Diamond Rundown – Edition Eight

Facts, figures and other tidbits from the eighth week of the ’08 major league baseball season.

After Beating Cancer This Game Is Easy:  Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester pitched his first no hitter of his career against Kansas City on Monday which also happened to be his first complete game of his career.  Lester came real close on July 18, 2006 when he and Jonathan Papelbon combined to pitch a one hitter against the same Kansas City Royals.

Redding’s Phillies:  The potent Phillies offense has fizzled against Washington Nationals pitcher Tim Redding.  On Monday, the Phillies lost 4-0 and Redding went 6 1/3 innings while scattering seven hits and two walks.  He has not given up a run against the Phillies in 13 1/3 innings this year.

Going, Going Gone:  Cincinnati’s Adam Dunn hit a home run for the fifth consecutive game on Monday and Dunn was the second player this season to do so.  (Philadelphia’s Chase Utley did it earlier this season.)  Dunn’s streak tied the team’s record for consecutive games with a home run shared by Ken Griffey Jr., Johnny Bench and Ted Kluszewski.  That’s not a bad group to join.

Many Happy Returns:  Tampa Bay’s Scott Kazmir has been excellent since returning from the disabled list.  He lost his 16 consecutive scoreless inning streak on Tuesday but picked up his third consecutive win in the Rays 3-2 win over the A’s.  In his last three starts, Kazmir has given up just one run and 10 hits in 19 innings.

Move Over Joltin’ Joe:  On Tuesday, Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton became the fastest to 50 RBIs when he collected his 50^th in his 45^th game.  Previously, Joe DiMaggio shared the record with Carl Everett who both accomplished the feat in 46 games.

The Power Of Animal Crackers:  Giants catcher Steve Holm showed up on Wednesday to start but had to be scratched from the lineup when he lost his breakfast (twice) before the game.  Thanks to munching on animal crackers through the first half of the game, Holm was available as a pinch hitter and delivered a game-tying two-out pinch hit double.  Holm stayed in the game as the catcher and the Giants came back to win 3-2 in 10 innings.

Notable Quotable I:  “Bobby knew what he was doing.  He’s been doing this for a long time.  He just wanted me to relax and have fun and tonight was fun.  I had fun for the first time in a while.  I smiled and just relaxed.”  Braves outfielder Jeff Francoeur the day after Bobby Cox gave him the night off ending his major league leading 370 consecutive games streak.  Francoeur followed the night off with a 3-for-4 performance with a triple, homer and four RBIs.

Small Ball Spotlight:  Florida’s Matt Treanor successfully pulled off a suicide squeeze to score Luis Gonzalez and tie the game in the fifth against then unbeaten Brandon Webb on Wednesday.  The Marlins plated two more runs and gave Arizona’s Webb his first loss as they held on to win 3-1.

Take ‘Em How You Get ‘Em:  In their 5-2 win over the Reds, the Dodgers scored their first four runs in unorthodox ways.  First, James Loney scored on a wild pitch and Matt Kemp scored on a suicide squeeze in the second inning.  Then, Blake DeWitt scored on a passed ball in the fourth and Kemp scored in the fifth on an errant pick-off throw by Johnny Cueto.

Dazzling Debut – Duo Edition:  Minnesota’s Brendan Harris and Alexi Casilla combined to turn four double plays in the Twins loss on Thursday.  The Rangers beat the Twins 8-7 but Harris and Casilla impressed in their first time the combo ever played together in the majors.

Dice-W:  Boston pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka went to 8-0 after getting great run support in their 11-8 win over the Royals.  The Red Sox are 10-0 when Matsuzaka starts and 12 straight back to last year.

Texting… 1… 2:  It was power vs. power as Philadelphia closer Brad Lidge faced off with Houston’s Lance Berkman in Thursday’s Phillies-Astros game.  Lidge challenged Berkman and got him to pop up to end the game and earn his 12^th save in the Phillies 7-5 win over the Astros.  After the game, former teammate Berkman texted Lidge which read “I hate you”.

Miserable Mets:  Mets ace Johan Santana could not stop the Braves from completing their first four-game sweep of the Mets since July 2003.  Santana fell to 5-3 with a 3.36 ERA after giving up 12 hits and four runs (three earned) in seven innings.  The 12 hits were the most given up in his career.  He had tied his record of 10 earlier in the season in a May 10^th loss to Cincinnati.

Silver Slugger – Pitcher Edition:  Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano continued to impress on the mound and at the plate on Friday.  Zambrano went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored in their 12-3 win over the Pirates.  He became the 28^th pitcher since 1956 to accomplish the feat and became the first Cub since Lew Burdette on July 23, 1964 to do so.  Burdette and Arizona’s Micah Owings are the only two pitchers since ’56 to do it twice.

Notable Quotable II:  “I felt like a car wreck when I hit the wall.  It was not the first time I hit it like that but this one got the best of me.”  Florida’s Brett Carroll after crashing into the wall trying to track down an Aaron Rowand home run in their 8-2 loss on Friday against the Giants.  On Saturday, Carroll went on the disabled list.

Gutsy:  Houston’s Jose Valverde took a Pedro Feliz line drive to the jaw that looked eerily similar to the line drive that put Padres pitcher Chris Young on the DL earlier in the week.  Valverde was down for a few minutes but was able to get up and actually stayed in the game and earned his 15^th save of the season.

Dazzling Debut – Solo Edition:  The Mets had to place Marlon Anderson on the disabled list and called up Nick Evans to replace him.  Evans proved to be a worthy substitute as he went 3-for-4 with three doubles and two RBIs as the Mets beat Colorado 9-2 on Saturday.

A Whole Lot Of Matt:  Pirate fans were treated to an extra helping of Matt Capps on Saturday.  At the gate, fans received their very own Matt Capps Bobble head and then saw Capps work three scoreless innings in the ninth, 10^th and 11^th.  He even got a chance to bat (he struck out) and it was the first time in his career that he pitched three innings.  The Pirates beat the Cubs in 14 innings on a Jason Bay walk-off single.

Notable Quotable III:  “I said, ‘Those guys don’t want none of me today ‘cuz I’m going to pull a Lester on ‘em.’  In the sixth inning, I was thinking, ‘Did I really say that before the game?’”  Oakland pitcher Justin Duchscherer who took a no hitter into the seventh inning before Boston’s David Ortiz ended it with a base hit.  Duchscherer went eight and Huston Street closed the game for a combined one hitter in their 3-0 win on Saturday.

Rare Feat:  The grand slam hit by Arizona’s Eric Byrnes on Sunday was not just any grand slam; it was a grand slam off of Atlanta’s Tom Glavine.  In Glavine’s career, players have had 367 opportunities to hit a grand slam off of him and Byrnes became just the second player to do it… ever!  The first was Jose Vidro when he was with Montreal when Glavine pitched for the Mets on September 19, 2003.  Going into Sunday’s game, batters were hitting .249 off of Glavine with the bases loaded.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner:  Back in 2006, Pittsburgh’s Damaso Marte started off his Pirate career 0-7 when he lost on August 16, 2006.  Since then, Marte has appeared in 116 games and went 7-0 including 4-0 this season when he kept the game tied on Sunday in order to give Jason Bay a chance to get his second walk-off hit in as many days against the Cubs.

Maybe It Wasn’t Such A Bad Idea:  When the White Sox signed middle reliever Scott Linebrink to a 4-year, $19 million contract, it left some scratching their head.  Linebrink picked up the win to go to 2-0 with 12 holds and a 1.23 ERA so far in ’08 and the White Sox are 19-3 when Linebrink appears.

Numbers Game
8:  The Yankees scored eight runs in the bottom of the fifth without an extra base hit.  They plated eight runs with seven singles, a hit batter and a walk.  In the inning, Bobby Abreu has two singles, a run scored and two RBIs and Derek Jeter walked and was hit by a pitch.
12:  Toronto’s Lyle Overbay set a new club record by reaching base for the 12^th consecutive time in a four-game span breaking Tony Fernandez’s record of 11 that he set in 1999.  The Jays won all four games of Overbay’s streak.
19:  The Detroit Tigers set a Comerica Park record for runs scored in their 19-3 thrashing of the Twins on Saturday.
40:  How many plate appearances did it take for Tigers rookie Matt Joyce to hit five home runs?  You guessed it – 40.  No wonder manager Jim Leyland said he was impressed by Joyce.
46:  Philadelphia’s Jamie Moyer’s start in Nationals Park on Wednesday notched Moyer’s 46^th stadium played in during his major league career tying him for the most amongst active players.  The tie remained when teammate Rudy Seanez failed to make an appearance in the series – Seanez has played in 46 different stadiums, also.  Teammate Tom Gordon tied Moyer on Tuesday with 45 when he made his first appearance at Nationals Park.
439:  Mets slugger Carlos Delgado launched his 439^th career home run on Saturday and took sole possession of 35^th place on the all-time HR list passing Andre Dawson.
2,584:  San Francisco’s Omar Vizquel broke the all-time games played at shortstop record held by fellow Venezuelan Luis Aparicio by playing both ends of a doubleheader on Sunday.  When Vizquel took the field in the sixth inning, he did it by himself and the Marlins fans gave him a standing ovation.

Grand Slams
Hunter Pence, Houston vs. Chicago Cubs (5/20)
Marcus Thames, Detroit vs.Seattle (5/21)
J.D. Drew, Boston vs. Kansas City (5/22)
Mike Lowell, Boston vs. Kansas City (5/22)
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Texas vs. Cleveland (5/23)
Brad Wilkerson, Toronto vs. Kansas City (5/24)
Eric Byrnes, Arizona vs. Atlanta (5/25)
Jason Kubel, Minnesota vs. Detroit (5/25)

Walk-Off Archive
Single:  Howie Clark, Minnesota vs. Texas (5/19); Blake DeWitt, LA Dodgers vs. Cincinnati (5/19); Matt Holliday, Colorado vs. NY Mets (5/23); Jason Bay, Pittsburgh vs. Chicago Cubs (5/24); Dan Uggla, Florida vs. San Francisco (5/25); Andre Ethier, LA Dodgers vs. St. Louis (5/25); Jason Bay, Pittsburgh vs. Chicago Cubs (5/25)
Double:  Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay vs. Baltimore (5/25)
Triple:  None
Home Run:  Jeff Francoeur, Atlanta vs. Arizona (5/24); Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego vs. Cincinnati (5/25); Carlos Quentin, Chicago White Sox vs. LA Angels (5/25)
Wild Pitch:  Elijah Dukes, Washington vs. Milwaukee (5/25)