The Longest Streak Pt I – Boston matched their third longest winning streak in club history as Curt Schilling out-dueled Tom Glavine in the first Fenway matchup of 200+ game winners since 1978 (Luis Tiant vs. Jim Palmer).  Schilling tossed 7 strong innings, surrendering just Carlos Beltran’s two run HR to earn his 10^th win of the year. David Ortiz hit the 200^th home run of his career to help extend the Sox’ winning streak to 12 games, now three games shy of the club record of 15 straight, set back in 1946.  Jonathan Papelbon got back on the horse and pitched a perfect ninth for his 24^th save of the year. Coco Crisp made a game saving catch in the 8th as Boston also ran their Interleague record to 14-1.  For the Mets, this is the first time this season that they have lost 3 straight games.  On Friday, Jason Johnson will make his first start for the Sox trying to extend the winning streak to a baker’s dozen.  He will be opposed by no less than Dontrelle Willis.

 

The Longest Streak Pt II a – 13 was enough for Pittsburgh, as the Pirates finally snapped their franchise record losing streak on Thursday, bouncing back from Jim Thome’s game tying, pinch hit home run in the 8^th inning to win on a Freddy Sanchez walk-off jack leading off the bottom of the 9^th.  Sanchez, dissed by DN&N in our NL All-Star picks on Tuesday, collected four hits to raise his now league leading average to .363, 1 point higher than Nomar Garciaparra’s .362.  Jose Contreras kept his streak of 16 consecutive winning decisions alive as he earned a no-decision despite allowing a very un-All-Star-like 6 runs on 12 hits in 5 1/3 innings as the White Sox record in IL play dropped to 12-3.

 

The Longest Streak Pt II b – Meanwhile, Omar Vizquel delivered an All Star worthy performance both in the field and at the plate. His 8^th inning hit brought home the go-ahead run to help Giants finish off a 3-game sweep of the Rangers with a 2-1 win on Thursday.  With closer Armando Benitez unavailable due to a sore elbow, Jeremy Accardo earned his 3^rd career save, and second of the series. The Rangers losing streak hit 5 games, the longest current losing streak in the majors.  Michael Young, the all-time IL batting leader at .355 (142 for 400), went 0 for 3 in the game, 2 for 9 in the series and is just 3 for 16 (.188) during the club’s current losing stretch.

 

On Deck – Speaking of the longest streak, Miguel Tejada’s 1,000^th consecutive major league game highlights what’s on deck for the weekend.  The O’s shortstop has not missed a game since May 31, 2000 while playing for Oakland, and currently has the 7^th longest consecutive games played streak in major league history.  Joe Sewell is next up on the list at 1,103 games followed in order by: Billy Williams (1,117), Steve Garvey (1,207), Everett Scott (1,307), Lou Gehrig (2,130) and of course, former Oriole great Cal Ripkin Jr., who played the last of his 2,632 consecutive games on September 19, 1998.

 

Thursday Notables

 

Ken Griffey homered for the fourth straight game, the 16^th time this season and the 552^nd time in his career, helping the Reds to beat KC 6-5.  It was also the 40^th of his career in IL play, moving him past Barry Bonds into sole possession of 5^th place on the all-time list (one behind Manny Ramirez and Rafael Palmeiro).  Bobby Keppel, meanwhile, became the 353^rd pitcher to give up a HR to Griffey.

 

The A’s saw Huston Street blow his 6^th save of the year, and second in a row, yet persevered to win the game in 14 innings when pinch hitter Antonio Perez drew a game winning bases loaded walk.  Perez came into the AB 4 for 49 (.082) on the year with 24 strikeouts.  Interestingly, though, 3 of his 4 hits have been for extra bases (2 DBL, 1 HR). 

 

Team PAMF – Clinging somehow to some small playoff hope, team PAMF pulled out a big win on Thursday.  A win next week and we might just be able to get in there, but don’t ask me how.  A 5-3 lead slipped away in the 6^th before a 6-run 7^th put it away for an 11-5 victory.  Yours truly put up a 2 for 3 with an RBI and a walk (yes, me taking a walk in softball, hard to believe) to raise the season average to .593 (16 for 27) with 9 RBI. 

 

Before I get to my American League All-Star picks, I want to let you know that DN&N will be off until next Thursday.  Of course we’ve got the upcoming 4^th of July holiday to celebrate and I certainly want to wish everyone the best and safest holiday possible.  But also I want to wish my wife a very happy birthday.  We will celebrate the occasion on Sunday with a pre-celebratory dinner on Saturday at La Fondue and I’ll be using the time off to take care of her right.  I hope you all have a great weekend and a happy 4^th of July and we’ll see you back next Thursday.  Carla, I love you and Happy Birthday!!!  Now onto the AL pitchers!

 

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

 

No matter which way you slice this pie, somebody is getting left out.  In fact, several somebody’s, actually.  Such is the depth of the American League when it comes to pitching in 2006.  As I did with the NL, I am taking 12 pitchers – 8 starters and 4 relievers – one less than was selected last year.  I feel that for one 9 inning game, a team ought to be able to get by with 12 pitchers, so I instead went with the extra position player (and yes, I still left Ryan Howard out).  However, as tough as some of the selections in the position player category were, this category was by far the toughest to choose from.  Even if I’d selected 13 pitchers, you wouldn’t be able to take every deserving pitcher.  One thing is absolutely certain though and that is that there is no shortage of excellent AL pitching candidates for this season’s mid-summer classic in Pittsburgh. 

 

Starting Pitchers (All statistics through 6/29)

Pitcher	Tm	W	L	ERA	IP	H	ER	BB	K	WHIP	K/9	H/9	BB/9	K/BB	BAA	RS
Santana*	Min	9	4	2.59	118.1	94	34	20	124	0.96	9.45	7.16	1.52	6.20	0.216	4.94
Liriano	Min	8	1	2.21	73.1	56	18	19	82	1.02	10.10	6.89	2.34	4.32	0.212	5.77
Halladay	Tor	9	2	3.07	108.1	101	37	13	57	1.05	4.75	8.41	1.08	4.38	0.250	6.48
Mussina	NYY	9	3	3.28	112.1	99	41	22	100	1.08	8.03	7.95	1.77	4.55	0.231	6.09
Schilling	Bos	9	2	3.61	107.1	103	43	13	96	1.08	8.07	8.66	1.09	7.38	0.252	6.20
Contreras	ChW	8	0	3.15	91.1	75	32	25	64	1.09	6.32	7.41	2.47	2.56	0.221	6.01
Lackey	LAA	5	5	3.31	106.0	81	39	37	77	1.11	6.54	6.88	3.14	2.08	0.209	5.18
Rogers	Det	10	3	3.44	104.2	94	40	25	59	1.14	5.10	8.12	2.16	2.36	0.243	6.54
Bonderman	Det	7	4	3.65	106.0	94	43	29	102	1.16	8.66	7.98	2.46	3.52	0.235	4.16
Beckett	Bos	10	3	4.64	97.0	83	50	31	82	1.18	7.61	7.70	2.88	2.65	0.226	7.52
Verlander	Det	10	4	3.13	103.2	94	36	31	65	1.21	5.67	8.20	2.70	2.10	0.248	6.68
Buehrle	ChW	9	4	3.22	111.2	112	40	28	47	1.25	3.80	9.06	2.27	1.68	0.262	5.88
Johnson	NYY	9	6	4.84	100.1	95	54	33	85	1.28	7.64	8.54	2.97	2.58	0.248	8.07
Robertson	Det	8	3	3.14	100.1	94	35	36	70	1.30	6.29	8.45	3.24	1.94	0.251	5.65
Benson	Bal	9	5	4.21	104.2	100	49	37	49	1.31	4.23	8.64	3.20	1.32	0.258	6.19
Zito	Oak	8	4	3.46	109.1	93	42	51	85	1.32	7.01	7.67	4.21	1.67	0.237	4.61
Kazmir	TB	9	5	3.59	100.1	99	40	38	108	1.34	9.71	8.90	3.42	2.84	0.254	4.49
Garcia	ChW	10	4	4.65	102.2	112	53	26	60	1.34	5.28	9.86	2.29	2.31	0.274	6.40

 

Relief Pitchers (All statistics through 6/29)

Pitcher	Tm	W	L	ERA	IP	H	ER	BB	K	WHIP	K/9	H/9	BB/9	K/BB	BAA	SV	BS
Ryan	Tor	1	0	0.47	38.0	17	2	8	45	0.66	10.66	4.03	1.89	5.63	0.138	21	1
Papelbon	Bos	2	1	0.46	39.1	22	2	6	41	0.71	9.44	5.06	1.38	6.83	0.159	23	2
Nathan	Min	5	0	1.91	33.0	21	7	4	47	0.76	12.82	5.73	1.09	11.75	0.176	13	1
Street	Oak	1	3	3.74	33.2	25	14	5	29	0.89	7.86	6.78	1.36	5.80	0.198	18	5
Otsuka	Tex	2	3	2.38	34.0	27	9	4	28	0.91	7.41	7.15	1.06	7.00	0.221	15	2
Rivera	NYY	4	4	1.88	43.0	33	9	8	32	0.95	6.70	6.91	1.67	4.00	0.213	17	2
Jenks	ChW	2	1	2.48	36.1	28	10	11	42	1.07	10.47	6.98	2.74	3.82	0.214	24	1
Rodriguez	LAA	0	2	3.18	34.0	27	12	10	42	1.09	11.12	7.15	2.65	4.20	0.216	19	2
Ray	Bal	1	2	3.27	33.0	22	12	14	32	1.09	8.73	6.00	3.82	2.29	0.193	20	1

 

There are several pitchers who ought to be crying foul at my list.  In fact, four 9-game winners and four 10-game winners would all be going fishing during the break with my list.  However, my decision to take 12 pitchers, not 13, combined with being forced to accept an Athletic and an Angel most certainly figured into my final decisions. 

 

Let’s start with those A’s and Angels.  With no acceptable offensive choice from Oakland, I was forced then to choose between Barry Zito and Huston Street.  And with my decision not to take the slumping Vladimir Guerrero, I am similarly forced to choose between Frankie Rodriguez and John Lackey (a Giants fan’s worst nightmare).  So essentially what this came down to was one decision between Zito and Lackey and another between Street and Rodriguez.

 

If you were to simply look at Lackey’s 5-5 record, you’d dismiss him right off.  But he’s actually a more worthy candidate than Zito.  Lackey for instance has a lower ERA, WHIP, H/9, BB/9, K/BB ratio and BAA.  To Zito’s credit, his 8-4 record is impressive in light of his low 4.61 runs of support in his starts this year with the anemic A’s offense.  But by the same token, Lackey’s .500 record could well have something to do with his low 5.18 runs per start of support, as well as the fact that the Angels have the 2^nd worst defense in baseball (the A’s team defense by contrast is tied for 3^rd in the majors). 

 

However, here lies the dilemma for Lackey: If it were merely between him and Zito, Lackey wins.  But it’s not just between Lackey and Street, for if Street is simply too unacceptable, then we have to take Rodriguez and thus Zito instead of Lackey.  Street, by the numbers, has a lower BB/9 ratio, H/9 ratio, and BAA, as well as a better WHIP and K/BB ratio.  Rodriguez has in his favor, a lower ERA, higher K/9 ratio and only 2 blown saves to Street’s 5. 

 

What it basically seemed to boil down to in the end, was whether I’d prefer to take the more deserving Lackey over Zito, or if I found myself just unable to take Street’s blown saves.  If I can’t take Street, then I have to take Zito and not Lackey.  If it weren’t for the blown saves, Street would have more in his favor than would K-Rod.  But those damn blown saves stick out like a sore thumb. 

 

It’s a tough decision but as deadline looms, I must make a decision.  That decision is…drum roll please… Zito.  In the end I find I must go with the more reliable Rodriguez over Street, forcing me to take Zito and leave behind a more deserving Lackey. 

 

So with those two roster spots locked up, I next concentrated on those who would make it without much debate.  Among the relievers, that meant Jonathan Papelbon, B.J. Ryan and Joe Nathan.  Those three make up the top three in both WHIP and BAA, while Papelbon and Ryan additionally have allowed just 2 earned runs each all season long. 

 

In fact, despite all the press and recognition that Papelbon has received, Ryan has been even better, besting the rookie closer in WHIP, BAA, K/9 and H/9, though Papelbon did better with BB/9 and K/BB ratio.  Either way, however, they are both no-brainers as the top two relievers. 

 

Nathan, with his impressive WHIP, BAA and his very impressive 12.82 K/9 and 1.09 BB/9 ratios that give him one seriously impressive 11.75 K/BB ratio were enough to push him past Mariano Rivera and Bobby Jenks with me.  It’s one or both of those guys who deserve to be ranting about the archaic rule that forced me to take another less deserving reliever over them (I mean, seriously, the NBA doesn’t force every team to be represented in their All-Star game and nobody ever complains about the lack of any Golden State Warriors). 

 

So with my four relievers and Zito set, I had seven more selections left to make and still found a way to leave behind 8 guys with 9 or more wins.  Now that’s some depth. 

 

Starting with the number one guy – the starter of all starters – I made the obvious choice of Johan Santana.  Once he got over his usual slow start, he and the Twins caught fire.  At 9-4 with a league best 2.59 ERA while leading the majors in IP, K and WHIP and placing second in the AL in BAA and K/BB ratio, the decision to set up a Santana/Martinez match-up is an easy one.

 

Jose Contreras was another easy decision.  I’m not crazy about his surprisingly low K and slightly high BB ratios, but his WHIP, BAA and H/9 along with his 8-0 record sway me easily his way.  Mike Mussina, likewise, has had some mild troubles recently, but his strikeout ratio, walk ratio and BAA are among the reasons he gets my selection.

 

If Francisco Liriano suffers from anything – like Josh Johnson in the NL – it’s a lack of total starts and innings pitched.  Liriano has pitched 20 times, but has only made 8 starts.  Still, like Johnson, those starts have been impressive enough for me.  And even then, save for one bad outing, Liriano was much more successful in his relief outings than was Johnson.  A low WHIP, low BAA, low H/9, high K/9 and decent BB/9 ratio all go very well with his 8-1 record and 2.21 ERA, and like Santana getting hot, his joining the rotation coincided with the Twins’ resurgence.  All of those factors make him an All Star to me.

 

Before I cover the last three pitchers I took, let’s look at the Tiger candidates: Kenny Rogers, Justin Verlander and Jeremy Bonderman.  The veteran Rogers would seem the safe choice, but he’s not the best one to me.  Bonderman actually has better numbers than his teammates in several categories such as K/9, H/9, K/BB and BAA.  His low number of wins can be explained away by his low run support and his BB/9 ratio and his WHIP are better than Verlander and comparable to Rogers.  So, pick him?  Wrong again.  A closer inspection of all three reveals that Verlander has been slightly steadier than his mates.

 

ERA by month

Verlander – April – 3.52. May – 1.73, June 4.17

Rogers – April – 2.59, May – 5.53, June – 2.80

Bonderman – April – 5.04, May – 4.26, June – 1.77

 

Starts of 7 IP or more/5 IP or less/6 IP or less

Verlander - 8/3/1

Rogers - 8/5/1

Bonderman – 10/2/2

 

Call it a quality start or call it something else, I simply call going deep into games important.  Bonderman does this slightly better than Verlander who does it better than Rogers, but all three of Verlander’s monthly ERA’s were lower than two out of three of Bonderman’s.  It’s a very close battle between the three, but I am going with the rookie. 

 

Roy Halladay and Curt Schilling round out my staff, though it’s easier to add them by process of elimination. 

 

Freddy Garcia has been hit at a .274 clip and posted a 1.34 WHIP while striking out just over 5 batters per 9 IP.  Scott Kazmir has been hit too well (.254 BAA, 8.90 H/9) and has walked too many (3.42 per 9 IP), posting a 1.34 WHIP to overcome his impressive 9.71 K/9 ratio and his 9-5 record (recorded with minimal run support of 4.49 runs per start).  Randy Johnson’s 8 runs of support per start mask his falling K/9 ratio and his high BB/9 ratio as well as his surprisingly high .248 BAA.  Mark Buehrle has been hit at a .262 clip and isn’t striking out many at 3.80 per 9 IP.  And Josh Beckett, despite his low .226 BAA, has clearly walked too many and struck out too few, and has obviously benefited from great run support.

 

And thus I am left with Schilling and Halladay, both fine and deserving pitchers, if not without faults themselves.  Schilling has been hit relatively well (.252 BAA, 8.66 H/9) but I am very impressed with his better than 7:1 K/BB ratio and 1.08 WHIP.  Halladay has not struck out very many (4.75 per 9 IP) and he too has been hit moderately well (.250 BAA, 8.41 H/9).  Yet he, like Schilling, rarely walks hitters (1.08 per 9 IP) and has a very impressive WHIP (1.05) as well. 

 

Well those are my All-Star picks.  Take them for what they are worth but I’d be satisfied with either team.  Remember, if you disagree with my picks, I’d love to hear from you.  If you agree, again, I’d love to hear from you.  Send in your own picks and tell us who you think should be in the game and why.  And of course, don’t forget to watch the game on July 11.  Once again, have a great weekend and a happy 4^th of July.  See ya next Thursday!