THT Daily: Braves Win!
Major League News for June 24
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Game of the Day
Top Minor League Performances
Player News
Stats
Yesterday’s Results
Interleague BAL 2 WAS 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Lopez: 7 IP, 7 K, 1 R: Patterson: 6 IP, 2 R, 1 ER BOS 10 PHI 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Beckett: 8 IP, 2 R; Ramirez: 5 RBI, 2 HR CHA 7 HOU 4 (Recap and Boxscore) Podsednik: GS HR DET 10 STL 6 (Recap and Boxscore) Pujols: 4-4, HR; Granderson: 2B, HR LAA 8 ARI 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Napoli: 3-3, 3 R, 2 RBI; Santana: 6 IP, 2 R MIN 7 CHN 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Santana: 8 IP, 2 R; Morneau: HR, 3 RBI NYA 6 FLA 5 (Recap and Boxscore) OAK 4 SF 3 (Recap and Boxscore) See below TEX 8 COL 6 (Recap and Boxscore) Helton: 4 RBI ATL 4 TB 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Braves win in 11 inn! CIN 3 CLE 0 (Recap and Boxscore) Harang: CG, 0 R; Freel: 5-5 MIL 7 KC 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Bush: 7.1 IP, 2 R, 8 K NYN 6 TOR 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Glavine: 7 IP, 1 R; Wright: 3R HR SD 2 SEA 1 (Recap and Boxscore) 10 inn; Peavy: 8 IP, 1 R, 9 K National League LAN 10 PIT 4 (Recap and Boxscore) Tomko: 5 IP, 0 R; Kent: 3R HR
Today’s Games
Visitors Home Time CIN - Arroyo B. (9-3, 2.47) CLE - Byrd P. (5-5, 4.78) 1:20 HOU - Buchholz T. (4-6, 5.82) CWS - Garland J. (6-3, 5.58) 1:20 PHI - Myers B. (5-3, 3.77) BOS - Schilling C. (9-2, 3.5 1:20 OAK - Haren D. (6-6, 3.39) SF - Wright J. (5-7, 4.55) 4:05 FLA - Johnson J. (6-4, 2.01) NYY - Chacon S. (4-1, 5.89) 4:05 NYM - Hernandez O. (4-6, 5.23) TOR - Halladay R. (8-2, 2.94 4:07 WAS - Ortiz R. (5-5, 5.27) BAL - Loewen A.* (0-2, 7.82) 4:35 STL - Suppan J. (6-4, 5.07) DET - Rogers K.* (10-3, 3.17 7:05 CHC - Prior M. (0-1, 17.18) MIN - Bonser B. (1-1, 5.81) 7:10 MIL - Davis D.* (4-4, 4.69) KC - Duckworth B. (0-1, 3.18 7:10 ATL - Cormier L. (2-2, 6.57) TB - Corcoran T. (0-0, 2.70) 7:15 TEX - Tejeda R. (1-2, 7.71) COL - Fogg J. (4-5, 4.94) 8:05 LAA - Colon B. (0-3, 5.57) ARI - Vargas C. (6-4, 5.02) 9:40 SEA - Moyer J.* (4-6, 3.58) SD - Park C. (5-3, 4.15) 10:05 PIT - Duke Z.* (5-6, 4.66) LAD - Sele A. (3-2, 3.09) 10:10
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. Other team graphs and stats can be found on our Team Page.
American League East BOS 43 28 .606 0.0NYA 41 30 .577 2.0
TOR 40 33 .548 4.0
BAL 34 41 .453 11.0
TB 32 42 .432 12.5
American League Central DET 49 25 .662 0.0
CHA 48 25 .658 0.5
MIN 37 35 .514 11.0
CLE 32 40 .444 16.0
KC 22 50 .306 26.0
American League West OAK 40 33 .548 0.0
TEX 40 34 .541 0.5
SEA 36 39 .480 5.0
LAA 33 40 .452 7.0
National League East NYN 46 27 .630 0.0
PHI 35 38 .479 11.0
FLA 31 39 .443 13.5
WAS 32 43 .427 15.0
ATL 31 43 .419 15.5
National League Central STL 42 30 .583 0.0
CIN 40 34 .541 3.0
MIL 37 37 .500 6.0
HOU 37 37 .500 6.0
CHN 28 44 .389 14.0
PIT 26 49 .347 17.5
National League West SD 39 34 .534 0.0
LAN 38 35 .521 1.0
SF 36 37 .493 3.0
COL 36 37 .493 3.0
ARI 36 38 .486 3.5
Game of the Day
Nick Swisher hit a game-winning triple and the A’s scored two runs off Armando Benitez in the ninth inning to beat the San Francisco Giants 4-3. In the eighth, Barry Bonds put the Giants temporarily ahead when he stole his first base in almost two years and subsequently scored on Pedro Feliz’s single.
It was 80’s Night at Pac Bell Park (or whatever it’s called now). Both teams wore the loud, softball-style uniforms of their 1982 counterparts, and the Giants welcomed back Crazy Crab, the human-sized crab mascot introduced at Candlestick Park in 1984 as a sarcastic protest against mascots.
OAKLAND (4) VS SAN FRANCISCO (3) - FINAL
OAKLAND ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
M Kotsay cf 4 0 1 1 0 1 1 .265
N Swisher lf 3 1 1 1 2 1 1 .290
E Chavez 3b 3 1 1 0 2 0 0 .260
B Crosby ss 5 0 0 0 0 1 5 .243
D Johnson 1b 2 0 1 1 1 1 1 .249
J Payton rf 4 0 1 1 0 0 2 .268
K Calero p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
M Scutaro 2b 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .225
A Perez 2b 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 .068
H Street p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
J Kendall c 3 1 1 0 1 0 0 .262
J Blanton p 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 .000
a-D Clark ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000
J Duchscherer p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
C Gaudin p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
S Sauerbeck p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
B Kielty rf 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .296
Totals 32 4 8 4 6 7 13
a-struck out swinging for J Blanton in the 7th.
BATTING: 2B - E Chavez (9, J Schmidt); A Perez (1, J Schmidt); J Payton (15, J
Schmidt). 3B - N Swisher (2, A Benitez). SF - M Kotsay , D Johnson. RBI - D
Johnson (21), J Payton (18), M Kotsay (25), N Swisher (49). 2-out RBI - J
Payton, N Swisher. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - A Perez 1, B
Crosby 3, J Blanton 1. Team LOB - 9.
FIELDING: DP: 2 (A Perez-B Crosby-D Johnson, J Kendall-B Crosby-D Johnson).
SAN FRANCISCO ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
R Winn rf 4 0 0 0 1 0 1 .260
O Vizquel ss 5 0 2 0 0 2 0 .306
M Sweeney 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 4 .257
B Bonds lf 1 1 0 1 3 0 0 .242
A Benitez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
P Feliz 3b 4 0 1 1 0 0 4 .274
S Finley cf 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 .251
R Durham 2b 3 1 2 0 1 0 2 .247
E Alfonzo c 4 0 1 1 0 1 3 .261
J Schmidt p 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .094
a-J Vizcaino ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .239
S Kline p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
J Accardo p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
J Ellison lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200
Totals 32 3 8 3 5 5 15
a-flied out to right for J Schmidt in the 7th.
BATTING: 3B - R Durham (3, J Blanton). S - J Schmidt. RBI - B Bonds (31), E
Alfonzo (7), P Feliz (48). 2-out RBI - B Bonds. Runners left in scoring
position, 2 out - R Winn 1, P Feliz 2, E Alfonzo 1. GIDP - R Durham, M Sweeney.
Team LOB - 8.
BASERUNNING: SB - B Bonds (1, 2nd base off C Gaudin/J Kendall), S Finley (4,
2nd base off K Calero/J Kendall).
FIELDING: DP: 1 (P Feliz-M Sweeney).
----------------------------------------------------
OAKLAND - 000 002 002 -- 4
SAN FRANCISCO - 001 100 010 -- 3
----------------------------------------------------
OAKLAND ip h r er bb so hr era
J Blanton 6 7 2 2 3 4 0 4.67
J Duchscherer 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.08
C Gaudin 1/3 1 1 1 1 0 0 4.50
S Sauerbeck 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.08
K Calero (W, 2-1) 1/3 0 0 0 1 0 0 3.64
H Street (S, 18) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.97
SAN FRANCISCO ip h r er bb so hr era
J Schmidt 7 4 2 2 5 6 0 2.82
S Kline 2/3 1 0 0 0 0 0 2.66
J Accardo 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.94
A Benitez (L, 4-1; B, 4) 1 3 2 2 1 1 0 2.45
WP - J Schmidt. IBB - J Kendall (by J Schmidt), R Durham (by K Calero), E
Chavez (by A Benitez). Pitches-strikes: J Blanton 102-55; J Duchscherer 6-6; C
Gaudin 12-5; S Sauerbeck 4-3; K Calero 7-2; H Street 12-9; J Schmidt 122-68; S
Kline 14-9; J Accardo 2-1; A Benitez 26-15. Ground balls-fly balls: J Blanton
9-5; J Duchscherer 0-2; C Gaudin 0-1; S Sauerbeck 1-0; K Calero 0-1; H Street
1-2; J Schmidt 3-11; S Kline 0-2; J Accardo 0-1; A Benitez 0-2. Batters faced:
J Blanton 26; J Duchscherer 3; C Gaudin 3; S Sauerbeck 1; K Calero 2; H Street
3; J Schmidt 29; S Kline 3; J Accardo 1; A Benitez 7.
UMPIRES: HP--Brian Runge. 1B--Paul Emmel. 2B--Bruce Froemming. 3B--Mike
Winters.
T--2:55. Att--42,948.
Weather: 65 degrees, clear. Wind: 17 mph, out to center.
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 ATL A+ Carl Loadenthal LF 5 4 2 0 0 0 1 COL A- Daniel Mayora 3B 4 3 0 0 2 0 0 COL AA Seth Smith RF 5 4 3 0 0 0 0 KC AAA Mike Aviles 3B 3 3 0 0 1 1 0 OAK A Isaac Omura 2B 5 4 1 1 0 0 0 PHI AAA Ryan Fleming LF 3 3 0 1 0 2 0 4 runs scored PIT AA Craig Stansberry 2B 5 4 2 1 0 0 0 .545 OBP during past week SEA AA Michael Wilson LF 3 2 0 1 1 1 0 TB A- Jairo de la Rosa SS 4 4 2 0 0 1 0 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes ARI A+ Esmerling Vasquez 7.0 3 1 1 8 2 0 CHW AA Corwin Malone 8.0 3 0 0 4 3 0 CIN A Zachary Ward 8.0 2 0 0 7 1 0 COL AA Marc Kaiser 9.0 4 1 1 5 0 0 LA MLB Kristian Bell 7.0 1 0 0 5 3 0 LAA AAA Jered Weaver 9.0 2 0 0 14 1 0 NYM A+ Jose Sanchez 8.2 6 0 0 6 2 0 NYY AA Philip Hughes 8.0 1 0 0 10 2 0 46 K over last 39 IP OAK A Joe Piekarz 8.0 3 0 0 11 0 0 0.76 ERA over past month TB A Jacob McGee 6.0 2 0 0 10 3 0
Player News
Player news items are graciously provided by CBS SportsLine.com.
SD’s Jake Peavy (shoulder) was able to make his start on Friday against the Mariners and he looked sharp. He worked eight strong innings, allowing just one earned run and six hits in the no-decision. He also did not walk a batter and he struck out nine.
The Angels placed Darin Erstad on the 15-day disabled list on Friday due to his right ankle injury. The move is retroactive to June 18 and the team recalled Tommy Murphy from Triple-A Salt Lake to take his roster spot. Erstad might not play again this season if it is determined that he requires corrective surgery.
The White Sox’s Jose Contreras set a team record by winning his 16th straight decision on Friday night against the Astros. He was not particularly sharp, allowing four earned runs, eight hits and three walks in 6 1/3 innings, but that was enough to get it done. “It’s a big deal, especially when you pitch for the Chicago White Sox,” Contreras said through an interpreter.
The Braves’ website reports John Smoltz suffered a strained right groin in Friday’s game at Tampa Bay, but he does not feel he will miss a start. “I was not really optimistic when I walked off the field, but as the game went on, I could do just about everything I wanted to do, except for probably pitch,” he said. Atlanta’s Chuck James will be recalled from Triple-A Richmond to start Sunday’s game at Tampa Bay.
Philly pitcher Brett Myers was arrested and charged with assaulting his wife in downtown Boston Thursday night at 12:20 a.m.
The Phillies claimed journeyman reliever Rick White off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds.
Carlos Delgado made his first return to Toronto on Friday night and was 0-for-3 with a walk. He received a standing ovation before his first at-bat and he acknowledged the crowd with a tip of his batting helmet.
The Mets’ Duaner Sanchez, who left Friday’s game at Toronto due to a shock in his neck and shoulder, was sent home to New York to be re-evaluated. He will have an MRI on Saturday. “It’s something I’ve never felt before. It was like a shock. I don’t want to take a chance,” Sanchez said. “Right now I’m fine. I’m not worried about it.”
John Patterson, fresh off of the 15-day disabled list, worked six innings on Friday at Detroit. He worked two runs — one earned — and six hits with three strikeouts to fall to 1-1. “Arm feels good. No problems,” he said. To make room for Patterson on the 25-man roster, the Nationals placed right-hander Tony Armas Jr. on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to June 20, with a right forearm strain. Patterson spent 62-days on the DL with a right forearm strain.
Ivan Rodriguez, who left Friday’s game against St. Louis due to a wrist injury, has just a contusion. He had X-rays after the game and they were negative. “I’m sure it is officially a contusion, but to me, it is a bruise,” manager Jim Leyland said. “He’s pretty sore, so we’ll have to see how it plays out.”
Albert Pujols was 4-for-4 with a double, solo home run and two runs scored in Friday’s game at Detroit, but it was not good enough to help his team win. “I came out a little too anxious last night,” said Pujols. “I thought my timing wasn’t back, but I was able to hit the ball well tonight.”
Boston’s Josh Beckett retired the first 16 batters he faced in Friday’s game against the Phillies, as he took a perfect game into the sixth inning. He ended up allowing two earned runs and just three hits over eight innings, striking out eight batters to improve to 9-3.
Yankees pitcher Carl Pavano (elbow) now hopes to return from the disabled list in August. According to the Contra Costa Times, Oakland’s Rich Harden (elbow) expects to return by the All-Star break. The Minnesota Twins sent injured left fielder Shannon Stewart on a rehabilitation assignment.
Jason Michaels (ankle) was out of the lineup against the Reds on Friday and the word is that he is likely to be placed on the 15-day disabled list, although nothing has been made official by the club just yet.
Injured first baseman Derrek Lee of the Chicago Cubs was scheduled to leave Friday night for a rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Iowa. Lee took batting practice before Friday’s game at Minnesota, as he has been doing for several days, and he’ll play this weekend for Iowa, manager Dusty Baker said. “As long as his hand feels good and he’s not sore, I like what I saw,” Baker said after watching Lee hit before the game.
The A’s activated Justin Duchscherer (elbow) from the 15-day disabeled list. They placed Jay Witasick on the DL with ankle tendinitis. The move was retroactive to June 20.
The Cleveland Indians recalled catcher Kelly Shoppach from Triple-A Buffalo on Friday and designated catcher Tim Laker for assignment.
Padres 2B Josh Barfield had his ninth three-hit game of his rookie season Thursday to raise road batting average to .339 (39-for-115). But he also grounded into his first major league double play. He is hitting .259 on the year.
3B Freddy Sanchez has a .352 batting average and a .391 on base percentage. However, manager Jim Tracy said he will not move Sanchez up to the leadoff spot from the Nos. 5 and 6 spots despite his lack of home run power, because he is hitting .377 with runners in scoring position.
Pirates 1B/OF Craig Wilson, eligible for free agency at the end of the season, continues to have his name bandied about in trade rumors. The latest team reported to have interest in Wilson is the Los Angeles Angels. That trade would certainly be to Wilson’s liking, as he lives in Orange County and grew up an Angels fan.
Phillies CF Aaron Rowand is batting .237 since coming off the disabled list late last month, but he insists that he isn’t in a slump. “I’m hitting the ball hard,” said Rowand, whose average has dipped from .310 before running into the center-field wall at Citizens Bank Park, to .279 entering Friday’s series at Boston.
Brewers GM Doug Melvin reaffirmed his desire to sign left fielder Carlos Lee to a contract extension. At the same time, Melvin said he had no idea what the chances are of that happening. “We would like to keep Carlos, and I think he would like to stay,” said Melvin. “But there’s a lot to cover between those two statements.” Eligible for free agency after the season, Lee is in line for a big payday as one of the top run-producers in the National League. Lee is tied for fourth in the league with 23 home runs and ranks fifth with 59 RBIs. Lee’s salary for 2006 is $8.5 million, already a large chunk of the team’s $54 million payroll.
The Marlins are shopping for a center fielder so they can send OF Reggie Abercrombie back to the minors. Abercrombie is hitless in his last 17 at-bats and is hitting .223 on the year.
John Danks has been promoted from Double-A Frisco to Triple-A Oklahoma. He’s considered the top pitching prospect in the Texas Rangers’ minor-league system.
Hideki Matsui continues to make good progress in his recovery from an injured left wrist. A recent exam showed that the broken bones are fusing properly.
L.A. Angels batting coach Mickey Hatcher indicated that Vladimir Guerrero hasn’t been crouching as much at the plate during his recent slide. Hatcher watched tape of Guerrero’s recent at-bats and discovered the problem.
Braves RHP John Thomson’s right middle-finger blister is not much better than when it sent him to the disabled list on June 15. It appears unlikely that Thomson can be activated when he is eligible.
THT’s Stats
It’s pretty simple, really. About 12% of all outfield flyballs are home runs so the more outfield flies a pitcher yields, the more home runs he’ll allow. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule, particularly in just one half of a season and pitchers with particularly low rates will also have low ERA’s.
Here’s a list of all major league pitchers who have allowed less than 10% of their outfield flies to be home runs. In general, these figures for these pitchers will rise; for instance, Brad Penny’s home run rate will almost certainly be higher in the second half of the year.
Last First Team HR/F Penny Brad LAN 5% Blanton Joe M OAK 6% Vazquez Javier CHA 7% Armas Jr. Tony WAS 7% Santana Ervin R LAA 7% Schmidt Jason SF 7% Park Chan Ho SD 7% Koronka John V TEX 8% Arroyo Bronson CIN 8% Millwood Kevin TEX 8% Fogg Josh COL 8% Lackey John LAA 8% Jennings Jason COL 8% Contreras Jose CHA 9% Capuano Chris MIL 9% Wang Chien-Ming NYA 9% Buehrle Mark CHA 9% Benson Kris BAL 9% Morris Matt SF 9% Zito Barry OAK 9% Francis Jeff W COL 9% Moyer Jamie SEA 9% Davis Doug MIL 9% Oswalt Roy HOU 9% Westbrook Jake CLE 9% Wakefield Tim BOS 9%
Access all of THT’s stats here…