THT Daily: Here We Go

by Matthew Carruth
April 24, 2009

The first of the Yankees and Red Sox series begins which each team looking up at the Jays this time instead of the Rays.

Major League News for April 24

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
Carlos Ruiz is set to begin a rehab assignment Sunday with Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel wants Ruiz to play four games at Triple-A before he is activated. He’s likely to catch two games and serve as the designated hitter for the other two. Ruiz has been out since April 10 with an oblique injury.

Blue Jays placed LHP B.J. Ryan on the 15-day disabled list with tightness in his left trapezius muscle.
Ryan stumbled badly out of the gates with two blown saves along with an 11.12 ERA and a whopping 2.29 WHIP. Manager Cito Gaston said that Scott Downs, one of the game’s best setup men, will take over the role of closer until Ryan returns. Downs owns a 1.04 ERA, 0.46 WHIP and 13 strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings this season and has been among the league leaders in holds over the past few seasons. He’s worth picking up, especially if you own Ryan.

Albert Pujols went 3-for-4 with two homers, a walk, a steal and four runs scored as the Cardinals topped the Mets 12-8 on Thursday.
Colby Rasmus, Rick Ankiel and even Jason LaRue also had three-hit games for the Cards. Pujols leads the National League with six homers, 21 RBI and 18 runs scored. He’s also right up there in errors with four, but that’s hardly a problem. Pujols has typically committed more errors than most first basemen, but he more than makes up for it with his MLB-best range at the position.

Dave Bush took a no-hitter into the eighth inning Thursday as the Brewers beat the Phillies 6-1.
It looked like he just might have a shot after third baseman Bill Hall made a great play to range into foul territory and take a hit away from Greg Dobbs to start the eighth. However, the next batter, Matt Stairs, delivered a blast that clanked off the foul pole in right for a homer. After Jimmy Rollins flied out, Shane Victorino singled, ending Bush’s day after 7 2/3. The right-hander picked up his first win after two non-decisions to start the year.

Cole Hamels left Thursday’s game in the fourth inning after being struck by a Prince Fielder line drive.
Fielder’s liner appeared to hit him near the left (pitching) shoulder. There’s no word as of yet on the severity of the injury, which is being called a contusion. Hamels had six strikeouts through the first three innings before surrendering a two-run homer to Ryan Braun in the fourth, followed by Fielder’s liner ending his day one batter later. J.A. Happ took over in relief.

Blue Jays placed LHP Ricky Romero on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to April 20, with a right oblique muscle strain.
The 2005 first-round pick has gotten off to a fast start with a 2-0 record and a 1.71 ERA, but for now his promising start to the season is on hold until at least early May. The Toronto Star reports that the Jays are expected to make a corresponding roster move prior to Saturday’s game against the White Sox.

Yesterday’s Results

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

American League
BAL     6  CHA     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
TOR     5  TEX     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
CLE     5  KC      2    (Recap and Boxscore)
LAA    10  DET     5    (Recap and Boxscore)
SEA     1  TB      0    (Recap and Boxscore)

National League
MIL     6  PHI     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
CIN     7  CHN     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
LAN     2  HOU     0    (Recap and Boxscore)
STL    12  NYN     8    (Recap and Boxscore)

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

Today’s Games

National League
 ---------------
 Philadelphia Phillies at Florida Marlins, 7:10 PM
  (R) Brett Myers (1-1) vs. (R) Josh Johnson (2-0)
 Washington Nationals at New York Mets, 7:10 PM
  (L) Scott Olsen (0-2) vs. (L) Johan Santana (2-1)
 Atlanta Braves at Cincinnati Reds, 7:10 PM
  (R) Javier Vazquez (1-1) vs. (R) Edinson Volquez (2-1)
 Milwaukee Brewers at Houston Astros, 8:05 PM
  (R) Yovani Gallardo (1-1) vs. (R) Felipe Paulino (0-0)
 Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals, 8:15 PM
  (R) Ryan Dempster (1-0) vs. (R) Adam Wainwright (2-0)
 Los Angeles Dodgers at Colorado Rockies, 9:10 PM
  (L) Eric Stults (2-0) vs. (R) Aaron Cook (0-1)
 San Francisco Giants at Arizona Diamondbacks, 9:40 PM
  (R) Tim Lincecum (0-1) vs. (L) Doug Davis (1-2)
 Pittsburgh Pirates at San Diego Padres, 10:05 PM
  (R) Ian Snell (1-2) vs. (R) Kevin Correia (0-1)
 
 American League
 ---------------
 Minnesota Twins at Cleveland Indians, 7:05 PM
  (R) Nick Blackburn (0-1) vs. (R) Fausto Carmona (1-2)
 Texas Rangers at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 PM
  (R) Vicente Padilla (1-1) vs. (R) Koji Uehara (2-1)
 New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox, 7:10 PM
  (R) Joba Chamberlain (0-0) vs. (L) Jon Lester (1-2)
 Detroit Tigers at Kansas City Royals, 8:10 PM
  (R) Rick Porcello (1-1) vs. (R) Zack Greinke (3-0)
 Toronto Blue Jays at Chicago White Sox, 8:11 PM
  (L) Brian Tallet (0-0) vs. (R) Gavin Floyd (2-1)
 Seattle Mariners at LA Angels of Anaheim, 10:05 PM
  (L) Erik Bedard (1-1) vs. (R) Shane Loux (0-1)
 Tampa Bay Rays at Oakland Athletics, 10:05 PM
  (L) Scott Kazmir (2-1) vs. (R) Trevor Cahill (0-1)

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     12   5 .706    0.0   11     1    
BOS      9   6 .600    2.0   10    -1    
NYA      9   6 .600    2.0    6     3    
BAL      8   8 .500    3.5    6     2    
TB       6  10 .375    5.5    8    -2    
American League Central     
CHA      8   7 .533    0.0    9    -1    
DET      8   7 .533    0.0    9    -1    
KC       8   7 .533    0.0    9    -1    
MIN      7   9 .438    1.5    5     2    
CLE      6  10 .375    2.5    8    -2    
American League West        
SEA     10   6 .625    0.0    9     1    
LAA      6   9 .400    3.5    7    -1    
TEX      6   9 .400    3.5    7    -1    
OAK      5   9 .357    4.0    6    -1    


National League East        Pwins  Diff
FLA     11   4 .733    0.0    9     2    
ATL      7   8 .467    4.0    7     0    
PHI      6   8 .429    4.5    6     0    
NYN      6   9 .400    5.0    7    -1    
WAS      3  11 .214    7.5    5    -2    
National League Central     
STL     11   5 .688    0.0   11     0    
CIN      9   6 .600    1.5    7     2    
PIT      9   6 .600    1.5   10    -1    
CHN      8   6 .571    2.0    8     0    
MIL      6   9 .400    4.5    6     0    
HOU      6  10 .375    5.0    6     0    
National League West        
LAN     11   5 .688    0.0   12    -1    
SD       9   6 .600    1.5    8     1    
SF       6   8 .429    4.0    6     0    
ARI      6   9 .400    4.5    5     1    
COL      5   9 .357    5.0    6    -1

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
CLE A+  Tim Fedroff....... 5  4  2  1  0  0  0  3 R
PHI AA  Michael Taylor.... 6  4  0  0  2  0  1  3 R
PIT AAA Steven Pearce..... 5  4  1  0  1  0  0  3 LD
LAA A+  Clayton Fuller.... 4  2  1  0  1  1  2  
PHI A   Anthony Gose...... 4  3  2  0  0  0  0  
MIL A   Cutter Dykstra.... 3  3  1  0  0  1  0  2 SB
MIL A   Brett Lawrie...... 4  3  0  1  1  0  0  
LA  A   Kyle Russell...... 4  2  1  0  1  1  1  
COL AA  C. Nelson......... 4  2  1  0  1  1  0  
CLE A+  L. Chisenhall..... 5  2  1  0  1  0  0  
WAN A+  Michael Burgess... 3  2  0  0  1  2  1  5 RBI !
OAK AA  Chris Carter...... 4  2  2  0  0  1  0  3 R

ORG LVL PLAYER            IP  H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
CHW AA  Aaron Poreda...... 7  4  0  0 11  1  0  
BAL AAA David Hernandez... 6  5  3  3  8  1  0  
OAK AAA Gio Gonzalez...... 5  3  0  0  8  1  0  
HOU AAA Bud Norris........ 7  6  3  2  8  2  0  
NYY AA  Z. McAllister..... 7  2  1  1  4  0  0  
LA  A   Ethan Martin...... 5  3  0  0  7  1  0  
CHW A   Dexter Carter..... 6  4  1  1  8  3  0  
TOR AA  Marc Rzepczynski.. 6  5  2  2  6  3  0  12 GB
SF  A+  Scott Barnes...... 5  5  2  2  5  2  0  
ATL A   Randall Delgado... 5  3  2  1  3  0  1  
STL A+  Adam Reifer....... 1  0  0  0  2  0  0  
PHI AA  Vance Worley...... 7  4  4  3  2  2  1

First Inning’s Major and Minor League Daily Reports: