MLB
Thursday, September 16
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Streaking and Slumping Pitchers
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Streaking
Tim Stauffer (4-3, 1.54 ERA), San Diego Padres
Stauffer made the most of his opportunity filling in for Mat Latos last week. He fired four innings of one-run ball on Monday and then followed that up six scoreless innings, giving up three hits against the Giants on Saturday. Get used to Stauffer in the rotation. Word is the Padres are going to keep him there for a while.
Jonathan Sanchez (10-8, 3.29 ERA), San Francisco Giants
Sanchez has pitched San Francisco to team wins in four of his last five starts and hasn’t given up a run over his last two innings, spanning 12 innings. He allowed only one hit in his last outing, blanking the Padres over five innings in a 1-0 loss. The lefty did have problems with his control in that one, walking seven while striking out four.
Slumping
Rodrigo Lopez (5-14, 5.13 ERA), Arizona Diamondbacks
Lopez hasn’t won a game since July 8, going 0-6 through those 11 starts, though he has been better lately. He allowed just two earned runs over 6 1/3 innings in a 2-1 loss at Colorado the last time he took the hill and only allowed three runs over six innings in a 3-2 loss against Houston before that.
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Hot Lines: Today's best MLB bets
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Minnesota at Chicago White Sox (-105, 8.5)
The rivalry between the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox is nothing new, but sometimes it can be blown way out of proportion. On Tuesday, the Chicago Tribune featured a huge headline to accompany a Mark Buehrle photo saying “I hate the Twins,” which was accurate. However, Buehrle continued to say he hated Minnesota because “they’re good and they win.”
Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire didn’t appear overly offended.
"I enjoy the heck out of it, even 'I hate the Twins' on a headline. That's great stuff,” Gardenhire told reporters “I mean, Chicago stuff, that's great. You open the paper up and, 'Hey, honey you want a cup of coffee?' 'Yeah — I hate the Twins?' It doesn't get any better than that. It's a great article, and it doesn't get any better than that."
The Twins had won 20 of its last 26 games against the White Sox heading into Wednesday’s matchup.
Pick: Twins
Arizona at Cincinnati (-180, 9)
The Cincinnati Reds could be getting a big veteran presence back on the field for the stretch run. Jim Edmonds, who has been out since the end of August with an oblique injury, has responded to treatment well after many thought his season, or even his career might be over.
Reports out of Cincinnati say that he looks good in the batting cage and may return over the next few days. Edmonds is batting .272 with nine homers and 21 RBIs in 82 games this season.
Cincinnati had lost two of three heading into Wednesday’s game and was limited to just a single run in both of those losses.
Pick: Over
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This Day in Baseball
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On September 16 in Baseball History...
1905 - The New York Highlanders find themselves a little short on infielders, so right fielder Willie Keeler, who is left-handed, plays second base in both halves of a twin bill.
1914 - Roger Peckinpaugh, at twenty-three, was hired to finish the season as manager of the New York Yankees.
1919 - Dutch Ruether beats the Giants 4-3 to clinch Cincinnati's first pennant since American Association days.
1924 - Jim Bottomley went six-for-six and batted in a record twelve runs as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 17-3. His hits included two home runs.
1940 - Rookie Johnny Lucadello of the St. Louis Browns hits home runs from each side of the plate against the New York Yankees in a 16-4 Browns win. Only Wally Schang, in 1916, had accomplished the same feat in the American League. Mickey Mantle in 1955 will be the next American League player to do it. These are the only home runs Lucadello hits all year.
1957 - The Los Angeles City Council approves a 300-acre site in Chavez Ravine for a Dodger stadium if the club will finance a public recreation area.
1960 - Warren Spahn, thirty-nine, pitched a no-hitter and set an all-time Braves record with fifteen strikeouts. Milwaukee beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-0.
1965 - Dave Morehead of the Boston Red Sox pitched a 2-0 no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park.
1968 - American League President Joe Cronin fires umpires Al Salerno, an eight-year veteran, and Bill Valentine, with seven years. They say they have been fired for activities related to starting an umpires union.
1975 - The Pittsburgh Pirates routed the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field 22-0. It was the most one-sided shutout since 1900. Rennie Stennett had seven hits, including two two-hit innings.
1979 - Willie Wilson hits his fifth inside-the-park homer of the season in a 6-3 loss to Seattle at Kansas City. It is the most inside-the-park-homers in a season since Kiki Cuyler hit eight for the Pirates in 1925.
1987 - Joe Carter of the Cleveland Indians became the ninth Major Leaguer to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in the same season when he stole his career-high 30th base in the fourth inning of a 5-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners.
1988 - Cincinnati's Tom Browning pitched a perfect game as the Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 1-0. Browning struck out eight and allowed only eight balls to be hit out of the infield.
1993 - Dave Winfield of the Minnesota Twins became the 19th player in Major League history to get 3,000 hits with a single off Oakland's Dennis Eckersley.
1995 - Greg Maddux of the Braves sets a Major League record with his 17th consecutive road victory in a 6-1 triumph over the Reds.
1996 - Paul Molitor got his 3,000th career hit, becoming the 21st Major Leaguer to reach the mark and the first to do it with a triple.
1997 - Philadelphia's Curt Schilling struck out nine in the Phillies win over the New York Mets to become the 13th pitcher since 1900 with 300 strikeouts in a season.
