Archive for August, 2009
AccuScore uses past player performance statistics to describe how players perform under different environmental,…
PHILADELPHIA(AP) Joe Blanton got just enough run support for a change.
Miller needs to be traded,
“A 3-3 record on a Friday night is reason to celebrate. There is just over a week remaining in the minor league regular season, so it’s time for prospects to leave a positive impression going into the off-season.
Reno 6 Las Vegas 0
Davis Romero, much better suited to the bullpen, was roughed up again in a start and allowed four runs in five innings. He also allowed two homers. Bill Murphy’s struggles continued with two runs allowed in two innings. Edward Buzachero worked two scoreless innings. The offense managed just five hits. JP Arencibia went 1-for-4 with the only extra base hit, a double. Kevin Howard went 1-for-3. Angel Sanchez was 1-for-2 with two walks. Brian Dopirak went 1-for-3 with a walk.
Kenny Rodriguez continues to finish the year strong with one run allowed in six innings. He allowed just three hits and two walks, while striking out eight. Leon Boyd struggled out of the pen but Zach Dial worked a scoreless inning to end the game. Darin Mastroianni had another nice game with two hits and two steals. Brad Emaus also nabbed two bases and went 1-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. Nick Gorneault drive in three runs and was 2-for-4.
Minor league vet Vince Bongiovanni has been a life saver in Dunedin this year and he had another nice game on Friday night. Bongiovanni allowed just two runs in six hits and no walks over 6.1 innings. He added six Ks. Matt Daly pitched 1.1 innings and recorded all his outs via the strikeout. Alan Farina finished up the game with a scoreless ninth and he struck out the side. Tyler Pastornicky and John Tolisano each had two hits. Eric Thames went 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Matt Luizza went 1-for-3.
Lansing defeated Dayton behind the strong pitching of Joel Carreno. The right-hander allowed just four hits in seven innings, but he did walk three batters. One run scored against Carreno and he struck out nine batters. Yorman Mayora finished the game with two scoreless innings. Offensively, Michael McDade continued to swing the hot bat with a 2-for-4 day. Welinton Ramirez has really enjoyed his promotion to Lansing and he went 1-for-4 with his fifth double in eight games. Justin McClanahan went 2-for-4 with a stolen base. Kenny Wilson had a hit and stole a bag. Yohermyn Chavez went 0-for-4 with two Ks.
The bullpen struggled for Auburn. Evan Crawford started the game and allowed two runs in 5.1 innings. Josh Wells, though, allowed four runs in one innings, while Dan Miller allowed on run in just one-third of an inning for the blown save. Zach Anderson allowed two runs in one inning for the loss. At the plate, Sean Ochinko went 4-for-5 with a double, RBI and two runs scored. Ryan Schimpf went 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBI. Markus Brisker broke out of his season-long slump with three hits and a stolen base. Kevin Nolan, and Yan Gomes each had two hits. Gomes smoked his 20th double in 51 games. Rehabbing Jon Del Campo went 0-for-5 with three Ks.
GCL Yankees 2 GCL Jays 0 (Eight innings, rain)
The baby Jays were no-hit in a rain-shortened game. Gustavo Pierre had the roughest day with three Ks in as many plate appearances. Kevin Denis-Fortier was the only player to get on-base and that was via a walk. Robert Ray made a rehab appearance and pitched one inning. Ross Buckwalter also made a rehab appearance with one inning pitched. Nestor Molina finished the game up by allowing one run in five innings. He walked one, allowed three hits and struck out four batters.
Three Stars:
3. Matt Daly for recording all four of his outs via the K
2. Joel Carreno for one run in seven innings of work
1. Sean Ochinko, for four hits
.:”
Let us know w you think.
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Ha, I just can’t get enough of Ryan:
That got your attention. The Cubs will break a record when they get their first hit off the Mets‘ Bobby Parnell this afternoon.
You’re still wondering what this is all about. Let me explain.
On September 20, 1958, Hall of Famer Hoyt Wilhelm threw a no-hitter against the Yankees, while pitching for the Orioles. The Yankees then went 6,980 games without being no-hit, until six Astros pitchers no-hit them on June 11, 2003, about 44 1/2 years’ worth of games.
The last time the Cubs were no-hit was Sandy Koufax’s perfect game on September 9, 1965, a little less than 44 years ago. Through yesterday, the Cubs had completed 6,980 games without being no-hit. Thus, when the Cubs get their first hit this afternoon, they’ll break that record. Thanks to SABR member Madison McEntire for the research and confirming to me the exact date of this record-breaking event.
The other big issue to discuss this morning is: where are Rich Harden and Aaron Heilman going to finish the year? Both have been claimed on waivers, Harden by the Twins, and Heilman by the Giants. (Ironic — Heilman was brought in, at least in part, to replace Bob Howry, who was signed by the Giants. Now, they could become teammates, and further, the Cubs could wind up facing Heilman in San Francisco in September.) My feeling is: let Heilman go — he’s not likely to be back next year and the Cubs could easily replace him with Jeff Stevens or Justin Berg, for now. As for Harden, if the Cubs keep him and he then leaves as a free agent (presuming arbitration is offered, which it likely would be), he would net the Cubs two draft picks. Jim Hendry thus has to find out whether he can get two prospects from the Twins who would be worth more to the organization than the draft picks. If so, let him go — because you could then re-sign Harden anyway as a free agent.
We’ll know the results by Monday, the last day a player can be traded to a new team and still qualify for postseason play.
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Bobby Parnell was supposed to be a mainstay of the Mets’ bullpen this year. He was doing a pretty good job of it till mid-June, when he started to get pounded; in 25 relief appearances between June 10 and August 5, he put up a 5.56 relief ERA. Then, due to injuries, he wound up in the Mets’ rotation; he is 1-3 in four starts with an even worse 8.82 ERA. He made two relief appearances vs. the Cubs last September; no current Cub has more than two AB against him.
Ryan Dempster’s career numbers vs. the Mets aren’t too good — 8-4, but with a 5.54 ERA, in 23 lifetime appearances (12 starts). However, all of those starts were in his previous incarnation as a starter with the Marlins and Reds — he didn’t start vs. the Mets last year. Most of the Mets who hit him well (Carlos Beltran, David Wright) are on the DL.
The Cubs and Mets are on Fox-TV today. Surprisingly, this game is being considered Fox’s “A” game. The list of markets is too long to post here; click here to see if the game is on in your city. For other games today see the MLB.com Mediacenter.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation Mets site Amazin’ Avenue.
Overflow comment threads will post today at 4:15 pm, 5:15 pm and 6 pm CDT.
Discuss amongst yourselves.
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Thoughts?
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William Ryan Zietz Baseball
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Carpenter is at it once again,
Believe it or not, the D-Cubs threw another no-hitter tonight, less than two weeks after the last one. It was another one of the seven-inning no-nos.
Generally good news from the farm tonight, although Brett Jackson went on the DL with a sore right wrist.
Iowa Cubs (69-65)
The Iowa Cubs moved into second place with a 4-2 victory over the Oklahoma City RedHawks.
Jeff Samardzija dominated tonight for six shutout innings tonight. He gave up only three singles and one walk. The Shark struck out six.
Jeff Stevens threw two perfect innings of relief, striking out three.
The I-Cubs were paced tonight by a pair of solo home runs. The first as a third-inning shot by right fielder Brad Snyder, his 14th on the season. Snyder was 1 for 3 with a walk overall. The second one was an insurance run in the eighth inning by DH Matt Craig. It was his fourth home run for Iowa, seventh in the PCL and 11th overall. Craig was 2 for 4 on the night with two runs scored.
Shortstop Darwin Barney was 2 for 3 with two stolen bases. Barney had one RBI and scored once. Left fielder John-Ford Griffin was 2 for 3 with a walk.
The Iowa Cubs are two games behind the Memphis Redbirds in the standings with ten games to play. They have no games left with Memphis, however.
Tennessee Smokies (33-28)
The Smokies late-inning heroics just keep on coming. They scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to stun the Mobile Bay Bears, 3-2 and move back into a tie for first place.
Starter Chris Carpenter allowed one run on five hits in his six inning start. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out two.
David Cales got the win with two innings of relief. Cales gave up two hits and a walk, but didn’t allow any runs. He did not strike anyone out.
Right fielder Tyler Colvin had the big blow, an RBI double that tied the score in the two-run ninth. He later scored the winning run on Doug Deeds‘ pinch-hit single. Colvin was 1 for 4.
Center fielder James Adduci was 2 for 4. Catcher Welington Castillo went 2 for 3.
Daytona Cubs (27-33)
The Daytona Cubs split a double-header tonight, losing the first game, 3-2 in nine innings and winning the second game, 3-0 as the D-Cubs staff tossed their second seven-inning no-hitter in less than two weeks.
In the first game, Ryan Searle started and allowed two runs on six hits over 5.2 innings. Searle walked one and struck out six.
Chris Siegfried pitched the ninth inning and took the loss, allowing a run on two hits. He struck out one.
Shortstop Marwin Gonzalez was 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored. First baseman Jake Opitz and center fielder Tony Campana were both 2 for 4.
The no-hitter was in the second game, as starter Oswaldo Martinez pitched the first four innings, walking two and striking out one. Martinez has now pitched in four games since signing out of the Mexican League: two of those games were no-hitters. He pitched two-thirds of an inning in his Cub debut on August 15.
Mike Perconte finished the no-no and got the win since Martinez didn’t go five innings. Perconte walked one and fanned three.
Jake Opitz was the DH for the second game and was 2 for 4 with two RBI.
Peoria Chiefs (37-23)
The Peoria Chiefs were knocked on their ears by the Cedar Rapids Kernels, 8-3.
Justin Bristow started but only lasted two innings. He allowed three runs on four hits. Bristow walked four and struck out two.
Jeff Beliveau pitched much better in relief, but got the loss anyway. Beliveau allowed one run over his four innings of relief. He surrendered five hits. He didn’t walk anyone and he struck out four.
Center fielder David Macias had a two-run double in a 1 for 4 game. The Chiefs did not have a hit after the second inning tonight.
Boise Hawks (30-37)
The Hawks were officially eliminated from the playoffs tonight with a 7-2 loss to the Spokane Indians.
Chris Rusin started and took the loss. He went four innings and gave up four runs on seven hits. He walked two and struck out three.
Right fielder Jae-Hoon Ha hit his second home run in the second inning. The solo shot was his only hit in a 1 for 4 game. Shortstop George Matheus went 2 for 5 with a double.
AZL Cubs (13-15, 29-27 overall)
The rookie league team’s season is now over.
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Tell us your opinion!
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I wonder how Ryan’s serious fans feel -
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Ryan Howard homered twice during a perfect night at the plate, Jamie Moyer pitched effectively in relief of Pedro Martinez, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves 4-2 in the rain Friday. Looking for its third straight division title, Philadelphia increased its NL East lead to eight games over Atlanta and Florida, which lost at home to San Diego.
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what do you think?How do you think this news about Ryan will affect the team this season?
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Ryan Braun, Curtis Granderson, Jimmy Rollins & Derek Jeter @ 2009 World Baseball Classic on KayvonTV
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Check out who is making news again, Ryan! Soriano’s First HR In August Leads Cubs To 5-2 Win Over Mets. To make things easier, we have a summary -
There may be life in the corpse after all.
After getting only two runners past first base through seven innings, one of them scoring, the Cubs wasted Ted Lilly’s outstanding starting outing when Kevin Gregg gave up a run-scoring single to Fernando Tatis.
No, wait. That’s not fair to Gregg, who got Tatis to hit a two-out fly ball that most left fielders would have caught up with. Alfonso Soriano actually did do that, then let the ball pop out of his clove. It was his third defensive miscue of the game and gave the Mets a 2-1 lead, though his relay throw to Ryan Theriot was sent on home to nail Daniel Murphy at the plate.
And the way the Cubs have played most of this month, that would have been it — giving up the lead run in the late innings, they haven’t been able to mount comebacks. This time, though, a double from Milton Bradley — who also had an adventurous game in the outfield, even while having a fine day at the plate — started the game-winning rally off Mets reliever Brian Stokes. Stokes has been the Mets’ most consistent reliever all year, but he couldn’t stop the Cubs. Derrek Lee moved Bradley to third on a deep fly ball to RF, where he scored the tying run on an Aramis Ramirez single.
Jeff Baker walked — that surprised all of us, who thought he might not have checked his swing in time on a 3-2 pitch — and then Soriano hit his game-winning blast.
Carlos Marmol made us think he was going to play walkathon again, walking the leadoff hitter in the 9th, but then he got three quick outs including a pair of K’s and the Cubs took the first game of the series 5-2, helping Lou Piniella celebrate his 66th birthday today.
Let’s address the booing of Bradley and Soriano first. I’ve consistently said that I’d only boo a perceived lack of effort. I don’t see that from either one of those players — I do think they are giving 100% effort on the field. Bradley was booed when he misplayed a ball in the second inning, allowing the Mets’ first run to score, and thereafter had a mix of boos and cheers when he came up to bat. He also bowed to the crowd in RF after making a nice catch in the seventh inning, which I thought was pretty funny and actually, an appropriate reaction from him. The booing really isn’t necessary, but I can understand fans’ frustration with Bradley, who just doesn’t seem to be a good fit here. He’s made odd comments and then blamed the media for trying to inflame things. There was quite a group of reporters on the field outside the Cubs dugout before the game, probably trying to get more on this story, which I wish would just go away.
It is not my purpose here to reignite the debate about whether Bradley should stay or not. My position is clear and I’m sticking with it — I think he should be traded, and hope the Cubs can do that. In the meantime I hope he hits the hell out of the ball in September, because that would help the team he’s on right now. Here are some cogent comments from Cubs Hall of Famer Billy Williams on this issue:
The sense he gets, Williams said, is fans are focused on what players do on the field and they don’t care about race or your family tree.
“Here’s a case of a player who played here and had some good years — Randy Hundley — and his son Todd came here and didn’t do so well and he got booed,” Williams said. “It’s not directed to any player who’s doing good, it’s directed to players who aren’t having a good year. The fans just want to see good baseball.
“Because we’ve made the playoffs the last couple years, they want a winner here,” he said. “If you don’t perform, they say, ‘Hey, he’s in the Major Leagues and he should perform.’”
Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee told Bradley the best thing to do is ignore the comments. Williams agrees.
“You’ve got to have confidence that you can get beyond that,” Williams said. “Those people have a problem. You have to be like a duck out of water — you have to let it flow off your back.”
Amen, Billy. Amen.
As for Soriano, Lou admitted during the postgame news conference that Sori’s knees are still bothering him and that “he just can’t move around out there”. Well, if that’s the case, why isn’t he on the DL, or why hasn’t this been revealed until now? This has been speculated on for at least a couple of months, and perhaps a DL stint back in May or June would have fixed the problem and he’d be at full strength now. Instead, Lou said Soriano probably wouldn’t play tomorrow and would be examined by the trainers. It’s not clear whether that means Soriano has to be shut down for a while — given that it’s nearly September 1, there’s no great need to place him on the DL, since rosters can expand in three days. If he can hit like he did today, maybe a day off here and there would keep him able to play most of the time, and he could start another hot streak.
Now, back to the nicely played win — it’s too bad Lilly couldn’t have gotten the victory today, because he threw yet another fine game. But the bullpen did its job and so did the offense, coming from behind. I’m not going to turn this into blind optimism because I see the reality of where the Cubs would have to go if they want to make something out of the last 36 games of the season. Today’s crowd of 39,381 included maybe 9,000 no-shows; the bleachers were pretty full but there were many scattered empty seats elsewhere, due not only to the recent play of the Cubs but the late-Septembrish weather. There were quite a number of people seen around the park in Mets garb, probably having planned their trips months ago when the Mets were still thinking about contending. Those fans probably never dreamed they’d not see Jose Reyes, David Wright, Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran, all disabled.
Nevertheless, a win is a win, and well done at that. They’ll try to take another one from the Mets tomorrow. Keep the faith.
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How do you think this news about Ryan will affect the rest of the team this season?
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Look who is in this news - Ryan! Cubs Minor League Wrap — August 27. In the interest of saving time, we have a summary,
Hak-Ju Lee and Jose Valdez were named to the Northwest League Post-season All-Star Team.
I think everybody needs some good news tonight and I’m glad to say I’ve got some tonight. So we’re going to lead off with it.
Peoria Chiefs (37-22)
The Peoria Chiefs clinched a playoff spot tonight with a 2-1 victory over the Quad City River Bandits.
Starter Aaron Shafer got the win tonight with six shutout innings. He allowed four hits. He walked one and struck out two.
Kevin Kreier got his third save of the year with two shutout innings. Kreier allowed one hit, issued one walk and struck out three.
Center fielder David Macias went 2 for 4 and scored both runs. Third baseman Ryan Flaherty was 2 for 3 with a walk.
Because the first and second place teams in each half make the playoffs in the Midwest League, the Chiefs clinched a spot tonight. Their magic number to win the second half division title is three.
Iowa Cubs (68-65)
The Iowa Cubs kept their playoff hopes alive by taking a double-header from the Oklahoma City RedHawks by identical 2-1 scores.
In the first game, James Russell started and pitched five shutout innings. Russell allowed four hits, walked one and struck out seven.
David Patton got the win with an inning of relief. Patton didn’t allow any runs or hits, but he did walk two. He did not record a strikeout.
Blake Parker allowed an unearned run in the ninth inning, but recorded his 19th save anyway. Parker didn’t allow a hit. He walked one and struck out two.
The Cubs only had two hits in the first game, but one of them was a two-run home run in the sixth inning by shortstop Andres Blanco. It was Blanco’s sixth home run this season for Iowa. Blanco was 1 for 3.
In the second game the Cubs scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh, including a game-winning RBI single by Andres Blanco again. Blanco went 2 for 4 with a double in the second game. Catcher Steve Clevenger was 2 for 3 with a run scored.
Esmailin Caridad started the second game and allowed one unearned run over three innings. He allowed two hits, walked no one and struck out five.
John Gaub got the win in relief. He walked two and struck out two in the one scoreless inning of relief he pitched.
Tennessee Smokies
Had the day off.
Daytona Cubs (26-32)
The Daytona Cubs tamed the Lakeland Flying Tigers, 8-5.
James Leverton started and picked up his ninth win. He went 5.1 innings and allowed four runs on seven hits, including a pair of two run homers. Leverton walked one and struck out five.
Henry Williamson was perfect in 2.2 innings of relief. He struck out five.
Right fielder Brandon Guyer did what we’ve been waiting for him to do for quite a while: he homered. The three-run home run was his first home run for Daytona (he had hit one for Tennessee) and he went 1 for 4.
Left fielder Jonathan Wyatt was 2 for 4 with two runs scored. First baseman Jake Opitz had a triple (but didn’t score) in a 2 for 4 game. Shortstop Nate Samson went 1 for 2 with two walks. He scored twice and had two RBI.
Boise Hawks (30-36)
The Boise Hawks lost to the Spokane Indians, 4-2.
Yohan Gonzalez was very good in relief in this game, tossing three perfect innings from the fourth through the sixth. Gonzalez struck out three.
Left fielder Robert Wagner provided all the Hawks runs with a two-run homer. It was his fourth on the season. Wagner also doubled in a 2 for 4 game.
AZL Cubs
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How do you think this news about Ryan will affect the team this season?
Here’s a video of Ryan:
Ryan’s 2009 Baseball Predictions
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John Smoltz had a successful first home start with the St. Louis Cardinals. Albert Pujols made sure it was a great night for the whole team. Smoltz struck out six and allowed a run in six innings in his home debut, while Pujols put three poor at-bats behind him and hit his 41st homer leading off the bottom of the ninth for a 3-2 victory over the Washington Nationals on Friday night.