Diamond Rundown – Edition Three

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

Going Deep:  On Monday, Kansas City’s Zack Greinke followed Brian Bannister’s 3-hit complete game win over the Twins with a 5-hit complete game win of his own against the Mariners.  It was the first time the Royals had back-to-back complete games since Blake Stein and Mac Suzuki did it on August 18^th & 19^th in 2000. 

Sacrifice:  The Mariners tied a team record with 5 sacrifice flies in their 11-6 win over the Royals on April 15.  The last time the team accomplished the feat was on August 7, 1988 against the Athletics.  Jose Lopez became the 12^th player in the majors to have 3 sacrifice flies in the same game.

Notable Quotable I:  “When he went by me.  I guess at S.C. they never taught him to look twice.”  Phillies’ third base coach Steve Smith’s tongue-in-cheek comment after the game when Geoff Jenkins ran through his stop sign to score the winning run in a 4-run 9^th inning comeback win by the Phillies against the Astros on April 15.  Jenkins went to college at Southern Cal which Smith, a Pepperdine graduate, made reference to.

Maybe His Next Stop Should Be Tampa Bay:  Yankees’ Andy Pettite won his seventh straight decision at Tropicana Field over the Rays on Tuesday.  Pettite is now 8-1 at Tropicana Field.  Although it could be more the team the Yankees played rather than the stadium it was played in – Pettite is 14-2 against the Rays.

Déjà vu:  The Padres pitching staff made a statement in 2007 by leading the majors with 20 shutouts.  Through the first 14 games of the season, San Diego had already notched three shutouts, well ahead of their ’07 pace.

Notable Quotable II:  “It’s called bad base running, that’s what it was.”  The Rangers’ Marlon Byrd on failing to pick up a green light from the third base coach in the seventh as the Rangers dropped their 5^th straight game in a 7-4 loss on April 15.

… Or Even If You’re Alone:  All ten Yankees non-pitchers that played (including pinch runner Johnny Damon) scored in the Yankees 15-9 win over the Red Sox on Wednesday.

Someone Might Want To Tell Him He’s In A Contract Year:  Cleveland’s C. C. Sabathia fell to 0-3 after losing to the Tigers 13-2 on Wednesday.  So far, Sabathia has registered 14 walks in 32 innings pitched compared to the 37 he had in 241 innings in ’07.  His ERA is a whopping 13.50.

Bailed Out:  The Rangers’ David Murphy was ready to wear the goat label after his 1-for-7 effort in the Rangers 7-5 win over the Blue Jays in extra innings.  Twice, Murphy left the bases loaded in extra innings and left 10 runners on base including 6 runners in scoring position.  Luckily for Murphy, the game got lost in the box score when the Rangers eventually won it on April 16.

I’m Walkin’, Yes Indeed:  The Rangers’ Milton Bradley drew five walks in addition to his two hits in eight plate appearances in Wednesday’s game against the Blue Jays.

Sometimes It’s Better To Not Make A Great Play:  Ask Tampa Bay’s Carl Crawford.  In the midst of a great game (Crawford was 2-for-4 with a home run, an RBI and 2 runs scored), Crawford made a great catch on a foul ball in the 8^th inning of a tie game with the Twins.  Unfortunately, Crawford’s great play allowed the runner on third to tag and score to break the 5-5 tie.  To add insult to injury, Crawford struck out looking to end Wednesday’s game.

Tales From The Bizarro World:  Jose Bautista’s error in Wednesday’s game against the Dodgers extended Pittsburgh’s consecutive game with an error streak to 14.  It was their longest such streak since June 2-16, 1946.  Why so strange?  Last year, the Pirates set club records for fewest errors (83), consecutive errorless games streak (11) and most games without an error (99).

3 Plus 4:  Atlanta’s Chipper Jones had an impressive game in Atlanta’s 8-0 win over the Marlins on April 17.  Jones hit his 3^rd and 4^th homer of the season, went 4-for-4, scored 3 runs and knocked in 3.  At the end of the game, Jones was hitting .443.  Also, in the 5^th inning when Jones hit his fourth home run, the team hit back-to-back-to-back homers.  Mark Teixeira followed Jones with his 3^rd homer of the year and Brian McCann followed Teixeira with his 4^th of the season.

Notable Quotable III:  “It’s definitely better to win in a 22-inning game than lose, I’ll tell you that.  It’s tough to stand on your feet for 22 innings and keep moving.”  Colorado’s Troy Tulowitski after winning 2-1 in the 22^nd inning against the Padres.   

Hard Eight:  The Orioles scored 8 the hard way against the Yankees in their 8-2 win on Friday.  They scored 8 runs without the help of one extra base hit.  They scored their first run on a double play in the fourth and then 7 runs in the bottom of the 6^th as the O’s lineup swatted 7 singles.

Taking One For The Team:  Greg Maddux failed to register his 350^th win on Friday but threw 113 pitches in 7 innings of work in their 9-0 loss against the Diamondbacks on April 18.  Maddux was asked to dig deep the night after their 22 inning marathon.  Maddux gave up 13 hits and 9 runs, all earned.

Extra!  Extra!:  Arizona’s Conor Jackson went 4-for-5 with 4 RBIs, 3 runs, 2 triples and a home run.  That’s 11 total bases in the D’backs 9-0 romp over the Padres on Friday.

Notable Quotable IV:  “It’s just one of those games where you get your butt kicked.  It’s not the last time we’re going to get kicked.”  Pirates’ manager John Russell after their 13-1 loss against the Cubs on Saturday.  And Russell was right, the Cubs beat them 13-6 on Sunday.

Table For One:  The Marlins went to 5-0 in one-run games after beating the Washington Nationals 6-5 on April 19.

Notable Quotable V:  “Two games in a row, it’s kind of weird.  You don’t see that too often.”  White Sox’ manager Ozzie Guillen after his team failed to execute a rundown in their second consecutive game on April 19.

Young vs. Young:  San Diego’s Chris Young has owned his namesake.  Arizona’s Chris Young is 0-for-12 with 6 strikeouts against the Padres’ Young after going 0-for-2 with 2 strikeouts and a walk on Saturday.

Slumpin’:  Cincinnati’s Corey Patterson stretched his streak to 0-for-22 after the Reds beat the Brewers on Sunday.

Streakin’:  Pittsburgh’s Nate Mclouth continued his hitting ways as he extended his hitting streak to 18 games, all 18 games played in 2008.  He’s hitting .382 so far in ’08.

Ducks On The Pond:  Not only were the Dodgers swept by the Braves, they scored just three runs in the three-game series and went 1-for-23 with runners in scoring position.

MVP x 3?:  With ’06 MVP Ryan Howard slumping and ’07 MVP on the disabled list, the Phillies’ Chase Utley stepped up on Sunday to help salvage the last game of their three-game series with the Mets.  Utley hit 2 home runs and is hitting .351 with 8 home runs and 17 RBIs so far in ’08.

Boos To Cheers:  Stepping into Jimmy Rollins’ shoes has not been easy for Philadelphia’s Eric Bruntlett.  After grounding into a double play in the second inning, Bruntlett was booed off the field by the home town Phillies’ fans.  However, Bruntlett shrugged off the boos and made a game-saving diving play and one-hop throw to first to end the game and give the Phils a 5-4 win over the Mets on April 20.

The Numbers Game
17:  The number of pitches Rick Ankiel faced before drawing a walk in the bottom of the 1^st of the Cardinals’ 5-4 win on April 16.  Ankiel fouled off 11 straight pitches on a 3-2 count against Milwaukee’s Carlos Villanueva who ended up throwing 109 pitches in just 4 2/3 innings of work.
24:  The most runs scored in a Yankees-Red Sox game since August 13, 1940 occurred on April 16 when the Yanks beat the Sox 15-9.
659:  Pitches thrown in the Colorado-San Diego 22 inning extra inning game.  15 different pitchers pitched in the game.
135,478:  The largest attendance for a three-game series in the history of Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia turned out for the Phillies-Mets weekend series.
7,081,967:  The dollar figure the Blue Jays have to eat after granting Frank Thomas his release after Thomas voiced displeasure with being benched after his slow start.  Thomas accused Toronto of benching him to prevent him from earning an incentive bonus based on plate appearances.

Grand Slams
Edgar Renteria, Detroit vs. Cleveland (4/16)
David Ortiz, Boston vs. Texas (4/18)

Walk-Off Archive
Walk:  None
Single:  Adam Jones, Baltimore vs. Chicago White Sox (4/17); Wes Helms, Florida vs. Washington (4/19); Ken Griffey Jr., Cincinnati vs. Milwaukee (4/20); Justin Morneau, Minnesota vs. Cleveland (4/20)
Double:  Pedro Feliz, Philadelphia vs. Houston (4/15)
Triple:  None
Home Run:  None
Wild Pitch:  Damion Easley, NY Mets vs. Washington (4/17)