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MLB General

The Full Count: Santana strikes out seventeen


1. The Strikeout Machine: Johan Santana has led the American League in strikeouts three straight years, but he’s never fanned as many batters as he did on Sunday. With an incredible 17 strikeouts in eight innings, Santana set a personal and team single-game record. He struck out the side three times, and had at least two strikeouts in seven different innings. Santana allowed only two hits, both to Sammy Sosa. He could have challenged the major league strikeout record of 20 if he had stayed in the ninth inning, but with 112 pitches he was removed. Joe Nathan had two K’s of his own as he recorded his 27th save. The Twins needed all the pitching they could get, scoring only one run on offense. In Santana’s last seven starts, they have scored more than four runs only once, continuing a yearlong trend of poor run support for their ace. Despite mediocre play by the Twins recently, they are still only six games out in the division thanks to struggles by the Indians and Tigers.

2. New York, New York: Both teams from the Big Apple are red-hot, as each reached 70 wins with wins on Sunday. The Mets completed a sweep of the Nationals, while the Yankees took three out of four from the Tigers. For the Mets, Orlando Hernandez had another excellent start, while Carlos Beltran powered the offense with two homers. Beltran, who has struggled mightily since a stellar April, now has five homers in his last nine games. The Mets took advantage of a poor weekend by the Braves and Phillies in extending their division lead to five games. Meanwhile, the Yankees are now four games behind Boston after a 9-3 win on Sunday combined with a Red Sox loss. Hideki Matsui had three more RBIs, while recently acquired Wilson Betemit knocked in four runs. After the Tigers won the first game of this series on Thursday, the Yanks dominated with three wins in a row by a combined 20-6 score. Unfortunately for Detroit, they will face the Yankees four more times later this week. The Yankees’ first series with the Red Sox since June is coming up on August 28.

3. Moving up without playing: The Cubs encountered a unique situation on Sunday. Despite their game against the Cardinals on Sunday Night Baseball being rained out, they still managed to capture the lead in the NL Central division. That was due to another loss by the Brewers, who fell 7-6 to the Reds in a crazy game. Despite a poor start by ace Aaron Harang, the Reds came back thanks to homers by Adam Dunn and Brandon Phillips, as well as a go-ahead pinch-hit double by Javier Valentin. For Brewers starter Chris Capuano, it was his 16th straight start in which the Brewers lost. That is approaching the major league record of 18, set way back in 1912. Milwaukee hasn’t won in one of Capuano’s starts since May 8, when he was 5-0 with a 2.31 ERA. Since then he has lost ten decisions and his ERA has risen by three. The Brewers have given up a once-huge division thanks to a 7-20 record since July 25.

Player of the Day: Johan Santana, Twins: 8 innings, no runs, two hits, 17 strikeouts in a 1-0 win over the Rangers.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Brewers going down the drain


1. Collapse of the Brewers: The Milwaukee Brewers may still lead the division, but at the rate they’re going now, it won’t be for much longer. They lost 8-0 on Thursday to the Cardinals, their fourth loss in a row. Adam Wainwright had one of his best starts of the year for St. Louis, with seven scoreless innings and eight strikeouts. Catcher Yadier Molina pounded two homers, despite coming into the game with one the entire year. The Brewers were swept by the Cardinals, who are now only 2.5 games back. The Cubs haven’t been great recently either, but they trail by only a half game. The Brewers, who have been outscored this season, are only 4-10 in August, and it’s looking like they will give up their division lead in the near future.

2. Desert Dominance: Like the Brewers, the Diamondbacks have been outscored for the season. That is where the similarities end, however. Arizona has the National League’s best record at 69-53, and is 10-4 this month. They have a three game lead over the second place Padres in the division. The D-Backs wrapped up a series win over Florida with a 5-4 victory on Thursday. It was a typical win for them–decent but not great starting pitching, hitting that just gets the job done, and great work by the bullpen. Despite their 22-10 record since the All Star break, the Diamondbacks still haven’t been great statistically in that span. They’re batting .250 with a 4.23 team ERA since the break, in fact. Sooner or later, those poor statistics will catch up with them. For now, though, the Diamondbacks appear to be on cruise control.

3. The Showdown Begins: The Tigers and Yankees hadn’t seen each other all year before Thursday, but they are scheduled to play two four game series in two weeks. The Tigers won the first battle of the majors’ two highest-scoring teams, handing the Yankees their third straight loss. Detroit’s 8-5 win was fueled by six runs in the first two innings, including a grand slam by Carlos Guillen in the first. Justin Verlander pitched well enough for his 13th win. The Tigers and Yankees now have identical 67-54 records this year, with the Tigers a half game ahead in their division and the Yankees a half game behind in the wild card. The Yanks have dropped to 5.5 games back in the division thanks to two inexcusable losses to Baltimore earlier this week.

Player of the Day: Mark DeRosa, Cubs: 5-5, 4 RBIs in a 12-4 win over Cincinnati. DeRosa was one of three Cubs to put up at least four hits in this blowout.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Aaron Harang goes OT


1. The 10-inning Start: Aaron Harang just kept coming back to the mound, inning after inning. In what is tied for the longest appearance by a pitcher this season, Harang went 10 innings, giving up just one run. He also struck out ten, and remarkably had no walks despite 121 pitches. Harang, however, didn’t even get credit for the win, as the Reds-Brewers game was decided in the 12th inning. Backup catcher Javier Valentin provided the winning hit, and reliever Jared Burton was credited with the W. Harang’s start was the longest in the majors since Roy Halladay went 10 innings on April 13. Halladay also had a ten-inning start back in 2003. Harang, by the way, is doing very well this season with a 3.45 ERA.

2. The Best of the Best: The Boston Red Sox became the first major league team to reach 60 wins after beating the Indians, but they don’t have the highest winning percentage in baseball. That would be the 59-38 Tigers, who beat the White Sox 9-6. Detroit, who has by far the best road record in baseball (33-17), crushed Chicago for 18 hits, including 14 off starter Mark Buehrle. Andrew Miller had his worst start so far this year, but it didn’t matter as Curtis Granderson went 3-3 with 4 RBIs. The 60-39 Red Sox beat Cleveland 6-2 in Jon Lester’s debut after fighting cancer. Lester went six strong innings, and Coco Crisp backed him up with four hits and three runs. The Tigers and Red Sox right now are the best teams in baseball, though many others, such as the Indians, Angels, and Dodgers, are pretty close. With all these elite teams, we should see some great playoff action this year.

3. The D-Train has Crashed: Whatever happened to Dontrelle Willis? A 22-game winner in 2005, Willis was average last year and has been flat-out bad this season. He lost his seventh straight decision on Monday, a career-high. He has walked too many people (57, fifth-most in the league) and given up too many hits (154, well over one per inning). This results in a dismal 1.65 WHIP, along with a 5.15 ERA. Willis hasn’t even won a game since May 29. Despite all the promise he showed over his first few seasons, Willis is now seemingly a below-average MLB pitcher.

Player of the Day: Aaron Harang, Reds: 10 innings, seven hits, one run, no walks, 10 K’s in a 2-1 win over the Brewers.

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MLB General

The Full Count: All-Star Game auditions


This isn’t Guys and Dolls, but if yesterday was an audition for All-Star pitchers to prove they’re worthy of starting next Tuesday in the Midsummer Classic, some passed with flying colors, while others just gave up big flys. And lots of them. Yesterday’s winners were Justin Verlander of the Tigers, Josh Beckett of the Red Sox and Jake Peavy of the Padres; while Brad Penny of the Dodgers and C.C. Sabathia of the Indians should have Leyland and LaRussa screaming “Next!” Verlander beat Sabathia head-to-head, going seven strong innings and striking out seven. Sabathia, on the other hand, was brutal, only lasting four innings and giving up three homers. Beckett dominated the D-Rays, but doesn’t everybody? Peavy, though, was a victim (again) of lack of run support, but still had a great outing going seven innings with 6 K. Penny, who has been the best pitcher in the National League, was a nightmare, lasting only four innings while giving up six runs in his worst outing of the year.

Maybe it’s the beer talking, but how pathetic is the NL Central? The Milwaukee Brewers were enjoying the most comfortable division lead outside of New England, but if they don’t improve their play on the road, they could be crying in their drinks come October. After losing three of four to the pathetic (if they improved) Pittsburgh Pirates, the Brewers road record stands at 18-24, worst of all the first place teams. Lucky for them, they’re 30-13 in the house of hops. It was a rough series for the Crew, as Ben Sheets and the staff couldn’t keep Adam LaRoche and Ryan Doumit in the yard. Those modern day Ruth and Gehrig clones combined for five HR and 10 RBI in the series. Even worse, star outfielder Billy Hall sprained his ankle trying to catch one of them. Hall is out indefinitely. Mmmmmmm….beer.

They like us! They really, really like us. As expected, starting pitcher Chris Young of the Padres and reliever Hideki Okajima of the Red Sox won the online voting for final roster spots on the All-Star team. Over the last few years, the race to be Mr. Irrelevant on the squad has taken on a life of its own. According to mlb.com, over 23 million votes were cast for ten players, with Young and Okajima winning with about 4.5 million each. Even more interesting is the campaigning that goes on for a guy who might not even get into the game. Brandon Webb’s hometown of Ashland, KY held “Vote for Brandon Webb” day and in Pittsburgh, the Pirates set up laptops in the PNC Park concourse so fans could cast an online ballot –or 25– for lefty Tom Gorzelanny. In the American league, Red Sox Nation proved again to be the most nerdy (and far reaching, as we’re sure all of Japan clicked on) as they voted a Sox player in for the third time in five years.

Player of the day: Mike Lowell, Red Sox 5 for 6, HR, 5 RBI, 3 R against the Devil Rays

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MLB General

The Full Count: Clemens notches win #350


It’s still not as awesome as the Mile High Club, but Roger Clemens joined some exclusive company Monday night by notching career victory no. 350 as the Yankees beat the Twins 5-1. Clemens was his old dominant self, going eight innings, giving up two hits while walking none. He joined Warren Spahn as the only pitcher in the live ball era to win at least 350 games. Clemens now stands at eighth all-time in victories. If he can get 14 more, he can pass Spahn’s for fifth place. Perhaps unrealistiically, he can try to catch Grover Cleveland Alexander and Christy Mathewson for third place at 373 wins. Or, he can finally admit what we’ve been suspecting for years…that he’s replaced all of his muscles with cyborg parts and he plans on winning 512 games to surpass Cy Young as the all-time leader.

Let’s register firejohncclaren.com right now, because he now has a winning percentage of .000. John McClaren made his surprise managerial debut for the Seattle Mariners last night in Kansas City, as their eight-game winning streak came to an end against the Royals. McClaren, who was the bench coach as of Sunday, replaced possible AL manager of the year candidate Mike Hargrove, who suddenly resigned, citing a lost passion for the game. Despite a great outing from Felix Hernandez, the Mariners were only able to scratch out two runs and lost the game in the 11th on an anti-climatic sacrifice fly.

HEY! In case you haven’t noticed, the Indians have managed to win a few here and there, and are now threatening to lap the Detroit Tigers for first place in the AL Central. The Indians completed a four-game sweep of the perpetually lowly Devil Rays at Jacobs Field over the weekend and are playing great baseball just in time for a pre All Star Break Showdown in Mowtown (has anyone used that slogan before? If not, we call dibs). Surprising youngster Fausto Carmona had a great outing, striking out eight in six innings to pick up his ninth win of the season. Grady Sizemore hit his second career grand slam in the laugher. The Tribe currently leads the Tigers by two games.

Player of the day: Damian Miller, Brewers. Having not played since hitting a walk-off homer last Wednesday, Miller picked up where he left off by going 4-5 with two HR (including a grand slam) and 7 RBI’s against the Pirates. Hey (manager) Ned Yost, you might not want to start this guy just once every five days.

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Cleveland Indians

The Full Count: The A’s get and "F" for effort


1. Losing streak over–not!: It seemed like the A’s recent slide would end as they led the Indians 5-3 going into the ninth inning on Tuesday. But Cleveland rallied for the win, taking a share of the division lead in the process. A two-run double by Travis Hafner tied the score up, then a three-run homer by pinch-hitter Kelly Shoppach won it for the Indians. The A’s have now lost five in a row and are nine games out of the division lead. Cleveland is tied with Detroit again after the Tigers dropped two in a row to the lousy Rangers.

2. The Brewers are Back: The Brewers have returned to the level of play they showed in late April and early May, giving them a huge division lead and the NL’s best record once again. Milwaukee has won 11 of their last 13 to improve to 45-32, with a 7.5 game lead over the Cubs. They routed the Astros 11-5 on Tuesday thanks to a nine-run sixth inning. Rickie Weeks hit a single that scored three runs due to an error, and it was followed by Tony Graffanino’s pinch-hit two-run homer and Johnny Estrada’s grand slam. Given the Brewers’ level of play recently, they own the NL Central unless another contender emerges.

3. The AL’s dark horse: Believe it or not, the Seattle Mariners are legit contenders in the American League. They’ve won six of their last seven and four in a row to move to 41-33, which puts them four games out of a wild card spot. They’ve beaten the Red Sox the first two games of their series, including a wild 8-7 victory yesterday. Richie Sexson hit a key two-run homer which gave the Mariners a lead they wouldn’t give up in the sixth inning. Ichiro pounded out two more hits to raise his average to .362, good for second in the league behind Magglio Ordonez. He’s hitting .411 this month.

Player of the Day: Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Braves: 2-4, 2 HR (4), 2 RBIs as the Braves beat the Nats 6-2.

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Milwaukee Brewers

It’s a good thing the Brewers can play baseball because their acting sucks

Not too long ago, we brought you the story of Denver Broncos tough guy turned ESPN windbag turned Guiding Light private detective Mark Schlereth. Well, it turns out that Roc Hoover isn’t the only pro athlete to get bitten by the soap opera acting bug. On Wednesday, four members of the Milwaukee Brewers, J.J. Hardy, Bill Hall, Chris Capuano and Jeff Suppan, made their small-screen debuts on the estrogenfest known to most daytime soap viewers as The Young and the Restless.

Like most athletes, the Brew crew was completely awkward during their big scene. What makes things even worse for the wannabe soap stars is that they were playing themselves. You’d figure that if anyone could play the Brewers, it would be the Brewers. Well, then again, J.J. seemed pretty relaxed as he spit out his “She can warm up with me anytime” line.

Links:

[WFRV.com]: `Restless’ Brewers Prove To Be Budding Soap Stars

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MLB General

The Full Count: Verlander finishes what Schilling can’t


1. No Hits for You!: Less than a week after Curt Schilling came within one out of a no-hitter but couldn’t finish it, Justin Verlander pitched a no-no against the Brewers. Verlander walked four, but other than that he was perfect as he went the distance. He struck out 12 and had 112 total pitches in the second no-hitter in the majors this season. It was also the first no-hitter for the Tigers since 1984, when Verlander was only one year old. Verlander threw over 100 mph on his fastball as he improved to 7-2 with a 2.79 ERA and made history along the way. The Tigers are now tied with Cleveland for first place in the AL Central. They have won three in a row, while the Indians have dropped three straight. With the no-hitter, Verlander has now secured his place as one of the best (if not the best) young pitchers in the game.

2. Here comes Philly: Their season seemed over in April, but now a great start to June has the Phillies in contention in the NL East. The Braves and Mets lost again on Tuesday, but the Phillies won for the seventh time in their last ten games. They beat the White Sox 7-3 on the strength of two of their best young players–Chase Utley and Cole Hamels. Utley went 3-3 with a homer and four RBIs, giving him 52 runs driven in this year. Hamels improved to 9-2 with eight innings, two runs allowed, and eight strikeouts in this contest. Philly is now a mere three games back of the Mets and just one behind the Braves.

3. Finally .500!: The Yankees improved to .500 for the first time since April 20 after winning their 7th straight game. They beat the Diamondbacks 4-1 on the strength of Chien-Ming Wang’s pitching. Wang, the most underrated pitcher on the Yankees’ staff, went seven strong innings, with one run allowed and no walks. Also for New York, red-hot Bobby Abreu hit a three-run homerun. Abreu has 12 RBIs in his last 8 games and is hitting .500 in that span. The Yankees still may be 9.5 out, but they are on a roll. They will be in contention by the All Star break.

Player of the Day: Justin Verlander, Tigers: No-hitter, 12 strikeouts in a 4-0 win over the Brewers.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Brewers exposed!


1. From Hot to Cold: The Brewers got off to a 24-10 start by beating teams within their terrible division, the NL Central. Since they started playing teams with winning records, the Brewers have slipped to a 4-13 mark. On Monday the Braves beat them in Milwaukee 2-1. Andruw Jones homered for his second straight game, while Chuck James pitched well for the win. James struck out 8 and gave up one run in six innings. The only run he allowed was a Prince Fielder solo homerun. Fielder now ranks first in the NL in homeruns with 16 on the year. But that was the only positive for the Brewers offense, which wasted a great start by Chris Capuano in the loss. After the series with Atlanta is finished, the Brewers will face Florida and Chicago at home before starting three straight Interleague road series.

2. No Chance for a Comeback: It doesn’t matter when Roger Clemens is coming back. The New York Yankees are officially out of the AL East divisional race. New York has dropped four games in a row, and they’re currently tied with the Devil Rays for last place. They lost on Monday to the Blue Jays, even though Toronto’s pitcher came into the game with an 0-2 record and a 7.17 ERA. Dustin McGowan pitched a 7-plus inning gem, surrendering just two runs and five hits while striking out seven. Meanwhile, Yankees rookie Matt DeSalvo was ousted in the fifth inning, and the bullpen broke down as well in the 7-2 loss. The Yankees are 13.5 games back of the league’s best team, the 35-15 Boston Red Sox. The Sox have cruised to four victories in a row and have allowed the fewest runs in the American League.

3. No Chance for a Repeat: Even though they play in a terrible division, the St. Louis Cardinals’ season is likely over. The 2006 World Series Champions have scored the fewest runs in the majors, and their starting pitchers have a combined 12-25 record. After losing again on Monday, Kip Wells (2-9) now has the most losses of any pitcher in the majors. Wells, who has a 6.20 ERA and is on pace for 29 losses, gave up six runs and 11 hits to the Rockies. Colorado’s Jeff Francis held the Cardinals scoreless through seven innings in the 6-2 win. The Cardinals swept the Pirates last week, but they lost a series to the Nationals over the weekend and are in fifth place at 20-28. The Rockies are still in last, but they have won 6 in a row.

Player of the Day: Kyle Lohse, Reds: Complete game shutout, no walks in a 4-0 win over Pittsburgh.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Ice cold brews here!


1. The Slumping Central: Every NL Central team has a losing record in their last ten games, including ice-cold Milwaukee. The Brewers, who have lost 9 of their last 13 games, fell 5-1 to the Dodgers on Wednesday. Brad Penny shut them out in seven innings to improve to 6-1, while Chris Capuano struggled again for the Brewers. Also, the Astros got swept by the Giants in a series that could have been a great chance to catch up to the Brewers. The Cubs, who were nearly above .500 last week, have dropped three straight and remain in third place. As for the other teams…they’ve been in a slump all year, and nothing has changed.

2. Perez beats the Braves–again: If Oliver Perez pitched against the Braves every start, he’d be unstoppable. In three starts against the Braves this season, Perez is 3-0 with only three runs allowed. Amazingly, he has accounted for all of the Mets’ victories against the Braves this season. Perez pitched seven shutout innings on Wednesday as the Mets won 3-0. David Wright homered for the fourth time in four games. The Braves won their third straight series against the Mets this year, but New York retained their division lead.

3. The Yankees Strike Back: Boston crushed the Yankees in their first two series this season, but New York just took two of three from them at Yankee Stadium. They won 8-3 to finish the series, as Andy Pettitte pitched a gem and Curt Schilling was chased after six innings. Schilling allowed 12 hits and 6 runs in what was easily his worst start of the season. Pettitte, meanwhile, went 7 innings for the fourth start in a row and gave up just one run. Surprisingly, he is now fifth in the AL in ERA with 2.66. In a starting rotation that has seen injuries, numerous rookies, and inconsistency, Pettitte is definitely the strongest link. Roger Clemens will join the rotation sometime next week, though his second minor league start was far from ideal.

Player of the Day: Magglio Ordonez, Tigers: 2 HR, 2 RBIs in an 8-7 win over the Angels for the AL MVP candidate. Ordonez has 12 homers, 42 RBIs, and leads the league in slugging and OPS.