MLB News and Notes September 10

Notes from Sunday's games
September 9, 2007

MINNESOTA: C Joe Mauer went 1-for-3 with a walk in his first start since Aug. 25. Although Mauer's sore left hamstring limited his running, manager Ron Gardenhire was pleased with Mauer's catching performance. ``He's 75 percent, as they say,'' Gardenhire said. ``He didn't run much. He put a good swing on the ball and did a good job behind the plate.'' ... The Twins scored 22 runs over the three-game series in Chicago and are batting .275 (73-for-265) over their last seven games. ``We had a good series swinging the bats,'' Gardenhire said. ``We scored a lot of runs.''

CHICAGO: DH Jim Thome hit his 498th career home run in the eighth inning. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen doesn't believe Thome will gain extra satisfaction hitting 500 against the Indians, who will be coming to town on Monday. ``I don't think Thome has anything against the Indians,'' Guillen said. ``To be honest, Thome put the Cleveland Indians back on the baseball map when he was there. I bet you when (Thome) goes to Hall of Fame there is no doubt he'll retire wearing a Cleveland Indians hat and people have to respect that.'' ... Jon Garland has allowed just two earned runs his last two starts.

SEATTLE: C Kenji Johjima met the media after Sunday's game with a massive head bandage after being hit on the back of the helmet by a Jason Grilli pitch, but quickly discarded the mummy-like wrap and acknowledged that he was fine. ``I did that myself in the trainer's room to impress people,'' Johjima joked though an interpreter. ``I'm OK, although I don't seem to remember going 0-for-4.'' ... DH Richie Sexson, who returned from a hamstring injury on Saturday, left Sunday's game after two plate appearances with the same problem. ``It's pretty clear that he's not right,'' manager John McLaren said. ``We'll get him examined again when we get home.''

DETROIT: The Tigers are 13,862 fans away from setting a single-season record, beating the attendance mark of 2,704,794 fans set at Tiger Stadium in 1984, when Detroit went on to win the World Series. ... In his Tigers debut, LHP Clay Rapada faced only one batter - Raul Ibanez - and was taken out after giving up a three-run homer. Rapada, recalled from Triple-A Toledo on Saturday, was the player to be named from the Chicago Cubs to complete the Craig Monroe trade. ... OF Magglio Ordonez was 2-for-4 with three RBIs, maintaining his margin over Seattle OF Ichiro Suzuki (.355 to .351) for baseball's best batting average.

BOSTON: The Red Sox won the season series from Baltimore 12-6. The Red Sox are 27-9 against Baltimore over the past two seasons. ... In his four career starts at Camden Yards, RHP Josh Beckett is 4-0 with a 2.05 ERA. ... 3B Mike Lowell ended a 2-for-20 slump and collected his 102nd and 103rd RBIs of the season with a third-inning single. ... Boston improved to 21-21 in one-run games with Sunday's 3-2 victory.

BALTIMORE: The Orioles placed LHP Erik Bedard on the 60-day disabled list with a strained muscle in his right rib cage and purchased the contract of RHP Victor Zambrano from Pittsburgh. ... Sunday's defeat dropped the Orioles back to a season high-tying 20 games under .500. They have lost 16 of 19 and are assured a 10th straight non-winning season. ... Baltimore fell to 11-28 in one-run games. ... Orioles manager Dave Trembley announced his starting rotation for a three-game series with Los Angeles starting Tuesday: Victor Santos, Daniel Cabrera and Jon Leicester. Santos will be making his Orioles debut and Leicester will be making his third major league start.

TORONTO: 1B Lyle Overbay was held out of the lineup Sunday. Overbay, who spent a month and half on the DL this season, is in the midst of an 0-for-19 slump and is 0-for-6 against Sunday's starter James Shields. ... OF Reed Johnson made his first start in left field since Sept. 1.

TAMPA BAY: CF B.J. Upton made his third start at DH on Sunday. Upton fouled a pitch off his left foot in Friday's game and was a late scratch from Saturday's game. The Devil Rays are 3-0 when Upton starts at DH. ... Saturday's pinch-hit, game-winning homer made Upton 3-for-4 for his career as a pinch hitter. ... The Devil Rays purchased the contract of INF Jorge Velandia from Triple-A Durham. ... Tampa Bay is second in the AL with 169 home runs.

NEW YORK: Mariano Rivera has 25 or more saves in each of the last 11 seasons. Only Lee Smith has a longer streak of 25-plus. He had 13 straight years from 1983-95. ... In 21 career starts against the AL Central, Chien-Ming Wang is 15-1. ... Robinson Cano made several sparkling plays at second base on Sunday as well as contributing an RBI single. ... The Yankees were 9-1 against Kansas City this year, but that's not the best they've ever done. In 1998 they were 10-0 against the Royals. ... Alex Rodriguez hit his 52nd homer and 516th of his career on Sunday, moving him within five of Ted Williams and Willie McCovey for 15th on the all-time list.

KANSAS CITY: Until Rodriguez homered in the first inning Sunday, Zack Greinke had not been scored upon since allowing five runs to the Yankees on Aug. 5. ... John Bale established a new personal best as a reliever with seven strikeouts. His best as a starter is nine, with the Cincinnati Reds in 2003. ... Rookie 3B Alex Gordon is getting the hang of hitting with the bases loaded. He has hits in four of his last five at_bats in that situation after starting his major league career going 0-for-7 with the bases loaded. He is tied with Emil Brown for the team lead with 57 RBIs.

OAKLAND: CF Kevin Thompson was in the starting lineup for the first time since being claimed off waivers from the New York Yankees on Friday. He was batting leadoff and struck out in his first at bat. Thompson hit .190 with two RBIs with the Yankees before he was designated for assignment on Sept. 1. ... Oakland starters have a 6.64 ERA over the last 15 games.

TEXAS: RHP Brandon McCarthy threw without pain Sunday and is expected to start Tuesday against the Detroit Tigers. McCarthy has been on the DL since Aug. 15 with stress fracture in his right shoulder blade. ... RHP Luis Mendoza did some running Sunday one day after he was hit in the left knee with a line drive. ``He's still sore, but there's no damage,'' manager Ron Washington said.

CLEVELAND: The Indians entered Sunday night's game 47-34 when they play errorless ball and 35-26 when they commit at least one miscue. They had 81 errors through their first 142 games after committing 118 last season - which was second-most in the AL. ``People who claim to know what they're talking about don't know how to look at defense in this game - and they never will,'' manager Eric Wedge said. ``It amazes me how ignorant people can be when it comes to defense in baseball. They think they can just look at numbers and think that it's a good team or a bad team. And that couldn't be further from the truth. It's very misleading.'' ... Joe Borowski, who came in with a league-leading 40 saves, had allowed only three of 29 inherited runners to score and retired his first batter in all but seven of his first 57 appearances. ``He understands how important that first hitter of the inning is, particularly in the ninth,'' Wedge said. ``But the only stat that matters is saves, and he's leading the league.''

LOS ANGELES: Switch-hitting CF Gary Matthews, batting just .180 right-handed and .258 overall, wasn't in the starting lineup for the second straight night because Cleveland was starting a lefty - albeit struggling rookie Aaron Laffey. ``I think he's putting too much pressure on himself offensively right now because he's swinging at a lot of pitches that aren't in the strike zone,'' hitting coach Mickey Hatcher said. ``When Gary got here, I told him, 'If you hit .270, drive in around 80 runs and play good defense for us, it's going to be a good year.' A lot of it is just telling him that he's helped us get where we are, and that we've won a lot of games because of his defense.'' ... C Mike Napoli made his first start behind the place since July 27, when he strained his right hamstring on a steal of second base. The Angels went 25-16 and built their AL West lead from four to nine games with backup Jeff Mathis and rookie Ryan Budde filling the void.

HOUSTON: The Astros left 29 runners on base in the series. ... Houston has hit a home run in 10 of its last 11 games. ... 1B Lance Berkman went 2-for-4 and is batting .297 (11-for-37) with four homers and six RBIs in his last 10 games. ... CF Hunter Pence went 0-for-5 and finished 2-for-14 in the series.

NEW YORK: C Ramon Castro (lower back arthritis) went 2-for-4 and drove in a run in rehab game with Triple-A New Orleans on Saturday night. He was expected to play for Class-A Brooklyn on Sunday. ``He's starting to move around a little bit and hopefully he can get some at_bats so we can see where he is moving forward,'' manager Willie Randolph said. ... 3B David Wright got the day off. Ruben Gotay started in his place. ... The Mets swept a home three-game series from the Astros for the first time since April 11-14, 2005. It was New York's second sweep of any length at Shea Stadium this season. ... RHP Pedro Martinez on his role if the NL East-leading Mets reach the postseason: ``I don't want to think that far ahead but I can tell you one thing for sure, I want to be part of that team that's out there.'' ... New York (81-61) is 20 games over .500 for the first time since it finished 97-65 last year.

LOS ANGELES: SS Rafael Furcal got the day off, giving him two full days including Monday's off day. Furcal is in an 0-for-16 funk and nursing a tender ankle. ``He can regroup a little bit,'' manager Grady Little said. ``It's been a long time. He's been in there every day. I think we'll see a fresh man come back on Tuesday.'' ... 3B Nomar Garciaparra batted eighth in his second start back from the DL. ``The hitters are making the lineup,'' Little said. ``He's coming back from injury. It's going to take him a few days.'' ... Juan Pierre went 0-for-4, ending his 10-game hitting streak.

SAN FRANCISCO: RHP Matt Cain has never beaten the Dodgers, going 0-3 in his first five starts. ... SS Omar Vizquel returned to the lineup after sitting out Saturday with food poisoning. ... Tyler Walker (1-0), back after reconstructive elbow surgery, pitched the eighth for his first win since May 19, 2006, with Tampa Bay. ... RHP Dan Giese was thrilled with his major league debut Saturday, throwing two perfect innings. He had 10 people in the stands, family and friends who made the trip north from Orange County. ``It's so much anticipation leading up to it,'' he said. ``I was glad to get out there. I was really nervous in the bullpen, but once I got out there it's the same game.''

FLORIDA: The Marlins finished 9-9 in the season series against Philadelphia. ... The Marlins hit three home runs, giving them 182 and tying the club record set last year. ... Philadelphia's Jamie Moyer joined New York's Tom Glavine as the only pitchers to go 4-0 against the Marlins in a season. Moyer's seven career wins against the Marlins trail only Jason Schmidt, who is 8-0 against Florida.

PHILADELPHIA: LHP Cole Hamels played catch for the second straight day and manager Charlie Manuel hoped to have his ace throw off the mound either Tuesday or Wednesday. Hamels (14-5, 3.50) has been out since Aug. 16 with a strained left elbow. ... LHP Jamie Moyer improved to 7-0 with a 3.05 ERA in seven career starts against the Marlins. ... SS Jimmy Rollins went 2-for-5 for his NL-best 56th multi-hit game of the season. ... C Carlos Ruiz homered and tied his career high with three hits. ... The Phillies are 17-8 in their last 25 games against left-handers.

WASHINGTON: SS Felipe Lopez was given a day off. D'Angelo Jimenez made only his third start there and hit leadoff for the first time this season. He also has five starts at 2B. ... The Nationals snapped an eight-game road losing streak by improving to 2-7 at Atlanta. ... RHP Jason Bergmann has won two straight starts and three straight decisions.

ATLANTA: Manager Bobby Cox said RHP Buddy Carlyle will start on Tuesday at the New York Mets. Cox waited to announce the starter in case Carlyle was needed in relief during the weekend. LHP Jo-Jo Reyes was the alternate starter if needed. ... Cox had two lineups in case SS Edgar Renteria had soreness in his right ankle. Renteria, who came off the DL on Friday, started Saturday night and said he was fine for the second straight start. Renteria was 0-for-3, which dropped his batting average to .335.

CUBS: Manager Lou Piniella is rethinking his idea of holding back RHP Carlos Zambrano a day so he can face the Cardinals on Friday, rather than the Astros on Thursday. Zambrano won for the first time since July 29 by beating the Pirates 5-1 on Saturday night. Zambrano would work on his usual four days' rest if he pitches Thursday. ... Pirates RHP Matt Morris was 0-5 against the Cubs since 2005 before beating them 10-5 on Sunday. ... Alfonso Soriano on the Cubs falling out of first place after going 6-9 since Aug. 25: ``It doesn't feel good, but there are 20 games left and this was only one game. We can come back and finish in first place.''

PIRATES: The Pirates have won 12 of their last 16 at home against the Brewers, who arrive for a three-game series starting Monday. The Brewers are 19-40 at PNC Park, which opened in 2001. ... OF-C Ryan Doumit will likely miss the rest of the season with a sprained right ankle. ... The only Pirates farm club that reached the postseason, Class-A Hickory, was eliminated in a three-game South Atlantic League playoff series by West Virginia. ... Interim GM Brian Graham on Sunday defended the prospect-thin Pirates farm system, insisting it has produced not only more major leaguers, but more quality major leaguers, than any other club in recent seasons. The thin farm system was one of the main reasons why former GM Dave Littlefield was fired on Friday.

MILWAUKEE: Because Triple-A Nashville was eliminated from the Pacific Coast League playoffs on Saturday, Milwaukee plans to recall OF Tony Gwynn Jr. and Laynce Nix. Gwynn hit a combined .274 over 113 at_bats in two different stints with Milwaukee this season and .286 in 126 at_bats with the Sounds. Nix, who strained an oblique muscle in spring training, hit .268 with 24 homers and 74 RBIs for Nashville. They are scheduled to join the team in Pittsburgh on Monday. ... The Brewers activated RHP Claudio Vargas from the 15-day disabled list on Sunday. Vargas had been on the DL since Aug. 25 with a strained lower back. He is 10-4 with a 5.13 ERA in 25 games. ... Prince Fielder went 2-for-5 Sunday to extend his hitting streak to eight games.

CINCINNATI: SS Alex Gonzalez's left lower leg was heavily wrapped Sunday, a day after he fouled two balls off his lower shin. He left Saturday's game after the sixth inning. ``It's nasty looking,'' manager Pete Mackanin said. ``It looks like it's eight different colors. It's not pretty.'' ... The Reds activated INF Pedro Lopez from the 15-day DL. Lopez had been out since July 26 after his left cheekbone was fractured when he was hit by a pitch from Milwaukee RHP Matt Wise a day earlier. Lopez hit .184 in 11 games before his injury.

SAN DIEGO: Manager Bud Black said C Michael Barrett didn't adhere to Brian Giles' signal to slide when Barrett was thrown out at the plate in the fourth inning Sunday. ``I made a baserunning mistake,'' Barrett said. ``Your instincts tell you to slide, but there were other things on my mind, whether to take the catcher out.'' ... The Padres have lost two-of-three in consecutive series to Arizona and Colorado. Black isn't concerned as the Padres begin a three-game series with the Dodgers in Los Angeles on Tuesday night. ``We're 2-4 on this trip and we're not happy about it,'' Black said. ``A lot of teams would like to trade places with us.'' ... Black was encouraged by the outing of RHP Chris Young, who allowed two hits and three runs over five innings in suffering his first loss in five starts at Coors Field.

COLORADO: Manager Clint Hurdle still isn't sure who the Rockies will pitch Wednesday in Philadelphia. It may be LHP Mark Redman or RHP Ramon Ortiz. ``We may pick three relievers and go at it that way and try to get to the fifth or sixth (inning),'' Hurdle said. ... Asked if the recent rash of injuries was a sign from the baseball gods, Hurdle shrugged his shoulders. ``I don't believe in baseball gods,'' he said. ``It's not going to be woe is us.'' ... 1B Todd Helton became the first player in major league history with 35 or more doubles in 10 straight seasons with his double to left-center in the sixth inning Sunday. ... Colorado has lost just one home series since the end of May.

ST. LOUIS: RHP Kip Wells threw four-plus innings of two-hit relief on Sunday. He struck out four and hit a batter in place of starter Brad Thompson, who lasted just two innings. ... Former Arizona infielder Brian Barden recorded his first hit for the Cardinals and first since April 8 for the Diamondbacks at Washington. ... Albert Pujols was 6-for-12 with three doubles, a triple and four RBIs in the Cardinals' three losses to Arizona. ... Miguel Cairo's third-inning triple was his first of the season. ... St. Louis outscored Arizona 11-1 in the third inning of the team's three games.

ARIZONA: RF Justin Upton's two-run homer in the seventh inning have him his first career multi-RBI game. ... RHP Bob Wickman made his Diamondbacks debut, pitching a scoreless fifth inning in his first appearance since Aug. 23 for Atlanta. ``It didn't take me long to get loose,'' said Wickman, who had not pitched off a mound for nearly two weeks before a pair of bullpen sessions on Friday and Saturday. ... Chris Young's 29 homers ranks second among all rookies. ... Tony Clark has hit in five straight games, including a two-run double that gave the Diamondbacks a 6-4 lead in the seventh.