Climbing the Ladder with the American League 8/18/08

Back-to-Back x2 in Chicago, A Texas Size Whopping in Boston plus more in this weeks Climbing the Ladder with the American League.

A.L. East	W	L	PCT.	GB	L10	STRK
Tampa Bay	75	48	.610	—	7-3	W1
Boston	71	53	.573	4.5	6-4	L2
New York	66	58	.532	9.5	4-6	W2
Toronto	64	60	.516	11.5	6-4	W2
Baltimore	60	63	.488	15.0	6-4	W1

Tampa Bay Rays

Of the 261 Major League clubs who have lost 95+ games, only 3 have been 26 games over .500 on August 17th or later in the season.  Tampa Bay joins the 1999 Diamondbacks (+38) and the 1991 Braves (+27) as the only 3 teams to do so.  Ray’s pitching has had a lot to do with the teams success in 2008.  With Scott Kazmir’s start last night, Tampa Bay now has 5 pitchers, age 26 or younger, who have made 20 starts each.  This makes the Rays just the 4th team in Major League history to achieve this.

Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox ended their historic week on a bad note, losing two straight to the Toronto Blue Jays.  Earlier in the week, Boston faced the Texas Rangers in a game filled oddities and never before’s.  David Ortiz became the first player to hit two 3t run home runs in the first inning of a game.  Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis also combined for 11 RBI’s, something that Big Papi and Manny Ramirez had never done.  As Jason Stark notes, in the 108 seasons between 1900 and 2007, only two teams managed to score at least 17 runs in a 9 inning game and lose. Stark also notes that this feat has happened in two consecutive months this year, the first being when the Marlins lost 18-17 in Colorado on the 4th of July.  Before this week, the record for American League teams who scored 17 runs or more was 522-0…it now stands at 522-1.

New York Yankees

The New York Yankees continue their slide down the American League East standings, going just 4-6 in their last 10 games.  With Toronto just 2 games behind New York in the East, the Yankees face the possibility of finishing the season in 4th place.   Outfielder Hideki Matsui hopes to prevent that from happening and will return from the disabled list on Tuesday.  Matsui will likely be limited to designated hitter duties when he returns.

Toronto Blue Jays

Toronto starter, Roy Halladay completed his American League leading 8th complete game on Saturday when he faced the Boston Red Sox.  Halladay has completed 34 games since 2003, 12 more than runner up Livan Hernandez.  Toronto’s pitching staff now leads the Major’s in ERA (3.63), complete games (10), and leads the American League in fewest runs allowed (444), and strike outs (895).

Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles have been going through an impressive offensive outburst over their last 19 games, reaching double digits in hits in 14 of those games while averaging 6.6 runs per game.  O’s hurlers have also pitched in, picking up a win and a quality start in the teams last 11 wins while posting a 1.98 ERA.

A.L. Central	W	L	PCT.	GB	L10	STRK
Chicago	70	53	.569	—	7-3	W2
Minnesota	70	53	.569	—	8-2	W4
Detroit	60	64	.484	10.5	4-6	L1
Kansas City	56	67	.455	14.0	7-3	W1
Cleveland	55	69	.444	15.5	2-8	L2

Chicago White Sox

Slugger Carlos Quintin is looking to  become the first White Sox hitter in the history of the franchise to lead the Major Leagues in home runs and the first to lead the American League since Dick Allen hit 32 in 1974.  Allen (37 in 1972) and Bill Melton (33 in 1971) are the only other Sox hitters to top the league in home runs.  Quinton’s 34 home runs put him one home run ahead of Ryan Howard (33) and two home runs ahead of Adam Dunn (32) for the Major League lead.  

Minnesota Twins

Since the All Star break, the Minnesota Twins have posted a record of 16-11 while hitting .277.  Their pitching staff has posted a 4.09 ERA and Twins pitching has held their opponents to a .263 batting average.  What the Twins have done that the White Sox and Tigers have not is hit .316 with runners in scoring position, good enough for best in the Majors in that department.

Detroit Tigers

Miguel Cabrera hit his 25th home run of the season this weekend, making it 5 straight seasons with 25 home runs or more.  Miggy joins Andrew Jones, Albert Pujols, and Alex Rodriguez as the only active players to have five 25 home run seasons before turning 26 years old.

Cleveland Indians

The Cleveland Indians are out of last place in the American League Central after going 7-3 in their last 10 games and taking two of three from the Los Angeles Angels.  Cliff Lee continues to impress and has posted a 17-2 record this season.  The last Major League pitcher to start 17-2 was Roger Clemens in 2001 when he was with New York.  Lee is just the 6th pitcher since 1970 to win 17 of his first 19 decisions and is on pace to win 23 games in 2008.

Kansas City Royals

The Kansas City Royals finished a 28 game stretch against clubs with a winning record. The Royals are 12-16 during that span, showing that there is life to this team.  Kansas City stated off this 28 game stretch playing well but faded towards the end, going 2-8 in their last 10 games.

A.L. West	W	L	PCT.	GB	L10	STRK
Los Angeles	76	46	.623	—	6-4	L1
Texas	62	63	.496	15.5	2-8	L1
Oakland	56	67	.455	20.5	3-7	L2
Seattle	46	77	.374	30.5	2-8	L3

Los Angeles Angels

The Los Angeles Angels have won 6 of their last ten and appear to  be returning back to earth after losing two of three to the Cleveland Indians.  The Angels hold the best record in the Majors and are one of just two teams in the American League to have a winning percentage over .600.  If the Angels continue to play as they have, they could end up winning over 100 games in 2008, which would be the first 100 win season in franchise history.

Texas Rangers

The Rangers had a tough week playing some good baseball teams.  After being swept by the Boston Red Sox, Texas then went on to play the first place Tampa Bay Rays, winning just once and falling to 2-8 in their last ten games.  Rookie pitcher Matt Harriosn tossed 8.0 innings of shut out baseball on Saturday night, making him just the second pitcher for the Rangers this season to pitch 8.0 innings or more of scoreless baseball.

Oakland Athletics

The Oakland Athletics gave up two earned runs on Saturday and lost, marking the 9th time this season that the A’s have allowed exactly two runs and lost.  The last time the A’s allowed two runs and lost at least nine games was in 1974 with Oakland had 10 such losses.   Oakland scored just one run on Saturday and have scored one run or less in 32 of the teams 123 games they’ve played this year.

Seattle Mariners

Winless in Seattle?  I think so.  The Mariners are just 2-8 over their last 10 games and 21-29 since manager Jim Riggleman took over on 6/20/08.   Brandon Morrow continues to transition from reliever to stater, throwing 61 pitches over 3.2 innings, with 5K’s, 2 BB’s, 3 hits and 2 runs.