THT Daily: Yankees Clinch AL East Title

Major League News for September 21

Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Game of the Day
Yesterday’s Home Runs
Player News
Stats

Yesterday’s Results

American League
MIN     8  BOS     2    (Recap and Boxscore) Twins score 4 in 8th, 3 in 9th. 
TB      4  BAL     2    (Recap and Boxscore) Wigginton hits 2-run HR in bottom 8th.
TOR     3  NYA     2    (Recap and Boxscore) Yankees clinch the AL East title.
DET     6  CHA     2    (Recap and Boxscore) Tigers stay in 1st place!
LAA     3  KC      0    (Recap and Boxscore) The OC with all three RBIs.
OAK     4  CLE     3    (Recap and Boxscore) Bradley and The Big Hurt lead the way.
SEA     6  TEX     3    (Recap and Boxscore) 84 degrees and clear in Arlington.

National League
FLA     6  NYN     3    (Recap and Boxscore) Willis with 2 HRs, 8.33 IP
PHI     6  CHN     2    (Recap and Boxscore) Myers with CG Win.
ATL     7  WAS     3    (Recap and Boxscore) Only 19,000 in attendance.
HOU     7  CIN     2    (Recap and Boxscore) Luke Scott with HR and Triple.
MIL     1  STL     0    (Recap and Boxscore) Jenkins with walk-off HR.
SF      7  COL     4    (Recap and Boxscore) Alou with PH HR in 7th.
PIT     6  LAN     4    (Recap and Boxscore) Sanchez with four more hits.
ARI     8  SD      2    (Recap and Boxscore) Edgar Gonzalez coming around?

Today’s Games

Visitors                           Home                          Starts (EDT)
CLE - Sabathia C.* (11-10, 3.26)   OAK - Harden R. (3-0, 3.86)        3:35 pm
DET - Robertson N.* (13-12, 3.68)  BAL - Benson K. (10-11, 4.54)      4:05 pm
MIN - Santana J.* (18-5, 2.77)     BOS - Beckett J. (15-10, 5.02)     7:05 pm
FLA - Sanchez A. (8-3, 2.90)       NYM - Martinez P. (9-6, 4.03)      7:10 pm
SEA - Woods J.* (5-3, 4.19)        CWS - Vazquez J. (11-9, 4.70)      8:05 pm
 SF - Morris M. (10-14, 4.79)      MIL - Bush D. (11-11, 4.53)        8:05 pm
STL - Carpenter C. (15-6, 2.79)    HOU - Pettitte A.* (13-13, 4.37)   8:05 pm
ATL - Smoltz J. (13-9, 3.71)       COL - Kim B. (8-11, 5.30)          8:35 pm
ARI - Webb B. (16-6, 2.92)          SD - Williams W. (9-5, 3.69)     10:05 pm
PIT - Youman S.* (0-1, 4.32)       LAD - Billingsley C. (5-4, 3.32)  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     92  60 .605    0.0   90     2    
BOS     81  71 .533   11.0   76     5    
TOR     80  72 .526   12.0   80     0    
BAL     66  86 .434   26.0   65     1    
TB      58  94 .382   34.0   60    -2    
American League Central     
DET     91  61 .599    0.0   90     1    
MIN     90  61 .596    0.5   87     3    
CHA     85  67 .559    6.0   85     0    
CLE     70  81 .464   20.5   81   -11    
KC      58  94 .382   33.0   58     0    
American League West        
OAK     88  63 .583    0.0   81     7    
LAA     82  70 .539    6.5   77     5    
TEX     77  76 .503   12.0   82    -5    
SEA     73  79 .480   15.5   73     0    


National League East        Pwins  Diff
NYN     92  59 .609    0.0   87     5    
PHI     79  73 .520   13.5   79     0    
FLA     75  77 .493   17.5   76    -1    
ATL     74  78 .487   18.5   78    -4    
WAS     66  86 .434   26.5   65     1    
National League Central     
STL     80  70 .533    0.0   78     2    
CIN     74  78 .487    7.0   71     3    
HOU     73  78 .483    7.5   76    -3    
MIL     69  83 .454   12.0   65     4    
PIT     65  87 .428   16.0   67    -2    
CHN     62  91 .405   19.5   64    -2    
National League West        
SD      79  72 .523    0.0   79     0    
LAN     79  73 .520    0.5   80    -1    
SF      75  76 .497    4.0   73     2    
ARI     72  79 .477    7.0   74    -2    
COL     71  81 .467    8.5   77    -6    

Wildcard Standings
American League
MIN     90  61 .596    0.0
CHA     85  67 .559    5.5

National League
LAN     79  73 .520    0.0
PHI     79  73 .520    0.0
SF      75  76 .497    3.5
FLA     75  77 .493    4.0
ATL     74  78 .487    5.0
CIN     74  78 .487    5.0
HOU     73  78 .483    5.5

Game of the Day

The game is definitely a pitchers’ duel when the Fangraphs chart of the game (see below under the box score) lists three double plays and a pickoff as four of the five notable events. It’s that fifth event that won the game for the Brewers, as Geoff Jenkins hits a line drive scorcher into the right field bleachers in the bottom of the ninth, giving Milwaukee a 1-0 win against the Cardinals.

ST LOUIS (0) VS MILWAUKEE (1) - FINAL

ST LOUIS               ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
A Miles ss              4  0  0  0   0  0   2  .271
C Duncan lf             4  0  1  0   0  1   1  .304
 J Hancock p            0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 T Johnson p            0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
A Pujols 1b             4  0  0  0   0  0   2  .328
J Encarnacion cf        3  0  0  0   1  0   1  .284
S Spiezio 3b            4  0  1  0   0  2   1  .263
P Wilson rf             3  0  1  0   0  0   1  .259
R Belliard 2b           3  0  0  0   0  1   1  .237
Y Molina c              2  0  0  0   0  0   1  .220
J Suppan p              2  0  0  0   0  1   2  .192
 a-J Rodriguez ph-lf    1  0  1  0   0  0   0  .304
Totals                 30  0  4  0   1  5  12

a-doubled to deep right for J Suppan in the 8th.

BATTING: 2B - S Spiezio (14, C Villanueva); J Rodriguez (12, C Spurling). 
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - C Duncan 1, S Spiezio 1, J Suppan 1, 
R Belliard 1. GIDP - A Miles, A Pujols. Team LOB - 5. 
 
FIELDING: E - A Miles (16, ground ball); R Belliard (3, ground ball). DP: 4 
(R Belliard-A Pujols-A Miles, R Belliard-A Miles-A Pujols, A Miles-R Belliard-A 
Pujols, S Spiezio-R Belliard-A Pujols). 

MILWAUKEE              ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
T Gwynn Jr cf           4  0  2  0   0  1   1  .277
T Graffanino ss         3  0  1  0   1  1   2  .294
P Fielder 1b            3  0  1  0   1  0   3  .276
C Hart lf               4  0  1  0   0  0   4  .286
 F Cordero p            0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
G Jenkins rf            4  1  2  1   0  0   0  .271
J Cirillo 2b            3  0  1  0   0  1   1  .321
D Bell 3b               3  0  0  0   0  0   0  .261
D Miller c              3  0  1  0   0  1   2  .251
C Villanueva p          1  0  0  0   0  0   2  .111
 a-B Clark ph           1  0  0  0   0  0   0  .260
 C Spurling p           0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 K Mench lf             0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .212
Totals                 29  1  9  1   2  4  15

a-grounded to first for C Villanueva in the 7th.

BATTING: 2B - D Miller (28, J Suppan). HR - G Jenkins (16, 9th inning off T 
Johnson 0 on, 0 Out). S - C Villanueva. RBI - G Jenkins (68). Runners left in 
scoring position, 2 out - P Fielder 1, C Villanueva 1. GIDP - C Hart 2, J 
Cirillo, T Graffanino. Team LOB - 7. 
 
BASERUNNING: SB - T Gwynn Jr (2, 2nd base off J Suppan/Y Molina). Picked Off 
- C Hart (1st base, Y Molina). 
 
FIELDING: E - P Fielder (11, ground ball). PB - D Miller. DP: 2 (J Cirillo-T 
Graffanino-P Fielder, D Bell-J Cirillo-P Fielder). 
 
----------------------------------------------------
    ST LOUIS        - 000 000 000   --   0
    MILWAUKEE       - 000 000 001   --   1

No outs when winning run scored.
----------------------------------------------------

ST LOUIS                     ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
J Suppan                      7       6   0   0   1   4   0   4.06
J Hancock                       2/3   2   0   0   1   0   0   3.75
T Johnson (L, 0-3)              1/3   1   1   1   0   0   1   4.50

MILWAUKEE                    ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
C Villanueva                  7       3   0   0   1   5   0   3.35
C Spurling                    1       1   0   0   0   0   0   1.42
F Cordero (W, 3-0)            1       0   0   0   0   0   0   0.42

T Johnson pitched to 1 batter in the 9th.

HBP - Y Molina (by C Villanueva). Pitches-strikes: J Suppan 97-61; J Hancock 
14-8; T Johnson 5-4; C Villanueva 104-62; C Spurling 16-11; F Cordero 10-6. 
Ground balls-fly balls: J Suppan 12-5; J Hancock 2-0; T Johnson 0-0; C 
Villanueva 9-7; C Spurling 1-2; F Cordero 1-2. Batters faced: J Suppan 27; J 
Hancock 4; T Johnson 1; C Villanueva 25; C Spurling 4; F Cordero 3. 
 
UMPIRES: HP--Mike Reilly. 1B--James Hoye. 2B--Andy Fletcher. 3B--Jerry Meals. 

T--2:33. Att--14,242. Weather: INDOORS 

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. You can read their daily updates at the Hit Tracker Blog.

Hitter                  Pitcher               True Dist.  Std. Dist.  HR #
Ordonez, Magglio  DET   Garland, Jon  CWS        420         428       23
Uribe, Juan  CWS        Bonderman, Jeremy  DET   422         426       19
Burrell, Pat  PHI       Novoa, Roberto  CHC      423         423       26
Ibanez, Raul  SEA       Tejeda, Robinson  TEX    420         423       28
Rodriguez, Ivan  DET    Cotts, Neal  CWS         416         422       12
Williams, Bernie  NYY   Romero, Davis  TOR       419         417       12
Molina, Bengie  TOR     Henn, Sean  NYY          416         415       17
Bradley, Milton  OAK    Carmona, Fausto  CLE     420         414       11
Cruz, Nelson  TEX       Baek, Cha Seung  SEA     416         407        6
Scott, Luke  HOU        Arroyo, Bronson  CIN     409         407        8
Iguchi, Tadahito  CWS   Bonderman, Jeremy  DET   395         405       17
Bautista, Jose  PIT     Maddux, Greg  LAD        407         400       15
Hunter, Torii  MIN      Hansen, Craig  BOS       416         398       28
Drew, J.D.  LAD         Chacon, Shawn  PIT       411         398       18
Alou, Moises  SF        King, Ray  COL           425         397       18
Willis, Dontrelle  FLA  Perez, Oliver  NYM       401         397        2
Ortiz, David  BOS       Bonser, Boof  MIN        423         385       50
Jones, Andruw  ATL      Ortiz, Ramon  WAS        401         385       36
Jenkins, Geoff  MIL     Johnson, Tyler  STL      383         382       16
McCann, Brian  ATL      Ortiz, Ramon  WAS        387         379       21
Willis, Dontrelle  FLA  Hernandez, Roberto  NYM  385         378        3
Francoeur, Jeff  ATL    Booker, Chris  WAS       390         373       26
Wigginton, Ty  TB       Lopez, Rodrigo  BAL      370         369       21
Crawford, Carl  TB      Penn, Hayden  BAL        369         368       18
Zimmerman, Ryan  WAS    Cormier, Lance  ATL      379         364       19
Biggio, Craig  HOU      Arroyo, Bronson  CIN     365         363       20
Bard, Josh  SD          Gonzalez, Edgar  ARI     370         355        8
Utley, Chase  PHI       Ryu, Jae Kuk  CHC        356         340       29

Player News

Player news items are provided by CBS SportsLine.com.

Robby Hammock, who caught Randy Johnson’s perfect game for Arizona on May 18, 2004, was one of two players promoted by the Diamondbacks on Wednesday. Hammock was with the club for extended stints in 2003-04, then missed virtually the entire 2005 season due to right shoulder surgery. He spent this season in Triple-A. Outfielder Scott Hairston was promoted for the third time this year.

Mark Grudzielanek, who sustained a groin injury Tuesday, is not expected to return this year, manager Buddy Bell said.

The Royals recalled infielder Angel Sanchez and purchased outfielder Mitch Maier’s contract Wednesday. Both players had been with Double-A Wichita.

Third baseman Miguel Cabrera was scratched from Florida’s starting lineup Wednesday night against the New York Mets because of a sore left shoulder. The Marlins replaced Cabrera by moving Wes Helms from first base to third and inserting Mike Jacobs at first base. Left fielder Josh Willingham moved up from cleanup to the third spot, Helms and right fielder Cody Ross each moved up a spot and Jacobs batted sixth. Cabrera is batting .338 with 25 homers and 110 RBIs.

The Royals recalled infielder Angel Sanchez and purchased outfielder Mitch Maier’s contract Wednesday. Both players had been with Double-A Wichita. Sanchez, who turned 23 on Wednesday, hit .282 in 133 games as Wichita’s shortstop. He takes the roster spot vacated by second baseman Mark Grudzielanek, who sustained a groin injury Tuesday. Manager Buddy Bell said Grudzielanek is not expected to return this year.

Mariners pitcher Jarrod Washburn will probably miss the rest of the season due to a torn right calf muscle. Asked if Washburn is done for the season, manager Mike Hargrove said, “I would think probably. I can’t say for certain, but I would say things are pointing that way.” Team medical personnel told Washburn surgery will not be necessary. Washburn said the healing process is two to six weeks. “I felt a pop and heard a pop. It was loud,” Washburn said. Hargrove said right-handers Joel Pineiro and Travis Chick are candidates to take Washburn’s scheduled turn Sunday in Chicago against the White Sox.

Tigers sent RHP Colby Lewis outright to Triple-A Toledo of the IL on Thursday.

The Royals transferred RHP Brandon Duckworth (elbow) from the 15-day to the 60-day DL.

The Padres placed RHP Doug Brocail (hamstring) on the 60-day DL.

Ryan Klesko was activated Wednesday for what will most likely be his final games with the San Diego Padres. The first baseman-left fielder, who’s making $10 million this year, underwent surgery on his left shoulder in April and hasn’t played this season. He was bothered by soreness in his throwing shoulder late in spring training and started the season on the disabled list. Klesko has been bothered by back, neck and shoulder ailments the past few years. He had season-ending surgery on his right shoulder in September 2003, and has hit only 27 homers since 2004. He hit a career-low nine homers in 2004. Last year, he led the Padres with 18 homers but had a career-low .248 average.Klesko will give manager Bruce Bochy another left-handed bat off the bench.

Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones left Wednesday night’s game against the Washington Nationals with soreness in the second toe on his right foot. Jones returned from the disabled list Tuesday after missing more than two weeks with a strained muscle on his left side. He was 1-for-2 with a double and two runs scored on Wednesday before being lifted for pinch-hitter Willy Aybar in the seventh inning. Jones is day-to-day.

Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz hit his 50th home run of the season on Wednesday night, tying the franchise record that stood since Jimmie Foxx set it in 1938. Ortiz homered off Minnesota’s Boof Bonser over the Boston bullpen in right-center with two outs in the sixth inning to break a 1-1 tie. He circled the bases to the strains of “Simply the Best” while his teammates applauded from the top of the dugout.

Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Roy Halladay left Wednesday night’s game against the New York Yankees in the fourth inning with a strained forearm. After Bernie Williams fouled off a pitch, manager John Gibbons, pitching coach Brad Arnsberg and trainer George Poulis went to mound to see Halladay. Halladay didn’t even attempt one warmup pitch before leaving the field. The Yankees led 1-0. Halladay hasn’t pitched a complete season in three years because of injuries. The 2003 AL Cy Young winner entered Wednesday’s game with a 16-5 record and 3.20 ERA.

THT Stats

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