Tag: MLB

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MLB General

August 1 in Sports History: Raffy caught with steroids



I did not have sexual relat..

In 2005: Just 135 days after self-righteously wagging his finger in front of Congress and the nation, claiming, “I have never used steroids, period,” Rafael Palmeiro of the Orioles is suspended for using steroids. Palmeiro stood by the statements he made on March 17, claiming that he did not knowingly take anything illegal (where have we heard that one before?). He was still suspended for 10 days, however, and the Orioles cancelled a celebration of his recent 3,000th hit. Palmeiro only appeared in seven more games and is currently out of baseball.

In 1978: Pete Rose’s National League record-tying 44-game hitting streak came to an end, 12 games short of Joe DiMaggio’s 1941 feat. Rose’s streak (shared with Willie Keeler) began on June 14 in Cincinnati against the Cubs, and ended against pitchers Larry McWilliams and Gene Garber in Atlanta. After the game, Rose publicly blasted both pitchers for not throwing him any fastballs, despite the game being a 16-4 rout in favor of the Braves. Charlie Hustle would go on to become the all-time leader in hits with 4,256. He was permanently banned from baseball for gambling in 1989 (baseball-almanac.com).

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MLB General

The Full Count: Deadline Day



Trades blue pinstripes for red

1. The newest Bomber: The trade deadline is almost here, and there are still a few big-name players yet to be moved. There was one dealt yesterday, as Bobby Abreu joins the now-excellent Yankees lineup. Abreu will fill in the gap at corner outfielder for New York for now, though long-term this deal could be an issue. Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield are injured now, though what will happen to them next year? One of them, likely Sheffield, will be out unless he moves to DH and Jason Giambi moves to first base. Either way, the 1.5 game back Yankees should be able to pass, or at least match, the Boston Red Sox down the stretch. Meanwhile, the Phillies look to rebuild as they acquired four minor leaguers as part of the deal.

2. Line up for the deadline: The trade deadline is today, and we could see (and have seen) more activity than in the past few years. Already Carlos Lee and Bobby Abreu have new clubs, and today should be the day that Alfonso Soriano is moved. The Tigers and the Marlins have joined the list of clubs he could be moved to, according to ESPN.com. Detroit has already acquired another bat for their run at the World Series. They traded a minor league pitcher to the Pirates for Sean Casey, a three-time All Star. Casey will fill in for the demoted Chris Shelton at first base. Though he hasn’t had his best season with the bat so far (3 homers/29 RBIs in limited action), Casey has yet to make an error at first. He provides some veteran leadership to the young Tigers, and should prove to be a good move for them.

3. More trade rumors: So many rumors flying around before the deadline. Here are some of them: Dontrelle Willis to the Cardinals. Red Sox are trying to swing a trade for Ryan Shealy and getting rid of Mike Lowell in a three way swap with the Rockies and the Padres. The Astros are after Miguel Tejada but have pulled Oswalt off the market. The Mets are trying to shore up their rotation by getting Jason Schmidt from the Giants. And finally, the Dodgers are in a buying mode, trying to get Miguel Tejada and/or Greg Maddux.

4. The AL playoff picture: How will all the trades that have gone down affect the American League, and where do the teams stand as of now? While there are many excellent teams in this league, two stand above the rest: the Tigers and the Red Sox. Detroit is the class of the MLB at 70-34, and they should cruise to the playoffs barring a major breakdown. The addition of Casey should help them even more as they make their run at the postseason. The Red Sox, though only a half-game up, should also make the playoffs. Their hitting with 101-RBI David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez is just too good, and with Papelbon in the bullpen they should win many close games. That mean three teams are fighting for one spot: the Yankees, White Sox, and Twins. Minnesota has been on fire lately, though as of now they are still in third in the Wild Card standings. The White Sox desperately need a starting pitcher, though their offense is top-notch. The Yankees, meanwhile, addressed their needs with the additions of Abreu and pitcher Cory Lidle. As of now they are the most solid team, and as of now we’re giving them the Wild Card. The AL West, with the A’s, Angels, and Rangers in the mix, is just too hard to tell for now. Each team has needs that they need to address in the coming hours.

5. The NL playoff picture: No significant player has been traded to an NL team, while the league loses Lee and Abreu. The American League has gotten even stronger. Either way, there will be 4 playoff teams from this league, and right now the only shoo-ins are the Mets and Cardinals. With their 13.5 game lead in their division, the Mets are in. the Cardinals are only ahead by 3.5, though their playoff experience from the past few years will come in handy. They will win the NL Central. San Diego, though they need another bat, has excellent pitchers that should earn them their second straight NL West title. As for the other teams, it’s very hard to say who will get the fourth postseason berth. Right now the Reds have a decent lead, though they will eventually start to feel the losses of Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez. The NL West teams are too inconsistent and will need a major deal to get in. Unless the Braves rebound you can throw out the NL East teams. Milwaukee is all but done without Lee, and the Astros (despite dealing for Aubrey Huff) don’t have enough offense to provide adequate run support for their great staff. Could the Reds be playoff-bound? Unless another team gets a stud, we say probably.

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Minnesota Vikings

July 31 in Sports History: Korey Stringer tragedy

In 2001: All-Pro offensive tackle Korey Stringer collapsed on the field of the Minnesota Vikings training camp at Mankato State University and was taken to the hospital. Stringer suffered from heatstroke in the 90-plus degree heat. The 335-pound Ohio State grad, one of the most popular players on the team, would die of heart and kidney failure early the next morning at the age of 27. Stringer’s death sent shockwaves through the sports world, and it caused the NFL and its teams to closely review their policies on training in excessive heat and humidity. Stringer was survived by his wife Kelci and three year-old son Kodie. His widow unsuccessfully sued the NFL and the Vikings in 2002.

In 1990: Pitcher Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers notched career victory no. 300 in an 11-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Ryan became the 20th member of the 300 Club, the first since Don Sutton in 1986. Only Roger Clemens has joined the club since, in 2003. Ryan won a total of 324 games as a member of the Mets, Angels, Astros and Rangers. He also holds the career strikeout mark with 5,714, and he threw a major league record seven no-hitters (including two after his 300th win). Despite the fact that his real first name was Lynn, the “Ryan Express” was one of the toughest pitchers ever, lasting 27 years and pummeling a young Robin Ventura after he charged the mound. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Schilling and Halladay get win number 13

1. Lucky #13: Two pitchers joined Josh Beckett as 13-game winners yesterday, including a teammate of Beckett’s. 13-3 Curt Schilling and 13-2 Roy Halladay each won last night to join Beckett at the top of the leaderboard. Halladay now has the best winning percentage of any pitcher in the AL after defeating the Seattle Mariners and red-hot Gil Meche. Meche had come into the game with 5 straight wins but was blasted by Troy Glaus and Toronto’s offense. Meanwhile, Halladay allowed just 2 runs and now ranks in the AL top ten in almost every significant pitching category. Schilling didn’t pitch quite as well as Halladay, allowing 4 runs, but he got plenty of support from Boston’s offense as they routed Oakland 13-5. Each of the 13-win pitchers are now on pace for a 20-win season, which seems to be harder to achieve as the years go on. Only 12 pitchers have done it since 2003.

2. Aces High: Two of the American League’s other top pitchers met yesterday. The Twins’ Johan Santana and the White Sox’s Jose Contreras was the matchup, and Minnesota was able to take their second straight game of the series. Contreras pitched decently, but his luck has completely turned since his 17 game winning streak was snapped. Since the All Star break Contreras has lost all three of his starts despite a 4.29 ERA and the league’s best offense behind him. Meanwhile, Santana won his third straight start to improve to 12-5. Despite an awful start to his season, he leads the AL in innings pitched and strikeouts and is in the top 5 in ERA and WHIP. Expect Johan to do even better down the stretch: since 2003 he is 30-3 after the All Star break. The Twins have now won 9 of their last 10 while the White Sox are in a free-fall. Could the Twins pass up the defending World Series champs? They can do so tonight.

3. Why the Cardinals win: The reason the Cardinals are in first place as usual is simple: they have Albert Pujols and Chris Carpenter on their team. That was especially showcased last night, when they used the exceptional play of both stars to edge the Rockies 1-0. Carpenter pitched seven solid innings, while Pujols hit a homerun in the 6th that turned out to be the game’s only score. Carpenter is now second in the National League in ERA with 2.68; he also has 10 wins and is second in WHIP. Pujols, of course, is leading the NL in homers with his 33rd. He is on pace for a monstrous 58 and 152, which would both be career highs for this slugger. For the Rockies, Jason Jennings got screwed over once again. Despite having a 3.70 ERA that is almost two runs better than Jason Marquis’, Jennings has half the win total of Marquis with a 6-9 record. He is 0-3 in July despite a 3.00 ERA.

4. Could there be another piece on pitchers?: Amazingly, there will be another section about pitchers. Let’s start with Kenny Rogers, the All Star game starter and Tigers ace. Rogers had probably the worst start of his career, recording only 2 outs and allowing 7 runs against the Indians. In July now Rogers has a 9.37 ERA, and he has now become Detroit’s worst starter. Meanwhile. Carlos Zambrano is doing well with both his arm and his bat. He hit his fourth homer of the season while winning his 8th straight decision as the Cubs defeated the Mets 8-7. Zambrano has walked the most batters in the league but has the most strikeouts. Go figure. And finally, Ervin Santana has lost a game. He had won seven consecutive starts before bowing down to the Devil Rays yesterday. Now back to the NL, where Roger Clemens continues his streak of terrible luck. He has a 2.44 ERA and a 2-4 record, two things that shouldn’t go together. He was defeated by Aaron Harang, who shut out the Stros for his 11th win.

5. From the not-gonna-happen file: Sammy Sosa is considering a return to baseball in 2007 and said he would play for the Cubs again. Considering Jacque Jones is already in right field, this doesn’t seem likely. Also, unless MLB decides to unban steroids, the chances of Sosa getting back into playing shape are slim to none. Maybe he and Raffy Palmeiro can go play in an independent league with Jose Canseco.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Angels back on top

1. Back in Business: Despite being 11th in runs scored, OPS, and batting average in the AL, the LA Angels have managed to come back and tie for the AL West lead. The Angels, who in May were in last place, have used some excellent starting pitching to tie the A’s. Jered Weaver, Ervin Santana, and Kelvim Escobar have all been impressive, but none more so than John Lackey. Lackey, who earned the victory last night over Tampa, is 9-6 with a 2.89 ERA that ranks third in the AL. Their entire staff’s ERA, now at 4.05, is second in the major leagues. While they it would be unlikely for them to repeat last year’s ALCS performance, this team should make the playoffs.

2. Follow the Leaders: The Boston Red Sox are leading plenty of things right now. Most importantly, they have a 2.5 game division lead and earned their 60th win last night, becoming the first team besides the Tigers to do that. They beat the Oakland A’s 7-3, with Josh Beckett earning the victory to become the major league wins leader. Beckett has 13 wins despite a 4.77 ERA, meaning both the AL and NL wins leaders have below average ERAs. Interesting…Meanwhile, David Ortiz extended his lead in homeruns with his 34th of the year. He also leads in RBIs with a commanding 95. Both him and Manny Ramirez homered, the 41st time in the last four years they have homered in the same game. That, not surprisingly, is first among all teammates since ’03. So it’s good times in Boston right now. But none of this will matter if the Red Sox can’t capture their second World Series title in three years.

3. About to get passed: The Chicago White Sox, once thought to be the invincible giants of the AL, have suddenly found themselves struggling to stay afloat in the Central. The Twins, who have gone 11-2 since the All Star break, defeated the ChiSox 7-4. Joe Mauer, who along with Justin Morneau has almost single-handedly supported the Twins’ offense, hit a three-run homer and sac fly in the victory. Brad Radke, who has won his last 5 decisions, earned the victory. Radke, well-known because he never issues a walk, has lowered his ERA almost 2 points during that stretch. These teams will meet twice more in this series, including an intriguing Santana-Contreras matchup tomorrow.

4. Race for the Card: Of all the races down the stretch this season, probably the most interesting will be the NL Wild Card race. Eleven teams are within ten games of the lead, including seven within five. The Reds are the current leaders, while the entire freaking NL West follows them. The Braves, who about a month ago at this time looked awful, have catapulted themselves back into the race with an 8-2 record in their last 10. They are 4.5 games back, while teams ahead of them such as Milwaukee and Colorado are faltering. San Francisco and Arizona are right on the heels of the leaders, but with their inconsistency who knows what will happen. And yes, this paragraph just set a new record for “most mediocre teams mentioned in the same few sentences.”

5. Improve your strengths and ignore your weaknesses: That must be the strategy the White Sox are following at the trading deadline. While there hasn’t even been a rumor about the team acquiring a starting pitcher to improve their sinking rotation, the team apparently might go after the best hitter on the market. Yes, Alfonso Soriano might be headed to Chicago. While the likeliness of that happening is iffy, the entire move itself is questionable. Why would a team look to upgrade a major league best lineup when they have far greater concerns? They have been losing recently because of pitching, not their hitting. Outfielders Jermaine Dye and Scott Podsednik have made All Star teams in the past, so it’s not like there is a weakness there. This move shouldn’t happen and wouldn’t make any sense if it did.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Jered Weaver’s lucky number

1. 7 for 7: Jered Weaver has been as good as you can ask any pitcher to be in his first seven starts this year: perfect. Weaver, who was called up from the minors earlier this year, has now won each of his first seven starts. He’s doing so in a dominant fashion too, with a 1.15 ERA and .79 WHIP. Those numbers, as well as Weaver’s .159 opponent’s batting average, would be the best among every starter if he had enough innings to qualify. Yesterday he took care of the Kansas City Royals by allowing just 3 hits and 1 run. Despite his outstanding performance so far, Weaver is just a dark horse candidate for Rookie of the Year with Jonathan Papelbon, Liriano, and Justin Verlander also in the running. But he might be the most talented of all those hurlers.

2. A Tale of Two Games: Jason Marquis just experienced perhaps the most up and down week of any player this season. Last Tuesday, Marquis allowed 12 earned runs in 5 innings against the Braves, the second-highest total of any pitcher this season (Marquis had 13 one game in June). But on Sunday Marquis showed why he is now the National League wins leader with 12. He pitched eight shutout innings while only surrendering 4 hits to the sinking Dodgers. Marquis’ out-of-nowhere performance means that he is now 12-7 on the year despite a horrendous 5.68 ERA. The Cardinals will really need him to be more consistent down the stretch if they want to make the NLCS for the third straight year. The 6-1 win gave St. Louis a season sweep of the Dodgers, the first time in 115 years that they have accomplished that.

3. Bounce Back Day: The top three teams in the AL Central–the Twins, White Sox, and Tigers, all suffered losses on Saturday. Interestingly, they each came back on Sunday with wins. Detroit finished their series with Oakland by defeating the A’s 8-4. Carlos Guillen fell a homer short of the cycle and drove in two runs, while Magglio Ordonez added to his team leading total with 68 RBIs. At 66-32, the Tigers are the only team in the majors with double the amount of wins to losses. Meanwhile, the White Sox beat the Rangers 5-0 to snap a four-game skid. Jon Garland pitched 8 shutout innings to record his 10th win, but manager Ozzie Guillen wasn’t completely happy with his performance. That’s because Garland failed to hit Ian Kinsler after White Sox catcher AJ Pierzynski was plunked earlier in the game. The Twins also were victorious with a 3-1 win over the Tribe. Francisco Liriano K’d 10 in only five innings to earn his 12th victory. Minnesota will battle Chicago next in a series that could see a new second place team in the Central if the Twins sweep it.

4. What’s going on out West?: The two worst divisions in baseball both happen to be west of the Mississippi. The AL West and NL West might be close, but neither features a dominant or threatening team to the other divisions. In the AL West, the first-place A’s are the favorites to win, even though they are last in the league in batting average and would be in fourth in either of the other two divisions. In second place are the Rangers, always the perennial teasers of that division. The underachieving Angels and hopeless Mariners round out those standings. The NL West doesn’t have a half-decent team either. While the Padres made the playoffs last year and will likely do so again this year, they really don’t scare anybody. And while the divisions’ other four teams are all in the top 7 in the Wild Card standings, each of those teams is way too inconsistent to make the playoffs. So each of the Western divisions will do nothing more this year than steal a playoff berth from a more deserving team.

5. Slammin’ Sammy coming back?: It seems like Sammy Sosa hasn’t been a major league player for years. His poor play and huge contract last year, in addition to the steroid allegations, flushed him out of Baltimore without an official retirement, almost like Rafael Palmeiro. But Sammy might not be done yet. The former MVP and slugger, who has 588 career homeruns and three seasons with 60 or more, href=http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2527930> might be headed back to the majors. Though even his agent said that it’s unlikely that Sosa will return, Sammy himself said that he wants to. “I’m not retired. I’m young and happy…[and] I’m getting ready to come back for the right offer.” Any team willing to sign him doesn’t have their heads on straight. Not only has he not played a game in almost a year, but he is also not good enough to produce right now. Last season he finished with a .221 average, and for the price he will command he will be hard-pressed to produce any better.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Life without Hillenbrand



Gibbons happier without Shea

1. Who needs Shea?: One day after Shea Hillenbrand’s outburst and subsequent dismissal from the team, the Blue Jays finally had some good news. They defeated the Yankees 5-4 in extra innings, closing the gap between the teams to 3 games. Vernon Wells hit a game-winning homer off Mariano Rivera, the first time this season that Rivera has given up a homer. For Wells it was his fourth hit of the game and 24th homer of the year. He is on pace for 42 homers and 129 RBIs on the year. But the story coming into the game was the pitching matchup between Roy Halladay and Mike Mussina, as each is a Cy Young candidate. Neither pitched extremely well, as Halladay gave up 3 runs and Mussina 4. BJ Ryan then blew his third save of the season, spoiling a chance for Halladay’s 13th victory. But the Blue Jays, who have been in third place almost the entire season, still got the much-needed win in one of their most important series of the season.

2. Take Two: The payoff game between the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox would mean bragging rights for one team until they meet again on August 11. And that team was the Tigers, who won using their strength–pitching. Kenny Rogers, who had had 4 consecutive starts with 4+ earned runs, settled down in this game with 6 hits and one run allowed through six innings. Rogers barely outpitched Jose Contreras, who gave up two runs in seven innings. Contreras has now lost back to back starts after winning 17 straight decisions, the first player to do that in 68 years according to Elias Says. Chris Shelton and Ivan Rodriguez drove in runs for the Tigers, whose 2-1 win gave the team a commanding 5.5 game lead in the division. Chicago is now in danger of being passed by Minnesota, who is carrying a 7-game winning streak and is only four games behind the White Sox.

3. It’s all good in San Fran: The Giants were full of good news yesterday. Most importantly, Barry Bonds was not indicted by a grand jury for perjury. Hours later, Barry went deep for his 722nd career homerun and his 14th this season. Also, the Giants defeated the Padres 9-3 to move within one game of the division leaders. San Francisco got a near-complete game from Noah Lowry, who has been very inconsistent this year and holds a 5-6 record. They have now won 3 games in a row, which will move any team up a few places in the packed NL West. Their streak has come at a good time–the Rockies and Dodgers are struggling and the Padres aren’t playing very well either.

4. Still on top: Though the Braves have been red-hot recently , the Mets still are the division leaders by a huge margin. While Atlanta was off last night the Mets took a dozen-game lead in the division as they defeated the Cincinnati Reds 4-2 in extras. Stud starters Bronson Arroyo and Tom Glavine each allowed two runs but got a no-decision in this game. With the game tied 2-2 in the 10th, Endy Chavez hit an RBI double and then scored a run off a Carlos Beltran double. Both runs were charged to Gary Majewski, who has allowed a run in each of his three appearances since being acquired by the Reds. The Mets victory was good news for the Braves; while they fell further behind in the division they got a bit closer to the Wild Card-leading Reds.

5. Finally, some relief: The 45-50 Braves just needed some bullpen help after blowing a major-league high 20 saves this season. They finally got that on Thursday, when they traded for Indians closer Bob Wickman. The Braves just gave up a minor-league catcher to get Wickman, who has a 4.18 ERA and 15 saves on the year but should be helped by pitching in the weaker National League. In 2005 Wickman had 45 saves while only blowing 5, and for his career has 229 saves and a 3.64 ERA. At 37 years old, he is not a long term solution for the Braves, but he should help this year down the stretch. He becomes a free-agent after this year and it would be surprising for Atlanta to re-sign him.

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MLB General

The Full Count: the Red Sox’s instant replay

1. Two days, two identical wins: The Boston Red Sox have won two games in a row in eerily similar fashions. Both yesterday’s and Tuesday’s game resulted in 1-0 wins over the Kansas City Royals. Jonathan Papelbon came on to save both games, and a Sox starter went 8 strong in each. The only difference was that the Royals collected four times the amount of hits in last night’s game than the previous one. Of course, that’s still just 4 hits. Josh Beckett won his 12th game of the year to move him into a tie with Roy Halladay for most in the majors. Despite his excellent record Beckett has somewhat struggled this year with a 4.78 ERA. He is consistently inconsistent; the type of player who will follow up 5 straight quality starts with 7 earned runs. For the signing of Beckett to pay off, he’ll have to pitch like he did last night more often.

2. 325-game winner, meet 342-game winner: It was a pitching matchup for the ages when Roger Clemens met Greg Maddux yesterday. And I mean this literally. They are a combined 83 years old. Anyway, they are two of the greatest pitchers of all time, and they are the two active leaders on the career wins list. Clemens got the better of this historic duel, winning his 343rd career game with 6 shutout innings. Maddux, who only has two wins since April, took the loss with 3 earned runs in 7 innings. Craig Biggio homered for the visiting Astros, who are still three games under .500. The Cubs would love to trade places, however, as they are 16.5 games back of the division-leading Cardinals and are in serious danger of being passed by the lowly Pirates.

3. Stop streaking, Part I: The pathetic Indians, who are 10 games under .500 despite having outscored their opponents by 34 runs on the year, had apparently had enough of two Angels streaks. They stopped John Lackey’s scoreless streak at 30.2 innings, and they also managed to stop the Angels’ win streak at 8. Lackey allowed a run for the first time in 4 starts. He had lowered his ERA to 2.69 (good for second in the AL), but allowed 5 runs to the Indians. Ben Broussard and Aaron Boone (remember him?) homered for Cleveland, who snapped a 5-game losing streak of their own. In the chaotic AL West, the Angels’ loss moved them from almost in first to third place. They are still only 1.5 back.

4. Stop streaking, Part II: The Braves were going for an all-time record, 6 games in a row with a double-digit run total. The record was 76 years old and held by a classic Yankee team, and the underachieving-until-now Braves offense was looking to break it. But the Cardinals’ best pitcher, Chris Carpenter, managed to cool off the Braves as St. Louis won 8-3. Carpenter pitched 7 innings to earn his ninth win of the season, as first-time Braves starter Jason Shiell took the loss. But the Cardinals couldn’t stop every Brave. Brian McCann homered for the 5th straight game, and red-hot Andruw Jones and Adam LaRoche both drove in runs. The Cardinals are 3.5 games ahead of the Reds in their division, while the Braves are 5 games back of the Reds for the Wild Card.

5. Bonds’ trainer to be set free: The personal trainer who was sent to jail earlier this month for refusing to testify for a grand jury is expected to be released today. Greg Anderson is the key to the perjury charges against Bonds so his lack of cooperation could mean that Bonds will only be indicted on tax evasion charges.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Juiced on the mound



Canseco

1. If you thought Mark Redman wasn’t an All Star…: Jose Canseco’s All Star appearance was 1 for 2. While he did win the home run derby in the Golden Baseball League All Star extravaganza, his pitching was awful even by independent league standards. He allowed 4 runs while recording just one out; his knuckleball evidently not working. Canseco had pitched in the majors before in a blowout situation. In that appearance he allowed 3 runs while throwing almost double the amount of balls than strikes. He also tore a ligament in his elbow, ending his season. Maybe it’s not such a good idea to let a power hitter like Canseco pitch.

2. Young pitchers rule, Part 1: Where would the Red Sox be without their rookie pitchers? We’re talking about Jon Lester and Jonathan Papelbon, who have both been lights-out in their action so far this year. They were showcased more than ever yesterday, when they combined to one-hit the Kansas City Royals. Lester pitched 8 near-perfect innings for the victory, while Papelbon cleaned up with his 28th save. Combine those saves with Lester’s 5-0 record and Papelbon’s 2-1 record, and that means that these two pitchers have been a part of a combined 35 Red Sox victories. They are both a part of one of the most intriguing stories in baseball this year–the AL’s rookie pitchers.

3. Young pitchers rule, Part II: Many have already conceded the AL rookie of the year award to Papelbon. While he is very deserving, you cannot have that discussion without mentioning Francisco Liriano. Liriano bounced back from his worst start of the season last week with a shutdown of the Devil Rays yesterday. He was one out short of a complete game and allowed no runs and 3 hits. Liriano outdeuled another young stud, Scott Kazmir, who allowed 4 runs in 6 innings. Now Liriano is first in the majors in both ERA (1.94) and WHIP (.95) among starters. He has held opponents to just a .196 batting average and has more strikeouts (115) than innings pitched (102.0). How could you not give this guy some love for ROTY? With him and Johan Santana, the Twins will have two excellent starters for a long time.

4. Belting Beltran: Carlos Beltran accomplished a very special feat yesterday. For the second game in a row, Beltran hit a grand slam, becoming only the 23rd player ever to do that and the first since 2002. Even more interestingly, prior to the slams he was 0-11 with the bases loaded in the last 2 seasons. Beltran, who was considered a bust last year with a mere 16 homers and 78 RBIs, is on pace for 50 and 144 this year. His OPS has increased from .744 to 1.002, and he is slugging 200 points higher. This is the player the Mets expected when they signed him to a $13 million/season contract two years ago, and that contact is now worth every penny. If it wasn’t for Albert Pujols, Beltran would be considered an MVP favorite.

5. White Sox would have an even record against each other this year since they are the top two teams in baseball. But so far, the #2 White Sox have dominated their Detroit rivals. Last night was no different, as Chicago won 7-1 to improve to 6-1 on the year against the Tigers. Jon Garland, who has been one of the most inconsistent pitchers in the majors this year, had one of his better games. Garland allowed one run over 7, and his offense gave him plenty of support. Paul Konerko homered twice and drove in 4 runs, and Joe Crede hit another homer, his 18th. For the losing Tigers, Nate Robinson had one of his worst games, allowing 6 earned runs. These two teams will become very familiar with each other over the next few months. They play 12 more times, including games today and tomorrow that will both be on ESPN.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Chipper’s streak ended



Not that kind

1. Streak vs. Streak: 3 streaks were on the line when the Braves traveled to St. Louis yesterday. Each team had winning streaks to keep up, as both came into the game undefeated in July. But the most important streak on the line was Chipper Jones’ 14 straight games with an extra-base hit, tying a major-league record. Unfortunately, Chipper could not break the 80-year-old record, “only” managing 3 singles on the day. But that was the only bad news for the Braves, as they routed the Cardinals 15-3. This marked the fourth game in a row the Braves had scored in double digits; they have 51 runs in those games. Brian McCann homered for his third straight game (a grand slam), Wilson Betemit had 4 hits and drove in 5, and red-hot Adam LaRoache went 4-4 with a homer. The Braves piled up 20 hits in all, crushing Jeff Weaver in his first start as a Cardinal. Though Chipper may not have extended his streak, he’s now hitting .333, good for third in the NL. The Braves are now closing in fast on the Wild Card lead, and though 7 teams are ahead of them, none seem as dangerous as the perennial playoff contenders.

2. Different Directions: That’s where the Cleveland Indians and the LA/Anaheim Angels are headed. The Angels, despite starting the year in last place, have won 7 in a row and are only a half-game back of the division-leading A’s. Meanwhile, the Indians are further away from playoff contention than you are, having lost 8 of their last 10 games. Last night (as always in baseball) the hottest team prevailed, as the Angels doubled up on the Tribe 10-5. Jake Westbrook was shattered for seven runs in just 3.2 innings, as the Angels 3-4-5 hitters drove in 2 runs a piece. The Indians are now 21 games out of first place after narrowly missing the playoffs last year.

3. Stung by the D’Backs: In the NL West division this year, things can change very quickly. That has been showcased by the remarkable emergence of the Arizona Diamondbacks, who started the month in last place but are now in second. Last night they beat up on divisional foe Los Angeles 8-3, with rookie Enrique Gonzalez winning his third major-league start. Eric Byrnes homered with 3 RBIs for Arizona as they cruised to another victory. So now, despite being 46-46 and outscored on the season, the Diamondbacks find themselves 3 games back of the Padres for the division lead. The bottom half of the West–the Giants, Dodgers, and Rockies–are all on significant losing streaks.

4. E for Everybody: Monday’s slate of games featured many more errors than usual. The Yankees committed 4–including 3 by A-Rod–and still beat the Mariners (3 errors). Texas had 3 missteps themselves, and it showed as they were pummeled by Toronto 10-1. But it doesn’t end there. The Royals, Giants, Nationals, and Phillies committed 2 errors each–and all of them lost. So on the day 12 of 24 teams had at least one error, and those teams went 4-8. It just shows how important defense is in baseball and how sloppy teams usually don’t win.

5. Superstar available–for a price: It is by now common knowledge that Philadelphia outfielder Bobby Abreu is on the trading block. But teams will have to have deep pockets in order to acquire him. Abreu’s current contract includes a full no-trade clause, and for him to waive it he’s going to need something in return. That will either be an extension on his current 5 year, $64 million contract or an agreement to pick up his $16 million option for 2008. That means only large-market or playoff-contention teams should be in the running for Abreu. As usual, the Yankees and Red Sox will be potential suitors, in addition to the Mets and Tigers. Wherever he lands, he isn’t the best player available. That title goes to Alfonso Soriano, though he will likely be equally expensive.