On Deck – DN&N is very excited for Wednesday’s marquee match up between the Rocket, Roger Clemens (1-3, 2.96) and the Bulldog, Greg Maddux (7-10, 2.99).   It will be the third career meeting between the two future Hall of Famers who have combined for 667 career victories.  The pair last met on April 29th of last year, with Maddux out-dueling Clemens to pick up the 306^th win of his career.  Their only previous meeting occurred on June 3, 2000 in an Interleague match up between the Yankees and Braves.  Neither pitcher got a decision in that one as Clemens gave up 6 runs (4 earned) in 5 innings, while Maddux was tagged for 7 runs, all earned, on 13 hits in 5 2/3 IP. 

 

The Longest Streak Pt I – The Angels’ red hot offense backed Joe Saunders with 7 runs on 10 hits, and Frankie Rodriguez staved off a 9^th inning Cleveland rally to give the rookie his first major league win.  It also extended the Halos’ winning streak to 8 straight games, the longest current streak in the majors.  Juan Rivera had two home runs in the win, including a solo shot in the 8^th off of Brian Sikorski, who was acquired earlier in the day from San Diego for Mike Adams. In his last three games, Sikorski has allowed 7 hits, the last 6 of which having gone for extra bases, including 4 home runs.  The loss was the Indians’ fifth in a row, which tied them with Tampa Bay for the…

 

The Longest Streak Pt II – …longest losing streak in the majors after the Rockies snapped their 8 game losing streak with a 13-4 win over Pittsburgh.  Cleveland has won just twice in 11 games since winning four in a row to begin the month.  Tampa Bay, meanwhile, ran into a buzz saw named Francisco Liriano, who won a battle of highly touted 22-year-old lefties by allowing just 1 unearned run on 3 hits over 8 2/3.  With the win, he ran his record to 11-2 and dropped his ERA to 1.94.  Scott Kazmir (10-7, 3.40) took the loss for the Rays, allowing 4 runs on 7 hits over 6 innings.  Tampa Bay is winless in five games since the break and has lost 9 of 10 overall. 

 

Close, but not quite – Atlanta kept rolling through July by putting a smack down on St. Louis for the second straight night, beating the Cards 14-5 to up their winning streak to 7 straight games.  During that stretch, the Braves have batted .382 (107 for 280) with 77 runs scored and a whopping 47 extra base hits (6.7 per game).  They have 38 hits (including 16 extra base knocks) in their last two games alone.  Chipper Jones had two of those hits on Tuesday, including a home run, to extend his hitting streak to 18 straight.  The Braves became the first team since the 1930 Yankees to score 10 or more in 5 straight games.  For the month, Atlanta has gone 11-3 while batting a league-best .347. 

 

Sub Note ~ Jason Marquis was a sacrificial lamb for the second time this year, giving up 12 runs, all earned, on 14 hits over 5 innings.  On June 21 against the White Sox, Marquis allowed 13 runs, all earned, on 14 hits again over 5 innings.  Marquis’ ERA rose to 5.97 in the loss, a mark that is just 4.61 without those two outings.

 

 

Juiced “All Star” Update – Jose Canseco made his long awaited Golden Baseball League pitching debut, but it didn’t go as well as he’d have hoped.  A last minute addition to the South All-Star team in the GBL’s inaugural midseason classic, Canseco won the pre-game home run derby to capture the $250 first place prize but allowed 4 runs on 4 hits in just 1/3 of an inning in his first professional pitching appearance since a May 29, 1993 outing for Texas.  In that game, Canseco pitched one inning and allowed three runs on two hits before tearing ligaments in his elbow.  Canseco is now 7-for-24 with Long Beach (7 for 27 overall) with 2 home runs.  The Armada next play on Friday in Reno.   

 

Old Timers All-Star Update – Legendary Negro League player Buck O’Neil, sporting an old Kansas City Monarchs jersey, took two walks in the Northern League All-Star game on Tuesday, breaking Jim Eriotes record as the oldest player to appear in a professional baseball game.  Eriotes was 83-years-old when he struck out last week in an Independent league game.  O’Neil stood in the box on Tuesday, 94-years-young and drew a semi-intentional walk to lead off the first before being lifted for a pinch runner.  Then between innings, the Kansas City T-Bones announced a trade to bring O’Neil to them and thus allowing him to lead off the bottom of the first as well and draw another walk.  The stunt was part of an effort to garner support to get O’Neil in the HOF.  It’s an effort that has the full support of DN&N.

 

Ryan Howard Home Run Notes – The home run derby winning slugger hit his 30^th and 31^st home runs of the season over the weekend at AT&T Park, site of the 2007 contest.  Howard has hit 4 of his home runs this year against San Francisco, the most he’s hit against any team so far.  Ironically, the only team Howard has played this year that he has not homered against is Pittsburgh, the host of this year’s derby.  The young left hander, who has been compared to HOFer Willie McCovey, began the second half of the year by hitting number 30 over the 421 mark in right center on Friday, a prodigious blast that none other than McCovey himself termed as “impressive.”  He hit home run number 31 on Saturday just to the left of the 399 mark in dead center.  For the season, of Howard’s 31 HR, only 7 have been hit to right field, four of which were belted closer to the right center.  Five have been hit to center field while 19 of his 31 jacks have been out to left field, including 13 of 16 at Citizen’s Bank Ballpark. 

 

Quick Hits

 

Nick Punto extended his hitting streak to 11 straight games with two hits on Tuesday in the Twins 8-1 win over Tampa Bay.  He is batting .403 (29 for 72) since June 25, and has hit safely in 18 of 19 games during that span.

 

Yorvit Torrealba has 13 hits in 36 AB (.361) since June 30.

 

Moises Alou is batting .380 with 2 strikes this season.

 

Michael Barrett is batting .500 (19 for 38) in his last 10 games.

 

22-year-old rookie Jon Lester improved to 5-0 with a 2.38 ERA after tossing eight 1-hit innings against Kansas City on Tuesday.  25-year-old rookie closer Jonathan Papelbon then pitched a perfect 9^th to lower his ERA to 0.55 and pick up his major league leading 28^th save, and at the same time giving Red Sox fans everywhere goose bumps all over.

 

Craig Biggio has 1 hit in his last 18 AB (.055) and just 3 in his last 27 (.111).

 

Brian Anderson is batting .333 (11 for 33) in July to raise his season average over the Mendoza line to .201. 

 

Chase Utley went 1 for 3 on Tuesday to extend his hitting streak to 20 games. 

 

After Alfonso Soriano homered on the first pitch of the game, Hanley Ramirez followed suit with his own leadoff jack in the bottom of the first in the Marlins 7-6 loss to Washington on Tuesday.

 

Rich Aurilia extended his hitting streak to 11 games with three hits in the Reds’ 8-3 loss to the Mets and is batting .381 (16 for 42) during that stretch.

 

Just one game after Carlos Beltran teamed up with Cliff Floyd to help make New York  the 7^th team in history to hit two grand slams in a single inning, Beltran did it again, clearing the bases in the 7^th inning against Eric Milton in the Mets’ win.  The slam also gave the Mets the NL lead in grand slams with 5. 

 

Ducks on the Pond

 

All those grand slams got DN&N thinking and so today we take a look at how teams are faring with the bases loaded, both from a pitching perspective as well as from a hitting point of view.  What we find – among other things – is that if you’re in Ohio with the bases loaded, you should expect something big to happen.  We not only see that Beltran’s blast was more predictable than one might have guessed, but we also find something that the Royals are actually good at.  Further, we find yet another situation in which Tampa Bay just can’t hit, and if you’re in Houston, well, you’d probably just prefer to skip the whole situation altogether.  Here now is a more detailed look at the top pitching and hitting teams in baseball with the bases juiced. 

 

Team Batting

National League                                            American League    (All Statistics as of 11/17)

 

Batting Average

1. Arizona – .370 (30 for 81)                              1. Cleveland – .405 (30 for 74)

2. Cincinnati – .368 (28 for 76)                           2. Texas – .370 (34 for 93)

 

16. Philadelphia – .203 (15 for 74)                      14. Tampa Bay – .216 (11 for 51)

15. Washington – .216 (16 for 74)                      13. Baltimore – .220 (18 for 82)

 

On Base Plus Slugging

1. Cincinnati – 1.047                                          1. Cleveland – 1.188

2. San Francisco - .943                                      2. Minnesota – 1.143

 

16. Milwaukee - .518                                         14. Baltimore - .575

15. Houston - .599                                             13. Tampa Bay - .586

 

Grand Slams

1. New York – 5*                                            1. Cleveland – 8

2. Cincinnati – 4                                                2t. Chicago – 7

                                                                        2t. Minnesota – 7

 

16t. Houston – 0                                                14t. Detroit – 0

16t. Milwaukee – 0                                            14t. Kansas City – 0

 

Team Pitching

National League                                            American League

Earned Run Average

1. New York – 8.64                                          1. Texas – 6.30

2. Colorado – 9.28                                             2. Kansas City – 6.94

 

16. Washington – 18.00                                     14. Toronto – 18.72

15. Los Angeles – 17.00                                                13. Cleveland – 16.43

 

Batting Average Against

1. Philadelphia - .179                                         1. New York - .240

2. St. Louis - .238                                              2. Chicago - .254

 

16. Arizona - .386                                              14. Tampa Bay - .419

15. Chicago - .342                                             13. Los Angeles - .369

 

Grand Slams Allowed

1. San Diego – 0                                               1. New York – 0

2. Atlanta – 0                                                    2. 4 teams tied with 1

 

16. Cincinnati – 5*                                          14t. Baltimore – 7

16. Houston – 5                                                 14t. Seattle - 7

 

* updated as of 7/18

 

Questions or comments for Richard? Richard Van Zandt is a staff writer for Baseball Evolution who lives in San Francisco, California. You can reach him at richard@baseballevolution.com.