Monthly Archives: August 2008

August 31, 2008

Scorer Explains

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Tom Haudricourt presents the Official Scorer’s explanation for calling the only hit against CC Sabathia on Sunday:

“The play came off the bat, it was a spinning ball, to the right of a left-handed pitcher. In my opinion, it’s not an ordinary play to make. It was difficult both because of the spin and because he has to make the play and turn completely around.
“The runner was well down the line. It would have been a really difficult play to make to get him. The standard for a hit or an error is an ordinary effort. In my view, it was a hit as a result of that standard.
“I called it immediately, believed it was a hit. I think that’s a hit in every circumstance.”

The Brewers appealed the call and hope to get a no-hitter for Sabathia.

August 31, 2008

Justin Time

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It looked like Justin Morneau might not reach 20 RBI in a month for the first time this season. He came into Sunday afternoon’s game against the Athletics with 18 RBI for August. He knocked in four runners today, including himself with a three-run homer. That brings his total for the season to 108.

August 31, 2008

Dodger Dingers

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Dodgers Andre Ethier and Casey Blake homer in the first inning to put Los Angeles up 4-0 on the Diamondbacks. Those are only the 11th and 12th home runs allowed by Webb this season. It’s also the third game in which Webb allowed two homers. Half his home runs allowed have come in just three games.

August 31, 2008

Baldelli and Bartlett

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The Tampa Bay Rays extended their AL East lead to 5 1/2 games with a 10-4 win over the Orioles. Rocco Baldelli went 3 for 3 with two doubles. I don’t know what kind of treatment he received for his mitochondrial disease, but it seems to be working. Baldelli’s averages now stand at .351/.442/.622 in 37 at bats. He’s more than replaced Carl Crawford’s offense.
Jason Bartlett came into the game with no home runs in 366 at bats this season. That was second only to Chone Figgins with 385 at bats. Bartlett let Juan Pierre take over second place as he hit his first home run in over a year. I guess he hits one very August if he needs to or not.
Despite the injuries (including Dioner Navarro), the Rays posted their best month ever, 21-8.
Update: The Angels lost to the Rangers 4-3, extending the Rays lead for home field advantage as well. Chone Figgins went 0 for 4 and now has no home runs in 389 at bats.

August 31, 2008

Werth His Contract

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Jayson Werth did more damage against the Cubs today:

Werth hit a two-run double in the first and a solo drive in the fifth for his 21st homer of the season. Werth, who went deep twice and drove in four runs in Philly’s 5-2 win Saturday, is 11-for-21 with four homers and 10 RBIs against the Cubs this season.

It’s unlikely the Phillies would play the Cubs in the first round. Philadelphia is more likely to win the NL East than the Wild Card, so they would probably have the second best record among the division champions. If the teams did meet in the NLCS, I wonder if Charlie Manuel would play Werth more against the Cubs than he would normally?

August 31, 2008

Swept Away

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The Astros completed a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals, winning 3-0 Sunday afternoon. With the Brewers sweeping the Pirates, St. Louis finds itself 6 1/2 games out in the wild card race, and now also trails the Phillies. The Cardinals are also seven games down in the loss column. Milwaukee’s magic number to eliminate the Cardinals from playoff competition is 20.

August 31, 2008

Cristian Sunday

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Cristian Guzman picked up two more hits Sunday afternoon as the Natoinals extended their winning streak to six games, downing the Braves 8-4. Guzman delivered his six straight multi-hit game and leads the Nationals with 16 hits during the winning streak.
Washington only has to go 11-14 the rest of the way to prevent a 100 loss season.

August 31, 2008

Losing Dimensions

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Miguel Cabrera drove in all four Detroit runs today as the Tigers came back to defeat the Royals 4-2. That gives Cabrera 104 RBI on the season and a good chance of topping his career high of 119 set in 2007. However, Cabrera has only scored 66 runs this season. In his four full seasons he scored between 91 and 112 runs. His drop in OBA this year makes him a less useful player. Before, he could start or finish a rally. Now, he much better at the end than at the beginning.
While his slugging percentage improved as the season progressed, his OBA hasn’t. We’ll see if this is a one-year aberration or if this trend continues.

August 31, 2008

Bullpen Praise

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The Mets bullpen pitched three shutout innings this afternoon as Pedro Martinez picked up his fifth win of the season. The Mets pen takes a lot of flack for their blown leads, but they deserve some credit for their good games as well. They’re doing something right since the Mets are 17-7 over their last 24 games. New York takes 2 out of 3 from Florida, pretty much ending the Marlins playoff chances. The final score today: 6-2.

August 31, 2008

Body and Bat

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Last night, Adrian Beltre helped the Mariners win a game with his body, this afternoon he did it with his bat. Beltre knocked out two home runs and a single, driving in three runs as Seattle beats the Indians 6-4. With 23 home runs going into September, he has a good chance of topping his Seattle high of 26.

August 31, 2008 August 31, 2008

A Little Controversy

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CC Sabathia takes a one-hitter into the bottom of the ninth. The only hit against him came in the fifth, when Andy LaRoche rolled one halfway between third and the pitcher’s mound. Sabathia tried to pick it up with his bare hand and dropped it. The official scorer immediately called it a hit because he felt it was going to take an extraordinary effort to throw the batter out. However, the replay shows there was more than enough time for CC to make the throw.
He just struck out the first two batters in the ninth.
Update: Freddy Sanchez flies out end the game. The crowd was chanting, “Change the score!” CC strikes out 11, picking up his third shutout as a Brewer as the Pirates fall 7-0. Those three shutouts lead the NL. He’s now pitched eleven games for Milwaukee, throwing 88 innings. His pickup by the Brewers was easily the best deal in the season.

August 31, 2008

At Seventeen

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Roy Halladay breaks the 16 win mark, the level he reached each of the last two seasons. The Blue Jays defeat the Yankees 6-2 as Halladay goes seven innings. With 103 pitches thrown, I’m a little surprised that he didn’t go for the complete game, but with a good lead there was no reason to stretch him. His only mistakes were gopher balls to A-Rod and Giambi. His 17 wins are the third highest of his career. With a little luck, he might be able to equal his career high of 22 set in 2003.

August 31, 2008 August 31, 2008

Bare-Handed DP

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CC Sabathia walked Freddy to start the fourth inning against Pittsburgh. Nate McLouth then hits a line drive up the middle. It wasn’t a hard hit ball, but Sabathia’s follow through had him falling away from the flight of the ball. He used his left hand, however, to reach back and snare the ball out of the air for the out, then threw to first for the double play. Sabathia’s height and wing-span came in handy on that play. He’s yet to allow a hit through four innings as the Brewers lead 1-0.

August 31, 2008

Climbing the Ladder

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Jim Thome hit career home run 536 to tie Mickey Mantle for 14th on the all-time list. His first inning shot gave the White Sox a 2-0 lead which they have maintained into the third inning.
Alex Rodriguez hit a solo shot for the Yankees, cutting the Toronto lead to 4-1. That’s 547 career for Alex, placing him one behind Mike Schmidt for 12th on the all-time list. There’s a 15 home run gap between Schmidt and Reggie Jackson, so Alex would need a very good September to catch Mr. October.

August 31, 2008 August 31, 2008

Games of the Day

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Pedro Martinez makes an important start for the Mets today against the Marlins. His walks and strikeouts have been very good in his last two outings, but that hasn’t translated into low number of hits allowed and low numbers of runs allowed. With Arizona and Chicago all boasting three great starters, and Milwaukee close with Manny Parra as a third, the Mets could really use Pedro on his game to go with Santana and Pelfrey.
CC Sabathia goes for his 9th win since joining the Brewers. The big difference for CC after the trade comes from his home runs allowed. CC gave up 21.3 HR per 200 innings this season with Cleveland, 10.1 with Milwaukee. He’ll face Pittsburgh for the second time in a row, this time drawing Jeff Karstens. After getting off to a good start with the Pirates, Karstens allowed nine runs in his last nine innings.
The Dodgers and Diamondbacks play the rubber game of their series with Derek Lowe facing Brandon Webb. Lowe’s had a terrible season on the road this year, posting a 5.47 ERA to go with a 2-6 record. His .317 BA allowed on the road is over 100 points higher than he BA allowed at home, .215. Players hit Webb for a higher average when Brandon is at home, but he’s still managed a 9-1 record and a 3.08 ERA in Arizona. A win tonight gives him 10 at home, 10 on the road, and 20 before September first.
Enjoy!
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August 31, 2008

The Dreaded WoW

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Aaron Heilman

Aaron Heilman
Photo: Icon SMI

With the score tied in the bottom of the ninth against Florida on Saturday, a lead-off walk by Aaron Heilman led to a runner on third with one out after a sacrifice and a wild pitch. At that point, Heilman issued two intentional walks to load the bases, then walked Josh Willingham to force in the winning run. It was a wild inning for Heilman, to say the least.
Heilman issued the 10th walk off walk in the majors this season. I define a walk off walk (WoW) as a walk or hit by pitch in the bottom of an inning (9th inning or later) in which the score is tied and the batter is credited with an RBI. This may turn out to be the biggest WoW season of the decade:

Season WoW
2000 10
2001 8
2002 9
2003 9
2004 11
2005 9
2006 5
2007 9
2008 10

Can pitchers issue two more in the final month of the season?
There’s really no excuse for the WoW. Even if a pitcher throws the ball right down the middle of the plate, he still has a decent chance of getting an out. I’d rather give my defense a chance than take the risk of walking in the game winning run.

August 31, 2008

Apt Description

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Cathal Kelly describes the Blue Jays comeback against the Yankees Saturday:

It was the epic meeting of a resistible force and a movable object at Yankee Stadium yesterday afternoon.
In the end, Toronto’s spluttering offence won a thumb war with the Yankees’ spaghetti-limbed relief corps. They overcame the fading Bombers with a comeback 7-6 win in the brutally muggy Bronx.

The Jays are 11th in the AL in runs per game, the Yankees bullpen ERA of 3.96 is ninth. Interestingly, the Jays knocked out hits against pitchers who don’t give up many. Bruney’s opponents are hitting .176 against him, Marte’s .227 and Ramirez’s .197.

August 31, 2008

Summing Up the Tigers Season

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After a 13-3 loss to the Royals on Saturday, Bless You Boys sums up the Tigers:

Owned, pwned, fail – whatever you want to call it, it’s plain ugly. Just when you think the Tigers have fallen as low as they can go, they push those shovels a little deeper and find further depths. The same might be said of Kenny Rogers, especially when he’s facing the Royals. Last night, he allowed six runs on eight hits – including three home runs, two by rejuvenated Tigers killer Billy Butler – in six innings. In five starts against Kansas City this season (the most he’s faced any team this year), Rogers has a 1-4 record and 7.07 ERA.

That can be a problem with pitchers in their 40s. At some point their athleticism fades, and eventually the ability to fool batters. I assume he made five starts against the Royals because Leyland knew Rogers was a weak link in the staff and wanted to put him in a situation where he could succeed. The Royals are the second lowest scoring team in the AL, but even they ripped apart Rogers. The probability is farily high that Kenny won’t be back next season.
(Note, however, that the Royals do hit lefties much better than righties.)

August 31, 2008

Subtle Interference

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Bleeding Blue and Teal links to a video to Adrian Beltre getting hit by a batted ball. He was on second with a runner on first, Beltre is called out and the batter gets a hit. The ball was likely a double play grounder, however, and Eric Wedge argued that Beltre intentionally interfered with the ball. It wasn’t as blatant as Reggie Jackson in the World Series, but he certainly looked like he turned to present a bigger target to the ball. If the umps had seen the play as intentional, they would have granted a double play and the inning would be over. Instead, Seattle scores another run in the 10th inning, and wins the game 4-3.

August 31, 2008 August 30, 2008

Games of the Day

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The Phillies/Cubs game features two starters pitching better since the All-Star break for the same reasons. Both Brett Myers and Ted Lilly cut down on their home runs and their walks. With Myers, the transformation was extreme, going from a 5.84 ERA to a 1.66 ERA. Lilly cut his home run rate by about 1/3, but that was enough to bring his ERA down from 4.68 to 3.25.
After a shutout by the Red Sox and a big win by the Twins, the White Sox lead in the AL Central is down to 1/2 game over Minnesota. Chicago send Mark Buehrle to the mound against Michael Bowden, making his first major league start. You have to love the 21-year-old’s minor league stats. In 406 innings he’s struck out 389, walked 106 and allowed 29 home runs. This is the second year in a row Buehrle posted a good ERA by only has a record a bit over .500. I wonder if he usually matches up against another good pitcher?
The Mets can put another nail in the coffin of the Marlins season as Mike Pelfrey takes on Ricky Nolasco. The Marlins played better than anyone expected in 2008, they just don’t have the stamina for a full season yet. Since his 0-5 May, Mike’s record stands at 11-2 with a 3.03 ERA. Most impressively, he’s only allowed five home runs in 107 innings. Nolasco is one Marlin who isn’t fading. He’s posted a 2.43 ERA in August with 43 strikeouts in 37 innings.
The Dodgers try to keep from falling off the edge of the NL West precipice as they send Chad Billingsley against Dan Haren. In three starts against the DBacks, Billingsley allowed 13 runs in 14 innings, walking 8 and giving up three home runs. Haren is having a tough August. He’s 3-1, but his 5.29 ERA may be taking him out of the Cy Young race.
Enjoy!
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August 30, 2008 August 30, 2008 August 29, 2008 August 29, 2008

Games of the Day

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I’m pressed for time, so a very quick games of the day. Two pitchers who were teammates a couple of months ago face off in Chicago as Joe Blanton takes on Rich Harden. Rich has been nearly unhittable in Chicago, whereas Joe is pitching about the same as he did in Oakland.
Two former teammates also face off in New York as A.J. Burnett opposes Carl Pavano. Both may end up free agents at the end of the year. They may face different stories, however, as we wonder how high Burnett’s salary might go while we wonder who would consider signing Pavano.
The Sox will win tonight as Javier Vazquez takes on Daisuke Matsuzaka. Javier is on a roll in August with great control and few home runs allowed, while Matsuzaka is undefeated in the month.
The Dodgers have yet to win on the road this trip as they face their biggest test of the season in Arizona. Hiroki Kuroda faces Doug Davis. Working in the Dodgers favor is a poor month by Doug Davis, 1-3 with a 7.50 ERA.
Enjoy!
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August 29, 2008 August 29, 2008