Diamond Rundown – Edition Twenty Three
by Brian Joseph
Facts, figures and other tidbits from the twenty third week of the ’08 major league baseball season.
Rough Road: The Atlanta Braves stretched their Major League record streak of one-run losses on the road to 29 with their 4-3 loss to the Florida Marlins on Monday thanks to a walk-off sac fly by John Baker.
Cycle I: Arizona’s Stephen Drew hit for the first cycle in Chase Field history on Monday in the D-backs’ 8-6 winner over the Cardinals. In the team’s 11-year history, he became just the third player in their history to complete the feat joining Luis Gonzalez on July 5, 2000 and Greg Colbrunn on September 18, 2002.
20 in Style: Cleveland’s Cliff Lee became the first Cleveland Indian since Gaylord Perry in ’74 to win 20 games with a complete game shutout over the AL Central leading Chicago White Sox. After Monday’s win, Lee went to 20-2 with a 2.32 ERA.
A Strong Second: Not only did Boston’s Dustin Pedroia kick up MVP talk this week, on Monday he notched his 184th hit which set a new team record for hits by a second baseman. The previous record was held by Del Pratt since 1922.
Cycle II: Seattle’s Adrian Beltre became the fourth Mariner in team history to hit for the cycle joining Jay Buhner, Ken Griffey Jr. and John Olerud. The cycle came in their 12-6 win over the Rangers on Monday — the same day as Stephen Drew’s cycle.
Notable Quotable I: “I was way off. I had predicted 418.” Florida’s Joe Nelson when asked about the light turnout at the beginning of their 5-3 win over the Braves on Wednesday. The official number of tickets sold was 11,211 but estimates put the attendance at first pitch at 600 and during points of the game, talk between players could be heard at home plate.
Major League First: Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees hit his 549th career homer which moved him ahead of Mike Schmidt for 12th on the All-Time Home Run list on Wednesday. However, it took an extra 135 seconds as the umpires left the field to review the call before A-Rod was officially awarded the home run.
Dazzling Debut: Atlanta’s James Parr pitched six scoreless innings in his first Major League start and notched the win on Thursday in their 2-0 win over the Nationals. Parr allowed just two hits and three walks.
Notable Quotable II: “To be honest with you, I’ve never seen an inning like that, ever.” Baltimore’s Dave Trembley on his team allowing eight runs on just one hit in the eighth inning to the Athletics on Friday. Three Baltimore pitchers walked six and hit a man before the inning’s fourth reliever Randor Bierd allowed a grand slam to Rajai Davis.
One-Two-Three!: Alfonso Soriano hit three homers in the Cubs 14-9 win over the Reds on Saturday. It was his 23rd multi-home run game and the 36th three home run game in Cubs’ history.
Rare in Thin Air: Houston’s Roy Oswalt became the third pitcher in Coors Field history to pitch a one-hitter in their 2-0 win over the Rockies on Saturday. Oswalt joined Hideo Nomo (with the Dodgers on September 17, 1996) and Pat Rapp (with the Marlins on September 17, 1995).
Numbers Game
30: Manny Ramirez slammed his 30th home run of the season on Tuesday in the Dodgers’ 8-4 win over the Padres. Ramirez reached the 30-home run mark for the 12th time in his career, only four players have achieved the feat more often — Hank Aaron (15), Barry Bonds (14), Babe Ruth (13) and Mike Schmidt (13).
267: Mike Mussina of the Yankees picked up his 267th career win on Tuesday to move him into 34th place on the All-Time Win list. Mussina passed Bob Feller and Eppa Rixey on the list. Mussina has 17 wins this season and is just three wins shy of his first 20-win season.
354: Greg Maddux of the Dodgers tied Roger Clemens on the All-Time Win list with his 354th career win on Monday over his former team. The Dodgers beat the Padres 5-2 as Maddux went 5-2/3 innings and gave up two runs on six hits.
537: Jim Thome of the White Sox hit a walk-off home run in the 15th inning to give the Sox a 7-6 win over the Angels on Saturday and move Thome into 14th place on the All-Time Home Run list.
Grand Slams
Ryan Church, NY Mets vs. Milwaukee (9/3)
Rajai Davis, Oakland vs. Baltimore (9/5)
Jay Bruce, Cincinnati vs. Chicago Cubs (9/5)
Justin Morneau, Minnesota vs. Detroit (9/5)
Gregg Zaun, Toronto vs. Tampa Bay (9/6)
Jolbert Cabrera, Cincinnati vs. Chicago Cubs (9/6)
Walk-Off Archive
Single: Ryan Spilborghs, Colorado vs. San Francisco (9/2); Joey Gathright, Kansas City vs. Oakland (9/4); J.J. Hardy, Milwaukee vs. San Diego (9/5); Jolbert Cabrera, Cincinnati vs. Chicago Cubs (9/7)
Double: Adam Dunn, Arizona vs. St. Louis (9/3); John McDonald, Toronto vs. Minnesota (9/3)
Triple: None
Home Run: Gregg Zaun, Toronto vs. Tampa Bay (9/6); Jim Thome, Chicago White Sox vs. LA Angels (9/6)
Sacrifice Fly: John Baker, Florida vs. Atlanta (9/1)
Error: Jacoby Ellsbury, Boston vs. Baltimore (9/3)
