The Longest Streak Pt I – Pedro Martinez faced his former team for the first time ever, but the Red Sox gave him a rude welcome back to Boston, battering their former ace for 8 runs (6 earned) on 7 hits in just 3 innings, thus extending their major league best win streak to 11 games with the 10-2 win over the Mets.  Martinez had been 58-18 all-time in Boston but saw his career ERA at Fenway jump from 2.67 to 2.74.  Josh Beckett won his 10^th game of the year for Boston, allowing solo home runs to Carlos Delgado (his 43^rd all-time in IL play) and Jose Valentin in 7 2/3 IP.  Jose Reyes was hitless for the second consecutive night in the Mets loss. Boston is now 13-1 this year in IL play.

 

The Longest Streak Pt II – Freddy Garcia won his 10^th game of the year and Bobby Jenks picked up his 24^th save as the White Sox beat the Pirates 4-3 to send Pittsburgh to their 13^th straight loss, the longest ever for the franchise in modern baseball history.  The win for Garcia was his 19^th career in IL play, tying him with Mike Mussina, Greg Maddux, and Aaron Sele for the most all-time.  The win improved the White Sox to 12-2 overall in IL play while the Pirates dropped to 1-10.

 

Wednesday Notables

 

Johan Santana threw 7 shutout innings as the Twins swept the Dodgers and ran their winning streak to 7 games.  Minnesota also improved to 13-2 in IL play.  Santana, with his effort, lowered his career IL ERA to 2.40, the lowest all-time. 

 

Justin Verlander threw 8 shutout innings to win his 10^th game of the year as Detroit swept Houston, running their winning streak to 6 games and improving their IL record to 13-2.

 

The Mariners beat Arizona 10-3 to improve their IL record to 12-2 and drop Arizona to 1-10 against the AL.  It was also the D’Backs 19^th loss in June.

 

Miguel Tejada had six hits in the Orioles’ doubleheader sweep of Philadelphia, playing both games and extending his consecutive game played streak to 997 games.

 

Ken Griffey hit the 551^st HR of his career, leaving him 12 shy of Reggie Jackson, and tying him with Barry Bonds for fifth all-time in IL play with 39. 

 

Despite Jason Isringhausen’s 6^th blown save of the year, St. Louis ended their longest losing streak in 18 years at 8 games by beating Cleveland 5-4. The Redbirds scored two in the bottom of the 9^th off slumping Cleveland closer Bob Wickman.

 

On Deck – Jose Contreras (8-0) will go for his 17^th straight winning decision while Roy Halladay (9-2) and Brandon Arroyo (9-4) both go for their 10^th wins on Thursday, but the game we are most looking forward to here at DN&N, is once again between the Mets and Red Sox.  New York sends Tom Glavine (11-2, 3.33) to the bump in search of his 287^th career win, facing Curt Schilling (9-2, 3.61), who goes for his 202^nd career victory.  Schilling has won just once in June despite a 2.91 ERA and a nearly 8:1 strikeout to walk ratio.  Glavine has won his last 9 decisions despite posting a 5.16 ERA in June.

 

DN&N’s National League All-Stars – Pitchers

 

Today I make my selections for the NL pitching staff and prepare myself for Keith’s retort.  I’ll take 8 starters and 4 relievers as I round out my NL squad.  This is the same number of relievers that were selected to last year’s squad, although I’ve taken one less pitcher overall than was selected last season (and yet I still could not find room for Ryan Howard who must’ve read – and disliked them as much as Keith – my All-Star picks, judging by his two home runs on Wednesday). 

 

(Statistics as of Tuesday, June 27, 2006)

Pitcher	Tm	W	L	ERA	IP	H	ER	BB	K	SV	BS	WHIP	K/9	H/9	BB/9	K/BB	BAA
Glavine	NYM	11	2	3.33	102.2	96	38	30	75	-	-	1.23	6.60	8.45	2.64	2.50	0.251
Arroyo	Cin	9	4	2.58	111.2	102	32	23	84	-	-	1.12	6.80	8.26	1.86	3.65	0.241
Penny	LAD	8	2	3.06	94.0	88	32	26	70	-	-	1.21	6.70	8.43	2.49	2.69	0.246
Capuano	Mil	8	4	3.33	108.0	103	40	23	101	-	-	1.17	8.42	8.58	1.92	4.39	0.249
Webb	Ari	8	3	2.85	123.1	126	39	19	90	-	-	1.18	6.58	9.21	1.39	4.74	0.268
Harang	Cin	8	5	3.59	105.1	107	42	27	105	-	-	1.27	8.99	9.16	2.31	3.89	0.268
Martinez*	NYM	7	3	3.01	98.2	67	33	26	110	-	-	0.94	10.08	6.14	2.38	4.23	0.190
Young	SD	7	3	2.97	97.0	69	32	37	88	-	-	1.09	8.16	6.40	3.43	2.38	0.197
Johnson	Fla	7	4	2.20	73.2	61	18	33	64	-	-	1.28	7.87	7.50	4.06	1.94	0.223
Zambrano	ChC	6	3	2.95	113.0	78	37	62	112	-	-	1.24	8.92	6.21	4.94	1.81	0.194
Schmidt	SF	6	3	2.82	108.1	82	34	37	94	-	-	1.10	7.83	6.83	3.08	2.54	0.212
Lowe	LAD	6	4	3.49	111.0	102	43	34	57	-	-	1.23	4.62	8.27	2.76	1.68	0.239
Oswalt	Hou	6	3	3.26	102.0	106	37	20	69	-	-	1.24	6.09	9.35	1.76	3.45	0.277
Isringhausen	StL	1	3	4.06	31.0	24	14	25	33	24	5	1.58	9.58	6.97	7.26	1.32	0.214
Turnbow	Mil	4	3	3.41	34.1	27	13	16	43	22	4	1.25	11.35	7.13	4.22	2.69	0.218
Gordon	Phi	2	3	1.93	32.2	22	7	11	41	20	1	1.01	11.46	6.15	3.07	3.73	0.190
Hoffman	SD	0	1	1.24	29.0	24	4	5	24	19	1	1.00	7.45	7.45	1.55	4.80	0.218
Fuentes	Col	1	1	2.35	30.2	19	8	12	41	15	4	1.01	12.22	5.66	3.58	3.42	0.178
Wagner	NYM	3	1	2.45	36.2	25	10	17	46	15	3	1.15	11.44	6.22	4.23	2.71	0.191
Saito	LAD	3	2	1.72	36.2	20	7	8	48	5	0	0.76	11.93	4.97	1.99	6.00	0.160
Villarreal	Atl	7	1	4.37	35.0	37	17	15	18	0	4	1.49	4.63	9.51	3.86	1.20	0.272

 

Starters

 

Pedro Martinez may not have the sexy number of wins that Tom Glavine has, but he’s got the best numbers in town, and he is my choice to start the game.  Pedro is tops in WHIP, K/9, H/9 and BAA by wide margins over the rest of the league’s starting pitchers as well as having the third best K/BB ratio among the top choices as wells as a fine 3.01 ERA. 

 

Tom Glavine, Brandon Arroyo, Chris Capuano and Jason Schmidt round out the next tier of starters, followed by Chris Young and Carlos Zambrano. 

 

Brandon Webb, not long ago, was a slam dunk not only make the team, but he was also looking like a good bet to start the game.  Since the beginning of June, however, the right hander has struggled mightily (5.08 ERA with 42 H in 33.2 IP) and I am concerned by his rising WHIP (now 1.18) and BAA (.268).  I find in fact, that I am forced to leave Webb off the team altogether, albeit grudgingly. 

 

In his place, I’ll take Florida’s rookie hurler Josh Johnson, who has sparkled as a starter since his ascension to that role.  In ten starts, he has posted a 1.89 ERA and gone 6-2.  He has held hitters to a .223 BAA, but I’ll admit that I’m concerned about his high number of walks, which leave his 1.28 WHIP a tad high. 

 

I won’t take too much time discussing the pitchers I did select, leaving that to when I respond to Keith’s anticipated criticism. I’ll instead focus more on the pitchers I have left off. 

 

Brad Penny, aside from Webb, has the most to be upset about.  His 8-2 record and 3.09 ERA are nice but not enough so that we take him.  Most of his numbers are middle of the road compared to the others, without one that really stands out and on top of that, he hasn’t been nearly as consistent as you might like. 

 

Aaron Harang has impressed me with his first half, but I am slightly put off by his high number of hits per 9 innings and high BAA (.268), which leaves him with a relatively high WHIP (1.27).  Roy Oswalt’s low strikeout numbers and again, relatively high WHIP (spurred by his .277 BAA) keep him out of my game.  These guys may have been very good, but very good isn’t good enough.   

 

Now this isn’t to say all of my choices are without fault.  Jason Schmidt, for instance, has walked a few too many hitters, but has made up for it with his low .212 BAA and his 1.10 WHIP, third lowest among our choices.  Zambrano’s WHIP is 10^th best out of the pitchers on the list, though his ERA, BAA and strikeout totals are good enough to overlook his otherwise high base on balls total (though trumping all else is the fact that Zambrano is the Cubs lone participant).  While some of them may have some individual statistical flaws, I feel that these are the best picks among the league’s starting pitchers.   

 

Relievers

 

Flash Gordon has been the most consistent of all closers in the NL this season, registering just 1 blown save, a nice 1.93 ERA and an even nicer 1.01 WHIP while holding opponents to a .190 BAA.  He’s been scored upon in only 5 of his 33 appearances through Tuesday, and his high strikeout ratio combined with his low hits ratio is more than enough to overlook his relatively high number of base on balls.  I admit that I underestimated his closing abilities before the year.  I don’t do that now.

 

Hoffman may not have the highest K ratio anymore, but he gets it done with his pinpoint accuracy, which has kept runners off the bases to the tune of a 1.00 WHIP.  He, too, has just one blown save on the year which goes rather nicely with his 1.24 ERA and his nearly 5:1 K/BB ratio. 

 

Takashi Saito is likely a surprise choice to some but to me, he’s a perfect choice.  Single-handedly, he has solidified an otherwise shaky Dodger bullpen that has been missing Eric Gagne almost all season, and saw Danys Baez struggle in his place.  Saito has kept hitters off base by allowing just 4.97 H/9 IP and holding hitters to a .160 BAA, leading to his impressive 0.76 WHIP.  He’s done this while also allowing just 2 walks per 9 IP and striking out more per 9 innings than anyone other than Fuentes (11.93/9IP), giving him a 6:1 K/BB ratio.

 

I am a bit put off by Fuentes’ four blown saves, but the next best choice in my opinion would be Billy Wagner, who has one less blown save, but a lower K/9 ratio to go with higher H/9 and BB/9 ratio’s, WHIP, and BAA.    

 

Jason Isringhausen and Derrick Turnbow, the league’s top two in saves, will cry foul, but both players turn me off with high walk totals, in particular Isringhausen’s 7.26 per 9 IP. 

 

Well, those are my choices for the NL pitching staff; take them for what they are worth Tomorrow I’ll make my selections for the AL pitching staff.

 

*Note - Of course, all this was written before Pedro started, and got pounded on Wednesday night in Boston.  But I’m simply going to give him an adrenalin-based mulligan because I know what he’s really like and capable of.  He had a very bad game.  But he’s still been the best pitcher in the league all season long.  I am not going to let this one un-timely bad start affect my choice, especially when I am basing my picks on the above numbers for all the other pitchers as well. 

 

Really, I do expect all of my choices to have bad outings next time they pitch just to make me look bad, just as it was no surprise that Aaron Harang had a good outing tonight.  But I’m willing to stick my neck out there.  And if it gets anyone to discussing and debating baseball more, then all the better.  If you disagree with my picks, I’d love to hear from you.  If you like my picks, I’d love to hear from you too.  Even better yet though, send in your own picks.  Tell us who you think should be an All-Star this year.