MLB
Sunday, September 19
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Streaking and Slumping Pitchers
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Streaking
Daniel Hudson (7-2, 2.58 ERA), Arizona Diamondbacks
Did anyone know Daniel Hudson was going to make an immediate impact when the D-Backs got him from the White Sox? All of a sudden, things don’t seem so bleak in the desert state.
Hudson has been beyond good since joining Arizona’s starting rotation. He’s stopped four-game losing streaks in each of his last two starts and he owns a 1.67 ERA since switching over to the National League.
"You're seeing a kid who knows how to pitch, too," interim manager Kirk Gibson told the Arizona Daily Star. "Especially when he got to the third time around, he changed it up a little bit. He's got a good understanding of what's going on out there."
The Diamondbacks are 4-0 in Hudson’s last four starts and 5-1 in his last six outings.
Slumping
Adam Wainwright (18-11, 2.50 ERA), St. Louis Cardinals
Hey, remember when the Cards were fighting for first place in NL Central and Adam Wainwright was a shoe-in for the NL Cy Young award? Hard to believe that was only six weeks ago.
The Red Birds are 1-5 in Wainwright’s last six starts and they were big faves in each of those games. Wainwright has given St. Louis backers just two quality starts since Aug. 18.
Returning
Andy Pettitte (11-2, 2.88 ERA), New York Yankees
This is a big deal for the Yankees. Their rotation heading into the playoffs is really iffy after C.C. Sabathia. Pettitte was enjoying one of his best seasons until he tweaked his groin in a start against the Rays back in mid July.
His return got delayed a few times so bettors should be careful backing him in his first start. This could be just an experiment to see if he’s a go or no-go for the postseason.
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Sunday Night Baseball: Twins at White Sox
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Minnesota Twins at Chicago White Sox
Statistics compiled prior to Saturday’s games.
A matter of pride
It’s been almost two months since the Tigers were relevant in the postseason discussion, but the White Sox were in the thick of it until they lost three straight to Minnesota earlier this week. The sweep extended the Twins’ lead over the White Sox in the AL Central to nine games.
How Ozzie Guillen’s team will react to being virtually eliminated from playoff contention is anyone’s guess, but he believes they have some fight left in them.
“To me, it’s not done…” Guillen told the Chicago Sun-Times Friday. “If I’m going to say we are done, then I don’t have respect for my players and don’t believe what they can do.”
We meet again
John Danks will take the ball for the White Sox Sunday night, while Detroit will counter with Jeremy Bonderman.
The two last met in Detroit for a 5-1 Tigers victory on September 8.
Bonderman earned the win, allowing just one run over eight innings while striking out eight. The outing was probably Bonderman’s best in what has been an otherwise disappointing 2010 campaign.
Danks pitched well but was victimized by poor defense when Mark Teahen’s throwing error helped the Tigers put up four runs in the fourth inning. Danks took the loss, allowing two earned runs in six innings of work.
Action Jackson
In his first full season at the major-league level, Tigers’ leadoff hitter Austin Jackson has impressed at the plate, in the field and on the base paths.
He has emerged as a legitimate contender for the AL Rookie of the Year award, but he has yet to find his comfort zone against left-handed pitching.
Jackson is batting .230 against lefties on the year and has struggled against the left-handed Danks, managing just one hit, a single, in seven plate appearances.
Pains in the pens
Guillen has named 21-year-old Chris Sale as his closer while Bobby Jenks battles ulnar neuritis in his pitching arm. The 6-foot-6 Sale has impressed in his first stint in the big leagues, allowing just two runs in 17 2-3 innings while piling up 23 strikeouts.
Sale has been perfect against the Tigers – literally. In 5 1-3 innings of work against Detroit, he hasn’t allowed a single baserunner.
Chicago’s bullpen allowed 10 earned runs in 9 2-3 innings while being swept by Minnesota earlier this week.
The Tigers will go with Phil Coke in save situations until regular closer Jose Valverde recovers from soreness in his pitching elbow. Following Detroit’s 9-2 victory in Friday’s series opener, Tigers manager Jim Leyland indicated that he had no idea when Valverde would be ready to pitch again.
Trends
- Detroit is 3-1 in Bonderman’s last four starts, while the White Sox are 1-5 in Danks’ last six.
- The Over is 4-1 in Danks’ last five home starts.
- The Over is 6-1 in Bonderman’s last seven starts overall.
- Chicago is 2-7 in its last nine home games.
- Detroit is -16.41 units on the road, third-worst in baseball.
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Hot Lines: Today's best MLB bets
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Toronto Blue Jays at Boston Red Sox (-165, 8)
Injuries have all but killed the Red Sox this season, but J.D. Drew returned from nagging problems on Saturday.
"I feel a lot better today," MLB.com reported Drew as saying. "I'll go out there and run around a little bit, do my hitting group and stuff like that, but it's much better. It's just another day to let my hamstring catch up a little bit. My ankle feels pretty good. Everything is right on track." He ended up going 1-for-3 with a single and a walk in a win over the Blue Jays.
More good news for Boston is that Jon Lester is taking the mound on Sunday. The Red Sox are 39-12 in Lester’s last 51 home starts.
It is worth noting that Lester is about to join an elite group of lefties in Major League history. He is almost certain to match Randy Johnson, Sandy Koufax, Sam McDowell, Johan Santana, and Sid Fernandez as southpaws who have more than one season with at least nine strikeouts per nine innings. Lester, with 208 strikeouts in 190 innings, is on pace to lead the majors this season in that statistic.
Pick: Red Sox
Colorado Rockies at Los Angeles Dodgers (-130, 7)
The Rockies and Dodgers are going in opposite directions as the season comes to a close, and the series so far has been proof. Colorado is looking for the sweep on Sunday following a 12-2 blowout on Saturday.
The Rockies have won 13 of their last 15 games, are within one game of San Francisco and San Diego in the NL West, and are within 2.5 of the Braves in the Wild Card race. The Dodgers have dropped four in a row and are long gone from playoff contention.
Joe Torre has announced he is retiring on Friday so L.A. is also dealing with that distraction. Perhaps he has seen more than enough of Troy Tulowitzki, who hit two more home runs on Saturday. Tulowitzki now has 14 dingers in his last 15 games, tying the modern-day record shared by Albert Bell and Barry Bonds.
"I really don't have words to describe what we're seeing from Troy Tulowitzki," manager Jim Tracy told the Denver Post. "I mean, how do you describe 14 homers in 15 games? You know, it's one thing to be hot, and another to be in a zone like this guy is in. But he has that type of mentality. He loves this time of the year, and he's proven that going back to 2007."
Pick: Rockies
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This Day in Baseball
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On September 19 in Baseball History...
1910 - A Southern Association game between Mobile and Atlanta takes just thirty-two minutes to complete. The game is conducted as an experiment with batters swinging at every good pitch and little time taken between pitches. There are no strikeouts and one walk as Mobile wins 2-1.
1925 - Ted Lyons lost his bid for a no-hitter when Bobby Veach singled with two outs in the ninth inning. The Chicago White Sox routed the Washington Senators 17-0.
1926 - The St. Louis Cardinals pounded the Philadelphia Phillies 23-3 in the first game of a doubleheader and beat them 10-2 in the second game.
1931 - Lefty Grove wins his 30th game over the White Sox 2-1. He is the first to win 30 since Jim Bagby of Cleveland in 1920 and will be the last American League hurler to do so until Denny McLain in 1968.
1939 - Ted Williams hits a home run off Thornton Lee, one of thirty-one home runs he will hit in his rookie season. Williams will homer off Thornton's son, Don Lee, twenty-one years later.
1949 - Ralph Kiner of the Pittsburgh Pirates became the first National League player to hit fifty home runs in two different seasons.
1955 - Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs set a Major League record with his fifth grand slam of the season in a 12-inning, 6-5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
1968 - Denny McLain won his 31st game, the most in the American League since Lefty Grove's thirty-one in 1931. The Detroit Tigers beat the New York Yankees 6-2 while Mickey Mantle hit his 535th and next-to-last career homer.
1973 - Frank Robinson hit his first home run in Arlington Stadium, as a member of the California Angels. It was the 32nd Major League ballpark in which he had homered.
1984 - Pete Rose reached the 100-hit plateau for the 22nd consecutive year, an all-time record. He also tied the National League record for doubles with 725 as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves 4-2.
1993 - Tom Glavine of the Braves becomes the first National League pitcher in twenty years to win twenty games in three consecutive years. Fergie Jenkins of the Cubs was the last to do the trick.
1995 - San Diego's Ken Caminiti became the first Major Leaguer to homer from both sides of the plate three times in a season as he went 4-for-4 with a career-high eight RBIs in a 15-4 win over Colorado.
1997 - Mark McGwire hit his 54th homer and became the first in the majors to hit 20 or more homers for two teams in the same season.
1998 - Seattle's Alex Rodriguez hit his 40th homer to become the third player in baseball history to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season.