THT Daily: Pennant Action
Major League News for September 10
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Game of the Day
Yesterday’s Home Runs
Player News
Stats
Yesterday’s Results
American League NYA 3 BAL 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Wang: 7.1 IP, 1 R; Loewen: 7 IP, 2 R KC 10 BOS 4 (Recap and Boxscore) 12 innings; KC: 5 straight vs. BOS TB 9 OAK 6 (Recap and Boxscore) CHA 10 CLE 8 (Recap and Boxscore) Konerko: 2 HR, 5 RBI; Dye: 2B, 3B, HR MIN 2 DET 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Boof: 7 IP, 1 R TOR 2 LAA 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Chacin: 7 IP, 1 R; Escobar: 7 IP, 2 R SEA 3 TEX 2 (Recap and Boxscore) 13 innings; Washburn: 6 IP, 1 R National League ATL 7 CHN 3 (Recap and Boxscore) James: 7 IP, 3 R FLA 4 PHI 3 (Recap and Boxscore) 10 innings; Utley: 2 HR; Uggla: 1 HR NYN 3 LAN 2 (Recap and Boxscore) El Duque: 7 IP, 2 R PIT 7 CIN 4 (Recap and Boxscore) HOU 10 MIL 4 (Recap and Boxscore) Berkman: 2 HR, 4 RBI, Hirsh: 6 IP, 2 R ARI 3 STL 0 (Recap and Boxscore) Webb: 9 IP, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 H (Rolen in the 4th) COL 9 WAS 5 (Recap and Boxscore) Holliday: 3-4, 4 RBI SF 5 SD 4 (Recap and Boxscore)
Today’s Games
Visitors Home Starts PHI - Hamels C.* (7-7, 4.33) FLA - Willis D.* (9-11, 3.93) 1:05 CHC - Mateo J. (1-2, 5.10) ATL - Cormier L. (2-4, 5.26) 1:05 LAD - Stults E.* (0-0, 9.00) NYM - Trachsel S. (14-6, 5.02) 1:10 OAK - Zito B.* (15-9, 3.79) TB - Seo J. (1-6, 4.13) 1:15 PIT - Youman S.* (0-0, -) CIN - Arroyo B. (12-9, 3.33) 1:15 NYY - Wright J. (9-7, 4.62) BAL - Penn H. (0-1, 108.00) 1:35 CLE - Sabathia C.* (10-9, 3.31) CWS - Vazquez J. (11-9, 4.80) 2:05 HOU - Rodriguez W.* (9-8, 5.43) MIL - Bush D. (10-10, 4.66) 2:05 KC - Redman M.* (9-8, 5.26) BOS - Tavarez J. (2-4, 4.72) 2:05 DET - Bonderman J. (11-7, 4.02) MIN - Santana J.* (17-5, 2.84) 2:10 WAS - Astacio P. (3-5, 5.83) COL - Francis J.* (11-11, 3.79) 3:05 TOR - Halladay R. (16-5, 3.22) LAA - Weaver J. (10-2, 2.16) 3:35 TEX - Eaton A. (5-4, 4.93) SEA - Hernandez F. (11-13, 4.70) 4:05 STL - Suppan J. (11-7, 4.39) ARI - Gonzalez E. (3-7, 5.64) 4:40 SD - Williams W. (7-5, 3.91) SF - Hennessey B. (5-4, 3.72) 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 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 84 56 .600 0.0 82 2BOS 75 67 .528 10.0 71 4
TOR 74 68 .521 11.0 74 0
BAL 62 79 .440 22.5 61 1
TB 57 85 .401 28.0 58 -1
American League Central DET 86 57 .601 0.0 86 0
MIN 82 59 .582 3.0 78 4
CHA 82 60 .577 3.5 80 2
CLE 67 74 .475 18.0 78 -11
KC 54 89 .378 32.0 55 -1
American League West OAK 81 60 .574 0.0 75 6
LAA 76 66 .535 5.5 74 2
TEX 72 71 .503 10.0 75 -3
SEA 68 73 .482 13.0 68 0
National League East Pwins Diff NYN 88 53 .624 0.0 83 5
PHI 72 70 .507 16.5 73 -1
FLA 71 71 .500 17.5 71 0
ATL 68 73 .482 20.0 73 -5
WAS 61 81 .430 27.5 60 1
National League Central STL 75 66 .532 0.0 71 4
HOU 70 71 .496 5.0 72 -2
CIN 70 72 .493 5.5 68 2
MIL 64 78 .451 11.5 62 2
PIT 58 85 .406 18.0 61 -3
CHN 56 86 .394 19.5 58 -2
National League West LAN 75 67 .528 0.0 76 -1
SD 73 68 .518 1.5 72 1
SF 72 70 .507 3.0 72 0
ARI 67 75 .472 8.0 69 -2
COL 66 76 .465 9.0 71 -5
Wildcard Standings American League MIN 82 59 .582 0.0 CHA 82 60 .577 0.5 LAA 76 66 .535 6.5 BOS 75 67 .528 7.5 TOR 74 68 .521 8.5 National League SD 73 68 .518 0.0 PHI 72 70 .507 1.5 SF 72 70 .507 1.5 FLA 71 71 .500 2.5 HOU 70 71 .496 3.0
Game of the Day
There were a lot of dramatic games yesterday, with lots of impact on the pennant races. Our pick is San Francisco’s 5-4 victory over San Diego in 11 innings. This game featured two races in one: the Padres now lead the wildcard by 1.5 games and the Giants are 1.5 games behind them. With the Dodgers’ loss to the Mets, both teams are also within three games of first in the NL West.
The key winning hit was Ray Durham’s one-out triple in the 11th. After two intentional walks, he scored on a fielder’s choice by Mark Sweeney. Earlier in the game, Barry Bonds hit his 731st career home run. He has hit more home runs against San Diego (85) than any other team.
San Diego’s Cla Meredith pitched two innings Saturday and established a franchise record with 31 straight scoreless innings, topping Randy Jones’ mark of 30 set in 1980. Meredith’s stretch is the longest in the majors this year. It’s also the longest scoreless streak by a rookie relief pitcher in the live-ball era, breaking a mark set by Jeff Zimmerman of the Rangers in 1999.
SAN DIEGO (4) VS SAN FRANCISCO (5) - FINAL IN 11 INNINGS
SAN DIEGO ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
D Roberts cf-lf 5 0 0 0 0 1 2 .302
B Giles rf 5 1 1 1 0 1 1 .265
T Walker 3b 3 0 1 1 1 1 0 .280
M Alexander pr-3b 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .182
J Bard c 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 .318
A Gonzalez 1b 4 1 1 0 0 2 2 .285
e-M Piazza ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .281
K Greene pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .247
R Seanez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
T Sledge lf 3 1 1 2 0 2 1 .235
c-M Cameron ph-cf 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 .261
G Blum ss 5 0 2 0 0 1 3 .248
J Barfield 2b 5 0 1 0 0 2 2 .282
D Wells p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
a-J Cust ph 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1.000
J Adkins p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b-P McAnulty ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .250
C Meredith p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
d-R Branyan ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .393
S Linebrink p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
M Bellhorn 1b 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .194
Totals 40 4 10 4 2 12 14
a-singled to right for D Wells in the 6th; b-flied out to right for J Adkins
in the 7th; c-walked for T Sledge in the 8th; d-struck out swinging for C
Meredith in the 9th; e-singled to left for A Gonzalez in the 11th.
BATTING: HR - T Sledge (2, 7th inning off J Schmidt 1 on, 0 Out), B Giles (13,
8th inning off J Schmidt 0 on, 0 Out). S - J Bard , D Wells. RBI - T Walker
(48), T Sledge 2 (5), B Giles (68). 2-out RBI - T Walker. Runners left in
scoring position, 2 out - G Blum 1, B Giles 1. GIDP - M Cameron. Team LOB - 7.
SAN FRANCISCO ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
R Winn cf 5 0 0 0 0 1 0 .256
O Vizquel ss 5 0 0 0 0 1 0 .303
S Hillenbrand 1b 5 2 3 0 0 1 0 .249
B Bonds lf 5 1 2 2 0 0 1 .260
R Durham 2b 5 2 2 0 0 0 1 .298
M Alou rf 4 0 1 1 1 0 1 .294
P Feliz 3b 4 0 1 0 1 0 2 .250
T Greene c 4 0 1 1 0 0 1 .277
b-M Sweeney ph 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 .255
J Schmidt p 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 .129
S Kline p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
V Chulk p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
a-S Finley ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .247
M Stanton p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 42 5 10 5 2 5 8
a-struck out swinging for V Chulk in the 9th; b-grounded into fielder's choice
to second for T Greene in the 11th.
BATTING: 3B - R Durham (7, R Seanez). HR - B Bonds (23, 1st inning off D Wells
1 on, 2 Out). RBI - B Bonds 2 (64), M Alou (57), T Greene (13), M Sweeney (35).
2-out RBI - B Bonds 2, T Greene. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J
Schmidt 1. Team LOB - 8.
FIELDING: DP: 1 (O Vizquel-R Durham-S Hillenbrand).
----------------------------------------------------
SAN DIEGO - 000 001 210 00 -- 4
SAN FRANCISCO - 200 200 000 01 -- 5
One out when winning run scored.
----------------------------------------------------
SAN DIEGO ip h r er bb so hr era
D Wells 5 7 4 4 0 2 1 4.09
J Adkins 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3.24
C Meredith 2 1 0 0 0 2 0 0.70
S Linebrink 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 3.62
R Seanez (L, 1-1) 1/3 1 1 1 2 0 0 5.40
SAN FRANCISCO ip h r er bb so hr era
J Schmidt 7 8 4 4 1 10 2 3.45
S Kline 2/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 3.30
V Chulk 1 1/3 0 0 0 1 1 0 4.32
M Stanton (W, 6-6) 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 4.00
J Schmidt pitched to 2 batters in the 8th.
IBB - M Alou (by R Seanez), P Feliz (by R Seanez). Pitches-strikes: D Wells
74-54; J Adkins 8-6; C Meredith 31-20; S Linebrink 17-11; R Seanez 22-10; J
Schmidt 98-66; S Kline 8-5; V Chulk 23-14; M Stanton 14-9. Ground balls-fly
balls: D Wells 4-9; J Adkins 0-3; C Meredith 2-2; S Linebrink 1-4; R Seanez
1-1; J Schmidt 6-5; S Kline 1-0; V Chulk 2-1; M Stanton 3-3. Batters faced: D
Wells 22; J Adkins 4; C Meredith 7; S Linebrink 6; R Seanez 5; J Schmidt 30; S
Kline 2; V Chulk 5; M Stanton 7.
UMPIRES: HP--Doug Eddings. 1B--Jim Joyce. 2B--Paul Emmel. 3B--Paul Schrieber.
T--2:54. Att--38,680.
Weather: 64 degrees, overcast. Wind: 14 mph, out to 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 # Konerko, Paul CWS Carmona, Fausto CLE 448 466 31 Dye, Jermaine CWS Slocum, Brian CLE 442 452 41 Berkman, Lance HOU Helling, Rick MIL 441 435 39 LaRoche, Adam ATL Miller, Wade CHC 436 428 30 Hart, Corey MIL Borkowski, Dave HOU 425 420 8 Sledge, Terrmel SD Schmidt, Jason SF 433 419 2 Atkins, Garrett COL Ortiz, Ramon WAS 435 414 24 Scott, Luke HOU Spurling, Chris MIL 414 409 5 Uribe, Juan CWS Carmona, Fausto CLE 393 408 18 Konerko, Paul CWS Slocum, Brian CLE 396 406 32 Holliday, Matt COL Ortiz, Ramon WAS 422 404 27 McCann, Brian ATL Miller, Wade CHC 407 404 19 Bonds, Barry SF Wells, David SD 436 403 23 Quentin, Carlos ARI Marquis, Jason STL 404 395 7 Berkman, Lance HOU Ohka, Tomo MIL 399 393 38 Phillips, Brandon CIN Maholm, Paul PIT 398 393 16 Uggla, Dan FLA Myers, Brett PHI 380 388 23 Doumit, Ryan PIT Harang, Aaron CIN 393 386 4 Kouzmanoff, Kevin CLE Hermanson, Dustin CWS 377 386 3 Millar, Kevin BAL Farnsworth, Kyle NYY 391 384 12 Thomas, Frank OAK Howell, J.P. TB 384 383 34 Norton, Greg TB Loaiza, Esteban OAK 380 379 14 Delgado, Carlos NYM Maddux, Greg LAD 382 377 37 Everett, Adam HOU Gonzalez, Geremi MIL 376 371 5 Utley, Chase PHI Moehler, Brian FLA 367 368 27 Matthews, Gary TEX Putz, J.J. SEA 363 368 16 Soriano, Alfonso WAS Fogg, Josh COL 385 367 45 Murton, Matt CHC James, Chuck ATL 367 366 11 Bay, Jason PIT Harang, Aaron CIN 368 364 32 Bell, David MIL Hirsh, Jason HOU 368 363 8 Utley, Chase PHI Moehler, Brian FLA 340 352 28 Pedroia, Dustin BOS Hudson, Luke KC 384 347 1 Jones, Andruw ATL Ryu, Jae Kuk CHC 353 337 33 Giles, Marcus SD Schmidt, Jason SF 350 327 13 Keppinger, Jeff KC Delcarmen, Manny BOS 311 291 1
Player News
Player news items are provided by CBS SportsLine.com.
Brandon Webb pitched a one-hitter for his third shutout of the season, leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 3-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday night. Webb (15-6) did not allow a runner past second base and got 16 groundball outs for his second win since Aug. 17. It was also his fourth complete game of the season. The game lasted 1 hour, 54 minutes, and was the Diamondbacks’ second straight win and third in 11 games. Webb retired the first eight hitters, before allowing Marquis to reach when his comebacker glanced off first baseman Jackson’s glove for an error. Pujols reached on an error in the fourth when third baseman Chad Tracy dropped his grounder and then threw just wide at first, pulling Jackson off the bag. However, picked off Pujols, who was tagged out by second baseman Orlando Hudson. Scott Rolen followed with a double to center, before Webb struck out Preston Wilson to end the inning. Webb then retired the next 11 to face him before hitting pinch-hitter John Rodriguez in the eighth and then getting pinch-hitter Scott Spiezio to ground back to the box.
SP Boof Bonser brought the Minnesota Twins a little bit closer in the tightening three-team race in the AL Central. Bonser struck out five and allowed only five hits in seven strong innings, leading the Twins to a 2-1 victory Saturday over the Detroit Tigers that closed the gap in the standings to three games. It was Bonser’s fifth win of the season.
Marlins 2B Dan Uggla homered and drove in three runs for Florida on Saturday as the Fish won 4-3 in 10. Florida moved within 2 1/2 games of the NL wild card-leading San Diego. Philadelphia 2B Chase Utley hit two homers Saturday for the Phillies. According to Elias, it was the first time two players whose last names start with “U” homered in the same game.
Cleveland Indians designated hitter Travis Hafner will miss the rest of the season with a broken right hand. He suffered the injury on Sept. 1 when Rangers right-hander C.J. Wilson hit him on the hand with a pitch in the eighth inning. X-rays were initially negative and Hafner was listed as day to day. He continued to feel more pain and a second X-ray before Friday night’s game against the Chicago White Sox revealed the fracture.
Twins SP Francisco Liriano pitched three scoreless innings Saturday for the Twins Triple-A team the Rochester Red Wings. He struck out four and did not allow one hit. But he did walk one batter.
SP Orlando Hernandez allowed one earned run in seven innings to lead the N.Y. Mets to a 3-2 victory over the L.A. Dodgers Saturday. Hernandez (10-10) was masterful, keeping the Dodgers off balance with changeups, curves and sliders that hovered in the 70-80 mph range, and fastballs that reached the low 90s. After Rafael Furcal’s leadoff double on the second pitch of the game, El Duque retired 15 straight hitters before running into trouble in the sixth. Hernandez worked around a leadoff walk in the seventh and finished by getting Marlon Anderson on a broken-bat grounder to end the inning. He yielded four hits and struck out six. David Wright went 3-for-3, including a go-ahead, two-run single.
When Gustavo Chacin was a prospect in the Toronto Blue Jays’ minor league system, Kelvim Escobar was one of his mentors. Chacin showed he was paying attention, outdueling the Los Angeles Angels’ right-hander with seven strong innings Saturday night in the first matchup between the two Venezuelan pitchers in a 2-1 victory that snapped the Angels’ six-game winning streak. Chacin (8-3) threw just 87 pitches, allowing a run and six hits in his fourth start since coming off the disabled list and escaping a bases-loaded jam in the first inning. The left-hander is 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA in four career starts against the Angels. Chacin has been limited to 14 starts and 71 innings because of elbow problems that landed him on the DL twice while missing 11½ weeks.
Chien-Ming Wang pitched effectively into the eighth inning to earn his 17th victory, and Derek Jeter had two hits and an RBI to help the New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-2 Saturday. Wang (17-5) allowed one run and eight hits in 7 1/3 innings, striking out one and walking none. He permitted only one runner past second base despite retiring the side in order just twice. Adam Loewen gave up two runs and six hits in seven innings with six Ks in a tough-luck loss.
According to MLB.com, Hideki Matsui will rejoin the Yankees on Sunday in Baltimore and could be back in the starting lineup on Monday night. Matsui played his final rehab game for Double-A Trenton on Saturday.
Jason Bay homered and drove in three runs to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 7-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday night. He now has 32 home runs and 101 RBI on the campaign.
Matt Holliday homered and hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the seventh inning to lead the Colorado Rockies to a 9-5 victory over the Washington Nationals on Saturday night. Holliday was 3-for-4 with four RBI, including his 27th home run of the season.
Alfonso Soriano hit his 45th home run of the season to set the Washington Nationals’ single-season franchise record. The homer came with one out on the fourth inning on a 1-2 pitch from Colorado Rockies starter Josh Fogg.
Jon Garland pitched six innings to help the Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians 10-8 Saturday night. Garland yielded five hits and one run for his 17th victory, tying Minnesota’s Johan Santana and the Yankees’ Chien-Ming Wang for the major league lead. He struck out six and didn’t walk a batter.
Fausto Carmona gave up five runs and seven hits in three innings for a loss on Saturday against Chicago. It was Carmona’s first start in the majors since being demoted after serving as the Indians’ closer for a brief stretch. In a six-day span from July 31-Aug. 5, Carmona blew all three of his save opportunities, allowing seven runs and five hits – including two game-ending homers.
Jason Hirsh pitched six-plus strong innings to lead the Houston Astros to a 10-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday. Hirsh (3-3) gave up four hits, two earned runs, three walks and struck out four while starting for Roger Clemens, who remains day-to-day after he left Monday’s game with a strained right groin.
If not for Ryan Howard, Adam LaRoche might be the MVP of the second half in the National League. LaRoche ranks third in the league in batting average since the All-Star break (.363), behind Howard (.370) and Luke Scott (.369); second in slugging percentage (.774) behind Howard (.840); third in home runs (17) behind Howard (28) and Alfonso Soriano (18); and second in RBI (46) behind Howard (67).
N.Y. Yankees SS Derek Jeter extended his career-high hitting streak to 19 games Saturday, the longest by a Yankee since Bernie Williams also hit in 19 straight Aug. 7-28, 2002
Chuck James (9-3), who went to spring training as a longshot to make Atlanta’s pitching staff, has given a boost to an injury plagued rotation. The rookie left-hander has won five straight decisions, allowing no more than two earned runs in seven straight starts. He lasted seven innings against the Cubs, giving up six hits and three runs (two earned) on Saturday in a win over chicago. James struck out six and walked only one.
The New York Post reports that Mariano Rivera (elbow) threw 40 tosses from about 90 feet to pitching coach Ron Guidry Friday. “It’s a little bit tight,” Rivera said. “It’s better (Friday). There is less tightness. That’s the good news. The more I threw it got looser. It felt much better.”
Pedro Martinez felt good after a four-inning simulated game Saturday, and the New York Mets ace is on track to return to the rotation next week.
Mets 2B Jose Valentin hasn’t committed an error in 59 games, the longest streak this season by an NL second baseman and the best by a Mets second baseman since Edgardo Alfonzo went 75 games in 1999, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Oakland right-hander Rich Harden, out since June 5 with a sprained ligament in his right elbow, is scheduled to throw a simulated game on Monday. “He’s at the point where he needs to start,” Davis said. “Whether it’s with the instructional league team or whatever, we have to be imaginative because of the time.” Harden is 3-0 with a 3.86 ERA in six starts this season.
Oakland center fielder Mark Kotsay will return to the Bay Area to get treatment for his injured back and is not expected to play until Friday. Kotsay missed six games with back spasms from Aug. 7-13. He has appeared in 17 of the Athletics’ last 29 games. “The way he is now, there’s no conceivable way he can play in the next few days,” Oakland trainer Larry Davis said. “Now is not the time to be conservative. We have to be aggressive.” Kotsay is hitting .274 with seven homers and 53 RBI in 115 games.
Rockies catcher Yorvit Torrealba will miss the rest of the season with a strained right shoulder. Torrealba left Thursday’s game against Washington in the top of the eighth inning. He had an MRI exam and Colorado manager Clint Hurdle said Saturday that he was shut down for the year. Torrealba hit .247 with seven home runs and 43 RBIs in 65 games with the Rockies this season.
Phillies CF Aaron Rowand was scheduled to get the cast taken off his fractured ankle Friday, but it’s doubtful that he’ll be ready to take the field for the rest of the regular season.
Los Angeles Dodgers 2B Julio Lugo will be a free-agent after the season and said he would consider signing with the N.Y. Mets this winter. Before Tampa Bay traded him to Los Angeles, the Mets had some interest. Second base could be an interesting scenario as Mets 2B Jose Valentin has been exceptional since taking the job from Kaz Matsui.
OF Jeff DaVanon underwent ankle surgery this week and is expected to be back in time for spring training.
RHP Tim Hudson had better control of his sinker Friday night thanks to an accidental discovery he made in his previous outing at Philadelphia. Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer dug out such a big hole on the first-base side of the rubber that Hudson was forced to move over to the third-base side. “I liked it,” Hudson said. “The action on my sinker was a lot better. I don’t know if it was because it was making me stay closed longer or what. But it was pretty good.”
LHP Barry Zito, Sunday’s scheduled starter at Tampa Bay, is 5-0 with a 1.78 ERA in his last five road starts. He is 10-2 overall this season in road games, compared to 5-7 at home.
Baltimore 1B Kevin Millar has hit .351 (27-for-77) in his last 24 games.
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