To Oklahoma and beyond! – In tossing her third consecutive shutout, Alicia Hollowell led Arizona to its 7^th National Championship on Tuesday in the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma.  In six games, she fanned 64 batters to break the WCWS record for strikeouts.  Hollowell ends her collegiate career as Arizona’s career leader in wins (144), strikeouts (1,768) and no-hitters (17) and she is also third all-time in the NCAA in both wins and strikeouts.  DN&N congratulates Hollowell on her accomplishment and the entire Arizona squad on a well-earned victory. 

 

Snake Bit – Fill ‘er Up! - A day after federal agents raided his Scottsdale home in a BALCO related investigation; the Diamondbacks released 15-year veteran reliever Jason Grimsley at his request.  Among the most intriguing of the recent revelations are that Grimsley received a package containing Human Growth Hormone at his home on April 19 (due to the lack of reliable methods, HGH – though banned – is not tested for under the current drug policy) and that under questioning by agents, gave up the names of as many as ten other major leaguers allegedly involved with illegal substances.  Grimsley reportedly also was among the “5-7 percent” that tested positive for illegal performance enhancing drugs in 2003, before the current drug policy was in place.  And though major leaguers have been known to have used them for decades, Grimsley also is to have alleged widespread use of amphetamines, including pots of “leaded” coffee in team clubhouses.  Grimsley was 1-2 with a 4.88 ERA in 19 appearances this year for Arizona.

 

Around the Horn - Wednesday

 

Chris Sampson was just what the doctor ordered for Houston, as the rookie outdueled fellow rookie Sean Marshall, beating Chicago 1-0 in his first major league start.  In getting his first major league win, Sampson allowed just 3 hits over 7 scoreless innings and inducing 16 groundball outs.  Brad Ausmus provided him with all the offense he would need with a solo home run in the third. 

 

Jose Contreras, backed by home runs by Jermaine Dye (#18) and Jim Thome (his 21^st) as well as Alex Cintron’s second game winning hit in as many nights, won his 14^th consecutive decision and improved his season record to 6-0.  Bobby Jenks threw another scoreless inning to earn his 17^th save.

 

The Rockies tied a major league record with five sacrifice flies in their 16-9 win over Pittsburgh at Coors Field.  Oliver Perez, after improving in May with a 3.00 ERA for the month, saw his season ERA rise to 7.18 after allowing 9 runs in just 2 innings of work.  Perez is now just 2-7 on the year.

 

Rocco Baldelli returned to centerfield in Tampa Bay, playing for the first time since October 3, 2004.  After missing 221 games, Baldelli was 0 for 3 as Jared Weaver impressed yet again, winning his third straight start for the Angels since being called up.  In three starts, Jeff’s younger brother is 3-0 with a 1.86 ERA.  He has allowed just 11 hits and 3 walks while striking out 17 in 19.1 IP. 

 

Miguel Cabrera went 0 for 11 in San Francisco and saw his batting averaged drop to .343, now second in the NL behind Freddy Sanchez (.351).  However, behind Dontrelle Willis’ complete game and Dan Uggla’s two home runs, Florida still managed to salvage the final game of the series, beating the Giants 8-1. 

 

Texas came from behind with 4 in the 9^th to beat Kansas City (14-43) by a score of 4-2.  Ambiorix Burgos failed to retire a batter and cost Bobby Keppel his first major league victory while blowing his 6^th save of the year.  He is now 1-3 with a 7.90 ERA.

 

Tom Glavine wasn’t quite himself, giving up 6 runs in 5 1/3, but the Mets gave him enough support to help him earn the 284^th win of his career.  Lastings Milledge had a key two-run, 7^th inning homer to back the likely HOF lefty.  The much anticipated rookie is now batting .308 (8 for 26) with 2 HR. 

 

The Longest Streak Pt I – Cincinnati completed a three game sweep of the Cardinals on Wednesday and in doing so, not only ran their major league best winning streak to 7 games, but also pulled even with St. Louis atop the NL Central division standings.  Rich Aurilia led the way with 4 hits and 5 RBI, including a three-run, 7^th inning home run that gave Cincinnati a 7-0 lead and proved to be the decisive margin in the Reds 7-4 win.

 

The Longest Streak Pt II – It was a wild one in Seattle on Wednesday night as the Mariners and Twins combined for 19 runs and 32 hits.  Ichiro had four of those hits and Carl Everett hit a walk-off home run in the 11^th in the M’s 10-9 win.  The loss, Minnesota’s fourth straight, gives the Twins the longest current losing streak in the majors.  Joe Mauer had two hits in the loss to raise his major league leading batting average to .371, 13 points better than Ichiro who is now second in the majors at .358. 

 

Ice Cold

 

Nick Swisher has cooled off considerably, collecting just 4 hits – all singles – in his last 26 at bats without an RBI.

 

Even colder is Luis Castillo who has just 3 hits – all singles – in his last 33 at bats without an RBI. 

 

And Sean Casey, after going 6 for 12 with a homerun and 5 RBI in his first 3 games off the DL, has gone cold with just 2 singles in his last 24 at bats with just 1 RBI.

 

Red Hot

 

Alfonso Soriano has 12 hits in his last 30 at bats (.400), including 4 home runs and 10 RBI, giving him 22 big flies on the year, second in the majors to only Albert Pujols. 

 

Ryan Howard has 9 home runs in his last 18 games after hitting his 21^st on Wednesday. 

 

Reports of Mariano Rivera’s demise were greatly exaggerated.  The future HOF closer was 0-2 with a very un-Rivera like 3.82 ERA in April.  Since then he has pitched 16 times, throwing 20.2 innings while allowing just 3 earned runs (1.31 ERA) and converting all 8 of his save opportunities.

 

Switching it up

 

Among the 23 switch hitters who qualify for the batting title (3.2 PA/G), Gary Matthews Jr., buoyed by his .395 average from the right side of the plate, has the highest batting average in the majors at .320.  But far from being a Jose Cruz Jr., Matthews has also hit from the left side, posting a more than respectable .302 mark against right handers.  Jose Vidro at .318 is second followed by Omar Vizquel (.310), Jorge Posada (.301) and Carlos Guillen (.300). 

 

Cruz, meanwhile, predictably presents the largest disparity from one side of the plate as opposed to the other.  Batting .390 from the right side of the plate, Cruz is hitting just .189 from the left side thus giving him a 201 point difference.  Bernie Williams’ 147 point difference is the next largest (.364 LH/.217 RH), followed Rafael Furcal’s 124 point margin (.360 RH/.236 LH). 

 

Against southpaws, Matthews has the highest average with his .395 mark while Cruz is second batting right handed with his .390 average.  Williams’ .364 average is the third highest against left handers.

 

From the left side of the plate, where at bats are more plentiful, Carlos Guillen is tops batting at a .325 clip (.209 RH), while Randy Winn is next at .311 (.197 vs. LHP).  Vidro, at .309 against right handers, is third (.338 RH).

 

On the other side of the coin, Carl Everett has the lowest batting average right handed at .172 (.275 LH).  Jimmy Rollins is next lowest at .190 followed closely by Winn’s .197. 

 

And Cruz, of course, at .189, has the lowest average from the left side of the dish.  Williams’ .217 average is the next lowest and Furcal’s .236 is 21^st among all qualified switch hitters in the majors against right handers.

 

Health Notes

 

Kerry Wood, coming off his worst – and shortest – outing of the season, flew to Cincinnati on Wednesday to be examined by the Reds team doctor, Dr. Timothy Kremchek.  It was Kremchek who performed the arthroscopic procedure on Wood’s shoulder last August.  Wood, suffering from fatigue and loss of velocity, lasted just 3.2 innings on Tuesday night in the Cubs loss to Houston, despite having had two extra days of rest between outings, and may miss his next start. 

 

Meanwhile, the Cubs announced that Derek Lee, out since April 21, could begin hitting as soon as next week.  There is no date for his return. 

 

Barry Bonds revealed that he tweaked his back last weekend in New York and aggravated it on Tuesday night.  The injury may be severe enough to keep him out of the lineup through the weekend against his old team, the Pirates.  Bonds was not available to even pinch hit on Wednesday, though he was not expected to start after playing Tuesday night. 

 

Chris Burke dislocated his shoulder for the third time since last September yesterday.  He did it this time swinging the bat against Sean Marshall.  He left the game and is listed as day to day.  Surgery is likely an eventual necessity but he will try to last out the year.

 

On Deck – DN&N sees a number of intriguing match-ups in the Thursday schedule.  In San Francisco, Matt Cain of the Giants and Zack Duke of Pittsburgh square off in a duel between two of the premier young pitchers in the game. In Baltimore, rookie Adam Loewen, looking for his first ML win, locks horns with perennial Cy Young candidate, Roy Halladay.  Halladay, in his last 6 starts, is 4-0 with a 2.22 ERA while averaging over 8 innings per start.  Also, in Chicago, Glendon Rusch and Bronson Arroyo face each other for the third time this year.  Arroyo (7-2) homered off Rusch in each of the first two games they faced each other this season.  And finally, Curt Schilling takes a second stab at win number 9 in the always fun to watch Red Sox/Yankees rivalry if the rain lets up long enough in the Bronx.  Jaret Wright goes for the Yankees.  New York will not know until today whether Derek Jeter will be able to play.