Chasing Mr. October – Ken Griffey Jr. hit the 548^th home run of his career on Monday in support of Bronson Arroyo (9-3), helping the Reds to win their 8^th straight on the road.  The 440 foot shot tied him with Mike Schmidt for 11^th on the all-time list.  Next up for Junior is Reggie Jackson at 563. 

 

Trivia Question - All in the Family – Griffey’s home run was the 700^th career jack combined between him and his father, Griffey Sr. (152).  That is the second most among father/son combo’s in baseball history.  Barry Bonds (718) and Bobby Bonds (332) are first with 1,050.  Can you name the father/son combo that is third on the all-time list?  (answer below)

 

To Omaha and Beyond – Oregon State beat Georgia 5-3 on Monday to oust the Bulldogs from the College World Series.  The Beavers next play Miami on Tuesday with the winner set to play Rice (3-2 winners on Monday over Miami) on Wednesday.  In the tournaments other bracket, Cal State Fullerton will battle Clemson on Tuesday with the winner facing North Carolina on Wednesday. 

 

Quick Hits

 

After beginning the year 1-5 with a 7.04 ERA, Matt Cain has gone 5-0 with a 2.70 mark after holding the Angels hitless for 7 2/3 in the Giants 2-1 win over Los Angeles.

 

Barry Bonds is batting .417 (15 for 36) and slugging .778 with RISP, including 3 HR and 22 RBI. 

 

Orlando Cabrera was hitless but drew a walk against Cain on Monday, and has reached base in 48 straight games.

 

Freddie Sanchez is 10 for his last 23 (.435).

 

Sean Casey, in June, is 11 for 16 (.688) against the Giants and only 6 for 52 (.115) against everyone else.  He has just 4 hits in his last 28 AB (.143). 

 

Henry Blanco has 12 hits in his last 20 AB (.600) with 3 HR and 10 RBI.

 

After beginning the year with 5 HR in 60 AB, Luis Gonzalez has gone 186 at bats without a home run.  He last homered on April 20 against Jamey Wright. 

 

Connor Jackson is batting just .184 in June (9 for 49, 0 HR) and has only 4 hits in his last 34 AB (.118).

 

Prince Fielder hit his 5^th home run in his last 7 games on Monday.  He has 14 on the year, tops among all rookies.

 

Juan Pierre is 13 for 37 (.351) in his last 9 games, including 6 two-hit games.

 

Jorge Julio, 1-2 with a 5.06 ERA in 21 IP for the Mets, has allowed just 1 run in 11 IP (0.82) for Arizona, while going 4 for 4 in save opportunities.

 

Reds pitcher Aaron Harang came into the season batting just .046 (7 for 152) in his career but has gone 7 for 33 (.212) this season to raise his lifetime average 30 points to .076. 

 

Jose Reyes is 15 for his last 30 and has hit safely in 7 straight and 14 of 15.

 

Rickie Weeks is errorless in his last 14 games since committing his 19^th and 20^th on June 4^th.

 

Through Monday’s action, the AL leads the NL in Interleague wins all-time, 1,047 to 1,043.

 

News and Notes

 

The Red Sox on Monday designated 1B J.T. Snow for assignment.  Snow had batted only 44 times in 38 games, getting just 9 hits (.205).  Boston had tried, at Snow’s request, to trade him but found no takers.

 

Scott Sauerbeck, released by the Indians on Sunday, signed with Oakland for the remainder of the season on Monday.  Then on Monday night, he made his Athletics debut a dubious one by hitting one batter, walking another and then giving up a basehit to his third and final batter. 

 

Michael Barrett had his appeal of his 10 game suspension rejected on Monday and began serving it Monday night against the Indians.

 

Antonio Alfonseca was released on Monday by Texas.  In 19 games he had a 5.63 ERA for the Rangers.

 

Delmon Young went 1 for 4 on Monday as his 50 game suspension for throwing a bat at an umpire came to an end. 

 

June Boon – To no one’s great surprise, pitching has fueled the recent resurgence of the Marlins, Twins and A’s.  The Marlins, winners of 8 straight, have won 12 of 15 in June behind a team ERA of just 2.57, the best in baseball for the month.  The Twins, winners of 7 straight, have the second best team mark at just 3.05 while the A’s, despite having their 10 game win streak snapped on Monday, have a 3.11 team ERA in June – 3^rd in baseball – and are 14-3 for the month.

 

June Swoon – Meanwhile, the Braves have won just twice in 17 games this month and can blame their pitching for it.  They have a collective team ERA of 5.84 ERA in June, the worst in the majors.  The Diamondbacks, losers of 12 of 18 for the month, have a 5.77 mark (29^th overall) and the Indians (5-12) have a June team ERA of 5.67, the third worst in baseball for the month.

 

Getting Defensive Pt I – The Red Sox have far and away been baseball’s best defensive team, committing just 23 errors and posting a .991 fielding percentage, both best in the majors.  The Padres have made the next fewest errors in the big leagues with 30.  The A’s and Mariners are tied for the third fewest errors with 32 each, while the Giants have committed just 33 miscues.  San Diego, Oakland, Seattle and Houston are tied for the second best fielding percentage in the majors at .988.

 

Getting Defensive Pt II – Led by Weeks’ 20 errors, Milwaukee has made the most Es in the majors with 63.  Their .976 fielding percentage is the lowest in the majors as well.  Cincinnati follows the Brew Crew with 62 errors and a .977 %.  The Angels (56, .978) and Nationals (55, .979) are next, while the Dodgers, Phillies and Indians have each made 51 errors, tied for the fifth most in the majors.  The Indians and Marlins have the fifth lowest fielding percentage at .980.

 

Trivia Answer – Felipe (206) and Moises Alou (306) are third on the all-time list among father/son combo’s with 512 home runs.

 

The Longest Streak Pt I – With the A’s loss to Colorado on Monday, the Florida Marlins, yes the Marlins, have the longest win streak in the majors at 8 straight.  The Marlins, who were off on Monday, travel to Baltimore to take on the Orioles on Tuesday.  

 

The Longest Streak Pt II – The Braves did not play on Monday and maintained the longest current losing streak in the majors at 7 games.  They lost a chance to share the streak with the Cubs when Chicago beat Cleveland 12-8 last night to snap their own 6-game slide.  Atlanta will take on Toronto at home on Tuesday… 

 

On Deck – In an anti-marquee game, Josh Towers (1-8) will go for Toronto (0-6 in Interleague play), while Jorge Sosa (1-9) will go for the Braves (see above).  Sosa is 0-3 with a 7.02 ERA in June (though he allowed just 2 runs over 6 innings in his last start against Florida).  Towers will be making his first start since May 24 after being recalled from the minors over the weekend.  He was 2-2 with a 2.48 ERA in four starts at Syracuse. 

 

Also on Tuesday, Greg Maddux (7-6) will make his second attempt at career win number 326.  He will be opposed by the Indians’ Cliff Lee (5-5), who has a 3.80 ERA over 3 starts in June after posting a 1-4 record with a 7.79 ERA over 6 starts in May.  Maddux, after going 5-0 with a 1.35 ERA in April, is just 2-6 with a 7.10 ERA since.  He is one win behind Eddie Plank for 12^th all-time.