Andy Sonnanstine pitched eight good innings tonight, allowing the Orioles just one run as the Rays down the O’s 8-1. That lowers Tampa Bay’s ERA to 3.68. They’re doing that without Scott Kazmir, who is scheduled to return Saturday. Beware of the Rays.
Posted by David Pinto at 10:57 pm | Pitchers | Permalink | 5 Comments
April 30, 2008
Book ‘em Danno
Cliff Lee moves to 5-0 as Cleveland defeats Settle 8-3. For the first time this season, Lee allows more than one run in a game. He had plenty of room to work, however, as the Indians were up 8-0 before Cliff couldn’t get an out in the seventh. He ends the month [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:35 pm | Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
April 30, 2008
Reading List
Alex Belth polled 55 readers and lists the ten essential baseball books. One I like that didn’t make the top ten is The Managers by Bill James.
Posted by David Pinto at 10:31 pm | Books | Permalink | No Comments
April 30, 2008
Eveland Hurt?
Dana Eveland threw his final warm up pitch before the second inning, then called the trainer out to the mound. They’ve decided to leave him in the game. We’ll see what happens.
Update: Eveland gives up three hits and two runs in the inning, including two doubles.
Posted by David Pinto at 10:28 pm | Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
April 30, 2008
One for Two Not Good Enough
The Red Sox get Ortiz and Manny on first and second to start the bottom of the ninth tied at one. Lowell strikes out, but Moss singles to center. This time, a pinch runner is in for Ortiz, but Wells makes a good throw and just nips him at the plate. That [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:06 pm | Uncategorized | Permalink | 2 Comments
April 30, 2008
Classic Bonderman
Jeremy Bonderman gave up two runs in the first inning, then nothing the of the way as he pitches into the eighth in a 6-2 Detroit win over the Yankees. Since the start of last season, nearly 40% of runs against Bonderman came in the first inning.
The Yankees offense continues to struggle as they’ve [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:00 pm | Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
April 30, 2008
Hughes Goes Down
Phil Hughes won’t make his next start, but not because he went to the minors. The Yankees placed him on the disabled list:
Yankees starter Phil Hughes was placed on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday night with a strained right oblique muscle.
So my question, when did this happen? Did he pitch poorly last [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:47 pm | Injuries | Permalink | 5 Comments
April 30, 2008
Listen to Bill
There’s an audio interview with Bill James at this web site, but for some reason it won’t play for me on IE, I had to use Firefox.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:12 pm | Interviews | Permalink | 1 Comment
April 30, 2008
Bannister Banged
Brian Bannister is having a tough night in Texas. He’s allowed six hits and a walk, and all seven base runners scored as he allows three home runs to clear the bases, including a grand slam by Hamilton. Bannister allowed just one home run coming into the game.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:05 pm | Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
April 30, 2008
I Remember When Fenway was a Hitter’s Park
The Blue Jays and Red Sox are repeating last night’s game, scoreless through six. Matsuzaka allowed two hits and two walks so far, and McGowan is working on a one-hitter with no one else reaching. There have been more runs scored in Boston home games than road games, but if this keeps up [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:46 pm | Games | Permalink | 2 Comments
April 30, 2008
Manny Acosta the Braves A Win
Manny Acosta did pretty much everything wrong today. In two innings, he gave up two hits, five walks, and two runs. He also committed an error, threw a wild pitch and even started a double play. He managed not to hit a batter. The Braves took a 2-1 lead in the [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:20 pm | Pitchers | Permalink | 1 Comment
April 30, 2008
Wilkerson Released
The Mariners released Brad Wilkerson today. Brad represents an important reality check for me. I thought Texas got the better of the deal when they acquired Brad from Washington for Alfonso Soriano. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The lesson, there, of course is that all the predictions we make exist [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:10 pm | Players | Permalink | No Comments
April 30, 2008
Power Day
The Giants hit two home runs today. Given that they only hit 14 in 28 games coming into today, it’s a major power surge for the team. They also hit two last night, so maybe they’re finally finding their stroke.
Posted by David Pinto at 6:24 pm | Games | Permalink | No Comments
April 30, 2008
Closer Wanted
Chad Cordero hits the disabled list:
Nationals reliever Chad Cordero is expected to be sidelined for at least a month with a tear in a muscle below his pitching shoulder, although the team determined Wednesday he won’t need surgery.
It appears the job is Rauch’s to lose.
Posted by David Pinto at 6:12 pm | Injuries | Permalink | No Comments
April 30, 2008
Should Owings Get the Win?
If a pitcher pinch hits, and hits a game winning home run, should he get the win? That’s what Micah Owings just did. He came in to hit for Medders, blasted a two-run homer, and gave the Diamondbacks an 8-7 lead. Arizona fought back from Houston leads of 4-0 and 6-2 to [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 5:57 pm | Pitchers | Permalink | 5 Comments
April 30, 2008
Rick Raking
The Cardinals defeat the Reds 5-2 this afternoon to ensure they will at least share first place in the NL Central at the end of the day. Rick Ankiel is on a nice tear as he picks up three hits today and is 8 for his last 13. He had been in a [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 4:57 pm | Players | Permalink | 2 Comments
April 30, 2008
Catching the Ball
My latest column at SportingNews.com examines how the Rays defense is contributing to the improvement in their team ERA.
Posted by David Pinto at 4:49 pm | Defense, Team Evaluation | Permalink | No Comments
April 30, 2008
Moeller Returns
Chad Moeller cleared waivers and is back with the Yankees. Peter Abraham sums up the team’s catching situation well:
How has it come to this for the Yankees? People are thrilled Chad Moeller is back. This is a guy who was cut in spring training by the Nationals because they liked Wil Nieves better. A [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 4:01 pm | Transactions | Permalink | 2 Comments
April 30, 2008
I Left My Drugs in San Francisco
It’s good to see the breakup of BALCO hasn’t stopped Giants players from finding drugs:
San Francisco Giants catcher Eliezer Alfonzo was suspended 50 games Wednesday for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance, the first player penalized this year under Major League Baseball’s drug program.
The 29-year-old Venezuelan was optioned to Triple-A Fresno just before opening [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 3:57 pm | Cheating | Permalink | 2 Comments
April 30, 2008
Twins Win
The Twins defeat the White Sox 4-3, closing the gap with Chicago to 1 1/2 games. Blackburn pitches another good game for Minnesota, giving up three runs in seven innings. He’s proving to be a valuable rookie for the team.
So Minnesota has decent pitching, with an ERA of 4.24, but the offense is [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 3:48 pm | Games | Permalink | No Comments
April 30, 2008
Here Comes the Sun
Earlier in the day, Devon Young emailed:
In day games, the Pirates are scoring 5.7 rpg (40 runs in 7 games) ~ but at night, they’re averaging 3.9 rpg. That’s a huge split.
It’s a small sample size, but then the Pirates score seven runs in the second inning. Five were unearned, but Perez was wild, [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 3:01 pm | Offense | Permalink | 2 Comments
April 30, 2008
Sour on Sabean
Blastings! Thrillage starts a series ranking the general managers from worst to best, and starts with Brian Sabean. I think the analysis is spot on:
But how much credit can one give to an executive who over his 11-year reign has done nothing to ensure long-term competitiveness for his team? Sabean is a very unique [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 12:57 pm | Management | Permalink | No Comments
April 30, 2008
No Comment
Will Brinson thinks there is something strange about the Jordan Schafer suspension, because Schafer’s side won’t talk about it beyond, “No comment.” I have two words for Will; Roger Clemens. If Rogers reaction to the Mitchell report was to have his lawyer say, “We have no comment on that,” Roger saves himself a [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 12:42 pm | Cheating | Permalink | 1 Comment
April 30, 2008
Baseball Musings Radio Show
Due to a conflict, there will be no show tonight. Look for the show to return next week.
Posted by David Pinto at 12:03 pm | Broadcasts | Permalink | No Comments
April 30, 2008
Mix and Match
Evan Grant notes the Rangers have a very strange coaching staff, as Ron Washington was forced to retain coaches hired by two former managers:
These are all strong baseball minds with strong backgrounds, but they’ve also been thrown together in a small lockerroom and asked to work together. It’s kind of like Big Brother only without [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:09 am | Management | Permalink | 1 Comment
April 30, 2008
Costas and the Bloggers
The Big Lead reviews Bob Costas and the “State of the Sports Media” show that aired last night. Thankfully, I don’t have HBO so I could concentrate on baseball games. It doesn’t sound like they treated Will Leitch of Deadspin very well.
Update: Will Leitch gives the behind the scenes view of what happened.
There are [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:33 am | News Media | Permalink | 7 Comments
April 30, 2008
Games of the Day
Cliff Lee tries to end his incredible April 5-0 as he faces the Seattle Mariners. He’s only allowed one earned run in the month. His strikeout to walk ratio is 14.5 to 1. His stats are a sabermetric marvel.
The Brewers can tie the Cubs with a win tonight as Jeff Suppan takes [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:11 am | Matchups | Permalink | No Comments
April 30, 2008
A Win and a Loss
Aaron Cook is the Rockies Tim Lincecum, pitching well and winning despite a poor start by the Rockies. He won Tuesday night’s matchup with Lincecum 3-2. Tim out pitched Aaron in terms of hits, walks and strikeouts, but Cook spread out his hits better. Both are 4-1.
The Rockies, however, lost their shortstop, [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:25 am | Injuries | Permalink | 3 Comments
April 30, 2008
Not Your Average Joe
Joe Saunders makes an early bid for Cy Young consideration. He pitches another gem, shutting out the Athletics for eight innings to lower his ERA to 2.03 and bring the Angels back into a tie for first place in the AL West. What’s most impressive about Joe this year is how deep he’s [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:11 am | Pitchers | Permalink | No Comments
April 30, 2008
Wednesday Update
The Day by Day Database is up to date.
Posted by David Pinto at 7:37 am | Statistics | Permalink | No Comments
Bad Behavior has blocked 1926 access attempts in the last 7 days.