Clemens Wins 2007 Debut
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by user Niteowl049
Baseball Notebook
Clemens Wins 2007 Debut
Roger Clemens 1-0 may have had the perfect setup yesterday pitching against a team with a losing record and a mound opponent Paul Maholm 2-9 with a losing record but he still had to make the pitches and he did it in a spectacular way pitching six innings allowing three runs and striking out seven. Facing the Pirates who had the lowest on base percentage (.312) in NL was not the best test for Clemens but he deserves credit for pitching that well in his first major league start since his last start last season.
He is slated to pitch against the Mets and Oliver Perez 6-5 next Friday. If he pitches this well against the Mets it will be further affirmation that he is ready to help the Yankees continue to gain ground on the Red Sox. The win yesterday was the fifth in a row for the Yankees and tied them with Angels for having best record in majors over the last ten games with a 8-2 record while the Red Sox have been 4-6 in their last ten games. Yankees need to win their next two to get back to .500 and maintain their second place position in standings.
Three TV Games Yesterday Yesterday I watched three games on TV:
Jason Jennings and Jon Garland both pitched seven innings allowing one run but the bullpens didn't perform well and by time game had ended neither got the decision. Trevor Miller blew the win Jennings would have received then Bobby Jenks took the 3-2 loss on a Lance Berkman single in the ninth inning.
Braves hit Alfonso Soriano on the first pitch of the game attempting to send him a message that he was not going to hit three homers on Saturday like he did in Friday's game but it backfired as Soriano and three other Cubs scored in first inning for a 4-0 lead but by the end of the second inning the Braves had taken a 6-4 lead. The final score was 9-5 in the Braves favor. Neither starter lasted past the second inning as Jason Marquis 5-3 gave up 6 runs and 4 hits in 1 2/3 innings but only two of the runs were earned and Tim Hudson had to leave because of being hit in the leg by a batted ball.
Just saw the last inning of this game when the Brewers had a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth with their closer Francisco Cordero coming in to close the game. Instead of closing the game he lost the game giving up 4 runs as his ERA before the game of 0.36 had changed to 1.78 by the end of the game. The Brewers continue to have their road woes as they start their road trip 0-2 but luckily for them both the second place Cubs and third place Cardinals lost yesterday so they still have their 5 game lead but losing to the next to worst team in majors on consecutive nights casts doubt as to whether the Brewers will be able to hold on to their lead much longer.
Around the Bases
Dan Haren 7-2 to me is the best pitcher in majors this season as he outpitched Barry Zito 6-6 in a 6-0 shutout win for the A's over the Giants. Haren lowered his major league leading ERA to 1.58. Zito only lasted four innings before departing the game after 106 pitches. Zito finished the game with a 4.02 ERA. A's hammered Zito and the Giants bullpen for 16 hits with three A's having three hit games.
Jeremy Bonderman 6-0 along with James Shields 6-0 are the only pitchers who have six wins and are undefeated in 2007....Kaz Matsui doubled in the winning run in the tenth inning as the Rockies defeated the Orioles 3-2....Jon Lieber 3-4 pitched the Phillies to a 4-0 win over the Royals. Lieber gave up only 3 hits and struck out 11 in his complete game shutout. Gil Meche 3-6 is continuing to find even a 3.16 ERA is not going to mean much when pitching for a team like the Royals.
Johan Santana 6-6 was defeated by Levale Speigner 2-2 as the Nationals defeated the Twins 3-1. Santana has to pitch better than .500 baseball for the Twins to be a factor in the AL Central race. Justin Morneau hit his 17th homer to move into second place in AL....Diamondbacks blew a 3-0 lead and let the Red Sox escape with a 4-3 win....Indians defeated the Reds 8-6 in 11 innings when a fielders choice by Travis Hafner drove in the winning run. Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 15th homer of season and his 578th of his career and is showing he is worthy to be on the NL All Star team as he homered in his third straight game.
Derek Lowe 6-6 pitched a complete game 4 hitter but took the loss as Shawn Marcum 3-2 took a 1-0 win for the Blue Jays over the Dodgers. Nomar Garciaparra who hit 20 homers last season only has one homer in 230 at bats this season. Only seven Dodgers have hit home runs this season with one of them being pitcher Jason Schmidt who hit his in only 5 at bats. Their top two home run hitters Jeff Kent with 9 and Luis Gonzalez with 8 are a combined 5 homers behind NL leader Prince Fielder.
Stats Corner
Hitting
Magglio Ordonez is still leading majors in hitting with a .368 average with Jorge Posada in second with .358 average....Prince Fielder and Alex Rodriguez lead majors in home runs with 22 with Justin Morneau moving into second place yesterday hitting his 17th home run....Rodriguez leads Ordonez in RBI's by 58-56....Matt Holliday leads Ordonez in hits by 88-84....Ordonez has 143 total bases with Fielder next with 149....Ordonez leads in slugging percentage with a .668 percentage with Rodriguez in second with a .648 percentage. Ordonez leads in extra base hits with 43 with Tiger teammate Curtis Granderson and Chase Utley in second with 39.
Pitching
The same three pitchers Josh Beckett, John Lackey and C.C. Sabathia lead in wins with 9. Cole Hamels is still the only 8 game winner. Sabathia tries for his 10th win today while Daisuke Matsuzaka tries to become the second 8 game winner. Tom Glavine tries again for his 6th win of season and 296th of his career....There is a three way tie for lead in strikeouts with Johan Santana, A.J. Burnett and Hamels all having 96....Dan Haren leads in ERA with 1.58 with Jake Peavy next with 1.97....Kip Wells leads in losses with 10 and Paul Maholm is next with 9 losses....Derek Lowe leads in complete games pitched with 3 with seven pitchers having 2 complete games....Zach Duke leads in hits allowed with 104 with Dontrelle Willis next with 99 hits allowed....Wells also leads in earned runs allowed with 53 with Kameron Lowe next with 51 allowed....Ervin Santana leads in home runs allowed with 16 and Mike Maroth is second with 15.
