THT Daily: AL 6, NL 1

Major League News for June 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

Interleague
BOS     8  PHI     7    (Recap and Boxscore) See below
CLE    10  STL     3    (Recap and Boxscore) Hafner: 2 HR, 3 RBI; Lee: 6 IP, 2 R
DET    10  HOU     4    (Recap and Boxscore) Inge: 2 2B; IRod: 3-5, 3 RBI
LAA     5  COL     4    (Recap and Boxscore) LAA: 5 in 8th to win game
MIN     8  LAN     2    (Recap and Boxscore) Mauer: 4-5, 5 RBI; Silva: 8 IP, 2 R
NYA     5  ATL     2    (Recap and Boxscore) Giambi: 2 HR, 5 RBI; Johnson: 7 IP, 0 R, 9 K
FLA     8  TB      5    (Recap and Boxscore) FLA: 6 2B; Badelli: 2B, 3B, 3 RBI

National League
MIL     6  CHN     0    (Recap and Boxscore) Capuano: 8 IP, 0 R; Fielder: 2 HR

Today’s Games

Visitors                        Home                              Time
CWS - Buehrle M.* (8-4, 3.27)   PIT - Snell I. (7-4, 4.84)        7:05
TB - Kazmir S.* (9-4, 3.21)     FLA - Nolasco R. (5-4, 3.15)      7:05
NYM - Soler A. (2-1, 3.32)      BOS - Lester J.* (2-0, 2.76)      7:05
ATL - Ramirez H.* (2-2, 4.32)   NYY - Wright J. (4-4, 4.45)       7:05
PHI - Hamels C.* (1-3, 4.41)    BAL - Bedard E.* (7-6, 5.09)      7:05
HOU - Clemens R. (0-1, 3.60)    DET - Robertson N.* (7-3, 3.38)   7:05
WAS - Ortiz R. (5-5, 5.27)      TOR - Burnett A. (0-1, 5.06)      7:07
KC - Wood M. (3-2, 4.53)        CIN - Milton E.* (4-4, 4.71)      7:10
MIL - Jackson Z.* (1-0, 4.67)   CHC - Zambrano C. (6-3, 2.83)     8:05
CLE - Sabathia C.* (5-4, 4.19)  STL - Reyes A. (1-1, 1.80)        8:10
LAD - Lowe D. (6-3, 2.90)       MIN - Liriano F.* (7-1, 2.17)     8:10
SEA - Washburn J.* (4-8, 4.84)  ARI - Webb B. (8-3, 2.48)         9:40
COL - Cook A. (5-7, 3.46)       LAA - Weaver J. (3-9, 5.82)      10:05
OAK - Zito B.* (8-3, 3.36)      SD - Young C. (6-3, 3.16)        10:05
TEX - Millwood K. (8-3, 4.29)   SF - Morris M. (5-7, 4.60)       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 gray 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     45  28 .616    0.0   41      4      
NYA     43  31 .581    2.5   44     -1      
TOR     41  34 .547    5.0   41      0      
BAL     35  42 .455   12.0   34      1      
TB      33  44 .429   14.0   31      2      
American League Central
DET     52  25 .675    0.0   50      2      
CHA     49  26 .653    2.0   46      3      
MIN     40  35 .533   11.0   39      1      
CLE     34  41 .453   17.0   40     -6      
KC      24  50 .324   26.5   24      0      
American League West
OAK     41  34 .547    0.0   39      2      
TEX     40  36 .526    1.5   40      0      
SEA     38  39 .494    4.0   40     -2      
LAA     35  41 .461    6.5   35      0      

National League East         Pwins Diff
NYN     47  28 .627    0.0   46      1      
PHI     35  40 .467   12.0   35      0      
FLA     33  40 .452   13.0   37     -4      
WAS     33  44 .429   15.0   35     -2      
ATL     32  45 .416   16.0   35     -3      
National League Central
STL     42  33 .560    0.0   39      3      
CIN     41  35 .539    1.5   38      3      
MIL     38  39 .494    5.0   34      4      
HOU     38  39 .494    5.0   36      2      
CHN     28  47 .373   14.0   28      0      
PIT     26  51 .338   17.0   33     -7      
National League West
LAN     40  36 .526    0.0   43     -3      
SD      39  36 .520    0.5   38      1      
COL     38  38 .500    2.0   38      0      
SF      37  38 .493    2.5   38     -1      
ARI     37  39 .487    3.0   37      0      

Game of the Day

The Red Sox beat the Phillies in a topsy-turvy, 12-inning game, 8-7. Boston first scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 6-0 lead, then Philadelphia scored five in the seventh and Chase Utley hit a ninth-inning home run off the Fenway foul pole to tie the game in the ninth.

Jimmy Rollins, who had hit a key three-run triple in the seventh, put the Phillies ahead with an RBI double in the twelfth, but the Red Sox won in the bottom of the inning on a Loretta double and run-scoring singles by Youkilis and Ortiz. Ortiz had also hit a walkoff home run in the last Red Sox game on Saturday. According to Elias, he is the second player with game-ending RBI in consecutive games this season; Nomar Garciaparra did it May 5-6 vs. Brewers. No Red Sox player has done that since Butch Hobson against the Angels on August 27-28, 1978.

PHILADELPHIA (7) VS BOSTON (8) - FINAL IN 12 INNINGS 

PHILADELPHIA           ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
J Rollins ss            6  1  3  4   1  1   1  .263
C Utley 2b              6  1  1  1   1  0   4  .285
B Abreu rf              4  0  1  1   2  1   1  .290
R Howard 1b             6  0  0  0   0  3   4  .286
A Rowand cf             5  0  1  0   1  2   2  .273
D Dellucci dh           2  1  2  0   1  0   0  .296
 a-P Burrell ph-dh      3  0  0  0   0  2   4  .252
S Victorino lf          5  2  2  0   0  2   2  .317
D Bell 3b               4  1  0  0   1  0   4  .249
C Coste c               6  1  3  1   0  0   0  .261

Totals                 47  7 13  7   7 11  22

a-struck out swinging for D Dellucci in the 7th.

BATTING: 2B - B Abreu (19, T Wakefield); C Coste (1, M Timlin); J Rollins (21, 
C Hansen). 3B - J Rollins (2, R Seanez). HR - C Utley (14, 9th inning off J 
Papelbon 0 on, 0 Out). S - D Bell. RBI - C Coste (2), J Rollins 4 (29), B Abreu 
(52), C Utley (44). 2-out RBI - J Rollins. Runners left in scoring position, 2 
out - C Utley 2, D Bell 1, B Abreu 1, P Burrell 2, J Rollins 1, R Howard 1. 
GIDP - D Bell. Team LOB - 13. 
 
BASERUNNING: SB - J Rollins (17, 2nd base off T Wakefield/D Mirabelli), B 
Abreu (15, 2nd base off M Delcarmen/J Varitek). 
 
FIELDING: E - A Rowand (4, fly ball). DP: 1 (C Utley-J Rollins). 

BOSTON                 ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
K Youkilis 1b           6  1  2  2   1  2   0  .315
A Cora 2b               2  0  0  0   1  0   2  .301
 a-M Loretta ph-2b      3  0  2  0   1  0   0  .317
D Ortiz dh              5  1  1  2   2  1   1  .266
M Ramirez lf            4  1  2  0   2  1   0  .298
T Nixon rf              4  0  0  0   0  0   6  .326
 b-G Kapler ph-rf       2  0  0  0   0  0   1  .500
M Lowell 3b             5  1  1  1   1  0   4  .308
C Crisp cf              5  2  3  1   0  0   2  .283
D Mirabelli c           4  1  1  1   0  2   2  .157
 c-J Varitek ph-c       1  0  0  0   1  0   1  .251
A Gonzalez ss           6  1  2  1   0  0   3  .262

Totals                 47  8 14  8   9  6  22

a-reached on infield single to third for A Cora in the 6th;  b-flied out to 
left for T Nixon in the 9th;  c-intentionally walked for D Mirabelli in the 
10th.

BATTING: 2B - M Ramirez (10, C Lidle); C Crisp 2 (6, C Condrey, C Lidle); K 
Youkilis (20, G Geary); M Loretta (17, T Gordon). S - C Crisp. RBI - M Lowell 
(39), C Crisp (13), D Mirabelli (6), A Gonzalez (20), K Youkilis 2 (37), D 
Ortiz 2 (68). 2-out RBI - K Youkilis, D Ortiz. Runners left in scoring 
position, 2 out - T Nixon 2, D Mirabelli 2, A Cora 1, M Lowell 2. Team LOB - 
14. 
 
BASERUNNING: CS - C Crisp (3, 2nd base by R Franklin/C Coste). 
 
FIELDING: PB - D Mirabelli. DP: 1 (M Lowell-A Cora-K Youkilis). 

----------------------------------------------------
    PHILADELPHIA    - 000 000 501 001   --   7
    BOSTON          - 000 006 000 002   --   8
Two outs when winning run scored.
----------------------------------------------------

PHILADELPHIA                 ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
C Lidle                       5 1/3   5   4   4   3   5   0   5.11
G Geary                       0       3   2   2   0   0   0   3.60
A Fultz                         2/3   1   0   0   1   0   0   3.79
R Franklin                    2       1   0   0   0   0   0   4.24
R Cormier                     1 1/3   0   0   0   2   0   0   1.35
T Gordon                      1 2/3   1   0   0   2   1   0   1.93
C Condrey (L, 1-2; B, 1)        2/3   3   2   2   1   0   0   3.98

BOSTON                       ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
T Wakefield                   6       6   3   3   2   4   0   3.86
R Seanez                      0       2   2   2   0   0   0   5.10
J Lopez (H, 4)                  2/3   0   0   0   2   1   0   2.25
M Timlin (H, 13)              1       1   0   0   0   1   0   1.80
J Papelbon (B, 2)             1 1/3   1   1   1   1   2   1   0.46
J Tavarez                     1       1   0   0   1   1   0   5.77
M Delcarmen                   1 1/3   1   1   1   1   2   0   5.06
C Hansen (W, 1-0)               2/3   1   0   0   0   0   0   7.36

G Geary pitched to 3 batters in the 6th.
T Wakefield pitched to 3 batters in the 7th.
R Seanez pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.

WP - J Tavarez. IBB - M Ramirez (by A Fultz), A Rowand (by J Lopez), J 
Varitek (by R Cormier), D Ortiz (by T Gordon). HBP - S Victorino (by T 
Wakefield). Pitches-strikes: C Lidle 109-59; G Geary 11-7; A Fultz 16-7; R 
Franklin 21-12; R Cormier 19-6; T Gordon 33-16; C Condrey 28-17; T Wakefield 
108-69; R Seanez 9-5; J Lopez 15-5; M Timlin 20-13; J Papelbon 33-19; J Tavarez 
22-13; M Delcarmen 30-17; C Hansen 10-6. Ground balls-fly balls: C Lidle 3-8; G 
Geary 0-0; A Fultz 1-1; R Franklin 3-2; R Cormier 3-1; T Gordon 2-1; C Condrey 
0-2; T Wakefield 5-9; R Seanez 0-0; J Lopez 1-0; M Timlin 0-2; J Papelbon 2-0; 
J Tavarez 2-0; M Delcarmen 2-0; C Hansen 1-1. Batters faced: C Lidle 25; G 
Geary 3; A Fultz 4; R Franklin 6; R Cormier 6; T Gordon 7; C Condrey 6; T 
Wakefield 26; R Seanez 2; J Lopez 4; M Timlin 4; J Papelbon 6; J Tavarez 5; M 
Delcarmen 6; C Hansen 3. 
 
UMPIRES: HP--Dale Scott. 1B--Ron Kulpa. 2B--Dan Iassogna. 3B--Bob Davidson. 

T--4:59. Att--36,459. 
Weather: 87 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 9 mph, out to left.

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 #
Fielder, Prince     MIL    Ohman, Will          CHC         441      458      16
Fielder, Prince     MIL    Maddux, Greg         CHC         427      444      15
Hafner, Travis      CLE    Thompson, Brad       STL         435      421      21
Lee, Carlos         MIL    Maddux, Greg         CHC         388      414      24
Gross, Gabe         MIL    Maddux, Greg         CHC         390      411       7
Rodriguez, Ivan     DET    Rodriguez, Wandy     HOU         396      407       7
Hollandsworth, Todd CLE    Marquis, Jason       STL         431      406       3
Jones, Chipper      ATL    Proctor, Scott       NYY         442      404       8
Helton, Todd        COL    Lackey, John         LAA         399      403       8
Baldelli, Rocco     TB     Johnson, Josh        FLA         418      401       3
Munson, Eric        HOU    Walker, Jamie        DET         388      386       4
Piedra, Jorge       COL    Rodriguez, Francisco LAA         380      384       2
Sizemore, Grady     CLE    Marquis, Jason       STL         381      362      15
Hafner, Travis      CLE    Marquis, Jason       STL         393      361      20
Giambi, Jason       NYY    Hudson, Tim          ATL         373      361      22
Giambi, Jason       NYY    Hudson, Tim          ATL         369      359      21
Utley, Chase        PHI    Papelbon, Jonathan   BOS         337      332      14

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
CHC AAA Mike Fontenot      2B  4  3  1  1  0  0  1  .636 OBP during past week
CLE AA  Ryan Goleski       LF  3  3  0  0  1  1  0   
DET AAA David Espinosa     DH  4  3  0  3  0  0  0   
HOU AA  Walter Young       1B  4  3  1  0  1  0  0  4 RBI
NYY A-  Mitchell Hilligoss SS  2  2  1  0  1  2  0   
NYY A+  Jared Greenwood     C  2  2  0  0  1  1  0  3 runs scored
PHI A-  Jay Miller         RF  3  3  1  0  1  0  0   
STL A   Colby Rasmus       CF  4  2  0  1  1  1  1   
TEX A-                      C  3  2  1  0  1  1  0   
TOR AAA Luis Figueroa      2B  4  3  1  0  1  0  0   
 
ORG LVL PLAYER             IP   H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
CHC A-  Billy Petrick      6.0  2  0  0  5  0  0   
CHC AAA Rich Hill          7.0  1  0  0  9  2  0  1.13 ERA over past month
CHW AA  Lance Broadway     8.0  6  1  1  7  1  0   
CIN A   Travis Wood        7.0  2  0  0  6  1  0   
CIN A+                     7.0  3  1  1  7  0  1   
LAA A   Tommy Mendoza      8.0  3  1  1  9  3  0   
MIL AA  Yovani Gallardo    7.0  4  0  0  6  1  0  42 K over last 34 IP
NYY AA  Jeff Karstens      8.0  2  0  0  7  0  0   
PHI A   Carlos Carrasco    7.0  3  0  0  6  1  0   
PIT AAA Tom Gorzelanny     7.0  2  0  0  5  1  0 

Player News

Player news items are provided by CBS SportsLine.com.

Detroit’s Zach Miner won his fourth consecutive start Monday. His teammate Justin Verlander won four consecutive starts earlier this season (May 10-27). They are the first rookie teammates to win (at least) four consecutive starts since 1984, when two duos did it: Dwight Gooden and Ron Darling for the Mets and Roger Clemens and Al Nipper for the Red Sox. (Source: Elias)

The Marlins’ Josh Johnson has a 1.89 ERA in 10 starts this season. Over the last 20 years, only three other rookie pitchers have posted an ERA under 2.00 in their first 10 starts of a season: Zach Duke in 2005 (1.83), Cal Eldred in 1992 (1.26) and Pedro Astacio in 1992 (1.80). (Source: Elias)

Jason Giambi hit two home runs, giving him 10 multiple-home run games over the last calendar year, the most of any player in the major leagues over that time. (Source: Elias)

Joe Mauer was 4-for-5 with a double, triple and career-high five RBI in Monday’s game against the Dodgers. He has managed a .415 batting average, .495 on-base percentage and .585 slugging percentage in the month of June.

Darin Erstad, who is on the 15-day disabled list for the second time this season because of irritation in his right ankle, went back to his alma mater, the University of Nebraska, to see a doctor about his condition.

Rookie second baseman Dan Uggla remains hopeful that he’ll return this week, but there’s a chance he might not play until after the All-Star break.

Kerry Wood (shoulder) visited Dr. Tim Kremchek in Cincinnati on Monday. Kremchek operated on Wood’s shoulder last August. Wood threw a side session while hooked up to equipment for biomechanical analysis. “The MRI in Dr. Kremchek’s terms, stated it was pristine, that the labrum repair looked as if it was completely intact, looked like it had healed nicely and perfectly. He said his rotator cuff looks pristine, the joint looks good. So there is no significant concerns of any kind of significant issue or injury or anything like that,” trainer Mark O’Neal said.

Kevin Jarvis accepted an assignment to Triple-A Tucson on Monday after being designated for assignment last week.

The Reds’ official website reports Edwin Encarnacion (ankle) will begin a Triple-A rehab assignment in Louisville on Tuesday.

John Wasdin (thumb) came out of his Sunday rehab start feeling fine and if reports no problems in the coming days, he will start for the Rangers on Saturday, according to the Dallas Morning News.

The Reds optioned RHP Mike Burns to Triple-A Louisville and released LHP Mike Holtz.

According to reports, several teams have inquired about acquiring Devil Rays starter Mark Hendrickson. Holding up talks to this point has been the desire to ship Aubrey Huff’s contract away with the pitcher. No one is interested in taking on the struggling veteran.

Gary Sheffield has been back around his Yankee teammates this week and says his surgically repaired left wrist is healing faster than he expected.

Brad Radke (6-7, 5.40 ERA) is 2-1 with a 2.39 ERA in his past six starts, turning around the worst six-week start to a season in his career.

Curtis Granderson is adjusting to major league pitchers just as he did with hurlers in Double-A and Triple-A each of the previous two seasons. He started hot but cooled off this season, and his average was in the .260s earlier this month. In each of his previous two seasons, Granderson figured out how he was being pitched and countered at midseason, ending up with a good batting average.

Kerry Robinson, who was designated for assignment by the Kansas City Royals, cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Omaha.

Jay Gibbons (knee) had a setback in his recovery and is out until at least mid-July at this point.

THT’s Stats

Pitcher like groundballs and most hitters like to avoid them. While the difference between a flyball and a line drive is questionable, there’s very little debate about groundballs. In general, batters who avoid grounders will have higher slugging percentages but, as the following list shows, there’s no guarantee.

This is a list of the top twenty major league leaders in avoiding groundballs (least groundballs as a percent of total batted balls), including each player’s slugging percentage. As you can see, some players do hit balls in the air, but not very far. Milwaukee’s Brady Clark and Cleveland’s Aaron Boone are two prime examples.

Last        First       Team      GB%    SLG
Gomes       Jonny       TB        27%   .514
Shelton     Chris B     DET       29%   .502
Crede       Joe         CHA       29%   .531
Lane        Jason       HOU       30%   .406
Morneau     Justin      MIN       30%   .552
Giambi      Jason       NYA       31%   .624
Konerko     Paul        CHA       31%   .576
Youkilis    Kevin E     BOS       32%   .498
Dunn        Adam        CIN       32%   .542
Hall        Bill        MIL       32%   .574
Swisher     Nick T      OAK       32%   .564
Wilson      Craig A     PIT       32%   .495
Clark       Brady       MIL       33%   .341
Burrell     Pat         PHI       33%   .526
Wright      David A     NYN       33%   .606
Boone       Aaron       CLE       33%   .354
Rios        Alexis I    TOR       34%   .583
Soriano     Alfonso     WAS       34%   .553
Ramirez     Manny       BOS       34%   .601
Rolen       Scott       STL       34%   .567

Access all of THT’s stats here…