300/300 – Playing appropriately in the ballpark where he had his greatest successes – and where he won a World Series ring in 2001 – Steve Finley, on Wednesday night, joined Willie Mays, Andre Dawson, Bobby Bonds, Barry Bonds and most recently, Reggie Sanders, as members of the exclusive 300/300 club.  Finley’s first inning home run off Claudio Vargas was the 300^th of his major league career.  He also has 316 career stolen bases.  Of the six members now in the club, five have played for San Francisco.  DN&N sends its hearty congratulations to Finley on his remarkable achievement. 

 

Chasing the Hammer – Barry Bonds, in the 9^th inning of that same game, hit the 717^th home run of his career, capping the scoring in an 11-4 Giants win, and leaving him 38 behind Hank Aaron on the all-time list.  Citing improvement in his thrice surgically repaired right knee, Bonds played the game without the bulky brace that he has worn all season long.  Jose Valverde gave up the blast, a screaming liner to right, and became the 423^rd pitcher to surrender a home run to Bonds.

 

To Omaha and Beyond! – The College World Series kicks off tomorrow in Omaha, Nebraska.  Clemson will take on Georgia Tech in the opener at 1 p.m. (Central), followed at 6 p.m. by Cal State Fullerton and North Carolina.  Then on Saturday, Rice will battle Georgia in the early game, while Miami and Oregon State will lock horns in the nightcap. 

 

Around the Horn – Wednesday

 

Roy Oswalt, with the 10^th highest winning percentage in history (.679), won his 6^th game of the year as the Astros denied Greg Maddux the 326^th victory of his career in their 5-4 win over the Cubs.  Brad Lidge threw a perfect 9^th for his 17^th save.  After beginning the season with 17 walks in 20.2 IP and posting a 6.53 ERA, he has walked just 2 in his last 11 innings while striking out 16 and allowing just 2 runs (1.64). 

 

Alex Rios hit his 4^th home run in four games, and B.J. Ryan got his 16^th save in 17 chances as the Blue Jays beat Baltimore 6-3.  Ryan threw two scoreless innings to protect the win and now has a 0.57 ERA in 29 games.  For the season, he has thrown 31.2 innings and has allowed just 14 hits and 7 walks while striking out 39. 

 

Tomas Perez, who entered the game in the top half of the inning as a defensive replacement, made a key error that helped the Tigers rally to tie the game at 1 in the bottom of the 9^th, ruining a spectacular performance by Mark Hendrickson.  Hendrickson allowed a base hit to open the 1^st and then didn’t allow another until Pudge Rodriguez singled with one out in the 9^th inning rally.  He allowed just 3 hits and 1 unearned run in his 9 innings, while Jeremy Bonderman gave up just 1 run on six hits while striking out 12 for the 8 innings.  Tampa Bay, though, managed to hold on; in the 12^th, they pushed across 4 runs off of Todd Jones to win the game 5-1.   

 

Dontrelle Willis (2.07 ERA in his last five starts) gave up 5 runs in 7 innings while John Thomson (10.27 ERA in his last five starts) gave up just 2 runs over 6, but it was the Braves’ bullpen that decided this one.  New closer Ken Ray blew his second save of the year, and Oscar Villarreal was tagged with his first loss after starting the year 7-0.  The Marlins won for the fourth game in a row and for the 14^th time in their last 20. 

 

The A’s got outstanding pitching from Dan Haren and some timely two-out hitting (5 RBI w/2 out) as they won for the 11^th time in 13 games.  Haren gave up just 1 run in 7 innings to lower his ERA to 3.44.  Frank Thomas, nursing a sore hamstring, left the game and the A’s may place him on the DL during the upcoming Interleague action. 

 

Randy Johnson got himself back on track, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits in 6 1/3 before getting ejected in the 7^th after brushing back Eduardo Perez following Jason Johnson’s plunking of Jorge Posada in the 6^th.  Both benches emptied, but calmer heads prevailed.  The Yankees led 6-1 when the Unit got tossed, and they held on to give Johnson the 271^st win of his HOF career. 

 

Health Notes

 

Rick Ankiel is expected to miss the rest of the season after it was revealed on Wednesday that the erstwhile pitcher-turned-outfielder had surgery on May 26 to repair his damaged patellar tendon.  Ankiel was injured in spring training and never played a game.  He is expected to make a full recovery. 

 

Tyler Walker was placed on the DL before their game on Wednesday with a strain of his right elbow.  The Rays’ closer was 9 for 9 in save ops since May 5, sporting a 1.76 ERA in 15.1 innings before blowing a save against the Tigers in his last appearance on Monday. 

 

Mark Prior threw 90 pitches over 6 2/3 innings, allowing just 4 hits and 1 unearned run while striking out ten in his fourth rehab start Tuesday.  Chicago might announce today whether he will make one more rehab start or whether his next outing will be with the big league team. 

 

Quick Hits

 

Dan Haren has walked more than 2 batters only once in his last 35 starts.

 

Scott Rolen has 7 hits in his last 9 AB, and is hitting .476 (20 for 42) with 2 HR and 15 RBI in June.  He leads the NL in hitting at .358.

 

Joe Mauer was 0 for 3 and is hitting .376.  Ichiro was 2 for 3 and is hitting .367. 

 

Orlando Cabrera has reached base safely in 44 straight games.

 

Alex Rodriguez has 11 errors tied with Carlos Guillen for the most in the AL.

 

Giants rookie Jonathan Sanchez has not allowed a hit in his first 5 big league appearances (4.2 IP).

 

All five NL West teams are once again over .500.  They are separated by just 2 games.

 

Situational Leaderboard

 

Taking a look at some situational leaders today, we find the top hitter in baseball with RISP is Nomar Garciaparra, who is batting .426 (23 for 54) in the clutch (min 50 AB).  He is followed by Carl Crawford at .407 (22 for 54).  Jim Thome (21 for 52), Jermaine Dye (19 for 47) and Lance Berkman (21 for 52) are all hitting .404 w/RISP.  The lowest average in baseball when the pressure is on belongs to Adrian Beltre.  The overpriced Mariners third baseman is hitting just .138 (9 for 65) in the clutch, followed by Adam Dunn and Nick Markakis, who are both just 9 for 56 (.161) w/RISP.  However, 7 of Dunn’s 9 hits have left the yard, including Wednesday’s walk-off, 3-run blast. 

 

From the 7^th inning on, it’s once again Nomar Garciaparra leading the majors in hitting (min 50 AB).  Nomar is batting an astounding .540 (27 for 50) late in the game.  Miguel Cabrera (.397, 27 for 68)) and Shea Hillenbrand (.392, 29 for 74) are next.  The worst hitter late in the game is Frank Thomas.  The Big Hurt is hurting the A’s late in the game, batting just .115 (6 for 52) after the 6^th.  He is followed by Rich Aurilia (.118, 6 for 57) and Torii Hunter (.139, 10 for 72).  Jeff Kent has the fourth worst average late in the game at just .157 (8 for 51)

 

In the games’ first six innings, the best hitter (min 100 AB) is Ben Broussard at .416 (42 for 101), followed closely by Joe Mauer (.414, 60 for 145) and Jamey Carroll (.397. 43 for 109).  Later in the game, all three cool down with Mauer (22 for 71, .310) doing the best of the three.  Broussard is hitting just .269 (18 for 69) after the 6^th inning, and Carroll is batting only .204 (10 for 49).  The worst hitter in the games’ opening frames is Vinny Castilla at .185 (22 for 119).  He is followed by three Devil Rays – Travis Lee (.186, 22 for 118), Aubrey Huff and Joey Gathright (.188, 19 for 101).

 

The Longest Streak Pt I – The Amazin’s extended their winning streak to 7 in a row and stretched their lead over Philadelphia to 8.5 games with a 9-3 win Wednesday night.  It is the longest current winning streak in the majors.  For the month of June, New York is now 9-3 and their big three are among the main reasons. 

 

In June

Carlos Beltran –   18 – 44 .409, 4 HR, 15 RBI

Carlos Delgado – 16 – 48 .333, 4 HR, 15 RBI

David Wright –    20 – 51 .392, 5 HR, 13 RBI

 

The Longest Streak Pt II – The Reds engaged the Brewers in a classic pitching duel as both teams went scoreless through the first 11 innings before Adam Dunn put an end to it with a 3-run walk-off bomb off of Dan Kolb.  The win snapped Cincinnati’s losing streak at 5 games.  That leaves four teams tied for the longest current losing streak.  Boston in the AL, and Philadelphia, Washington and Atlanta in the NL East have all lost 3 in a row.  Boston lost 8-1 to Minnesota last night. Washington was beaten by Colorado 14-8 at Coors Field while the Braves lost 6-5 to Florida.  The Phillies, of course, lost to the Mets. 

 

Sayonara Batista – Minnesota on Wednesday, designated Tony Batista – who had been their starting third baseman – for assignment, effectively ending his days in the Twin Cities. He was hitting just .236 with 5 HR and 21 RBI in 50 games for the Twins and his .693 zone rating at 3B was the worst in all of baseball.  Batista last season played for Fukuoka in Japan, hitting .263 with 27 HR and 90 RBI. 

 

On Deck – Thursday’s marquee match-up pits potentially one of the games brightest future stars versus one of the games current hottest pitchers.  Chad Billingsley will make his major league debut for the Dodgers against the Padres, who will send Chris Young to the mound as he attempts to continue his run of red hot pitching.  Young has allowed just 1 run and 6 hits in his last 22 innings over his last three starts, all wins, to raise his season record to 6-3 and drop his ERA to 3.25.  Billingsley, the Dodgers top pitching prospect, was 6-3 with a 3.95 ERA in 70.2 innings at Triple-A Las Vegas before getting the call.  In 13 starts, he struck out 78 batters but also walked 32.  The Dodgers are 35-30 and tied with Arizona for first in the West, one game ahead of San Diego.