MLB
Saturday, September 11
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Streaking and Slumping Pitchers
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Streaking
Jason Marquis, Washington Nationals (2-7, 7.14 ERA)
Stay with me on this one.
Marquis has been about as reliable as any starter in the league over his past four outings. The right-hander entered August as one of the worst pitchers in the Majors, but has settled down, winning his past two starts.
The past four times he has toed the rubber, Marquis has allowed just six earned runs over 24 innings, throwing over 90 pitches in each of those outings. And the veteran pitcher says he no longer resembles the gas can that took the mound earlier this season.
"That wasn't Jason Marquis; it was Jason Marquis but pitching hurt, trying to battle through," Marquis, told the Associated Press. "Unfortunately it didn't work out the way I wanted and I put my team in jeopardy with some losses. I feel like since I've come back, this is what they signed me for."
Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners (11-10, 2.30 ERA)
This should be your American League Cy Young winner.
Hernandez is coming off back-to-back shutouts and has allowed only one earned run combined the past six times he has taken the mound – an astounding stretch of 45 innings.
King Felix leads the American League in strikeouts (209), innings pitched (219.1) and is second in ERA and third in complete games (5).
"I've been on teams where's it's been like that for a guy for maybe 10, 12 starts but not a complete season," Seattle third baseman Russell Branyan told the Associated Press. "It's unfortunate for him for his wins and losses, but you can't take away the other numbers, his ERA, his strikeout, innings pitched. He has been incredible this year."
Slumping
Kyle Kendrick, Philadelphia Phillies (9-8, 4.98 ERA)
Krazy K has been pitching more like Special K the past month. In fact, it got so bad, the organization was heavily debating going with a four-man rotation down the stretch.
Over the past 21.2 innings, Kendrick has given up 18 earned runs. And first base is basically a turn-style when he takes the mound.
During that span, he has given up 32 hits, including three home runs, walked six and struck out just nine.
A.J. Burnett, New York Yankees (10-13, 5.15 ERA)
Speaking of getting ready to be yanked from the rotation. The right-hander has been beyond dreadful in the second half of the year. He is eating up innings, but that’s because he is so far behind in most games that manager Joe Girardi opts to leave him in and save the bull pen.
Over his past four outings, Burnett has gone 23.1 innings in which he has yielded a staggering 21 earned runs. During that stretch he has been pounded for 33 hits and issued 12 free passes.
"I've been through this," Burnett told the Associated Press. "I'm strong enough to deal with it. I'm not going to pout. I'm not going into my next start thinking here we go again. It's a matter of being strong."
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Hot Lines: Today's best MLB bets
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Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee Brewers (-110, 8.5)
The scoreboard operators keep extra bulbs on hand for when these two squads tangle. The over is a staggering 41-19-6 in the team’s past 66 meetings, including a phenomenal 8-3-1 this season.
The Brewers score an average of 4.73 runs per game, the seventh-best mark in the Majors, and are 10th with a great .264 team batting average. The squad has a 74-58-7 over/under mark and is 3-2 against the number over its past five games.
Meantime, the Cubs are stocked with young talent and swinging some hot bats of their own. Chicago is batting .263 as a team, while scoring 4.3 runs per game. It’s over/under record is 61-68-11 this year, but the team also is yielding more than 4.5 runs per game because of a faulty pitching staff.
"There's definitely signs. We keep saying this team will come around -- we have great hitters and we can score some runs. We just need to do that,” Cubs pitcher Tom Gorzelanny told the Associated Press. "As long as we're hitting, we can score some runs and win some ballgames and I think we're showing that now.”
Pick: Over.
Baltimore Orioles at Detroit Tigers (-160, 7.5)
Only the Twins, Phillies, Braves and Reds won more games than the Orioles in August. In fact, the Orioles went 17-11 last month, the best mark in the American League East. That’s quite a feat coming down the home stretch in a division that features three teams vying for postseason berths.
Baltimore’s key has been its improved pitching.
The birds posted a 3.38 ERA and seven saves during the month. Compare that to the team’s overall season stats – 4.77 ERA and just 29 saves.
And if that doesn’t make you a believer, just look at what the addition of manager Buck Showalter has done for the club: the team’s pitchers have a 3.60 ERA under Showalter, an absurd improvement from the league-worst 5.18 ERA in the squad’s first 105 games.
“You can’t just walk over us,” starting pitcher Brian Matusz told the New York Times. “We’re playing good baseball right now. We’re doing all the little things right. It’s fun to come out and beat teams in our division and continue this streak that we have.”
But that bat’s haven’t been disappointing either. The team hit .257 for the month with a solid 29 home runs – not bad for a team with only 121 round-trippers on the season.
Pick: Orioles.
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This Day in Baseball
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On September 11 in Baseball History...
1875 - The first baseball game played with women professionals takes place in Springfield, Illinois. The diamond is half-sized and a nine-foot high canvas surrounds the entire field. The uniforms are similar to the male version, except the pants are shorter.
1886 - Connie Mack makes his Major League debut with Washington, catching flawlessly and contributing a single as the Nationals defeat the Phillies 4-3.
1903 - A new National Agreement signed by the National Association of minor league clubs officially organizes professional baseball under one comprehensive set of rules.
1912 - Eddie Collins stole six bases for the Philadelphia Athletics as they defeated the Detroit Tigers, 9-7. Collins stole six more in a game on Sept. 22.
1918 - The Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-1, behind the three-hit pitching of Carl Mays to win the World Series in six games.
1922 - The Yankees play their farewell home game in the Polo Grounds. An estimated crowd of 40,000 overflows the stadium with another 25,000 turned away. Joe Bush beats the Philadelphia A's in the opener, 10-3, and Waite Hoyt takes the second game 2-1. This is the last regular season American League game at the Polo Grounds as the Yankees will open Yankee Stadium in 1923.
1923 - After leadoff hitter Whitey Witt reaches first on a controversial single, Boston pitcher Howard Ehmke retires the next 27 batters for a 3-0 win. Ehmke has now given up just one hit in his last two games.
1956 - Frank Robinson of the Cincinnati Reds tied a rookie record for home runs in a season with his 38th homer of the year. The blow came off Steve Ridzik of the New York Giants and the Reds went on to an 11-5 victory.
1959 - The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-4, ending reliever Roy Face's winning streak at twenty-two games. It was Face's only loss of the season as he finished with an 18-1 record.
1974 - It took the St. Louis Cardinals 25 innings - 7:04 - to beat the New York Mets. A record 202 batters went to the plate, as Felix Millan and John Milner had twelve appearances apiece.
1976 - Minnie Minoso comes to bat for the White Sox after a twelve-year hiatus. He goes hitless in his three at bats against Frank Tanana, but his appearance makes him one of a handful of Major League players to play in four decades. His at bat in 1980 will match him with Nick Altrock as a five-decade player.
1980 - In a 6-5 win over the Cubs, Montreal's Ron LeFlore steals his 91st base of the season and Rodney Scott steals his 58th, breaking the Major League-record for stolen bases by teammates in one season. Lou Brock and Bake McBride set the record with the 1974 Cardinals.
1985 - Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds became the career hit leader with his 4,192nd hit to break Ty Cobb's record. Rose lined a 2-1 pitch off San Diego pitcher Eric Show to left-center field for a single in the first inning. It was the 57th anniversary of Ty Cobb's last game in the majors.
1987 - New York Mets third baseman Howard Johnson, with thirty-four homers, became the first National League infielder to hit thirty home runs and steal thirty bases in the same season. His 30th stolen base came in the fourth inning of a 6-4, 10-inning loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
1996 - San Diego's Ken Caminiti broke his own Major League record by homering from both sides of the plate in a game for the fourth time this season. In a 6-5 win over Pittsburgh, Caminiti homered left-handed in the fifth inning, hitting a two-run shot. Batting right-handed in the seventh, he hit a solo homer to break his record set last year.
