Saturday's streaking and slumping pitchers
By JUSTIN BANKS
Streaking
Shaun Marcum, Toronto Blue Jays (8-6, 3.60)
Marcum has been a picture of consistency lately. He is 3-1 in his last four overall and has relinquished more than two earned runs just once in that period.
Marcum, who has 109 strikeouts against 43 walks, has 16 K’s in his last three starts. He is 2-0 and has a 1.06 ERA in two career outings against the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Blue Jays are unbeaten in their last five overall and are 5-2 in Marcum’s past seven against the AL East.
Slumping
Sidney Ponson, New York Yankees (7-5, 5.13)
Ponson, who was acquired from the Texas Rangers in early June, has struggled since donning the pinstripes. He has just two triumphs in his last 10 and is 0-2 in his last three starts with a shaky 15.83 ERA.
Ponson is 0-2 in his last three road starts. He has conceded 17 earned runs and four homers in his last two starts. He also has four strikeouts against six walks in that period and is 3-4 with a 4.54 career-ERA against the Seattle Mariners.
The Yankees are 2-6 in their last eight versus a left-handed starter and are 2-5 in their last seven trips to Seattle.
Daniel Cabrera, Baltimore Orioles (8-8, 5.24)
Cabrera has just two triumphs in his last 10 starts and has conceded 13 earned runs in his last seven innings. He is 0-1 in his last three with a lofty 10.54 ERA.
Cabrera is 1-2 in his last five at home, including a loss to the New York Yankees in which he relinquished seven earned runs and one homer in 3.2 IP.
The Orioles are 3-14 in their last 17 overall and are 16-43 in their last 59 against the Oakland Athletics
White Sox lose Quentin to self-inflicted wrist injury
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO (AP)- American League home run leader Carlos Quentin has a broken right wrist stemming from his own temper, and the Chicago White Sox left fielder will have surgery Monday that could sideline him for the rest of the season.
Quentin was injured Monday night in Cleveland. After fouling off a pitch while batting against Cliff Lee, Quentin hit his right hand on the bat as he was holding it with his left.
"What did happen was kind of unfortunate. It's kind of something that, you know, I still have trouble believing that it happened that way," Quentin said Friday.
"My last at-bat, the second pitch I fouled off against Lee. Something I've done thousands of times since I was a kid. A little frustrated. I had the bat in my left hand and I just kind of hit down on the bat head with my right hand with a closed fist. I kind of hit a little bit low, nicked my wrist and finished the at-bat.
"Forty minutes later, I started feeling something in my wrist. I woke up the next morning and that was that. Something I've done a lot, and unfortunately it hit the bone perfectly. Not a good spot." White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen also said he doesn't expect third baseman Joe Crede to play again this season because of a bad back.
But the big news involved Quentin, who was removed from the lineup before Tuesday's game and sat out Wednesday. During the surgery, a screw will be inserted into the wrist, and he will be re-evaluated in two to three weeks. Quentin is batting .288 with 36 homers and a team-high 100 RBIs.
"The last two days we've gone over every scenario possible, every option possible. We've explored everything that would allow me to get on the field as fast as possible," Quentin said. "We're going with this option because it gives me a chance to get back on the field."
Quentin said he was also assured this approach would not have any long-range consequences for his wrist.
"It's unfortunate the way it happened. Players have to learn from that. Every time you get frustrated at the plate and all of the sudden you use you hands or your body, you're not going to win that one," Guillen said.
"You're always going to get hurt. And you're just not hurting yourself; you're hurting the ballclub. Right now, we just have to move on. We played two ballgames without him; we won one. I think we still have a strong lineup in the middle, and somebody has to pick it up."
Quentin came to the White Sox in an offseason trade with Arizona after an injury-filled 2007 season. He had shoulder surgery last October and after the December trade had to fight for a spot in spring training.
But unexpectedly, he blossomed into the team's surprising star, and Chicago has been on top in the AL Central for 127 days this season. Quentin also was picked for AL All-Star team.
Swinging the team's most consistent bat, Quentin was moved into the No. 3 spot in the batting order. The White Sox are 57-36 with him batting third.
"If not for him, we're probably five-to-10 games out. That's about the only thing I could say that sums it up," White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko said. "We have enough to win this division and get in the playoffs. It definitely would be a lot easier with him."
Nick Swisher moved to left field Friday night and Jermaine Dye remained in the No. 3 spot in the batting order. But Quentin's timely hitting and power will be missed
"You're talking about a guy who legitimately has a very good chance to win the MVP. When you take him out of the lineup, it kinds of changes everything up," designated hitter Jim Thome said. "It's very tough. We all probably get down about it, but you have to move on."
Quentin missed two games after he was hit on the left forearm by Boston's Josh Beckett on Aug. 11. When Quentin returned Aug. 14 and was plunked by Kansas City's Kyle Davies, Quentin became the first player hit by a pitch in six straight games since at least 1920, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Quentin has been hit 20 times in all this year, the most in the American League.
And this injury was self-inflicted.
"When I first found out, I was very disappointed and very upset about how it did happen," Quentin said. "It's a freak thing that happened."
Chicago said Quentin will be operated on by hand and wrist specialists, Dr. Mark Cohen and Dr. John Fernandez along with orthopedic surgeon Dr. Charles Bush-Joseph of Midwest Orthopedics at Rush University.
And Quentin isn't the only injury concern for the White Sox. Crede, who had back surgery last year, had tightness in his back and left Tuesday's game. Guillen said Crede 4-for-23 after coming off the disabled list last month, will go for a second opinion.
"Joe is not going to be with us and I don't expect him back in the season," Guillen said. "He was playing with a lot of pain. ... We could see the way he was moving. He couldn't take it anymore."
Baseball Today
SCOREBOARD
Saturday, Sept. 6
Philadelphia Phillies at New York Mets (3:55 p.m. EDT). Pedro Martinez will face Jamie Moyer in a key NL East showdown. The Mets are trying to avoid another September collapse.
STARS
Friday
- Brandon Morrow, Mariners, pitched 7 2-3 innings of no-hit ball in his first major league start before allowing a two out double in the eighth and Seattle beat New York 3-1.
- Alex Rios, Blue Jays, hit two home runs and drove in three runs to help Toronto beat AL East-leading Tampa Bay 6-4.
- Jay Bruce, Reds, went 2-for-3 with his 16th home run and four RBIs in Cincinnati's 10-2 rout of slumping Chicago.
- Zach Duke, Pirates, threw a six-hitter for his third career complete game and second shutout in Pittsburgh's 7-0 win over San Francisco.
- Brett Myers, Phillies, struck out 10 and allowed three hits in eight shutout innings and Philadelphia closed the gap in the NL East to two games with a 3-0 win over first-place New York.
- Mike Lowell, Red Sox, was 3-for-5 with a double, a homer and four RBIs in Boston's 8-1 rout of Texas.
- Juan Uribe, White Sox, hit two home runs for his seventh multihomer game and Chicago beat Los Angeles 10-2 in a battle of first-place teams.
- Derek Lowe, Dodgers, gave up two hits in eight innings and Los Angeles shut out Arizona 7-0 to close within a half game of first place in the NL West.
FOR STARTERS
Brandon Morrow's bid to become only the second pitcher in modern history to throw a no-hitter in his first major league start ended when pinch-hitter Wilson Betemit doubled with two outs in the eighth inning, and the Mariners beat the Yankees 3-1. The 24-year-old righty, whose 100 previous big league outings were all in relief, blanked the Yankees until Betemit, batting for Jose Molina, lined a clean drive far over right fielder Ichiro Suzuki. Bobo Holloman of the St. Louis Browns is the lone pitcher since 1900 to throw a no-hitter in his first big league start, doing it against the Philadelphia Athletics on May 6, 1953.
MORE MOUND GEMS
Derek Lowe allowed two hits over eight innings and Los Angeles moved to within a half game of the first-place Diamondbacks with a 7-0 win over Arizona. ... Brett Myers buzzed through the Mets' lineup, pitching eight dominant innings and leading the Phillies to a 3-0 victory to cut their NL East deficit to two games. ... Zach Duke pitched a six-hitter to snap a career-worst nine-game skid and the Pirates ran their winning streak in San Francisco to seven with a 7-0 victory over the Giants. In two of Duke's previous three outings, the Pirates failed to score while he was on the mound.
SINGULAR SENSATIONS
Cleveland got five RBI singles in a row in their six-run fifth inning against Kansas City and went on to a 9-3 win. Asdrubal Cabrera started it by lining a single up the middle. Grady Sizemore pulled one through the right side. Jamey Carroll drove in a run with a single, and then David Dellucci, Jhonny Peralta, Victor Martinez and Shin-Soo Choo followed with RBI base hits.
UNTOUCHED
CC Sabathia didn't get a decision despite a dominant seven innings in Milwaukee's 3-2 win in 11 over San Diego, but his record in the NL remained unsullied - he still hasn't lost in 12 starts since he was acquired by the Brewers on July 7.
TEMPER, TEMPER
American League home run leader Carlos Quentin has a broken right wrist stemming from his own temper, and the Chicago White Sox left fielder will have surgery Monday that could sideline him for the rest of the season. Quentin was injured Monday night in Cleveland. After fouling off a pitch while batting against Cliff Lee, Quentin hit his right hand on the bat as he was holding it with his left.
WHO NEEDS HITS?
The Athletics crossed the plate eight times in the eighth inning, and they did it with only one hit: a grand slam by Rajai Davis that sealed an 11-2 victory over the struggling Orioles. Three Baltimore pitchers issued six walks - four with the bases loaded - and hit a batter in the eighth before the fourth reliever, Randor Bierd, served up Davis' first career grand slam. The Orioles have walked 56 batters during their current seven-game losing streak.
STRANGE BUT TRUE
The Orioles gave up five bases-loaded walks in an 11-2 loss to Oakland, becoming the first team to issued that many bases-loaded walks in one game since the Chicago Cubs did it against San Francisco on Sept. 2, 2000. The walkathon ruined what was an otherwise memorable day for Trembley. Not only did the Orioles exercise the club option for 2009, but they added another one for 2010. In August 2007, after club president Andy MacPhail promoted Trembley from interim manager, Baltimore lost 30-3 to Texas. This time, the Orioles allowed 10 walks and yielded double figures in runs for the fifth time during their seven-game slide.
AILING
Indians right-hander Anthony Reyes came out after pitching three innings against the Royals due to elbow soreness. Reyes, 4-2 with a 2.93 ERA going into the game, walked Alberto Callaspo to start the third inning, then got three straight flyouts. He didn't return for the fourth inning, replaced by Edward Mujica after allowing one hit and one walk. The Indians won, 9-3.
SPEAKING
"I mean, there's six scoreboards starting me in the face. It's hard not to see.'' Mariners starter Brandon Morrow after throwing 7 2-3 innings of no-hit ball in Seattle's 3-1 win over the Yankees.