62  65 .488    4.0   62     0    
SF      62  66 .484    4.5   63    -1    
COL     59  68 .465    7.0   64    -5    

Game of the Day

Mets sweep the Cardinals while the Reds win to move into first place with the Cardinals in the NL Central. Mets have won seven straight.

ST LOUIS (2) VS NY METS (6) - FINAL

ST LOUIS               ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
R Belliard 2b           3  0  0  0   1  1   3  .253
S Taguchi lf            4  0  1  0   0  1   4  .267
 T Johnson p            0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 J Sosa p               0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .130
A Pujols 1b             4  0  1  0   0  0   2  .328
S Rolen 3b              4  0  0  0   0  1   2  .311
J Encarnacion cf        4  0  0  0   0  0   1  .278
P Wilson rf             4  0  0  0   0  2   1  .265
A Miles ss              4  1  2  0   0  1   0  .265
G Bennett c             3  1  2  2   0  0   1  .206
 b-C Duncan ph          1  0  0  0   0  1   0  .339
J Marquis p             1  0  0  0   0  0   0  .174
 a-S Spiezio ph-lf      1  0  1  0   0  0   0  .271
Totals                 33  2  7  2   1  7  14

a-doubled to deep right for J Marquis in the 7th;  b-struck out swinging for G 
Bennett in the 9th.

BATTING: 2B - S Taguchi (16, D Williams); S Spiezio (10, D Williams). HR - G 
Bennett (2, 5th inning off D Williams 1 on, 0 Out). S - J Marquis. RBI - G 
Bennett 2 (16). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - S Rolen 1, S Taguchi 
3. Team LOB - 6. 
 
FIELDING: DP: 2 (A Pujols-A Miles-J Marquis, R Belliard-A Pujols). 

NY METS                ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
J Reyes ss              5  1  3  1   0  0   0  .297
P Lo Duca c             4  1  2  1   0  1   2  .312
C Beltran cf            3  2  0  0   1  0   3  .284
C Delgado 1b            2  1  1  2   2  0   2  .261
D Wright 3b             3  0  1  1   0  0   2  .299
S Green rf              3  0  1  1   1  1   1  .283
J Valentin 2b           2  1  0  0   2  1   3  .283
E Chavez lf             4  0  1  0   0  0   1  .300
D Williams p            3  0  0  0   0  3   0  .063
 R Hernandez p          0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 a-J Franco ph          1  0  0  0   0  1   2  .270
 G Mota p               0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
Totals                 30  6  9  6   6  7  16

a-struck out looking for R Hernandez in the 8th.

BATTING: 3B - P Lo Duca (1, J Marquis). HR - C Delgado (32, 5th inning off J 
Marquis 1 on, 1 Out). SF - D Wright. RBI - P Lo Duca (38), D Wright (91), S 
Green (52), C Delgado 2 (88), J Reyes (66). 2-out RBI - S Green, J Reyes. 
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J Valentin 1, P Lo Duca 1. GIDP - C 
Delgado. Team LOB - 8. 
 
BASERUNNING: SB - J Reyes (53, 2nd base off J Marquis/G Bennett). 
 
----------------------------------------------------
    ST LOUIS        - 000 020 000   --   2
    NY METS         - 003 020 01x   --   6
----------------------------------------------------

ST LOUIS                     ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
J Marquis (L, 13-12)          6       7   5   5   4   4   1   5.77
T Johnson                     1 2/3   2   1   1   2   3   0   5.08
J Sosa                          1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   5.08

NY METS                      ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
D Williams (W, 3-3)           6 1/3   7   2   2   1   4   1   6.40
R Hernandez (H, 12)           1 2/3   0   0   0   0   1   0   2.96
G Mota                        1       0   0   0   0   2   0   0.00

HBP - P Lo Duca (by J Marquis). Pitches-strikes: J Marquis 97-54; T Johnson 
33-17; J Sosa 1-1; D Williams 102-67; R Hernandez 15-12; G Mota 9-7. Ground 
balls-fly balls: J Marquis 6-7; T Johnson 0-2; J Sosa 0-1; D Williams 3-12; R 
Hernandez 2-2; G Mota 0-1. Batters faced: J Marquis 28; T Johnson 9; J Sosa 1; 
D Williams 27; R Hernandez 5; G Mota 3. 
 
UMPIRES: HP--Ed Rapuano. 1B--Tony Randazzo. 2B--James Hoye. 3B--Joe West. 

T--2:34. (Plus rain delay totaling 31 minutes in the 1st). Att--45,497. 

Weather: 73 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 7 mph, in from right.

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

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
CHC AAA Felix Pie          CF  3  2  1  0  1  2  0   
CHW A+  Victor Mercedes    SS  4  3  0  1  1  0  0  3 runs scored
CIN AAA Brendan Harris     2B  5  4  2  1  0  0  1  .542 OBP during past week
COL A+  Jonathan Herrera   SS  5  5  1  0  1  0  0  3 runs scored
DET AAA Kevin Hooper       SS  4  3  2  0  1  1  0   
DET AA  Kody Kirkland      3B  4  3  1  0  1  1  1   
KC  A+  Brian Mc Fall      RF  4  3  1  0  2  0  0  4 RBI
MIN AAA Josh Rabe          RF  4  3  1  0  1  0  0  4 RBI
OAK A+  Nick Blasi         LF  6  5  3  0  0  0  0   
SD  AAA Paul McAnulty      1B  3  3  1  0  1  1  0   
 
ORG LVL PLAYER             IP   H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
ARI AAA Edgar G Gonzalez   7.0  3  0  0  2  0  0   
ARI AAA Micah Owings       7.0  6  1  1 10  1  0  17 K over last 13 IP
BOS A+  Clay Buchholz      6.0  2  0  0 10  0  0  1.14 ERA over past month
CHW AAA Charlie Haeger     8.0  3  1  0  2  5  0   
HOU A+  Thomas Fairchild   7.0  5  0  0  5  0  0   
MIL AAA Justin Lehr        7.0  5  1  0  7  1  0   
MIN AA  Nick Blackburn     7.0  2  1  1  5  1  0   
NYY AA  Philip Hughes      5.0  0  0  0  9  1  0   
PHI AAA Brian Mazone       8.0  6  1  0  4  1  0   
SF  A   Dave McKae         7.0  5  0  0 10  0  0   

Player News

Player news items are provided by CBS SportsLine.com.

The Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels 2-1 Thursday night to hand rookie Jered Weaver his first loss. Weaver (9-1) was trying to become the third pitcher in big-league history to win his first 10 decisions as a starter, joining Hooks Wiltse of the 1904 New York Giants (12-0) and Kirk Reuter of the 1993-94 Montreal Expos (10-0). Weaver and Whitey Ford of the 1950 New York Yankees share the AL record by beginning their respective careers with nine straight wins as starters. Weaver pitched very well, but left trailing 1-0 after allowing four hits including the homer by Ortiz in six innings.

Mark Redman allowed four runs on 10 hits with four Ks over five innings in a no-decision on Thursday against the Indians.

C.C. Sabathia allowed four runs — three earned — and 11 hits in eight innings, striking out seven and walking two in a win on Thursday at Kansas City.

Brad Hennessey allowed two runs on five hits in five innings in a no-decision on Thursday against the Reds.

Eric Milton allowed three runs on 10 hits with three Ks over 6 2/3 innings on Thursday in a no-decision at San Francisco.

Randy Johnson allowed four runs on seven hits with three Ks over eight innings in a loss on Thursday at Seattle.

Jarrod Washburn was so good he reminded the opposing pitcher of a former Mariners ace. Washburn continued his Yankee taming by allowing just six hits and striking out a season-high nine in the Mariners’ 4-2 win over New York on Thursday night. “He looked like Randy Johnson out there. The only thing that was missing was the Kingdome roof out there,” the Big Unit said chuckling. “Randy was great,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said. Washburn (7-12) was better. He allowed six hits, two runs and two walks in 6 1/3 innings. With two runners on, he struck out Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi in succession to end the third inning.

Willie Bloomquist (back) returned to action on Thursday against the Yankees and went 1-for-4.

Garret Anderson (hamstring) returned to action on Thursday against Boston and went 0-for-3 with a walk.

A bleary-eyed and raspy-voiced Alex Rodriguez rejoined the New York Yankees to take batting practice Thursday, despite a throat infection. Rodriguez spent Wednesday night inside his hotel room with a fever he said has been as high as 101 degrees and has left him with difficulty swallowing. He has been mainly eating liquid foods while taking antibiotics the last two days. But he emerged late Thursday afternoon to take a few swings on the field. He pinch-hit in the ninth inning and struck out as New York lost 4-2 to Seattle. Rodriguez, who entered Thursday 8-for-25 (.320) on the Yankees’ road trip, said he began feeling ill Monday while leaving Boston. He played the entire series opener Tuesday against the Mariners, but said his fever spiked during the game.

The San Diego Padres obtained outfielder Russell Branyan from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for minor league pitcher Evan Meek and a player to be named or cash on Thursday night. Branyan is hitting .201 with 12 homers and 27 RBIs in 64 games. He has the same number of singles – 12 – as homers this season. This will be the fifth team in 10 years for Branyan, who began his career playing for the Cleveland Indians. He had a career high 20 homers and 54 RBIs in 2001 for the Indians. “I signed here and was feeling really good about the team,” Branyan said after the Devil Rays lost 4-3 to Texas. “I didn’t sign over here to get traded, but to have a chance to go to the National League, I really enjoyed playing in the National League. To join a team that’s in contention this late in the season, it will be real exciting.”

The New York Mets optioned outfielder Lastings Milledge to their Triple-A Norfolk farm club Thursday night.

Josh Beckett rebounded from one of the worst outings of his career to pitch six strong innings and the Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels 2-1 Thursday night. Beckett (14-8) blanked the Angels on four hits before leaving in the seventh because of a small cut on his right middle finger. Beckett entered with an 0-3 record in four starts this month, having allowed 30 hits and 23 earned runs in 23 2/3 innings. In his previous outing, he walked nine and gave up nine earned runs — both career highs — in a 13-5 loss to the New York Yankees.

Jim Edmonds (dizziness) was out of action on Thursday against the Mets.

Jason Marquis (13-12) gave up five runs, seven hits and four walks in six innings in a loss on Thursday against the Mets.

Left-hander Dave Williams (3-3), making just his second start for New York, allowed two runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings in a win on Thursday against the Cardinals.

Carlos Delgado homered for the fourth time in four games, and the New York Mets completed a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals with a 6-2 victory Thursday night that extended their winning streak to seven. Delgado has nine RBIs in his last four games, seven against the Cardinals. He had two homers Tuesday night, including a grand slam for the 400th homer of his career.

Wandy Rodriguez gave up five runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings for a loss on Thursday at Pittsburgh. He struck out seven and walked none and remained winless since July 2.

Paul Maholm worked his way through a shaky first three innings Thursday to earn the victory for Pittsburgh, which has won three straight games. Maholm (6-10) gave up three runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings.

Kris Benson allowed six runs on 10 hits with no strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings on Thursday against Minnesota.

Boof Bonser (3-4) was solid in his 11th big league start for Minnesota on Thursday at Baltimore. The rookie right-hander took a four-hit shutout into the seventh. Although he didn’t make it out of the inning, Bonser earned his first win in five starts since June 24. He gave up two runs, seven hits and a walk in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out four.

Joe Mauer had three hits and drove in four runs, and the Minnesota Twins cruised past the Baltimore Orioles 11-2 on Thursday night.

Michael Cuddyer went 4-for-4 with four RBI and the Minnesota Twins cruised past the Baltimore Orioles 11-2 on Thursday night.

Tampa Bay OF Jonny Gomes is to have his injured right shoulder examined Monday. Season-ending surgery is possible for Gomes, who is able to DH.

Tim Corcoran (4-6) allowed four runs — three earned — on five hits over six innings in a loss on Thursday against Texas.

Carlos Lee hit a solo homer, helping the Texas Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 4-3 Thursday night and a four-game sweep. Lee’s homer was his third in 109 at-bats with the Rangers. Acquired from Milwaukee on July 28 in a six-player deal, he had 28 homers in 388 at-bats with the Brewers.

Robinson Tejeda won his second consecutive start since being called up from the minor leagues, helping the Texas Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 4-3 Thursday night and a four-game sweep. jeda (3-3) gave up two runs and five hits in 7 2/3 innings. He was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma on Saturday to make a start that day and earned a spot in the rotation after giving up one run over 6 2/3 innings in a 3-1 win over Detroit. Tejeda is 2-0 against the Devil Rays this season. He also beat Tampa Bay in his Texas’ debut on May 2.

Brewers 3B David Bell stopped an 0-for-16 streak with a double in the second inning on Thursday against Colorado. He finished 2-for-5 with two RBI and

Brewers C Damian Miller (concussion symptoms) left after the fifth inning on Thursday.

Prince Fielder hit a three-run homer as Milwaukee beat Colorado 12-6 Thursday and extended the Rockies’ losing streak to six.

Josh Fogg (9-8), pitching on seven days’ rest, gave up eight runs — seven earned– on eight hits and two walks over 4 2/3 innings and hit two batters in a loss on Thursday at Milwaukee. “We need better performances than I gave,” he said.

Jose Valentin (hamstring) returned to action on Thursday against St. Louis.

An MRI exam on Manny Ramirez’s right knee showed no structural damage, but the Red Sox slugger wasn’t in the lineup for Thursday night’s game against the Los Angeles Angels. “Thankfully the MRI came back and everything’s structurally clean,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. “He does have some patella tendinitis, which we kind of knew already. So we eliminated some structural things that maybe worried us, which is good. Now we’ll just see how he feels.” Wily Mo Pena started in left field and Kevin Youkilis batted in the cleanup spot usually occupied by Ramirez.

Royals first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz was scheduled for Thursday for season-ending back surgery Aug. 29. The 32-year-old, who signed with Kansas City in December, has been on the DL since July 26.

Casey Kotchman (mono) is all but out for the season.

Dallas McPherson (rib cage, back) has been cleared for baseball activities and could begin a rehab assignment soon.

Nate Robertson (11-10) gave up a career-high 10 runs and nine hits in 6 2/3 innings Thursday vs. the White Sox. “He made a lot of bad pitches and every one of them went out of the ballpark,” manager Jimmy Leyland said.

Rondell White (hamstring) returned to action on Thursday at Baltimore.

Juan Uribe’s three-run homer in the fourth Thursday put the White Sox ahead 5-0 and leadoff man Pablo Ozuna (.331) had three of Chicago’s 14 hits.

Jon Garland pitched a six-hit shutout Thursday of the Tigers. “This was huge,” Garland acknowledged. “After losing the first two, we had to salvage these two. Now, we’ve still got a chance.” Garland (15-4) struck out two and walked one in his fifth career shutout, his third against Detroit. His previous shutout was Sept. 4 last year against — who else? — the Tigers. “That’s as good a pitching game as we’ve had all year,” Guillen said. “He did everything that a pitcher is supposed to do out there.”

Jermaine Dye hit two homers Thursday. Over the last 49 games, Dye is hitting .366 with 17 homers — four of which came in the Tigers series. “When you come into this town and split a four-game series, the way that team is going, it’s satisfying,” said Dye said, who finished 3-for-3 with a walk, a double, three RBI and four runs.

Detroit CF Curtis Granderson ended an 0-for-21 streak with a single in the first inning Thursday.

RHP Dustin Hermanson (back) might be activated from the DL once the rosters expand to 40 in September.

The Mets designated outfielder Ricky Ledee for assignment Thursday night to make room on the roster for right fielder Shawn Green, who was acquired from Arizona on Tuesday. They have 10 days to trade, release or outright him to the minor leagues.

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