THT Daily: Slugging and All Stars

Major League News for July 7

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
KC      6  TOR     2    (Recap and Boxscore) Redman: 8 IP, 2 R
BOS    12  TB      5    (Recap and Boxscore) Ortiz: 6 RBI, 2 HR
OAK     7  LAA     5    (Recap and Boxscore) See below
NYA    10  CLE     4    (Recap and Boxscore)
CHA    11  BAL     8    (Recap and Boxscore) Thome: 6 RBI, 2 HR; Tejada: 3 2B

National League
SF      5  LAN     4    (Recap and Boxscore)
SD      5  PHI     3    (Recap and Boxscore) Barfield: 4 for 4; Park: 7 IP, 3 R
HOU     4  STL     2    (Recap and Boxscore) Buchholz: 6 IP, 2 R
NYN     7  PIT     5    (Recap and Boxscore) Sanchez: 3-3, 2 2B
WAS     8  FLA     7    (Recap and Boxscore) 11 innings
MIL     2  CHN     0    (Recap and Boxscore) Capuano: CG, 0 R, Not an All-Star
ATL     8  CIN     7    (Recap and Boxscore) 10 innings; Reds: 6th straight loss

Today’s Games

Visitors                         Home                                Time
BAL - Benson K. (9-6, 4.35)      CLE - Sabathia C.* (6-4, 3.90)      7:05
PIT - Snell I. (7-6, 5.00)       PHI - Lieber J. (3-5, 5.79)         7:05
SD - Williams W. (3-1, 3.04)     WAS - Ortiz R. (6-6, 4.90)          7:05
FLA - Willis D.* (5-7, 3.96)     NYM - Lima J. (0-3, 8.79)           7:10
NYY - Wright J. (4-5, 4.61)      TB - Seo J. (0-1, 3.86)             7:15
CIN - Milton E.* (4-4, 5.09)     ATL - Ramirez H.* (4-2, 3.47)       7:35
CHC - Zambrano C. (7-3, 3.33)    MIL - Jackson Z.* (1-1, 6.11)       8:05
STL - Marquis J. (10-6, 5.78)    HOU - Rodriguez W.* (9-5, 4.97)     8:05
TOR - Burnett A. (1-2, 4.30)     KC - Hudson L. (1-3, 7.24)          8:10
BOS - Lester J.* (3-0, 3.08)     CWS - Buehrle M.* (9-5, 3.86)       8:35
MIN - Silva C. (4-8, 6.62)       TEX - Wasdin J. (1-1, 3.86)         8:35
ARI - Batista M. (8-5, 4.94)     COL - Kim B. (5-4, 4.83)            9:05
LAA - Lackey J. (6-5, 3.12)      OAK - Zito B.* (8-5, 3.28)         10:05
DET - Bonderman J. (7-4, 3.65)   SEA - Pineiro J. (6-7, 5.86)       10:05
SF - Morris M. (7-7, 4.12)       LAD - Billingsley C. (0-2, 4.91)   10:40

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     51  32 .614    0.0   48      3      
NYA     48  35 .578    3.0   48      0      
TOR     47  38 .553    5.0   46      1      
BAL     39  48 .448   14.0   38      1      
TB      38  48 .442   14.5   36      2      
American League Central
DET     57  28 .671    0.0   55      2      
CHA     56  29 .659    1.0   53      3      
MIN     46  37 .554   10.0   44      2      
CLE     39  45 .464   17.5   46     -7      
KC      30  54 .357   26.5   30      0      
American League West
OAK     45  40 .529    0.0   42      3      
TEX     43  42 .506    2.0   44     -1      
SEA     42  44 .488    3.5   44     -2      
LAA     40  45 .471    5.0   41     -1      

National League East         Pwins Diff
NYN     51  34 .600    0.0   48      3      
PHI     38  46 .452   12.5   38      0      
FLA     36  46 .439   13.5   41     -5      
ATL     38  48 .442   13.5   42     -4      
WAS     38  49 .437   14.0   38      0      
National League Central
STL     45  39 .536    0.0   43      2      
CIN     44  42 .512    2.0   42      2      
MIL     44  43 .506    2.5   38      6      
HOU     43  43 .500    3.0   41      2      
CHN     31  54 .365   14.5   32     -1      
PIT     29  58 .333   17.5   38     -9      
National League West
SD      45  40 .529    0.0   45      0      
COL     44  40 .524    0.5   44      0      
LAN     44  41 .518    1.0   48     -4      
SF      44  42 .512    1.5   44      0      
ARI     40  45 .471    5.0   40      0      

Game of the Day

Frank Thomas his a walk-off two-run home run and the Athletics beat the Angels 7-5, breaking the Angels’ five-game winning streak. Nick Swisher hit a two-run homer in the fourth and scored three times for the A’s after missing two games with food poisoning and Dan Johnson also homered. For the Angels, Vladimir Guerrero homered, drove in the tying run with a seventh-inning double and reached base five times, and Juan Rivera hit a pair of solo home runs.

Orlando Cabrera’s fifth-inning single off Esteban Loaiza extended to 63 his streak of consecutive games reaching base on a hit, a walk or being hit by a pitch. According to Elias, that’s the longest single-season streak by any major-leaguer since Ted Williams had an 84-game streak in 1949.

 LA ANGELS (5) VS OAKLAND (7) - FINAL

LA ANGELS              ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
C Figgins cf            4  0  1  0   1  1   1  .254
M Izturis 3b            5  1  2  0   0  0   2  .241
O Cabrera ss            5  0  2  0   0  1   1  .298
V Guerrero rf           3  1  3  2   2  0   0  .305
G Anderson lf           4  0  0  0   1  0   6  .257
M Napoli c              4  1  1  1   0  2   3  .282
J Rivera dh             4  2  2  2   0  0   3  .286
K Morales 1b            4  0  1  0   0  2   0  .255
A Kennedy 2b            4  0  0  0   0  0   1  .260

Totals                 37  5 12  5   4  6  17

BATTING: 2B - M Izturis (4, E Loaiza); V Guerrero (15, C Gaudin). HR - J Rivera 
2 (10, 2nd inning off E Loaiza 0 on, 1 Out, 4th inning off E Loaiza 0 on, 2 
Out), V Guerrero (18, 4th inning off E Loaiza 0 on, 0 Out), M Napoli (11, 6th 
inning off E Loaiza 0 on, 0 Out). RBI - J Rivera 2 (35), V Guerrero 2 (62), M 
Napoli (26). 2-out RBI - J Rivera. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - G 
Anderson 3. GIDP - M Izturis, J Rivera. Team LOB - 9. 
 
FIELDING: E - K Morales (3, dropped foul ball). 
 
OAKLAND                ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
M Kotsay cf             5  0  0  0   0  0   0  .243
N Swisher lf            2  3  1  2   3  1   0  .264
E Chavez 3b             3  1  1  0   2  1   1  .246
F Thomas dh             4  1  1  2   1  0   3  .238
J Payton rf             3  0  2  2   1  0   0  .283
B Crosby ss             4  0  0  0   0  2   6  .247
D Johnson 1b            4  1  1  1   0  0   2  .243
J Kendall c             4  1  1  0   0  1   0  .268
M Ellis 2b              4  0  0  0   0  1   1  .222

Totals                 33  7  7  7   7  6  13

BATTING: HR - D Johnson (7, 4th inning off K Escobar 0 on, 0 Out), N Swisher 
(20, 4th inning off K Escobar 1 on, 2 Out), F Thomas (19, 9th inning off S 
Shields 1 on, 2 Out). RBI - J Payton 2 (31), D Johnson (25), N Swisher 2 (51), 
F Thomas 2 (44). 2-out RBI - N Swisher 2, F Thomas 2. Runners left in scoring 
position, 2 out - D Johnson 1, B Crosby 2. Team LOB - 7. 
 
BASERUNNING: SB - J Kendall (5, 2nd base off K Escobar/M Napoli). 
 
FIELDING: DP: 2 (B Crosby-D Johnson, E Chavez-M Ellis-D Johnson). 

----------------------------------------------------
    LA ANGELS       - 010 201 100   --   5
    OAKLAND         - 200 300 002   --   7

Two outs when winning run scored.
----------------------------------------------------

LA ANGELS                    ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
K Escobar                     6       6   5   3   4   3   2   3.88
J Romero                        1/3   0   0   0   1   1   0   6.75
H Carrasco                    1 2/3   0   0   0   1   1   0   3.81
S Shields (L, 4-6)              2/3   1   2   2   1   1   1   2.53

OAKLAND                      ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
E Loaiza                      5 1/3   8   4   4   3   4   4   6.43
B Halsey (H, 3)                 2/3   2   1   1   0   0   0   4.04
C Gaudin (B, 1)               1       1   0   0   1   1   0   3.86
J Duchscherer                 1 2/3   0   0   0   0   1   0   2.86
H Street (W, 2-3)               1/3   1   0   0   0   0   0   3.35

B Halsey pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.

IBB - G Anderson (by C Gaudin). Pitches-strikes: K Escobar 109-63; J Romero 
9-4; H Carrasco 20-13; S Shields 14-6; E Loaiza 90-54; B Halsey 15-9; C Gaudin 
14-6; J Duchscherer 21-15; H Street 7-5. Ground balls-fly balls: K Escobar 
3-12; J Romero 0-0; H Carrasco 2-2; S Shields 0-1; E Loaiza 6-6; B Halsey 1-1; 
C Gaudin 2-0; J Duchscherer 2-2; H Street 0-1. Batters faced: K Escobar 28; J 
Romero 2; H Carrasco 6; S Shields 4; E Loaiza 26; B Halsey 4; C Gaudin 4; J 
Duchscherer 5; H Street 2. 
 
UMPIRES: HP--Gerry Davis. 1B--Brian Gorman. 2B--Bill Miller. 3B--Eric Cooper. 

T--2:43. Att--14,673. 
Weather: 63 degrees, clear. Wind: 13 mph, in from right.

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.

Batter                   Pitcher                 True Dist  Stnd Dist
Wells, Vernon      TOR   Redman, Mark     KC          456       451
Thomas, Frank      OAK   Shields, Scot    LAA         423       450
Rivera, Juan       LAA   Loaiza, Esteban  OAK         429       446
Thome, Jim         CWS   Ortiz, Russ      BAL         447       443
Rivera, Juan       LAA   Loaiza, Esteban  OAK         401       436
Edmonds, Jim       STL   Buchholz, Taylor HOU         435       433
Ramirez, Manny     BOS   Shields, James   TB          434       433
Guerrero, Vladimir LAA   Loaiza, Esteban  OAK         413       428
Thome, Jim         CWS   Ortiz, Russ      BAL         411       421
Johnson, Dan       OAK   Escobar, Kelvim  LAA         392       420
Ortiz, David       BOS   Camp, Shawn      TB          420       419
Jones, Andruw      ATL   Mays, Joe        CIN         419       413
Crawford, Carl     TB    Wakefield, Tim   BOS         411       410
Napoli, Mike       LAA   Loaiza, Esteban  OAK         384       405
Hatteberg, Scott   CIN   Hudson, Tim      ATL         423       404
Wright, David      NYM   Bayliss, Jonah   PIT         397       400
Dye, Jermaine      CWS   Williams, Todd   BAL         393       399
Swisher, Nick      OAK   Escobar, Kelvim  LAA         362       396
Michaels, Jason    CLE   Johnson, Randy   NYY         390       394
Teahen, Mark       KC    Taubenheim, Ty   TOR         406       393
Valentin, Javier   CIN   Sosa, Jorge      ATL         398       393
Pierzynski, A.J.   CWS   Williams, Todd   BAL         403       389
Jacobs, Mike       FLA   Hernandez, Livan WAS         409       384
Lamb, Mike         HOU   Ponson, Sidney   STL         384       383
Ortiz, David       BOS   Shields, James   TB          374       373
Giambi, Jason      NYY   Lee, Cliff       CLE         380       368
Mirabelli, Doug    BOS   Shields, James   TB          361       360
Huff, Aubrey       TB    Wakefield, Tim   BOS         357       356
Cantu, Jorge       TB    Wakefield, Tim   BOS         357       355

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
BOS A   Matthew Mercurio   2B  5  4  1  0  1  0  1  .520 OBP during past week
HOU A+  Louis Santangelo    C  4  3  1  0  2  0  0   
LA  AAA Wilkin Ruan        CF  6  4  1  1  0  1  0   
MIN AA  J.R. Taylor        SS  3  3  1  0  1  2  0  3 runs scored
NYM A   Nicholas Evans     1B  4  4  2  0  0  0  0   
OAK AAA Scott McClain      3B  5  3  0  0  2  0  1  6 RBI

ORG LVL PLAYER             IP   H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
ARI AA  Steven Jackson     8.0  2  1  1  8  0  0   
BAL A-  Kyle Schmidt       7.0  4  1  1 12  1  0  33 K over last 26 IP
BAL AAA Brian Bowles       8.1  5  1  1  7  2  1   
CHC AAA Rich Hill          7.0  2  1  1  6  3  1  1.13 ERA over past month
CHC A   Todd Blackford     7.0  3  1  0  5  0  0   
CHW AA  Lance Broadway     8.0  6  0  0  7  0  0   
CLE AA  Jensen Lewis       7.0  6  0  0  7  0  0   
DET A   Josh Rainwater     6.1  2  0  0  7  1  0   
LA  AAA Justin Reid        6.0  2  0  0  5  1  0   
NYM A-  Jacob Ruckle       8.2  1  0  0  5  0  0   

Player News

Player news items are provided by CBS SportsLine.com.

White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski edged out Minnesota rookie pitcher Francisco Liriano for the final AL All-Star spot, while NL batting leader Nomar Garciaparra earned the last NL slot Thursday in fan voting on the Internet. Garciaparra tops the NL in hitting at .359, with 10 home runs and 49 RBI. In his first year with the Los Angeles Dodgers, he’s playing first base. The All-Star game will be Tuesday night in Pittsburgh. The rosters were announced Sunday, save for the last two players to be picked in fan voting on the Internet.

The Cincinnati Reds acquired Eddie Guardado and cash from the Seattle Mariners on Thursday for minor league pitcher Travis Chick. The Reds made the trade a day after blowing two leads in extra innings before losing 6-5 in the 13th at Milwaukee. After the game, Cincinnati reliever Brian Shackelford was arrested on suspicion of third-degree sexual assault.

The Reds activated third baseman Edwin Encarnacion and obtained outfielder Dewayne Wise from Triple-A Louisville. To make room, the Reds designated outfielder Quinton McCracken for assignment and shipped pitcher Elizardo Ramirez to Class-A Dayton so he can start on his regular turn Monday during the All-Star break. Wise and Encarnacion were set to join the Reds for Thursday’s game in Atlanta.

Right-hander Jon Lieber, out for more than a month due to a groin injury, was reinstated from the disabled list and will start Friday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was hurt while fielding a ground ball on May 29 against Washington. Lieber is 3-5 with a 5.79 ERA in 11 starts this season. To make room on the roster for Lieber, the Phillies optioned Scott Mathieson to Double-A Reading.

Devil Rays closer Tyler Walker had Tommy John surgery Thursday on his right arm by Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala. His expected recovery time is 12 months.

All-Star ace Pedro Martinez was placed on the disabled list by the New York Mets on Thursday due to pain in his right hip. Martinez missed his scheduled start on Monday and can now rest through the All-Star break. “This is the perfect time to do this,” Martinez said. Martinez was chosen for the NL All-Star team but won’t take part in next week’s festivities in Pittsburgh, general manager Omar Minaya said. Heath Bell was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk to take Martinez’s place on the Mets’ roster.

Jose Lima will take the mound for the Mets on Friday against the Marlins and Mike Pelfrey will make his major-league debut on Saturday.

Los Angeles Dodgers closer Eric Gagne, limited to 16 appearances since the beginning of last season because of elbow problems, might need back surgery. The 30-year-old right-hander was admitted to St. Vincent Medical Center on Wednesday because of lower back pain the Dodgers said was unrelated to baseball activity. “Gagne was seen by Dr. (Robert) Watkins, and had an MRI today,” Dodgers trainer Stan Johnston said before Thursday night’s game against the San Francisco Giants. Johnston said the examination revealed two herniated disks.

Cubs starter Greg Maddux (7-9) gave up six hits and two runs in six innings on Thursday at Milwaukee to drop to 7-9, meaning he will likely go into the All-Star break with a losing record for only the second time since 1991 and fourth time in his career. Maddux is now 2-9 since starting the year 5-0.

The Giants optioned LHP Jack Taschner to Triple-A Fresno.

The Orioles designated outfielder Luis Matos for assignment and purchased the contract of outfielder Luis Terrero from Triple-A Ottawa. Terrero first joined the Orioles in April 19 when Matos went on the DL.

Two days after hitting a game-ending home run, Ryan Zimmerman delivered a game-winning, two-out single in the 11th inning Thursday to give the Washington Nationals an 8-7 victory over the Florida Marlins. Zimmerman hit a 3-1 pitch from reliever Jason Vargas through the middle to score Nick Johnson, who had started the inning by reaching base on an error by shortstop Hanley Ramirez. Zimmerman entered the game leading the National League with 34 hits with runners in scoring position, and the rookie third baseman has hit game-ending homers on Father’s Day and Independence Day. This game-winning hit gave him 58 RBI, tops among all rookies in the majors.

The Nationals reinstated outfielder Alex Escobar from the 15-day disabled list Thursday and optioned left-handed pitcher Mike O’Connor to Triple-A New Orleans.

According to the Rocky Mountain News, Rockies 2B Kaz Matsui, who is currently with their Triple-A team, had an MRI on his back and has a bulging disk. The veteran, who was on fire while hitting for the Sky Sox, is on the minor league disabled list.

THT Stats

Yesterday, we looked at each batter’s “predicted OPS” (or PrOPS) to see who was most likely to perform worse in the second half of the year. Today, we’ll do the same thing, only in reverse. Here’s a list of the twenty batters with the biggest negative difference between their actual OPS and predicted OPS, which indicates a strong chance for improvement in the second half.

Adam Dunn has had a negative variance each of the past three years (he’s sort of an un-PrOPS batter) but never this negative, and Yadier Molina, who is having a terrible season at bat (even by his standards) should improve, too. Unfortunately for Pirate and Royal fans, not a single one of their players made the list.

Last       First    Team    OPS-PrOPS
Dunn       Adam     CIN       -.144
Molina     Yadier B STL       -.129
Everett    Carl     SEA       -.109
Chavez     Eric     OAK       -.104
Ensberg    Morgan   HOU       -.101
Barmes     Clint    COL       -.100
Giambi     Jason    NYA       -.095
Kendall    Jason    OAK       -.093
Sexson     Richie   SEA       -.093
Lee        Carlos   MIL       -.088
Johnson    Dan R    OAK       -.088
Clark      Brady    MIL       -.087
Delgado    Carlos   NYN       -.086
Glaus      Troy     TOR       -.085
Burrell    Pat      PHI       -.083
Bell       David    PHI       -.078
Wilson     Jack     PIT       -.078
Ortiz      David    BOS       -.076
Varitek    Jason    BOS       -.074
Ramirez    Aramis   CHN       -.073

Access all of THT’s stats here…