Saturday snippets

@Dodgers 4, Cardinals 3: Twice down to their last strike, LA rallied to tie on Andre Ethier‘s single and a double by Friday’s hero, Luis Cruz — then won it when pinch-hitter Juan Rivera‘s soft liner slipped free of Daniel Descalso‘s leather. And so the second wild card race, between the lame and the halt, is tied at 76-70.

  • Jason Motte has blown 2 of his last 3 save tries. His 5 appearances this month all have come with a 1-run lead or tie game.

@Brewers 9, Mets 6: The Crew are just 2 back in the loss column. Now if the leaders could somehow play to a tie….

  • Ryan Braun‘s 30th double gave him 379 extra-base hits since 2008, 2nd to Albert and 2 ahead of Miguel.
  • Another key to Milwaukee’s push has been the resurgence of Rickie Weeks, who hit his 20th HR (3 straight years reaching that mark) and his hitting .272/.859 since the Break, with 44 Runs in 60 games.
  • Shaun Marcum is still without a QS in 5 outings off the DL (5.70 ERA, 1.69 WHIP).
  • Ike Davis crept a little closer to the Mets’ first 30-HR season since 2008, and just their 4th ever by a first baseman.
  • Did he get beaned again while I wasn’t watching? David Wright endured a 25-game HR drought before finally getting #200, and has gone another 18 games trot-free, and with just 5 RBI. His combined WPA since the Break is -0.73.

@Astros 5, Phillies 0: An opening threat went awry (“I missed my chance!”), and the Phils ended up … not quite like Sollozzo in Louis’ Restaurant, but maybe like Tom when Michael announced the new lineup.

  • So much for “gimmies” — Houston has taken 2 of 3 in this series. Philly gets one more chance to hand them their 100th loss. Then the Astros play 6 of their next 9 against St. Louis.
  • The geographically misplaced Dallas Keuchel is 2-3, 3.17 in Houston, but 0-4, 9.41 away.

@Athletics 5, Orioles 2: Oakland pulled within 2 games of Texas, their nearest vantage since April 13. Jarrod Parker notched his 3rd straight strong start against playoff contenders, and his mates dug him out of an early hole with a 5-run 3rd. Zach Britton suffered his 2nd straight disaster after a hot run, with both games marred by wildness (9 walks and a HBP in 7.1 IP).

  • Isn’t there an axiom about not risking the 1st out at home when you’re down by 3? The O’s wouldn’t get another man to 2nd base until the 9th.
  • A’s lead the majors with 87 starts by pitchers age 25 or under, and with 53 wins in such games.
  • Baltimore has lost 2 straight for the first time in almost a month. They have 7 more games on this road trip

@Royals 3, Angels 2: I believe the phrase is Stomach-Punch Game.

White Sox 5, @Twins 3: Francisco Liriano fanned 9 with just 2 walks, and almost got through 7 no-hit innings — the bid was ended here by Trevor Plouffe‘s 22nd HR, his 15th in Target Field and 11th in 112 ABs against southpaws. Paul Konerko homered and ended a 5-game ribby drought, and Adam Dunn returned from a week’s absence with a rare 2-hit game (even rarer: no Ks).

  • Addison Reed‘s late swoon continued; he filled the sacks in the 9th with a pair of walks, making 20 baserunners in his last 7 IP, but was rescued by Matt Thornton, who got 3 outs with just 8 pitches.
  • It’s in the rulebook: The official scorer cannot presume a double play — not even with Konerko running. But the double-bobble clearly cost the Twins a run.

Tigers 5, @Indians 3: Two runs by Detroit in the 1st were as many as Anibal Sanchez had seen in any of his last 3 starts, and he showed his appreciation by keeping the Tribe off the board — hitless, in fact — until the 7th.

  • Miguel Cabrera‘s 37th HR left him one off his career high. Pop quiz: Name the last Tiger with a 40-HR season.
  • The win behind Sanchez halted a run of 7 team losses when either he or Rick Porcello started — a set in which they scored 9 total runs and had 6 one-run losses.
  • Did Thursday’s storm trigger an eerie Tigers/White Sox synchronization? On Friday, their respective CYA candidates led the way to shutout wins. On Saturday, their July SP acquisitions — each with a no-no in his past — tossed no-hit ball through 6.2 IP, then quickly yielded 2 runs, and the teams went on to 5-3 wins. (Or have I watched too many movies?)

@Marlins 6, Reds 4Jose Reyes made (perhaps) the half-millionth error in MLB history, but compensated with a 4-2-3-1 batting line to lead the attack on Johnny Cueto. The Reds’ ace failed in his 3rd bid for his 18th win, and for the 2nd game in a row he failed to complete 5 innings; the 3-game slump has added almost half a run to his ERA, costing him the league lead. (He’s still #1 in ERA+ and WAR/pitchers.)

  • Mark Buehrle reached 13 wins for the 11th time in 12 years. He needs 12 IP to reach 200 for the 12th straight year. And next year, he will likely become the 68th pitcher to reach 50+ WAR at the modern pitching distance, and the 6th to do so without a 6-WAR season (also the 6th without a 20-win year).
  • Giancarlo Stanton hit his first triple of the year and has slipped ahead of Ryan Braun for the NL slugging lead.
  • Carlos Lee hit his first HR in 16 games; sadly, that’s not far from his season pace. The clout tied him with Yogi Berra for #78 on the career list.

@Braves 5, Nationals 4: It’s everybody’s favorite game-winning rally: Single, Walk, Walk, painless HBP!

  • Craig Kimbrel actually saw the tying run reach 3rd with 1 out — then he whiffed the last 2 men, giving him 3 for the inning and 104 in 55.1 IP this year. His 16.9 SO/9 would be a record for 50+ IP, and he’s whiffed 48 of 80 batters since the Break (60%).

_______________

Pop quiz answer: Papa Fielder, 1992 1991, 44 HRs.

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Brooklyn Mick
Brooklyn Mick
11 years ago

“Isn’t there an axiom about not risking the 1st out at home when you’re down by 3?”

Shame on DeMarlo Hale for waving Jones home. Baltimore should have had men on 2nd and 3rd with Mark “Homer or Strike Out” Reynolds coming to bat and Manny Machado on deck.

Wonder how many push-ups DeMarlo had to do in Buck’s office after the game.

topper009
topper009
11 years ago
Reply to  John Autin

Braun didn’t have a full rookie season (but took home the ROY) and still has 2 weeks left this year. Using his rookie season XBH rate prorated to 150 games would give him another 20. Looks like it probably wouldn’t be enough to surpass the Splinter however.

If some jerk hadn’t leaked some information that none of us would have ever found out about would Braun be the favorite to win back-to-back MVPs given the Brewers recent surge in the standings?

Ed
Ed
11 years ago
Reply to  topper009

It’s an interesting question Topper. I think Posey will win it and I tend to think he would have won it irregardless of what happened with Braun. For the following reasons: 1) He has the story of coming back from a major injury and helping lead his team to the division title. 2) He’s had an amazing 2nd half and has had to carry the Giants after Cabrera was suspended. 3) Last year Braun won a close vote. My guess is that, in another close race, at least some voters might favor someone other than Braun, not wanting him to… Read more »

topper009
topper009
11 years ago
Reply to  topper009

The Brewers lead the league in pitching Ks and batting HRs, so according to fangraphs they actually have 90 wins right now.

bstar
bstar
11 years ago

RE: Cueto. I thought he had the clear lead for the CY Young a month ago, with a 30+ point lead over Dickey in ERA+ and at least a 2 pt. lead in WAR. My, how things have changed… The ERA+ league-leading marks for both leagues are quite low: Cueto at 144 in the NL and Sale at 156 for the AL. That would be the lowest league-leading total in the NL since Nolan Ryan’s 142 ERA+ in 1987, and the lowest top mark in the AL since John Lackey’s 150 in 2007. Maybe I’m just spoiled by all those… Read more »

Jacob
Jacob
11 years ago
Reply to  bstar

… And we’re heading for the first season in 24 years in which neither league produces a 1.000 OPS player.

Last time this happened: 1988, with Wade Boggs(!) leading MLB with .965.

In other words, not a lot of extreme seasons this year, on both sides of the ball. Well, except for Mike Trout, but we wouldn’t be aware of this without the WAR revolution.

Jacob
Jacob
11 years ago

– Yowza indeed. Braun is also nearing his career high in OPS – he has never topped 1.000 OPS but has been very close to it each season. Now at .991, with Miggy trailing at .988.
– Stanton leads the league in ISO, like he should.
– Mark Buehrle is halfway through a Hall of the Very Good career.
– Last Tiger to hit 40 HR… Tony Clark? Juan Gone? Cecil Fielder?

Hartvig
Hartvig
11 years ago

Pop quiz: Name the last Tiger with a 40-HR season.

Current Tiger first baseman Prince Fielder’s dad Cecil, in 1991 with 44.

RJ
RJ
11 years ago
Reply to  Hartvig

Yeah I read the answer at the bottom of the post as well 😉 Although, in a twist, JA got the date wrong.

Hartvig
Hartvig
11 years ago
Reply to  RJ

Oh hell no, I went thru all the work of scrolling back thru the franchise encyclopedia on B-R just to be certain I wasn’t forgetting someone and it was there all along?

The 2 possibilities that came to mind for me we Gary Sheffield (who never came close as a Tiger) and Mickey Tettleton (who really didn’t either). The 2 that actually came closest were Cabrerra himself in 2010 and Dean Palmer- who I had not thought of- in 1996, both with 38.

Hartvig
Hartvig
11 years ago
Reply to  RJ

And how come RJ gets the credit for the correct date?!!?

Man, I just get no respect;)

RJ
RJ
11 years ago
Reply to  John Autin

I resemble that remark.

Jacob
Jacob
11 years ago

In other news… – Miguel Cabrera just hit his 382nd career double, in only his 10th season. Barring injury, you’d think he’ll have a shot at Tris Speaker’s record of 792, set between 1907 and 1928. He’s nearly halfway. However… – Albert Pujols just his HIS 498th career double, in only his 12th(!) season. As far as I can tell, he’ll be the second-fastest to 500 doubles in MLB history; only Joe Medwick got there quicker, and he was nearly done by then. Pujols already has a 50-double lead on Speaker’s pace, and I would favor him to take over… Read more »

Hartvig
Hartvig
11 years ago
Reply to  Jacob

” would favor him to take over this retro record from The Grey Eagle by, um, 2020.”

At which point the Angels will only owe him another $30 million on his contract. Although if he can hit 300 doubles in the next 8 years I suspect the Angels will be very happy with that contract.

Jacob
Jacob
11 years ago
Reply to  John Autin

Thanks for providing this backdrop, John. Indeed, league-wide doubles went up by nearly 25% from the Teens to the Twenties. Meanwhile, current rates are roughly 10% lower than during Pujols’ prime. So you may be right – Speaker AVERAGED 52 doubles between ages 32 and 35, which The Machine won’t do. But 50 is quite a lead, and Speaker quit at 40. We should expect Albert to keep playing for 9 more years, as Hartvig (13) points out. So If Pujols makes it to 2021, the record really should be his, if only because of the PR value it affords.… Read more »

bstar
bstar
11 years ago
Reply to  Jacob

Good call, Jacob. Miggy, Pujols, and Robby Cano are all putting up great, consistent doubles numbers.

Miggy is 116 behind Pujols, but almost 3.5 years younger than Albert. Assuming 40 doubles per yr for Miggy, he might just overtake Pujols eventually if his body holds up.

Cano has more doubles than either Cabrera or Pujols in the last five years(210 to 199 for Albert and 198 for Miggy), but, amazingly, he’s a few months OLDER than Cabrera, which I find hard to believe. Cano is ~60 doubles behind Cabrera.

bstar
bstar
11 years ago
Reply to  bstar

Oops, was bangin’ out that post a few minutes behind you, sorry John.

Ed
Ed
11 years ago
Reply to  bstar

Pujols needs about 300 more doubles, Cabrera needs about 400 more.

Only 5 players have had 300 or more doubles starting in their age 33 season – Edgar Martinez, Biggio, Sam Rice, Speaker, Rose.

Only 6 players have had 400 or more doubles starting in their age 30 season – Jeff Kent, Molitor, Honus Wagner, Sam Rice, Biggio and Speaker.

So generally the players who get a lot of doubles late in their career tend to have decent speed and don’t hit a lot of home runs.

bstar
bstar
11 years ago
Reply to  Ed

Good point, Ed. I think Pujols & Cabrera have an outside shot at 700 doubles but not Speakers’ mark.

Ed
Ed
11 years ago
Reply to  John Autin

Well I do like beating the Tigers. On the other hand, winning hurts our draft position. So double-edged sword.