Streaking! – The White Sox beat Texas 8-3 on Monday night as Jose Contreras (7-0, 2.62) won his 15^th consecutive decision.  The victory ties Contreras with LaMarr Hoyt and Wilson Alverez for the longest streak in franchise history.  Roger Clemens holds the AL record with 20 consecutive winning decisions (‘97-‘98), while King Carl Hubbell holds the ML record with 24 (‘36-‘37).

 

Snake Bit – Redux – The other shoe dropped on Jason Grimsley on Monday as the commissioner’s office suspended the beleaguered pitcher for 50 games as called for under the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.  Grimsley, who turns 39 August 7, is not expected to pitch again but if he were, he’d have to begin serving the suspension once he is placed on a teams 40-man roster.  The D’Backs meanwhile have stated that they will not pay Grimsley the remainder of his contract.  The players union could file a grievance, though it is not certain as yet whether they will. 

 

On the Mend? – Mark Prior will make his fourth rehab start tonight in New Orleans for Iowa.  The Cubs hope he will be able to throw at least 90 pitches.  Meanwhile, Derek Lee is expected to begin working with a bat today, taking dry swings.  The team hopes he can begin throwing by the end of the week. 

 

Team Pitching Pt I – Roughly sixty games into the season we find that Detroit still holds the top spot in the majors in ERA at 3.72.  The Mets are second overall and tops in the NL with a 3.80 mark.  The Yankees are second in the AL, and seventh overall, with a mark a half a run per game higher than the Tigers (4.28).  Rounding out the top five in the NL are San Diego (3.97), St. Louis (4.02), Los Angeles (4.15) and Washington (4.22).  After the Yankees, Oakland (4.33, 10^th overall), Chicago (4.36, 12^th) and the Angels (4.50) round out the AL top 5. 

 

The worst ERA in baseball belongs to, not surprisingly, the Royals.  In fact, since we last checked in back on May 16, Kansas City’s team ERA has actually risen from 5.76 to 6.21.  Leo Mazzone’s Oriole pitching staff has lowered their ERA from 5.72 to 5.37 but they are still 29^th overall in baseball.  Milwaukee now has the worst ERA in the NL at 5.20.   

 

Team Pitching Pt II – The Tigers’ starting pitchers have the best collective ERA in the majors at 3.75 while the Dodgers’ starters are second in baseball and tops in the NL at 3.97.  The Mets (4.06) and San Francisco (4.12) are second and third in the NL, while the White Sox (4.32) are second in the AL (7^th overall), followed by Oakland at 4.46 (11^th).   

 

The Royals’ starters have the worst overall mark at 6.39 (well over a half a run game worse than Baltimore’s 5.68) while the Phillies’ starters have the worst ERA in the NL at 5.27 (27^th overall). 

 

The Royals’ starters have also garnered just 7 wins on the year, 9 fewer than the Brewers, Tampa Bay and Atlanta who are tied with the next fewest at 17.  On the positive side of the coin, Detroit once again is tops, garnering 33 victories from their starters.  The Cardinals have gotten the most wins from their starting pitchers among NL teams with 27 (4^th overall, ChW 2^nd - 31, NYY 3^rd - 28).

 

The Royals, of course, have the most losses among starting staffs with 33. Atlanta, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Colorado share the lead in the NL with 27 losses apiece (T - 5^th overall).  The Dodgers have the fewest losses in the majors among starting pitchers with just 14, while the Yankees’ starters have taken the fewest setbacks in the AL with 15. 

 

Team Pitching Pt III – Out of the pen, the Phillies’ relievers sport the best ERA in the majors with a sterling 3.16 mark.  The Twins’ bullpen has the best ERA in the AL at 3.54 (5^th overall).  San Diego (3.19) and St. Louis (3.22) are next behind Philadelphia in the NL, while the Twins in the AL are trailed by the Tigers (3.66) and New York (3.76). 

 

The worst ERA in the majors among relievers?  You guessed it; the Royals at 5.97 are once again dead last.  The Braves’ pen has the worst mark in the NL at 5.12 (28^th overall).

 

Milwaukee and the Mets share the ML lead in bullpen victories with 14 each.  Texas’ pen has earned the most victories among all AL teams with 11 (5^th overall).  Florida has the fewest bullpen wins in the majors with just 4.  The Angels and Indians have the next fewest (and the fewest in the AL) with 6 each. 

 

The Marlins are tied with the Dodgers for the most bullpen losses with 14 each, while the Royals pen has been charged with 13 defeats, the most in the AL.  The Blue Jays have the fewest losses in the majors out of the pen with 3, and the Reds have the fewest in the NL with 4.

 

Around the Horn – Monday

 

In Cincinnati, the Reds lost their fourth straight since they had their 8 game winning streak snapped.  Zach Jackson, backed by home runs from Carlos Lee and Prince Fielder, got his first major league win for Milwaukee, pitching a respectable 7 innings and allowing 5 runs and 9 hits.  Fielder’s second HR in as many days helped him regain the ML lead among rookies with 11.  Dan Uggla is second with 10.  David Ross continued his hot hitting for the Reds in the loss, going 2 for 4 with his 8^th and 9^th home runs while raising his batting average to .347 and his slugging percentage to .747.  It was also Ross’ third consecutive start, the first time this season he has started three straight games.

 

Ervin Santana, the subject of recent trade rumors, earned his 6^th win of the year, allowing 3 runs in 6 2/3 as the Angels beat the Royals 4-3.  The LA Daily News and the Boston Globe have reported that the Angels were rumored to be in talks with the Devil Rays concerning a swap of Santana for Carl Crawford.  While Crawford would be a good addition to the Angels outfield, one has to ponder what could have been if Bill Stoneman had pulled the trigger on an Ervin Santana for Manny Ramirez deal in the off-season.

 

Russ Adams returned to Toronto as the Blue Jays released Edgardo Alfonzo.  Alfonzo, 6 for 37 (.162) with the Jays and just 11 for 87 (.126) combined with the Angels, got his walking papers earlier in the day and Adams was recalled to take his spot.  Adams will move over to second base to try to correct his throwing problems (9 of his 10 errors were throwing).  Since replacing Adams at short, Aaron Hill has made three errors in 14 games, while Adams made 4 errors in 17 games at Syracuse.  Adams was 0 for 4, but errorless in Toronto’s 6-4 loss to Baltimore. 

 

Tyler Walker blew his first save since April 29 while Todd Jones got back on track with two scoreless to help Detroit win 4-3 in 13 innings over Tampa Bay.  Fernando Rodney also threw three scoreless innings as the Tigers improved their ML best record to 41-23, a game and a half ahead of Chicago. 

 

The Longest Streaks Pt I & II – The Mets, winners of 5 straight, and the Diamondbacks, losers of their last 7 in a row, both had the day off on Monday and retain the longest streaks currently in the majors.  The Mets will try to make it 6 in a row Tuesday as they face Philadelphia with Tom Glavine (9-2) on the mound for New York going for his 285^th career win.  Ryan Madson (5-1 as a starter, 6-3 overall) will take the mound for the Phillies.  Arizona, winless in the post-Grimsley era, will send rookie Enrique Gonzalez (1-0) out to face the Giants as they try to end their slide.  The Giants, losers of their last three in a row – all at home vs. Pittsburgh – will counter with Jamey Wright (5-5).  San Francisco is hopeful that Barry Bonds, MIA since last Tuesday, will be able to play.

 

On Deck – In addition to Glavine going for his 10^th win of the year Tuesday, the Red Sox will send Curt Schilling (9-2, 3.81) to the mound going for his 10^th of the season.  He will be opposed by no less than Johan Santana (6-4, 3.16) in the day’s marquee match-up.  The Red Sox have won just 5 of their past 10 games but nonetheless have moved a game up on the slumping Yankees for first place in the AL East.  The Twins have are in 4^th place in the Central, 11.5 games back but they have an 18-10 record at home, where Santana is 3-0.

 

Off Subject – Get Well Soon – DN&N is and has been a long time Steelers fan and would like to extend its concern and wishes for a speedy recovery and return to health for Ben Roethlisberger who was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident on Monday.  DN&N would also like to remind everyone on the importance of wearing a helmet.  Roethlisberger, noted for publicly stating his preference not to wear a helmet, wasn’t wearing one when he sustained a broken jaw, a broken nose, a large gash to the back of his head and other facial injuries in addition to a knee injury.  Surgery was deemed a success and he is expected to recover, but DN&N hopes Big Ben will take this lesson to heart and realize the position as a role model to younger kids and from now on, if he insists on continuing to ride, wear a helmet.