I'll be filling in for Jeff Erickson today & Wednesday...
Hell Boy:
- Jeremy Hellickson struck out 6 and allowed 2 earned runs over 7 innings, in a win over the Twins. He scattered 3 hits against a lineup without Joe Mauer or Justin Morneau. Against the wishes of many Rays fans, he'll be sent back down after tonight's spot start. There's been chatter that when Hellickson does come up for good, it will be to aid the bullpen, not the rotation.
Notables:
- Trevor Cahill pitched a complete game shutout against the Royals. He struck out 3, walked 4, and gave up only 3 hits. Cahill was helped by his defense, which turned 5 double-plays. For the A's, it was their 3 straight complete game... talk about giving the bullpen a rest.
- Yovani Gallardo dominated the Cubs hitters to the tune of 12 strikeouts, 2 hits, and 1 earned run over 6 innings. The Lambo walked 1 and kept batters off-balance all night, as he had his fastball, curve, and slider all working. His previous start against the start against the Reds (5 earned runs in 2.2 innings) is in the rear-view mirror like Tyreke Evans was driving.
- Tim Hudson pitched 6 innings of 1-run ball against the Mets, in a win. He had 3 strikeouts, 3 walks, and 6 hits. Hudson somewhat surprisingly, induced a season-high 10 fly balls. He has a 0.87 ERA over his last 3 starts, all wins.
- Johan Santana allowed 4 earned runs over 7 innings and struck out a season-high 11 Braves batters, in a loss opposite Hudson. The key to Santana's strikeouts was his change-up, which he threw for 10 swinging strikes.
- Brandon Morrow pitched 5.1 innings and struck out 9 Yankee batters, in a win. He also allowed 5 earned runs on 2 walks and 7 hits. Coming into the game, Morrow had a 3.25 ERA in home games and a 6.23 ERA in road games; this was a road game. Morrow has now won 3 starts in a row.
- Fausto Carmona won his 11th game, after he pitched 7 innings of 1-run ball against the Red Sox. He struck out 5, walked 1, and gave up 8 hits. This is a vast improvement from his last start, where he gave up 7 earned runs against the Yankees in only 2.2 innings.
- Travis Wood pitched 7 innings of shutout ball against the Pirates. He struck out 4, walked 1, and allowed only 2 hits in the win. Considering his fly ball tendencies, I expect Wood's 2.42 ERA to go up to around the 4.00 level, once he starts pitching more games at home (6 of his 7 starts have been on the road).
- Brett Myers pitched 6 innings and allowed 2 earned runs to the Cardinals, in a no-decision. He struck out 4, walked 4, and allowed only 3 hits. Myers recently signed a contract extension to stay with the Astros. He has now pitched at least 6 innings in all 22 of his starts this season.
- Jake Westbrook made his first start as a Cardinal Monday night. He struck out 7 Astros batters, walked 1, and allowed 2 earned runs over 6 innings, also in a no-decision. True to form, he generated 13 ground balls, 1 fly ball, and 1 line drive. Dave Duncan can have that sort of an effect.
- Livan Hernandez held the Diamondbacks to 1-run, over 7.1 innings, in a win. He struck out 5, walked 1, and allowed only 5 hits. At 35 years old, Hernandez is doing it with good control and pixie-dust.
- Nick Swisher stayed hot with 2 homers and 3 RBI against the Blue Jays. In his last 4 games, Swisher has 4 HRs and 6 RBI. He's batting a remarkable .301 on the season.
- Adrian Beltre also hit 2 homers Monday night, as he collected 5 RBI. Beltre has reached base in 17 straight games.
- Matt Joyce went 2-4 and collected 2 RBI. Joyce now has 12 RBI over his last 8 games.
- B.J. Upton stole his 29th, 30th, and 31st bases of the year. He's not that far off from having more stolen bases (31) than RBI (35).
- Rick Ankiel went 2-4 with 2 RBI in his second game as a Brave. Will Leitch went crazy.
- The Brewers were down right offensive as Prince Fielder (2 runs & 5 RBI), Casey McGehee (1 HR, 3 runs, & 4 RBI), Rickie Weeks (2 runs & 3 RBI), Ryan Braun (3 runs, & 2 RBI), and Corey Hart (3 runs & 1 RBI) all smacked the Cubs pitching around.
- Jeff Keppinger went 2-5 with 4 RBI. His 40 RBI and .293 batting average might not sound like much, but he's been useful in NL only leagues this season.
- Matt Kemp went 5-5 with 1 HR & 3 RBI. The batting average is down (.268), but the homers have been there (18) all along. He'll get to 20/20, but anything more than that may be tough, due to the lack of stolen bases (15).
Save Chances:
- Billy Wagner, converted (25). Struck out 1 in a clean 9th.
- Kevin Gregg, converted (24). Gave up a solo shot to Nick Swisher.
- Chris Perez, converted (13). Allowed 1 hit in a scoreless 9th.
- Dan Wheeler, converted (3). Got 2 clean outs. MFIKY had the day off.
- Sean Burnett, converted (1). Pitched 1.2 clean innings with 2 strikeouts. Drew Storen had pitched 3 of the last 4 games.
Other Closer Outings:
- Matt Lindstrom allowed 1 hit in a scoreless 9th.
- John Axford pitched a clean 9th.
Non-Closer Outings:
- Scott Downs pitched 1.2 scoreless innings. He struck out 1 and gave up 1 hit.
- Joba Chamberlain struck out 2 and walked 1, in a scoreless 9th.
- Daniel Bard struck out 1 in a clean 9th.
- The Twins bullpen (Ron Mahay, Anthony Slama, Jesse Crain, & Jose Mijares) pitched 2 scoreless innings.
- Arthur Rhodes pitched a clean 9th.
- Jonny Venters struck out 1 in a clean 7th.
- Takashi Saito gave up 2 hits in a scoreless 8th.
- LaTroy Hawkins (7th) & Trevor Hoffman (8th) each pitched scoreless innings with 1 hit allowed.
- Brandon Lyon allowed 1 hit in a scoreless 8th.
- Joel Hanrahan gave up a solo homer to Chris Heisey. He also struck out 2 batters in the 8th.
- Jason Motte pitched 1 inning and coughed up 2 earned runs on 2 walks and 1 hit.
- Sam Demel struck out 1 and gave up 1 hit in a scoreless 8th.
- Juan Gutierrez pitched a clean 9th.
Tough Days: If you're cold at the plate or pitching batting practice, we'll find you.
- A.J. Burnett's timer was set for 4 innings and in the 5th, he blew up. Burnett gave up 7 runs on 6 hits and 1 walk, in the 5th inning against the Blue Jays. He was pretty effective the first 4 innings.
- Randy Wells had very little go right against the Brewers. He pitched 4 innings and allowed 5 earned runs on 10 hits. He did strikeout 5 and walk none, but that's probably not much consolation to those who started him.
- Jay Bruce went 1-4 with 2 strike outs and is now batting .258. Bruce hasn't hit a homer since June 30th, he was batting .281 back then.
Lineup-ology/Injuries:
- Carlos Santana suffered what looked to be like a serious knee/leg injury, when Ryan Kalish collided with him at home plate. He had to be carted off the field and is probably out for quite a while. For those that haven't seen the video yet, his left knee/leg bent backwards in a way that knees/legs aren't supposed to.
- Kevin Youkilis tweaked his thumb and will have a MRI on it, after x-rays came back negative.
- Dan Johnson is on his way up from the minors to the Rays. Yes, that Dan Johnson. He hit 30 HRs with 95 RBI and a .303/.430/.624 batting line in Triple-A.
- Martin Prado was placed on the 15-Day DL with a fractured right pinky finger by the Braves. Diory Hernandez was recalled to take his spot.
- Mike Cameron was placed on the 15-Day DL with a strained abdominal muscle by the Red Sox. Daniel Nava was recalled to take his spot on the roster.
- Carlos Silva was placed on the 15-Day DL by the Cubs.
- Andy Sonnanstine was placed on the 15-Day DL with a left hamstring strain by the Rays. Jeremy Hellickson was recalled for a spot start.
- Justin Maxwell was recalled by the Nationals.
- James McDonald & Chris Snyder were activated by the Pirates.
Chicks Dig the Long Ball:
- Albert Pujols (26), Adam Dunn (26), Nick Swisher (21 & 22), Mark Teixeira (22), Vernon Wells (21), Adrian Beltre (18 & 19), Matt Kemp (18), Casey McGehee (15), Jason Kubel (13), Edwin Encarnacion (11), Will Venable (9), Chipper Jones (8), Chase Headley (8), Chris Heisey (7), Rajai Davis (5), & Ivan Rodriguez (2).
Stolen Bases:
- Michael Bourn (33), B.J. Upton (29, 30, & 31), Nyjer Morgan (29), Angel Pagan (24), Will Venable (18), Evan Longoria (15), Coco Crisp (14), Brandon Phillips (13), Hunter Pence (13), Daric Barton (4), Asdrubal Cabrera (3), & Reid Brignac (3).
Caught Stealing:
- Fred Lewis (4), Jason Bartlett (3), & Matt Joyce (2).