THT Daily: Ross’s Rocket Rallies Reds

Major League News for August 10

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

Yesterday’s Results

American League
TOR     4  BAL     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
NYA     7  CHA     6    (Recap and Boxscore)
CLE     4  LAA     0    (Recap and Boxscore)
MIN     4  DET     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
KC      5  BOS     4    (Recap and Boxscore)
TEX    14  OAK     0    (Recap and Boxscore)
SEA     2  TB      0    (Recap and Boxscore)

National League
PHI     9  ATL     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
NYN     4  SD      3    (Recap and Boxscore)
WAS     5  FLA     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
CIN     8  STL     7    (Recap and Boxscore)
HOU    14  PIT     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
MIL     6  CHN     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
ARI     5  SF      3    (Recap and Boxscore)
COL     3  LAN     1    (Recap and Boxscore)

Today’s Games

Visitors                          Home                          Starts (EDT)
 SD - Young C. (9-5, 3.78)        NYM - Hernandez O. (7-8, 4.97)    12:10 pm
STL - Reyes A. (3-5, 4.63)        CIN - Arroyo B. (9-7, 3.47)       12:35 pm
CHC - Prior M. (1-5, 6.64)        MIL - Davis D.* (7-6, 5.01)        2:05 pm
LAA - Santana E. (12-5, 4.09)     CLE - Lee C.* (9-8, 4.75)          7:05 pm
FLA - Sanchez A. (4-2, 4.27)      WAS - Astacio P. (2-2, 5.49)       7:05 pm
NYY - Mussina M. (13-4, 3.46)     CWS - Vazquez J. (10-6, 5.18)      8:05 pm
SEA - Pineiro J. (7-9, 5.78)      TEX - Eaton A. (1-2, 5.23)         8:05 pm
PIT - Gorzelanny T.* (2-2, 4.41)  HOU - Clemens R. (3-4, 2.32)       8:05 pm
TOR - Lilly T.* (9-10, 4.20)      MIN - Silva C. (8-9, 6.37)         8:10 pm
BOS - Schilling C. (14-4, 3.78)    KC - Hernandez R. (2-7, 8.54)     8:10 pm
COL - Jennings J. (7-9, 3.48)     LAD - Billingsley C. (3-3, 3.67)  10:10 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     67  43 .609    0.0   64     3    
BOS     65  47 .580    3.0   61     4    
TOR     60  54 .526    9.0   61    -1    
BAL     51  64 .443   18.5   49     2    
TB      47  68 .409   22.5   47     0    
American League Central     
DET     76  38 .667    0.0   72     4    
MIN     67  46 .593    8.5   64     3    
CHA     66  46 .589    9.0   64     2    
CLE     48  64 .429   27.0   59   -11    
KC      40  73 .354   35.5   42    -2    
American League West        
OAK     62  52 .544    0.0   57     5    
LAA     59  55 .518    3.0   60    -1    
SEA     56  57 .496    5.5   57    -1    
TEX     57  58 .496    5.5   60    -3    


National League East        Pwins  Diff
NYN     68  44 .607    0.0   65     3    
PHI     55  58 .487   13.5   56    -1    
ATL     52  61 .460   16.5   57    -5    
FLA     52  61 .460   16.5   54    -2    
WAS     50  63 .442   18.5   51    -1    
National League Central     
STL     61  52 .540    0.0   58     3    
CIN     59  55 .518    2.5   54     5    
HOU     55  58 .487    6.0   56    -1    
MIL     53  60 .469    8.0   48     5    
CHN     48  65 .425   13.0   46     2    
PIT     42  72 .368   19.5   49    -7    
National League West        
SD      58  55 .513    0.0   57     1    
ARI     58  56 .509    0.5   57     1    
LAN     58  56 .509    0.5   62    -4    
COL     55  58 .487    3.0   58    -3    
SF      54  60 .474    4.5   56    -2    

Game of the Day

In a contest between the top two teams in the NL Central, the Cardinals jump to an early 4-0 lead against the Reds and Aaron Harang in the first inning thanks to a grand slam by Jim Edmonds. The Reds chip away however, and tie the game 6-6 in the bottom of the 6th, only to have the Cards respond with a run in the eighth. But David Ross puts the Reds only 2.5 games behind the Cardinals with a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth.

ST LOUIS (7) VS CINCINNATI (8) - FINAL

ST LOUIS               ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
D Eckstein ss           5  1  3  1   0  0   1  .292
C Duncan lf             4  1  2  0   1  1   1  .303
 R Flores p             0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 J Isringhausen p       0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
A Pujols 1b             4  2  1  0   1  1   5  .323
S Rolen 3b              2  0  0  0   0  1   4  .319
 S Spiezio 3b           2  1  1  2   1  0   0  .273
J Edmonds cf            4  1  1  4   1  1   3  .259
J Encarnacion rf        5  0  1  0   0  2   2  .285
R Belliard 2b           5  0  1  0   0  0   3  .206
Y Molina c              5  1  1  0   0  1   1  .217
C Carpenter p           2  0  1  0   0  1   0  .091
 a-S Taguchi ph-lf      0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .280
Totals                 38  7 12  7   4  8  20

a-sacrificed to pitcher for C Carpenter in the 8th.

BATTING: 2B - A Pujols (22, A Harang); Y Molina (22, B Bray). HR - J Edmonds 
(17, 1st inning off A Harang 3 on, 1 Out), S Spiezio (7, 5th inning off A 
Harang 1 on, 1 Out). S - C Carpenter , S Taguchi. RBI - J Edmonds 4 (63), S 
Spiezio 2 (33), D Eckstein (21). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J 
Edmonds 2, R Belliard 1, A Pujols 2. Team LOB - 10. 
 
CINCINNATI             ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
R Freel rf              4  0  0  0   0  2   0  .297
S Hatteberg 1b          3  2  2  1   1  1   0  .326
K Griffey Jr cf         4  1  1  0   0  1   1  .245
E Encarnacion 3b        3  2  2  1   0  0   0  .296
A Dunn lf               3  1  1  2   0  1   4  .256
B Phillips 2b           4  0  1  2   0  0   2  .292
 R Franklin p           0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
R Clayton ss            3  0  0  0   0  0   1  .263
 b-J Valentin ph        1  0  0  0   0  1   0  .225
J LaRue c               3  0  0  0   0  1   0  .184
 B Bray p               0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 T Coffey p             0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 K Mercker p            0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 R Aurilia 2b           0  0  0  0   1  0   0  .279
 C Denorfia pr          0  1  0  0   0  0   0  .222
A Harang p              2  0  0  0   0  0   0  .160
 R Cormier p            0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 D Weathers p           0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 a-D Ross ph-c          2  1  1  2   0  0   0  .295
Totals                 32  8  8  8   2  7   8

a-flied out to center for D Weathers in the 7th;  b-struck out swinging for R 
Clayton in the 9th.

BATTING: 2B - B Phillips (20, C Carpenter). HR - A Dunn (34, 2nd inning off C 
Carpenter 0 on, 1 Out), S Hatteberg (11, 4th inning off C Carpenter 0 on, 0 
Out), E Encarnacion (8, 4th inning off C Carpenter 0 on, 1 Out), D Ross (14, 
9th inning off J Isringhausen 1 on, 1 Out). SF - A Dunn. RBI - A Dunn 2 (80), S 
Hatteberg (37), E Encarnacion (49), B Phillips 2 (55), D Ross 2 (35). 2-out RBI 
- B Phillips 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - R Clayton 1, B 
Phillips 1. Team LOB - 3. 
 
FIELDING: E - R Clayton (15, ground ball). 
 
----------------------------------------------------
    ST LOUIS        - 400 020 010   --   7
    CINCINNATI      - 010 203 002   --   8


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

ST LOUIS                     ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
C Carpenter                   7       6   6   6   0   6   3   3.27
R Flores (H, 16)                1/3   0   0   0   1   0   0   5.23
J Isringhausen (L, 3-5; B, 8) 1       2   2   2   1   1   1   3.08

CINCINNATI                   ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
A Harang                      6       8   6   5   3   7   2   3.68
R Cormier                       2/3   1   0   0   0   1   0   1.93
D Weathers                      1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   4.64
B Bray                          1/3   3   1   1   0   0   0   3.63
T Coffey                        1/3   0   0   0   1   0   0   3.37
K Mercker                       1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   4.28
R Franklin (W, 2-5)           1       0   0   0   0   0   0   4.63

IBB - J Edmonds (by A Harang). HBP - E Encarnacion (by C Carpenter). 
Pitches-strikes: C Carpenter 91-61; R Flores 12-5; J Isringhausen 21-14; A 
Harang 117-73; R Cormier 12-8; D Weathers 4-2; B Bray 13-9; T Coffey 8-3; K 
Mercker 4-3; R Franklin 11-7. Ground balls-fly balls: C Carpenter 12-3; R 
Flores 0-1; J Isringhausen 1-1; A Harang 5-6; R Cormier 1-0; D Weathers 0-1; B 
Bray 1-0; T Coffey 0-1; K Mercker 0-1; R Franklin 1-2. Batters faced: C 
Carpenter 28; R Flores 2; J Isringhausen 6; A Harang 30; R Cormier 3; D 
Weathers 1; B Bray 4; T Coffey 2; K Mercker 1; R Franklin 3. 
 
UMPIRES: HP--Mike Everitt. 1B--Alfonso Marquez. 2B--Larry Young. 3B--Tom 
Hallion. 

T--2:56. Att--41,649. 
Weather: 81 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 1 mph, out to left.

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 AA  Jerry Gil          CF  4  2  0  0  2  0  1  4 RBI
ATL A+  Kala Kaaihue       1B  3  3  1  0  1  0  0   
COL A+  Luis Apodaca        C  3  3  1  0  0  0  0   
COL AA  Joseph Koshansky   1B  3  2  0  0  2  1  0  3 runs scored
HOU AAA J.R. House         1B  6  5  3  0  0  0  0  Hitting .621 over last 29 at bats
HOU AAA Jesse Garcia       SS  5  4  1  0  1  0  1  3 runs scored
KC  AAA Justin Huber       LF  4  3  1  0  1  1  0  4 runs scored
LAA AAA Mike Eylward       1B  5  4  1  0  0  0  0   
MIN AA  Doug Deeds         1B  4  4  1  1  0  0  0  .517 OBP during past week
NYY A+  Jared Greenwood     C  3  2  0  0  2  1  1  4 RBI
 
ORG LVL PLAYER             IP   H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
ATL AAA Dan Curtis         7.0  3  0  0  3  2  0   
BAL A+  David Haehnel      6.0  3  0  0  4  0  0   
BOS A+  Matthew Goodson    7.0  4  1  1  2  1  0   
CHC AAA Les Walrond        7.0  5  1  1  6  1  0   
CIN A+  Johnny Cueto       6.0  4  0  0  4  2  0   
HOU A   Brad James         7.0  6  0  0  2  2  0  1 ER allowed over last 36 IP
KC  AA  Zack Greinke       7.0  4  0  0  7  1  0  18 K over last 14 IP
PHI AAA Gavin Floyd        7.0  4  1  1  3  4  0   
PHI AA  James Happ         6.0  4  0  0  5  2  0   
STL A+  Cory Meacham       7.0  4  0  0  5  1  0 

Player News

Player news items are provided by CBS SportsLine.com.

Jonathan Papelbon failed to hold a 4-3 lead in the ninth on Wednesday at Kansas City, costing Josh Beckett his 14th win and leaving the Red Sox with a four-game losing streak. Beckett, who threw eight shutout innings to beat the Royals 1-0 on July 19 at Boston, retired his first 10 batters. But he gave up three runs — two earned — in the fourth. Mark Teahen stroked a two-run double, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a passed ball charged to Lopez.

Mike Sweeney hit an RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning, capping a two-run rally against rookie closer Jonathan Papelbon that carried the Kansas City Royals to a 5-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night.

Manny Ramirez homered to extend his career-best hitting streak to 24 games on Wednesday at Kansas City. He was 2-for-3 in the game.

David Ross hit the pitch so squarely that he didn’t even feel it leave the bat. The next few seconds felt surreal, too. Ross’ ninth-inning drive off St. Louis Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen landed on the roof of the batter’s eye in center field, a two-run homer that carried the Cincinnati Reds to an 8-7 victory Wednesday night that tightened the NL Central race. It left knots in some stomachs, too. “This team has a flair for the dramatic,” Ross said. Isringhausen (3-5), who entered with one out in the eighth, came out on the bad end of the last-swing drama — Cincinnati’s fifth game-ending homer this season.

Justin Morneau hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning to lead the Minnesota Twins over the Detroit Tigers 4-3 Wednesday night. Morneau became the first Minnesota player with 30 homers since Gary Gaetti in 1987 and raised his RBI total to 101.

Jarrod Washburn didn’t allow a hit until Ben Zobrist’s bunt single leading off the sixth inning to lead the Seattle Mariners over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 2-0 Wednesday for a three-game sweep. “I can’t be upset about that,” Washburn said. “He is trying to make something happen for his team. Maybe if that was the eighth or ninth, that would have rubbed me the wrong way.” The single by Zobrist, the No. 8 hitter in Tampa Bay’s batting order, went one-third of the way up the third-base line. “When you get to the fifth or sixth inning and don’t have a hit yet, you have to try and get something done,” Zobrist said.

Melky Cabrera, Bobby Abreu and Robinson Cano homered off Jon Garland on Wednesday at Chicago. Abreu hit his first homer in eight games since joining New York in a July 30 trade from the Phillies. The long shot to center also ended a stretch of 163 at-bats without a homer for Abreu, the longest drought of his career.

Randy Johnson pitched six innings of no-hit ball on Wednesday night as the Yankees held off the Chicago White Sox 7-6. With the Yankees leading 7-0, Tadahito Iguchi broke up the 42-year-old Johnson’s bid for a third career no-hitter when he hit an 0-2 pitch in the hole to left for a single leading off the bottom of the seventh. Then The Big Unit lost his shutout, too, when Paul Konerko hit an RBI double after Thome walked. When Jermaine Dye followed with another run-scoring double off the top of the right-field fence — Konerko held third after he apparently waited at second to see if Dye’s ball would be caught — Johnson’s night was over. Johnson (12-9) gave up three hits and two runs in his six innings plus, walking two and striking out five.

Mike Piazza tipped his helmet to Pedro Martinez, then teed off against him. Piazza hit two more home runs off his former Mets teammate, even drawing an extremely rare curtain call on the road, but fell just short of a go-ahead shot Wednesday night and New York escaped with a 4-3 win over the San Diego Padres. Staked to a 4-0 lead, Martinez (9-4) cruised. A day after Piazza was showered with ovations in his return to Shea Stadium, Martinez joined the 49,979 fans in paying homage to the former Mets star. Martinez stepped off the mound and tipped his hat when Piazza first came to bat. Piazza responded with a similar gesture of respect – remember, they weren’t so friendly a few years ago when Martinez nailed him with a pitch while playing for Boston. This time, Piazza did all the hitting. His two solo shots gave him six career home runs off Martinez, the most by anyone off the ace.

The Nationals managed to scratch out a 5-2 victory over the lackluster Dontrelle Willis and the Florida Marlins on Wednesday night, thanks in part to Nationals starter Ramon Ortiz working in and out of trouble into the seventh inning. Ortiz (9-9) had one 1-2-3 inning, yet somehow managed to be tagged for just one earned run despite eight hits, a wild pitch and a hit batter. The Marlins were about as efficient in the clutch as the Nationals, going 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and leaving 10 men aboard. Ortiz was effective with his slider and by working the inside part of the plate — all in a game called by a catcher making his major league debut, Brandon Harper, who doubled in the second inning in his first at-bat.

Ace pitcher Roy Oswalt hit one of Houston’s six homers to lead the Astros to a 14-1 rout of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night. Oswalt (9-7) won for the third time in four starts, allowing four hits and striking out six in six innings. Freddy Sanchez ruined the shutout bid with an RBI double in the sixth. Oswalt, a career .161 hitter, belted a 2-1 pitch over the left-field wall for his first major league homer.

Aubrey Huff connected for two homers and drove in a career-high six runs to lead the Astros to a 14-1 rout of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night. Huff also had a three-run double in the game.

Jake Westbrook pitched his second shutout this season, leading the Cleveland Indians to a 4-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night. Westbrook (9-7) limited the Angels to nine hits — all singles — and has won consecutive starts for the first time since April 4-9. Using his sinker to near perfection, Westbrook got the Angels to bounce into three double plays. He walked one (not until the eighth), struck out seven and has pitched into the sixth inning in 11 of his past 12 starts.

Mark DeRosa hit three-run homers in consecutive innings, and the Texas Rangers hit five homers Wednesday in a much-needed 14-0 victory over Barry Zito and the Oakland Athletics. DeRosa, the light-hitting infielder with just 25 homers before this season, went 4-for-5 with a career-high six RBI in his first career multihomer game.

Carlos Zambrano (12-5) lost his second consecutive start on Wednesday at Milwaukee after going 9-0 with two no-decisions in June and July. He gave up six runs — four earned — on five hits and four walks in 4 2/3 innings.

Dave Bush took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning, helping the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 6-3 Wednesday night and stop a three-game losing streak. Bush (8-8) allowed three hits in eight innings, giving up his first when Juan Pierre beat out an infield single to shortstop with one out in the sixth.

Jeff Francis held the Dodgers to one run and six hits in 7 1/3 innings in a no-decision on Wednesday at Los Angeles. Three of the four walks he issued were intentional, and he struck out two and hit a batter with a pitch.

Roy Halladay tied for the major league lead with his 14th win, rebounding from his first loss in six weeks Wednesday. Halladay (14-3) allowed three runs and eight hits in 7 1/3 innings, striking out five and walking none as he improved to 13-4 against Baltimore. “It’s just nice to be able to get the lead like that and be able to hold it,” Halladay said.

The Twins will officially place ailing left-hander Francisco Liriano on the 15-day DL on Thursday and recall right-hander Boof Bonser from Triple-A Rochester to take his place in the rotation. Bonser, beginning his third stint in the majors this season, is scheduled to start Saturday against Toronto. Scott Baker has been passed up for the call this time around, perhaps because the Twins prefer a power arm right now. Top prospect Matt Garza, a right-hander recalled Tuesday from Triple-A, will make his major league debut Thursday against the Blue Jays.

The Brewers activated RHP Jose Capellan from the 15-day DL and optioned OF Tony Gwynn to Triple-A Nashville of the PCL.

Dodgers right fielder J.D. Drew left Wednesday’s game against the Rockies because of a strained left quad.

Julio Lugo, a longtime shortstop being used by the Dodgers in various roles, made his first career start at third base on Wednesday against the Rockies and went 1-for-3.

St. Louis third baseman Scott Rolen left in the third inning of Wednesday night’s game against the Cincinnati Reds because of a back spasm. Rolen struck out and popped out in his two at-bats, and was listed as day to day after coming out of the game. Scott Spiezio replaced him and hit a two-run homer off Aaron Harang in his first at-bat.

New York Yankees center fielder Johnny Damon left Wednesday night’s game with the Chicago White Sox in the fourth inning because of stiffness in his right groin.

THT Stats

Access all of THT’s stats here…