A-Rod Hits 20th HR, Brewers Shutout Marlins 3-0
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by user Niteowl049
Baseball Notebook
Format Change Today marks a format change in the posts. Am eliminating the recaps because they were taking so much time. I hope those that liked the recaps will understand and will consider reinstating them if there is a large number wanting them. Instead will focus on opinions of current baseball news and more focus on stats. Any comments pro or con about the change are welcomed.
Yankees-Red Sox Game Last night I watched the Yankees-Red Sox game on ESPN and the biggest defensive play of the game was when Julio Lugo was thrown out at home by a relay throw from Derek Jeter to Jorge Posada. Lugo made a mistake by not bowling over Posada so he could get to the plate and Lugo thought he was safe but Posada was positioned perfectly to block the plate and tagged Lugo out despite a high throw from Jeter. If Lugo had scored the Red Sox would have had a 6-4 lead but instead didn't score again.
Alex Rodriguez delivered the game winning home run. If the Yankees are to get back in the race he will have to keep delivering in the clutch. With Jason Giambi out of the lineup it is even more important for A-Rod to step it up a notch. Mariano Rivera pitched well in the ninth and that alone had to be a boost for the Yankees and their fans. It will be interesting to see if the Yankees can take the momentum from winning two of three from the Red Sox to Chicago with them to play the struggling White Sox. They have to have a long winning streak to get back in the race but it still is not time to panic for the Yankees since teams have come from 13 games back in August before to win a pennant and they are 12 1/2 back now.
Where is Roger? Red Sox fans were derisively chanting "Where is Roger?" but it is an interesting question that needs to be answered. Before Roger Clemens has even made his first pitch for the Yankees in a game he has an injury that is serious enough to have it checked with an MRI. On a more positive note the mere presence of Roger Clemens when he does show up could have a huge affect on the Yankees and their season.
White Sox fans and media were all prepared for the debut of Clemens in Chicago but instead they are going to see Matt DeSalvo 1-2 and 5.40 ERA. In 21 innings he has walked 15 and struck out only 6. Pitchers don't last long in the big leagues walking twice as many as they strike out so DeSalvo will probably be sent to minors when Clemens returns.
Piniella Ejection Lou Piniella has been given an indefinite suspension that hopefully will be lifted soon. Like Piniella said he was going to argue that call regardless of the call by umpire Mark Wegner. Piniella knew his team needed a wakeup call and it worked with their 10-1 win over the Braves yesterday.
Piniella had a rough week last week dealing with a team that wasn't playing up to their preseason billing plus having the [[]]Carlos Zambrano - Michael Barrett fisticuffs in middle of a game. So when Angel Pagan slid into third base and was called out it was the chance Piniella was looking for to spark the team to playing more like they were expected to.
After watching replay it was easy to see that Pagan slid into the tag at third base. Now Wegner apparently is claiming that Piniella kicked not only dirt on him but kicked him in the shin but I don't remember that happening but I am sure major league baseball is looking at the video of that incident. If Wegner made up the story about getting kicked in shin when he wasn't. he needs to be suspended himself.
Ben Sheets Throws Shutout: Brewers Hold 6 1/2 Game Lead Ben Sheets 6-3 is doing his part in keeping the Brewers in first place in the NL Central throwing 6 shutout innings yesterday in a 3-0 shutout win over the Marlins.. He has won 5 of his last 6 decisions. While Chris Capuano and Jeff Suppan were losing he was keeping the Brewers from having a long losing streak of more than 5 games. Sheets defeated the Braves on the 29th of May to end a five game losing streak.
Rookie Roundup:
Hitting
Hunter Pence: Still Hot Hunter Pence was 4 for 5 yesterday raising his rookie average to .375 for the season. Pence is leading all rookies with at least 100 at bats.... Mark Reynolds is another player to watch as he is hitting .385 and has 15 RBI's in only 65 at bats....Troy Tulowitzki leads rookies in hits with 53....Dustin Pedroia leads in doubles with 13....Travis Buck leads in triples with 4....Elijah Dukes leads in homers with 10 with Josh Hamilton currently on disabled list next with 8....Delmon Young leads in RBI's with 28....Reggie Willits leads in stolen bases with 13....Reynolds leads in slugging with .708 mark with Pence next with .625....Akinori Iwamura leads in on base percentage with .483 OBP....Pence leads in extra base hits with 19 with Chris Young next with 18.
Pitching
Matsuzaka, Sampson Lead Rookies in Wins
Daisuke Matsuzaka leads rookies with 7 wins while in second is Chris Sampson with 5....Five rookies have 5 losses but only Mike Pelfrey has an 0-5 record....Matsuzaka has given up 74 hits in 72 innings to lead in most hits allowed....Matsuzaka also leads in most earned runs given up with 39 with Jason Hirsh next with 37....Matt Chico has allowed the most walks with 28. Matsuzaka is far ahead of Hirsh in strikeouts leading 68-47....Joakim Soria of the Royals leads rookies in saves with 10....Dustin Moseley leads rookie pitchers in ERA for rookies pitching more than 30 innings with a 1.45 ERA.
Glance at the Standings
American League
AL East: Red Sox, Orioles and Blue Jays are 6-4 in their last ten games. Blue Jays moved ahead of the Orioles yesterday with their win combined with an Orioles loss. Yankees are a game and a half behind the third place Orioles in AL East.
AL Central: Tigers closed the gap between them and the first place Indians to 2 1/2 games with their win over the Indians yesterday. Royals have worst home record in majors with a 9-21 record but 10 major league teams have worse road record than their 12-15 mark. White Sox and Royals have each lost 8 of their last 10 games.
AL West: Rangers were only AL West team to lose yesterday sinking even further into last place and 15 1/2 games behind the Angels. They are 17 games under .500 with the Royals next worst team in baseball being 15 games under .500.
National League
NL East: Phillies were only NL East team to win moving to within 7 and a half games of the first place Mets and four games behind the second place Braves. Mets are only team with winning record in last ten games with a 6-4 mark.
NL Central: Brewers and Cardinals both win leaving the Brewers 6 1/2 games ahead of the Cardinals. Brewers play Cubs today at what may be a bad time. Cubs may be ready to break loose after a nightmare of a week last week with the Zambrano-Barrett fight and the ejection of Lou Piniella on Saturday but a grand slam by Mark DeRosa yesterday may be what this team needs to get back on winning track.
NL West: Only 3 percentage points separate the first place Dodgers and Padres from the second place Diamondbacks. Giants took over possession of last place with their loss yesterday falling one percentage point behind the Rockies.
Player to Watch: Chad Gaudin, Athletics Chad Gaudin 6-1, 2.41 ERA won his fifth straight decision yesterday in a 4-2 win over the Twins. He has only given up 3 homers in 71 innings. He has given up 2 or less runs in 10 of his 12 starts. Gaudin and Dan Haren lead the A's in wins with 6 and is third in AL in ERA with a 2.41 ERA. Gaudin is second team in strikeouts with 48 with Joe Blanton and Haren tied for first with 61.
With the loss of Rich Harden for an undetermined length of time Gaudin has kept the A's in the AL West race. No other starter besides Haren, Blanton and Gaudin has won more than one game.
