THT Daily: Only the Loney

Major League News for September 29

Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Game of the Day
Yesterday’s Home Runs
Player News
Stats

Yesterday’s Results
American League
TOR     8  DET     6    (Recap and Boxscore)
CLE     5  TB      4    (Recap and Boxscore) Sizemore: 3-4, HR, 2 RBI
LAA     2  OAK     0    (Recap and Boxscore) Lackey: 8 IP, 0 R, 11K; Zito: 6 IP, 1 R
BAL     7  NYA     1    (Recap and Boxscore) Cabrera: near no-hitter; Hernandez: 2 HR, 4 RBI
MIN     2  KC      1    (Recap and Boxscore) See below

National League
SD     12  ARI     4    (Recap and Boxscore) Peavy: 6 IP, 2 R
MIL     9  STL     4    (Recap and Boxscore) Hall: 3-4, 2B, HR; Davis: 6 IP, 1 R, 8 BB
HOU     3  PIT     0    (Recap and Boxscore) Oswalt: 7 IP, 0 R; HOU a half-game out
WAS     3  PHI     1    (Recap and Boxscore) O’Connor: 5 IP, 1R
NYN     7  ATL     4    (Recap and Boxscore) Delgado: 2 2B, 4 RBI; El Duque: 5 IP, 1 R
LAN    19  COL    11    (Recap and Boxscore) Loney: 2 HR, 9 RBI.  Yeah, 9.
CIN     5  FLA     1    (Recap and Boxscore) Lohse: 6 IP, 1 R, 2R 2B 

Today’s Games
Visitors                          Home                              Starts
COL - Fogg J. (10-9, 5.62)        CHC - Zambrano C. (16-6, 3.43)      2:20
TB - Stokes B. (1-0, 6.35)        CLE - Slocum B. (0-0, 7.71)         7:05
CIN - Harang A. (15-11, 3.83)     PIT - Duke Z.* (10-14, 4.44)        7:05
PHI - Moyer J.* (4-2, 4.27)       FLA - Moehler B. (7-10, 6.22)       7:05
NYM - Maine J. (6-5, 3.64)        WAS - Armas T. (9-12, 5.07)         7:05
BAL - Bedard E.* (15-10, 3.67)    BOS - Tavarez J. (4-4, 4.52)        7:05
HOU - Clemens R. (7-5, 2.35)      ATL - James C.* (10-4, 3.94)        7:05
TOR - Chacin G.* (9-3, 4.90)      NYY - Mussina M. (14-7, 3.57)       7:05
KC - Hernandez R. (6-10, 6.38)    DET - Ledezma W.* (3-3, 3.58)       7:05
MIL - Capuano C.* (11-11, 3.87)   STL - Weaver J. (4-4, 5.21)         8:10
CWS - Garcia F. (16-9, 4.65)      MIN - Bonser B. (7-5, 4.15)         8:10
SD - Hensley C. (11-11, 3.73)     ARI - Hernandez L. (12-13, 4.95)    9:40
OAK - Loaiza E. (11-8, 4.84)      LAA - Santana E. (15-8, 4.43)      10:05
TEX - Padilla V. (14-10, 4.44)    SEA - Feierabend R.* (0-1, 3.75)   10:05
LAD - Kuo H.* (1-5, 4.12)         SF - Lowry N.* (7-10, 4.84)        10:15

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     96  63 .604    0.0   94      2      
TOR     85  74 .535   11.0   85      0      
BOS     84  75 .528   12.0   78      6      
BAL     69  90 .434   27.0   68      1      
TB      61  98 .384   35.0   64     -3      
American League Central
MIN     95  64 .597    0.0   92      3      
DET     95  64 .597    0.0   95      0      
CHA     88  71 .553    7.0   86      2      
CLE     75  84 .472   20.0   87     -12     
KC      59 100 .371   36.0   59      0      
American League West
OAK     92  67 .579    0.0   85      7      
LAA     87  72 .547    5.0   82      5      
TEX     79  80 .497   13.0   85     -6      
SEA     76  83 .478   16.0   76      0      

National League East         Pwins Diff
NYN     94  65 .591    0.0   88      6      
PHI     83  76 .522   11.0   83      0      
FLA     77  82 .484   17.0   79     -2      
ATL     77  82 .484   17.0   83     -6      
WAS     71  88 .447   23.0   69      2      
National League Central
STL     81  77 .513    0.0   80      1      
HOU     81  78 .509    0.5   82     -1      
CIN     79  80 .497    2.5   74      5      
MIL     74  85 .465    7.5   70      4      
CHN     65  94 .409   16.5   68     -3      
PIT     65  94 .409   16.5   69     -4      
National League West
SD      86  73 .541    0.0   85      1      
LAN     85  74 .535    1.0   86     -1      
SF      76  82 .481    9.5   75      1      
ARI     75  84 .472   11.0   78     -3      
COL     74  85 .465   12.0   79     -5      

Wildcard Standings
American League
DET     95  64 .597    0.0
CHA     88  71 .553    7.0
LAA     87  72 .547    8.0
TOR     85  74 .535   10.0
BOS     84  75 .528   11.0
National League
LAN     85  74 .535    0.0
PHI     83  76 .522    2.0
HOU     81  78 .509    4.0
CIN     79  80 .497    6.0
FLA     77  82 .484    8.0

Game of the Day

The Twins own a share of first place for the first time all year after beating the Royals, 2-1 in 10 innings. The Royals were leading, 1-0 with two out in the bottom of the ninth, when Joe Mauer hit a game-tying home run into the left-field seats. The next inning, Jason Barlett hit a bases-loaded single to win it for the Twinkies. Detroit lost their game to Toronto, 8-6.

The Royals’ Luke Hudson had held Minnesota scoreless for seven innings, and Brad Radke pitched five fine innings for the first-place Twins. According to Elias, this is the latest point in a season that a team reached first place for the first time. The previous record was held by the 1964 Cardinals, who gained a share of the top spot for the first time following their 158th game.

KANSAS CITY (1) VS MINNESOTA (2) - FINAL IN 10 INNINGS 

KANSAS CITY            ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
D DeJesus cf            4  0  0  0   1  2   1  .292
E German 2b             3  0  0  0   2  2   2  .326
M Sweeney dh            3  0  1  0   1  0   1  .240
E Brown lf              3  0  0  0   1  0   1  .287
M Maier rf              4  1  2  0   0  1   3  .286
J Buck c                4  0  1  0   0  1   5  .244
P Phillips 1b           4  0  1  1   0  0   1  .265
J Keppinger 3b          4  0  2  0   0  0   2  .217
A Sanchez ss            4  0  0  0   0  0   1  .188

Totals                 33  1  7  1   5  6  17

BATTING: 2B - P Phillips (3, B Radke). RBI - P Phillips (3). 2-out RBI - P 
Phillips. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - E German 1, J Keppinger 1. 
GIDP - M Sweeney, E Brown, J Keppinger, J Buck. Team LOB - 7. 
 
FIELDING: DP: 1 (A Sanchez-P Phillips). 

MINNESOTA              ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
N Punto 3b              4  0  0  0   0  0   1  .295
A Casilla 2b            3  0  1  0   0  1   0  .250
 a-J Kubel ph           1  0  0  0   0  0   0  .244
 L Rodriguez 2b         0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .222
J Mauer c               4  1  1  1   0  0   1  .349
M Cuddyer rf            4  0  2  0   0  0   0  .280
J Morneau 1b            4  1  1  0   0  0   2  .322
T Hunter cf             4  0  0  0   0  0   2  .277
R White lf              4  0  1  0   0  1   0  .245
 L Ford pr              0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .227
J Tyner dh              3  0  1  0   1  0   0  .315
J Bartlett ss           4  0  1  1   0  0   0  .313

Totals                 35  2  8  2   1  2   6

a-grounded to second for A Casilla in the 9th.

BATTING: HR - J Mauer (13, 9th inning off J Nelson 0 on, 2 Out). RBI - J Mauer 
(84), J Bartlett (31). 2-out RBI - J Mauer. Runners left in scoring position, 2 
out - N Punto 1. GIDP - J Mauer. Team LOB - 6. 
 
FIELDING: E - T Hunter (4, bobble). DP: 4 (J Bartlett-A Casilla-J Morneau 3, 
A Casilla-J Bartlett-J Morneau). 
 
----------------------------------------------------
    KANSAS CITY     - 010 000 000 0  --   1
    MINNESOTA       - 000 000 001 1  --   2

One out when winning run scored.
----------------------------------------------------

KANSAS CITY                  ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
L Hudson                      7       4   0   0   0   1   0   5.12
J Peralta (H, 17)             1       0   0   0   0   1   0   4.46
J Nelson (B, 1)               1       1   1   1   0   0   1   4.32
S Dohmann (L, 1-3)              1/3   3   1   1   1   0   0   7.83

MINNESOTA                    ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
B Radke                       5       3   1   0   2   1   0   4.32
P Neshek                      2       1   0   0   0   3   0   2.19
J Crain                         2/3   1   0   0   0   0   0   3.58
D Reyes                         1/3   0   0   0   0   1   0   0.90
J Rincon                      1       1   0   0   2   0   0   2.95
J Nathan (W, 7-0)             1       1   0   0   1   1   0   1.60

IBB - D DeJesus (by J Nathan), J Tyner (by S Dohmann). Pitches-strikes: L 
Hudson 91-62; J Peralta 12-8; J Nelson 14-9; S Dohmann 15-10; B Radke 57-38; P 
Neshek 23-20; J Crain 13-8; D Reyes 5-3; J Rincon 25-16; J Nathan 16-10. Ground 
balls-fly balls: L Hudson 13-7; J Peralta 0-2; J Nelson 1-2; S Dohmann 0-1; B 
Radke 12-2; P Neshek 1-2; J Crain 1-1; D Reyes 0-0; J Rincon 2-1; J Nathan 1-1. 
Batters faced: L Hudson 24; J Peralta 3; J Nelson 4; S Dohmann 5; B Radke 17; P 
Neshek 7; J Crain 3; D Reyes 1; J Rincon 5; J Nathan 5. 
 
UMPIRES: HP--Bruce Froemming. 1B--Mike Winters. 2B--Brian Runge. 3B--Paul 
Emmel. 

T--2:43. Att--26,654. 
Weather: INDOORS

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

image

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. You can read their daily updates at the Hit Tracker Blog.

Hitter                      Pitcher                     True Dist  Std. Dist. HR #
Church, Ryan        WAS     Lieber, Jon       PHI          450       443       9
Rolen, Scott        STL     Spurling, Chris   MIL          398       417      22
Jones, Andruw       ATL     Wagner, Billy     NYM          428       415      41
Hall, Bill          MIL     Marquis, Jason    STL          411       405      34
Norton, Greg        TB      Byrd, Paul        CLE          395       404      16
Napoli, Mike        LAA     Kennedy, Joe      OAK          394       399      16
Marte, Andy         CLE     Howell, J.P.      TB           377       393       5
Hernandez, Ramon    BAL     Dotel, Octavio    NYY          370       389      23
Anderson, Marlon    LAD     King, Ray         COL          427       385      12
Loney, James        LAD     Mesa, Jose        COL          422       385       3
Wilson, Preston     STL     Davis, Doug       MIL          394       383      16
Branyan, Russell    SD      Aquino, Greg      ARI          391       383      18
Hernandez, Ramon    BAL     Rasner, Darrell   NYY          354       374      22
Lofton, Kenny       LAD     King, Ray         COL          407       369       3
Mauer, Joe          MIN     Nelson, Joe       KC           364       359      13
Bowen, Rob          SD      Pena, Tony        ARI          366       358       3
Giles, Marcus       SD      Batista, Miguel   ARI          365       356      14
Holliday, Matt      COL     Penny, Brad       LAD          387       354      33
Sizemore, Grady     CLE     Switzer, Jon      TB           351       340      28
Beltran, Carlos     NYM     Moylan, Peter     ATL          370       335      41
Casey, Sean         DET     Frasor, Jason     TOR          351       330       8
Loney, James        LAD     Kim, Byung-Hyun   COL          361       329       2

Player News

Player news items are provided by CBS SportsLine.com.

The New York Mets learned Thursday that Pedro Martinez is done for the year with a torn tendon in his left calf muscle. While surgery won’t be necessary, there’s no chance of the three-time Cy Young Award winner pitching again in 2006, even if the Mets make it all the way to the World Series. Martinez returned to New York after getting knocked around badly in his final start of the regular season Wednesday night, a 13-1 loss to the Braves. An MRI showed a tear in the left calf — different from the right calf injury that recently put him on the disabled list for a month and was thought to be his major concern.

Daniel Cabrera fell two outs shy of the sixth no-hitter in Baltimore franchise history before settling for a 7-1 win over the Yankees. New York’s Robinson Cano, who stands second in the American League’s batting race, broke up the no-hitter with one out in the ninth inning. One pitch later, Cabrera coaxed a game-ending double play. Fourteen of Cabrera’s 27 outs came on ground balls, and six more came on fly balls. He also got five strikeouts, one popup and one line drive. Cabrera was the fourth pitcher to take a no-hitter into the ninth inning this month, joining Anibal Sanchez (who got his no-hit game), Chris Young and Ramon Ortiz.

Frank Robinson reportedly won’t be returning as the Nationals’ manager. Nationals president Stan Kasten and general manager Jim Bowden met separately with Frank Robinson on Thursday afternoon to discuss the manager’s future. Baseball sources said that Robinson, 71, will not manage the team after the 2006 season. Even Robinson strongly hinted in his pregame press briefing that Sunday’s game will be his last as Nationals manager. An official announcement will not be made until Sunday afternoon’s game against the Mets or on Monday morning.

A Hardball Times Update
Goodbye for now.

Rookie James Loney, filling in for the injured Nomar Garciaparra at first base, drove in nine runs through the first six innings of the Dodgers-Rockies game on Thursday, tying the 56-year-old franchise single-game record held by Gil Hodges. Loney slugged a second-inning grand slam, doubled in two runs in the third inning, singled in a run in the fifth inning and lined a two-run homer in the sixth.

Ramon Hernandez hit two home runs for the Orioles on Thursday night, giving him six homers against the Yankees since Sept. 1. According to Elias, it’s the most home runs that any player in major league history has hit against the Yankees in one calendar month.

A surgically removed growth behind Royals Kansas City manager Buddy Bell’s left tonsil was cancerous, his doctor said Thursday. The biopsy revealed that tissue surrounding the growth, however, was free of cancer cells. The team made the announcement during Kansas City’s game at Minnesota. Bell, who is resting at his home in Chandler, Ariz., and won’t manage again this season, will meet with doctors soon to determine any possible further treatment.

The Astros had only three hits in their win. It was the second time this month that Houston won despite producing three or fewer hits. They beat the Mets on Sept. 3 with one hit.

So much for the Coors Park humidor. In addition to the 30 runs scored yesterday — the most at Coors Field in four years — the teams combined for 33 hits, using 44 players — 16 of which were pitchers. The 19 runs were the most by the Dodgers in five years. The 19-run outburst pushed the Dodgers’ runs-per-game average above 5.0 for the season (it’s now at 5.08). Los Angeles has not averaged five or more runs per game in any season since 1962.

The Dodgers’ sweep of the Rockies brought their season mark against the last-place Rockies to a lopsided 15-4.

Francisco Rodriguez tied Bryan Harvey’s franchise record with his career-high 46th save in a 2-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Thursday night.

In an open letter to season-ticket holders Thursday, the Mariners confirmed general manager Bill Bavasi and manager Mike Hargrove will return for the 2007 season.

Law officers and museum officials are looking for a bronze bust of former Kansas City Royals third baseman George Brett that is missing from the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. The bust stood outside the Springfield museum as part of a “legends walkway” with about 15 other busts of athletes and three full-size statues, museum operations director Marty Willadsen said Thursday.

THT Stats

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Dave Studeman was called a "national treasure" by Rob Neyer. Seriously. Follow his sporadic tweets @dastudes.

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