THT Daily: Texas Wild

Major League News for May 14

Player News
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Top Minor League Performances

You can always find the most recent THT Daily at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/content/thtdaily/

Player News

Player Headlines are courtesy of Rotoworld
As expected, J.A. Happ will get the nod in the second half of the Phillies’ double-header against the Nationals on Saturday.
Manager Charlie Manuel made the announcement Wednesday night. Happ is 1-0 with a 2.75 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 14/8 K/BB ratio this season. Facing the Nationals, he could be a worthwhile add for those mixed leaguers desperate for a win.

Indians signed RHP Luis Vizcaino.
It took about a week of bullpen sessions, but Vizcaino finally convinced the Tribe that he’s ready to jump into major league action immediately. He recorded four scoreless appearances for the Cubs earlier this season and will work in middle relief with Cleveland. He’ll earn the major league minimum.

Tigers placed RHP Nate Robertson on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 4, with a lower back strain.
Robertson has a 6.30 ERA, 1.60 WHIP and 7/6 K/BB ratio in eight appearances out of the bullpen this season. He should return in a little over two weeks.

Justin Duchscherer (elbow) is aiming to throw off a mound in one week.
Duchscherer is eligible to return from the disabled list June 4, but he may need a bit more time. The A’s will probably ask him to make several rehab starts before they consider activating him. He’s on the 60-day disabled list following late March elbow surgery.

Angels activated RHP Ervin Santana from the 15-day disabled list.
Santana will make his 2009 debut Thursday against the Red Sox. He’s been decent in his minor league outings, but it wouldn’t be shocking to see him struggle out of the gate against Boston. It’s not exactly an ideal lineup for a pitcher making his season debut, no matter how seasoned he may be.

Orioles recalled outfielder Nolan Reimold from Triple-A Norfolk.
Reimold, and his .396/.484/.755 line at Triple-A could be ignored no longer. The 25-year-old will find plenty of at-bats in the early going with Adam Jones and Felix Pie ailing, and Luke Scott on the disabled list.

Matt Fairel and Mace Thurman combined to strike out 20 batters Wednesday for low Single-A Dayton in a 2-1 win over West Michigan.
Fairel fanned 13 in six innings, and Thurman finished up with seven strikeouts in three scoreless innings. Fairel was a 35th-round pick out of FSL last year, but the Reds spent fourth-round money to sign him and he’s looking like a bargain right now. He’s 1-2 with a 3.13 ERA and a 49/16 K/BB ratio in the Midwest League. Thurman, also a lefty, has 28 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innigs out of the pen.

Joe Crede hit a two-out walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 13th inning against the Tigers on Wednesday night.
Crede’s grand slam was set up by a game-tying single by Matt Tolbert, an intentional walk to Justin Morneau and a walk to Michael Cuddyer. It’s actually the second walk-off grand slam of Crede’s career, as he hit one against the Blue Jays in 2002 as a member of the White Sox. Crede was 2-for-7 on the night.

Matt Palmer moved to 4-0 with a complete game 8-4 win over the Red Sox on Wednesday night.
Palmer gave up four runs in the first two innings of the game, but retired the last 19 batters he faced after a third inning single by Jason Bay. He scattered five hits while striking out eight and walking two in the victory. The 30-year-old rookie continues to be a great story, as he has a 3.38 ERA through four starts.

Yesterday’s Results

For the full scoop regarding yesterday’s games, read “And That Happened” at Shysterball.

American League
TB      8  BAL     6    (Recap and Boxscore)
NYA     8  TOR     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
CLE     4  CHA     0    (Recap and Boxscore)
MIN    14  DET    10    (Recap and Boxscore)
LAA     8  BOS     4    (Recap and Boxscore)
OAK     7  KC      2    (Recap and Boxscore)
TEX     6  SEA     5    (Recap and Boxscore)

National League
ATL     8  NYN     7    (Recap and Boxscore)
LAN     9  PHI     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
CHN     6  SD      4    (Recap and Boxscore)
MIL     8  FLA     6    (Recap and Boxscore)
PIT     5  STL     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
CIN    10  ARI     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
HOU    15  COL    11    (Recap and Boxscore)
WAS     6  SF      3    (Recap and Boxscore)

Check out Fangraphs’ scoreboard to see all the games in action.

A Hardball Times Update
Goodbye for now.

Today’s Games

National League
 ---------------
 Florida Marlins at Milwaukee Brewers, 1:05 PM
  (R) Josh Johnson (3-0) vs. (R) Dave Bush (1-0)
 Los Angeles Dodgers at Philadelphia Phillies, 1:05 PM
  (R) Chad Billingsley (5-1) vs. (L) Cole Hamels (1-2)
 San Diego Padres at Chicago Cubs, 2:20 PM
  (R) Chad Gaudin (0-2) vs. (R) Ryan Dempster (2-2)
 Houston Astros at Colorado Rockies, 3:10 PM
  (L) Wandy Rodriguez (3-2) vs. (R) Jason Hammel (0-1)
 St. Louis Cardinals at Pittsburgh Pirates, 7:05 PM
  (R) Mitchell Boggs (1-0) vs. (R) Jeff Karstens (1-1)
 New York Mets at San Francisco Giants, 10:15 PM
  (R) John Maine (3-2) vs. (L) Jonathan Sanchez (1-3)
 
 American League
 ---------------
 Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins, 1:10 PM
  (R) Justin Verlander (3-2) vs. (R) Scott Baker (1-4)
 Seattle Mariners at Texas Rangers, 2:05 PM
  (R) Felix Hernandez (4-2) vs. (L) Matt Harrison (3-2)
 Boston Red Sox at LA Angels of Anaheim, 3:35 PM
  (R) Brad Penny (3-1) vs. (R) Ervin Santana (0-0)
 New York Yankees at Toronto Blue Jays, 7:07 PM
  (L) CC Sabathia (2-3) vs. (L) Brian Tallet (2-1)
 Cleveland Indians at Tampa Bay Rays, 7:08 PM
  (R) Fausto Carmona (1-4) vs. (R) James Shields (3-3)
 Baltimore Orioles at Kansas City Royals, 8:10 PM
  (R) Jeremy Guthrie (2-3) vs. (R) Gil Meche (2-3)

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
TOR     23  13 .639    0.0   22     1    sparkline graph
BOS     21  13 .618    1.0   19     2    sparkline graph
NYA     16  17 .485    5.5   15     1    sparkline graph
TB      16  19 .457    6.5   19    -3    sparkline graph
BAL     14  20 .412    8.0   15    -1    sparkline graph
American League Central     
DET     17  15 .531    0.0   17     0    sparkline graph
KC      18  16 .529    0.0   18     0    sparkline graph
MIN     17  17 .500    1.0   16     1    sparkline graph
CHA     15  18 .455    2.5   14     1    sparkline graph
CLE     13  22 .371    5.5   16    -3    sparkline graph
American League West        
TEX     19  14 .576    0.0   19     0    sparkline graph
LAA     17  15 .531    1.5   16     1    sparkline graph
SEA     16  18 .471    3.5   14     2    sparkline graph
OAK     13  18 .419    5.0   16    -3    sparkline graph


National League East        Pwins  Diff
NYN     18  15 .545    0.0   18     0    sparkline graph
PHI     16  15 .516    1.0   16     0    sparkline graph
ATL     17  17 .500    1.5   17     0    sparkline graph
FLA     17  17 .500    1.5   16     1    sparkline graph
WAS     11  21 .344    6.5   14    -3    sparkline graph
National League Central     
STL     20  14 .588    0.0   19     1    sparkline graph
CIN     20  14 .588    0.0   18     2    sparkline graph
MIL     20  14 .588    0.0   19     1    sparkline graph
CHN     19  14 .576    0.5   17     2    sparkline graph
HOU     15  18 .455    4.5   15     0    sparkline graph
PIT     14  19 .424    5.5   16    -2    sparkline graph
National League West        
LAN     23  12 .657    0.0   24    -1    sparkline graph
SF      18  15 .545    4.0   16     2    sparkline graph
COL     13  19 .406    8.5   17    -4    sparkline graph
SD      13  21 .382    9.5   12     1    sparkline graph
ARI     13  22 .371   10.0   13     0    sparkline graph

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            AB  H 2B 3B HR BB SO  Notes
LAA AAA Brandon Wood...... 4  3  1  0  2  1  0  3 R
KC  AAA Kila Kaaihue...... 5  3  0  0  2  1  1  3 R
ATL A+  Jason Heyward..... 3  3  1  0  1  1  0  
PIT AAA Andrew McCutchen.. 4  3  2  0  0  1  0  3 R
HOU A+  Jason Castro...... 3  2  2  0  0  1  0  
TOR AA  Bradley Emaus..... 2  2  1  0  0  3  0  
SD  A   Allan Dykstra..... 2  1  0  1  0  3  1  
HOU A+  C. Johnson........ 4  2  2  0  0  0  1  
SEA A+  Alex Liddi........ 4  2  2  0  0  0  0  
DET AA  Ryan Strieby...... 3  2  0  0  1  1  1  
CHC AAA Jake Fox.......... 4  2  1  0  0  2  1  
SD  A   James Darnell..... 4  1  0  0  1  1  3  

ORG LVL PLAYER            IP  H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
BOS AAA Clay Buchholz..... 8  4  0  0 11  0  0  
SD  A   Matthew Latos..... 7  3  1  1  7  0  1  
HOU A   Jordan Lyles...... 5  4  2  2  9  2  0  
LA  A   Ethan Martin...... 5  2  0  0  8  3  0  
ARI AA  Jarrod Parker..... 5  4  1  1  9  3  0  
CHW A+  Daniel Hudson..... 5  2  2  2  6  3  0  
COL AA  Jhoulys Chacin.... 7  4  1  0  4  2  0  13 GB
CHC AA  Jay Jackson....... 6  5  2  2  5  2  0  
FLA AA  Sean West......... 6  4  1  1  6  4  0  
LA  AA  Scott Elbert...... 6  4  2  2  6  3  1  
MIL A   Cody Scarpetta.... 2  1  0  0  4  1  0  
ATL AAA Charlie Morton.... 7  3  1  1  2  3  0
First Inning’s Major and Minor League Daily Reports:


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