Tag: Detroit Tigers

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MLB General

The Full Count: The Cardinals pull one out

Pujols for MVP?

1. A season-saving homerun?: The Cardinals looked like they were done. They came into yesterday’s game having lost seven in row, and it looked like they were going to end up losers once again. San Diego starter Chris Young had pitched excellently and the Padres got out to a 2-1 lead through seven innings. But no lead is safe when your opponent has Albert Pujols in the lineup. Pujols jacked a three-run homerun in the eighth to lift the Cardinals 4-3. Not only did this win the game, it might have saved the season for the previously reeling Cardinals. Now St. Louis has kept their 1.5 game lead with 5 games left to play. The Padres gave up some ground in the division to the Dodgers.
 

2. Untouchable: The Houston Astros, who seemed all but out of the playoff hunt a week ago, seemingly decided to start winning. There is no other explanation for their incredible 8 game winning streak. Though the Cardinals finally won, the `Stros kept their streak going yesterday. They defeated the hapless Pirates in 15 innings. Somehow Houston has a knack for playing (and winning) long games like these. They did it again, though even getting to extras was difficult this time around. Houston was down 6-1 after five innings but then rallied back to tie up the game. Brad Ausmus’ sac fly in the 15th sealed the deal. There is a negative consequence to playing all these long games like the Astros have. Their pitching staff has pitched the most innings among every major league team, meaning they might seem more fatigued than some of the other teams as Houston heads down the stretch.
 

3. Extra! Extra!: The Houston game wasn’t the only extra-inning game involving playoff contenders yesterday. The Phillies and Nationals couldn’t decide their game after nine innings either. They ended up going a whopping 14 innings, and Philly ended up winning. The Wild Card contenders won 8-7 as their offense looked excellent. Jimmy Rollins, perhaps the most underrated shortstop in baseball, went 3-8 with 4 RBIs, including the game winner. Chase Utley hit a homerun early on, and leads all second basemen with 32 homers and 102 RBIs on the year. The Phils currently stand one game behind the Wild Card-leading Dodgers.
 

4. Central Supremacy: The race for the Central between the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins is the only important thing going on in the AL. Detroit was one game back heading into Wednesday, and they remain that way after both teams lost yesterday. The Tigers lost to the Blue Jays 7-4 in a game that featured seven combined homers by both teams. Meanwhile, the Twins fell to the pitiful Royals, who barely avoided their 100th loss of the season. The second and third best teams in baseball by record won’t play each other the rest of the season. The Tigers have one game left against the Blue Jays and a three-game set with the Royals. The Twins will face the Royals again and then the White Sox for three. And all of this, by the way, is just a race to see who will play the Yankees (wild card winner) or the A’s (division winner).
 

5. Bonds will be back: To the surprise of few, Barry Bonds announced that he’ll play in the 2007 season. Bonds has hit 26 homeruns this season to move him within 21 of Hank Aaron’s prestigious record. He should break that record next year if he could avoid a major injury. The big question is which team Bonds will play for. Of course right now Bonds is acting like he’ll stay with the Giants, but everyone thinks that he’ll end up as a DH for an American League team, likely the A’s or Angels.

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MLB General

The Full Count: A’s finally clinch


1. All in: In the National League only one team has clinched a playoff berth. But in the AL, all four playoff teams are already in. They are the Yankees, Tigers, Twins, and after last night, the A’s. Oakland won 12-3 against Seattle to finally clinch the AL West after four days of trying. Rich Harden pitched well and improved to 4-0 this year. Harden, who has been injured most of the year, will certainly help the A’s in the playoffs. So the A’s, at 91-66, are in. That means that the Angels are outta here. Anaheim/LA had made a remarkable comeback after starting off the year in last place. They were just unable to hold off the superior A’s.

2. They just can’t win: The Cardinals have looked absolutely horrendous this past week. While all they’ve needed to do is just cruise and win half their games to make the playoffs, the Cards have lost 7 in a row. Yesterday was seemingly a good situation for a St. Louis victory, with Cy Young candidate Chris Carpenter on the mound. But Carpenter blew a three-run lead in the seventh in what was his worst outing of the month. The opposing Padres took advantage by winning 7-5 and keeping their two-game lead in the NL West. If the Cardinals can’t win, the Astros will be more than happy to take their division title. Houston has won seven in a row.

3. Chase for the title: The Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers are both in the playoffs already. But they both are continuing to win in the quest for the AL Central title. Each team has won 4 games in a row, including yesterday. The Tigers handled the Blue Jays by a count of 4-3, with Jeremy Bonderman earning his 14th victory. Detroit stands at 95-62. Meanwhile, the Twins edged the Royals 3-2. Johan Santana went eight innings to advance to 19-6. He maintains the lead in each Pitching Triple Crown category, and currently would be leading the National League as well. The Twins are just one game back at 94-63.

4. Great player, extraordinary season: David Ortiz is having one of the best unaided seasons of our era. Ortiz, despite the Red Sox’s elimination from playoff contention, is still mashing the ball. He has 5 homers in the past week alone, and 54 on the season. He leads the AL in homers and RBIs, with 137. He manages to get on-base at a .407 clip despite the infamous “Ortiz shift” by the opposing team. Just so you know, he’s recorded the 18th-most homers of any player ever in a single-season, though taking out the clear roiders he’s in the top 10. Will this be enough for an MVP? Somehow, probably not.

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Baltimore Orioles

Sep 27 in Sports History: Robbie Alomar spits on an ump


In 1996: Roberto Alomar of the Orioles proved that yes, most professional baseball players are out-of-touch douche bags when he spit in the face of umpire John Hirschbeck following an argument over balls and strikes in Toronto. If that wasn’t bad enough, Alomar remarked after the game, “I used to respect him a lot. He had problems with his family when his son died (of a rare brain disease) — I know that’s something real tough in life — but after that he just changed. He became real bitter.” When hearing Alomar’s words the next day, Hirschbeck charged into the Orioles’ clubhouse and confronted Alomar, but was restrained. More controversy was created when acting commissioner Bud Selig allowed Alomar to play in the postseason and not have to serve a paltry five-game suspension until the beginning of the 1997 season. (baseball library.com)

In 1999: The Detroit Tigers played their final game at Tiger Stadium (also referred to as Griffin Stadium in the early days) with each player wearing the number of a retired great from Detroit. Gabe Kaplar represented Ty Cobb in centerfield and wore no number. The Tigers defeated the Royals 8-2. The stadium opened in 1912 in downtown Detroit and some great moments included the feats of Ty Cobb, Hank Greenberg, Denny McClain’s 31 pitching wins in 1968 and World Series titles in 1935, 1945, 1968 and 1984. (baseballlibrary.com)

In 1984: Jon Facenda, the legendary voice of NFL Films, died at the age of 72. Facenda, who also worked as a Philadelphia anchor, was there at the beginning, narrating the first NFL Films feature “They Call It Pro Football.” His deep, rich voice — revered as “the Voice of God” by football fans — was often mimicked by the likes of Chris Berman (who actually made up “the frozen tundra” — Facenda never said it). He was replaced by Harry Kalas. (wnbc.com)

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MLB General

The Full Count: Trevor Hoffman is the all-time saves leader



Someone get him some coffee

1. 479: Is Trevor Hoffman the best closer ever? It’s a tough argument, but Hoffman now has the ultimate in closing records: the all-time saves record. Hoffman saved his 479th career game on Sunday, breaking Lee Smith’s mark. It was his 43rd save of the year, which has arguably been the second-best season of his career (in 1998 he saved 53 in 54 chances). He closed out the last two games of the Padres sweep of the Pirates, giving the team a one-and-a-half game lead in the division. Hoffman deserves some serious consideration for the NL Cy Young; he has a 1.95 ERA, .93 WHIP, and .198 opponent’s batting average. Even more impressive, he’s done all this as a 38-year old without a true out pitch. One pitch, a changeup, has made Hoffman an all-time record holder.

2. Speaking of closing: The A’s have almost clinched the AL West division title. The Angels, the only team that could possibly pass Oakland, stayed alive for two more days. They beat the A’s twice in a row over the weekend to keep them from clinching the West. Oakland’s magic number remains at 1.

3. The Inevitable: Detroit has been leading the American League Central division every single day since May. Though they had been the best team in the MLB most of the summer, the Tigers had been fading recently. Still, they were able to finally clinch a playoff spot yesterday, finally securing what had seemed inevitable for a while. They clinched the postseason after a three-game sweep in Kansas City, routing the Royals a combined 33-11. Justin Verlander, who has led the Tigers for most of the season, improved to 17-9. Detroit, who is 94-62, still hasn’t wrapped up the division. They likely will, though, and in they will probably face the A’s in the first round of the playoffs.

4. The only race left: Almost every postseason spot has been clinched or is on the verge of being clinched. The lone race remaining is the three-team shootout for two NL playoff spots. The Phillies, Dodgers, and Padres are going at it for the Wild Card and the West division title. All three teams won yesterday. The Phils hit five homers, including two by Chase Utley, to rout the Marlins 10-7. Jamie Moyer, the former Mariner, improved to 4-2 as a Phillie. The Dodgers won in more dramatic fashion. They were tied with the D-Backs 1-1 in the ninth inning. Then Nomar Garciaparra hit a walk off grand slam, his 19th homer of the year. Garciaparra is the obvious choice for NL comeback player of the year and has produced many clutch hits this year. He’s kept the Dodgers, who are a half-game back of the Phillies, in the race.

5. The Braves are officially done: With only six games left, the Braves were officially eliminted from the postseason for the first time in 14 years with a loss to the Rockies. Even with a 7-0 lead in the fourth, the Braves couldn’t hold on to win. The chances of Atlanta making the playoffs were slim to none but now Slim has officially left the building.

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MLB General

The Full Count: NL Wildcard race is coming down to the wire



Phils try to sneak in

1. Still up for Grabs: While the Twins or Tigers have the American League Wild Card wrapped up, the National League’s Wild Card is still wide open. San Francisco, Atlanta, and Florida are all within striking distance, but really it is down to three teams: the Padres, Dodgers, and Phillies. Two of those teams will make the playoffs, as one will win the NL West, but the other will have to go home. Yesterday the Dodgers and Padres played while the Phillies were off. The Dodgers won 5-2 over the Pirates to put the pressure on the Phils with a half-game lead. Takashi Saito, LA’s unknown closer, saved his 20th game of the season and has only blown two. With 10 games left in the season and the Phils and Dodgers virtually tied, this race will come down to the finish line.

2. You shall not pass: The Minnesota Twins could have taken the AL Central lead last night. With a Tigers loss and Johan Santana on the mound, it seemed like they might have a good chance of doing so. But the Boston Red Sox, who are out of contention, outplayed them in every way. David Ortiz hit two homers, no. 51 and 52 on the season, and went 3-3 to lead the charge. Santana just lasted five innings, allowing four runs but only two earned. The unearned runs were off of Johan’s own throwing error. He was hit with his first loss since the All Star break, but is still 18-6 with a 2.79 ERA. The Twins offense could muster nothing against Josh Beckett on the night, and the team fell 6-0.

3. Leading but not leading: The San Diego Padres are still leading their division by a half-game. But their most important player is just shy of another lead. Trevor Hoffman saved his 41st game of the season last night, putting him within one of Lee Smith’s all time saves record. He has 477 career saves and should break the record by the time the season is over. Would that make Hoffman a Hall of Famer, even though Smith isn’t? He should make it in, though he probably won’t. By the way, the rest of San Diego’s schedule looks like this: Pittsburgh at home, then St. Louis and Arizona on the road.

4. An Underrated Player: At 5.5 games out of the Wild Card race, there is little chance Houston will make the playoffs. But the accomplishments of one player are worth stating. That player is Lance Berkman, and he has received little attention despite a monstrous campaign. Yesterday he hit two homers and four RBIs to single-handedly beat the Cardinals. This is nothing new to Berkman, who has carried the Astros offense the entire season. Berk’s hitting .315, with 43 homers and 126 RBIs. His OPS of 1.049 ranks third in the league. And, due to an outrageous number of walks, he’s done this in just 498 at-bats. What an incredible player. If Berkman played for a contending team, people might realize he’s been just as good with the bat this season as Albert Pujols.

5. The Race for #30: The playoff races are interesting as always this year. But how about this: the Devil Rays and Royals are tied for the honor of worst MLB team. While Kansas City seemingly had this wrapped up months ago, the D-Rays have fallen after a 1-9 skid. The Royals have been outscored 708-900, while the D-Rays are slightly better with a 647-808 margin. Both teams stand at 58-94, and both will likely reach 100 losses. With either of these franchises ever succeed? It’s hard to imagine a turnaround, though this year’s Tigers proved that is possible.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Padres strike back



Padres take 1 game lead

1. The Western Roller Coaster: On Monday the Dodgers took the NL West lead in incredible fashion. Yesterday, the lead was back in the hands of the Padres. Can somebody just clinch this one already? The Padres defeated the Diamondbacks 5-2 in what was pretty much your average game. Mike Cameron and Adrian Gonzalez homered for San Diego, and starter Clay Hensley remained hot with another win. Trevor Hoffman recovered from his Monday meltdown with his 40th save of the year. He’s at 476 career saves, two behind the all time record, and yet this is still not a more major story. This bugs us. Wouldn’t somebody chasing the all time homerun or wins record get unprecedented attention? And yet Hoffman is still pitching in relative obscurity in a pure case of East Coast bias. Whatever. Hoffman’s Padres are back on top.

2. Next to clinch: Yesterday the New York Mets clinched the first playoff spot and the NL East division title. Today the New York Yankees can do the same. Their magic number is just 1 after they beat the Blue Jays for the second straight day. Bobby Abreu hit a two-run homer in the seventh to break a 3-3 tie. Hideki Matsui, who returned from the DL a couple weeks ago, hit another homerun. He has two homers, five runs driven in, and is hitting .409 since his return from the DL. The Yanks won 6-3 to take their fifth straight game against the Blue Jays. They still have the AL’s best record.

3. Setback: The Tigers could have virtually eliminated the White Sox with a win against them yesterday. But with Freddy Garcia’s marvelous start and the usual homer-happy offense, the Sox crushed the Tigers 7-0. Garcia pitched 8 innings, allowing just two walks and one hit. It was his second straight eight inning, no run start as Garcia improved to 15-9. Offensively, Jim Thome hit his 41st homer of the season and Jermaine Dye hit his 43rd. AJ Pierzynski added four RBIs, and the ChiSox improved to five games back of the Tigers. However, the Twins won, so they are still four games behind them.

4. The Winners once again: The St. Louis Cardinals are just games away from clinching their third straight NL Central title. They’re seven games up on the Reds after both teams won yesterday. The Cards shellacked the Brew Crew 12-2, with good work on the mound and in the batter’s box. Jeff Weaver, who has slightly improved from his pitiful state earlier in the year, improved to 4-4 since joining St. Louis. He pitched six decent innings and got plenty of help from the team’s bats. Albert Pujols, who ranks in the NL’s top 10 in virtually every category possible, went 2-5 and had 2 RBIs. Ronnie Belliard went 3-4 with 4 runs, and Aaron Miles had a 4-6, three-RBI day. The Cards are 80-69 and have looked pretty good this month. They’ll go into the playoffs as a dangerous threat to the supremacy of the Mets.

5. Teams still alive: Here are the only teams still alive mathematically for the postseason. In the AL, the Yankees, Tigers, and A’s are leading their divisions, while the Red Sox (at least right now), Angels (only barely), White Sox, and Twins still have a shot. In the NL, the Mets are in, while the Cards are close. The Dodgers and Padres both refuse to claim the NL West, while the Phillies, Giants, and even the Marlins still have hope left. So there you have it. Those are the only teams still worth paying attention to.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Padres eyeing division title


1. The Battle for the West: Are you ready for a defining series? Just like the five-game Yankees-Red Sox melee a month ago, it could decide a division. That division is the NL West, and the teams are the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers. The Padres will enter this four-game weekend set on a roll, having won 7 of their last 10 games. They finished off the Reds last night with a 4-2 victory, with all runs for both teams being scored in the 7th inning. San Diego will enter that series just a half-game back of the Dodgers for the division lead, as Los Angeles has been crumbling lately. They’ve gone 4-6 in their last 10, and they lost to the pitiful Cubs yesterday. It looks like the Padres have all the momentum going into this duel, and if they can sweep it they might virtually clinch the NL West division title.

2. Still going: When will the Giants run out of steam? They’ve been great the entire month, with an 8-4 record in September and a 19-9 record since August 14. Yesterday they shut down the Rockies 5-0, with Matt Cain having a fantastic start. Cain allowed no earned runs for his 4th consecutive start and has lowered his ERA from 4.89 to 3.75 since August 12. Yesterday, Cain gave up just two hits and struck out seven. He led the 74-72 Giants to another victory to keep them 2.5 games back of the Wild Card leader, the Padres.

3. What an offense: The Yankees offense this season has been truly great, and now they are boosted by the return of Hideki Matsui from injury. Matsui homered yesterday for the first time since May 9 as the Yanks destroyed the Devil Rays 7-4 to bring out the brooms. The sweep was won by a combined 27-12 in three games, with the D-Rays notching exactly four runs in each game and the Yankees simply outscoring them. Derek Jeter went 2-4 to extend his hit streak to 23 games, and .339 hitter Robinson Cano went 2-4 with 3 RBIs. New York leads the entire majors in runs scored, with 32 more than the second-place White Sox. They also lead the league in batting average (.285), OBP (.365), and OPS (.825). They’ll probably get Gary Sheffield back in time for the playoffs as well.

4. Making up for lost time: The Angels were battling with a .500 record for most of July and early August. Now, their focus is on the Oakland A’s after a 17-9 run the past month. The Angels are 9-4 so far in September, and they control their own destiny down the stretch. Though they are five games behind Oakland, Los Angeles plays them 7 times over the next two weeks. They also have 6 more games against division rival Texas, who they defeated 2-1 last night. Could they make an improbable run at the playoffs? That’s one of the more interesting occurrences as we head down the stretch.

5. The Amazing Races: What’s the status of each major race in baseball? Let’s start with the AL East, where the Yankees have things wrapped up. They lead by 11.5 games over Boston, who has little to no shot of catching them. the AL Central race is far more interesting. The Tigers still lead, but only by a measly game over the smokin’ Twins. The White Sox lurk at three games back, so don’t count them out either. We’ve already given you the AL West, so let’s move on to the NL. The biggest divisional lead in baseball, as it has been for a while, is the Mets over the Phillies in the NL East. They lead by 16.5 games and have a magic number of 3. In the Central, the Cardinals lead by 5.5 games, though the Reds have faded. St. Louis should have the division in their pocket by next week. Houston is six games back and should finish the year in second place. So there you have it.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Here come the Twins


1. Closing in: We thought the Detroit Tigers had a divisional lead impossible to overcome. The Minnesota Twins thought otherwise. They just took 3 of 4 from the Tigers in dominant fashion. On Sunday, Johan Santana was able to shut down the Detroit offense once again. He threw 11 strikeouts and didn’t allow a run in Minnesota’s 12-1 blowout. Joe Mauer had two doubles and two RBIs for the offense, and Nick Punto had an excellent game with four hits. It was the Twins’ third win in a row to close out the series, and it gave them their smallest divisional deficit since April 18. The Twins are just two games back now of the Tigers. These teams don’t play for the rest of the season unless they meet in the playoffs.

2. The D-Train Returns: The Florida Marlins pitching staff got plenty of attention over the past week, but little of it went to Dontrelle Willis. He had been in the shadow of Anibal Sanchez’s no-hitter as well as some of the Marlins’ other rookies. But he showed on Sunday that he is still a very capable young pitcher. Willis pitched one of the best games the league has seen this season, going the distance for a complete-game shutout. He struck out 12 Phillies, matching a career high. The Marlins won 3-0 to salvage a series split against the Phils. The teams have identical records at 72-71 and stand 2.5 games back of the Wild Card lead.

3. Rollin’ Along: The Oakland A’s are still winning ballgames and still leading the NL West. Though they receive little attention, they have been just as good as the Yankees or White Sox, at least by record. The A’s are 82-60 after outlasting the Devil Rays 9-7 yesterday. The big news was Frank Thomas, who had a “perfect” day and homered for his fifth straight game. Thomas went 3-3 at the plate with 2 walks and now has 35 homers on the season. The A’s are still holding off the red-hot Angels in the division by 5.5 games. For the D-Rays, Delmon Young continued his incredible success since he was called up, going 3-5 to bring his average to .408.

4. Padres Power: The San Diego Padres still have the lead in the National League Wild Card. They’re going for their second straight playoff appearance, and the Padres moved to 2.5 games ahead of the streaking Giants after beating them yesterday. They won 10-2, as Woody Williams improved to 8-3 on the year and Brian Giles hit 4 RBIs. Rookie middle reliever Cla Meredith now has a 33 inning scoreless streak, as he hasn’t allowed a run since July 17 to decrease his ERA from 3.86 to 0.69. The Padres, who are off today, will take on Cincy this week before a pivotal series against the Dodgers.

5. Best in the business: The best players in the majors are performing better than ever. David Ortiz missed a week and a half in late August and early September, but he’s picked up right where he left off. Papi went 0-7 his first two games back, but then on Friday went 3-5 with 4 RBIs. Then, yesterday, Ortiz went 2-2 with three walks, three runs, and a homerun. The round-tripper gave him a career-high 48 this season, and he’s also on pace for career bests in on-base percentage, slugging, and OPS. Albert Pujols is also on pace for some career highs this year. His 45 homers are one off his best mark, set in 2004, and his 118 RBIs are nine away from his high. This is despite going on the disabled list for the first time earlier this season, and having almost 20 games left in the year. Other prominent players that are blowing up their career marks are Jermaine Dye, Travis Hafner (who is out the rest of the year with a broken hand), Derek Jeter, Alfonso Soriano, and Carlos Beltran, to name a few.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Verlander rolls along


1. This Rookie’s not fading: It’s a fact that most rookies, even the best ones, fade down the stretch. But Justin Verlander of the Tigers isn’t following that trend. In September he has two starts and a 0.60 ERA after last night’s gem against the Twins. Verlander threw 7 innings, allowing just one run and striking out 5. He earned a victory to improve to 16-7 as the Tigers rolled on against the Twins. Verlander was helped by the Tigers’ offense, which scored 7 runs and hit 4 homers. Detroit ended a 1-4 stretch with the victory and leads the Twins by 5 games.

2. The Contenders: The Phillies and Marlins started what will be an interesting four-game series over the weekend. Yesterday the Phils took Game 1 by a score of 14-8 in a game that featured great offense by both teams. For the winning Phils, Ryan Howard hit his 54th homerun of the season, his fifth jack in five days. Chase Utley had two hits and three RBIs, and backup catcher Chris Coste even got in on the action with four runs driven in. The Marlins were impressive too on offense, as Miguel Cabrera went crazy with four hits, a homer, and three runs. But their stud rookie pitcher Josh Johnson saw his ERA rise over 3.0 for the first time since May 4. He had been leading all pitchers in that category for a while, but not after the 4 innings pitched, 5 earned runs effort he had last night. The Marlins fell back to .500 a day after their no-hitter. But each team is still very much alive in the Wild Card standings.

3. The Steamroller: The Mets are literally steamrolling their way through the relatively easy National League. Yesterday they cruised by the Dodgers 7-0, as Tom Glavine pitched well enough to earn his first victory since August 5. Since June 23, Glavine is remarkably just 2-4, with an increased ERA as well. Two wins in two-and-a-half months are very bad luck for a pitcher on the NL’s best offense, which showed off as well in the win. Jose Reyes hit what was surprisingly his first career inside-the-park homerun. David Wright went 2-2, drove in a run, and scored. And Carlos Beltran hit his team-leading 113th RBI. Brad Penny of the Dodgers got smoked for all seven runs and exited with a loss.

4. No Hafner, no problem: The Cleveland Indians lacked big-time DH Travis Hafner last night, who hasn’t played since the 1st with an unknown injury. But that was no big deal for their offense, even against the defending World Champs. Cleveland easily outclassed the White Sox yesterday, winning 9-1. Victor Martinez and Grady Sizemore each homered for the Tribe, who pumped out 17 hits on the night. The loser for the White Sox was Mark Buehrle, who has been plagued by inconsistent play recently. He left after 4 innings, allowing 5 runs and 10 hits on the day. The loss dropped him to 12-12, including a 3-6 mark since the break. The Indians have now outscored their opponents by 81 runs this season, a remarkable figure considering their 67-72 record.

5. The Quiet Pursuit of an All-time Record: An MLB player is about to break a major record, yet even baseball fans haven’t been hearing about his chase. He is Padres closer Trevor Hoffman, who has been one of the league’s most underrated players for a while and is closing in on the saves record. Hoffman leads the National League with 37 saves this season, and has closed out more than half of the Padres’ 73 wins. He hasn’t even allowed a run since July 28. More importantly, Hoffman is just 5 away from Lee Smith’s mark of 478 saves. He’s on pace for six more saves this season, meaning that he should break the record.Why this isn’t a bigger story is beyond us. Mariano Rivera gets all the publicity, but Hoffman has been just as good for just as long in the regular season. The only thing he doesn’t have is the playoff experience. Still, he’ll retire the all time saves leader, and that should be enough to get anyone into the Hall of Fame.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Shutouts galore



2H, 1BB and 12K in 8 innings

1. Shut down and shut out: There were an inordinate amount of shutouts last night in the big leagues. Pitching prevailed as seven teams put up straight zeroes on the day. Let’s start with the American League, where three teams got blanked. The AL Wild Card race was affected, as the Twins won 8-0 while the White Sox lost 1-0. For the Twins, Johan Santana won his 17th game to take the lead in each of the pitching Triple Crown categories. The Sox lost to the Red Sox in David Ortiz’s return. Ortiz went 0-3 but the Red Sox escaped thanks to Kason Gabbard’s nice start. Elsewhere, the team that has allowed the most runs this season shut out the team that has scored the most. That’s right, it was Royals over Yankees, 5-0. For KC, Todd Wellemeyer went for a very long save, going 3.1 innings and striking out five. The Yankees still lead the Red Sox by 8 games while the Twins have opened up a 1.5 game lead on the White Sox.

2. Shutouts, NL Edition: There were way too many shutouts last night to contain in just one article. The Cards took on the Nats, winning 2-0 behind Albert Pujols’ 5th homer in 3 days. That gives him 44 on the season, more than last year when he won the MVP. Milwaukee crushed LA with a Doug Davis complete game. Davis allowed just four hits while striking out eight on the day. Claudio Vargas helped the D-Backs earn a shutout win of their own as he outdeuled the Marlins’ Dontrelle Willis. And finally, Bronson Arroyo of the Reds surged back after his recent inconsistency, going for a complete-game blanking of the Giants while his ERA dropped to 3.33. According to Elias Says, this was only the seventh time in major league history that there were seven or more shutouts in a single day.

3. What’s going on?: The Tigers lost again last night. The team that has held the best record in the majors for so long finally finds itself and its starting pitching in a slump. Detroit has only won 4 of their last 13 games and just 9 of their last 27. While the Tigers still hold the best record in the major leagues and Kenny Rogers is on fire, many are now questioning whether this team really is “for real.” Jeremy Bonderman blew a three-run lead last night and has not looked like himself for the past month and a half. Bonderman has a 5.05 ERA and a .280 opponents’ batting average since the break, and he along with Nate Robertson and Zach Miner declined in August. But the Tigers have plenty of time to solve their problems before the postseason begins–if they can hold on to their playoff spot.

4. Now they’re the worst: Could things get any worse for Cubs fans? How does a loss to the Pirates sound? That’s what happened last night, as Pittsburgh won their second game of a four-game series. The Pirates’ Jason Bay had one of his best games of the season, with 2 homers and 4 RBIs. He is just shy of his career highs in both categories, set last year. The Cubs declined to the notorious title of “worst team in the National League.” Basically, considering how relatively bad the NL is, they’re the worst team in the majors. The 55-83 Cubbies have gone 1-9 their last ten to cement this dishonor.

5. Hell does not freeze over: And the Cincinnati Reds’ Key Griffey is hurt again. For Griffey, who last played a full season in 2000, this shouldn’t be news. But he is a major contributor to a contending team, so this could be important. Girffey’s current malady is a dislocated toe that leaves him out indefinitely. The 36-year old has no guess as to when he might be back. Source: http://cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/story/9640364/rss