MN Star-Tribune: Suzuki outduels Crain in ninth for A’s

The Bay Area has greeted them with unseasonably warm temperatures—86 degrees for Thursday night’s first pitch—but with the Athletics reeling, this hardly spurred a ticket rush at McAfee Coliseum. The announced crowd of 12,357 was the smallest to watch the Twins all season, and they responded with another flat effort.

Once again, the game fell to reliever Jesse Crain, and once again the Twins came away disappointed. Kurt Suzuki drilled an RBI double to left with one out in the ninth inning, giving Oakland a 3-2 victory.
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Losing for the fifth time in six games, the Twins fell to 3-5 on the 14-game road trip, leaving them 1 1/2 games behind the White Sox in the AL Central.

MIL Journal-Sentinel: Brewers sell 3 millionth ticket

Milwaukee, the smallest media market in major-league baseball, entered the big leagues of attendance Thursday by selling more than 3 million tickets this season. The announcement means that the Brewers have easily surpassed the franchise’s attendance mark of 2,869,144 set last season.
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The Brewers rank ninth in attendance in the major leagues, trailing far larger markets such as New York (Yankees and Mets), Los Angeles (Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim), Philadelphia, Chicago (Cubs), Detroit and St. Louis.
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Not even in the heyday of the old Milwaukee Braves, when the team was the toast of the town and ranked first in the National League in attendance each year from 1953 to 1958, did the franchise come close to 3 million. The high-water mark for the Braves was in 1957, when they drew 2,215,404.

ESPN: Stark - Rumblings & Grumblings - One month… and 10 key questions

We’ve been asking everyone this week to name the one September baseball story that most rivets them. Nearly all of them answered … the Rays.

Hey, good answer. If this team—with a lower payroll than the left side of the Yankees’ infield—wins the AL East, it will be a story people talk about for decades. But if the Rays supersede that and finish with the best record in baseball—after 10 straight 90-loss seasons—we’ll announce this now:

This would then, officially, become the most miraculous turnaround ever.

Think about this. According to Rays public relations genius Rick Vaughn, 261 teams in baseball history have lost 95 games or more in a season. (Tampa Bay lost 96 last year.) Only one of them (before this team) ever made it to 30 games over .500 at any point in the next season—the 1999 Diamondbacks.

Even more incredibly, if the Rays wind up with the best record in the whole sport, they would be the first team to finish with the worst record in baseball one year and the best record the next since Farmer Weaver’s 1890 Louisville Colonels. That probably explains why we hear so many people in baseball saying, “If our team doesn’t win it, I hope the Rays do.” This is turning into one of the most spectacular underdog tales of our lifetime.

FOX: Rosenthal - Sources: Phils get Stairs from Blue Jays [UPDATED]

The Phillies, adding a left-handed hitter to their bench, have acquired outfielder Matt Stairs from the Blue Jays, according to major-league sources. The Jays will receive a prospect in return. The identity of that player has not yet been determined.
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Stairs is hitting .250 this season with 11 homers and 44 RBIs. He was designated for assignment Thursday to clear a spot outfielder Travis Snider, who is one of the Jays’ top position prospects and will replace Stairs in the outfield.

Snider, 20, was the Jays’ first-round pick out of Everett (Wash.) H.S. in 2006. He began the season at Class A, then jumped to Class AA and Class AAA. In 18 games with Class AAA Syracuse, he was batting .344 with two home runs and 17 RBIs.

Newsday: Davidoff - Cashman still believes in Yankees’ youth movement

Cashman fell on his sword Thursday, taking the blame for the disappointing campaign while absolving Joe Girardi and his coaches of any significant wrongdoing… If the impending free-agent executive returns—and that’s the safe bet, given that the Yankees have largely let him run the baseball operations, just as George Steinbrenner promised three years ago—he’ll stick to what he’s been doing.
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I asked Cashman if throwing a nine-figure contract at a veteran free agent from another team—one who hasn’t been exposed to the New York market—would clash with his philosophy.

“No, not necessarily,” he said. “Ultimately, what I feel is a strong reluctance to trade three or four assets to another team (for a player) and then sign him to a multiyear contract. You trade for a guy, give up three or four assets (and then pay him), then you’ve crushed your payroll and your assets at the same time.”

That’s why he didn’t trade for Santana.

“If you choose to play in that marketplace, the one thing you’d be sacrificing is a draft pick,” Cashman continued. “We’re very protective of our draft picks, but for the right player and the right circumstance ... I’ve always said we’re still big-game hunters.”

MLB.com: Hamels outstanding, but ‘pen falters

[Aramis] Ramirez’s mammoth drive traveled well out to deep center field, beyond the ivy, the bushes and almost to Pennsylvania. The result, a grand slam that gave the Cubs a 6-4 win over the Phillies, erased a brilliant Cole Hamels outing and further exposed a bullpen that is becoming increasingly tired and unreliable.
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The lefty quieted the Wrigley Field faithful with seven dominating innings, allowing one run, but left after throwing 108 pitches.

Already worried about his overworked trio of Durbin, Ryan Madson and J.C. Romero—all three rested in Wednesday’s loss to the Mets—manager Charlie Manuel used Madson to start the eighth.

Infielder Mike Fontenot greeted him with a pinch-hit home run, and Alfonso Soriano doubled and went to third on Ryan Theriot’s single. Durbin relieved and walked Derrek Lee, then surrendered the slam to Ramirez on a 1-0 pitch.

The loss pushed the Phillies a full game behind the idle Mets in the National League East.

MLB.com: Rays take series behind [Edwin] Jackson

[Edwin Jackson] pitched nearly a carbon copy of Matt Garza’s 7 2/3 shutout innings on Wednesday, as Jackson gave the Rays seven strong frames of one-run baseball.

Mirror images aside, Thursday’s outcome—a 3-2 series-clinching victory over the Blue Jays—was all Jackson. The young right-hander has now won six of his last seven starts, picking up a career-high 11th win en route to a franchise-first 81st victory this season.

The win—coupled with Boston’s loss—extends the Rays’ lead atop the American League East to 4 1/2 games over the Red Sox. Tampa Bay also improves to 11-0-1 in series play since the All-Star break.

SportTicker: Nationals SS Guzman hits for cycle

Washington Nationals shortstop Cristian Guzman hit for the cycle against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday.

Guzman hit a solo home run in the first inning and a single in the second off Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw. Washington’s lone representative at this year’s All-Star Game, Guzman added an RBI double in the sixth off Ramon Troncoso and capped off the cycle with an RBI triple off Joe Beimel in the eighth.

The last Nationals player to hit for the cycle was Brad Wilkerson on April 6, 2005 against the Philadelphia Phillies.

MLB.com: Dodgers drop finale as Kershaw falters

Just another night in the NL West.  This weekend’s Dodger/D’backs series will be a classic, I’m sure.

The Dodgers’ disastrous trip back east ended mercilessly on Thursday night with an 11-2 blowout loss at the hands of the last-place Nationals, the club’s seventh straight defeat on this trip to Philadelphia and Washington and 10th of 12 overall.

Three batters in, Los Angeles looked to be headed for a better fate when new No. 3 hitter Manny Ramirez drilled a two-run homer to left, but the Dodgers only collected three more hits the rest of the game.

Clayton Kershaw (2-5) was hit hard for his second straight start, yielding five runs on five hits in 2 1/3 innings.

SportTicker: Angels place 2B Kendrick on DL

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim took another hit to their ailing infield on Thursday, placing second baseman Howie Kendrick on the 15-day disabled list with tightness in his left hamstring. Kendrick joins infielder Maicer Izturis, who is out for the season with a torn ligament in his left thumb, on the DL.

Third baseman Chone Figgins and shortstop Erick Aybar are also nicked up, with toe and hamstring injuries, respectively.
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To take his spot on the roster, the Angels recalled third baseman Brandon Wood from Class AAA Salt Lake. Wood, 22, is batting .296 with 31 homers and 84 RBI in 103 games for the Bees.

SportTicker: Braves RHP [Rafael] Soriano undergoes surgery

Rafael Soriano’s injury-plagued season officially is over. Expected to be the Atlanta Braves’ closer this season, Soriano on Thursday underwent season-ending surgery on his right elbow.

Plagued by elbow soreness for much of the year, the 28-year-old appeared in just 14 games, going 0-1 with three saves and a 2.57 ERA. Soriano finally opted to undergo surgery, which was performed by Dr. James Andrews.
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Soriano, who is on the disabled list for the third time this season, is expected to make a full recovery and be ready for spring training in 2009.

LoHud Yankee Blog: Breaking news - Beckett to miss next start

Ignore most of the comments, but here’s the news from Pete Abe.

Josh Beckett will not start for Boston tomorrow. He is instead being sent to see Dr. James Andrews.

Breaking Down the Draft: Picks 44 - 49

From Jeremy Bleich (Yankees) to Johnny Giavotella (Royals).  Below is an excerpt on Bleich:

One thing I was not impressed with was his arm action—it’s a bit long, and he didn’t generate much arm speed from the loaded position into release. He appears to be pushing the ball rather than throwing it....

...If you’re a numbers guy, then you probably aren’t happy with this pick. Bleich’s strikeout numbers were okay (8.0 K/9), but his control scares the death out of me (5.1 BB/9). In addition, he appears to be a fly-ball pitcher (though the sample size is small). That isn’t a combination that I would like in any pitcher.

“There’s Only One October” says Frank Caliendo, Randy Jackson and Stewie from Family Guy

No, this is NOT a article from “The Onion”.

Major League Baseball, FOX and TBS will roll out a series of new star-studded ads highlighting the excitement of Major League Baseball’s postseason under the theme “There’s Only One October,” starting today.
The campaign, which is the largest in Major League Baseball history, will feature FOX and TBS personalities for the first time ever including American Idol judge Randy Jackson; Jeff Foxworthy, host of Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader; Frank Caliendo, star of TBS’s Frank TV and FOX NFL Sunday’s comedic prognosticator; Bill Engvall of The Bill Engvall Show; Timothy Hutton, star of TBS’s new drama Leverage; and an animated Stewie from Family Guy.

In September, the campaign also will feature a prominent group of Major Leaguers as they try to earn a birth in postseason play in the midst of tight pennant races. Actor and avid baseball fan Rick Gonzalez (Old School, CW’s The Reaper) will continue to appear in spots throughout the remainder of the season.

Sure hope that the Twins can “earn a birth” in postseason play. I mean, there are only so many postseason births.

Mitch “Wild Thing Salsa” Williams rings the NASDAQ Opening Bell on Friday

Lenny Dykstra could not be reached for comment.

Currently Mitch is the owner and operator of a food company called Wild Thing 99 Foods, which manufactures and distributes Mitch’s own recipes to supermarkets and restaurants across the country. For more information on the company, please visit the website at www.wildthingsalsa.com.

Tip of the hat to Deadspin.

Sox on Mariotti’s split: ‘It’s about time’

You knew this was coming.

Word of Jay Mariotti’s split with the Chicago Sun-Times reached the White Sox’ clubhouse minutes after their victory Tuesday night against the Baltimore Orioles, and the reaction could be heard outside.

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Ozzie Guillen—the top target of the venom-spewing columnist who called for the Sox to fire their manager this season despite the team being in first place—said his e-mail inbox had a record number of new arrivals by Wednesday afternoon.

It was a steady stream of digital high-fives.

‘’When people wish the worst on people, you have to be careful because the baseball gods are going to get you,’’ Guillen said. ‘’He was not asking just for my job, he was asking for thousands and thousands of people’s jobs over the years. I’m not going to say I will get the last laugh because I will get fired from this job. But the day I get fired is the day I lose interest in this game.

‘’Am I enjoying this? Yes, because he tried to make my life miserable. He did everything in his power to make my life go the wrong way, but he didn’t make me miserable because I don’t believe him. Maybe if somebody else wrote that stuff about me, then I would put attention on it. And that’s what he wanted. He wanted attention. He has to thank me because I gave him a lot of [stuff] to work with. I know I helped him the last four years to make his money, and, obviously, he did not help me at all to make my money.’’

Also read the end, the official statement from a Sun-Times editor. By far the best put-down in the history of Newspaper Sportswriting.

The Big Lead—Why Do the Sabermetric Teams Stink in 2008?

Can’t we just let the whole scouts vs. sabermetrics thing go? One without the other is like a hot dog without mustard.

Maybe they don’t know anything after all: Statistical baseball analysis is such an attractive discipline because it’s so inclusive, and in some cases, so easy. The numbers don’t care if you’re a novice, tinkering in your study, because analytics is a science, and the numbers speak for themselves. A person doesn’t need years of experience on dusty sandlots with a radar gun and the “right eye,” or the ability to look a prospect and see the types of “baseball moves” that scream “big-leaguer.” All one needs is a calculator, an excel program, a few message boards, and a lifetime membership to baseball prospectus, and voila! Not only can one be smarter (and theoretically have more successful ideas) than the ignorant scouts who have the audacity to practice their craft the same way it’s been done for decades, one also has the license to high-mindedly scoff at the mere mention of the words “hustle” and “character.”

Mlb: So, Yankee Stadium Takes This No Moving During “God Bless America"-Thing Rather Seriously

Don’t get me wrong, I’m very patriotic; I love my country. This action, however, is more than a little over the top.

Remember a little more than a year ago when George Steinbrenner, inflated with patriotic fervor, imposed a laughable rule that instructed security officials to ban anyone from “excessive movement” during the 7th inning rendition of “God Bless America.” Granted, most New Yorkers seemingly abide by it, but sometimes the system must be tested by one man’s agnosticism and patriotic indifference. Oh, and he had to piss.

Meet Bradford Campeau-Laurion, a 29-year-old man from Astoria, Queens, and a director of web production for a “major website” who made the unfortunate decision to blatantly disregard “God Bless America” and hit the head. He was dealt with swiftly and aggressively by Steinbrenner’s Red, White, And Blue Muscle. I left a message with Yankees media relations for their comments on this, but it’s probably safe to assume that they’ll only react to this if Brad here makes a colossal stink over it.

Zambrano feels fine, expects to rebound from irritating month—ChicagoSports.com

Irritating? Irritation is going to the express line with a gallon of milk and having to wait for the guy with a severe math problem. When your ERA sits at 7.42 in your month of starts in a pennant race, I’d say describing the situation as “irritating” just doesn’t cut it. So in a desire for accuracy I ask, what word best describes Zambrano’s last month?

PAVANO AVAILABLE TO OTHER TEAMS AFTER ONE START - New York Post

Now, if I wanted to be snarky I’d probably mention that this article reminded me I really need to get rid of some old underwear that I’ve held onto in the hope they’d miraculously return to their original condition. But I’m not feeling particularly snarky today, so I’ll just post the quote without really commenting.

Could “The Idle” be moving?

Carl “American Idle” Pavano is scheduled to start tomorrow night against the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium - unless another team wants him.

The Post has learned Pavano was put on waivers within the last 24 hours and available to be claimed and then traded if the Yankees New York Yankees find a match.

Pavano, who returned to the big leagues last Saturday in Baltimore after being out since April of last year because Tommy John surgery on the right elbow, is in the final season of a four-year, $40 million deal.

Replay central resembles NASA’s Mission Control

Ground control to Major Tom (Hallion).

Baseball’s replay central is an 18-by-24 foot room on the fifth floor of a former baking factory in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District that’s crammed with so many computers and television screens that it looks like NASA’s Mission Control.

Five monitors stretch across the top of the wall, and beneath are eight, 46-inch screens split into two rows. Each television can show one picture, or be split into nine, 16, 25 or 100 angles at once.

In the third row are two white Macintosh computers with 19-inch screens, each adjacent to a 26-inch TV. And, finally, below that are dozens of buttons on a router panel. Some are blue, some green, some red, some yellow. This is where the technicians and supervisors will sit.

Can you hear me, Major Tom (Hallion)?
Can you hear me, Major Tom (Hallion)?

WEEI.com: Bradford: Beckett’s Go-To Guy

Josh Beckett’s Zen Master ... Dr. James Andrews.

The Red Sox’ doctors and trainers had done their due diligence, seemingly identifying the source of the problem without taking an MRI. Although for Beckett, the ultimate peace of mind had come with the phone calls to Andrews.

Beckett’s first call to the Birmingham, Ala.-based doctor came last Friday
after experiencing a setback following a throwing session. Since then the communication has continued via cell phone, stretching to the latest round of analysis Wednesday.

“He’s hesitant to tell me exactly what he thinks it is because he hasn’t seen it,” Beckett said. “Over the phone he gives me some reassurance, but he’s like, ‘It doesn’t sound like this, but I can rule that out until I see it.’

“I’ve (referred) to him on everything I’ve ever had with my shoulder or elbow. I’ve had other doctors check me out for physicals and things like that, but when it comes to, ‘I need this done,’ or ‘I need an MRI because I’m hurt or injured,’ I’m going to see Dr. Andrews.”

Denver Post: Giants rally to drop Rox 4-1

Poison to others’ dreams, the Rockies began Wednesday with a chance to move five games back of the division lead for the first time in four months. Two pitches and one of baseball’s brightest stars prevented it.

The Rockies fell 4-1 to the San Francisco Giants at raucous AT&T Park, nudged six games behind Arizona in the National League West.
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Lincecum (15-3) surrendered just five hits, while reaching at least 10 strikeouts for the seventh time this season… And yet for all of Lincecum’s mastery, Livan Hernandez was poised to turn him into a loser, factually speaking. Hernandez, who has laid an egg since joining the Rockies, strung together Faberges for six innings.
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Bengie Molina crushed an 86-mph fastball into the left-center field seats. Unnerved, Hernandez grooved a fastball to rookie Pablo Sandoval… Sandoval kept his hands back and drove the ball just inside the left-field foul pole.

The scoreboard panels in the upper deck inspired hope. Lincecum had thrown 118 pitches after seven innings. There was a realistic thought that he might not return. Lincecum finished with a season-high 132 pitches, leaving Jack Taschner and Brian Wilson to vanquish the Rockies’ last breaths.

MN Star-Tribune: Span’s throw bails out Twins

The Twins avoided getting swept by the American League’s worst team and pulled within one game of the first-place White Sox in the AL Central, after Chicago lost 11-3 to Baltimore.

“I’m glad we got a victory and can get out of here, man,” Span said. “I don’t like this place.”
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The Twins, who open a four-game series in Oakland tonight, were 1-4 in Seattle and trailed 4-3 when Raul Ibanez smashed a home run off Perkins with two outs in the seventh… But the Twins scored three runs in the eighth, giving Perkins (12-3) the victory, as he improved to 10-1 in his past 13 starts.

MLB.com: Garza, Pena lead Rays to win vs. Jays

The Rays reached a franchise-first 80 wins on Wednesday night courtesy of Matt Garza’s right arm and one piece of very timely hitting from Carlos Pena. When the dust finally settled, Tampa Bay snapped a two-game home losing skid with a series-evening 1-0 win over Toronto in front of a crowd of 12,678 at Tropicana Field.
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The Rays first baseman broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth inning, blasting David Purcey’s first pitch of the frame over the right-field fence. The rookie Purcey notched a career-high 11 strikeouts, but was outdueled by Garza, who had previously beaten Toronto’s ace Roy Halladay twice this season.

NY Times: Yanks’ Playoff Hopes Are Going, Going… (RR)

The sound of Dustin Pedroia’s grand slam exploded like a gunshot Wednesday night, tearing the guts of even the most naïve believers in the 2008 Yankees. It was the eighth inning of a game the Yankees were already losing, and now the Boston Red Sox were piling on.

It was like the opening scene of a documentary, many years from now, capturing the thud of finality to something once so special. The question for the Yankees is what starts next: a glorious renaissance or a painful fall from grace?
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There was no need to witness the final details of the Yankees’ 11-3 loss, the one that very likely doomed their postseason chances.

The Yankees had considered it a necessity to win this series, but now they cannot. They have lost the first two games, with a matinee to come Thursday, and they fell to seven games behind the Red Sox in the American League wild-card standings.
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“There is going to be a lot going on this off-season,” [Hank Steinbrenner] said. “I promise you that.”

MLB.com: Brewers’ brooms doused in finale

An RBI fielder’s choice off the bat of Aaron Miles produced the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as the Cardinals posted a 5-3 comeback victory over the Brewers on Wednesday night at Busch Stadium. St. Louis wound up scoring four runs in the eighth and snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Brewers.
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The Cardinals moved back within 3 1/2 games of Milwaukee in the National League Wild Card chase with the victory.

ESPN: Shoppach’s HR, 3 RBIs push streaking Indians past Tigers

Kelly Shoppach homered and drove in three runs and Shin-Soo Choo also went deep to lift the Cleveland Indians to their 10th straight win, 9-7 over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night. Cleveland’s team record is 13 consecutive wins, accomplished twice, the last time in 1951.
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The Indians have won 10 straight, their longest winning streak since 2002. Their longest streak of the last 50 years was 11 straight in 1982.

MLB.com: Phils lose game, ground in NL East

The Phillies missed a chance on Wednesday to extend their lead in the National League East. Instead they fell back into second place.

The Phils’ 6-3 loss to the Mets in front of a sold-out Citizens Bank Park crowd dropped them a half-game behind the Mets and snapped their winning streak at five games.
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After watching the Mets’ bullpen collapse on Tuesday night, the Phils had relief problems of their own on Wednesday. Rudy Seanez and Brad Lidge combined to give up four runs in the eighth inning, including Carlos Delgado’s second home run of the night and a base hit by Brian Schneider that scored two runs.

ESPN: Redding leads Nats, sending Dodgers to 6th straight loss

And on cue, the Dodgers counter the D’backs!

Tim Redding outpitched Greg Maddux to send the Los Angeles Dodgers to a season-high sixth consecutive loss, 5-4 Wednesday night against the Washington Nationals.

The Dodgers have lost eight straight road games for the first time since June 2005. The offense has been the main culprit, scoring 10 runs in the past six games.