THT Daily

Major League News for August 21

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
NYA     2  BOS     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
TB      4  TEX     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
OAK    12  TOR    10    (Recap and Boxscore)
DET     7  CHA     1    (Recap and Boxscore)

National League
ATL     3  PIT     0    (Recap and Boxscore)
FLA     3  WAS     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
PHI     6  CHN     5    (Recap and Boxscore)
CIN     4  HOU     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
SD      4  LAN     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
SF      5  ARI     0    (Recap and Boxscore)

Today’s Games

Visitors                            Home                            Starts
WAS - Bergmann J. (0-1, 7.31)       FLA - Johnson J. (11-6, 2.84)     7:05
MIN - Silva C. (8-10, 6.30)         BAL - Loewen A.* (3-4, 6.12)      7:05
CWS - Buehrle M.* (10-10, 4.80)     DET - Rogers K.* (12-6, 4.34)     7:05
OAK - Halsey B.* (3-3, 4.50)        TOR - Burnett A. (5-5, 4.29)      7:07
HOU - Hirsh J. (1-1, 6.75)          CIN - Lohse K. (0-0, 2.33)        7:10
STL - Weaver J. (2-3, 5.54)         NYM - Maine J. (3-3, 2.68)        7:10
TEX - Padilla V. (12-7, 4.39)       TB - Kazmir S.* (10-8, 3.31)      7:15
PIT - Chacon S. (1-1, 10.80)        ATL - Villarreal O. (9-1, 4.13    7:35
PHI - Moyer J.* (0-0, -)            CHC - O'Malley R.* (1-0, 0.00)    8:05
COL - Cook A. (8-11, 4.09)          MIL - Capuano C.* (10-8, 3.68)    8:05
CLE - Lee C.* (10-8, 4.61)          KC - Perez O.* (0-1, 5.32)        8:10
BOS - Snyder K. (3-2, 6.35)         LAA - Saunders J.* (4-1, 3.64)   10:05
LAD - Hendrickson M.* (1-5, 5.19)   SD - Peavy J. (6-12, 4.55)       10:05
NYY - Karstens J. (0-0, -)          SEA - Meche G. (9-8, 4.66)       10:05
ARI - Webb B. (13-5, 2.93)          SF - Cain M. (9-9, 4.70)         10:15

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     75  48 .610    0.0   72      3      
BOS     69  55 .556    6.5   66      3      
TOR     66  59 .528   10.0   66      0      
BAL     55  69 .444   20.5   55      0      
TB      50  75 .400   26.0   50      0      
American League Central
DET     80  45 .640    0.0   77      3      
CHA     73  51 .589    6.5   70      3      
MIN     72  51 .585    7.0   69      3      
CLE     56  67 .455   23.0   67     -11     
KC      45  81 .357   35.5   47     -2      
American League West
OAK     71  54 .568    0.0   64      7      
LAA     66  59 .528    5.0   64      2      
TEX     65  61 .516    6.5   67     -2      
SEA     56  68 .452   14.5   59     -3      

National League East         Pwins Diff
NYN     75  48 .610    0.0   71      4      
PHI     62  62 .500   13.5   64     -2      
ATL     59  65 .476   16.5   64     -5      
FLA     58  66 .468   17.5   60     -2      
WAS     54  71 .432   22.0   55     -1      
National League Central
STL     66  57 .537    0.0   63      3      
CIN     65  60 .520    2.0   60      5      
MIL     59  65 .476    7.5   54      5      
HOU     59  66 .472    8.0   61     -2      
CHN     53  71 .427   13.5   50      3      
PIT     47  78 .376   20.0   54     -7      
National League West
LAN     66  59 .528    0.0   68     -2      
SD      63  62 .504    3.0   63      0      
ARI     62  63 .496    4.0   61      1      
SF      60  65 .480    6.0   62     -2      
COL     59  65 .476    6.5   64     -5      

Wildcard Standings
American League
CHA     73  51 .589    0.0
MIN     72  51 .585    0.5
BOS     69  55 .556    4.0
TOR     66  59 .528    7.5
LAA     66  59 .528    7.5
National League
CIN     65  60 .520    0.0
SD      63  62 .504    2.0
PHI     62  62 .500    2.5
ARI     62  63 .496    3.0
SF      60  65 .480    5.0

Game of the Day

The Reds scored all their runs in the bottom of the eighth to beat the Astros 4-3 and move within two games of the N.L. Central lead. They key hit was a three-run home run by Rich Aurilia off of Chad Qualls. The Astros have lost eight of their last ten games.

It’s the fifth time this season that the Reds have won when trailing by at least three in the eighth or later. The only major league team to do that even half as often as the Reds this year is the Padres, who have three wins when trailing by at least three in the eighth or later. The Reds also tied a team record in that category, set in 2000.

 HOUSTON (3) VS CINCINNATI (4) - FINAL

HOUSTON                ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
W Taveras cf            4  0  1  0   0  0   1  .276
C Biggio 2b             3  0  0  0   1  0   0  .259
M Lamb 1b               4  0  1  0   0  0   1  .307
L Berkman rf            3  1  1  1   1  1   1  .313
L Scott lf              4  0  0  0   0  2   1  .405
A Huff 3b               3  2  2  2   0  0   0  .267
 C Qualls p             0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
A Everett ss            3  0  0  0   0  1   0  .235
B Ausmus c              3  0  0  0   0  2   0  .223
A Pettitte p            2  0  1  0   0  0   0  .188
 R Springer p           0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 M Ensberg 3b           1  0  0  0   0  0   0  .233

Totals                 30  3  6  3   2  6   4

BATTING: HR - L Berkman (34, 2nd inning off B Arroyo 0 on, 0 Out), A Huff 2 (7, 
2nd inning off B Arroyo 0 on, 1 Out, 7th inning off R Cormier 0 on, 1 Out). RBI 
- L Berkman (103), A Huff 2 (21). GIDP - L Scott. Team LOB - 2. 
 
BASERUNNING: CS - W Taveras (7, 2nd base by B Arroyo/D Ross). 
 
FIELDING: DP: 1 (C Biggio-A Everett-M Lamb). 
 
CINCINNATI             ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
R Freel rf              5  0  0  0   0  2   5  .286
R Clayton ss            4  0  2  1   1  1   0  .267
K Griffey Jr cf         4  0  1  0   0  2   2  .250
E Encarnacion 3b        3  1  1  0   1  0   1  .300
A Dunn lf               4  1  1  0   0  2   2  .248
R Aurilia 1b            4  1  4  3   0  0   0  .289
D Ross c                2  0  0  0   2  2   3  .279
B Phillips 2b           4  1  2  0   0  1   2  .295
B Arroyo p              2  0  0  0   0  2   3  .117
 a-J Valentin ph        1  0  0  0   0  0   2  .242
 R Cormier p            0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 R Franklin p           0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 b-T Hollandsworth ph   1  0  1  0   0  0   0  .077
 S Schoeneweis p        0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000

Totals                 34  4 12  4   4 12  20

a-lined out to first for B Arroyo in the 6th;  b-singled to right for R 
Franklin in the 8th.

BATTING: 2B - R Aurilia (21, A Pettitte); A Dunn (20, C Qualls). HR - R Aurilia 
(18, 8th inning off C Qualls 2 on, 0 Out). RBI - R Aurilia 3 (51), R Clayton 
(36). 2-out RBI - R Clayton. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - D Ross 
2, J Valentin 1, R Freel 2. GIDP - K Griffey Jr. Team LOB - 10. 
 
FIELDING: Outfield assists - R Freel (A Pettitte at 1st base). DP: 2 (R 
Freel-R Aurilia, B Phillips-R Aurilia). 
 
----------------------------------------------------
    HOUSTON         - 020 000 100   --   3
    CINCINNATI      - 000 000 04x   --   4
----------------------------------------------------

HOUSTON                      ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
A Pettitte                    5 1/3   6   0   0   4  10   0   4.51
R Springer (H, 6)               2/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   3.50
C Qualls (L, 4-3; B, 5)       2       6   4   4   0   2   1   4.44

CINCINNATI                   ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
B Arroyo                      6       5   2   2   2   3   2   3.44
R Cormier                     1       1   1   1   0   1   1   2.14
R Franklin (W, 4-6)           1       0   0   0   0   0   0   4.41
S Schoeneweis (S, 1)          1       0   0   0   0   2   0   0.00

Pitches-strikes: A Pettitte 118-71; R Springer 8-5; C Qualls 32-24; B Arroyo 
85-54; R Cormier 15-10; R Franklin 10-8; S Schoeneweis 11-8. Ground balls-fly 
balls: A Pettitte 3-3; R Springer 0-2; C Qualls 2-1; B Arroyo 7-6; R Cormier 
2-0; R Franklin 2-1; S Schoeneweis 1-0. Batters faced: A Pettitte 25; R 
Springer 2; C Qualls 11; B Arroyo 22; R Cormier 4; R Franklin 3; S Schoeneweis 
3. 
 
UMPIRES: HP--C.B. Bucknor. 1B--Adam Dowdy. 2B--Wally Bell. 3B--Mark Carlson. 

T--2:45. Att--24,110. 
Weather: 84 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 9 mph, in from left.

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 #
Bonds, Barry     SF      Hernandez, Orlando  ARI        453        441      17
Jones, Jacque    CHC     Rhodes, Arthur      PHI        426        421      21
Huff, Aubrey     HOU     Arroyo, Bronson     CIN        415        419      14
Utley, Chase     PHI     Hill, Rich          CHC        425        418      22
Kielty, Bobby    OAK     Lilly, Ted          TOR        419        414       6
Bradley, Milton  OAK     Lilly, Ted          TOR        418        413       9
Blalock, Hank    TEX     Shields, James      TB         410        410      15
Aurilia, Rich    CIN     Qualls, Chad        HOU        395        409      18
Berkman, Lance   HOU     Arroyo, Bronson     CIN        397        408      34
Pena, Wily Mo    BOS     Proctor, Scott      NYY        397        404      10
Huff, Aubrey     HOU     Cormier, Rheal      CIN        404        400      15
Rios, Alex       TOR     Haren, Dan          OAK        387        383      16
Monroe, Craig    DET     Contreras, Jose     CWS        398        381      21
Rollins, Jimmy   PHI     Hill, Rich          CHC        384        372      19
Glaus, Troy      TOR     Haren, Dan          OAK        364        369      34
Payton, Jay      OAK     Accardo, Jeremy     TOR        355        351      10
Dye, Jermaine    CWS     Verlander, Justin   DET        363        347      34
Soriano, Alfonso WAS     Sanchez, Anibal     FLA        NA         NA       41

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+  Javier Brito       1B  3  3  0  0  2  0  0  6 RBI
ARI AA  Phil Avlas          C  2  2  0  0  1  1  0   
BAL AA  Dustin Yount       1B  4  3  0  0  1  0  1  .556 OBP during past week
CHW AAA Bobby Smith        2B  5  4  1  0  1  0  1   
COL A+  Jose Valdez        SS  5  4  2  0  0  0  1   
MIL A   Mat Gamel          3B  2  2  0  0  1  0  0  4 RBI
MIL A+  Adam Heether       3B  4  4  1  0  0  1  0   
NYY AA  Randy Ruiz         1B  5  3  0  0  2  0  1   
SF  A   Michael Mooney     RF  3  3  0  1  0  0  0   
STL AAA Mike Rose           C  4  3  0  0  1  0  1   
 
ORG LVL PLAYER             IP   H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
ARI A-  Cesar Valdez       9.0  3  1  1  7  1  0   
COL AAA Sun-Woo Kim        7.0  1  0  0  5  1  0   
DET A-  Thomas Thornton    7.0  5  0  0  8  0  0   
KC  A+  Patrick Green      6.2  0  0  0  5  4  0   
MIN AA  Glen Perkins       7.0  1  0  0 10  2  0  29 K over last 21 IP
NYM A+  Jose Sanchez       7.0  2  1  1  7  2  0   
OAK AAA Randy Keisler      8.0  4  2  0  6  3  0   
PHI A   Joshua Outman      7.0  2  0  0 10  2  0  0.92 ERA over past month
SEA A+  Cibney Bello       8.0  4  1  1  6  2  1   
SF  AA  Jesse Floyd        8.0  2  1  1  9  1  0 

Player News

Player news items are provided by CBS SportsLine.com.

The Yankees’ five-game sweep of the Red Sox was only the second five-game sweep in major-league history by a first-place team over a team that began the series in second place. The other was a five-game sweep by the New York Giants over the Reds in August 1923 at Redland Field (later renamed Crosley Field). The Giants started that series with a three-game lead over the Reds and ended the season with a 4½-game lead over the second-place Reds. (Source: Elias)

Bobby Abreu (10 hits, 7 walks) and Manny Ramirez (8 hits, 9 walks) each reached base safely 17 times in the series. No player reached base safely that many times in one series since Dale Murphy had 10 hits and seven walks in a five-game series against the Dodgers in Sept. 1985. (Source: Elias)

The Athletics beat the Blue Jays in Toronto on Monday, 12-10, after trailing 8-0 after two innings. It is the second time this season that a team won a game in which it trailed by that much, that early — the Yankees topped the Rangers on May 16, 14-13, after trailing 9-1 after two. Over the last seven seasons (since 2000) the only other team to win on the road under those circumstances was St. Louis at Cincinnati on May 12, 2002.

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons and Toronto pitcher Ted Lilly had a heated argument during Monday night’s game against Oakland. Lilly was pulled in the third inning, when the Athletics scored seven runs to close to 8-7. Gibbons chewed out the pitcher, who refused to give him the ball. When Lilly left the mound for the locker room, Gibbons followed him. A team trainer and a number of players then ran down the stairs. Canadian Press photographer Aaron Harris, one of a handful of photographers to witness the skirmish, said Lilly was waiting for Gibbons in the tunnel. “Gibbons just went at him,” Harris said. Harris said they went nose to nose. “It looked like Gibbons grabbed him and they disappeared,” Harris said. “Then the whole dugout emptied back there. It was mayhem down in the tunnel.”

Barry Bonds splashed his 725th career home run into McCovey Cove on Monday night, moving the San Francisco slugger within 30 of tying home run king Hank Aaron’s record of 755. It was the first splash hit of the season for the 42-year-old Bonds — and the first by any Giants player. It was the 41st splash hit in the ballpark’s 7-year history and the 33rd for Bonds, who last did it on Sept. 18 last year against the Dodgers.

Tim Stauffer gave the Padres a desperately needed boost with six strong innings in an emergency start for ailing Chan Ho Park, leading San Diego to a 4-2 win Monday night in the opener of an important three-game series with the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers. Stauffer was hastily summoned from Triple-A Portland on Monday after Park had a recurrence of intestinal bleeding that recently forced him to go on the disabled list. Stauffer made it to the ballpark less than two hours before first pitch. The right-hander held the Dodgers to two runs — one earned — and three hits.

Noah Lowry pitched a two-hitter for his first complete game of the year on Monday against Arizona and third of his career for the Giants, who moved out of last place or a tie for last in the NL West for the first time since July 31. He walked one, struck out six and recorded his first shutout since Aug. 3, 2004, against Cincinnati.

The Cubs’ Jacque Jones went 4-for-5 and hit a two-run homer on Monday against the Phillies.

Houston’s Willy Taveras extended his hit streak to 24 games against the Reds.

With wins in their last three games, the Phillies are back at .500 for the first time since they had a 35-35 record on the morning of June 20. The Phillies’ low point this season was then they stood nine games under .500, most recently on the morning of July 26. Since then, the Phillies are 18-9, the third-best record in the National League, behind the Dodgers (19-5) and Mets (16-7).

Chase Utley’s homer wasn’t his only hit Monday night. A nasty collision between Aaron Rowand and Utley overshadowed the Philadelphia Phillies’ 6-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs. “They came together pretty good,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “It was fortunate someone didn’t get hurt worse.” Rowand hobbled off the field with a sprained left ankle after tangling with Utley in the eighth inning. Rowand was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for precautionary X-rays.

Anibal Sanchez wasn’t going to let a little rain stop him from getting his first win in nearly a month. Sanchez pitched seven solid innings to win for the first time since July 25 as the Florida Marlins beat the Washington Nationals 3-1 on Monday night. Sanchez (5-2) returned to the mound after a 17-minute rain delay and allowed one run and four hits in seven innings, walking four and striking out four.

The Philadelphia Phillies placed closer Tom Gordon on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right shoulder after their 6-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Monday night. The move was retroactive to Aug. 13. The Phillies did not announce who would take his roster spot. Gordon, a 2006 All-Star, is 3-4 with a 3.28 ERA and 27 saves this season. He hadn’t pitche

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