Saturday's Streaking and Slumping Starting Pitchers
Streaking
C.C. Sabathia (New York Yankees)
The biggest free agent acquisition of the offseason is pitching like a Cy Young candidate for the Yankees.
Sabathia (18-7, 3.31 ERA) has won his past eight decisions and has thrown nine straight quality starts. He hasn’t allowed more than three runs in a game since August 2, and has yielded just 13 earned runs over his past 65 1-3 innings. In his most recent start, a 10-1 win over Seattle, he allowed only one unearned run on four hits over seven innings.
Randy Wolf (Los Angeles Dodgers)
The Wolf Pack is making a return in Tinsletown.
Wolf (11-6, 3.24 ERA) has emerged as the most reliable member of the Dodgers rotation. The former Philly has won his past six decisions and has thrown eight straight quality starts. Over the past 56 innings he has allowed just 15 earned runs. The last time he took the mound, a 6-2 win over the Giants, he allowed just two solo home runs over six innings.
Slumping
Jason Berken (Baltimore Orioles)
The rookie was supposed to be an inning-eater for the Baltimore rotation, but he hasn’t even been able to do that this season.
Berken (5-12, 6.41 ERA) has been totally shelled in his past two outings, allowing 11 earned runs on 17 hits over his past 9 1-3 innings. In his most recent outing, a 9-3 loss to Boston, he gave up six earned runs on 10 hits in just three innings.
Lenny DiNardo (Kansas City Royals)
DiNardo should have stayed in the minors.
The 30 year old has been disasterous in three starts since being promoted. DiNardo (0-1, 8.22 ERA) has given up 14 earned runs over just 15 1-3 innings. But it could have been worse. Over that span, he also has given up 26 hits and walked 10.
If he wants to pick up a win this season, he must find a way to keep opponents from hitting .382 against him.
Baseball Today
SCOREBOARD
Saturday, September 26
Philadelphia at Milwaukee (7:05 p.m. EDT). The Phillies try to move closer to the NL East title when they face Braden Looper (13-7, 5.12 ERA) and the Brewers. Kyle Kendrick (2-1, 2.70) is expected to get the ball for Philadelphia after Pedro Martinez was scratched with lingering neck soreness.
STARS
Friday
-Alex Rodriguez, Yankees, homered, drove in four runs and tied a career high with three steals in a 9-5 victory over the Red Sox.
-Roy Halladay, Blue Jays, struck out nine in a seven-hitter, leading Toronto to a 5-0 win against the Mariners.
-Jake Peavy, White Sox, struck out eight in seven sharp innings to help Chicago to a 2-0 win over the Tigers.
-Prince Fielder and Mike Cameron, Brewers, each hit a three-run homer in an 8-4 win over the Phillies.
-Carlos Zambrano, Cubs, threw a two-hitter and drove in two runs in a 3-0 win at the Giants.
-Joey Votto, Reds, homered and drove in four runs as Cincinnati beat the Astros 10-4 for its fifth consecutive victory.
-Michael Cuddyer, Twins, hit his 30th homer and drove in two runs in a 9-4 victory at Kansas City.
-Javier Vazquez, Braves, pitched a three-hitter for his third complete game of the season, leading Atlanta to a 4-1 victory at Washington.
-Jeff Francoeur, Mets, hit a three-run homer and New York beat the Marlins 6-5 in Miami.
-Kevin Correia, Padres, tossed a six-hitter for his first career complete game, leading San Diego to a 4-0 win at Arizona.
-Gio Gonzalez, Athletics, allowed four hits in 6 1-3 innings during a 3-0 win against the Angels.
DOWN TO THE WIRE
Michael Cuddyer hit his 30th homer and Minnesota beat Kansas City 9-4 to move within two games of first-place Detroit in the AL Central. The Tigers lost 2-0 at the White Sox. Detroit and Minnesota meet in a four-game series beginning Monday at Comerica Park.
NOT SO FAST
Yorvit Torrealba hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning and Colorado edged St. Louis 2-1 on Friday night to prevent the Cardinals from becoming the first team in the majors to clinch their division. The Rockies stayed 3 1/2 games ahead of Atlanta in the wild-card race and ruined former Colorado slugger Matt Holliday's homecoming. St. Louis also could have secured the Central title with a Cubs loss, but Chicago won 3-0 at San Francisco.
SHAKY PHILLIES
Cliff Lee struggled again in Philadelphia's 8-4 loss to the Brewers, adding to the Phillies' woes. The defending World Series champions are auditioning potential replacements for struggling closer Brad Lidge and juggling their rotation with Pedro Martinez still bothered by a stiff neck. Lee allowed seven runs and nine hits in six innings to drop to 2-3 with a 6.35 ERA in his last six starts.
SHUTOUTS APLENTY
Roy Halladay, Carlos Zambrano and Kevin Correia each threw a shutout Friday night. Halladay struck out nine in a seven-hitter, leading Toronto to a 5-0 victory against Seattle and tying Kansas City's Zack Greinke for the major-league lead with his third shutout this year. Zambrano tossed a two-hitter in Chicago's 3-0 victory at San Francisco, and Correia had a six-hitter in San Diego's 4-0 win at Arizona. Also, the White Sox blanked the Tigers 2-0 and Oakland beat the Angels 3-0 with combined efforts.
SOMETHING HAD TO GIVE
Fausto Carmona pitched six strong innings and Cleveland ended its 11-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory over the Orioles. The Indians improved to 4-19 in September and avoided tying the franchise record of 12 straight losses set in 1931. The Orioles have lost eight consecutive games in their longest skid since a 10-game slide Sept. 17-26, 2008.
WORTH NOTING
The Dodgers' magic number for repeating as the NL West champion remained at four after a 3-1 loss at the Pirates. ... Alex Rodriguez's two-run homer in the third inning of a 9-5 victory against Boston was New York's team-record 127th at new Yankee Stadium. New York hit 126 homers at old Yankee Stadium in both 2004 and '05, according to STATS LLC. ... Ian Kinsler became the third second baseman in major league history with 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in a season when he connected in the eighth inning of Texas' 8-3 win against Tampa Bay.
SPEAKING
"I'm fine. Any time you take a ball off any part of your body, you're worried, but the tests came back fine.'' - Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester after he had to leave a 9-5 loss to the Yankees when he was struck near his right knee by Melky Cabrera's liner in the third inning. X-rays were negative, and Boston said Lester had a bruised quadriceps.