Daily News

 

Former major league umpire Eric Gregg, best known for battling weight problems throughout his big league career, died on Monday after suffering a massive stroke on Sunday.  He was 55.  Gregg was one of 22 umpires who resigned en masse and lost their jobs in a botched bargaining ploy by Richie Phillips and the umpires’ union in 1999.  He called his first major league game in 1975 and became a regular NL umpire in 1978.  DN&N sends its heartfelt condolences to the entire Gregg family. 

 

Chasing the Hammer Pt I – Barry Bonds moved one step closer to Henry Aaron on Monday, crushing his 716^th career HR to dead center in the Giants 14-2 win over Florida.  He now needs just 39 more to tie, and 40 to pass Aaron as the all-time home run king.  In the process, Brian Moehler became the 422^nd pitcher to give up a home run to Bonds.

 

Chasing the Hammer Pt II – Once upon a time it was Ken Griffey Jr. who was supposed to challenge Hank Aaron’s record.  At 37 and plagued the last few years by injuries, Griffey won’t get there, but after slugging two home runs on Monday he now has 546 home runs in his career, 2 behind Mike Schmidt for 11^th all-time.  It was also the 43^rd major league ballpark Griffey has homered in, tying Fred McGriff’s major league record. 

 

Blast Off! – The Rocket will make his 2006 debut today pitching for the Lexington Legends with his son Koby in the lineup.  He’ll take on the Lake County Captains and is expected to throw approximately 60 pitches.  ESPN has expanded its 6 pm (EST) SportsCenter to cover the outing.   

 

On Monday…

 

Carlos Zambrano threatened to snap baseball’s no-hitter drought, now 2 years and 18 days, by throwing 7.1 hitless innings against the floundering Astros last night.  He finished with just the one hit allowed in 8 scoreless innings and helped his own cause with a three-run home run as the Cubs beat Houston 8-0. 

 

Josh Beckett got rocked again, this time failing to get out of the second inning as the Yankees pounded him for 8 runs (7 earned) in 1.1 innings.  Andy Phillips continued his hot hitting with two more hits, including a 3-run second inning homer off Beckett.  The homer by Phillips was one of two in the inning hit by the Yankees, with Jason Giambi also connecting for his 16^th of the year.  Mike Mussina, backed by 13 runs in the first 3 innings, got the win to run his record to 8-1 as the Yanks took over 1^st place in the East by a half a game.

 

Freddie Sanchez on Sunday was told that he would remain the Pirates starting 3B when Joe Randa returns, possibly next week.  On Monday, Sanchez went 3 for 5 to raise his batting average to .351, second in the NL to Miguel Cabrera’s .356. 

 

Jeff Francoeur busted out of his slump, going 2 for 3 with a home run and a walk.  It was just his 4^th walk in 242 at bats.

 

Alay Soler got his first major league win, throwing 7 innings and allowing only a 6^th inning Willy Aybar HR.

 

Corey Patterson stole his ML leading 26^th base (in 27 attempts).  In doing so, he became the first player since Rickey Henderson in 1986 to steal a base in 9 straight games.

 

Ichiro had two more hits in the Mariners 4-1 win over Kansas City to raise his average to .341, 5^th best in the AL. He leads the majors with 85 hits.

 

The Longest Streak Pt I – The Brewers, backed by 6 solid innings from Chris Capuano, snapped their 8-game losing streak last night as they beat San Diego 5-2.  Meanwhile, Ian Snell struck out 10 in a 5-2 Pittsburgh win over Colorado, leaving the Rockies with the longest current losing slide in the majors at 6 games.  At 15-10 and in first place at the end of April, the Rockies have slid to 3 games under .500 and are now in last place, 7 games behind the division leading D’Backs.

 

The Longest Streak Pt II – The tie for the longest winning streak in the majors is down to two teams after the Phillies beat the D’Backs 4-3 on Monday, snapping Arizona’s 4-game streak.  Washington, backed by 6 solid innings by Livan Hernandez, won their 5^th straight last night to give them a share of the longest winning streak, while in St. Louis, Ken Griffey’s second home run of the night, a 3-run go ahead shot in the 9^th off of Cardinal closer Jason Isringhausen, propelled the Reds to their 5^th straight. 

 

To Omaha and Beyond! – There will be a new college national champion this year after North Carolina State knocked out the defending champions in the College World Series on Sunday, beating Texas 6-3 in the Austin regional.

 

Pick Me!  Pick Me! Pt I – Baseball’s amateur draft begins today with the Kansas City Royals holding the first overall pick.  The Royals are expected to take either Andrew Miller, a left hander out of North Carolina, or Brad Lincoln, a right hander from Houston.  Last year the Royals held the second overall pick and with it selected Alex Gordon out of Nebraska.  Gordon is hitting .306 with 9 HR and 27 RBI in 54 games for Double-A Wichita.

 

Pick Me!  Pick Me! Pt II – Following K.C. in the first 5 spots are Colorado, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh and Seattle.  St. Louis has the final pick of the first round.  The Oakland A’s, who usually hoard draft picks, do not have a first round selection courtesy of the off-season signing of Esteban Loaiza. 

 

Pick Me!  Pick Me! Pt III – In perhaps the most ironic twist of fate, Baltimore is rumored to be considering drafting Jeffrey Maier of Wesleyan University.  Maier, of course, is best remembered as the 12-year old kid who reached over the wall and took a Derek Jeter fly ball away from the Orioles’ Tony Tarasco in game 1 of the 1996 ALCS, giving Jeter a game tying home run.  The Yankees would eventually win the game in 11 innings.  Maier is the career hits leader at Wesleyan.

 

What a Relief

 

Led by Red Sox rookie Jonathan Papelbon, several relievers have put up some pretty gaudy numbers through the first two months of the season.  Among those with at least 15 GP or 15 IP and an ERA below 1.00 –

 

Papelbon (Bos) – 0-1, 0.32 ERA, 20 SV, 27 GP, 28 IP, 1 ER, 13 H, 3 BB, 26 K

Kurt Birkins (Bal) – 1-0, 0.55 ERA, 11 GP, 16.1 IP, 1 ER, 6 H

B.J. Ryan (Tor) – 1-0, 0.67 ERA, 13 SV, 25 GP, 26.2 IP, 2 ER, 13 H, 5 BB, 32 K

Mike Myers (NYY) – 0-0, 0.84 ERA, 6 HLD, 22 GP, 10.2 IP, 1 ER

Rheal Cormier (Phi) – 2-1, 0.93 ERA, 6 HLD, 24 GP, 19.1 IP, 2 ER

Jonathan Broxton (LAD) – 0-0, 0.93 ERA, 3 HLD, 19.1 IP, 2ER, 11 H, 9 BB, 26 K

 

From 1.00 – 1.50

Fernando Rodney (Det) – 4-1, 1.03 ERA, 7 HLD, 7 SV, 26.1 IP, 11 H, 3 ER

Jamie Walker (Det) – 0-0, 1.04 ERA, 2 HLD, 17.1 IP, 2 ER, 1 BB, 14 K

Ron Mahay (Tex) – 0-0, 1.10 ERA, 3 HLD, 16.1 IP, 2 ER, 16 K

Ramon Ramirez (Col) – 2-1, 1.13 ERA, 6 HLD, 24 IP, 3 ER, 4 BB, 25 K

Brian Fuentes (Col) – 1-0, 1.19 ERA, 11 SV, 22.2 IP, 3 ER, 11 H, 27 K

Trevor Hoffman (SD) – 0-1, 1.35 ERA, 12 SV, 20 IP, 3 ER, 15 H, 3 BB, 16 K

Mike Timlin (Bos) – 3-0, 1.40 ERA, 11 HLD, 19.1 IP, 3 ER

 

Health Notes

 

As for Timlin, the Red Sox hope to have the veteran back in time for Saturday’s doubleheader.  He has been out since May 25 with a strained right shoulder.

 

Daniel Cabrera returned from the DL on Monday and threw 5 scoreless innings while allowing just 3 hits in the Orioles 4-0 win over Toronto.  Bruce Chen (0-5, 7.71) moves to the bullpen.

 

Roy Oswalt is likely to miss his scheduled start on Wednesday against the Cubs with back problems.

 

On Deck – Tuesday’s marquee match-up comes to us from L.A. where Derek Lowe and the Dodgers will face off against Pedro Martinez and the Mets.  Lowe has been dominating in his last three starts, going 3-0 with a 0.45 ERA while allowing just 1 run on 13 hits in 20 innings.  Martinez meanwhile is still looking for his sixth win of the year after going winless in May despite a 2.14 ERA in six starts.  He has a 0.82 ERA in his last three starts (2 ER in 22 IP, 14 H).