Tag: MLB

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MLB General

MLB Power Rankings Roundup for May 19 2006

The various sites in our rankings survey publish their lists at different times throughout the week. That should be noted because Sportsline put the Phillies at #2 three days ago. That’s exactly when the Phils went on a 3 game slide. So Sportsline gets a pass this week.

Meanwhile, the A’s and Padres are the odd ducks in the top 10 this week, making only one list each. It’s hard to argue against the Padres who are playing tremendous ball but the As are only 5-5 in their last ten. Maybe ESPN is letting Stephen A Smith do the baseball power rankings now.

Rank Sportscolumn ESPN FoxSports Sportsline USA Today TSN.ca
1 White Sox White Sox Tigers White Sox White Sox Tigers
2 Cardinals Tigers White Sox Phillies Cardinals Yankees
3 Mets Red Sox Cardinals Red Sox Mets Red Sox
4 Tigers Cardinals Yankees Tigers Yankees Phillies
5 Red Sox Yankees Mets Cardinals Red Sox Dodgers
6 Yankees Mets Red Sox Yankees Tigers Cardinals
7 Reds Blue Jays Diamondbacks Mets Blue Jays Mets
8 Blue Jays Diamondbacks Padres Blue Jays Reds Blue Jays
9 Astros As Blue Jays Reds Astros Rockies
10 Rockies Phillies Phillies Astros Phillies Reds
11-30 more more more more more more

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MLB General

Full Count for Thurs May 18 2006: Pitching Duels

1. Special K vs. Frosted Flakes: One of the best pitching battles so far this season took place when Minnesota’s Johan Santana and Detroit’s Justin Verlander dueled Wednesday night. The game was scoreless through seven innings, until Santana made his only mistake of the game, allowing a homerun to the Tigers’ Vance Wilson. Santana was marvelous up until then, with 12 K’s and only four hits allowed on the night. But Verlander, with 8 innings pitched, 6 hits and no runs allowed, and no walks or strikeouts. If Verlander had gone the distance, it would have been the second time this month that a pitcher had no K’s or walks in a complete game. On May 1, Joel Pineiro of Seattle became the first to do this since 1992. Santana fell to 4-4, though he leads the majors in strikeouts with 70 and innings pitched with 61.1. Verlander has contributed to Detroit’s pitching success with a 5-3 record and a 3.18 ERA. The Tigers (26-13) share the best record in the majors with the White Sox.

2. Pitcher’s duel no. 2: In an unexpectedly low-scoring game, the Mets fell to St. Louis, 1-0. Mark Mulder and Steve Trachsel both pitched excellently, but Mulder (5-1) picked up the win. Trachsel allowed the lone run of the game in the sixth when Scott Rolen drove in Albert Pujols. Mulder allowed 4 hits in 8.1 innings and K’d five Mets. St. Louis closer Jason Isringhausen relieved Mulder with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth, but he quickly recorded two outs to earn his 12th save. Both teams have two-game leads in their respective divisions.

3.Victory at last: As we said earlier this week, the Baltimore Orioles have struggled mightily against the Boston Red Sox this season. Coming into yesterday’s game, the O’s had a 13 game losing streak against the team. Yesterday, in Baltimore’s last game against Boston until August, they ended the streak with a narrow 4-3 victory. Erik Bedard pitched seven innings and only allowed two hits to the powerful Boston lineup. David Ortiz was their only offensive success, driving in all 3 Red Sox runs. Baltimore’s Kevin Millar homered and drove in two, and Miguel Tejada scored a key run on a wild pitch in the seventh. Once again, the Red Sox are tied with the Yankees for the division lead.

4. They’re still the Royals: The Kansas City Royals may have fooled us last week by sweeping the Indians, but in this week’s series, they have reminded us that they are still the Royals. Last night was one of those games where Kansas City’s weak hitting and poor pitching were completely exploited. Cleveland starter Jake Westbrook owned their lineup, allowing no runs and six hits in a complete game effort. Four of Cleveland’s five runs came on Travis Hafner’s grand slam in the third. At least the Royals were smart enough to walk Hafner in his next three plate appearances. They still lost, 5-0.

5. Coming back yet?: As we all know by now, Roger Clemens has a pretty nice life. He is extremely rich, currently retired, being pursued by four major league teams, and each want to pay him $4 million a month. But is he coming back or not? This decision is getting more annoying than Brett Favre’s. Well, according to ESPN’s Jayson Stark, Roger is “accelerating his workout program” and “could be back within three weeks.” Of course exactly when he will come back and which team he will play for are still mysteries. The Rangers, Yankees, Red Sox, and Astros are the biggest suitors. We’ll just have to wait and see…

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MLB General

Full Count for Wed May 17 2006: Yankees and Rangers put on a show

1. Offensive fireworks: The Yankees-Rangers series just seemed poised to be a great hitting series, and Tuesday’s game didn’t disappoint. The Rangers crushed Yankee pitching early, with 9 runs in the first two innings. The Yanks were scoreless at that point, but they never gave up. With a 6-run sixth inning on top of 5 previous runs, the Yankees came back from the 9-run deficit. The epic comeback matched the biggest in Yankees franchise history. With the game tied at 12 entering the ninth, the Rangers scored a run in the top of the inning off Mariano Rivera. But Jorge Posada hit a walkoff, 2-run shot to end this incredible game. Derek Jeter and Posada were the Yankees’ best offensive performers on the night, with a combined 6 hits, 5 runs, and 9 RBIs. For the Rangers, Hank Blalock homered and drove in 4, and Mark Teixeria went 4-5 with two doubles. The Rangers are hit with the loss despite 17 hits, which has to feel pretty bad. They are still leading the AL West at 20-18.

2. Upside down: The White Sox and Devil Rays are at opposite ends of the league, that’s for sure. The Sox have the best record in the majors and are defending world champs, while the Devil Rays are in last as always and their minor league teams are making news for the wrong reasons. With all of this, you would think that the White Sox could easily sweep the team. Wrong. Despite a 6-run 8th inning, the Sox lost to the D’Rays 10-7 in a game that wasn’t as close as the score suggests. Thome and Konerko both homered for Chicago, but the big news was Tampa Bay’s offense. They blasted Sox pitching for 12 hits and 2 homers, knocking out starter Brandon McCarthy in the 4th inning. Carl Crawford and Johnny Gomes each hit 3 ribbies, and Scott Kazmir pitched another fine start. Kazmir allowed one and stuck out 8 to improve to 6-2 on the season. He is on pace for a 25 win season, about the entire team’s win total the past few years.

3. They missed the D-Train: Let’s face it–Marlins ace Dontrelle Willis has been very disappointing this year. But when the Marlins finally got a good game out of him, they lost. Willis pitched 9 innings and allowed only 2 runs, but Braves starter Tim Hudson allowed the same. In extra innings, the Marlins scored a run in the top of the 11th. But the Brave answered back, with an Andruw Jones RBI double and later run, giving them a narrow 4-3 victory. The game wouldn’t have gone to extras if Jeff Francoeur hadn’t hit a game-tying homerun in the 9th. Francoeur is past his slow start–his hitting streak is now at 14 games. Atlanta is now a game away from .500 for the first time since April.

4. News flash!: There were huge, HUGE surprises at Jacobs Field on Tuesday night. The Cleveland Indians came into the game with five straight losses against their opponent, the powerful Kansas City Royals. In fact, wins against the Indians have made up half the Royals’ win total. But last night, the Indians rallied to win the game. Coming into the 9th down 4-3, a Grady Sizemore homer tied the game up. With a runner on and slugger Travis Hafner up, the Royals wouldn’t give him anything to hit, right? Well, no, Hafner actually went yard to win the game. Cleveland was finally able to end an embarrassing streak, though they are still well out of the lead in the suddenly tough AL Central division.

5. It’s almost Lima Time: Anybody who thinks Jose Lima is a good pitcher is nuts. The guy hasn’t been effective this millennium. His career ERA is 5.24. He even has a losing career record. So that’s why we’re glad that he’s getting one last start for the Mets. Plus, it’s just fun to say “It’s Lima Time” whenever he starts. Lima will be filling in for injured rookie Brian Bannister, and filling in poorly. Mets manager Willie said it would be a sign of “panic” to put in Bannister, though we think he will be more panicked watching Lima get knocked out of the third inning.

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MLB General

Full Count for Tues May 16 2006: Half Empty or Half Full



Property of Boston Red Sox

1. It’s not that bad: The Braves’ situation isn’t as bad as it was a few weeks ago. After defeating the Marlins last night, they improved to 18-20 on the season. They are 6-2 in May, and are only 5.5 games out of the division lead. Last night, they put on an offensive showcase in a 11-8 win over the Marlins. Brian McCann, the Braves’ vastly underrated catcher, drove in five runs and hit his 5th homer. McCann is leading the NL in batting average with .352 on the season. Andruw Jones also was excellent, going 4-4 with 4 RBIs. The Braves are taking advantage of a 10 game stretch against lowly Washington and Florida.

2. It is that bad: The Orioles, expected by many to finish last in the AL East, have surprised many this season by going 18-21 so far. Actually, their record would be a lot better had they not played the Red Sox so many times. They have lost all of their 7 games against the Sox this year, and dating back to last year the streak is 12 games. Nothing changed last night, as Boston soared to a 11-1 romp. Josh Beckett pitched excellently, with a 2-hitter through 7 innings on his 26th birthday. Jason Varitek scored a career-high 4 runs, and Willy Mo Pena homered and drove in 3. The Sox, at 22-14, have a one-game lead in the East.

3. Stuck on you: We haven’t written about Barry Bonds in a while here at Full Count, and that’s because he hasn’t done anything. Last night, he continued his homerless streak in the Giants’ 10-1 blowout over the Astros. Bonds did hit an RBI double, but he failed to go yard for his seventh straight game. The pressure of getting the next one (and another) homers is weighing on Barry. Before, Bonds spoke of the “ghost of Babe Ruth” hovering around.

4. Inner City Rivalries: Interleague play starts this week for some teams, and there are definitely some interesting matchups to look forward to. The Yankees and Mets play at Shea, which could prove to be one of the more intense series of the regular season. The White Sox host the Cubs, which might look intriguing on paper but will likely be a blowout. On Sunday, Carlos Zambrano and Jose Contreras face off in a guaranteed pitcher’s duel. And, in what is inferably considered an inter-town rivalry based on the name change, the Dodgers and Angels play. There are also multiple interstate rivalries which are less interesting. St. Louis travels to Kansas City, San Francisco to Oakland, Texas to Houston, Baltimore to Washington, and Florida vs. Tampa Bay (which will easily be the least-attended series of all time). Atlanta and Arizona are the teams left out of interleague play this time around, though the Hudson vs. Webb matchup on Sunday could be worth watching.

5. This is where the pot goes: Freddie Garcia’s tokin’ in the offseason hasn’t affected his game. Last night, he won his sixth game in a row, allowing 3 runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. That’s good enough to lead the league in wins. Let’s hope little leaguers don’t take notice of his training habits.

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MLB General

Full Count for Mon May 15 2006: The MLB’s worst pitcher



LVP

1. Simply the worst: Who is the worst pitcher in the major leagues this season? Carlos Silva, who blew the game for the Twins, certainly has a valid claim. He is 2-6 with an 8.80 ERA on the year. The Padres’ Dewon Brazelton has been downright awful, with a 12.0 ERA and a laughable 2.06 WHIP. But the title–for now–goes to Toronto’s Josh Towers, who was 0-7 until winning yesterday. Towers’ ERA is 7-98, and he has allowed 59 hits in 38 innings pitched. Before last night’s game, Towers had never lasted more than 6 innings or allowed less than 3 earned runs in a start.

2. On a roll doesn’t even describe this: The Phillies might just be the hottest team in the MLB. On Sunday, they won their 13th game out of the last 14 contests, topping the Reds in a 12-inning battle. Ryan Howard, despite not even being in the starting lineup, proved to be the hero for the Phils. He hit 2 homers, producing the only Phillies runs of the day in a 2-1 victory. Howard didn’t come in until the 8th inning due to the stomach flu, but he still hit his 11th and 12th shots of the season. Now the Phillies are only one game back of the Mets for the division lead. A Philly-New York series next week will likely determine the division leader.

3. Passing Ruth: No, Barry Bonds didn’t hit any homeruns last night. But Luis Gonzalez hit his 507th double, passing the Babe on the all-time list. Gonzalez went 4-5 and scored two runs for the Diamondbacks, who edged St. Louis 7-6 to avoid a sweep. Another start by the Cardinals’ Chris Carpenter was wasted, as he allowed no earned runs (though 3 unearned) yet fell to 3-2. Carpenter’s record is unimpressive despite his 1.98 ERA, which is nearly a full point lower than last year’s. But St. Louis struggled defensively, making 3 errors that likely lost them the game. Of course, don’t fell sorry for St. Louis–they still have the best record in the NL at 24-14.

4. Walk me up: After sweeping the Cleveland Indians last week, the Kansas City Royals have returned to their old ways. Though leading 7-4 entering the 9th inning, they blew the game to complete a series sweep by Baltimore. The Royals allowed 4 runs in the ninth, with Ambiorix Burgos walking the bases loaded to start the inning. After those three runners scored, Kevin Millar won the game with a two-out RBI single. The win excused awful Orioles pitching. They walked 12 Royals in the first 8 innings, including 7 by starter Daniel “Free Pass” Cabrera. Cabrera nearly has a walk per inning on the year. The O’s still managed a win, however, and are a respectable 18-20 this season.

5. Sunday night craziness: The Sunday Night Baseball matchup this week, Twins vs. White Sox, turned out to be unexpectedly entertaining from the start. The first inning was downright wild, with Torii Hunter robbing Jim Thome of a homer but Jermaine Dye hitting a three-run shot in the top of the inning. Then the Twins put on an offensive showcase against Mark Buehrle, ripping the ace for seven runs and seven hits in the first. However, due to two errors, Buehrle was only charged with one earned run. Though down 7-3, the White Sox didn’t allow a run the rest of the game and blasted Twins starter Carlos Silva. Nobody robbed Thome of a homer in the fourth inning, when he crushed an opposite-field shot. AJ Pierzynski also homered for the White Sox, and Beurhle settled down to pitch for six innings and get the win. The White Sox also turned a rare triple play in the 6th inning, catching a Luis Castillo bunt in the air and tagging 1st and 2nd base. They are now virtually tied with streaking Detroit for the division lead.

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MLB General

MLB Power Rankings Roundup for May 12 2006

While the White Sox and Mets still are the cream of the crop, there has been some movement below them. The Rockies and Phillies are the darlings of the Power Rankings this week.

The Rockies made the top 10 in four of the six sites we surveyed and narrowly missed out on the other two. Of course, TSN already had them in their top 10 last week, as they did the Tigers before everyone jumped on the Detroit bandwagon. So, are our neighbors to the north that much more savvy than the rest of us? Or are they just getting lucky?

Rank Sportscolumn ESPN FoxSports Sportsline USA Today TSN.ca
1 White Sox White Sox White Sox White Sox White Sox Yankees
2 Mets Mets Tigers Mets Mets Tigers
3 Cardinals Red Sox Mets Red Sox Yankees Mets
4 Reds Yankees Cardinals Yankees Red Sox White Sox
5 Yankees Blue Jays Yankees Reds Astros Rockies
6 Tigers Reds Reds Cardinals Cardinals Red Sox
7 Red Sox Cardinals Red Sox Astros Tigers Cardinals
8 Astros Tigers Blue Jays Tigers Reds Reds
9 Blue Jays Phillies Diamondbacks Phillies Blue Jays Phillies
10 Rockies Rockies Rockies Rangers Indians Diamondbacks
11-30 more more more more more more

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MLB General

Full Count for Thu May 11 2006: Did the Royals play a minor league team?

1. Royal Flush: The Kansas City Royals seemed destined to be one of the worst teams in the MLB from the time the season started. They fulfilled their destiny for a while, but now, they aren’t the worst team anymore! KC completed a sweep of the Indians on Wednesday, with a surprise offensive outburst of 10 runs and 12 hits. We didn’t know the Royals offense was capable of this kind of production, as they scored a combined 24 runs on the series. Kansas City was balanced throughout the lineup, as each starter had an RBI. Jake Westbrook was their main victim, allowing 8 runs in 5.2 innings. The Royals now own the Indians, as their season record against the team is 5-1. Their overall record is now a game better than the Marlins.

2. The 77 year old battle: The Yankees-Red Sox game last night featured some of the best oldie pitchers in the majors. Mike Mussina and Curt Shilling were the starters, but Shilling was clearly outpitched as the Yankees won 7-3. Shilling gave up six runs and fell to 5-2 on the year. Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, and Jorge Posada went yard off Shilling for the Yanks. And despite David Ortiz’s 4-4 with a homerun performance, Mussina (6-1) held the Sox to 3 runs in his 6 innings. Now the two teams are tied for the division lead again. Whoever wins tonight will take a one-game lead.

3. Un-der-rated!: Quick–name the best pitcher in the MLB so far this season. Martinez, Shilling, Maddux? No, it’s Arizona starter Brandon Webb, a Cy Young candidate who has established himself as one of the game’s best pitchers. He improved to 6-0 on the season last night, defeating Pittsburgh with six strong innings. His ERA is 2.30, and he is the league leader in innings pitched. In speaking of underrated, Arizona closer Jose Valverde earned his 10th save of the season. His ERA is 2.70. Oh yeah, Arizona got some offense too. Chad Tracy went 4-4, and the suddenly quiet Shawn Green drove in 3 runs. `Zona is in second place in the NL West.

4. Opposite directions: The Astros and the Cardinals were very close in the standings a week ago, but now the teams are on opposite streaks. While the Astros (19-15) have lost 6 in a row now, the Cards (22-13) have won 5 of their last 6. Last night Albert Pujols hit his 18th homer of the year for St. Louis, becoming the fastest to reach 18 homers since 1923. His 2 RBIs gave him 43 on the year, and he is on pace for over 200 in this category. The Cardinals defeated the Rockies, 7-4. Meanwhile, Houston fell to Los Angeles, 9-6. Lance Berkman (12) hit a three-run homerun, but the Dodgers got two round-trippers of their own from Rafeal Furcal and Jeff Kent. The Dodgers have won five in a row.

5. Moving backward: While the NFL’s labor situation received plenty of attention recently, the MLB’s labor situation could turn out to be just as improtant. If they cannot agree to a new labor contract by August, the MLB will scrap the 2006 drug policy and use the 2005 policy. This year’s drug policy mandates a 50 game suspension for the first offense, 100 for the second, and a lifetime ban for the third. The 2005 plan is much weaker: it gives 10/30/60 suspensions instead and doesn’t include testing for amphetamines. Of course, this doesn’t make Congress very happy. Government Reform Committee chairman Tom Davis sent a letter to commissioner Bud Selig stating that the issue raises “congressional concern.” This could get very, very interesting…

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MLB General

Odds and Ends for Wed May 10 2006: Game of Shadows authors could face jail time



Lucky Jake

The two guys who wrote Game of Shadows, Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada, could face jail time if they don’t fess up to their sources. Of course, this is a time honored tradition of journalists refusing to name sources and courts threatening them with contempt… blah blah blah. In the end, the journalists and first amendment rights usually win out.

In other news…

[SignOnSanDiego]: Pink bats for mothers day. How sweet.

[US Weekly]: Another snowboarding medalist lands a celeb. This time, Gretchen Bleiler and Jessica Alba. Oh wait, that’s just a fantasy. It’s Gretchen and that Brokeback guy.

[Screwballs!]: Billy Wagner makes more friends in Philly

[The Hater Nation]: Phil Mickelson really should be the spokesperson for Victoria’s Secret sports bras

[Lakers Blog]: Kobe vs Sir Charles in text message wars

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Kansas City Royals

Kansas City Royals: adding insult to insult


It’s not easy being in the Royals front office these days. First, a longtime fan sells his Royals fandom for $278 and now a minor league team thinks they can win more games than you. Oh, and the fact that your team is 9-22.

The Brockton Rox of the Canadian American Association thinks they can win more games than the Royals despite playing only 92 games compared to the Royals 162 games. The Rox president contacted the Royals to set a bet — $500 vs $5,000 to be donated to the local YMCA. The Royals VP of communications said he had no response to that.

Sure, it’s a publicity stunt but it’s still insulting.

Links:
[Kansas City Star]: Independent team throws down gauntlet

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MLB General

Full Count for Wed May 10 2006: 50 game suspension for Young

1. 50 is enough: Delmon Young, now possibly the most famous minor league player ever after throwing his bat at an umpire (video), finally received his suspension for the incident. 50 games without pay — which seems like enough for this incident. The guy is losing $145,000 because of this, and he also needs to do 50 hours of community service. Though Young didn’t join Ron Artest and earn a season-long suspension, this incident will certainly go down as one of the worst in baseball history.

2. 3 runs and 3 errors: That is what the Yankees’ stat line looked like after Tuesday’s humiliating 14-3 loss to rival Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. Josh Beckett completely outpitched Randy Johnson, but Johnson didn’t get much help from his defense. Though Johnson allowed a horrific total of 7 runs, only two of them were earned as the Yanks committed 3 errors (two by A-Rod). The bullpen didn’t do much better, allowing a total of seven runs to the prolific Red Sox offense. Manny Ramirez hit his 6th homerun, and even Alex Gonzalez went yard for Boston. Beckett pitched well, allowing three in 7 innings, two of the runs on a homerun by Jason Giambi (11). This gave the Red Sox a game lead in the divisional race, though the Yankees could easily make that up sometime during the three-game set.

3. The Other Rivalry: Though the Yankees-Red Sox will get all of the attention, the Mets and the Phillies should be an excellent matchup this year. The Braves have struggled against both teams (though they crushed the Marlins last night 10-2), making this the rivalry that could decide the NL East. On Tuesday, the Phillies won the first game of the season series. Brett Myers outdueled Pedro Martinez, but this game came down to the ninth inning. Though the Phillies came into the 9th with a 4-2 lead, Carlos Delgado helped to erase that with his 2-run blast. But the Phillies scored on a crucial error, winning the game 5-4. Now they are only 3 games back of New York for the division lead.

4. ALCS Rematch? No contest: Coming into this year, you might have thought that the three series between the White Sox and the Angels would be the most competitive games in the AL. Scratch that–the searing White Sox have defeated the Angels four times already on the year after last night’s 9-1 domination. LA scored in the first inning but never again, as Freddy Garcia (5-1) pitched a gem, allowing only that one run through 8 innings. Jim Thome did the damage offensively for Chicago, hitting his 14th homerun and driving in 4. The win pushed the White Sox to a major-league best 23-9, as they are the only team with single digits in the loss column. The Angels, a perennial playoff contender, are in last place.

5. The Badminton League: Jason Kendall seems pretty upset that he is being suspended four games for charging the mound on May 2. Actually, VERY upset. After multiple sources said Kendall wouldn’t get his suspension reduced, he dropped his appeal and ripped the MLB. Kendall said the MLB has `turned into a badminton league’ and it is `embarrassing’ that you `can’t defend yourself.’ Kendall’s actions likely deserved the suspension, as he charged the mound and wrestled pitcher John Lackey to the ground. His point, though, was that Lackey should have been further punished because he verbally provoked Kendall into charging the mound. Whatever really happened, we can’t wait for the next time these two face each other in a game.