Thursday's Streaking and Slumping Starting Pitchers
Streaking
Chris Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals
An overachieving starting staff is a big reason why the Cardinals have emerged as one of the best teams in baseball. But they wouldn't be running away with the National League Central without a bona fide ace.
They found it from a familiar face. The oft-injured Carpenter missed most of two seasons because of a career-threatening arm injury – and even missed part of this year on the disabled list – but he's returned to his Cy Young form of 2005.
Carpenter (14-3, 2.13 ERA) is 9-0 with one no-decision in his past 10 starts and has won his past six decisions. The 34-year-old righty has yielded just 16 earned runs over a 10-start span and just four over his past three outings.
Carpenter kept the San Diego Padres scoreless over seven innings in last outing, allowing just three hits in another St. Louis win.
Jorge De La Rosa, Colorado Rockies
De La Rosa has given the Rockies something they sorely need if they are to stay in contention; a starter who can keep the ball in the yard at Coors Field.
Ironically, De La Rosa (12-8, 4.76 ERA) has had his worst outings on the road, leading to his pedestrian earned-run average.
But along with ace Jason Marquis, he has given Colorado another dependable starter at home. The 27-year-old lefty has given up just 15 earned runs in his last seven home starts for the current NL wild-card leaders.
He is 6-1 in his past seven starts and has given up two or fewer earned runs in five of those outings.
Slumping
Kyle Davies, Kansas City Royals
In order to build toward respectability, the Royals need to find another solid starter to complement Zack Greinke. They haven’t found one in Davies.
The 25-year-old righty is 2-5 with one no-decision in his past eight starts. During that span, he has given up at least six earned runs three times.
Davies (4-6. 6.12 ERA) has also yielded 10 walks and five home runs in his past five trips to the hill. He was tagged for six earned runs in five-plus innings against the Minnesota Twins in his last start.
Trevor Cahill, Oakland A’s
Part of Oakland’s annual youth movement, the 21-year-old Cahill (6-12, 4.86) has taken plenty of lumps in his on-the-job training.
The right-hander is 1-4 with two no-decisions in his past seven starts, and has yielded five or more earned runs in three of those.
The good news for Oakland fans is that he appears to be making progress; in his past two starts, both no-decisions, he has give up just four earned runs over 13 innings.
Chicago White Sox (63-64) at Boston (73-53)
The Red Sox send rookie Junichi Tazawa (2-2, 3.57 ERA) to the mound at Fenway Park looking to complete a four-game sweep over the White Sox, who counter with lefty John Danks (11-8, 3.85).
Boston got two homers from David Ortiz on Wednesday, including a walk-off shot in the ninth that curled around Pesky Pole to give the Red Sox a 3-2 win. Boston has won eight of the last nine meetings with Chicago at Fenway Park and 14 of the last 17 clashes overall.
As a team, the White Sox are on slides of 5-16 on the road, 2-12 on the road against right-handed starters, 16-40 on the road against winning teams and 1-6 against A.L. East squads. Boston is riding streaks of 7-2 overall, 13-2 as a favorite, 46-16 against the A.L. Central, 38-16 as a home chalk and 36-15 on Thursdays.
Danks has been sharp lately, going 2-0 with a 1.66 ERA in his last three starts. On Saturday he held the Orioles to one run on three hits in 6 1/3 innings of a 4-1 victory, and over his last three outings he’s allowed just four runs in 21 2/3 innings. Chicago is 0-3 in his three career outings against Boston, including a 5-1 loss last year when he allowed two runs in seven innings. However, the White Sox are 6-1 in Danks’ last seven outings against A.L. East opponents.
Tazawa is making just his fourth career start, but was magnificent on Saturday against the rival Yankees, blanking them through six innings as the Red Sox got the easy 14-1 win. He’s enjoyed Fenway so far, going 2-0 with a 0.82 ERA.
When Danks takes the hill, Chicago is on “under” runs of 10-4 overall, 8-2 on Thursdays, 5-1 when he’s on the road and 5-2 when he’s a ‘dog. As a team, the White Sox are on a plethora of “under” streaks that include 12-4 on the road, 15-6-1 against winning teams, 5-1 against the A.L. East, 7-1 overall and 9-1 on the road against right-handers. On the opposite side, Boston is riding “over” runs of 11-3 at home, 5-1 on Thursdays, 4-0 against southpaws, 14-4 as a favorite and 8-3 against teams with losing road records.
Finally, the under has been the play in this series in five of the last seven overall and 10 of the last 15 in Beantown.
ATS ADVANTAGE: BOSTON
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SCOREBOARD
Thursday, Aug. 27
Texas at New York Yankees (1:05 p.m. EDT). The Rangers and Yankees finish off a three-game set with New York starter A.J. Burnett looking to bounce back from a poor outing in his last start in Boston.
STARS
Wednesday
-David Ortiz, Red Sox, hit his second homer of the game in the ninth inning to give Boston a 3-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
-Ryan Howard, Phillies, hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning to power Philadelphia to a 4-1 victory at Pittsburgh.
-Andy Pettitte, Yankees, pitched seven sharp innings to lead New York to a 9-2 win against Texas.
-Torii Hunter, Angels, hit a two-run homer to help Los Angeles to a 4-2 victory over Detroit.
-Andre Ethier, Dodgers, homered twice and drove in three runs in Los Angeles' 6-1 victory at Colorado.
-Joel Pineiro, Cardinals, worked eight strong innings to win his seventh straight decision and St. Louis beat Houston 3-2.
-Milton Bradley, Cubs, hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs to lead Chicago to a 9-4 win over Washington.
-Jeremy Guthrie, Orioles, allowed one run in seven innings and Baltimore beat Minnesota 5-1.
-Ronny Paulino, Marlins, hit a two-run homer in Florida's 5-3 win against the New York Mets.
-Kevin Kouzmanoff, Padres, hit a two-run homer and finished with three RBIs in San Diego's 12-5 victory at Atlanta.
FEELING MUCH BETTER
Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield and Angels left-hander Joe Saunders both had nice outings after coming off the disabled list. Wakefield allowed one run over seven innings in Boston's 3-2 victory against the Chicago White Sox and Saunders gave up two runs in five innings to help Los Angeles to a 4-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers. Wakefield had been sidelined with a several different injuries. Saunders had a sore shoulder.
UMPIRES INJURED
It was a tough night to be the home plate umpire in the Rays and Blue Jays game. Crew chief Jerry Crawford took a foul ball off his face mask and left after two innings with back spasms. His replacement, Tom Hallion, had to switch out after he was struck in the chest by a pitch from Tampa Bay lefty Scott Kazmir in the sixth. Brian O'Nora, the first base umpire, finished the game calling balls and strikes. Both umpires should be ready for their next game on Friday.
CAN'T CATCH
The Yankees could be without slugging catcher Jorge Posada for several games after he took a foul ball off his gloved hand during a 9-2 victory over Texas. Posada said he bruised the joint on the ring finger of his catching hand, the same finger he hurt earlier this season. X-rays were negative.
TYING LEFTY
Andy Pettitte earned his 189th win in pinstripes - 9-2 over Texas - tying Lefty Gomez for third on the franchise list and trailing only Hall of Famers Whitey Ford (236) and Red Ruffing (231).
TRIBUTE FOR TED
The Boston Red Sox honored the late U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy before their win over the White Sox, paying tribute to a lifelong fan. The U.S. flag flew at half-staff at Fenway Park, where Kennedy threw out the ceremonial first pitch on opening day, 97 years after his grandfather, Boston mayor John "Honey Fitz'' Fitzgerald christened the ballpark that is now the oldest in the major leagues.
OLLIE OUT
The New York Mets have lost their third pitcher for the season in two days. Left-hander Oliver Perez will require season-ending surgery to repair patella tendon tendinosis in his right knee. The injury ends a dismal season for Perez, who is expected to fully recover and be ready for spring training. On Tuesday, the Mets announced ace Johan Santana and reliever J.J. Putz are out for the season. Perez, who signed a $36 million, three-year contract last offseason, finished 3-4 in 14 starts.
METS BEATER
Florida's Josh Johnson gave up three runs and nine hits in six innings but improved to 7-0 with an ERA of 2.30 in nine career starts against New York with a 5-3 victory.
SEND HIM OUT THERE
The Cardinals have won Joel Pineiro's last 10 starts and 11 of the last 12. The right-hander is 7-0 with a 2.65 ERA in 10 outings since July 3, and walked none for the 13th start, a 3-2 win over Houston.
SPEAKING
"I feel love for me. I love me. I look in the mirror and I go out there and play. I feel the love from my teammates. I feel the love from the coaching staff and from myself. I go out there and try to do things. That's all I do.'' - Cubs outfielder Milton Bradley after homering and driving in three runs in a 9-4 win over Washington a day after saying he had felt hatred on a daily basis during his first disappointing season in Chicago.