Diamond Rundown – Edition Nineteen
by Brian Joseph
Facts, figures and other tidbits from the nineteenth week of the ’08 major league baseball season.
Notable Quotable I: “I was trying to nibble way too much, trying to make perfect pitches and ended up missing by a lot most of the time.” Oakland Athletics pitcher Sean Gallagher after a 6-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday. The first two runs scored when Gallagher hit batters with the bases loaded in the second and third innings.
Big Inning: In a 10-run seventh inning against the Twins on Monday, Seattle’s Raul Ibanez hit a grand slam and a two-run single to set a club record for the most RBI in one inning — six — one more than Ken Griffey Jr.’s five-RBI fifth inning on April 29, 1999. Ibanez was the first Mariner since Bret Boone on July 19, 2004 to register six RBI in a game.
Notable Quotable II: “Weird. Your stomach doesn’t churn when you come to the ballpark — what are you going to do, walk him? Pitch to him?… I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that. It’s the truth. You’d have to think for the other managers it was the same. He was that dominant. I haven’t seen Barry. I haven’t read about him.” Braves manager Bobby Cox on playing against a Giants team without Barry Bonds in San Francisco on Monday.
Longball Longoria: Rays’ rookie Evan Longoria hit his 22nd homer in their 8-4 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday. Longoria’s 22nd home run set a new team record for a rookie. The previous record was 21 hit by Jonny Gomes in 2005.
Blown Away: Detroit’s Kyle Farnsworth in the eighth and Joel Zumaya in the 14th were credited with blown saves and Zumaya took the loss in their 10-8 loss to the White Sox on Tuesday. Zumaya gave up a three-run home run to Nick Swisher for a walk-off win for the White Sox. This season, the Tigers’ bullpen has blown 22 of 42 save opportunities.
Dazzling Debut: Baltimore’s Chris Waters threw eight scoreless innings of one-hit ball against the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday in their 3-0 win.
… And Give Me 20: Vladimir Guerrero of the Angels hit his 20th home run of the year in their 9-4 win over the Orioles on Wednesday. Guerrero hit 20 home runs for the fifth consecutive season as an Angel. He is the fourth player in Angels’ history to hit 20 home runs in five consecutive seasons joining Garret Anderson, Brian Downing and Tim Salmon.
Almost Perfect: Pittsburgh’s Jeff Karstens retired 23 consecutive batters before finally allowing a hit to Arizona’s Chris Young with two outs in the eighth inning. Karstens finished the game for a complete game two-hit shutout in their 2-0 win over the Diamondbacks on Wednesday.
Back to the Drawing Board: Royals manager Trey Hillman prepared his team to face Boston’s Tim Wakefield by throwing his version of a knuckleball at batting practice before Wednesday’s game. Unfortunately, the strategy failed. Wakefield pitched six innings and gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits and the Red Sox won 8-2.
Keeping it in the Yard: Florida’s Chris Volstad pitched six scoreless innings in their 3-0 win over the Phillies on Thursday. In the Minors and Majors this season, Volstad has pitched 124 2/3 innings without giving up a home run.
Notable Quotable III: “Raul hit the ball so hard, it didn’t have time to go foul.” Mariners manager Jim Riggleman on Raul Ibanez’s walk-off home run in their 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday.
Goose Eggs: Oakland’s Brad Ziegler earned his first career save and extended his Major League record scoreless inning streak to 37 to start off his career. The two-inning save also extended his streak to tie the club record of 37 innings previously held by Mike Torrez set in 1976. The A’s beat the Tigers 4-2 on Friday.
Blank Men: The Phillies were shut out for the second straight game on Friday by the Pirates following being shut out by the Marlins on Thursday. The 12-inning 2-0 loss on Friday marked the first time the team was shut out in back-to-back games since September 11th and 12th in 1999 by the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Phillies also went 23 consecutive innings without scoring.
Snell Shelled: Philadelphia’s Jimmy Rollins went 4-for-4 with two triples and two runs scored in their 4-2 win over the Pirates on Saturday. All four hits came off of Pittsburgh’s Ian Snell and Rollins raised his average against the Pirates pitcher to .632. He is 12-for-19 with four triples and a homer off of Snell.
Hit Machine: Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki went 4-for-6 with a home run and three RBI in their 8-7 extra-inning loss to the Rays on Saturday. It was Suzuki’s 36th four-hit game of his career and extended his hitting streak to 15 games.
Cy Young Candidate I: Cleveland’s Cliff Lee pushed his record to 16-2 and lowered his ERA to a Major League-low 2.45 with eight innings of scoreless ball in their 4-0 win over the Blue Jays on Sunday. It was Lee’s fifth consecutive decision that resulted in a win and he has not lost since July 6 when he lost to Minnesota.
Road Sweet Road: Boston’s Dustin Pedroia extended his road hitting streak to 29 games on Sunday with a first inning double. The Red Sox lost to the White Sox 6-5 but Pedroia’s road hitting streak is the longest since Tris Speaker hit in 29 consecutive road games in 1913.
Rocky Start: Colorado’s Livan Hernandez debuted on Sunday with a 2 2/3 inning outing where he gave up nine runs on seven hits and four walks. The Padres beat the Rockies 16-7 and Hernandez’s National League ERA is 30.38.
Franchise Record I: In their loss, Colorado’s Matt Holliday extended his franchise-record scoring streak to 15 games when he scored on a Brad Hawpe home run in the fourth inning of their 16-7 loss on Sunday.
Cy Young Candidate II: Arizona’s Brandon Webb raised his record to 17-4 on Sunday with a six inning one-run outing that lowered his ERA to 2.88. The Diamondbacks beat the Braves 6-1 and Webb went to 6-0 in his last nine starts.
Gone Streakin’: Baltimore’s Aubrey Huff (18 games), LA’s Garret Anderson (16 games) and Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki (16 games) all kept their hitting streaks alive on Sunday.
Franchise Record II: The Tampa Bay Rays won their 71st game on Sunday which was one more than their 70 wins in 2004 when they went 70-92. The Rays ended the week at 71-46.
Numbers Game
1: Philadelphia’s Jamie Moyer took the L in an 8-2 loss to the Marlins on Tuesday. Moyer fell to 10-1 lifetime against Florida.
146: Arizona’s Mark Reynolds struck out for the 146th time this season — a Diamondbacks record — and added to it later in the game on Sunday when he struck out for the 147th time. The previous record was held by Troy Glaus who struck out 145 times in 2005.
513: In a losing effort, Manny Ramirez of the Dodgers hit his 513th home run on Wednesday to move into 20th place on the career home run list passing Ernie Banks and Eddie Mathews.
$869: The New York Mets announced that seats from Shea Stadium will be sold for $869 per pair online at Mets.com beginning August 25.
1087: It was 1,087 days between wins for Atlanta’s Mike Hampton who got credit for the win in their 11-4 win over the Giants on Tuesday.
Grand Slams
Marlon Byrd, Texas vs. NY Yankees (8/4)
Raul Ibanez, Seattle vs. Minnesota (8/4)
Richie Sexson, NY Yankees vs. Texas (8/5)
Mark DeRosa, Chicago Cubs vs. Houston (8/6)
Albert Pujols, St. Louis vs. LA Dodgers (8/6)
Walk-Off Archive
Single: Kevin Mench, Toronto vs. Oakland (8/5); Henry Blanco, Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis (8/8); Aaron Rowand, San Francisco vs. LA Dodgers (8/9); Tony Pena Jr., Kansas City vs. Minnesota (8/10); Chone Figgins, LA Angels vs. NY Yankees (8/10); Eugenio Velez, San Francisco vs. LA Dodgers (8/10)
Double: None
Triple: None
Home Run: Marlon Byrd, Texas vs. NY Yankees (8/4); Nick Swisher, Chicago White Sox vs. Detroit (8/5); Ryan Ludwick, St. Louis vs. LA Dodgers (8/5); Carlos Pena, Tampa Bay vs. Cleveland (8/6); David Wright, NY Mets vs. San Diego (8/7); Raul Ibanez, Seattle vs. Tampa Bay (8/7); Gabe Kapler, Milwaukee vs. Washington (8/10)
Walk: Chone Figgins, LA Angels vs. Baltimore (8/4)
