Diamond Rundown – Edition Four

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

First Time For Everything: The Dodgers’ Chan Ho Park picked up a 3 inning save in the Dodgers’ 9-3 win on Monday. It was the 34 year-old pitcher’s first career save in 330 appearances.

The Bourn Supremecy: Houston’s Michael Bourn extended his stolen base streak to 13 with 2 steals against San Diego on Monday. A groin injury would ground the speedy Bourn for most of the week but he is perfect on the basepaths so far.

Notable Quotable I: “Your ace is back.” Houston’s Roy Oswalt to manager Cecil Cooper a few days before his 7 inning, 6 hit win against the Padres on Monday. Oswalt improved to 2-3 and lowered his ERA to 6.00 in the Astros’ 10-3 win.

Streakin’: Philadelphia’s Chase Utley hit a home run in the fifth inning to extend his home run streak to 5 consecutive games on Monday. However, the key play was the defensive play he made to kill a bases loaded rally in the third. The diving stop and double play with the Rockies up 3-0 in the third turned the game around and the Phillies went on to win 9-5.

Rewarded?: Milwaukee’s Gabe Gross scored the winning run in the 12^th on Tuesday in the Brewers’ 9-8 win over the Cardinals. After going 2-for-4 with 3 runs scored, 2 doubles, 2 walks and a stolen base, Gross found out he was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Snap, Crackle, Pop!: On Tuesday, Pittsburgh’s Nate McLouth lost his 19-game hitting streak despite walking twice. Then, he proceeded to go 0-for-14 before finally getting a hit on Saturday. He finished off the week by helping the Pirates beat the Phillies with 2 home runs in the 5-1 win.

Welcome Back: Seattle’s J. J. Putz earned a save in his first appearance after returning from the disabled list in the Mariners’ 4-2 win over the Orioles on Tuesday. In addition to the save, Putz earned a shaving cream pie to the face from fellow reliever Mark Lowe who hid in Putz’s locker to deliver the facial.

Notable Quotable II: “I’ll be honest with you. I don’t know how I did it. I had a fever for the last 3 days.” Atlanta’s Jeff Bennett after pitching 6 innings in the Braves’ 7-2 loss to the Marlins on Wednesday. Bennett had flu-like symptoms and a 101 degree temperature the day before but lasted 6 innings including giving up just 2 hits in his last 5 innings after giving up 3 runs in the first.

Phranchise Record: Philadelphia’s Pat Burrell set a new April record for the Phillies when he plated his 25^th man. Burrell has a chance to pad his record with two more games left in April.

Second Guessing: Phillies’ manager Charlie Manuel was second guessed by many after the decision to stick with Cole Hamels into the 8^th inning backfired. Despite Hamels being over 100+ pitches, Manuel continued with him on the hill against the Brewers on Wednesday. Ryan Braun doubled and Prince Fielder homered before Manuel finally brought the hook but the damage was done and the Brewers won 5-4.

Notable Quotable III: “I only got 100 twice last year? Wow, must be getting old.” Yankees’ Mike Mussina joking after being told that he only reached 100 pitches twice in 2007. Mussina threw 101 pitches in the Yankees’ 6-4 win over the White Sox on Wednesday. It was his 252^nd career win.

Overpriced: Cincinnati’s Bronson Arroyo’s $25 million contract extension to 2010 is starting to look like a bad deal for the Reds. Since making the deal, Arroyo is 9-18 including 0-3 with a 7.56 ERA in ’08.

Tough Luck: San Diego’s Greg Maddux pitched 7 shutout innings and gave up just 4 hits on Wednesday and the Padres got it to Trevor Hoffman in the 9^th which usually is good enough for the win. However, Maddux would have to wait for his 350^th win as Hoffman blew the save to keep Maddux’s career win total at 349. To add insult, the Padres lost in 13 innings, 3-2 to the Giants.

Ripley’s Believe It Or Not: The Elias Sports Bureau reported that the Matt Cain-Greg Maddux matchup on Wednesday was a baseball oddity that had happened for only the sixth time ever. Both Cain and Maddux gave up 9 runs each in their last start. The only other time that it had happened in the last 70 years was when St. Louis’s Andy Benes squared off against Cincinnati’s Osvaldo Fernandez on June 4, 2001. Cain and Maddux gave up just one run in their 14 innings pitched in their rebound performances.

The Sweeney Show: Oakland’s Mark Sweeney was the offense on Wednesday. He walked and scored in the second inning, got an RBI single in the 3rd and hit a solo home run in the 8^th. The Athletics won 3-0. It also ended Sweeney’s 39-game homer-less streak.

Down To Earth: Cincinnati’s Johnny Cueto finally became ordinary. Cueto gave up 5 runs, 8 hits and registered just 2 strikeouts in 7 innings on Thursday. The Reds lost to the Astros 5-3 and Cueto dropped to 1-2 with a 4.05 ERA.

Notable Quotable IV: “Somebody’s got to have the most. It might as well be me.” Houston’s Lance Berkman after being told his home run on Thursday was the most by a visiting player at the Great American Ball Park. It was Berkman’s 18^th home run in the stadium.

Willie Mays Hayes?: One night after being benched following an 0-for-5 outing because his manager Rod Gardenhire felt he was swinging for the fences, Minnesota’s Carlos Gomez led off the game with his 1^st home run of the season. I wonder if we’ll see Gomez doing push-ups if he hits a pop up.

Free Passes: Pittsburgh’s Tom Gorzelanny walked 7 in 5 innings in their 9-2 loss to the Cardinals on Thursday. He has 22 walks in 22 1/3 innings and is 1-3 with an 8.46 ERA.

Home Away From Home: The Tampa Bay Rays moved to 6-0 when playing at Disney World after sweeping the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday.

Move Over, Stuffy: Boston’s Kevin Youkilis passed Stuffy McInnis when he recorded his 1,701^st chance without an error. His last error occurred on July 4, 2006.

Honorable Mention: Mets’ Carlos Delgado was booed during pregame introductions on Sunday. However, he won back the fans with two home runs but refused a curtain call out of “respect for the game.” Delgado said he had only made two curtain calls in his career – his 4-home run game in 2003 and his 400^th home run in 2006.

Reaching Safely: Texas’ Ian Kinsler has reached based in all 26 games this season.

Deep Bullpens: Milwaukee and Florida used a combined 15 pitchers in their 10 inning game on Sunday. The Marlins won 3-2.

Owning Meche: Toronto’s Alex Rios continued his dominance over Kansas City’s Gil Meche. Rios went 3-for-4 against Meche on Sunday and is now 10-for-13 against the Royals’ hurler.

It Happens Every Spring: Arizona’s ace Brandon Webb became the first pitcher in ’08 to reach 6 wins. In March and April, Webb is 18-2 in his career.

Won’t You Take Me To Funky Town: San Francisco’s Barry Zito dropped to 0-6 with a 7.53 ERA on Sunday.

Day Shift: Colorado’s Jeff Francis definitely likes the daylight. Francis, who was 8-0 with a 2.48 ERA in day games in ’07, went 7 innings and gave up just 5 hits and 2 runs on Sunday. Unfortunately, that was not good enough as the Dodgers beat the Rockies 3-2.

Numbers Game
11: Runs scored by the Tigers in the 6^th inning on Wednesday in their 19-6 win. That was their biggest inning since April 23, 2004.
16 1/3: San Francisco’s Tim Linecum’s scoreless inning streak that he extended on Thursday. Lincecum is 4-0 and the team is 5-0 when he pitches and 6-15 when he does not.
50: The Yankees’ Chien Ming Wang registered his 50^th win in 85 starts on Tuesday. He was the quickest to 50 wins since Dwight Gooden reached the milestone in ’82.
136: Atlanta’s Bobby Cox extended his major league career high ejection number after arguing balls and strikes on Thursday. Cox was upset after Jair Jurrjens walked 4 consecutive batters in the 3^rd inning including 3 times with the bases loaded. After the ejection, Jurrjens retired 10 straight batters and the Braves won 6-3.
285: Arizona’s Randy Johnson notched his first win of the season on Friday, his 285^th career victory.
597: Cincinnati’s Ken Griffey Jr. moved to just 3 home runs away from 600 after his 597^th home run off of Houston’s Chris Sampson on Wednesday.
2000: Angels’ Vladimir Guerrero reached the milestone with a double in the 8^th in his team’s 6-4 loss to Detroit on Saturday.
3000: On Tuesday, Atlanta’s John Smoltz joined the 3,000 K Club. Only 16 players have reached the milestone. Washington’s Felipe Lopez was the victim but the Nationals won the game 6-0 despite Smoltz’s stellar 7 inning, 5 hit, 1 run and 10 strikeout performance.

Grand Slams
Casey Black, Cleveland vs. Kansas City (4/22)
Bobby Abreu, N.Y. Yankees vs. Chi. White Sox (4/22)
Felipe Lopez, Washington vs. N.Y. Mets (4/24)
Justin Morneau, Minnesota vs. Texas (4/25)
Matt Kemp, L.A. Dodgers vs. Colorado (4/26)

Walk-Off Archive
Walk: None
Single: Gabe Kapler, Milwaukee vs. St. Louis (4/22); Nathan Haynes, Tampa Bay vs. Boston (4/25); David Murphy, Texas vs. Minnesota (4/25); Brian Anderson, Chi. White Sox vs. Baltimore (4/26); Victor Martinez, Cleveland vs. N.Y. Yankees (4/26); James Loney, L.A. Dodgers vs. Colorado (4/27)
Double: None
Triple: None
Home Run: Wil Nieves, Washington vs. Chicago Cubs (4/25); Tadahito Iguchi, San Diego vs. Arizona (4/26)
Sacrifice Fly: Russell Martin, L.A. Dodgers vs. Colorado (4/25)