Catching up on Monday’s games

@Athletics 10, Rangers 1: Oakland cruised after an 8-run 2nd — 3 more than their previous high inning — while rookie Jarrod Parker held the Rangers hitless through 7 IP before Michael Young‘s clean single up the middle.

  • Through 9 career starts, Parker has allowed 13 runs in 54.1 IP for a 2.15 ERA. Six runs came in one start; in the other 8, he went 5+ IP on 2 runs or less. Crank up the Play Index … Parker tied Dave “Boo” Ferriss for the most such starts (since 1918) within the first 9 career games. And his 6 starts of 5+ IP and 1 run or less also ties the known record, shared by Zach Britton and Andy Rincon. (Always bear in mind that breaking in as a starter is a relatively recent phenomenon; even someone as proven as Lefty Grove relieved in 60% of his rookie games.)
  • Texas began the night with a .293 road batting average.
  • Brandon Inge touched off the 8-run barrage with a HR — a 3-run shot, natch — and closed it with another RBI hit with 2 on base. With 2 or more men aboard, he’s 8 for 21 with 5 HRs and 21 of his 23 RBI. He has more HRs in that situation than anyone else in baseball; Carlos Beltran is second with 4, and last year’s leader (Lance Berkman) had 8. With 1 man on, Inge is 2 for 29 with 1 HR; with the bases empty, 6 for 36, no HRs.

Rockies 4, @Diamondbacks 0: First team shutout this year for the Rox — 2 weeks after every other team had one.

  • Rookie Christian Friedrich (7 scoreless) notched Colorado’s first start of 5+ IP and no runs. (Every other team has at least 2, averaging 5; the Nats and Mets have 10 each.) He’s the first Rockie ever to win 4 of his first 6 games. In his 4 starts away from Coors, Friedrich has allowed 5 ER in 25 IP, with 27 Ks and 5 walks; in 2 home starts, 11 IP, 13 R, 20 H.
  • It’s been more than a year since Colorado’s last individual shutout — June 1, 2011 by Ubaldo Jimenez (also his last shutout, as any Tribe fan could tell you).
  • Rockies catcher Wilin Rosario has twice put the ball in play on a 3-0 count this year – both HRs. He’s the first player with 2 such HRs this year; no one has more than 4 such HRs in 2007-12 combined. Rosario has real power – 12 HRs in 169 PAs since his debut last year – but after he goes around the league another time or two, his days of slugging .500 will be over, absent a major adjustment. He has 50 strikeouts and just 7 walks, and his pitch-count splits tell an age-old story: once he gets behind in the count, he’s toast. He’s 6 for 61 when behind in the count; with 2 strikes, he’s 6 for 80, with 1 HR and 50 strikeouts. Four of his 12 HRs were on the first pitch. On a full count, he’s 0 for 12 with 6 Ks, 2 walks. In high-leverage situations, 4 for 34, no HRs. Against all relievers, 6 for 57, 1 HR. I hope he’s learning – because the league is definitely learning about him.

Mariners 8, @Angels 6: Seattle SS Munenori Kawasaki picked a good moment for his first extra-base hit: sacks full and 2 out, after the 5th and 6th walks from Ervin Santana. Kawasaki began the night 6 for 38 in his brief career.

  • The M’s have tallied 6+ runs in 7 of their last 16 games — they had 8 in their first 41 games.
  • Ach, these swing-for-the-fences kids! Ichiro is 0 for 13 since homering in his first 2 ABs Saturday.
  • First 4-hit game for Mike Trout; probably not his last. He’s now batting .338; only Darin Erstad has ever hit .340 or higher for the Angels.
  • Ervin Santana‘s last 3 starts: 14.2 IP, 14 BBs, 8 Ks, 16 ER.

Twins 10, @Royals 7: In Minnesota’s 6-of-7 run, Josh Willingham is 10 for 26 with 11 RBI. He’s now 2nd in the AL in OBP, 3rd in OPS+, 4th in RBI.

  • Cheap save alert! Matt Capps had to get 1 out with the tying run on deck. Somehow, he pulled it off.
  • Ben Revere had 1 RBI in 77 ABs this year before a pair of scoring singles.
  • First career 3-XBH game for Mike Moustakas (HR, 2 doubles). He’s now at .285/.354/.514 for the year. In 11 games at cleanup, he has 3 HRs, 10 RBI and a .947 OPS.
  • Cole De Vries got his first career win in his 3rd try. The 27-year-old righty was promoted on the strength of his … um … we’ll get back to you on that.
  • In his 3rd start, young Will Smith allowed 3 HRs for the 2nd time as his ERA hit an even 9. Smith and De Vries are symbols of the “wing-and-a-prayer” approach of pitching-strapped organizations. There just isn’t any reason to expect big-league success from either one at this point; they both have career minor-league ERAs right around 4, with unexceptional K rates that have fallen as they’ve climbed the ladder. But KC’s big-league starters have a 5.20 ERA (despite the Felipe Fenomenon), and Minny’s are a run above that (Diamond Dust notwithstanding) — and when injuries come, the rules still require someone to toe the slab.
  • Back to the drawing board: The Twins’ organizational philosophy has produced a staff with the fewest walks in the AL — but also the most hits, runs and HRs (despite a tough home-run park), with the fewest Ks.

Cardinals 5, @Mets 4: He pitched well, but Dillon Gee threw away an easy DP ball in the 7th with a sidearm throw that skidded into CF, touching off a 2-run inning that (as much as Allen Craig‘s 2-run blast in the 8th) was the difference in this up-and-down game.

  • Kyle Lohse allowed 1 run in 6 IP, but got his 5th straight no-decision, after starting the year with 5 wins in 7 starts. Five straight ND’s ties the Cardinals record since 1918, shared by 8 others.
  • Scott Hairston tied it up in the 7th with his 2nd pinch-HR — off a lefty, of course. Against southpaws, Hairston is 21 for 60 with 6 HRs and 4 doubles, slugging .717.
  • Ike Davis schlepped a .166 BA and 42 OPS+ into Monday’s game, then was lifted in when a lefty came in. That 42 OPS+ would be the worst ever by a qualifying first baseman; none since 1947 have come in below 60. Only one qualified 1B has ever batted under .200.

@Giants 3 Cubs 2: SF has scored 4 runs or less in 9 straight games — yet they’re 7-2. They went 4-3 in another 7-game streak in April. The other 15 streaks of 7+ games scoring 4 runs or less all had losing records, including an 0-9 run by the Giants’ latest victims, the Cubs. In the last 8 games of the Giants’ streak, neither team has scored more than 4 runs; the average score was 3.1 for the winner, 1.5 for the loser.

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Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
12 years ago

Giants also haven’t hit a home homer in something like 12 games.

RJ
RJ
12 years ago
Reply to  John Autin

What’s a home run? Isn’t that something Barry used to do?

RJ
RJ
12 years ago
Reply to  RJ

Answers own question. Post-Bonds (2008-2011):

20 HR seasons by a Giant: 5 (four teams with less)
Median: 11
Max: 19 (Yankees)
Min: 3 (Athletics)

25 HR seasons by a Giant: 2 (two teams with less)
Median: 7
Max: 14 (Yankees)
Min: 0 (Royals)

Bet you can’t guess the only other team with less 25 HR seasons in that timespan.

RJ
RJ
12 years ago
Reply to  RJ

The Braves, for those of you playing along at home.

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
12 years ago

HOME games, JA.
Last one was on May 14th.
Before that – May 1st.

Evan
Evan
12 years ago
Reply to  John Autin

Is that p.s. a commentary on how Pettitte pitched or how the Mets have played defense tonight?

RJ
RJ
12 years ago
Reply to  Evan

Vinny Rottino pretending he caught Bryce Harper’s game winning hit would absolutely not fly in cricket.

bstar
12 years ago
Reply to  RJ

From what, an ethics standpoint, RJ?

RJ
RJ
12 years ago
Reply to  RJ

@bstar Yeah, ‘the Spirit of the Game’! It is considered very bad form to appeal when you know full well you didn’t catch it. Similarly if a batsmen knows he is caught out, but the umpire doesn’t give it, it’s not unheard of for the batsmen to voluntarily walk of the field (although this is rarer and more divisive).

Doug
Doug
12 years ago

Most impressive play in the Mariners win was how manager Eric Wedge used his closer. With one out in the eighth, the Mariners were ahead by two, but the Angels had the tying runs in scoring position with Pujols coming to the plate. That’s when Wedge brought in his new closer, Tom Wilhelmsen. In a pressure situation with the lead in jeopardy, rather than to start the 9th with the bases empty (assuming Seattle still had the lead then). Good on Eric. Wilhelmsen got out of the jamb and finished off the Halos in the ninth. If you haven’t seen… Read more »

Paul E
Paul E
12 years ago

Channeling his inner Cliff Johnson, since 2006 Josh Willingham is 23rd in OPS+ amongst players with 800 games played

Paul E
Paul E
12 years ago
Reply to  John Autin

JA:
Actually, it’s:

Clifford Johnson (Bill James,”might have hit 400HR’s as a 1B”)
Clifton Phifer Lee (Phillies’ winless lefthander)
Heath Slocum (widowed RH reliever; but not Heathcliff)

The real “Heathcliff” – Wuthering Heights’ Laurence Olivier (lover of Merle Obero- gotta love the Bronte’s chick lit.)

Where’s “tag” when you need him…….

tag
tag
12 years ago
Reply to  Paul E

Right here. And you’re right on, John, you do gotta love the Bronte stuff, if not necessarily Olivier’s take on the Byronic Heathcliff (though I did like him in lots of other stuff – his Hamlet especially rocks). When it comes to the Hollywood rom-comming of the dusty English classics, I’ll go with Clueless and its Valley Girl version of Jane Austen.

tag
tag
12 years ago
Reply to  tag

Sorry, I meant Paul E. I was responding to your post, in fact.

e pluribus munu
e pluribus munu
12 years ago
Reply to  tag

In Olivier’s case, we have to be aware of the Coors effect: playing in the close confines of Shakespeare his productivity was outstanding, but when faced with the shapeless expanse of the Hollywood screenplay, he rarely hit it out: his record is on a par with Holden and Hackman. I’m not saying he isn’t Fame-worthy, but . . . (And do you really want to suggest that Bronte is a first-ballot shoo-in like Austen?)

tag
tag
12 years ago
Reply to  tag

Agree completely epm. Larry feasted on the offerings at pre-humidor Will; he couldn’t help but hit them out of the park. Austen is indeed first ballot if not inner circle, but I think it would take a Veteran’s Committee of tenured Lit profs who did their dissertations on Charlotte and Anne and Emily to get any of the Brontes in.

bstar
12 years ago
Reply to  tag

@21, say what you will about Lawrence but Holden and Hackman rarely hit it out of the park? You’re forgetting about Holden’s MVP year in ’53 as imprisoned WWII soldier JJ Sefton in Billy Wilder’s Stalag 17. And Hackman? He’s made more bad movies decent and more good movies great than anyone in the last 40 years. Yes, these two are probably compilers but they belong in the Hall too.

Paul E
Paul E
12 years ago
Reply to  tag

tag & bstr @24:
I’ve got to be honest. Bill Holden “gettin’ the girl” in “Picnic” has to rank up there with any and all of his films. Plus, based on that dramatic conclusion to his own life, he’s a first-ballot HoFer in the mold of Koufax and his arthritic elbow and Clemente’s unfortunate plane crash (excuse that reference).
Regarding Larry Olivier, didn’t he have a tie to the Seattle Mariners through Danny Kaye?

no statistician but
no statistician but
12 years ago
Reply to  tag

Gene Hackman won an acting MVP at two positions, actor and supporting actor. Can anyone name a baseball player who has something in common with Hackman who also won MVP awards at different positions? And what is the thing the two men have in common?

Or am I too late for this quiz to have relevance, now that the Tigers are on the prowl?

e pluribus munu
e pluribus munu
12 years ago
Reply to  tag

nsb: Yount / Danville?

no statistician but
no statistician but
12 years ago
Reply to  Paul E

Danville, Illinois.

Hometown of Hackman, Yount, Dick and Jerry Van Dyke, Bobby Short, and for those with long memories, Joseph Cannon and Helen Morgan.

Also nsb.

bstar
12 years ago

Cool, nsb. Since its late, I’ll throw some more movie trivia out there. Can you name one of the five other actors besides Hackman to win a Best and Supporting Actor Oscar?

e pluribus munu
e pluribus munu
12 years ago

Diverse company, nsb. More than I knew.

e pluribus munu
e pluribus munu
12 years ago

bstar, Of course: Joe Torre: best actor 1971; best supporting actor: 1998.

no statistician but
no statistician but
12 years ago

bstar:

Jack Nicholson is the male I get off the top of my head. Ingrid Bergman, 2 and 1(like Jack), on the female side. For the rest I could cheat at IMBd, but I’ll leave the way open for others here.

Ooops—Meryl Streep.