THT Daily: Padres in First

Major League News for September 18

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

Yesterday’s Results

American League
BOS     5  NYA     4    (Recap and Boxscore) Mussina: 6 IP, 2 R
BOS     6  NYA     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
TOR     5  TB      3    (Recap and Boxscore) Young: HR, batting .400
MIN     6  CLE     1    (Recap and Boxscore) MIN: turned 5 DP’s; Baker: 6 IP, 1 R
BAL    12  DET     8    (Recap and Boxscore) 10 innings
SEA    10  KC      5    (Recap and Boxscore)
OAK     5  CHA     4    (Recap and Boxscore) Thomas: 3-R HR against old team
TEX     8  LAA     1    (Recap and Boxscore) Padilla: 7.1 IP, 0 R

National League
ATL     8  FLA     7    (Recap and Boxscore) 10th inning: FLA: 4 runs, ATL: 5 runs
WAS     6  MIL     1    (Recap and Boxscore) WAS bullpen: 5 IP, 0 H
CHN    11  CIN     3    (Recap and Boxscore) Zambrano: 7 IP, 0 R, hits HR
PHI     6  HOU     4    (Recap and Boxscore) Lieberthal: 2 HR; PHI sweeps HOU
PIT     3  NYN     0    (Recap and Boxscore) Duke: 8 IP, 0 R
COL     6  ARI     1    (Recap and Boxscore) Francis: 8 IP, 1 R; Baker: 2B, HR
SD      2  LAN     1    (Recap and Boxscore) See below

Today’s Games

Visitors                          Home                            Starts
CHC - Marshall S.* (5-9, 5.34)    PHI - Lieber J. (8-9, 4.87)       7:05
ATL - Davies K. (2-5, 7.69)       WAS - Armas T. (8-11, 5.28)       7:05
NYY - Rasner D. (2-0, 0.77)       TOR - Burnett A. (8-7, 3.90)      7:07
FLA - Moehler B. (7-8, 6.12)      NYM - Trachsel S. (14-7, 5.17)    7:10
BAL - Bedard E.* (14-9, 3.76)     TB - Hammel J. (0-3, 6.53)        7:15
DET - Rogers K.* (15-6, 3.86)     CWS - Buehrle M.* (12-12, 4.76)   8:05
SEA - Hernandez F. (11-13, 4.60)  TEX - Millwood K. (15-10, 4.47)   8:05
STL - Reyes A. (5-7, 5.03)        MIL - Capuano C.* (11-11, 3.66)   8:05
CIN - Lohse K. (2-3, 4.13)        HOU - Oswalt R. (13-8, 3.06)      8:05
SF - Lowry N.* (7-9, 4.19)        COL - Hampson J.* (0-0, 1.80)     8:35
CLE - Westbrook J. (12-10, 4.27)  OAK - Haren D. (14-11, 3.79)     10:05
SD - Peavy J. (9-14, 4.17)        LAD - Penny B. (16-8, 4.04)      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 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     90  59 .604    0.0   88      2      
BOS     81  69 .540    9.5   76      5      
TOR     79  70 .530   11.0   79      0      
BAL     64  85 .430   26.0   64      0      
TB      57  92 .383   33.0   59     -2      
American League Central
DET     89  60 .597    0.0   88      1      
MIN     88  61 .591    1.0   85      3      
CHA     84  65 .564    5.0   84      0      
CLE     69  79 .466   19.5   80     -11     
KC      58  92 .387   31.5   58      0      
American League West
OAK     86  62 .581    0.0   79      7      
LAA     80  70 .533    7.0   76      4      
TEX     76  74 .507   11.0   80     -4      
SEA     71  78 .477   15.5   71      0      

National League East         Pwins Diff
NYN     90  58 .608    0.0   85      5      
PHI     77  72 .517   13.5   78     -1      
FLA     74  75 .497   16.5   75     -1      
ATL     72  77 .483   18.5   76     -4      
WAS     65  84 .436   25.5   64      1      
National League Central
STL     79  68 .537    0.0   76      3      
CIN     73  76 .490    7.0   70      3      
HOU     71  77 .480    8.5   74     -3      
MIL     67  82 .450   13.0   65      2      
PIT     63  87 .420   17.5   65     -2      
CHN     61  89 .407   19.5   62     -1      
National League West
SD      78  70 .527    0.0   78      0      
LAN     78  71 .523    0.5   79     -1      
SF      74  74 .500    4.0   73      1      
ARI     71  78 .477    7.5   73     -2      
COL     69  80 .463    9.5   74     -5      

Wildcard Standings
American League
MIN     88  61 .591    0.0
CHA     84  65 .564    4.0
BOS     81  69 .540    7.5
LAA     80  70 .533    8.5
TOR     79  70 .530    9.0
National League
LAN     78  71 .523    0.0
PHI     77  72 .517    1.0
SF      74  74 .500    3.5
FLA     74  75 .497    4.0
CIN     73  76 .490    5.0

Game of the Day

The Padres moved into first place in the NL West by beating the Dodgers, 2-1. Termel Sledge hit a game-winning single in the top of the ninth to plate the winning run (the fifth pinch-hit game-winner for the Padres, tied for most in the majors with the Marlins) but the Player of the Game award goes to starter Chris Young, who pitched one-hit ball for six innings. The two teams play one more game tonight.

San Diego has won eight of the last nine meetings between the two teams. The Padres are 13-4 overall against Los Angeles and 7-1 at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers’ only run came on a Russell Martin homer off Cla Meredith with one out in the seventh. That ended Meredith’s franchise-record string of 34 scoreless innings. The San Diego reliever hadn’t allowed a run in 28 appearances dating to July 17.

SAN DIEGO (2) VS LA DODGERS (1) - FINAL

SAN DIEGO              ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
D Roberts lf            4  0  2  0   1  1   0  .301
B Giles rf              5  0  1  0   0  1   5  .269
T Walker 2b             4  0  2  0   0  1   2  .283
 J Barfield pr-2b       1  0  0  0   0  0   3  .281
A Gonzalez 1b           4  0  0  0   0  2   4  .292
R Branyan 3b            4  1  1  1   0  2   3  .318
 M Alexander 3b         0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .200
M Cameron cf            3  0  0  0   1  1   0  .264
J Bard c                4  0  1  0   0  1   1  .316
 K Greene pr            0  1  0  0   0  0   0  .247
 R Bowen c              0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .227
G Blum ss               3  0  2  0   1  0   0  .255
C Young p               2  0  0  0   0  2   2  .143
 a-P McAnulty ph        1  0  0  0   0  0   0  .273
 C Meredith p           0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 S Linebrink p          0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 b-T Sledge ph          1  0  1  1   0  0   0  .250
 T Hoffman p            0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000

Totals                 36  2 10  2   3 11  20

a-flied out to right for C Young in the 7th;  b-singled to right for S 
Linebrink in the 9th.

BATTING: 2B - G Blum (15, D Lowe). HR - R Branyan (4, 6th inning off D Lowe 0 
on, 2 Out). RBI - R Branyan (7), T Sledge (7). 2-out RBI - R Branyan. Runners 
left in scoring position, 2 out - R Branyan 1, B Giles 1, J Barfield 2. GIDP - 
B Giles. Team LOB - 10. 
 
FIELDING: E - J Bard (2, throw). 

LA DODGERS             ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
R Furcal ss             4  0  1  0   1  1   0  .296
K Lofton cf             3  0  1  0   2  0   1  .301
J Lugo 2b               3  0  0  0   1  1   4  .227
J Kent 1b               4  0  1  0   0  0   1  .281
J Drew rf               3  0  0  0   1  1   1  .274
W Betemit 3b            3  0  0  0   1  1   1  .266
A Ethier lf             3  0  0  0   1  2   3  .317
R Martin c              4  1  1  1   0  0   3  .287
D Lowe p                2  0  0  0   0  1   0  .100
 a-M Anderson ph        1  0  0  0   0  1   0  .280
 J Beimel p             0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 J Broxton p            0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 b-N Garciaparra ph     1  0  0  0   0  1   0  .305

Totals                 31  1  4  1   7  9  14

a-struck out swinging for D Lowe in the 7th;  b-struck out swinging for J 
Broxton in the 9th.

BATTING: HR - R Martin (9, 7th inning off C Meredith 0 on, 1 Out). RBI - R 
Martin (58). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J Lugo 3, R Martin 1. 
Team LOB - 10. 
 
BASERUNNING: SB - K Lofton 2 (27, 2nd base off C Young/J Bard, 2nd base off C 
Meredith/J Bard), R Furcal (35, 2nd base off C Meredith/J Bard). 
 
FIELDING: DP: 1 (J Lugo-J Kent). 

----------------------------------------------------
    SAN DIEGO       - 000 001 001   --   2
    LA DODGERS      - 000 000 100   --   1
----------------------------------------------------

SAN DIEGO                    ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
C Young                       6       1   0   0   5   4   0   3.63
C Meredith (B, 1)             1       2   1   1   1   2   1   0.86
S Linebrink (W, 7-3)          1       1   0   0   0   2   0   3.59
T Hoffman (S, 39)             1       0   0   0   1   1   0   1.80

LA DODGERS                   ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
D Lowe                        7       7   1   1   1   9   1   3.69
J Beimel                      1       1   0   0   0   1   0   3.13
J Broxton (L, 3-1)            1       2   1   1   2   1   0   2.61

WP - J Broxton. IBB - K Lofton (by C Meredith), D Roberts (by J Broxton). 
BALK - C Young. Pitches-strikes: C Young 108-64; C Meredith 23-14; S Linebrink 
20-15; T Hoffman 21-11; D Lowe 115-76; J Beimel 15-13; J Broxton 26-13. Ground 
balls-fly balls: C Young 5-9; C Meredith 1-0; S Linebrink 0-1; T Hoffman 0-2; D 
Lowe 9-3; J Beimel 0-2; J Broxton 0-2. Batters faced: C Young 24; C Meredith 6; 
S Linebrink 4; T Hoffman 4; D Lowe 28; J Beimel 4; J Broxton 7. 
 
UMPIRES: HP--Tim  Welke. 1B--Gary Cederstrom. 2B--Jim Reynolds. 3B--Kerwin 
Danley. 

T--3:00. Att--54,601. 
Weather: 88 degrees, sunny. Wind: 3 mph, out to left.

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

Player News

Player news items are provided by CBS SportsLine.com.

Atlanta rallied for five runs in the bottom of the 10th inning to cap an unlikely 8-7 triumph against the Marlins. It was the first time in franchise history that the Braves had won a game in which they trailed by four-or-more runs during extra innings — and keep in mind, the Braves have played in the National League since the year of its founding, 1876. Since 1981, there have been only two other games in which the winning team rebounded from a deficit of at least four runs in the 10th inning or later.

The Tigers dropped a 12-8 decision to the Orioles in 10 innings on Sunday. It was the fourth time this season that Detroit lost an extra-inning game by a margin of at least four runs, matching the 2002 Royals for the most such losses in a single season for any team in major-league history.

Carlos Zambrano is hoping his arm and bat can help the Chicago Cubs achieve a modest goal — avoiding 100 losses. Zambrano hit his fifth home run of the season and pitched seven shutout innings in his return to the rotation, leading the Cubs over the Cincinnati Reds 11-3 Sunday. Zambrano (15-6), who missed his last two scheduled starts with stiffness in his lower back, earned his first win since Aug. 24. It was Zambrano’s second first-inning homer of the year (the other was on July 2 against the White Sox), equaling the total for all other pitchers combined over the last 21 seasons. Since 1986, Tyler Greene (1995 Phillies) and Robert Person (2002 Phillies) are the only other pitchers to homer during the first inning of a game.

According to MLB.com, Chicago Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee is out for the rest of the season because of his 3-year-old daughter’s illness. Lee had missed the last two games before he said Sunday he was taking a leave of absence to be with his wife and child. “My daughter’s lost some vision in one eye and we’ll find out more at a later time; we have to go through some more tests,” Lee said in a statement. “Right now we just ask for everyone’s prayers. We need a miracle, we need your prayers. We need everyone to believe she’s going to be OK.”

Ryan Howard hit his major league-leading 57th home run — without any dispute — and the Philadelphia Phillies kept up their push for a wild-card spot by beating Houston 6-4 Sunday. Howard’s solo homer went to left field in the third inning. A day earlier, Howard hit a drive to left that was ruled a double by umpire Larry Poncino; replays appeared to show a young fan in the front row dropping the ball, and Poncino said after the game that he got the call wrong.

RHP Salomon Torres appeared in his 89th game of the seasont. Only three pitchers in the history of the game have appeared in 90 or more games in a season: Mike Marshall with the Dodgers in 1974 (106) and Expos in 1973 (106), Kent Tekulve with the Pirates in 1979 (94), 1978 (91) and 1987 (90) and the Reds’ Wayne Granger in 1969 (90).

The Mets failed for the third straight day to clinch the NL East title when SP Zach Duke and the Pittsburgh Pirates finished off an unlikely sweep Sunday with a 3-0 win. Duke (10-13) allowed eight hits, walked one and struck out six in eight shutout innings. The Mets had only one extra-base hit and never advanced a runner past second base.

Just when the Tigers were hoping to have Placido Polanco back in the lineup, the second baseman said his season is over. “I’m out for the year,” Polanco said after the Tigers lost to Baltimore 12-8 Sunday. Polanco was put on the disabled list on Aug. 16 with a separated left shoulder after making a tumbling catch at Boston. He was expected to be out four to six weeks and was hurt five weeks ago Tuesday. Polanco recently started to hit and was sore after batting practice Saturday, Leyland said, and did not hit before Sunday’s game. “If (Polanco) can’t play, he’s hurt,” Tigers closer Todd Jones said. “He must be worse off than we all thought. We thought he would be ready for Chicago.”

The Royals announced RHP Zack Greinke will be recalled from Double-A Wichita before Tuesday’s game against the Angels. Greinke will be the 31st pitcher used by the Royals this season, tied for the third most in Major League Baseball history (2002 Cleveland Indians).

Jason Isringhausen is out for the rest of the season with an injured left hip that will require surgery for the second time in two years. Isringhausen, 34, is scheduled for a round of examinations before undergoing surgery on his hip.

Braden Looper and rookie Adam Wainwright are expected to share the closer role the rest of the way for the NL Central leaders after Jason Isringhausen has been ruled out for the season. Manager Tony La Russa also said he can use Josh Hancock and Jorge Sosa in the closer role if needed. We’ve got a lot of weapons down there and we’ll just try to see who’s fresh that day, who’s available,” La Russa said. “Most times it’ll be Wainwright and Looper down there pitching the last part of the game.”

Derek Jeter sat out the opener and went 0-for-4 in the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader against the Red Sox, ending his hitting streak at 25 games, the longest for the Yankees since Joe Gordon’s 29-game string in 1942. Jeter’s average fell to .341, three points behind Minnesota’s Joe Mauer, the AL leader.

Jeff Francis gave up three hits in eight strong innings to help the Colorado Rockies beat the error-prone Arizona Diamondbacks 6-1 on Sunday. Francis (12-11) struck out five and did not walk a batter as Colorado snapped a three-game losing streak.

Doug Davis was perfect for the first 4 1/3 innings before Kearns hit his 23rd home run in a loss on Sunday at Washington. Davis finished with a line of two runs on three hits with seven strikeouts over seven innings.

Nationals starter Mike O’Connor, who had a 75-pitch limit, allowed one run and three hits before being pulled after four innings and 69 pitches in a no-decision on Sunday against Milwaukee.

Mike Mussina allowed two runs on seven hits with seven Ks over six innings in a no-decision on Sunday in Game 2 of a doubleheader against Boston.

Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco went six innings and gave up one run and three hits in a no-decision on Sunday at Atlanta. Tim Hudson pitched seven innings and allowed one run and three hits in a no-decision on Sunday against Florida. He walked none and struck out five.

Joe Blanton won his 16th game by allowing two runs on eight hits and three walks with five strikeouts over five innings on Sunday against the White Sox.

Derek Lowe was solid again on Sunday against the Padres, allowing only one run on seven hits over seven innings in a no-decision. He struck out nine in the game.

Miguel Ojeda had a key two-run double in his first start of the season with Texas as the Rangers beat the Los Angeles Angels 8-1 Sunday. This came while his family was riding out a hurricane in Mexico. “He (manager Buck Showalter) was very good about it,” said Ojeda, who was recalled from the minors on Sept. 3. “As soon as I can go, I can leave. I hope I don’t need to go.”

Kyle Snyder allowed two runs on seven hits with seven Ks over five very solid innings in a no-decision on Sunday in Game 1 of a doubleheader at New York.

Vicente Padilla allowed seven hits over 7 1/3 scoreless innings in a victory over the Angels on Sunday.

Scott Baker pitched six strong innings as the Twins beat the Cleveland Indians 6-1 Sunday, keeping pressure on Detroit and Chicago in the race for postseason play. Baker (5-8) finally put together a good outing against Cleveland, allowing one run and six hits. The right-hander came in 0-3 with a 6.64 ERA in four career starts against the Indians.

The Minnesota Twins recalled 3B Terry Tiffee and LHP Glen Perkins from Triple-A Rochester.

The Tigers purchased the contracts of right-hander Chad Durbin and catcher Mike Rabelo from Triple-A Toledo on Saturday and designated the contract of right-hander Colby Lewis.

The Diamondbacks recalled IF Alberto Callaspo from Triple-A Tucso after the Sidewinders won the Pacific Coast Legue title.

The Astros recalled catcher Hector Gimenez and RHP Matt Albers from Triple-A Round Rock and purchased the contract of catcher Eric Munson and all three were in uniform Saturday.

LHP Andy Pettitte, who strained his left elbow in his last start Tuesday, was scheduled to throw a bullpen before the game Saturday but didn’t. His scheduled start Sunday already had been set back to Tuesday and the team isn’t certain he’ll make that. “For personal reasons, he got here a little bit late today and just threw a soft, in-the-cage kind of thing,” manager Phil Garner said. “He’s going to throw his bullpen tomorrow. He feels pretty good today after his light cage work. But the bullpen will give us a clearer picture.”

Atlanta RHP Blaine Boyer, on the DL since June 24, threw off a regular mound to live hitters for the first time since undergoing shoulder surgery. He made 25 pitches, estimated at 75 percent capacity, and mixed a fastball and changeup. “It was good,” said Boyer, who went 4-2 with a 3.11 ERA in 43 appearances as a rookie reliever last year. “I had a feel for my changeup, which is kind of surprising.”

Manager Willie Randolph said the Mets’ starting pitching rotation would remain the way it is now both in composition and order, with Pedro Martinez taking LHP Dave Williams’ spot.

CF Vernon Wells has 100 RBI — the first Blue Jay to reach the plateau since he (117) and Carlos Delgado (145) did it in 2003. It’s Wells’ third 100-RBI season.

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