Baseball Today - April 26
Thu, Apr 26, 2007
By Associated Press
Detroit at Chicago (8:11 p.m. EDT). Nate Robertson goes for his third win of the year for the Tigers. Oddsmakers have the White Sox listed as a -104 favorite. The total is set at 9.
STARS Wednesday
-Chase Utley, Phillies, went 5-for-5 with three RBIs in a 9-3 win over the Nationals.
-Barry Bonds and Pedro Feliz, Giants. Bonds went 2-for-4, with a homer and Feliz hit the go-ahead homer in San Francisco''s 6-4 win over the Dodgers.
-Jarrod Washburn, Mariners, pitched a three-hitter for his third career shutout, and Seattle beat Oakland 2-0.
-Willy Taveras, and Todd Helton, Rockies. Taveras went 5-for-6 and Helton went 4-for-5 with three RBIs to help Colorado beat the Mets 11-5.
-Chad Durbin, Tigers, struck out a career-high nine in eight innings, and Detroit defeated the White Sox 6-2.
OUT
Oft-injured Cubs pitcher Mark Prior will miss the entire 2007 season after surgery on his right shoulder. The 26-year-old Prior had surgery Tuesday by noted orthopedist Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala. Prior has been beset by injuries since his first full season in the majors in 2003. Prior is 42-29 with a 3.51 ERA in the majors and finished third in NL Cy Young voting in 2003, when he 18-6 with a 4.24 ERA and struck out 245 in 211 1-3 innings. He was the overall No. 2 pick in the 2001 draft by the Cubs.
MOWING EM DOWN
San Diego''s Jake Peavy fell one strike short of Tom Seaver''s major league record of 10 consecutive strikeouts and had 16 strikeouts through seven innings against Arizona on Wednesday night. Peavy had thrown 117 pitches through seven innings. The strikeout record for a nine-inning game is 20, shared by Roger Clemens (twice) and Kerry Wood. Peavy struck out the side in the second, third and fourth innings. San Diego''s previous record for consecutive strikeouts in a game was six, shared by four pitchers. Seaver set the consecutive strikeouts record for the New York Mets against San Diego on April 22, 1970, when he struck out his final 10 batters - and 19 in all. San Diego lost to Arizona 3-2.
741 AND COUNTING
Barry Bonds hit his 741st home run Wednesday night, moving within 14 of Hank Aaron''s career record. With no outs in the first inning, the San Francisco Giants slugger sent a 1-1 pitch from Randy Wolf of the Los Angeles Dodgers into right-center field for his seventh homer of the season. It was Bonds'' first homer off the left-handed Wolf since 1999, and his 29th at Dodger Stadium. The Giants beat the Dodgers 6-4 on Wednesday night.
INJURED
Milwaukee ace Ben Sheets left Wednesday''s game against the Cubs after three innings because of a strained right groin. The Brewers lost to the Cubs 9-3. ... Pirates second baseman Freddy Sanchez was taken out of Wednesday night''s lineup against Houston because of irritation in his right eye. Sanchez, last year''s NL batting champion with a .344 average, went to an eye doctor earlier in the day. Unidentified debris was removed from his eye. The problem was not believed to be serious.
STREAKS
San Francisco beat the Dodgers 6-4 on Wednesday night, extending its winning streak to seven. The Giants hadn''t won seven straight since June 19-25, 2004. ... The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Washington Nationals 9-3 on Wednesday night for their fifth straight win.
STRONG IN DEFEAT
Tim Hudson had a career-high 12 strikeouts and took a six-hit shutout into the ninth in Atlanta''s 4-3 loss to Florida on Wednesday night.
SPEAKING
''We struck out 19 guys? This was not your usual run-of-the-mill ballgame.'''' - Indians manager Eric Wedge said after Cleveland''s 8-7 victory over Texas in 11 innings. Both teams combined to strike out 32 times.
A's activate Johnson from DL in move that makes Piazza backup catcher
Wed, Apr 25, 2007
By Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Oakland Athletics activated first baseman Dan Johnson from the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday and optioned catcher Adam Melhuse to Triple-A Sacramento.
The move leaves designated hitter Mike Piazza as the backup to starting catcher Jason Kendall. Piazza has played 1,629 games at catcher in his career, but manager Bob Geren said in spring training that he hoped not to use him there.
That might change with Milton Bradley and Mark Kotsay on the disabled list, and Nick Swisher and Bobby Kielty nursing injuries. The short-handed A's decided they needed Johnson's bat in the lineup and he started at first base Wednesday against the Seattle Mariners.
Johnson had a strong rookie season for Oakland in 2005, batting .275 with 15 homers and 58 RBIs in 109 games but struggled from the start last season. He went 0-for-27 at the start of last season and hit .234 overall, spending most of the second half in the minors.
Johnson opened the season on the disabled list with a torn labrum in his left hip. He stayed in Arizona for extended spring training before going to Sacramento for two games of a rehab assignment.
Melhuse appeared in only three games this year, going 1-for-6.
Sheets leaves game with strained right groin
Wed, Apr 25, 2007
By Associated Press
CHICAGO -- Milwaukee Brewers ace Ben Sheets left Wednesday's game against the Chicago Cubs after three innings because of a strained right groin.
In the bottom of the third, Sheets reached down to tag out Ryan Theriot at third base after the Cubs player tried to advance on an overthrow.
Sheets gave up four hits and no runs on a damp, 44-degree day at Wrigley Field. The start of the game was delayed 71 minutes by rain.
Sheets has now gone four starts without a victory. His lone win came in the April 2 season opener when he threw a two-hitter against the Dodgers.
Elmer Dessens replaced Sheets to start the bottom of the fourth.
Phils option Smith to minors
April 26th, 2007
Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - The Philadelphia Phillies optioned pitcher Matt Smith to their Triple-A affiliate in Ottawa and recalled pitcher Fabio Castro on Thursday.
The 27-year-old Smith recorded a dismal 11.25 earned run average in nine games for the Phillies this season. He was acquired by Philadelphia last summer as part of the trade that sent Bobby Abreu and the late Cory Lidle to the New York Yankees.
Smith had a 2.08 ERA in 14 games with Philadelphia in 2006.
Castro, 22, was 2-0 with a 3.24 ERA in six appearances for Ottawa this season.
Astros' White goes on DL, replaced by Randolph
Thu, Apr 26, 2007
By Associated Press
PITTSBURGH -- Left-hander Stephen Randolph's contract was purchased by the Houston Astros from Triple-A Round Rock on Thursday, a day after reliever Rick White was injured warming up in the bullpen during a 16-inning game.
White, one of the Astros' most reliable relievers this season, strained a muscle in his left side while warming up to pitch the ninth inning of the 4-3 loss to Pittsburgh on Wednesday night. With White unavailable, Astros closer Dan Wheeler ended up pitching the ninth and 10th innings.
Randolph, 33, was 2-0 with an 0.84 ERA, striking out 18 and allowing six hits in 12 innings during five games at Round Rock. He was 10-6 with a 4.89 ERA in 95 appearances with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2003-04, including an 8-1 record in 2003.
The right-handed White is 1-0 with a 1.54 ERA in eight games.
White was one of two players placed on the disabled list after getting hurt in the PNC Park bullpens on Wednesday. Pirates catcher Humberto Cota injured his left shoulder while warming up relievers and was replaced on the 25-man roster Thursday by Ryan Doumit.
Hunter hit in mouth by pitch
Thu, Apr 26, 2007
By Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota Twins star Torii Hunter was hit in the mouth by a pitch from Kansas City's Zack Greinke on Thursday and was taken to a hospital for further examination.
Leading off the bottom of the second inning, Hunter took a 2-2 fastball directly to the mouth. After gathering himself, he took a couple of steps toward Greinke.
Hunter then dropped to the turf near home plate as manager Ron Gardenhire and Twins medical staff ran onto the field.
A stunned-looking Hunter needed a towel to clean up the blood, and Greinke and Royals infielders came over to check on him. After a few minutes, Hunter walked off the field on his own power and received a standing ovation.
Hunter began the day with a 12-game hitting streak and was tied for the major league lead with 13 doubles. He was batting .315 and tied for the team leads with four home runs and 16 RBIs.
White Sox/Tigers game rained out
April 26th, 2007
Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Thursday's game between the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers was postponed due to rain.
The teams have not scheduled a makeup date yet.