Hall of Fame Game – 40,344 fans at Wrigley Field got what they paid for as two of the greatest pitchers of all-time hooked up for just the third time ever on Wednesday.  Greg Maddux allowed just 3 runs in 7 effective innings, but was denied the 326^th win of his career, instead taking his 200^th career defeat.  Roger Clemens got the better of him, allowing just 3 hits through 6 scoreless innings to collect the 343^rd victory of his career.  

 

With the win, the Rocket moved past Tim Keefe to take sole possession of 8^th place on the all-time victory list, leaving Kid Nichols – with a career total of 361 wins – as Clemens’ next, albeit improbable target.  Maddux remains one win behind Eddie Plank for 12^th all-time.

 

Craig Biggio got things started for Houston by homering off of Maddux in the 1^st.  It was the 49^th time in his HOF career he has led off a game with a home run, second all-time to Rickey Henderson’s 80.  The homer also moved him into sole possession of 34^th place on the all-time hits list with 2,885.  That was the only run in the game until the Astros broke through with two more in the 6^th to make it 3-0.  Todd Walker then hit a two-run shot off of Trevor Miller in the 8^th to make it close, but Houston got an insurance run in the 9^th and Brad Lidge got the final three outs to nail down the win.  Maddux is just 2-11 since going 5-0 in April while Clemens lowered his ERA in his first 6 starts to 2.43. 

 

Taking Care of Business

 

The Red Sox took care of some business on Wednesday, locking up Josh Beckett with a three-year deal reported to be worth $30 million.  The team announced the deal moments after Jonathan Paplebon closed out the Sox second consecutive 1-0 win over Kansas City.  Beckett was the news of the game as well, striking out 7 and allowing just 4 hits in 8 scoreless innings to earn his 12^th win and tie Roy Halladay for the major league lead.

 

The Padres took care of some business of their own on Wednesday, releasing third baseman Vinny Castilla.  He had been hitting just .232 with 4 HR, 23 RBI and 46 K in 254 AB.

 

Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi, citing “irreconcilable differences” announced that the team was designating Shea Hillenbrand for assignment on Wednesday.  The move came hours after a pre-game tirade by Hillenbrand in which he was upset about not starting in the game.  He also refused to sit with his teammates in the dugout.  Hillenbrand had recently returned to the team after spending three days in Los Angeles, finalizing the adoption of his new baby girl.  “No one is above the team,” Ricciardi told reporters, “We’ll leave it at that.”  Toronto has 10 days to either trade or release Hillenbrand.

 

The Longest Streak Pt I – With John Lackey on the mound, the Angels looked like a sure bet to extend their major league best win streak to 9 straight on Wednesday.  However, that streak came to an end in a big way as he gave up 5 runs on 10 hits and 5 walks in just 4 2/3 innings against Cleveland, in the process snapping his own personal 30 2/3 scoreless innings streak.  With the Angels having fallen, the Braves had a chance to grab hold of the mantle of the longest winning streak, but St. Louis bounced back from two straight beatings to end Atlanta’s streak at 7.  That left the Minnesota Twins – 44-24 since May 1 – with that distinction after they beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 7-2 to extend their win streak to 6 straight games, the longest current streak in the majors.  Rondell White (.210/.238/.297) had a breakthrough game, hitting his 2^nd and 3^rd home runs of the year to back Brad Radke, who upped his record to 8-7 by allowing just 2 runs in 7 innings in the win. 

 

The Longest Streak Pt II – With Minnesota’s win over Tampa Bay, along with Cleveland breaking their five game losing streak against Los Angeles, the Devil Rays, losers of 6 straight, now have the longest current losing streak in the majors.  The D’Rays are winless in the second half and have lost 9 of their last 10 overall.  Jonny Gomes, in the loss, broke an 0-for-21 slide with a home run, just his second since he hit two back on June 11.  He has just 3 hits in his last 31 AB (.097) and is just 14 for 84 (.167) since that his big day in June.  Jae Seo gave up 7 runs on 11 hits in 5 2/3 to drop his record to 2-8 overall.

 

All Star Closer Woes

 

Trevor Hoffman blew his second save in three tries since his disastrous outing at the All-Star game, this after blowing just one opportunity all year and posting an impressive 1.03 ERA before the break.  Bobby Abreu’s two-run double in the 9^th provided the big blow in the Phillies’ come from behind win over San Diego.  Hoffman has allowed 5 runs (all earned) on 3 hits and 2 walks (0 K) in just 1 2/3 innings over his three second half appearances and his ERA has more than doubled to 2.21.  Hoffman remains 17 saves behind Lee Smith for first on the all-time list.

 

Derek Turnbow blew his fourth consecutive save opportunity in the Brewers 7-6 loss Wednesday to the Giants.  For the month of July, the All Star closer is 0-3 with 4 blown saves in 4 opportunities and a 29.70 ERA (7 G, 3.1 IP, 9 H, 11 R, 11 ER, 2 HR, 6 BB, 4 K).  Yikes!

 

Quick Hits

 

The Giants, down 6-1 at one point, were led back by Ray Durham, who hit a two-run home run and had the game-winning hit in the 9^th.  Durham is batting .389 (21 for 54) in July with 6 HR and 16 RBI and he has hit 11 HR in his last 31 games.

 

Prince Fielder, in the loss, extended his hitting streak to 7 games, during which he is 13 for 26 with 1 HR and 4 RBI.  

 

Also in the Brewers’ loss, Tony Gwynn, son of the 8-time batting champ by the same name, had a pinch hit double off Brian Wilson in the 9^th.  It was his first major league hit.

 

Chase Utley extended his hitting streak to 21 games (37 for 91, .407) in the Phillies come-from-behind win over San Diego. 

 

Chipper Jones extended his hitting streak to 19 straight in Atlanta’s loss with two more hits, including yet another extra-base hit: a double. 

 

John Smoltz, since straining his right groin in his start against Tampa Bay on June 23, is 3-0 with a 1.61 ERA in four starts (28 IP, 5 ER, 24 H, 4 BB, 28 K).

 

Akinori Otsuka has converted 8 straight saves, and has a 0.00 ERA in his last 12 appearances (12 IP, 0 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 7 K). 

 

Barry Zito had just 1 win in his last 5 starts before beating the Orioles Wednesday, holding them to one run in 7 innings.  His ERA over his last six starts is now 2.32 despite his 2-3 record during that period.  Frank Thomas hit his 468^th career home run, and 20^th of the season in the A’s win.

 

Eric Chavez since June 1 is batting just .173 (19 for 110) with just 3 HR and 8 RBI.  He had been only 4-for-28 (.143) in July without an extra base hit or an RBI before hitting a solo shot in the win.

 

Armando Benitez has appeared in 6 games in July, going 6-for-6 in save opportunities while not allowing a run in 6 1/3.  He’s allowed 5 hits, walked just 1 and struck out 5.

 

On Deck – Despite a less-than-full schedule on Thursday, we’ve got a virtual cornucopia of pitching wealth set to go as we’ll see three 8-game winners, three 9-game winners, two 10-game winners, five 11-game winners, and 12-game winner Roy Halladay.  Halladay (12-2, 3.06) will take the mound at home against the Yankees and Mike Mussina (11-3, 3.30) as the two teams square off in the first of four weekend games.  Also scheduled to go are Tom Glavine (11-3) vs. Bronson Arroyo (9-6), Jose Contreras (9-1) vs. Kenny Rogers (11-3), Carlos Zambrano (9-3) vs. Andy Pettitte (8-9), Josh Johnson (8-5) vs. Ian Snell (8-6), as well as Brandon Webb (10-3), Curt Schilling (11-3) and the two Great Santana’s, Ervin (11-3) and Johan (10-5).

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.