The Indians on Tuesday inked starter Cliff Lee to a three-year, $14 million extension that includes a club option for 2010.  Lee, obtained along with Grady Sizemore and Brandon Phillips in the deal that sent Bartolo Colon to Montreal in 2002, is 44-25 lifetime with a 4.47 ERA. 

 

Ricky Ledee, one of the worst late season acquisitions in baseball history when the Giants acquired him from Philadelphia in exchange for Felix Rodriguez in July of 2004, was picked up off waivers by the New York Mets on Tuesday.  Ledee, who batted just .113 with 20 strikeouts in 53 at bats for San Francisco in ’04, gives New York an experienced left handed bat off the bench.  The Mets are Ledee’s 7^th major league team.   

 

…and Notes

 

The Diamondbacks, without a lefty on the major league roster for several weeks earlier in the year when Terry Mulholland was on the DL, are once again the only team without a southpaw after designating Randy Choate for assignment on Monday.  Doug Slaten, currently with Tucson, is the only left hander on the 40-man roster.

 

The Rangers, the only team in the majors without a player currently on the disabled list, are watching newly acquired Kip Wells’ sore shoulder closely.  He will pitch on Friday if he is not shelved before then. 

 

After giving up 4 runs on 10 hits in 4 innings on Monday, Francisco Liriano’s ERA against the Tigers in four appearances is 7.46 (15.2 IP, 24 H, 13 ER).  Against everyone else, that mark is 1.39.  However, Liriano, after missing his previous start, is now out indefinitely with forearm inflammation and the team has recalled highly touted pitcher Matt Garza to make the start on Friday.  At three minor league stops this year, Garza is 14-4 with a 1.99 ERA (135.2 IP, 87 H, 32 BB, 154 K). 

 

Prior to that move, the Twins on Monday became the third team this season to release Erubiel Durazo.  The slugger who is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, batted .264 with 1 HR and 3 RBI in 53 at bats for the Rochester Red Wings after previously having been released by both the Rangers and Yankees.  Overall for the season, Durazo has averaged .286 in 192 AB with 5 HR and 25 RBI at three different minor league stops while posting on-base percentages of .372, .400 and .400.  Durazo could make an interesting addition for a team looking to add a cheap left handed bat off the bench down the stretch.

 

Daniel Cabrera returned to the majors on Tuesday night after making four starts for Ottawa, making his 17^th start of the season for Baltimore. He pitched 7 innings, giving up 2 runs (1 earned) on 5 hits to up his record to 5-7.   However, despite missing three weeks and walking just one batter in the contest, Cabrera still leads the AL in walks with 76.  Barry Zito trails him with 70 while Carlos Zambrano leads Doug Davis in the NL, 85 to 76. 

 

Down on the Farm – Alexis Gomez hit four home runs on Monday in the Toledo Mud Hens’ 15-8 win over Columbus.  That was one more home run than he’d hit in his previous 138 minor league at bats this year and three more than he’s hit in 138 career major league at bats.  Bubby Trammel was the last Mud Hen to hit 4 in a game, turning the trick 9 years ago today on August 9, 1997.  Josh Phelps (20), Ryan Ludwick (21) and Chris Shelton (1) also homered in the game for the Mud Hens who lead the International League with 121 HR on the year.

 

Home Run Trivia Question – Carlos Delgado, on September 25, 2003, was the most recent major leaguer to hit 4 home runs in a single game and Bobby Lowe on May 30, 1894 was the first to do it.  Ed Delahanty also hit 4 in a game on July 13, 1896, but can you name the first major league player to hit four in a game in the modern era (post-1900)? (answer below)

Milestones

With two hits on Tuesday, Ken Griffey Jr. tied Ryne Sandberg for 100th on the all-time list with 2,386 career hits.

Alex Rodriguez’ 23rd home run of the season on Tuesday was the 452nd of his career, tying him with Carl Yastrzemski for 31st all-time. He is one behind injured teammate Gary Sheffield on the career list.

Countdown to 3,000 – Craig Biggio had one hit on Tuesday and is now 99 away from 3,000 for his career.

 

The Longest Streak Pt I – The Dodgers scored 2 in the 7^th and another in the 8^th in a come-from-behind victory over the Rockies on Tuesday as they extended their winning streak to 11 straight games, the longest current streak in the majors.  Greg Maddux pitched 6 strong innings in his second start with Los Angeles, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits but left trailing 2-1.  Wilson Betemit’s 3^rd home run with L.A. tied the game and sparked the 7^th inning comeback as the Dodgers pulled even with the Reds for the Wild Card lead and now trail San Diego in the West by just a half a game.  Brett Tomko got the win and Jonathan Broxton and Takashi Saito finished up with a scoreless inning each as Maddux remained 1 win shy of Steve Carlton for 10^th on the all-time victory list with 328. 

 

The Longest Streak Pt IIa – The Kansas City Royals were up by two in the ninth with one out but nevertheless faced an unenviable situation with David Ortiz standing at the plate representing the tying run.  On deck stood the red hot Manny Ramirez, who earlier in the game had extended his hitting streak to 23 games.  On the mound stood Ambiorix Burgos, 16 of 26 in save opportunities on the year for K.C.  On a 3-2 pitch, after a long battle, Ortiz drew a walk to bring up Ramirez as the potential winning run.  Burgos, however, was equal to the task, striking out Manny and getting Kevin Youkilis to ground into a game-ending force, ending the Royals’ losing streak at 4 straight games.  Ramirez was 2-for-4 in the loss and is now batting .388 (33-for-85) since he last went hitless.    The loss for the Red Sox, combined with the White Sox come-from-behind win over the Yankees, dropped Boston a game behind Chicago in the Wild Card race.  They remain 2 games back of New York in the East.

 

The Longest Streak Pt IIb – The Oakland A’s ran their winning streak to 6 straight on Tuesday, beating Texas 7-6 while the Angels kept pace in the West, remaining 3 games behind the A’s after knocking off the Indians 5-4 to win their 4^th straight.  Texas and the Tribe are now tied for the longest current losing streak in the majors at four games each.  The Rangers trail Oakland by 6 ½ games.  The Indians meanwhile are only 8 ½ games better than Kansas City.

 

Quick Hits

 

Jim Thome has 14 hits in his last 31 at bats (.451) with 2 HR, 4 RBI, 7 K and 11 BB. 

 

Dave Roberts has 19 hits in his last 42 AB (.452) and is batting .389 (28-for-72) since July 17.

 

Matt Murton has 9 hits in his last 18 at bats (.500) with 2 HR and 9 RBI and is batting .397 (27-for-68) since July 2. 

 

David Dellucci is 12-for-his-last-24 (.500) and is 19-for-49 (.388) since July 21.

 

Paul LoDuca is batting .423 (44-for-104) since July 1. 

 

Brian McCann has 16 hits in his last 32 AB (.500) and is batting .391 (36-for-92) since July 8 despite going just 2-for-17 from July 23-29. 

 

Stephen Drew has 14 hits in his last 29 at bats (.483) with 2 HR and 8 RBI to raise his average to .341.

 

Jeremy Accardo has not allowed a run in his last six appearances (10.2 IP, 6 H, 4 BB, 6 K) since giving up 2 runs in 2/3 of an inning in his Blue Jays debut. Accardo was acquired from San Francisco for Shea Hillenbrand and Vinnie Chulk.   

 

Chulk, meanwhile, has not allowed a run in 6 of his 7 appearances with the Giants since the deal (8 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 10 K), allowing just 2 runs in 2/3 of an inning on August 1 against Washington.  Overall, Chulk has a 2.00 ERA (18 IP, 4 ER, 14 H, 3 BB, 18 K) in his last 15 outings since being recalled from Syracuse. 

 

Hillenbrand is 15-for-62 (.242) with 2 HR, 2 RBI and 0 BB since the deal.

 

Bronson Arroyo is 0-4 with a 5.31 ERA in his last 9 starts.

 

Steve Finely has 4 hits in his last 25 at bats (.160) since July 25. 

 

Adam Jones has 1 hit in his last 14 AB (.071) and just 3 in his last 24 (.125).

 

Pablo Ozuna has just 2 hits in his last 29 at bats (.069), dropping his season average from .432 to .342. 

 

Gregg Zaun is 1-for-his-last-17 (.059) and has just 5 hits in his last 42 AB (.119) since July 19. 

 

Choo Freeman is 0-for-his-last-14 and has just 4 hits in his last 26 at bats (.154) since July 22.

 

Mike Napoli is 0-for-his-last-15 and has just 9 hits in his last 76 at bats (.118) since July 2 to see his batting average plummet from .310 to .234. 

 

Mark Bellhorn is 0-for-his-last-16 and just 1-for-his-last-24 (.042).  He is batting just .140 (16-for-114) since June 2.

 

Kevin Millar is 0-for-his-last-20 and has just 3 hits in his last 37 AB (.081). 

 

Home Run Trivia Answer – Lou Gehrig was the first major leaguer in the modern era (post-1900) to hit four home runs in a single when he did it on June 3, 1932. 

 

Juiced – The Update – Jose Canseco, out the lineup from last Wednesday, did not make the trip to Yuma over the weekend, but rejoined the team in Fullerton.  He went 0-for-3 with 3 K in the Flyers’ 3-0 win over Long Beach and is batting just .222 with 3 HR and 20 K in 45 AB with the Armada through Monday’s game.  

 

On Deck – With several good matchups on tap for Wednesday, DN&N finds the Johan Santana (12-5, 3.22) versus Jeremy Bonderman (11-5, 3.81) contest in the finale of the big Twins/Tigers showdown the most intriguing.  Bonderman, despite going 3-1 in his last 5 starts, has struggled, posting a 5.17 ERA during that span.  He’s only 4-4 with a 4.73 ERA at home this season, but has gone 10-1 with a 3.53 mark in night games.  Santana, meanwhile, has posted a 4.90 ERA in seven starts since July 3.  He is 7-0 with a 2.72 ERA at home but is just 5-5 with a 3.73 mark on the road. 

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.