THT Daily: Swooning?

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

You can always find the most recent THT Daily at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/content/thtdaily/ and an archive at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/thtdaily_index/
On this day at THT: Two years ago, Steve Treder examined the June blockbusters deals of the 1950’s and 1960’s. Including one swap of Brock for Broglio.

Player News

Player Headlines are courtesy of Rotoworld

Mariners fired manager John McLaren; named Jim Riggleman manager. If they were this close to making the move, why didn’t they just fire McLaren and Bill Bavasi at the same time? The Mariners were 65-88 under McLaren, but most of the blame for that has to go to Bavasi. McLaren’s lineups left a lot to be desired, and judging by his typical postgame quotes, he learned next to nothing in his year on the job, but it also seemed like his hands were tied by the front office too often. Riggleman, who is expected to have the job for the rest of the season, has a career .448 winning percentage in 1,085 games with the Cubs and Padres. The Mariners’ next GM will likely have the honor of picking a new manager next year.

FOXSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal reports that the Rays have signed top pick Tim Beckham. Sources tell Rosenthal that he got a $6.15 signing bonus. It was thought that the ability to sign Beckham factored into the team’s decision to draft him top overall, and the two sides reached a deal two months faster than last year’s top pick did. Beckham could reach the majors in 2-3 years.

Yesterday’s Results

Game recaps courtesy of Craig Calcaterra.

Twins 9, Nationals 3: For complicated reasons that involve a well-worn yet really superficial Scholastic biography of Harmon Killebrew that I owned as a child, I am probably the only person under the age of 65 who still thinks of the Twins as some upstart offshoot of the Senators, and for that reason I viewed this as something of a natural rivalry series.

Rangers 5, Braves 4: I got into a baseball conversation with someone at the office yesterday. This person doesn’t know me very well, so a lot of it involved me explaining how I came to be a Braves fan. I’ve had this conversation a hundred times before, and almost every time it has ended with the other person saying something along the lines of “well, at least it’s been a lot of fun to root for Atlanta over the past few years!” Yesterday, for the first time in my adult life the conversation ended with “man, it’s gotta be hard to root for those guys, huh?” I obviously could not disagree with him when he said this, but I almost felt like a deep dark family secret had gotten out. Sure, there have been several times over the past three years where people in the know have accurately pointed out the challenges facing the Braves, but this truly is the first time that some casual, almost non-fan has identified the Braves as something other than a class organization and perpetual contender. The brand has been diluted; the public perception changed.

As for this game, Chipper went 0-4, the Braves use seven pitchers — a couple of which I had never heard of — to give up five runs and just like that, the quest for .400 seems to be as over as the Braves’ season is.

Yankees 2, Padres 1: Joba still needs to work on the efficiency thing — 100 pitches in 5.2 ain’t gonna cut it all season, and at this rate he’s never going to get a win as a starter — but New York will take the nine strikeouts and one earned run. The Yankees have won seven straight to pull within five games of Boston and 2.5 of Tampa Bay. During that run, A-Rod is 12-25 with four homers and nine RBI. Last week I opined that there really isn’t a favorite for the MVP in the American League right now. If the Yankees surge continues, how can it be anyone but A-Rod?

Dodgers 7, Reds 4: You know, of all of the things Reds fans thought they had to worry about before the season started, Aaron Harang was not one of them. After yet another flaming stink pickle of a performance (5 IP, 10 H, 5 ER) one has to wonder if he’s healthy, because big strikeout throwin’ hosses like him don’t tend to lose it like he has this year without a medical reason.

Brewers 8, Blue Jays 7: The next time Dave Bush goes out to the bars with his Brewer buddies, he has carte blanche to drunkenly tell the ladies that his teammates all have wives or herpes or something because they almost ruined everything for him last night. Bush had a no hitter into the eighth inning, and still left the game with a 8-1 lead, only to watch his bullpen give up six in the ninth to make it way more interesting than it needed to be. Oh, and to all of you old ladies in Wisconsin picking up broken knickknacks from your parlor floor: that wasn’t an earthquake. Prince Fielder just hit another inside the park home run.

Royals 4, Cardinals 1: Five straight wins. Break up the Royals! After a couple of pretty bad starts Zach Greinke has returned to the form he flashed in April, and has now given up a single run in his last 14 innings.

White Sox 13, Pirates 8: How do two teams combine for 21 runs, 25 hits and still complete the game in under three hours? This one was 2:55. And only about 16 minutes of it involved decent pitching.

Rays 8, Cubs 3: Chicago is swept for the first time this year, and they lost Zambrano for at least a start during the sweeping. I’m no Cubs fan, but I have sort of picked them as my favorite to win the pennant, so I have been following them a bit closer than I normally would this year. Last night I even went so far as to wade into the game threads over at the estimable Bleed Cubbie Blue. Just to lurk, mind you. The takeaway: Cubs fans are a little scary. Great fans, mind you. Knowledgeable as all get-out. But scary in the lets-analyze-a-groundout-from-15-directions kind of way. I have had some people ask me why I don’t link to more team-specific blogs. Nothing personal or particular to BCB, but I think that live-or-die on every pitch dynamic has something to do with it. I’m pretty obsessed, but I just can’t get that passionate or involved in the moment-by-moment like those guys do.

Orioles 7, Astros 5: The Astros have lost 17 of 20. Now that McLaren is gone, is Cooper next?

Diamondbacks 2, A’s 1: The A’s outscored the Dbacks 17-14 in this series, but dropped two of three. Bow before the great Pythagoras!

Rockies 6, Indians 3: The Rockies sweep Cleveland. Someone must have forgotten to tell Colorado that they were in the National League.

You can download a compact version of yesterday’s boxscores from Heater Magazine.

First Inning’s Major and Minor League Daily Reports:

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Today’s Games

National League
 ---------------
 New York Mets at Colorado Rockies, 9:05 PM
  (R) John Maine (6-5) vs. (R) Aaron Cook (10-3)
 
 Inter-League
 ------------
 Chicago White Sox at Chicago Cubs, 2:20 PM
  (L) John Danks (4-4) vs. (L) Ted Lilly (7-5)
 St. Louis Cardinals at Boston Red Sox, 7:05 PM
  (R) Kyle Lohse (8-2) vs. (R) Tim Wakefield (4-4)
 LA Angels of Anaheim at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 PM
  (R) Ervin Santana (8-3) vs. (R) Adam Eaton (2-4)
 Toronto Blue Jays at Pittsburgh Pirates, 7:05 PM
  (R) Roy Halladay (8-6) vs. (L) Zach Duke (4-4)
 Cincinnati Reds at New York Yankees, 7:05 PM
  (R) Edinson Volquez (9-2) vs. (R) Mike Mussina (10-4)
 Houston Astros at Tampa Bay Rays, 7:10 PM
  (R) Roy Oswalt (5-7) vs. (R) Matt Garza (5-3)
 Texas Rangers at Washington Nationals, 7:35 PM
  (R) Kevin Millwood (5-3) vs. (R) Tim Redding (6-3)
 Seattle Mariners at Atlanta Braves, 7:35 PM
  (L) Erik Bedard (4-4) vs. (R) Jorge Campillo (2-1)
 Baltimore Orioles at Milwaukee Brewers, 8:05 PM
  (R) Radhames Liz (1-0) vs. (R) Jeff Suppan (4-4)
 Arizona Diamondbacks at Minnesota Twins, 8:10 PM
  (L) Randy Johnson (4-4) vs. (R) Scott Baker (2-2)
 San Francisco Giants at Kansas City Royals, 8:10 PM
  (R) Matt Cain (3-5) vs. (R) Luke Hochevar (4-5)
 Florida Marlins at Oakland Athletics, 10:05 PM
  (L) Mark Hendrickson (7-5) vs. (R) Rich Harden (4-0)
 Detroit Tigers at San Diego Padres, 10:05 PM
  (R) Eddie Bonine (1-0) vs. (R) Greg Maddux (3-5)
 Cleveland Indians at Los Angeles Dodgers, 10:40 PM
  (L) Cliff Lee (10-1) vs. (L) Clayton Kershaw (0-1)

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
BOS     46  29 .613    0.0   45     1    
TB      43  29 .597    1.5   39     4    
NYA     40  33 .548    5.0   39     1    
BAL     37  34 .521    7.0   35     2    
TOR     35  39 .473   10.5   38    -3    
American League Central     
CHA     41  31 .569    0.0   45    -4    
MIN     37  36 .507    4.5   35     2    
DET     34  38 .472    7.0   36    -2    
CLE     33  40 .452    8.5   37    -4    
KC      31  42 .425   10.5   31     0    
American League West        
LAA     43  30 .589    0.0   37     6    
OAK     39  33 .542    3.5   42    -3    
TEX     37  37 .500    6.5   35     2    
SEA     25  47 .347   17.5   28    -3    


National League East        Pwins  Diff
PHI     42  32 .568    0.0   46    -4    
FLA     39  33 .542    2.0   37     2    
NYN     35  36 .493    5.5   36    -1    
ATL     36  38 .486    6.0   42    -6    
WAS     29  45 .392   13.0   27     2    
National League Central     
CHN     45  28 .616    0.0   46    -1    
STL     42  32 .568    3.5   39     3    
MIL     39  33 .542    5.5   36     3    
PIT     34  39 .466   11.0   32     2    
HOU     33  40 .452   12.0   33     0    
CIN     33  41 .446   12.5   32     1    
National League West        
ARI     39  34 .534    0.0   39     0    
LAN     34  38 .472    4.5   37    -3    
COL     31  42 .425    8.0   31     0    
SF      31  42 .425    8.0   31     0    
SD      31  43 .419    8.5   30     1    

Game of the Day

Rays 8, Cubs 3 - FINAL

CHICAGO CUBS           ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
K Fukudome cf           4  0  1  1   1  2   0  .295
R Theriot ss            4  0  1  1   0  1   0  .308
D Lee 1b                4  0  3  0   0  1   2  .289
A Ramirez 3b            4  0  0  0   0  1   5  .290
G Soto dh               4  0  0  0   0  1   1  .282
M Hoffpauir lf          4  1  2  0   0  2   0  .400
M DeRosa rf             3  1  0  0   1  3   1  .292
H Blanco c              4  0  1  0   0  1   2  .296
M Fontenot 2b           4  1  1  1   0  1   2  .237

Totals                 35  3  9  3   2 13  13   ###

TAMPA BAY              ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
A Iwamura 2b            3  1  1  1   1  1   0  .271
C Crawford lf           5  1  3  4   0  0   3  .272
B Upton cf              5  1  1  0   0  0   3  .291
E Hinske 1b             4  2  1  1   1  1   2  .251
E Longoria ss           3  0  1  1   0  0   0  .250
C Floyd dh              4  0  1  0   0  1   1  .264
W Aybar 3b              3  1  1  0   1  0   1  .263
D Navarro c             3  1  1  0   1  0   2  .326
G Gross rf              3  1  0  0   0  0   2  .236

Totals                 33  8 10  7   4  3  14   ###

----------------------------------------------------
    CHICAGO CUBS    - 000 000 300   --   3  9 2
    TAMPA BAY       - 010 000 70x   --   8 10 1
----------------------------------------------------

BATTING: 2B - M Hoffpauir (6, J Shields); M Fontenot (8, J Shields); E Hinske 
(12, S Eyre); C Floyd (4, S Eyre). 3B - B Upton (2, S Eyre). HR - C Crawford 
(5, 7th inning off S Eyre 3 on, 0 Out). SF - E Longoria. RBI - M Fontenot (13), 
K Fukudome (31), R Theriot (22), A Iwamura (19), C Crawford 4 (37), E Hinske 
(37), E Longoria (35). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - A Ramirez 2, M 
Fontenot 1, E Hinske 1, C Crawford 2, D Navarro 2. GIDP - W Aybar. Team LOB - 
CHICAGO CUBS 7, TAMPA BAY 8. BASERUNNING: SB - E Hinske (7, 3rd base off S 
Eyre/H Blanco). CS - K Fukudome (3, 2nd base by J Shields/D Navarro), C 
Crawford (5, 2nd base by S Gallagher/H Blanco). FIELDING: E - D Lee (7, ground 
ball); A Ramirez (7, ground ball); B Upton (4, bobble). DP:  (D Lee-R Theriot-D 
Lee).

CHICAGO CUBS                 ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
S Gallagher                   6       4   1   0   2   3   0   3.96
C Marmol (L, 1-2)             0       0   4   4   2   0   0   2.93
S Eyre (B, 1)                   1/3   4   3   3   0   0   1   3.37
J Lieber                      1 2/3   2   0   0   0   0   0   3.06

TAMPA BAY                    ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
J Shields                     6 1/3   7   3   3   2   9   0   3.94
T Miller                      0       1   0   0   0   0   0   4.26
G Balfour (W, 2-0)            1 2/3   1   0   0   0   3   0   1.74
G Glover                      1       0   0   0   0   1   0   3.91

T Miller pitched to 1 batter in the 7th.
C Marmol pitched to 4 batters in the 7th.

HBP - G Gross (by C Marmol); A Iwamura (by C Marmol). Pitches-strikes: S 
Gallagher 112-64; C Marmol 20-7; S Eyre 15-9; J Lieber 23-13; J Shields 102-68; 
T Miller 6-3; G Balfour 25-16; G Glover 13-8. Ground balls-fly balls: S 
Gallagher 11-4; C Marmol 0-0; S Eyre 0-1; J Lieber 2-3; J Shields 2-7; T Miller 
0-0; G Balfour 0-2; G Glover 0-2. Batters faced: S Gallagher 24; C Marmol 4; S 
Eyre 5; J Lieber 7; J Shields 27; T Miller 1; G Balfour 6; G Glover 3. IRS - S 
Eyre 3, G Balfour, T Miller. UMPIRES: HP--Laz Diaz. 1B--Mike Estabrook. 
2B--Paul Schrieber. 3B--Kerwin Danley.   T--2:59. Att--34,441. Weather: 
INDOORS

The following graph tracks the game’s Win Probability, courtesy of Fan Graphs. You can also view live WPA graphs at Fangraphs during any ballgame all season long.

Yesterday’s Home Runs

The following stats are provided by Hit Tracker, which logs the projected “true” distance of each home run (if it were to land uninterrupted at field level) and its “standard” distance, which is corrected for weather conditions. Each homer is also categorized into one of three types: Just Enough (JE) for homers that cleared the fence by ten feet or less, Plenty (PL) for those that were sure home runs but not “blasts,” and No Doubt (ND) for true “blasts”—homers that cleared the fence by at least 20 feet and landed at least 50 feet beyond the fence.

Hitter                Team    Pitcher              Team   True   Stnd.  #  Type
Rick Ankiel           STL     Zack Greinke         KC      409    384  11  PL/L
Brandon Boggs         TEX     Jeff Ridgway         ATL     380    369   3  PL
Russell Branyan       MIL     A.J. Burnett         TOR     435    426  10  ND
Orlando Cabrera       CWS     Phil Dumatrait       PIT     384    384   6  JE
Jermaine Dye          CWS     Phil Dumatrait       PIT     400    404  14  PL
Jermaine Dye          CWS     John Grabow          PIT     383    382  13  JE
Prince Fielder        MIL     A.J. Burnett         TOR     254    251  13  JE/L
Joe Inglett           TOR     David Riske          MIL     394    377   1  PL/L
Matt Kemp             LAD     Aaron Harang         CIN     414    405   6  PL
Lyle Overbay          TOR     Tim Dillard          MIL     411    392   6  JE/L
Freddy Sanchez        PIT     Gavin Floyd          CWS     359    357   4  JE
Mark Teahen           KC      Chris Perez          STL     386    352   6  PL/L
Justin Upton          ARI     Keith Foulke         OAK     422    410   9  PL
Dmitri Young          WAS     Glen Perkins         MIN     412    406   3  ND

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, with a focus on each team’s top prospects.

ORG LVL PLAYER            AB  H 2B 3B HR BB SO  Notes
OAK A+  Chris Carter...... 5  3  0  1  2  1  0  3 R
STL AA  Jonathan Jay...... 4  2  0  1  1  2  0  3 R
NYM A+  Ruben Tejada...... 5  4  0  0  1  1  0  3 R
CIN A   Brandon Waring.... 4  3  0  0  1  3  1  
BOS A-  Ryan Dent......... 4  3  0  0  2  0  1  
STL AAA Nick Stavinoha.... 4  2  1  0  1  1  0  
TEX AAA Nelson Cruz....... 3  3  1  0  0  1  0  2 SB
TB  AA  Rhyne Hughes...... 3  2  1  0  1  1  0  4 RBI
TEX AA  M. Ramirez........ 5  4  2  0  0  0  0  
BOS AA  Mark Wagner....... 4  2  0  0  2  0  0  4 RBI
FLA A   Michael Stanton... 4  3  1  0  1  0  0  
LA  A   Andrew Lambo...... 6  3  2  0  0  1  1  3 R

ORG LVL PLAYER            IP  H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
WAN A   Colton Willems.... 9  6  1  0  5  1  0  
ATL A   Chad Rodgers...... 6  3  2  2  6  1  0  
MIN A   M. McCardell...... 6  4  1  0  6  1  0  
MIL A+  Zach Braddock..... 6  5  2  2  6  1  0  
CIN AA  Travis Wood....... 5  4  2  2  5  0  0  
KC  AA  Blake Wood........ 7  6  2  2  7  1  1  
CHC AAA Sean Marshall..... 8  4  1  1  4  1  1  
TB  AA  James Houser...... 5  3  2  2  7  4  0  
SF  A+  Benjamin Snyder... 6  7  3  0  5  1  0  
STL A   Blake King........ 2  0  0  0  4  0  0  
MIN AAA Brian Duensing.... 7  6  2  2  5  3  0  
WAN AA  J. Zimmermann..... 5  2  1  1  3  1  0  

Access THT’s stats here…