THT Daily: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Major League News for September 12
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Game of the Day
Yesterday’s Home Runs
Player News
Stats
Yesterday’s Results
American League NYA 9 BAL 6 (Recap and Boxscore) MIN 9 OAK 4 (Recap and Boxscore) CHA 3 LAA 2 (Recap and Boxscore) TOR 6 SEA 2 (Recap and Boxscore) National League CHN 8 ATL 3 (Recap and Boxscore) FLA 16 NYN 5 (Recap and Boxscore) PIT 4 MIL 3 (Recap and Boxscore) STL 7 HOU 0 (Recap and Boxscore) WAS 7 ARI 6 (Recap and Boxscore)
Today’s Games
Visitors Home Starts (EDT) KC - Hernandez R. (5-9, 6.39) CLE - Sowers J.* (7-3, 3.35) 7:05 pm MIL - Capuano C.* (11-10, 3.49) PIT - Chacon S. (1-2, 6.33) 7:05 pm NYM - Perez O.* (3-11, 6.58) FLA - Johnson J. (12-7, 3.20) 7:05 pm TB - Corcoran T. (4-7, 3.96) NYY - Mussina M. (13-6, 3.72) 7:05 pm BOS - Gabbard K.* (1-3, 3.93) BAL - Cabrera D. (7-9, 4.84) 7:05 pm TEX - Padilla V. (13-9, 4.52) DET - Rogers K.* (15-6, 3.91) 7:05 pm SD - Young C. (10-5, 3.71) CIN - Milton E.* (8-7, 4.95) 7:10 pm PHI - Wolf R.* (3-0, 4.97) ATL - Davies K. (2-5, 7.56) 7:35 pm LAD - Lowe D. (14-8, 3.64) CHC - Marshall S.* (5-9, 5.27) 8:05 pm HOU - Pettitte A.* (13-13, 4.34) STL - Weaver J. (3-4, 5.19) 8:10 pm OAK - Saarloos K. (7-7, 4.68) MIN - Guerrier M. (0-0, 3.04) 8:10 pm WAS - Bergmann J. (0-1, 6.66) ARI - Batista M. (10-6, 4.44) 9:40 pm CWS - Buehrle M.* (12-12, 4.80) LAA - Santana E. (14-7, 4.53) 10:05 pm TOR - Marcum S. (2-3, 5.22) SEA - Meche G. (9-8, 4.31) 10:05 pm COL - Bautista D. (0-0, -) SF - Sanchez J.* (3-0, 1.42) 10:15 pm
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 86 56 .606 0.0 84 2BOS 76 67 .531 10.5 72 4
TOR 75 69 .521 12.0 75 0
BAL 62 81 .434 24.5 62 0
TB 57 86 .399 29.5 58 -1
American League Central DET 86 58 .597 0.0 85 1
MIN 84 59 .587 1.5 81 3
CHA 83 61 .576 3.0 81 2
CLE 68 74 .479 17.0 79 -11
KC 54 90 .375 32.0 55 -1
American League West OAK 82 61 .573 0.0 76 6
LAA 77 67 .535 5.5 75 2
TEX 73 71 .507 9.5 75 -2
SEA 68 75 .476 14.0 69 -1
National League East Pwins Diff NYN 88 55 .615 0.0 82 6
FLA 73 71 .507 15.5 73 0
PHI 72 71 .503 16.0 74 -2
ATL 69 74 .483 19.0 73 -4
WAS 62 82 .431 26.5 61 1
National League Central STL 76 67 .531 0.0 72 4
CIN 71 72 .497 5.0 69 2
HOU 70 73 .490 6.0 72 -2
MIL 65 79 .451 11.5 63 2
PIT 59 86 .407 18.0 62 -3
CHN 57 87 .396 19.5 59 -2
National League West LAN 76 67 .531 0.0 77 -1
SD 74 68 .521 1.5 73 1
SF 72 71 .503 4.0 72 0
ARI 68 76 .472 8.5 71 -3
COL 67 76 .469 9.0 72 -5
Wildcard Standings American League MIN 84 59 .587 0.0 CHA 83 61 .576 1.5 National League SD 74 68 .521 0.0 PHI 73 71 .507 2.0 FLA 72 71 .503 2.5 SF 72 71 .503 2.5 CIN 71 72 .497 3.5 HOU 70 73 .490 4.5 ATL 69 74 .483 5.5
Game of the Day
Anibal Sanchez unfortunately didn’t Vander Meer the Mets, but the Florida pounded New York, 16-5. Sanchez struck out eight in seven innings, allowing four hits and a walk.
Cody Ross and Dan Uggla provided the offense, as Ross blasted three home runs and had seven RBIs (both tying Florida records), while Uggla went 5-5 and tied a 68-year-old record (Joe Gordon, 1938) as he hit his 24th HR as a rookie second baseman.
The Marlins are now only two games back of the Padres in the NL Wild Card hunt. Look out for Fish Fever!
NY METS (5) VS FLORIDA (16) - FINAL
NY METS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Reyes ss 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 .300
b-A Hernandez ph-ss 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .113
P Lo Duca c 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .309
c-M DiFelice ph-c 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .048
C Beltran cf 3 1 1 1 0 0 1 .284
d-L Milledge ph-lf 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 .231
C Delgado 1b 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 .265
D Wright 3b 4 0 0 0 0 2 2 .308
C Floyd lf 3 1 1 2 0 2 0 .238
R Ring p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
e-J Franco ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .271
S Green rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .282
J Valentin 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .281
D Williams p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .143
R Hernandez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
a-R Ledee ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .197
H Bell p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
E Chavez lf-cf 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 .309
Totals 33 5 6 5 2 8 7
a-struck out looking for R Hernandez in the 5th; b-grounded to first for J
Reyes in the 8th; c-grounded to third for P Lo Duca in the 8th; d-doubled to
left for C Beltran in the 8th; e-lined out to third for R Ring in the 9th.
BATTING: 2B - L Milledge (6, J Garcia). HR - C Floyd (11, 2nd inning off A
Sanchez 1 on, 1 Out), C Beltran (40, 4th inning off A Sanchez 0 on, 0 Out). RBI
- C Floyd 2 (40), C Beltran (114), L Milledge (19), C Delgado (102). 2-out RBI
- L Milledge, C Delgado. Team LOB - 3.
FIELDING: E - J Reyes (14, throw); J Valentin (5, throw); S Green (4, catch).
FLORIDA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
H Ramirez ss 4 1 1 0 0 0 3 .286
R Andino ss 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .190
D Uggla 2b 5 3 5 1 0 0 0 .293
R Abercrombie pr-cf 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .213
M Cabrera 3b 3 2 2 3 1 1 1 .340
a-J Wood ph-2b 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1.000
J Willingham lf 4 1 2 1 1 1 2 .278
C Aguila lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .221
W Helms 1b-3b 5 3 2 1 0 1 3 .314
C Ross rf 5 3 4 7 0 0 2 .242
J Garcia p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
M Olivo c 4 1 1 1 0 0 1 .268
b-M Treanor ph-c 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .225
A Amezaga cf 3 0 0 0 1 1 2 .264
J Borchard rf 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .230
A Sanchez p 4 0 2 1 0 2 0 .148
M Jacobs 1b 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .267
Totals 43 16 20 15 3 7 14
a-doubled to deep right for M Cabrera in the 7th; b-grounded to second for M
Olivo in the 7th.
BATTING: 2B - D Uggla (26, D Williams); M Cabrera (48, D Williams); W Helms
(11, H Bell); J Wood (1, H Bell). HR - C Ross 3 (12, 1st inning off D Williams
2 on, 2 Out, 6th inning off H Bell 1 on, 0 Out, 7th inning off R Ring 1 on, 2
Out), D Uggla (24, 4th inning off D Williams 0 on, 0 Out), J Willingham (23,
6th inning off H Bell 0 on, 0 Out). RBI - M Cabrera 3 (109), C Ross 7 (42), A
Sanchez (2), D Uggla (85), M Olivo (52), J Willingham (68), W Helms (37). 2-out
RBI - C Ross 5, M Cabrera 2, A Sanchez, M Olivo. Runners left in scoring
position, 2 out - A Amezaga 1, J Willingham 1, H Ramirez 1. Team LOB - 6.
BASERUNNING: CS - H Ramirez (13, 2nd base by H Bell/P Lo Duca).
----------------------------------------------------
NY METS - 020 100 020 -- 5
FLORIDA - 421 203 40x -- 16
----------------------------------------------------
NY METS ip h r er bb so hr era
D Williams (L, 5-4) 3 11 9 9 2 1 2 6.62
R Hernandez 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 2.98
H Bell 2 1/3 7 5 5 0 5 2 4.02
R Ring 1 2/3 1 2 2 1 0 1 3.37
FLORIDA ip h r er bb so hr era
A Sanchez (W, 8-2) 7 4 3 3 1 8 2 2.96
J Garcia 2 2 2 2 1 0 0 9.00
D Williams pitched to 3 batters in the 4th.
IBB - A Amezaga (by D Williams). Pitches-strikes: D Williams 79-49; R
Hernandez 14-10; H Bell 45-32; R Ring 34-20; A Sanchez 108-69; J Garcia 33-18.
Ground balls-fly balls: D Williams 4-4; R Hernandez 0-2; H Bell 1-0; R Ring
4-1; A Sanchez 4-9; J Garcia 3-3. Batters faced: D Williams 22; R Hernandez 4;
H Bell 13; R Ring 7; A Sanchez 26; J Garcia 9.
UMPIRES: HP--Jerry Crawford. 1B--Brian Onora. 2B--Chuck Meriwether. 3B--Phil
Cuzzi.
T--2:42. Att--13,725.
Weather: 80 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 7 mph, in from center.
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 # Ross, Cody FLA Williams, Dave NYM 460 469 10 Hall, Bill MIL Duke, Zach PIT 427 448 31 Snyder, Chris ARI Traber, Billy WAS 450 441 5 Floyd, Cliff NYM Sanchez, Anibal FLA 431 439 11 Jackson, Conor ARI Traber, Billy WAS 436 430 12 Young, Chris ARI Traber, Billy WAS 421 416 2 Thomas, Frank OAK Silva, Carlos MIN 411 405 36 Uggla, Dan FLA Williams, Dave NYM 396 405 24 Hunter, Torii MIN Blanton, Joe OAK 403 397 24 Hernandez, Ramon BAL Proctor, Scott NYY 388 396 19 Lee, Derrek CHC Ray, Chris ATL 413 394 8 Beltran, Carlos NYM Sanchez, Anibal FLA 391 393 40 Lee, Derrek CHC Smoltz, John ATL 391 393 7 Easley, Damian ARI Rauch, Jon WAS 398 392 9 Ross, Cody FLA Ring, Royce NYM 385 387 12 Willingham, Josh FLA Bell, Heath NYM 378 383 23 Rodriguez, Alex NYY Ray, Ken BAL 379 382 32 Ross, Cody FLA Bell, Heath NYM 377 375 11 Cuddyer, Michael MIN Blanton, Joe OAK 375 369 22 Jones, Jacque CHC Smoltz, John ATL 373 351 24
Player News
Player news items are provided by CBS SportsLine.com.
Frank Thomas homered in his sixth consecutive game Monday night, setting an Athletics record. It was the 36th homer and 98th RBI of the season for Thomas, making a strong comeback after ankle injuries hampered the final two of his 16 seasons with the White Sox. The record for consecutive games with a home run is eight, set by Pittsburgh’s Dale Long (1956), Don Mattingly of the New York Yankees (1987) and Seattle’s Ken Griffey Jr. (1993). Kevin Mench connected in seven consecutive games for Texas earlier this season.
Dan Uggla of the Marlins hit his 24th home run Monday night against the Mets, matching the major league record for a rookie second baseman. Joe Gordon of the New York Yankees hit 25 homers in 1938, with 24 of them coming as a second baseman. Earlier this season, Uggla — who never played above Double-A before this year — became the first Rule 5 draft selection to make the All-Star team as a rookie.
Cody Ross hit three homers and drove in seven runs Monday night, tying a pair of Florida Marlins records. The right fielder, who entered the game with nine homers this season, hit a three-run shot in the first inning, then added two-run drives in the sixth and seventh against the Mets. Ross’ third home run might have hooked just foul down the left-field line, but third-base umpire Phil Cuzzi emphatically called it fair. On television replays, it was difficult to tell whether the ball nicked the foul pole. Ross matched Mike Lowell’s franchise mark for homers in a game and became the third Marlins player to have seven RBI — the first since Gary Sheffield in 1995.
With three weeks left in the regular season, Joe Mauer has cleared the dog-days hurdle and leads the majors with a .350 average. If he holds on, he’ll be the first backstop to win the AL batting title and the first in either league since the Boston Braves’ Ernie Lombardi in 1942. Mauer, who went to his first All-Star game this year at age 23, topped out at .392 on July 1, bottomed out at .3444, just ahead of Yankees captain Derek Jeter (.3439). Jeter was batting .345 when Monday began.
Francisco Liriano was activated from the DL on Monday night, two days before the rookie left-hander was scheduled to make his next start for the Twins. Liriano threw three hitless innings Saturday in a rehabilitation outing for Triple-A Rochester during the International League playoffs. He is slated to be on the mound for Minnesota on Wednesday against Oakland.
SS Stephen Drew’s steal of home Sunday was the first for the Diamondbacks since Luis Gonzalez did it Sept. 25, 1999, at San Francisco.
SS Derek Jeter extended his career-high hitting streak to 21 Monday.
Enrique Gonzalez, 0-5 with a 6.51 ERA in his past 10 starts, has been demoted to the bullpen for the rest of the season. Manager Bob Melvin said RHP Edgar Gonzalez (no relation) will take Gonzalez’ turn in the rotation. Melvin said he hopes Gonzalez, a rookie, will regain his confidence heading into 2007. “He’s been struggling, and we’ve seen him continue to struggle,” Melvin said. “We don’t want the kid to mentally go through this any longer. We think he’s going to be a fixture here.”
1B Nick Johnson has 101 walks. Only four other players in franchise history have had 100 or more walks, and only two in the past 30 years.
RHP Jason Bergmann, not Mike O’Connor, is to make his seventh major league start Tuesday night at Arizona. In his past two starts, Bergmann has allowed eight runs in 10 2/3 innings. Bergmann’s best outing came in a 4-3 victory over the Diamondbacks in Washington, when he allowed three runs and four hits in seven innings.
RHP Dan Wheeler came into the week with an 0.44 ERA since the All-Star break, the lowest of any NL reliever. He had not allowed a run in 23 of his past 24 appearances since July 18.
RHP Salomon Torres has filled as the closer in Mike Gonzalez’s (elbow) absence. Heading into Monday’s game, he saved each of the Pirates previous five victories and had a 0.96 ERA since the All-Star break, second among NL relievers with a minimum of 20 innings.
Manager Ned Yost said RHP Carlos Villanueva, recalled Monday, will be used out of the bullpen, even though he started three games for the Brewers earlier this season. “He did real well (in Triple-A) and did well when he was up here,” Yost said. “Hopefully he can continue to progress. He’s under consideration for making the staff next year.”
Danys Baez, recovering from an appendectomy, threw about 30 pitches from the bullpen mound. He rated himself at about 70 percent, saying his muscles are sore from stretching them out after the surgery. Baez hopes he’ll be able to throw from the mound again Tuesday.
CF Andruw Jones was back in the lineup after sitting out Sunday to rest a sore back, knee and shoulder.
After batting practice, the Braves scratched 3B Willy Aybar (upset stomach) and 1B Adam LaRoche (strained hamstring) from the lineup. Martin Prado took over for Aybar, batting leadoff, and Daryle Ward filled LaRoche’s eighth spot in the lineup.
RHP Carlos Zambrano, who hurt his back a week ago and hasn’t pitched since, was getting a second opinion Monday. An MRI exam last week showed no significant damage. Zambrano’s next turn comes up Thursday, but there’s no word whether he can make that start at this point. Wade Miller would likely go, if Zambrano can’t.
SS Cesar Izturis made his first appearance since Aug. 21, when he left a game against Philadelphia and had to go on the DL with a strained right hamstring. He batted seventh in his first game back, but Baker said he will probably be better in the second spot once he fully recovers, batting behind speedy leadoff hitter Juan Pierre. “I’m not batting him second today because I don’t want him to have to do a bunch of running in front of (Derrek) Lee and Aramis (Ramirez) and those guys,” Baker said. “I’m batting him down in the order today because if something happens and he gets re-injured, I don’t want to have to mess up the top of my lineup. I can double-switch or pinch-hit down there.”
RF Shawn Green batted seventh for only the third time in 16 starts since joining the Mets.
At his current pace, CF Carlos Beltran will break club season records for home runs, runs, RBI, doubles and extra-base hits.
Manager Willie Randolph said RHP Pedro Martinez (strained right calf) will return to the Mets’ rotation either Friday or Saturday. Martinez hasn’t pitched since Aug. 14.
Mike Morse started in right field for Chris Snelling because Morse is a right-handed batter and Toronto left-hander Ted Lilly was Monday’s starter. Another reason is Snelling is in a slump. “Chris has been struggling his last 14 or 15 at-bats,” Seattle manager Mike Hargrove said.
3B Adrian Beltre returned to the lineup after missing three consecutive games because of the birth of his son. He returned from Los Angeles late Sunday night to be available Monday for the three-game series with Toronto.
RHP Felix Hernandez will not pitch Seattle’s final series of the season, Sept. 29-Oct. 1 at Safeco Field. The Mariners are trying to keep Hernandez, 20, under 200 innings in his second major league season.
OF Adam Lind, who hit his first major-league home run Sunday, “could end up playing a (significant) role (for Toronto),” Toronto manager John Gibbons said. Lind had his contract purchased from Triple-A Syracuse on Aug. 23.
All-Star RHP Roy Halladay, knocked out of Sunday’s game against the Angels in the first inning when Garret Anderson lined a single off his pitching elbow, is to play catch Tuesday and throw on the side Wednesday. “I’m feeling pretty good,” he said. “We got a good jump on it.”
Brad Radke is feeling better and is expected to try to play catch before Tuesday’s game as he tries to come back from a shoulder injury. Manager Ron Gardenhire, asked if he thought it was too soon for Radke to test his arm, said he wasn’t worried. “It’s up to him,” Gardenhire said. “He’s the only one who knows.”
Rich Harden is getting closer to a possible regular-season return. The right-hander, out since June 6 because of a sprained ligament in his elbow, threw a 42-pitch simulated game Monday afternoon at the Metrodome. “He threw pretty good,” manager Ken Macha said. “I thought he had a pretty good release point and his command was OK. He’s got a little different assessment level than I did. I thought it was about 75 percent. He thought it was about 90. He had a smile on his face and there was no pain.”
3B Melvin Mora was hitting .217 (15-for-69) in his past 17 games before Monday. That’s one reason why he got Sunday off.
C Ramon Hernandez entered Monday hitting .326 (16-for-49) in his past 17 games.
OF Nick Markakis, the AL Rookie of the Month for August, was hitting .194 (7-for-36) in 10 September games entering Monday.
RHP Carl Pavano (broken ribs) could throw off a bullpen mound Wednesday. He has been throwing on level ground at the Yankees’ spring training complex in Tampa, Fla.
1B Jason Giambi missed his third consecutive start Monday because of left wrist inflammation.
3B Alex Rodriguez, who missed the prior two games with an illness, returned to the lineup Monday.
IF Miguel Cairo, on the DL since Aug. 8 with a strained left hamstring, was activated before Monday’s game.
OF Hideki Matsui, who has missed 110 games with a fractured left wrist, is to be activated Tuesday and might start at DH vs. Tampa Bay, manager Joe Torre said Monday. Matsui, on the DL since May 12, played four postseason games at DH for New York’s Double-A Trenton affiliate, going 3-for-11. “The results were fine,” Torre said. “It certainly helps us to have a player of his caliber back with us.”
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said rookie Anthony Reyes, who allowed seven runs in 2 1/3 innings in his past start, would be skipped in the rotation, calling it a “refresher.” Jason Marquis will replace him Wednesday in the series finale against the Astros, working on three days’ rest.
The Cardinals began a six-game homestand without shortstop David Eckstein, who missed his 22nd game with a strained left side muscle.
The Cardinals began a six-game homestand without center fielder Jim Edmonds. Edmonds has made one start in the past 22 games due to post-concussion syndrome. Edmonds did not accompany the team on a 2-5 trip. He worked out on Sunday and said he felt “a little funny” when he stepped up the intensity to a workout, but took batting practice for the first time in more than a week. “I have a lot of anxiety right now in trying to fix it,” Edmonds said. “I don’t really know what the future holds. Hopefully everything will get better, I’ll go about my business and hopefully there’s not too many setbacks.”
Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen received a cortisone shot for his ailing hip on Monday, and St. Louis said he won’t be used until the weekend. “I’m really not doing anything until later this week,” Isringhausen said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen.” This opens up an opportunity for former Mets closer Braden Looper and possibly some chances for rookie Adam Wainwright to pick up some saves.
Right-hander Matt Guerrier will move from his long relief role and replace rookie Scott Baker in the rotation Tuesday night. Rookie Matt Garza is getting pushed back for now to accommodate Francisco Liriano, who went 12-3 with a 2.19 ERA this season before being sidelined by a sore elbow and weak shoulder.
Astros pitcher Andy Pettitte was pushed back a day from his scheduled start Monday night to give him some extra rest and allow his left ankle injury more time to heal. Taylor Buchholz started the opener of a three-game series against the Cardinals, with Pettitte reset for Tuesday. Pettitte, who is 13-13 with a 4.34 ERA, apparently was injured while shagging fly balls Saturday in Milwaukee.
Angels reliever Brendan Donnelly dropped his appeal of a four-game suspension for hitting Texas’ Freddy Guzman with a pitch and began serving the penalty Monday night. “We’ve been talking about it for a while, trying to figure out if there’s one time that’s not going to hurt as much as another. But there’s really no good time,” Donnelly said. “There were other opportunities to drop it or take it, and you want to stay active as long as possible.”
Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, 36, will take an extra day of rest before testing his ailing pitching arm. Rivera has been sidelined since Aug. 31 with a muscle strain near his right elbow. He threw Sunday at Camden Yards and was slated to throw again Tuesday, but that session was pushed back to Wednesday, manager Joe Torre said Monday.
Orioles right-hander Kris Benson was scratched from his start Monday night against the Yankees because of strep throat. Rodrigo Lopez, who lost his spot in Baltimore’s rotation last week, replaced Benson. Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo said Benson was sent home after arriving at the ballpark because of the risk the infection might spread. “Evidently he had a sore throat a little bit (Sunday), but nothing severe,” Perlozzo said. “He woke up this morning and I guess wasn’t feeling very good, so he went to the doctor.”
THT Stats
Access all of THT’s stats here…