THT Daily: Penultimate Day

Major League News for October 1

Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Game of the Day
Yesterday’s Home Runs
Player News
Stats

Yesterday’s Results

American League
BAL     5  BOS     4    (Recap and Boxscore) Millar: GW 2R single in ninth
TOR     6  NYA     5    (Recap and Boxscore) Jeter: 3-3
CLE     6  TB      1    (Recap and Boxscore) Blake: 2 HR; Westbrook: 7 IP, 1 R
KC      9  DET     6    (Recap and Boxscore)
CHA     6  MIN     3    (Recap and Boxscore) Garland: 8.1 IP, 3 R
LAA     7  OAK     6    (Recap and Boxscore) LAA: 4 R in 8th to win; LAA bullpen: 8.1 IP, 1 R
SEA     3  TEX     1    (Recap and Boxscore) Beltre: 2 HR, 3 RBI; Hernandez: 7 IP, 1 R

National League
HOU     5  ATL     4    (Recap and Boxscore) Pettitte: 7 IP, 1 R
PHI     4  FLA     3    (Recap and Boxscore) PHI bullpen: 7.1 IP, 0 R
NYN    13  WAS     0    (Recap and Boxscore) Franco: 5 RBI; Glavine: 6 IP, 0 R
COL    11  CHN     9    (Recap and Boxscore) 14 innings, 20 pitchers; Hawpe: 2 2B, HR
PIT     3  CIN     0    (Recap and Boxscore) McLeary: 7 IP, 0 R
STL     3  MIL     2    (Recap and Boxscore) See below
SD      3  ARI     1    (Recap and Boxscore) Wells: 6 IP, 0 R
LAN     4  SF      2    (Recap and Boxscore) Maddux: 7 IP, 2 R

Today’s Games

Visitors                         Home                              Starts
TB - Hammel J. (0-5, 7.45)       CLE - Lee C.* (13-11, 4.46)         1:05
PHI - Myers B. (12-7, 3.94)      FLA - Willis D.* (12-12, 3.89)      1:05
TOR - McGowan D. (1-2, 7.66)     NYY - Wright J. (11-7, 4.39)        1:05
KC - Perez O.* (2-4, 5.06)       DET - Bonderman J. (14-8, 3.99)     1:05
NYM - Perez O.* (3-13, 6.71)     WAS - Ortiz R. (11-15, 5.32)        1:05
HOU - Sampson C. (2-0, 2.10)     ATL - Smoltz J. (15-9, 3.58)        1:05
CIN - Belisle M. (2-0, 4.24)     PIT - Youman S.* (0-2, 4.30)        1:35
BAL - Penn H. (0-3, 13.76)       BOS - Hansack D. (0-1, 5.40)        2:05
CWS - Vazquez J. (11-11, 4.77)   MIN - Baker S. (5-8, 6.37)          2:10
MIL - Villanueva C. (1-2, 3.97)  STL - Carpenter C. (15-8, 3.09)     2:15
COL - Jimenez U. (0-0, 0.00)     CHC - Miller W. (0-2, 3.57)         2:20
OAK - Harden R. (4-0, 3.35)      LAA - Moseley D. (1-0, 5.14)        3:35
LAD - Stults E.* (1-0, 6.39)     SF - Schmidt J. (11-9, 3.56)        4:05
TEX - Tejeda R. (5-4, 4.19)      SEA - Woods J.* (6-4, 4.27)         4:05
SD - Williams W. (11-5, 3.57)    ARI - Webb B. (16-7, 2.88)          4:40

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     97  64 .602    0.0   96      1      
TOR     86  75 .534   11.0   86      0      
BOS     85  76 .528   12.0   79      6      
BAL     70  91 .435   27.0   69      1      
TB      61 100 .379   36.0   64     -3      
American League Central
MIN     95  66 .590    0.0   92      3      
DET     95  66 .590    0.0   96     -1      
CHA     90  71 .559    5.0   88      2      
CLE     77  84 .478   18.0   89     -12     
KC      61 100 .379   34.0   61      0      
American League West
OAK     92  69 .571    0.0   85      7      
LAA     89  72 .553    3.0   84      5      
TEX     80  81 .497   12.0   85     -5      
SEA     77  84 .478   15.0   77      0      

National League East         Pwins Diff
NYN     96  65 .596    0.0   90      6      
PHI     85  76 .528   11.0   86     -1      
ATL     78  83 .484   18.0   84     -6      
FLA     77  84 .478   19.0   79     -2      
WAS     71  90 .441   25.0   69      2      
National League Central
STL     83  77 .519    0.0   82      1      
HOU     82  79 .509    1.5   82      0      
CIN     80  81 .497    3.5   75      5      
MIL     74  87 .460    9.5   70      4      
PIT     66  95 .410   17.5   70     -4      
CHN     65  96 .404   18.5   69     -4      
National League West
SD      87  74 .540    0.0   86      1      
LAN     87  74 .540    0.0   87      0      
SF      76  84 .475   10.5   76      0      
COL     76  85 .472   11.0   81     -5      
ARI     76  85 .472   11.0   79     -3      

Wildcard Standings
American League
DET     95  66 .590    0.0
CHA     90  71 .559    5.0
LAA     89  72 .553    6.0
TOR     86  75 .534    9.0
BOS     85  76 .528   10.0
National League
LAN     87  74 .540    0.0
PHI     85  76 .528    2.0
HOU     82  79 .509    5.0
CIN     80  81 .497    7.0
ATL     78  83 .484    9.0

Game of the Day

The Padres and Dodgers both clinched postseason appearances yesterday, but the Cardinals’ 3-2 victory over Milwaukee carried more drama and significance than any other game. The Cardinals were losing 2-0 in the bottom of the eighth when Scott Spiezio his a three-run triple with two out against Coco Cordero to plate the winning runs. Spiezio’s hit was the first pinch-hit triple with the bases loaded this year.

Up to that point, the game had been a tight pitching duel between Jeff Suppan and Ben Sheets. Sheets was particularly dominant, pitching six innings, allowing no runs and striking out seven but was pulled for a pinch hitter when Milwaukee scored its two runs in the seventh.

Either a Cardinal win or an Astro loss today will put St. Louis in the postseason.

MILWAUKEE (2) VS ST LOUIS (3) - FINAL

MILWAUKEE              ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
T Gwynn Jr cf           4  0  1  0   0  0   2  .264
T Graffanino 2b         4  0  0  0   0  1   1  .286
P Fielder 1b            3  0  0  0   1  1   0  .269
B Hall ss               3  0  0  0   1  0   1  .272
G Jenkins rf            4  1  2  0   0  0   1  .266
 F Cordero p            0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
C Hart lf               4  1  1  0   0  2   0  .283
D Bell 3b               4  0  0  0   0  0   3  .270
M Rivera c              1  0  0  0   2  0   0  .261
 b-G Gross ph           0  0  0  0   1  0   0  .274
 D Anderson pr          0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .111
B Sheets p              2  0  0  0   0  0   2  .030
 a-J Cirillo ph         1  0  1  2   0  0   0  .319
 J Capellan p           0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 B Shouse p             0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 B Clark rf             1  0  0  0   0  0   1  .263

Totals                 31  2  5  2   5  4  11

a-singled to center for B Sheets in the 7th;  b-walked for M Rivera in the 
9th.

BATTING: 2B - G Jenkins (26, J Suppan). RBI - J Cirillo 2 (23). 2-out RBI - J 
Cirillo 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - B Sheets 1, T Gwynn Jr 1. 
Team LOB - 7. 
 
BASERUNNING: CS - T Gwynn Jr (1, 2nd base by J Suppan/Y Molina). 
 
ST LOUIS               ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
D Eckstein ss           4  0  1  0   0  0   1  .292
C Duncan rf             3  0  1  0   1  1   0  .293
 S Taguchi cf           0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .266
A Pujols 1b             4  1  2  0   0  0   4  .330
P Wilson lf             4  0  2  0   0  2   2  .264
S Rolen 3b              4  1  1  0   0  2   2  .296
J Edmonds cf            3  0  0  0   0  2   1  .257
 b-J Encarnacion ph-rf  0  1  0  0   1  0   0  .280
R Belliard 2b           4  0  0  0   0  1   6  .240
Y Molina c              3  0  0  0   0  0   2  .217
 c-S Spiezio ph         1  0  1  3   0  0   0  .270
 G Bennett c            0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .223
J Suppan p              2  0  2  0   0  0   0  .218
 a-J Vizcaino ph        1  0  0  0   0  0   0  .234
 T Johnson p            0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 d-J Rodriguez ph       1  0  0  0   0  0   1  .302
 A Wainwright p         0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .500

Totals                 34  3 10  3   2  8  19

a-fouled out to left for J Suppan in the 7th;  b-intentionally walked for J 
Edmonds in the 8th;  c-tripled to deep right for Y Molina in the 8th;  d-fouled 
out to third for T Johnson in the 8th.

BATTING: 2B - A Pujols (33, B Sheets); D Eckstein (18, B Sheets); S Rolen (48, 
J Capellan). 3B - S Spiezio (4, F Cordero). RBI - S Spiezio 3 (51). 2-out RBI - 
S Spiezio 3. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J Rodriguez 1, R 
Belliard 1, P Wilson 1, A Pujols 2, Y Molina 1. Team LOB - 9. 
 
BASERUNNING: SB - P Wilson 2 (12, 2nd base off B Sheets/M Rivera 2). CS - J 
Suppan (1, 2nd base by B Sheets/M Rivera). 
 
----------------------------------------------------
    MILWAUKEE       - 000 000 200   --   2
    ST LOUIS        - 000 000 03x   --   3
----------------------------------------------------

MILWAUKEE                    ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
B Sheets                      6       7   0   0   1   7   0   3.82
J Capellan (H, 16)            1 1/3   2   2   2   0   1   0   4.40
B Shouse (L, 1-3)             0       0   1   1   1   0   0   3.97
F Cordero (B, 2)                2/3   1   0   0   0   0   0   1.38

ST LOUIS                     ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
J Suppan                      7       5   2   2   3   2   0   4.12
T Johnson (W, 2-4)            1       0   0   0   1   1   0   4.95
A Wainwright (S, 3)           1       0   0   0   1   1   0   3.12

B Shouse pitched to 1 batter in the 8th.

WP - B Sheets. IBB - M Rivera (by J Suppan), J Encarnacion (by B Shouse). 
Pitches-strikes: B Sheets 100-79; J Capellan 17-13; B Shouse 4-0; F Cordero 
14-10; J Suppan 104-60; T Johnson 16-9; A Wainwright 18-11. Ground balls-fly 
balls: B Sheets 5-6; J Capellan 2-1; B Shouse 0-0; F Cordero 0-2; J Suppan 9-9; 
T Johnson 0-2; A Wainwright 2-0. Batters faced: B Sheets 26; J Capellan 6; B 
Shouse 1; F Cordero 3; J Suppan 28; T Johnson 4; A Wainwright 4. 
 
UMPIRES: HP--Tim Timmons. 1B--Derryl Cousins. 2B--Jeff Nelson. 3B--Fieldin 
Culbreth. 

T--2:46. Att--44,294. 
Weather: 69 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 5 mph, out to center.

The following graph tracks the game’s Win Probability, courtesy of Fan Graphs.

As an added bonus, check out Atlanta’s pitching boxscore from yesterday:

ATLANTA                      ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
L Cormier                     5 1/3   8   2   2   2   1   2   4.89
C Paronto                       2/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   3.18
O Villarreal                    2/3   2   0   0   0   2   0   3.61
M McBride                     1       0   0   0   1   0   0   3.54
T Yates                         1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   4.07
B Wickman (L, 0-2)              1/3   2   3   0   0   0   0   1.08
W Franklin                      1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   7.04
K Ray                           1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   4.52

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 #
Cameron, Mike     SD     Gonzalez, Edgar   ARI           455       444      22
Willingham, Josh  FLA    Wolf, Randy       PHI           434       444      26
Berkman, Lance    HOU    Cormier, Lance    ATL           472       436      45
Beltre, Adrian    SEA    Millwood, Kevin   TEX           423       429      24
Franco, Julio     NYM    Perez, Beltran    WAS           420       426       2
Cabrera, Miguel   FLA    Wolf, Randy       PHI           409       425      26
Chavez, Endy      NYM    Perez, Beltran    WAS           413       423       4
Sweeney, Mike     KC     Miner, Zach       DET           425       420       8
Rodriguez, Alex   NYY    Marcum, Shaun     TOR           436       415      35
Ramirez, Manny    BOS    Loewen, Adam      BAL           432       413      35
Overbay, Lyle     TOR    Karstens, Jeff    NYY           414       412      22
Holliday, Matt    COL    Mateo, Juan       CHC           405       411      34
Choo, Shin-Soo    CLE    Seo, Jae          TB            427       410       3
Hawpe, Brad       COL    Walrond, Les      CHC           406       409      22
Beltre, Adrian    SEA    Millwood, Kevin   TEX           399       404      25
Green, Shawn      NYM    Schroder, Chris   WAS           392       404      15
Chavez, Eric      OAK    Gregg, Kevin      LAA           410       402      22
Cuddyer, Michael  MIN    Garland, Jon      CWS           407       401      24
Iguchi, Tadahito  CWS    Guerrier, Matt    MIN           406       401      18
Anderson, Garret  LAA    Haren, Dan        OAK           404       399      17
Drew, Stephen     ARI    Meredith, Cla     SD            406       398       5
Carroll, Jamey    COL    Mateo, Juan       CHC           387       397       5
Iannetta, Chris   COL    Wuertz, Michael   CHC           384       397       2
LaRoche, Adam     ATL    Miller, Trever    HOU           427       395      32
Niekro, Lance     SF     Maddux, Greg      LAD           418       394       5
Swisher, Nick     OAK    Saunders, Joe     LAA           398       389      35
Huff, Aubrey      HOU    Cormier, Lance    ATL           414       388      21
Blake, Casey      CLE    Seo, Jae          TB            394       379      18
Teixeira, Mark    TEX    Hernandez, Felix  SEA           375       379      33
Blake, Casey      CLE    Meadows, Brian    TB            390       376      19
Wright, David     NYM    Rodriguez, Felix  WAS           381       376      26
Kennedy, Adam     LAA    Haren, Dan        OAK           371       369       4
Castro, Ramon     NYM    Bergmann, Jason   WAS           381       363       4
Sheffield, Gary   NYY    Marcum, Shaun     TOR           380       359       6

Player News

Player news items are provided by CBS SportsLine.com.

There is one postseason slot still in play: The Astros head into the final game of the 162-game schedule with a 1 1/2-game deficit to the Cardinals. In order to stay in the NL Central race, the Cardinals must lose on Sunday and the Astros must win. That scenario would force the Cardinals to host the Giants in a makeup game on Monday at Busch Stadium.

According a report on the Los Angeles Times’ website Saturday, Jason Grimsley named Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Miguel Tejada, Brian Roberts and Jay Gibbons as teammates who had taken performance-enhancing drugs. The names had been blacked out in an affidavit previously filed in federal court.

Pedro Matinez will have right rotator cuff surgery next week and won’t resume throwing off a mound until June, Mets general manager Omar Minaya said Saturday. Martinez, who turns 35 next month, lasted only 2 2/3 innings at Atlanta on Wednesday as he tried to recover from an injury to his right calf muscle. Exams Thursday revealed a problem with his other calf — which was announced — and also uncovered the trouble in his rotator cuff. “He never complained to me about his shoulder bothering him,” New York manager Willie Randolph said. “I don’t know — it could have been something that was lingering.” Martinez got a second opinion on the shoulder, which matched the initial reading, and opted for the operation rather than trying to rehabilitate the injury.

The Angels’ K-Rod struck out the side in the ninth inning for his major league-leading 47th save. The save also broke the Angels’ team record, set by Bryan Harvey in 1991.

In the Dodgers’ postseason-clinching game, Greg Maddux won his 15th game. It’s the 18th time he’s won 15 games in a season, tying Cy Young’s major league record.

Alex Rodriguez hit a two-run home run Saturday, giving him 35 home runs and 121 RBI this year. It’s his ninth consecutive season with 35 or more home runs and at least 100 RBI, tying a major league record. According to Elias, Jimmie Foxx, Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa also did that nine consecutive times.

Major League Baseball broke its season attendance record Saturday and was on track to finish with the second-highest per-game average in the sport’s history. The 30 major league teams drew 75,470,941 through Saturday, topping the 74,926,174 fans who attended games in 2005. The average of 31,381 was on track to be the highest for a full season, topping 1993’s 31,337. The only higher average was in the strike-shortened 1994 season, when baseball averaged 31,632 before players walked out in mid-August.

THT Stats

Access all of THT’s stats here…