THT Daily: Playoff Races and Pitcher Injuries

Major League News for September 30

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

Yesterday’s Results
American League
BOS     4  BAL     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
NYA     7  TOR     2    (Recap and Boxscore) Mussina: 6 IP, 1 R; Sheffield: HR
CLE     2  TB      1    (Recap and Boxscore) McClung allows bases-loaded walk in bottom of 9th
KC      9  DET     7    (Recap and Boxscore) 11 innings; Granderson: 2 HR
CHA     4  MIN     3    (Recap and Boxscore) Garcia: 7.1 IP, 1 R
LAA     6  OAK     0    (Recap and Boxscore) Santana: 7 IP, 0 R; Figgins: 2B, HR
TEX     6  SEA     5    (Recap and Boxscore)

National League
ATL     4  HOU     1    (Recap and Boxscore) James: 7 IP, 1 R
PHI    14  FLA     2    (Recap and Boxscore) Burrell: 2 HR, 4 RBI; Victorino: 5-6
NYN     4  WAS     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
COL     5  CHN     2    (Recap and Boxscore) Fogg: 7 IP, 2 R; COL: 5 R on 6 1B & 5 BB
CIN     5  PIT     2    (Recap and Boxscore) Harang: 9 IP, 2 R
STL    10  MIL     5    (Recap and Boxscore) Encarnacion: 4-5
ARI     3  SD      1    (Recap and Boxscore) Hernandez: 7 IP, 1 R
LAN     4  SF      3    (Recap and Boxscore) See below

Today’s Games
Visitors                        Home                               Starts
CWS - Garland J. (17-7, 4.61)   MIN - Garza M. (3-5, 5.32)          12:10
PHI - Wolf R.* (4-0, 5.24)      FLA - Olsen S.* (12-9, 3.97)         1:20
MIL - Sheets B. (6-7, 4.05)     STL - Suppan J. (12-7, 4.18)         1:20
COL - Francis J.* (13-11, 4.02) CHC - Mateo J. (1-3, 4.09)           4:05
TEX - Millwood K. (16-11, 4.52) SEA - Hernandez F. (11-14, 4.65)     4:05
TOR - Marcum S. (3-4, 4.92)     NYY - Karstens J. (2-1, 4.00)        4:05
LAD - Maddux G. (14-14, 4.26)   SF - Cain M. (13-11, 4.09)           4:15
SD - Wells D.* (0-2, 4.43)      ARI - Cruz J. (5-6, 4.27)            4:15
TB - Seo J. (1-7, 4.87)         CLE - Westbrook J. (14-10, 4.27)     7:05
CIN - Arroyo B. (14-10, 3.27)   PIT - McLeary M. (1-0, 3.38)         7:05
NYM - Glavine T.* (14-7, 3.94)  WAS - Perez B. (2-0, 1.50)           7:05
BAL - Loewen A.* (6-6, 5.30)    BOS - Wakefield T. (7-11, 4.63)      7:05
HOU - Sampson C. (2-0, 2.10)    ATL - Cormier L. (4-5, 5.00)         7:05
KC - Burgos A. (4-5, 5.60)      DET - Miner Z. (7-5, 4.37)           7:05
OAK - Haren D. (14-13, 4.11)    LAA - Saunders J.* (7-3, 4.11)      10:05

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     97  63 .606    0.0   95      2      
TOR     85  75 .531   12.0   85      0      
BOS     85  75 .531   12.0   79      6      
BAL     69  91 .431   28.0   68      1      
TB      61  99 .381   36.0   64     -3      
American League Central
MIN     95  65 .594    0.0   91      3      
DET     95  65 .594    0.0   95      0      
CHA     89  71 .556    6.0   87      2      
CLE     76  84 .475   19.0   88     -12     
KC      60 100 .375   35.0   60      0      
American League West
OAK     92  68 .575    0.0   85      7      
LAA     88  72 .550    4.0   83      5      
TEX     80  80 .500   12.0   85     -5      
SEA     76  84 .475   16.0   76      0      

National League East         Pwins Diff
NYN     95  65 .594    0.0   88      7      
PHI     84  76 .525   11.0   85     -1      
ATL     78  82 .488   17.0   84     -6      
FLA     77  83 .481   18.0   79     -2      
WAS     71  89 .444   24.0   70      1      
National League Central
STL     82  77 .516    0.0   81      1      
HOU     81  79 .506    1.5   82     -1      
CIN     80  80 .500    2.5   75      5      
MIL     74  86 .463    8.5   70      4      
CHN     65  95 .406   17.5   68     -3      
PIT     65  95 .406   17.5   69     -4      
National League West
SD      86  74 .538    0.0   85      1      
LAN     86  74 .538    0.0   86      0      
SF      76  83 .478    9.5   75      1      
ARI     76  84 .475   10.0   79     -3      
COL     75  85 .469   11.0   80     -5      

Wildcard Standings
American League
DET     95  65 .594    0.0
CHA     89  71 .556    6.0
LAA     88  72 .550    7.0
TOR     85  75 .531   10.0
BOS     85  75 .531   10.0
National League
LAN     86  74 .538    0.0
PHI     84  76 .525    2.0
HOU     81  79 .506    5.0
CIN     80  80 .500    6.0
ATL     78  82 .488    8.0

Game of the Day

The Dodgers solidified their wildcard lead, and even moved into a tie with San Diego for the NL West lead, with a 4-3 win over San Francisco. Down 3-0 in the seventh, J.D. Drew smacked a two-run homer to right to make it 3-2. And in the bottom of the ninth, Olmedo Saenz singled in a run and the Giants’ Mike Stanton uncorked a wild pitch with two out to allow the winning score to run. The Giants put runners on the corners with only one out in the bottom of the ninth, but failed to score against Takashi Saito.

It marked the third game in a row in which Los Angeles has come back from a deficit of three runs or more. According to Elias, they last did that in 1925.

LA DODGERS (4) VS SAN FRANCISCO (3) - FINAL

LA DODGERS             ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
R Furcal ss             4  0  1  0   0  0   0  .300
K Lofton cf             4  0  1  0   0  1   1  .297
N Garciaparra 1b        4  0  0  0   0  1   2  .303
 J Loney 1b             0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .286
J Kent 2b               4  1  2  0   0  1   1  .290
 J Repko pr-lf          0  1  0  0   0  0   0  .252
J Drew rf               4  1  1  2   0  1   1  .281
R Martin c              2  1  0  0   2  0   0  .284
M Anderson lf           3  0  1  0   0  0   1  .299
 c-O Saenz ph           1  0  1  1   0  0   0  .292
 D Young pr             0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 T Saito p              0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
J Lugo 3b-2b            4  0  0  0   0  0   3  .219
H Kuo p                 1  0  0  0   0  1   0  .125
 a-M Kemp ph            1  0  0  0   0  1   0  .253
 A Sele p               0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .192
 b-W Betemit ph         1  0  0  0   0  1   1  .264
 J Beimel p             0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 J Broxton p            0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 d-R Martinez ph-3b     1  0  0  0   0  0   1  .279

Totals                 34  4  7  3   2  7  11

a-struck out swinging for H Kuo in the 6th;  b-struck out swinging for A Sele 
in the 7th;  c-singled to right for M Anderson in the 9th;  d-grounded to third 
for J Broxton in the 9th.

BATTING: HR - J Drew (20, 7th inning off N Lowry 1 on, 0 Out). RBI - J Drew 2 
(98), O Saenz (48). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - R Martinez 1. 
Team LOB - 5. 
 
FIELDING: DP: 1 (R Furcal-J Kent-N Garciaparra). 
 

SAN FRANCISCO          ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
R Winn cf-rf            5  1  3  1   0  1   0  .262
O Vizquel ss            4  0  2  0   1  0   2  .298
S Hillenbrand 1b        4  0  1  1   0  0   2  .247
 b-M Sweeney ph         1  0  0  0   0  1   2  .253
B Bonds lf              4  0  0  0   0  2   3  .268
 T Linden lf            0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .271
R Durham 2b             4  1  2  0   0  0   0  .296
M Alou rf               4  0  1  0   0  1   0  .302
 F Lewis pr             0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .455
 M Stanton p            0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
P Feliz 3b              4  0  0  0   0  4   3  .245
E Alfonzo c             4  1  2  1   0  2   1  .267
N Lowry p               1  0  0  0   0  0   1  .152
 a-L Niekro ph          1  0  0  0   0  1   0  .247
 K Correia p            0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .083
 S Finley cf            1  0  1  0   0  0   0  .248

Totals                 37  3 12  3   1 12  14

a-struck out swinging for N Lowry in the 7th;  b-struck out looking for S 
Hillenbrand in the 9th.

BATTING: 2B - R Durham 2 (30, A Sele, H Kuo); O Vizquel (22, H Kuo); R Winn 
(34, H Kuo). S - N Lowry. RBI - E Alfonzo (39), R Winn (56), S Hillenbrand 
(29). 2-out RBI - E Alfonzo, S Hillenbrand. Runners left in scoring position, 2 
out - M Sweeney 2, B Bonds 2, E Alfonzo 1. GIDP - S Hillenbrand. Team LOB - 9. 

----------------------------------------------------
    LA DODGERS      - 000 000 202   --   4
    SAN FRANCISCO   - 010 020 000   --   3
----------------------------------------------------

LA DODGERS                   ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
H Kuo                         5       8   3   3   0   6   0   4.22
A Sele                        1       1   0   0   0   2   0   4.53
J Beimel                      1 2/3   0   0   0   1   1   0   3.00
J Broxton (W, 4-1)              1/3   1   0   0   0   1   0   2.63
T Saito (S, 23)               1       2   0   0   0   2   0   2.09

SAN FRANCISCO                ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
N Lowry                       7       5   2   2   1   4   1   4.74
K Correia (H, 10)             1       0   0   0   0   2   0   3.54
M Stanton (L, 7-7; B, 6)      1       2   2   2   1   1   0   3.99

WP - M Stanton. Pitches-strikes: H Kuo 80-58; A Sele 15-10; J Beimel 22-14; J 
Broxton 7-5; T Saito 22-17; N Lowry 105-66; K Correia 10-7; M Stanton 23-13. 
Ground balls-fly balls: H Kuo 5-4; A Sele 0-1; J Beimel 3-1; J Broxton 0-0; T 
Saito 0-1; N Lowry 12-5; K Correia 0-1; M Stanton 2-0. Batters faced: H Kuo 22; 
A Sele 4; J Beimel 6; J Broxton 2; T Saito 5; N Lowry 27; K Correia 3; M 
Stanton 6. 
 
UMPIRES: HP--Jerry Meals. 1B--John Hirschbeck. 2B--Mike Reilly. 3B--Jeff 
Kellogg. 

T--2:55. Att--42,587. 
Weather: 55 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 15 mph, out to center.

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

image

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.

TO BE ADDED LATER TODAY

Player News

Player news items are provided by CBS SportsLine.com.

Yankees lefty Randy Johnson has a herniated disc in his lower back, an injury that could prevent him from pitching in the playoffs next week. The injury was discovered during an MRI exam Thursday. After being examined by team physician Dr. Stuart Hershon and back specialist Dr. Paul Kuflick, Johnson received an epidural injection Friday.

Cincinnati’s Aaron Harang had a complete-game win with no walks and nine strikeouts for the second start in a row. Last Sunday, he dominated the Cubs, and he did it again against the Pirates last night.

Baltimore’s Miguel Tejada broke Cal Ripken’s club record for most hits in a season with a second-inning single. It was his 212th hit of the year.

A Hardball Times Update
Goodbye for now.

Philadelphia more extra-base hits in one game, six doubles, two triples and two home runs, than they’ve had in any single game since 2001.

Cleveland Indians lefthander C.C. Sabathia underwent surgery on his right knee. The team announced on Friday that Sabathia had a meniscus tear repaired in a 35-minute procedure at the Cleveland Clinic. Sabathia is expected to begin his normal offseason throwing progression in December before reporting to spring training in February.

Barry Bonds told MLB.com that he is going to have bone chips removed from his left elbow early next week. The procedure will be conducted by Dr. Arthur Ting, the orthopedic surgeon who has done all of Bonds’ surgeries on his knees and elbow.

Juan Pierre reached the 200-hit plateau in a season for the fourth time in his major league career in the Cubs’ loss to the Rockies.

Negro leagues great Buck O’Neil took a turn for the worse late Thursday but was resting comfortably in a Kansas City hospital Friday, friends said. The 94-year-old O’Neil was admitted to the hospital Sept. 17 with extreme fatigue. O’Neil, one of the driving forces in the creation of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, has lost his voice and can only whisper.

Seattle Mariners right-hander Mark Lowe, on the disabled list since Aug. 20, will have minor arthroscopic surgery on his pitching elbow. The team said Friday that Lowe is expected to be ready for spring training.

Eric Gagne (elbow/back) will start a throwing program in three weeks and expects to be ready for spring training, the LA Times reports.

Ichiro Suzuki told manager Mike Hargrove this week he is willing to play center field full time next season if asked, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports.

Nationals left fielder Alfonso Soriano said on Friday night that he and agent Diego Bentz will meet with front-office personnel next week in hopes that Soriano can remain with the club past this season.

A bronze bust of former Kansas City Royals third baseman George Brett was found in a roadside box Friday after it was stolen this week from the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

THT Stats

Access all of THT’s stats here…

{embed=”content/2005stable”}


Dave Studeman was called a "national treasure" by Rob Neyer. Seriously. Follow his sporadic tweets @dastudes.

Comments are closed.