Diamond Rundown – Edition Five

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

Notable Quotable I: “I’ve got to find my house key. It’s been so long since we’ve been home, we just assumed we’re going to another hotel.” Yankees’ Mike Mussina after notching his 253^rd career win on Monday in Cleveland. The Yankees had played 18 of their last 20 games on the road.

Singled Out: The Yankees plated 4 runs on just 4 singles in the 6^th inning with just one getting out of the infield. Melky Cabrera legged out a single to short stop, Derek Jeter singled to third base and Bobby Abreu loaded the bases with the only outfield hit, a single to left. Then, Alex Rodriguez forced in a run after getting hit by pitch, Jason Giambi ground out to score Jeter, Hideki Matsui grounded out to score Abreu and Morgan Ensberg finished the soft-hitting scoring barrage with an infield single to the pitcher. The Yankees won 5-2 over the Indians.

Tough Luck: Toronto’s Roy Halladay pitched his 4^th straight consecutive game on Tuesday but lost his 3^rd of those 4 as the Blue Jays lost to the Red Sox, 1-0.

Beyond The Box Score: Seattle’s Arthur Rhodes had an odd looking box score line on Tuesday. He pitched 2/3 innings with 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks and 0 strikeouts and threw 6 pitches with 6 strikes. For his efforts, Rhodes received a blown save. Rhodes was brought in with no outs in the 8^th and got Travis Hafner to ground out which scored the tying run. Then, after Rhodes got Victor Martinez to pop out and was removed in favor of Mark Lowe. Lowe got the last out of the inning and the Mariners scored in the top of the 9^th and went on to win 7-2 over the Indians giving Lowe, not Rhodes, the win.

Not On My Watch: The Dodgers’ Russell Martin gunned down Florida’s Hanley Ramirez twice in the Dodgers’ 7-6 win on Tuesday. Ramirez was 9-for-10 in ’08 in steal attempts and 111-for-141 in his career.

Mr. Perfect?: Mets’ closer Billy Wagner kept his 0.00 ERA despite blowing a save in the 9^th when he gave up a game-tying single to Pittsburgh’s Freddy Sanchez after throwing a wild pitch earlier in the inning. The Mets ended up winning the game in 11 innings by a score of 5-4.

Glitch: Maybe his cold bat caused it. Cincinnati’s Ken Griffey Jr. was misrepresented on the scoreboard in his first at-bat in St. Louis. The AP reported that the photo might have been of Dan Driessen. Driessen may have been a welcome replacement as Griffey went 0-for-4 in the 7-2 loss to the Cardinals on Tuesday.

Costly Toss: The Rangers’ Ian Kinsler lost his 26-game on-base streak when he was ejected in the first inning for arguing a called third strike in their 9-5 loss to the Royals on Tuesday.

Dazzling Debut: Arizona’s Max Scherzer retired all 13 batters he faced on Tuesday. He struck out 7 of the batters he faced and registered a 98-mph fastball. It is so far, so good for the Diamondbacks’ 1^st round pick in 2006.

The Sultan Of Swat?: Diamondbacks’ pitcher Micah Owings hit a pinch 2-run home run in the 6^th inning to tie the game. Arizona beat the Astros 8 to 7. Owings, the ’07 Silver Slugger winner, was hitting .421 at the end of Wednesday.

Notable Quotable II: “I don’t think you’ve seen a guy like this. I mean, Babe Ruth? That’s really all that comes to mind. It’s pretty impressive.” Arizona’s Conor Jackson on Micah Owings who is 4-0 and has 5 homers in 79 at-bats in his major league career.

Too Close For Comfort: The Atlanta Braves fell to 0-9 in one-run games on Wednesday after blowing a 1-run lead in the bottom of the 12^th to the Nationals. They are also 0-3 in extras.

It Had To Go Up Eventually: Cleveland’s Cliff Lee, the A.L.’s Pitcher of the Month in April, tripled his ERA in his 5^th straight win on Wednesday. He gave up a 3-run homer in the Indians’ 8-3 win over the Mariners raising his ERA from 0.28 to 0.96.

Oddity: It’s rare that any team would hit 5 home runs in a game. It is just strange that one of those would get booed by the team’s own fans but that’s what happened when Milton Bradley launched the first of five home runs by the Rangers on Wednesday. While Bradley rounded the bases, the team announced that the normal post-HR fireworks would not be set off due to high winds.

The Other Santana: While the Mets’ Johan Santana struggles to notch wins despite pitching well, the Angels’ Ervin Santana went to 5-0 and lowered his ERA to 2.48 on Wednesday.

Notable Quotable III: “You damn right I thought about it. You think I’m stupid or something? God darnit.” Cubs’manager Lou Piniella after being asked if he considered moving Reed Johnson to left to replace Alfonso Soriano when Reed was instead pulled for Felix Pie as a defensive replacement. Some thought Soriano should have been subbed for after he failed to catch a Gabe Kapler double during a 9^th inning rally where Milwaukee roared back with 3 runs to win 4-3 on Thursday.

Reigning In Seattle: The Yankees’ Chien-Ming Wang has been impressive this year. He moved to 6-0 on Friday. Even more impressive is his ownership of the Mariners. Wang is 7-0 in 7 starts vs. Seattle.

Fulfilled Promises: Houston’s Miguel Tejada promised 8-year-old Jacob Scott, a little boy with muscular dystrophy, that he would hit him a home run on Friday. Later that day, Tejada delivered with a home run and Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee followed Tejada with home runs of their own for back-to-back-to-back homers. The Astros won 7-4 and somewhere Jacob Scott was smiling.

Notable Quotable IV: “Hill can’t start like that in the big leagues. Every time he starts, it’s an adventure. I don’t know what the solution is but I can’t start him anymore.” Cubs’ manager Lou Piniella after Rich Hill struggled again. He walked 4 in the first inning after Piniella skipped him in the rotation the last time through. The Cubs lost in extra innings to the Cardinals of Friday, 5-3.

Broken Cycle: The Mets’ Jose Reyes wanted it but was denied. Needing a home run for the cycle in the 8^th inning, Reyes tried for an inside-the-park home run but was thrown out at home in their 7-2 blowout win against the Diamondbacks on Friday. Reyes had to settle for a single, a double and 2 triples in his 4-for-5 performance.

Silencer: It seems Mets’ manager Willie Randolph has grown tired of hearing Billy Wagner’s opinion. Randolph met privately with Wagner after he ripped teammate Oliver Perez earlier in the week and asked him to keep his critical comments to himself. Wagner opinionated? No way!

Notable Quotable V: “We’re not terrible right now, we’re just good enough to lose.” White Sox’ Paul Konerko after losing to the Blue Jays 5 to 2 and 7 of their last 10 on Saturday.

Backe To Back: In an unlikely back-to-back duo, Houston’s pitcher Brandon Backe and Michael Bourn hit back-to-back homers in their 6-2 win over the Brewers on Saturday. The two had a combined 5 career home runs in 316 at-bats entering the game.

Sigh Young: Many predicted either Detroit’s Justin Verlander or Cleveland’s C. C. Sabathia would win the Cy Young in the American League in ’08. After both lost their decisions on Saturday, they both fell to 1-5 on the season.

Paging Gus Frerotte: Sorry, Gus, you still have the dumbest sports injury of all-time but Kansas City’s John Bale didn’t want you to be alone on the list. Already on the disabled list with a sore shoulder, Bale broke his pitching hand when he punched a door at the team’s hotel.

Welcome To The Club: The Yankees scored 6 runs in the third inning vs. Seattle on Sunday. They became the last team in the majors to score 5+ in an inning according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

A Good Week For Joe: The Angels’ Joe Saunders became the second pitcher in Angels history to go to 5-0 in April on Tuesday matching Frank Tanana in 1978. Then, Saunders notched win #6 on Sunday after going the minimum, 5 innings, and was supported by the Angels’ bullpen who combined for 4 innings and gave up just one run in their win over the Orioles on Sunday. The Angels used Darren O’Day, Darren Oliver, Justin Speier, Scott Shields and Francisco Rodriguez (who earned his 17^th save) to close out the game.

Are Carrots Next?: The Dodgers’ Andruw Jones has been struggling so much this season (he’s hitting .163 in 98 at-bats) that the team has revealed they have had his eyes examined… several times!

Numbers Game

2: Houston’s Carlos Lee failed to deliver with his bat on Sunday. He left 6 runners on base including 4 on base in his 0-for-5 performance. However, Lee contributed with his arm, notching his 2^nd and 3^rd assist of the season when he threw out Prince Fielder at third and Ben Sheets at home in their win over the Brewers.
5: Angels’ Vladimir Guerrero’s 5-game hitless streak was the first of his career.
6: Arizona’s Augie Ojeda set a new career-high for RBIs in a game with 6 to help Brandon Webb win his major league-high 7^th win of the season on Saturday.
20 1/3: Dating back to last season, the Athletics’ Santiago Casilla has not given up a run in 20 1/3 innings pitched. So far in ’08, he has not given up a run in 16 1/3 innings.
30: Philadelphia’s Pat Burrell has reached based in 30 consecutive games. Teammate Chase Utley is on his heels as he has reached base in 25 straight.
31: Dodgers’ Rafael Furcal one-upped Burrell by reaching safely in his 31^st consecutive game, 3 shy of tying Duke Snider’s team record, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
500: Phillies’ manager Charlie Manuel registered his 500^th career win in style as the Phillies came back to win 6 to 5 on Sunday.
1000: Cubs’ Ted Lilly recorded his 1000^th career strikeout in the Cubs’ 9-3 win over the Cardinals on Saturday.

Grand Slams
Josh Hamilton, Texas vs. Kansas City (4/30)

Walk-Off Archive
Walk: None
Single: David Wright, NY Mets vs. Pittsburgh (4/29); Kevin Youkilis, Boston vs. Toronto (4/29); Jason Varitek, Boston vs. Toronto (4/30); Felipe Lopez, Washington vs. Atlanta (4/30); Asdrubal Cabrera, Cleveland vs. Seattle
Double: None
Triple: None
Home Run: Pat Burrell, Philadelphia vs. San Francisco (5/2); Skip Schumaker, St. Louis vs. Chicago Cubs (5/2); Hunter Pence, Houston vs. Milwaukee (5/4)
Error: Geoff Jenkins, Philadelphia vs. San Francisco (5/4)