THT Daily: August 20th, 2009

Major League News for August 20

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
Reds placed RHP Johnny Cueto on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to August 16, with right shoulder inflammation.
Cueto is hoping to rejoin the rotation the day he’s eligible. The sophomore is 0-6 with a 10.63 ERA over his last eight starts and is 8-10 with a 4.61 ERA overall. The week-and-a-half of rest should only help.

Joba Chamberlain told reporters Wednesday that he will make six more starts, with “a little wiggle room” if the AL East race tightens.
Joba is 8-3 this season with a 3.98 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. He has collected 109 strikeouts in 126 2/3 innings. “I expect the unexpected at all times, but at least I have a good idea of what the plan is,” Chamberlain said Wednesday. “Mentally, for me to know that this is the plan for the rest of the year, it’s definitely calming.” He’s hoping there won’t be “Joba Rules” next season.

The Nationals have named Mike Rizzo as their next general manager.
Rizzo was acting in an interim role this season following the firing of Jim Bowden. He led the Nats through the Stephen Strasburg negotiations and even spun a few decent trades. The post is deserved.

According to FOXSports.com, right-hander Jon Garland has cleared waivers and can now be traded to any team.
Garland has a 3.60 ERA in six starts since the All-Star break and would make a fine fourth or fifth starter on a number of contending teams. Money may be an issue, however. With a $6.25 million salary this season, a $10 million option for 2010 or a $2.5 million buyout, the 29-year-old is owed at least $4 million.

Rich Harden tossed seven innings of one-hit ball in a 7-1 win over the Padres on Wednesday night.
A fantastic effort by Harden, limiting the Padres to three walks and a lonely single by Adrian Gonzalez. He retired 15 of the last 16 batters he faced, including striking out the side in the fifth. Harden struck out eight in the win. He has a 1.64 ERA in seven starts since the All-Star break.

Mariano Rivera notched his AL-best 36th save against the Athletics on Wednesday night.
The accolades keep coming for Mo,’ as he has converted 32 consecutive save opportunities — a new career-high. Rivera has compiled a near spotless 1.90 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 57/8 K/BB ratio this season. Yep, he’s the best closer of all-time.

Jason Marquis earned his 14th win on Wednesday night against the Nationals, tying Adam Wainwright for the National League lead.
It may be short-lived with Wainwright going up against the Dodgers. Nonetheless, Marquis continues to get it done, somehow. He yielded three runs on nine hits over six innings on Wednesday, walking one and fanning one. He lines up for an important matchup against the Giants next.

Jered Weaver hurled a complete-game shutout in a 3-0 win over the Indians on Wednesday night.
Weaver follows up his worst start of the season with one of his best. He notched his fourth complete game of the season — second in the league to Roy Halladay and Zack Greinke — scattering seven hits while walking one and whiffing three. Now 13-4 with a 3.89 ERA, fantasy owners hope a strong finish is in store.

Dodgers placed RHP Hiroki Kuroda on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to August 15, with a concussion.
Jeff Weaver will take his spot in the rotation for now. Kuroda is eligible to return just before the rosters expand in September.

Yesterday’s Results

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

American League
TB      3  BAL     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
BOS     6  TOR     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
CHA     4  KC      2    (Recap and Boxscore)
LAA     3  CLE     0    (Recap and Boxscore)
SEA     3  DET     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
NYA     3  OAK     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
MIN     5  TEX     4    (Recap and Boxscore)

National League
ATL    15  NYN     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
PHI     8  ARI     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
COL     5  WAS     4    (Recap and Boxscore)
SF      1  CIN     0    (Recap and Boxscore)
HOU     6  FLA     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
PIT     3  MIL     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
STL     3  LAN     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
CHN     7  SD      1    (Recap and Boxscore)

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

Today’s Games

Mariners (62-58) @ Tigers (63-56), 1:05pm
Ryan Rowland-Smith (26, LHP) vs. Jarrod Washburn (34, LHP)
Angels (73-45) @ Indians (51-68), 7:05pm
John Lackey (30, RHP) vs. Justin Masterson (24, RHP)
RedSox (68-51) @ Blue Jays (55-63), 7:07pm
Jon Lester (25, LHP) vs. Brett Cecil (22, LHP)
Orioles (48-72) @ Rays (65-54), 7:08pm
Brian Matusz (22, LHP) vs. James Shields (27, RHP)
Twins (58-62) @ Rangers (67-52), 8:05pm
Anthony Swarzak (23, RHP) vs. Derek Holland (22, LHP)
Giants (66-54) @ Reds (50-69), 12:35pm
Matt Cain (24, RHP) vs. Aaron Harang (31, RHP)
D’backs (54-67) @ Phillies (68-49), 7:05pm
Doug Davis (33, LHP) vs. Joe Blanton (28, RHP)
Rockies (67-53) @ Nationals (43-77), 7:05pm
Jason Hammel (26, RHP) vs. Garrett Mock (26, RHP)
Braves (63-57) @ Mets (56-64), 7:10pm
Kenshin Kawakami (34, RHP) vs. Johan Santana (30, LHP)
Marlins (64-56) @ Astros (58-62), 8:05pm
Josh Johnson (25, RHP) vs. Wandy Rodriguez (30, LHP)
Cardinals (69-53) @ Padres (51-71), 10:05pm
Joel Pineiro (30, RHP) vs. Tim Stauffer (27, RHP)
Cubs (61-57) @ Dodgers (71-50), 10:10pm
Tom Gorzelanny (26, LHP) vs. Jeff Weaver (32, RHP)

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     76  45 .628    0.0   71     5    sparkline graph
BOS     68  51 .571    7.0   68     0    sparkline graph
TB      65  54 .546   10.0   67    -2    sparkline graph
TOR     55  63 .466   19.5   62    -7    sparkline graph
BAL     48  72 .400   27.5   51    -3    sparkline graph
American League Central     
DET     63  56 .529    0.0   61     2    sparkline graph
CHA     62  59 .512    2.0   62     0    sparkline graph
MIN     58  62 .483    5.5   61    -3    sparkline graph
CLE     51  68 .429   12.0   57    -6    sparkline graph
KC      47  73 .392   16.5   47     0    sparkline graph
American League West        
LAA     73  45 .619    0.0   67     6    sparkline graph
TEX     67  52 .563    6.5   65     2    sparkline graph
SEA     62  58 .517   12.0   55     7    sparkline graph
OAK     53  67 .442   21.0   56    -3    sparkline graph


National League East        Pwins  Diff
PHI     68  49 .581    0.0   67     1    sparkline graph
FLA     64  56 .533    5.5   60     4    sparkline graph
ATL     63  57 .525    6.5   66    -3    sparkline graph
NYN     56  64 .467   13.5   55     1    sparkline graph
WAS     43  77 .358   26.5   50    -7    sparkline graph
National League Central     
STL     69  53 .566    0.0   67     2    sparkline graph
CHN     61  57 .517    6.0   62    -1    sparkline graph
HOU     58  62 .483   10.0   52     6    sparkline graph
MIL     58  62 .483   10.0   57     1    sparkline graph
CIN     50  69 .420   17.5   50     0    sparkline graph
PIT     49  70 .412   18.5   52    -3    sparkline graph
National League West        
LAN     71  50 .587    0.0   73    -2    sparkline graph
COL     67  53 .558    3.5   68    -1    sparkline graph
SF      66  54 .550    4.5   65     1    sparkline graph
ARI     54  67 .446   17.0   56    -2    sparkline graph
SD      51  71 .418   20.5   46     5    sparkline graph


Wildcard Standings
American League             
BOS     68  51 .571    0.0
TEX     67  52 .563    1.0
TB      65  54 .546    3.0
SEA     62  58 .517    6.5
CHA     62  59 .512    7.0
National League             
COL     67  53 .558    0.0
SF      66  54 .550    1.0
FLA     64  56 .533    3.0
ATL     63  57 .525    4.0
CHN     61  57 .517    5.0

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
OAK AAA Brett Wallace..... 6  3  1  0  2  0  1  5 RBI !
SF  A+  Roger Kieschnick.. 3  3  3  0  0  2  0  
DET AAA Scott Sizemore.... 5  3  2  0  1  0  1  3 R
TB  AAA Desmond Jennings.. 4  3  1  1  0  0  1  2 SB
BAL A+  Pedro Florimon.... 5  5  1  1  0  0  0  
NYM A+  David Havens...... 5  3  1  0  1  0  1  
KC  AAA Kila Kaaihue...... 3  2  1  0  1  1  1  4 RBI
PHI A   Travis D'Arnaud... 2  2  2  0  0  1  0  
OAK AAA Travis Buck....... 5  3  2  0  0  0  0  
CLE AAA Lou Marson........ 3  2  1  0  1  0  1  
OAK AA  Chris Carter...... 4  3  0  0  1  0  1  
SEA A+  Joseph Dunigan.... 4  2  0  1  1  0  1  4 RBI

ORG LVL PLAYER            IP  H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
NYY AA  Z. McAllister..... 5  4  1  1 11  1  0  
CLE AA  Eric Berger....... 6  1  0  0  7  2  0  
OAK AAA C. Mortensen...... 7  3  1  1  7  2  0  12 GB
MIN A+  Tyler Robertson... 7  6  2  2  7  1  0  13 GB
BAL AAA Jake Arrieta...... 7  6  1  1  6  2  0  
STL AAA Jaime Garcia...... 6  4  4  4  9  1  2  
WAN AAA Ross Detwiler..... 7  4  3  2  4  1  0  12 GB
PIT AA  Tim Alderson...... 6  6  4  3  6  2  0  
SEA AAA Brandon Morrow.... 5  3  2  2  5  2  0  4 infield flies
STL A+  Arquimedes Nieto.. 7  4  3  3  4  3  0  
SEA A+  Michael Pineda.... 3  2  0  0  4  0  0  
TEX A   Neil Ramirez...... 3  2  1  1  5  1  0
First Inning’s Major and Minor League Daily Reports:


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