Sunday's Streaking and Slumping Starting Pitchers
Streaking
Jon Lester, Boston Red Sox
Lester’s recent gems are a big reason why bettors can never count the Red Sox out. The left-hander has led the team to wins in his last four trips to the mound.
Since the All-Star break, Lester has posted 3.02 ERA and a WHIP of 1.14. He’s also totaled 196 strikeouts on the season, which is a team record for the BoSox. Lester overtook Bruce Hurst’s 1987 franchise record for left-handers. He pitched six innings against the Rays, allowing two runs and striking out nine batters.
Jonathan Sanchez, San Francisco Giants
Sanchez was just what the Giants needed – another lights-out pitcher.
The young lefty has been stellar on the bump for San Francisco. But, like his pitching peers, has suffered at the hands of the team’s lackluster offense. In his last three starts, Sanchez has a 1-1 record despite a 2.00 ERA, 25 strikeouts and just 11 hits allowed.
In his last trip to the bump, Sanchez gave up just one run on three hits while striking out eight batters. However, the Giants could muster just two hits and were shutout 1-0 by the Phillies.
Slumping
Derek Holland, Texas Rangers
Holland can’t be happy facing another AL East foe Sunday. His last two starts, against the Blue Jays and Yankees, proved disastrous for the rookie.
He allowed 10 earned runs on seven hits in just three innings of work against Toronto this past Monday. The start before that, the southpaw was knocked around for six earned runs on seven hits in six innings versus New York.
Holland has been susceptible to the long ball in recent appearance, allowing seven home runs in his last four starts.
Bud Norris, Houston Astros
Houston is hoping some extra time off can help Bud Norris forget about his past two trips to the rubber.
Norris will start on seven-days rest Sunday after the team skipped his turn in the rotation. The rookie has surpassed his career high pitch count and could be feeling a little worn out heading into the home stretch.
In his last two appearances, Norris has allowed a combined 12 earned runs in just six innings of work. The righty has struggled with his control, walking seven batters in those games and watching his pitch counts climb into the high 90’s despite limited work.
Sunday Night Baseball: Padres at Dodgers
By Marc Lawrence
San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Dodgers (-201, 8.5)
Southern California is the scene for Sunday night baseball where the first-place Dodgers host the last-place Padres at Chavez Ravine.
San Diego sends rookie right-hander Tim Stauffer (3-6, 3.76 ERA) to the hill against Los Angeles right-hander Hiroki Kuroda (5-5, 4.08 ERA), who makes his first start off the 15-day DL since being hit in the head by a line drive at Arizona August 15.
Down the stretch
While the Dodgers remain busy trying to hold off fast-closing Colorado and San Francisco, the Padres have put on a run of their own.
Entering the weekend, San Diego owned a .318 team batting average over its previous 15 road games, averaging more than six runs and 12 hits per game. As a result the Padres were 9-6 in those games.
They opened a string of 17 games over the final three weeks of the season against the Dodgers and the two aforementioned National League West clubs that are battling for playoff berths.
RBI guys
In hopes of adding some additional clout to the lineup, the Dodgers acquired future Hall of Famer Jim Thome from the White Sox just prior to the waiver wire.
Thome’s 74 RBI’s this season ranks him No. 3 behind Andre Ethier (88) and James Loney (75) on the Los Angeles roster.
The likeable left-handed slugger, currently 36 dingers short of 600 home runs, will be utilized primarily as a pinch-hitter, thus curtailing his run at 600.
"Getting 600 would be great. Right now I'm focused and really excited about being here,” Thome told the media. “It was something out of the blue. I never expected to go back to the National League. To be here is just a thrill, it really is."
San Diego 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff’s 79 RBIs on the season ties him with All-Star 1B Adrian Gonzalez for the Padres’ team lead.
Pick me up
In hopes of bolstering a pitching staff that is on the mend, the Dodgers also picked up RHP Jon Garland from the Diamondbacks.
Garland became the 12th starting pitcher the Dodgers have used in 2009. The most starters the Dodgers have used since moving to Los Angeles is 13 back in 1964.
Armed forces
Stauffer has performed much better that his 3-6 record would indicate. He has won consecutive starts despite receiving four or less runs in nine of his last 11 starting efforts.
The rookie owns a respectable 4.35 ERA in his last six road outings.
Kuroda gave up one unearned run in five innings in his minor league rehab start Tuesday. Manager Joe Torre reported his first pitch was a line drive through the box and he also faced a broken bat hit, leaving the Dodgers bench boss convinced that Kuroda isn't scared about being hit again.
Los Angeles is 10-4 in Kuroda’s last 14 team starts. Kuroda brings a 5-1 career team start mark against San Diego into the contest.
Check the calendar
While Kuroda is 4-1 with a 2.97 ERA in his MLB career team starts in September, he is just 2-6 on Sundays.
The Dodgers have come up winners in eight of their last 12 games on Sundays while the Padres have dropped seven straight on the day of rest.
Detroit (74-61) at Tampa Bay (72-63)
Former Rays starter Edwin Jackson (11-6, 3.09 ERA) takes the ball at Tropicana Field as the Tigers try to complete a three-game road sweep of Tampa Bay, which sends highly touted prospect Wade Davis to the mound for his major league debut.
Detroit, on top of the A.L. Central by six games over Minnesota, rallied with five late runs to beat Tampa 8-6 on Saturday after scoring three runs in the ninth inning Friday to steal a 4-3 decision. The Tigers are riding a five-game winning streak and they’ve won seven of the last 10 against the Rays, including four of six this season.
In addition to their current five-game run, the Tigers are 8-1 in their last nine against right-handed starters. However, they’re still on slides of 8-15 on the road, 22-44 on the road against winning teams and 2-5 on Sundays. Tampa is in funks of 1-5 on Sunday, 10-27 in the third game of a series and 1-5 against right-handers. But the Rays are still on runs of 37-17 at home, 70-32 at home against teams with losing road records and 73-28 at home against right-handers.
Jackson gave up four runs on nine hits in five innings on Tuesday, but his offense bailed him out with an 8-5 win at home against the Indians. His last road outing was on Aug. 26 in Los Angeles when he gave up four runs on eight hits in 6 1/3 innings of a 4-2 loss to the Angels. Detroit has won each of Jackson’s last four starts as a favorite, but the Tigers are just 1-5 in his last six roadies and 0-5 on the road when he faces a winning team. Jackson is facing his former mates for the first time in his career.
Davis, who turns 24 on Monday, went 10-8 with a 10.40 ERA in 28 starts at Triple-A Durham. He’s Tampa Bay’s top minor-league pitching prospect.
It’s been all “unders” lately for the Tigers, including 14-5 in Jackson’s last 19 starts overall, 10-2 when he pitches on the road, 10-4 when he’s a favorite, 7-3 in their last 10 as a team overall and 13-6 in their last 19 Sunday games. Also, the Rays are on “under” streaks of 14-5 as a home ‘dog, 6-1 on Sundays and 19-8-2 against A.L. Central teams.
In this series, the “over” has been the play in 10 of the last 16 games played in Florida.
ATS ADVANTAGE: OVER
Boston (78-57) at Chicago White Sox (68-69)
The White Sox will try to make it five straight wins overall and four in a row over the Red Sox when they send southpaw John Danks (12-8, 3.82 ERA) to the hill at U.S. Cellular Field to face Boston lefty Jon Lester (11-7, 3.58).
Chicago has outscored Boston 17-3 in the first two games of this four-game set, including Saturday’s 5-1 victory led by Gavin Floyd, who allowed just one run on three hits over eight innings while striking out 11. Chicago has won three straight against Boston dating to a series-finale at Fenway Park last week. Prior to this run, though, the Red Sox had taken 14 of 17 against the Pale Hose.
Despite dropping the first two in this series, Boston carries positive runs of 19-8 as a favorite, 46-19 against A.L. Central teams, 10-3 against teams with a losing record, 4-1 as a road chalk and 6-2 on the road against teams with a losing mark. Chicago is on slides of 0-5 on Sundays and 3-7 against A.L. East teams, but it is 7-1 in its last eight as a home ‘dog and 9-2 in its last 11 at home against winning teams.
The Red Sox have won four straight with Lester on the hill and he’s 2-0 with a 2.61 ERA in his last three trips to the mound. On Tuesday he allowed two runs over six innings of an 8-4 win in Tampa Bay. Lester has not allowed more than three runs in any of his last six road starts with Boston winning three straight.
With Lester on the hill, Boston is on positive runs of 36-16 overall, 7-3 on the road, 10-4 on Sundays, 4-1 against the A.L. Central and 7-1 when he’s a road favorite. Also, in his lone start against the White Sox this season, Lester gave up three runs in 6 2/3 innings in a 6-3 home win on Aug. 25, improving to 1-1 with a 4.12 ERA in three career starts versus Chicago.
Danks hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any of his last five outings, including Tuesday when he held the Twins to three runs on six hits in seven innings, but he failed to earn a decision in a 4-3 loss. Prior to that, Danks held the Red Sox to two runs on six hits in six innings of a 9-5 win on Aug. 27. It was the first time in four starts that Danks came out on top against Boston, against whom he is now 1-3 with a 5.24 ERA.
Chicago is on positive streaks of 5-2 when Danks is a ‘dog, 4-1 when he’s at home and 4-0 when he faces A.L. East squads. He’s made 12 starts at US Cellular Field this year, going 5-5 with a 3.98 ERA.
Boston is on “over” streaks of 17-6 as a favorite, 10-5 against losing teams and 5-1-1 against southpaws, but with Lester on the hill, the Red Sox are on “under” runs of 5-2 on Sundays and 5-1 against the A.L. Central. For Chicago, the “under’ is on streaks of 14-3 overall, 6-0 at home, 20-7-1 as an underdog and 11-4-1 as a home ‘dog. Also, with Danks pitching, the White Sox have stayed under the total in four of five overall, six of seven on Sunday and 12 of 16 against teams with a winning record.
Finally, the under is 6-2-1 in the last eight meetings between these two, but the over is 7-4 in the last 11 clashes in the Windy City.
ATS ADVANTAGE: BOSTON
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SCOREBOARD
Sunday, Sept. 6
Diamondbacks at Rockies (3:10 p.m. EDT). Jorge De La Rosa (13-9) starts for Colorado as the Rockies try to hang on to the wild-card lead.
STARS
Saturday
-Albert Pujols, Cardinals, led off the 10th inning with his second career pinch-hit home run and St. Louis beat Pittsburgh 2-1.
-Gavin Floyd, White Sox, retired his first 17 batters, gave up only three hits in eight innings and struck out a career-high 11 in Chicago's 5-1 win over Boston.
-Melvin Mora, Orioles, homered and drove in three runs in Baltimore's 5-4 win over Texas.
-Kaz Matsui, Astros, hit a bases-loaded single off Brad Lidge to drive in two runs in the bottom of the ninth and lift Houston over Philadelphia 5-4.
-Joey Votto hit a two-run homer in Cincinnati's 3-1 win in Atlanta.
BIG MAN COMES THROUGH
Albert Pujols led off the 10th inning with his second career pinch-hit home run, and St. Louis overcame Ross Ohlendorf's dominating start to hand Pittsburgh its ninth straight loss, 2-1 Saturday night.
GREAT GREINKE
Zack Greinke, who threw a one-hitter at Seattle in his last start and struck out a club-record 15 in his previous outing against Cleveland on Aug. 25, allowed one unearned run on eight hits in eight innings in Kansas City's 2-1 loss to the Angels in 11 innings. He left after a career high 125 pitches and lowered his ERA to a major league-best 2.22. In his last three starts, he has allowed two earned runs and 14 hits, while striking 28 in 25 innings. Greinke struck out eight Angels, increasing his season total to 210, the second-highest in Royals history. Dennis Leonard holds the franchise record with 244 strikeouts in 1977.
SCOTT BAKER, W-MAKER
Scott Baker won his seventh straight decision on Saturday, extending his mastery of the Cleveland Indians and leading the Twins to a 4-1 win. The right-hander gave up one run in six innings and hasn't lost since July 7, a span of 11 starts.
WELCOME ABOARD
Acquired on Monday from the Chicago White Sox for minor league pitcher Brandon Hynick, Jose Contreras pitched 6 2-3 solid innings to lead the Rockies to a 4-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Rockies traded for Contreras to fill in for the injured Aaron Cook, who is on the disabled list with a right shoulder strain. The Cuban proved his value right away and earned his second win in the last two months.
SHUT DOWN
Royals outfielder Jose Guillen will miss the rest of the season because of a right knee injury. Guillen sat out 37 games with a ligament tear in his knee, but was activated from the disabled list Tuesday. He struck out as a pinch hitter that day and was the starting designated hitter Wednesday, but left after only two at-bats with pain in his right hamstring.
THREE, THREE, AND THREE
Pittsburgh's Ross Ohlendorf became the 40th major league pitcher to strike out the side on nine pitches in an inning, but didn't figure in the decision as the Pirates lost 2-1 to St. Louis in 10 innings.
RED NUMBER DAY
Cincinnati won its season-high sixth straight 3-1 over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday night.
SPEAKING
"I'm always antsy when Ichiro is up there. I hate facing that guy the way he hits. It's not a good matchup for me. He's one of the toughest guys to face because he always finds a way to get the bat on the ball.'' - Oakland starter Brett Anderson on the Mariners star, who is within one hit of 2,000