Tuesday's streaking and slumping MLB starters
COVERS.com
Streaking
Glen Perkins, Minnesota Twins (12-3, 3.96)
Perkins is on some kind of roll. He has taken just one personal loss since June 4.
The rookie isn’t an overpowering starter with just 63 strikeouts in a little over 130 innings, but has solid command of the strike zone.
Perkins ranks 11th in MLB money standings, having earning more than nine units for bettors on the year.
Slumping
Joe Saunders, L.A. Angels (14-7, 3.67)
All-Star Joe Saunders ripped through the end of July and the first part of August, helping the Angels to wins in five straight outings. However, since then he’s allowed 15 runs over his last three starts – all Los Angeles losses.
Saunders took a comebacker off his pitching hand in his last start, but says his hand is fine.
Sept/Oct Pitchers Report
By Marc Lawrence
September/October Good Month And Bad Month Pitchers
In keeping with our game plan of acknowledging good pitchers and avoiding bad pitchers during their GOOD and BAD months of the season, below is the list of arms to watch throughout the month of September. Note that the W-L records are those of the team in which the listed pitcher started over the previous three seasons.
Thanks to my good friend Tom Freese, handicapper par excellence, I present a list of the BEST and WORST pitcher performance records during the months of September/October over the past three years. And, hey beer man, two more for the road. Enjoy...
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER PITCHERS
Josh Beckett - Boston: 14-5
Boof Bonser - Minnesota: 7-3
Jose Contreras - Chicago White Sox: 15-6
Rich Hill - Chicago Cubs: 10-3
Chuck James - Atlanta: 8-3
Cliff Lee - Cleveland: 8-3
Roy Oswalt - Houston: 16-5
Kenny Rogers - Detroit: 14-6
C.C. Sabathia - Milwaukee: 13-6
Jeff Suppan - Milwaukee: 15-7
Dontrelle Willis - Detroit: 13-6
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER BAD PITCHERS
Eric Bedard - Seattle: 3-9
Kyle Davies - Kansas City: 2-10
Tom Gorzelanny - Pittsburgh: 3-7
Edwin Jackson - Tampa Bay: 3-7
Noah Lowry - San Francisco: 3-8
Matt Morris - No Team: 5-13
Scott Olsen - Florida: 3-8
Niese to make debut for Mets on Tuesday
MIAMI (AP) -Top New York Mets pitching prospect Jonathon Niese will be called up from Triple-A New Orleans to make his major league debut in the heat of the playoff race Tuesday against Milwaukee.
Eight other players also will join the Mets on Monday when the active roster can be expanded to 40 players. They include pitching prospect Robert Parnell, three relievers and infielder-outfielder Marlon Anderson, who will be activated after spending a month on the disabled list with a hamstring injury.
Niese will take the rotation spot left vacant when right-hander John Maine was placed on the 15-day disabled list a week ago because of a bone spur in his right shoulder.
``We think very highly of Jonathan Niese,'' vice president for development Tony Bernazard said Sunday. ``He's a 21-year-old that we expect to be an important member of this organization.
``You have to perform at some point, and it happens to be Tuesday against a very good team. Let's see what he has. We'll find out a lot about where we're at with him in the next month.''
Niese was a seventh-round draft pick in 2005. The left-hander went 5-1 with a 3.40 ERA in seven starts for New Orleans.
The NL East-leading Mets also will bolster their shaky bullpen. Joining them Monday will be recently acquired right-hander Al Reyes from Double-A Binghamton and two pitchers from New Orleans - right-hander Carlos Muniz and left-hander Ricardo Rincon.
``We're getting some extra bodies,'' manager Jerry Manuel said. ``We're a little banged up, just like everybody else this time of year. We have to do what we can to keep getting it done.''
Closer Billy Wagner, sidelined since Aug. 3 with a strained elbow, is scheduled for a bullpen session Monday in New York. If it goes well, the next step might be for Wagner to pitch in a game for the Mets' Class-A affiliate in Brooklyn.
``He's improving,'' Bernazard said. ``He's feeling much better.''
Also joining the Mets from New Orleans will be right-hander Parnell, infielder Ramon Martinez, catcher Gustavo Molina and infielder Argenis Reyes.
Baseball Today
SCOREBOARD
Tuesday, Sept. 2
New York Mets at Milwaukee (8:05 p.m. EDT) Mets pitching prospect Jonathon Niese makes his major league debut in the heat of a playoff race against Milwaukee. Niese will take the rotation spot left vacant when right-hander John Maine was placed on the 15-day disabled list.
STARS
Monday
-Cliff Lee, Indians, became the club's first 20-game winner in 34 years, pitching a five-hitter for his second career shutout in a 5-0 win over the Chicago Cubs.
-Roy Oswalt, Astros, allowed four hits and came within two outs of a complete game in Houston's 3-0 win over the Chicago Cubs.
-Alex Rodriguez, Yankees, had four RBIs, sparking a scoring barrage with a two-run single in the first inning and adding an RBI in each of the next two in a 13-9 win over Detroit.
-Jorge De La Rosa, Rockies, pitched seven shutout innings and had an RBI single in a 4-0 win over San Francisco.
-Greg Maddux, Dodgers, tied Roger Clemens for eighth on the career list with his 354th victory, leading Los Angeles to a 5-2 win over San Diego.
CYCLICAL
Stephen Drew and Adrian Beltre became the first players to hit for the cycle on the same day since Bobby Veach of the Detroit Tigers and George Burns of the New York Giants did it on Sept. 17, 1920, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Beltre homered in the second off Texas Rangers starter Matt Harrison, then singled in the fourth and sixth off Harrison. He doubled in the seventh off Luis Mendoza and tripled in the eighth off Josh Rupe to become the fourth Mariners player ever to hit for the cycle. Drew singled in the first, tripled in the third and homered in the fifth against St. Louis Cardinals starter Joel Pineiro. Drew then added a pair of doubles.
TURNAROUND TWENTY
Cliff Lee (20-2) became the first Indians pitcher to reach 20 wins since Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry went 21-13 in 1974. The left-hander's milestone win - his ninth straight - came exactly one year to the day that he was recalled from the minor leagues. Lee joined Perry and Hall of Famers Bob Feller and Bob Lemon in Cleveland's record book as the only 20-game winners, and he's only fourth 20-game winner in the American League since 2004.
SIDELINED
Brewers pitcher Ben Sheets was removed from the team's game against the Mets after five innings with "very, very slight'' tightness in his left groin. Sheets said it first tightened while he was warming up for the third inning, and manager Ned Yost removed him after 54 pitches and the Brewers up 1-0. The Mets rallied to win 4-2. ... The Yankees expect to activate RHP Joba Chamberlain (rotator cuff tendinitis) from the DL on Tuesday. They plan to use him in the bullpen for the rest of this season, letting him build up arm strength before becoming a starter again in the future.
STATS
The Braves have lost four straight and 17 of their last 21 games to fall 20 games under .500 for the first time since 1990, after losing 4-3 to the Marlins. It was the 29th consecutive one-run loss on the road since August 10, 2007, for the Braves, a major league record. ... Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia continued his torrid hitting, going 2-for-4 with a run scored. Pedroia, who hit .374 in August and closed the month going 9-for-12, scored 33 runs last month, the most for the Red Sox since Dom DiMaggio and Billy Goodwin had 35 in 1950, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Pedroia has 184 hits, a record for Red Sox second basemen, breaking Del Pratt's 1922 mark.
SPEAKING
"Watching him pitch, I've admired what he's done. He has never been overpowering, but he's always managed to keep the game at a manageable speed for himself. And when other guys maybe rear back and throw harder, he goes the other way. He tries to do it with finesse and feel, really plays on the hitter's emotion.'' -Dodgers manager Joe Torre on pitcher Greg Maddux, who tied Roger Clemens for eighth on career wins list with 354.