THT Daily: Twins on a Roll; White Sox Aren’t

Major League News for July 27

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
SEA     7  TOR     4    (Recap and Boxscore)
NYA     8  TEX     7    (Recap and Boxscore) See below
LAA    15  TB      6    (Recap and Boxscore) Rivera: 2 2B, 4 RBI
OAK     5  BOS     1    (Recap and Boxscore) Thomas: 2 HR, 4 RBI; Haren: 7 IP, 1 R
MIN     7  CHA     4    (Recap and Boxscore) Morneau: 3-5, HR, 3 RBI
BAL     4  KC      3    (Recap and Boxscore) Conine: 4-4, HR; Loewen: 5 IP, 1 R
DET     4  CLE     1    (Recap and Boxscore) Verlander: 6.2 IP, 1 R

National League
WAS     4  SF      3    (Recap and Boxscore) WAS beats Benitez with 2 in 9th
SD     10  LAN     3    (Recap and Boxscore) Peavy goes nuts: 7 IP, 2 R, hits 2B, HR, 4 RBI
STL     6  COL     1    (Recap and Boxscore) Edmonds: 3-3, HR; Suppan: 6 IP, 1 R
PIT     8  MIL     4    (Recap and Boxscore) Hall: 4 RBI
PHI     6  ARI     4    (Recap and Boxscore) Utley: 2B, HR, 3 RBI
NYN     1  CHN     0    (Recap and Boxscore) 10 innings; Prior: 5.2 IP, 0 H; Maine: 7 IP, 0 R
HOU     8  CIN     5    (Recap and Boxscore) Berkman: 2 HR, 4 RBI
ATL     6  FLA     5    (Recap and Boxscore) LaRoche: 3-3, HR, 2 RS and RBI

Today’s Games
Visitors                       Home                               Time
ARI - Vargas C. (8-6, 5.16)    PHI - Lidle C. (7-7, 4.91)         1:05
SF - Cain M. (7-6, 4.67)       WAS - Hernandez L. (7-8, 5.80)     1:05
FLA - Olsen S.* (8-4, 4.01)    ATL - Shiell J. (0-1, 9.00)        1:05
STL - Weaver J. (1-1, 6.52)    CHC - Hill R.* (0-4, 9.31)         8:05
CIN - Ramirez E. (3-6, 4.43)   HOU - Buchholz T. (6-8, 5.57)      8:05
BAL - Lopez R. (6-11, 6.73)    KC - Gobble J.* (3-3, 4.88)        8:10
SD - Williams W. (4-2, 3.15)   COL - Fogg J. (7-5, 4.25)          9:05
TOR - Lilly T.* (9-8, 3.89)    OAK - Blanton J. (10-8, 4.90)     10:05

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     61  39 .610    0.0   57      4      
NYA     59  40 .596    1.5   57      2      
TOR     56  45 .554    5.5   56      0      
BAL     46  56 .451   16.0   44      2      
TB      42  60 .412   20.0   41      1      
American League Central
DET     68  33 .673    0.0   64      4      
MIN     59  41 .590    8.5   55      4      
CHA     59  41 .590    8.5   58      1      
CLE     44  56 .440   23.5   53     -9      
KC      35  65 .350   32.5   38     -3      
American League West
OAK     52  49 .515    0.0   50      2      
LAA     52  49 .515    0.0   52      0      
TEX     51  51 .500    1.5   52     -1      
SEA     49  52 .485    3.0   51     -2      

National League East         Pwins Diff
NYN     60  41 .594    0.0   58      2      
ATL     48  52 .480   11.5   53     -5      
FLA     46  53 .465   13.0   48     -2      
PHI     45  53 .459   13.5   46     -1      
WAS     45  56 .446   15.0   46     -1      
National League Central
STL     58  42 .580    0.0   52      6      
CIN     53  48 .525    5.5   49      4      
HOU     48  53 .475   10.5   48      0      
MIL     48  54 .471   11.0   44      4      
CHN     39  61 .390   19.0   40     -1      
PIT     37  66 .359   22.5   45     -8      
National League West
SD      54  47 .535    0.0   52      2      
ARI     51  49 .510    2.5   50      1      
SF      51  50 .505    3.0   51      0      
COL     47  53 .470    6.5   51     -4      
LAN     47  55 .461    7.5   51     -4      

Game of the Day

The Yankees swept the Rangers with a dramatic 8-7 win. Combined with the White Sox’s loss to Minnesota, New York now leads the wild card race by a half-game.

Heroes of the game included Jason Giambi, who hit a two-run homer in the ninth to win it for the Yanks, and Shawn Chacon, who got three key outs in the eighth after Texas had scored three runs to take the lead. Chacon relieved Scott Proctor with the bases loaded and the Rangers ahead 8-7, struck out Mark DeRosa and then grabbed a line drive off the bat of Brad Wilkerson to start an inning-ending double play.

NY YANKEES (8) VS TEXAS (7) - FINAL

NY YANKEES             ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
J Damon cf              4  0  1  0   1  0   1  .293
D Jeter ss              5  2  3  0   0  1   1  .347
J Giambi dh             5  1  1  2   0  1   3  .252
A Rodriguez 3b          5  2  2  1   0  1   1  .280
B Williams rf           2  1  1  0   2  1   0  .277
 N Green 2b             1  0  0  0   0  1   0  .169
A Phillips 1b           5  1  3  2   0  0   2  .245
M Cabrera lf            4  1  2  2   0  0   2  .282
S Fasano c              3  0  1  0   0  0   2  .333
 J Posada c             0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .286
M Cairo 2b              3  0  0  0   0  0   1  .237
 a-A Guiel ph-rf        1  0  0  0   0  1   1  .221

Totals                 38  8 14  7   3  6  14

a-struck out swinging for M Cairo in the 8th.

BATTING: 2B - D Jeter (24, J Rheinecker); M Cabrera (12, F Cordero). HR - A 
Rodriguez (22, 8th inning off F Cordero 0 on, 0 Out), J Giambi (29, 9th inning 
off A Otsuka 1 on, 0 Out). S - S Fasano. RBI - A Phillips 2 (26), A Rodriguez 
(73), M Cabrera 2 (32), J Giambi 2 (80). 2-out RBI - A Phillips 2. Runners left 
in scoring position, 2 out - J Giambi 2, S Fasano 1, M Cabrera 1. GIDP - A 
Phillips. Team LOB - 7. 
 
BASERUNNING: CS - J Damon (7, 2nd base by C Wilson/R Barajas). 
 
FIELDING: PB - S Fasano. DP: 1 (S Chacon-A Phillips). 
 
TEXAS                  ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
G Matthews Jr cf        4  1  0  0   1  2   0  .323
I Kinsler 2b            5  1  2  0   0  1   0  .294
 F Guzman pr            0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .286
M Young ss              5  1  1  2   0  0   1  .312
M Teixeira 1b           3  2  3  0   1  0   0  .279
H Blalock 3b            4  2  3  2   0  1   1  .279
K Mench lf              3  0  2  3   0  0   1  .284
 J Hairston Jr pr-lf    0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .203
M DeRosa rf             4  0  0  0   0  2   4  .310
B Wilkerson dh          4  0  0  0   0  1   4  .231
R Barajas c             4  0  0  0   0  0   1  .257

Totals                 36  7 11  7   2  7  12

BATTING: 2B - K Mench (18, J Wright); H Blalock (17, J Wright); I Kinsler (14, 
T Beam). SF - K Mench. RBI - K Mench 3 (50), H Blalock 2 (64), M Young 2 (67). 
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - R Barajas 1. Team LOB - 5. 
 
FIELDING: DP: 2 (M Young-M Teixeira, R Barajas-I Kinsler). 
 
----------------------------------------------------
    NY YANKEES      - 200 000 042   --   8
    TEXAS           - 020 200 030   --   7
----------------------------------------------------

NY YANKEES                   ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
J Wright                      5 1/3   5   4   3   1   3   0   4.73
R Villone                     1 2/3   0   0   0   0   2   0   2.12
T Beam (H, 2)                 0       1   2   2   1   0   0  12.38
S Proctor (B, 6)              0       4   1   1   0   0   0   4.08
S Chacon (W, 5-3)             1       0   0   0   0   1   0   6.56
M Rivera (S, 25)              1       1   0   0   0   1   0   1.95

TEXAS                        ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
J Rheinecker                  4 1/3   9   2   2   1   1   0   5.06
W Littleton                   1 2/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   1.00
C Wilson (H, 4)               1       0   0   0   1   2   0   4.37
F Cordero (B, 9)              1       3   4   4   1   1   1   4.81
A Otsuka (L, 2-4; B, 3)       1       2   2   2   0   2   1   2.30

T Beam pitched to 2 batters in the 8th.
S Proctor pitched to 4 batters in the 8th.

WP - F Cordero. Pitches-strikes: J Wright 88-55; R Villone 19-12; T Beam 
15-8; S Proctor 11-9; S Chacon 9-6; M Rivera 13-9; J Rheinecker 80-51; W 
Littleton 13-10; C Wilson 15-7; F Cordero 32-17; A Otsuka 15-10. Ground 
balls-fly balls: J Wright 6-7; R Villone 1-2; T Beam 0-0; S Proctor 0-0; S 
Chacon 0-1; M Rivera 1-1; J Rheinecker 8-4; W Littleton 4-1; C Wilson 0-0; F 
Cordero 1-1; A Otsuka 1-0. Batters faced: J Wright 22; R Villone 5; T Beam 2; S 
Proctor 4; S Chacon 2; M Rivera 4; J Rheinecker 23; W Littleton 4; C Wilson 3; 
F Cordero 7; A Otsuka 5. 
 
UMPIRES: HP--Chris Guccione. 1B--Larry Vanover. 2B--Greg Gibson. 3B--Paul 
Nauert. 

T--3:18. Att--43,527. 
Weather: 92 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 13 mph, in from center.

Bonus Graph: Here is the current status of the race in the AL Central, where the Twins have caught up to the White Sox.

image

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.

Hitter                    Pitcher                        True Dist   Std. Dist.  HR #
Berkman, Lance    HOU     Arroyo, Bronson      CIN          461          460      27
Morneau, Justin   MIN     Buehrle, Mark        CWS          454          444      27
Borchard, Joe     FLA     Smoltz, John         ATL          441          435       7
Sexson, Richie    SEA     Downs, Scott         TOR          430          430      21
Rodriguez, Alex   NYY     Cordero, Francisco   TEX          425          427      22
Dye, Jermaine     CWS     Silva, Carlos        MIN          427          421      26
Jones, Andruw     ATL     Kensing, Logan       FLA          424          421      25
Berkman, Lance    HOU     Arroyo, Bronson      CIN          416          415      28
Baldelli, Rocco   TB      Colon, Bartolo       LAA          410          410       5
Thomas, Frank     OAK     Snyder, Kyle         BOS          408          406      21
Torrealba, Yorvit COL     Suppan, Jeff         STL          436          405       3
LaRoche, Adam     ATL     Tankersley, Taylor   FLA          421          403      20
Bay, Jason        PIT     Capuano, Chris       MIL          410          403      24
Mackowiak, Rob    CWS     Neshek, Pat          MIN          408          401       3
Furcal, Rafael    LAD     Penny, Brad          SD           421          400       5
Giambi, Jason     NYY     Otsuka, Akinori      TEX          385          399      29
McCann, Brian     ATL     Johnson, Josh        FLA          416          398      12
Thomas, Frank     OAK     Snyder, Kyle         BOS          386          396      22
Gonzalez, Adrian  SD      Sele, Aaron          LAD          415          395      19
Peavy, Jake       SD      Penny, Brad          LAD          408          389       2
Biggio, Craig     HOU     Arroyo, Bronson      CIN          388          386      10
Cuddyer, Michael  MIN     Buehrle, Mark        CWS          383          381      14
Uggla, Dan        FLA     Smoltz, John         ATL          382          381      15
Conine, Jeff      BAL     Hernandez, Runelvys  KC           400          379       8
Beltre, Adrian    SEA     Burnett, A.J.        TOR          375          375       9
Miles, Aaron      STL     Ramirez, Ramon       COL          408          372       1
Kendrick, Howie   LAA     Camp, Shawn          TB           372          371       1
Edmonds, Jim      STL     Cook, Aaron          COL          400          364      16
Aurilia, Rich     CIN     Pettitte, Andy       HOU          364          362      13
Hall, Bill        MIL     Maholm, Paul         PIT          365          359      23
Bautista, Jose    PIT     Capuano, Chris       MIL          375          357      12
Inglett, Joe      CLE     Verlander, Justin    DET          385          351       1
Utley, Chase      PHI     Webb, Brandon        ARI          375          343      19
Dellucci, David   PHI     Webb, Brandon        ARI          366          343       7
Wigginton, Ty     TB      Colon, Bartolo       LAA          342          342      18

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 A+  Chris Rahl         CF  4  2  0  0  2  0  0   
BOS A   Tony Granadillo    3B  4  2  0  0  2  0  0   
BOS A-  Manuel Arambarris  3B  5  5  2  0  0  0  0   
CHC A   Alberto Garcia     LF  4  3  1  0  1  0  0  5 RBI
COL A   Eric Young         2B  3  2  1  0  1  1  0  Hitting .522 over last 23 at bats
DET A   Michael Hollimon   SS  3  2  0  1  1  1  0  4 RBI
DET A   Cameron Maybin     DH  4  4  0  0  0  0  0  .515 OBP during past week
NYY A-  S. Fortenberry     LF  5  3  0  1  1  0  1  3 runs scored
PIT A   Brad Corley        RF  4  3  1  0  1  1  1  4 RBI
 
ORG LVL PLAYER             IP   H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
ARI A+  Cody Evans         7.0  6  1  0  4  2  0   
BAL AA  Radhames Liz       7.0  4  0  0  8  2  0   
BAL A   Brandon Erbe       5.0  2  0  0  5  0  0  34 K over last 28 IP
BOS A   Ryan Phillips      5.2  2  1  1  7  3  0   
BOS A+  Kevin Guyette      6.0  5  0  0  4  1  0   
CLE A+  Scott Lewis        5.2  3  0  0  6  2  0   
FLA A   Ryan Tucker        7.0  4  2  1  6  1  1   
HOU A+  Rory Shortell      7.0  3  0  0  5  2  0   
NYM A-  Eric Brown         6.0  3  0  0  1  0  0  1.41 ERA over past month
NYM A   Jeramy Simmons     7.0  2  1  1  6  1  0   

Player News

Player news items are provided by CBS SportsLine.com.

A Hardball Times Update
Goodbye for now.

Austin Kearns’ sacrifice fly with the bases loaded off San Francisco closer Armando Benitez capped a two-run rally in the ninth inning, lifting Washington past the Giants 4-3 on Wednesday night, the Nationals’ fifth consecutive victory. Benitez (4-2) came on to start the ninth with a 3-2 lead. But the right-hander walked leadoff batter Robert Fick, and, after striking out Alfonso Soriano, he gave up an infield single to Felipe Lopez. Ryan Zimmerman’s RBI single tied the game, and Benitez then walked Nick Johnson to fill the bases. That brought up Kearns, who’s been adjusting to life with his new team since this month’s eight-player trade that brought him to Washington from Cincinnati. It was Benitez’s sixth blown save this season, in 19 chances. The Giants were 40-4 when leading after eight innings this season.

Philadelphia’s Chase Utley hit a three-run home run in the second inning against Arizona on Wednesday night to extend his hitting streak to 26 games, tying for the fourth-longest in Phillies history. Shortstop Jimmy Rollins has the longest streak in team history at 38 games – the final 36 of last season and the first two this year. Utley flied out in his first at-bat against Brandon Webb, but hit a 1-2 pitch into the right-field seats for his 19th homer in the second, extending the longest streak in the majors this season. Ed Delahanty had a 31-game hitting streak in 1899, Billy Hamilton had a 27-gamer in 1894 and Chuck Klein twice hit in 26 straight games in 1930.

Braves 3B Chipper Jones returned to the lineup Wednesday after missing three games with a strained side muscle. He went 0-for-3 with a walk, ending a 20-game hitting streak that equaled the longest of his career.

The White Sox posted a 57-31 mark during the unofficial “first half” of the season, but they’re only 2-10 since play resumed after the All-Star break. According to Elias, no other team that was at least 25 games over .500 at the time of the All-Star Game has ever lost 10 of its first 12 games after the break.

The San Diego Padres were thrilled about Jake Peavy’s improved pitching and his run production. Peavy helped himself on Wednesday with a homer, double and four RBI, winning his first game in almost two months as the NL West-leading Padres rolled to a 10-3 victory. Peavy (5-10) threw 129 pitches over seven innings, allowing two runs and five hits with eight strikeouts and three walks. The right-hander came in 0-5 with a 6.61 ERA in eight starts since beating St. Louis 10-8 on May 28. A simple adjustment like pitching from the third base side of the rubber helped him considerably.

Adrian Gonzalez extended his hitting streak to 17 games with his 19th home run for San Diego on Wednesday at the Dodgers.

Oft-injured All-Star Mark Prior threw 5 2/3 hitless innings before departing after 103 pitches Tuesday. “That was as far as he could go,” Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. He made his sixth start of the season and second since his latest stint on the DL — he was sidelined with a strained muscle on his left side. He lowered his ERA from 8.14 to 6.60 but is winless in nine starts since last September, the longest drought of his career. The 25-year-old Prior walked four in the first four innings, including the leadoff batter three times.

The Mets pulled out the win behind rookie John Maine, who is making a strong bid for a regular spot in the rotation. He tossed seven innings of three-hit ball (all soft singles). “He really showed me a lot,” Carlos Beltran said. “He’s got a good fastball.”

Justin Verlander outdueled C.C. Sabathia in the Tigers’ 4-1 victory at Cleveland to notch his 13th win of the season and grab a share of the major league lead in that category. Since 1900, the only pitcher to lead the majors in victories (either tied or outright) in his rookie season was Grover Alexander (28-13), who did it for the Phillies in 1911. Alexander (in his debut season) led the NL in wins and tied Jack Coombs (28-12) of the Philadelphia A’s for the most in the majors. (Source: Elias)

The Los Angeles Angels’ biggest offensive performance of the season was overshadowed by Bartolo Colon’s sore right elbow. Colon, the 2005 AL Cy Young Award winner, left after one inning of the Angels’ 15-6 win Wednesday over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays because of irritation in his pitching elbow. “He had a little stiffness,” manager Mike Scioscia said. “We’ll evaluate him on a day-to-day basis and come up with some options, if we have to, in case he can’t make his next start.”

Orioles right-hander Kris Benson returned to Baltimore on Wednesday to have his sore elbow examined. Benson is 0-4 with a 6.52 ERA in five starts this month. “Kris has complained a little bit about his elbow hurting the last couple of months,” Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo said. “We’ve got him in Baltimore right now as a precautionary measure just to make sure that it’s nothing more than a little inflammation. We just want to see what’s up, where’s he’s at. He says he’s had it every year, but has been managing it pretty well. He complained a little bit last night so we thought we would err on the side of caution and just get it checked out. We feel like it’s just minor tendinitis that hasn’t been allowed to totally calm down.”

The Mariners have acquired left-handed hitting 1B/DH Ben Broussard from the Indians in exhange for outfielder Shin-Soo Choo and a player to be named later. Broussard will join the Mariners on Friday when the team begins a three-game series at Cleveland.

Choo will join the Indians immediately and start in right field against right-handed pitching. He also will spend some time in left field, GM Mark Shapiro said. Casey Blake, who has been playing right field for the Indians this season, and catcher Victor Martinez will split time at first. This opens more time behind the plate for catching prospect Kelly Shoppach.

The Mariners designated Carl Everett for assignment Wednesday and recalled outfielder Chris Snelling from Triple-A Tacoma to take his roster spot.

The Reds activated C David Ross from the 15-day DL and designated RHP Joe Mays for assignment. Jason LaRue and Ross will likely compete for the primary catching at-bats, with Javier Valentin getting the table scraps.

The Royals have shuffled their rotation and will start LHP Jorge de la Rosa, who was acquired in a trade Tuesday with Milwaukee, on Saturday at Texas. Manager Buddy Bell said de la Rosa would replace Brandon Duckworth, who is 1-4 in eight starts, in the rotation. Bell also said LHP Odalis Perez, who was acquired from the Dodgers on Tuesday, would also be inserted into the rotation. Perez is expected to join the club Thursday. Luke Hudson or Thursday’s starter Jimmy Gobble are on the bubble for the Perez substitution if Mark Redman is not dealt at the trading deadline.

The Athletics recalled LHP Randy Keisler From Triple-A Sacramento and optioned RHP Jason Windsor to Sacramento. Kirk Saarloos or Brad Halsey could return to the No. 5 spot for the A’s, who gave the young Windsor a shot that failed quickly.

The Reds have released RHP Esteban Yan, who was designated for assignment. The Mets’ RHP Heath Bell will be optioned to Triple-A Norfolk to make room on the roster for Pedro Martinez (hip, illness) on Friday.

The Rangers designated RHP Bryan Corey for assignment Tuesday night. They have 10 days to trade, release or outright him to the minor leagues. The Brewers optioned UTL Chris Barnwell to Triple-A Nashville of the PCL on Tuesday night.

The Royals called up infielder Andres Blanco from Triple-A Omaha on Wednesday. Blanco, who had 15 extra-base hits in 264 at-bats and had committed 19 errors with Omaha, was up earlier this season, hitting .176 in six games with Kansas City.

The New York Post reports the Yankees are talking to the Braves about Wilson Betemit and might be willing to give up Scott Proctor. “He is a (Placido) Polanco-type hitter with more pop,” a scout told the paper.

The Yankees acquired catcher Sal Fasano from the Phillies on Wednesday for minor league second baseman Hector Made. Kelly Stinnett looks headed for the minors or the open market.

Right-hander Brian Lawrence said Wednesday he will probably wait until spring training to return from the shoulder injury that has sidelined him all season.

The Tigers called up right-hander Colby Lewis from Triple-A Toledo on Wednesday. He went 4-7 with a 3.86 ERA in 20 starts for Toledo and will join the Tigers’ bullpen. To make room for Lewis, the Tigers designated outfielder Alexis Gomez for assignment.

Scott Hatteberg, who took over at first base for the Reds and has been an important part of their resurgence, got a one-year contract extension Wednesday that will pay him at least $1.65 million. As one of his first moves after taking over as general manager in February, Wayne Krivsky signed Hatteberg as a free agent from Oakland. Hatteberg replaced first baseman Sean Casey, who had been traded to Pittsburgh before Krivsky was hired.

With his start in left Tuesday, Carlos Lee has appeared in 263 consecutive games as a Brewer, the second-longest streak in club history. Robin Yount holds the team record with 274 consecutive games from Aug. 13, 1987-June 14, 1989. Lee has appeared in 274 consecutive games, the fifth-longest active streak in the majors.

THT Stats

Access all of THT’s stats here…

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Dave Studeman was called a "national treasure" by Rob Neyer. Seriously. Follow his sporadic tweets @dastudes.

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