THT Daily: Gonzalez and Hernandez Day
Major League News for July 23
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
American League NYA 5 TOR 4 (Recap and Boxscore) TEX 3 CHA 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Koronka: 6 IP, 1 R; Garcia: 7 IP, 1 R TB 13 BAL 12 (Recap and Boxscore) See below SEA 5 BOS 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Hernandez: 7 IP, 2 R OAK 9 DET 5 (Recap and Boxscore) DET: 5 R in 1st, 0 R after CLE 11 MIN 0 (Recap and Boxscore) Sowers: CG Shutout; LAA 4 KC 3 (Recap and Boxscore) 10 innings National League SF 4 SD 3 (Recap and Boxscore) SF in first place STL 6 LAN 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Weaver: 5.2 IP, 1 R; Edmonds: 4 HR in 5 G FLA 5 PIT 0 (Recap and Boxscore) Nolasco: 7.1 IP, 0 R NYN 4 HOU 3 (Recap and Boxscore) El Duque: 7 IP, 3 R WAS 7 CHN 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Soriano: 4-5, 3 2B, 3B CIN 8 MIL 7 (Recap and Boxscore) ARI 4 COL 3 (Recap and Boxscore)
Today’s Games
Visitors Home Time MIN - Liriano F.* (11-2, 1.94) CLE - Westbrook J. (7-5, 4.44) 1:05 CHC - Marmol C. (3-3, 3.86) WAS - Armas T. (6-5, 4.61) 1:05 PIT - Gorzelanny T.* (0-2, 9.26) FLA - Willis D.* (6-7, 3.94) 1:05 OAK - Loaiza E. (4-5, 6.38) DET - Robertson N.* (8-6, 3.61) 1:05 NYY - Ponson S. (0-0, 5.40) TOR - Marcum S. (0-0, 4.91) 1:07 HOU - Oswalt R. (6-7, 3.22) NYM - Pelfrey M. (2-0, 3.27) 1:10 BAL - Bedard E.* (11-6, 4.02) TB - Kazmir S.* (10-7, 3.40) 1:15 MIL - Ohka T. (2-1, 3.23) CIN - Milton E.* (6-5, 5.48) 1:15 TEX - Padilla V. (10-5, 4.15) CWS - Garland J. (9-3, 5.12) 2:05 LAA - Weaver J. (6-0, 1.12) KC - Duckworth B. (1-3, 4.78) 2:10 SD - Hensley C. (6-7, 4.61) SF - Wright J. (6-8, 4.95) 4:05 BOS - Lester J.* (5-0, 2.38) SEA - Washburn J.* (4-10, 4.41) 4:05 STL - Marquis J. (11-7, 5.97) LAD - Billingsley C. (1-2, 3.66) 4:10 COL - Kim B. (5-6, 4.78) ARI - Cruz J. (3-5, 4.53) 4:40 ATL - Ramirez H.* (5-3, 4.39) PHI - Myers B. (6-3, 3.77) 8:05
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 59 37 .615 0.0 54 5NYA 56 39 .589 2.5 56 0
TOR 54 43 .557 5.5 53 1
BAL 44 55 .444 16.5 42 2
TB 41 57 .418 19.0 40 1
American League Central DET 65 32 .670 0.0 62 3
CHA 58 38 .604 6.5 56 2
MIN 55 41 .573 9.5 53 2
CLE 43 53 .448 21.5 51 -8
KC 34 63 .351 31.0 36 -2
American League West OAK 51 46 .526 0.0 49 2
TEX 51 47 .520 0.5 52 -1
LAA 49 48 .505 2.0 49 0
SEA 46 51 .474 5.0 49 -3
National League East Pwins Diff NYN 59 38 .608 0.0 57 2
PHI 44 50 .468 13.5 44 0
ATL 45 51 .469 13.5 50 -5
FLA 44 52 .458 14.5 47 -3
WAS 42 56 .429 17.5 43 -1
National League Central STL 55 41 .573 0.0 50 5
CIN 52 46 .531 4.0 48 4
MIL 46 52 .469 10.0 42 4
HOU 46 52 .469 10.0 46 0
CHN 37 59 .385 18.0 38 -1
PIT 35 64 .354 21.5 42 -7
National League West SF 51 47 .520 0.0 50 1
ARI 50 47 .515 0.5 49 1
SD 50 47 .515 0.5 49 1
LAN 47 51 .480 4.0 51 -4
COL 45 51 .469 5.0 49 -4
Game of the Day
The Devil Rays beat the Orioles, 13-12, in a slugfest at Tampa Bay. Julio Lugo had two home runs, Russell Branyan had four RBI’s and Corey Patterson was 5 for 5. All the scoring occurred in four half-innings.
It was only the fourth game in major league history in which each team posted an inning of nine-or-more runs. The last time was on June 3, 1933, when the Philadelphia Athletics, with a lineup featuring future Hall-of-Famers Jimmie Foxx and Mickey Cochrane, scored 11 runs in the third inning at Yankee Stadium, only to see the Ruth-and-Gehrig Yankees respond with 10 in the fifth and go on to a 17-11 victory. (Source: Elias)
BALTIMORE (12) VS TAMPA BAY (13) - FINAL
BALTIMORE ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
B Roberts 2b 6 2 4 1 0 0 5 .307
B Fahey lf 3 0 2 1 0 0 1 .273
a-L Terrero ph 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .138
b-R Hernandez ph-1b 2 0 0 1 0 0 3 .266
M Mora 3b 5 3 2 2 1 1 3 .283
M Tejada ss 5 1 4 0 1 1 1 .321
J Conine 1b-lf 4 1 2 3 1 0 4 .261
K Millar dh 4 1 0 0 2 2 4 .253
C Patterson cf 5 1 5 2 0 0 0 .286
J Lopez c 3 1 1 1 2 0 1 .273
N Markakis rf 3 1 1 1 2 1 3 .276
Totals 41 12 22 12 9 5 25
a-reached on infield single to third for B Fahey in the 7th; b-grounded to
third for L Terrero in the 7th.
BATTING: 2B - B Roberts 2 (22, T Corcoran, S Camp); C Patterson 2 (12, T
Corcoran 2). SF - J Conine. RBI - B Fahey (19), J Conine 3 (35), C Patterson 2
(37), J Lopez (29), N Markakis (24), B Roberts (34), R Hernandez (65), M Mora 2
(51). 2-out RBI - C Patterson, M Mora 2, J Conine. Runners left in scoring
position, 2 out - J Lopez 1, K Millar 1, N Markakis 2. GIDP - M Mora, J Conine,
B Roberts, R Hernandez. Team LOB - 12.
BASERUNNING: SB - C Patterson (32, 2nd base off B Meadows/D Navarro). CS - M
Tejada (1, 3rd base by T Corcoran/D Navarro), B Fahey (3, 2nd base by T
Corcoran/D Navarro).
FIELDING: DP: 1 (M Mora-B Roberts-J Conine).
TAMPA BAY ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Lugo ss 4 2 2 4 0 1 1 .310
T Perez ss 2 0 0 0 0 1 3 .185
C Crawford lf 4 1 2 0 1 1 0 .312
R Baldelli cf 5 1 2 1 0 1 3 .297
T Wigginton 3b 5 1 1 0 0 1 1 .260
G Norton dh 3 2 1 1 2 0 1 .272
J Cantu 2b 4 0 2 0 1 1 3 .267
T Lee 1b 5 1 1 1 0 1 5 .207
R Branyan rf 5 3 3 4 0 1 3 .219
D Hollins rf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .218
D Navarro c 3 2 3 2 2 0 0 .289
Totals 40 13 17 13 6 8 20
BATTING: 2B - R Branyan 2 (8, R Lopez, T Williams); C Crawford (14, K Birkins).
3B - C Crawford (10, R Lopez); T Lee (1, T Williams). HR - J Lugo 2 (12, 5th
inning off R Lopez 1 on, 0 Out, 5th inning off K Birkins 1 on, 2 Out), R
Branyan (11, 5th inning off K Birkins 2 on, 2 Out). RBI - D Navarro 2 (5), J
Lugo 4 (27), R Baldelli (23), G Norton (13), R Branyan 4 (24), T Lee (18).
2-out RBI - R Branyan 4, J Lugo 2, T Lee, D Navarro. Runners left in scoring
position, 2 out - T Perez 1, R Branyan 1, R Baldelli 1. GIDP - R Baldelli. Team
LOB - 9.
FIELDING: DP: 5 (J Cantu-T Lee, J Cantu-J Lugo-T Lee, J Lugo-J Cantu-T Lee, T
Perez-J Cantu-T Lee, J Cantu-T Perez-T Lee).
----------------------------------------------------
BALTIMORE - 300 000 900 -- 12
TAMPA BAY - 000 0103 00x -- 13
----------------------------------------------------
BALTIMORE ip h r er bb so hr era
R Lopez (L, 6-11) 4 1/3 9 7 7 3 5 1 6.73
K Birkins 1/3 3 3 3 1 0 2 3.94
C Britton 1/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.87
T Williams 2/3 3 3 3 1 0 0 4.82
B Chen 1/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 7.03
L Hawkins 2 2 0 0 1 1 0 3.86
TAMPA BAY ip h r er bb so hr era
T Corcoran 3 7 3 3 4 3 0 3.09
S Camp (W, 3-0) 2 3 0 0 0 1 0 4.98
J Switzer 1 3 2 2 1 0 0 3.65
R Lugo 1/3 2 4 4 2 0 0 4.34
C Harville 1/3 2 3 3 1 0 0 7.28
B Meadows (S, 5) 2 1/3 5 0 0 1 1 0 3.76
J Switzer pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.
WP - J Switzer, T Williams. Pitches-strikes: R Lopez 95-60; K Birkins 24-13;
C Britton 5-4; T Williams 26-12; B Chen 4-3; L Hawkins 32-20; T Corcoran 82-49;
S Camp 31-20; J Switzer 24-17; R Lugo 21-10; C Harville 16-9; B Meadows 38-26.
Ground balls-fly balls: R Lopez 4-4; K Birkins 0-1; C Britton 0-0; T Williams
1-1; B Chen 0-0; L Hawkins 1-4; T Corcoran 2-1; S Camp 5-0; J Switzer 3-0; R
Lugo 0-1; C Harville 1-0; B Meadows 4-2. Batters faced: R Lopez 24; K Birkins
5; C Britton 1; T Williams 6; B Chen 1; L Hawkins 9; T Corcoran 17; S Camp 7; J
Switzer 6; R Lugo 5; C Harville 4; B Meadows 12.
UMPIRES: HP--Brian Onora. 1B--Chuck Meriwether. 2B--Phil Cuzzi. 3B--Jerry
Crawford.
T--4:09. Att--17,347. Weather: INDOORS
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.
Hitter Pitcher True Dist. Std. Dist. HR # Bradley, Milton OAK Ledezma, Wilfredo DET 440 450 5 Williams, Bernie NYY Lilly, Ted TOR 420 419 7 Atkins, Garrett COL Gonzalez, Enrique ARI 430 417 13 Miller, Damian MIL Mays, Joe CIN 435 415 6 Gonzalez, Luis ARI Mesa, Jose COL 427 414 8 Tracy, Chad ARI Fogg, Josh COL 423 411 14 Berkman, Lance HOU Hernandez, Orlando NYM 418 410 26 Hall, Bill MIL Weathers, David CIN 415 404 20 Ramirez, Aramis CHC Hernandez, Livan WAS 420 401 20 Quentin, Carlos ARI Fogg, Josh COL 413 401 2 Escobar, Alex WAS Ohman, Will CHC 409 396 3 Edmonds, Jim STL Sele, Aaron LAD 434 395 15 Hatteberg, Scott CIN Bush, Dave MIL 408 395 9 Freel, Ryan CIN Bush, Dave MIL 384 394 6 Lowell, Mike BOS Hernandez, Felix SEA 376 393 13 Konerko, Paul CWS Koronka, John TEX 386 390 24 Cameron, Mike SD Schmidt, Jason SF 382 389 13 Hinske, Eric TOR Wang, Chien-Ming NYY 389 388 9 Freel, Ryan CIN Gonzalez, Geremi MIL 386 387 7 Carroll, Jamey COL Gonzalez, Enrique ARI 397 385 4 Hafner, Travis CLE Baker, Scott MIN 358 382 29 Kearns, Austin WAS Marshall, Sean CHC 399 381 17 Nady, Xavier NYM Backe, Brandon HOU 413 378 14 Ramirez, Aramis CHC Hernandez, Livan WAS 396 377 21 Lugo, Julio TB Birkins, Kurt BAL 378 377 12 Branyan, Russell TB Birkins, Kurt BAL 378 377 11 Duncan, Chris STL Beimel, Joe LAD 414 376 6 Kotsay, Mark OAK Miner, Zach DET 370 375 7 Pujols, Albert STL Sele, Aaron LAD 407 367 32 Wilson, Preston HOU Hernandez, Orlando NYM 364 358 9 Lugo, Julio TB Lopez, Rodrigo BAL 352 351 11 Scutaro, Marco OAK Colon, Roman DET NA NA 2
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 ARI A+ Jon Zeringue LF 4 3 0 0 1 0 0 CIN AA Javier Colina 2B 4 3 0 0 1 0 1 HOU A+ Louis Santangelo C 5 4 0 0 3 0 0 4 RBI HOU AA Mark Saccomanno 3B 3 3 2 0 1 1 0 3 runs scored LA A Lucas May LF 3 2 1 0 1 1 0 4 RBI NYY A+ Edwar Gonzalez RF 4 3 0 0 2 0 0 4 RBI OAK A+ Tommy Everidge 1B 5 4 2 0 0 0 0 .519 OBP during past week PHI A Clay Harris DH 5 4 1 0 1 0 1 PIT A+ Pedro Powell CF 2 2 0 0 0 2 0 SF AA Tyler Von Schell 1B 3 2 1 0 1 2 0 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes BAL AA Beau Hale 5.2 1 0 0 5 3 0 BOS AAA Jason Johnson 7.0 4 1 1 5 1 1 COL MLB Tommy Phelps 6.0 4 0 0 3 0 0 DET A+ Andrew Kown 8.0 6 1 1 5 2 0 HOU A- Victor Garate 3.0 0 0 0 8 0 0 1.31 ERA over past month HOU AAA Jason Hirsh 6.0 2 0 0 4 3 0 1 ER allowed over last 32 IP KC AA Billy Buckner 7.0 5 0 0 5 1 0 LA MLB Aaron Tressler 8.0 3 1 1 9 1 0 PIT AA Ron Chiavacci 5.0 2 2 0 9 1 0
Player News
Player news items are provided by CBS SportsLine.com.
Michael Young’s two-run, two-out single produced the winning margin in the Rangers’ 3-1 win over the White Sox. Young is now batting .429 this season (15-for-35) with two outs and runners in scoring position. That’s the second-highest average in the majors this season in such situations (minimum: 25 at-bats) to Freddy Sanchez’s .459.
Plus, Young is batting .727 (8-for-11) in the situations mentioned above when it’s the potential tying or go-ahead run that is in scoring position. That’s the highest batting average in the majors in those situations (minimum: 10 at-bats), ahead of Melvin Mora (.667, 10-for-15), Manny Ramirez (.636, 7-for-11) and David Ortiz (.600, 6-for-10). (Source: Elias)
Derek Jeter drew a bases-loaded walk from Justin Speier with two outs in the seventh inning to give the Yankees the go-ahead and eventual game-deciding run in their 5-4 triumph at Toronto. It was the 12th time this season that the Bombers have scored with a bases-loaded walk, the highest total for any major-league team.
The San Diego Padres found the bullpen help they were seeking, acquiring right-hander Scott Williamson on Saturday from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for two minor league pitchers. The Cubs received Class-A pitchers Fabian Jimenez and Joel Santo in the deal.
The Mets’ Xavier Nady fought back from an 0-2 count to blast a three-run homer in the fourth inning to overcome an early 3-1 Houston lead. Nady is the major leagues’ leading hitter this season (minimum: 50 at-bats) on at-bats during which he has fallen behind in the count, 0-2. In those at-bats — in which the overall big-league batting average hovers just above .180 — Nady has collected 19 hits in 52 at-bats for a .365 batting average. But Saturday’s homer marked the first time this season that the X-Man had battled back from a no-balls-two-strikes count to connect for a four-bagger. (Elias)
Placido Polanco went 4-for-5 in the Tigers’ loss to Oakland. In 16 career games against the Athletics, Polanco is now batting .493 (33-for-67), the highest batting average against a particular team by any active major-leaguer with at least 50 at-bats against that team. (Elias)
The Cincinnati Reds placed Kent Mercker on the 15-day disabled list on Saturday due to a sore elbow. It has been troubling him over the past few days and is the same injury which forced him to the DL from May 14-25.
Chris Bootcheck was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake, as the team activated veteran Kelvin Escobar (elbow) from the 15-day disabled list. Escobar (elbow) allowed three earned runs and nine hits over seven strong innings. He also walked two and struck out three in the quality start, but he did not figure into the decision with the game being decided in extra innings.
Manager Clint Hurdle decided to shake things up for Saturday’s game at Arizona, promoting Garrett Atkins into the third spot of the order and moving Todd Helton down to the five-hole. Atkins responded with a 1-for-4 effort, including a two-run home run (14). “Right now, our best hitter’s Garrett Atkins,” Hurdle said. “It gives us a little different look. We’ve got nothing to lose.”
The San Francisco Giants optioned Santos to Triple-A Fresno and transferred Tim Worrell (neck) from the 15-day to the 60-day disabled listto make room for newly-acquired Shea Hillenbrand and Vinnie Chulk.
Hillenbrand made his debut for the San Francisco Giants on Saturday, singling in his first at-bat against the Padres. He also had a run scored and a strikeout. “I have a little bit different humor than people perceive,” Hillenbrand said. “Sometimes that can be misconstrued. The things I was doing were innocent with teammates. That’s in the past. I just want to put that behind me and thank the Giants up and down for giving me the opportunity to come play here and hopefully help them win.”
The Royals optioned Peralta to Triple-A Omaha on Saturday. He was 1-2 with a 4.63 ERA in 38 games with the Royals.
Bobby Jenks allowed two earned runs, two hits and three walks in an inning of work in Saturday’s game against the Rangers to take the loss and fall to 2-2.
Despite saying earlier this month that he would monitor the innings of rookie Justin Verlander closely, manager Jim Leyland said he wasn’t concerned about it. Verlander (12-4) has pitched 123 2-3 innings this year after throwing 130 in 2005, his only previous professional season. “You’ve got a problem if you’re worried about that,” Leyland said
If Mike Maroth (elbow) can return from the 15-day disabled list in mid-August, manageR Jim Leyland said a six-man rotation would be an option to give each starter an extra day of rest.
Blue Jays general manager J.P. Riccardi said Saturday that Alex Rios is expected to return to the team Aug. 1 at New York. Rios hasn’t played in a month because of an infection in his left leg.
Struggling Alex Rodriguez was the Yankees’ designated hitter Saturday at Toronto after committing five errors in five games — and his woes shifted to the plate. He went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts, including one with the bases loaded in the sixth.
Normally reliable shortstop Alex Gonzalez’s sixth-inning throwing error allowed Eduardo Perez to score the tiebreaking run, spoiling Kason Gabbard’s major league debut and helping the Seattle Mariners beat the Boston Red Sox 5-2 on Saturday. Gabbard, 24, allowed three runs — two earned — and eight hits in his 5 1/3 innings while slinging the ball from over the top, nearly sidearm and many angles in between. He walked two and struck out three in just his sixth start above Double-A.
Pedro Martinez, on the disabled list with a sore right hip, threw 80 pitches in a simulated game Saturday and said he felt strong. He threw all his pitches and said he’d like to start next weekend in Atlanta, as long as he keeps feeling good.
Houston starter Brandon Backe came off the disabled list and lasted four innings in his first start in more than three months Saturday at the N.Y. Mets. Backe blew an early 3-0 lead when he surrendered a home run to Cliff Floyd that gave the Mets a 4-3 lead. “I had it tonight. I just let it slip away with one pitch, a slider,” Backe said. He allowed four runs, four hits and four walks in his first outing since April 13 in San Francisco. The right-hander left that start after only two innings because of soreness in his pitching elbow and wound up on the 60-day DL with a sprained right elbow.
Popular backup catcher Sal Fasano was designated for assignment by the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday. Assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said the Phillies have to trade, release or send Fasano outright to the minors by July 31. Fasano was placed on the disabled list on July 4 with left knee inflammation.
Aramis Ramirez hit solo home runs in the first and fifth innings Saturday at Washington, giving the third baseman two consecutive two-homer games.
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