MLB
Saturday, October 2
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Streaking and Slumping Pitchers
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Streakers
Chris Capuano, Milwaukee Brewers (4-4, 3.75 ERA)
The veteran left-hander is in the midst of one of the best stretches of his career.
Last month he started five games, allowing just eight earned runs over 30.1 innings. Capuano doesn’t do a great job of going long into games – he didn’t get past the seventh during that stretch -- but he has become the model of consistency and allowed no more than five hits in any start the past five weeks.
"Knock on wood, I've been real happy with the way the arm feels," Capuano told the Associated Press.
Brian Matusz, Baltimore Orioles (9-12, 4.40 ERA)
The 23-year-old left-hander has been one of the top pitchers for the Orioles the past two months.
Matusz hasn’t lost since August 14, lowering his ERA nearly a full run over that span. During that stretch he has gone 5-0 over seven starts, going 40 innings and yielding just seven runs over that span. One of the biggest keys for the South Paw has been posting high strikeout totals.
During his hot streak he has 34 punch-outs against just 10 free passes.
"Any game, college or pro, I have to pitch inside," Matusz told USA Today. "I just believe the more options you have, the more tools you have in the toolbox, that makes it easier to go out and do the job."
Slumping
Mark Buehrle, Chicago White Sox (12-13, 4.32 ERA)
The hurler has been horrid in his past three outings, getting shelled for 15 earned runs over his past 17 innings and not lasting past the sixth inning any of those games.
Buehrle’s biggest problem is that he is struggling to strike out opposing hitters. He has just a 9-to-3 strikeout to walk ratio and has given up 30 hits the past three times he toed the rubber. Letting opposing hitters make contact has been a huge issue as batters are hitting a blistering .296 against him this year.
A.J. Burnett, New York Yankees (10-15, 5.33 ERA)
This might be the worst season of the 33-year-old’s career.
Burnett has gotten beat around in three of his past five outings as the team has dropped eight of his past 10 starts. In his most recent outing, a 7-5 loss to Toronto, Burnett was clubbed for seven earned runs on seven hits, including two home runs, in just 2.1 innings. Over his past 40.2 innings, he has given up 28 earned runs.
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Hot Lines: Today's best MLB bets
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Toronto Blue Jays at Minnesota Twins (-113, 8)
The Blue Jays aren’t afraid of the Twins and their best home record in baseball. They aren’t afraid of the team’s potent lineup or solid pitching staff. But they are afraid of left-handed starter Brian Duensing.
Toronto couldn’t hit left-handed pitching if it was using shovels this season. Snow shovels.
The Blue Jays are hitting a meager .213 against South Paws this year, easily the worst in the Majors by a staggering 26 points. Even more startling, the team has scored a league-low 128 runs against lefties this season.
"It really is a mystery," Toronto manager Cito Gaston told the Sudbury Star. "As a right-handed hitter I couldn't get to the park early enough if I knew a lefty was pitching. This just doesn't make a lot of sense."
On the road, the team also is hitting a mediocre .243 away from home this season.
Meantime, the Twins have a solid 3.55 ERA at home this season and have recorded 511 strikeouts. They are the best home team in the Majors for a reason.
Pick: Twins
Arizona Diamondbacks at Los Angeles Dodgers (-165, 7.5)
For a pair of pop-gun offenses, the end of the year can’t come soon enough.
The Diamondbacks have seen the under go 6-2-1 in their past nine games and are averaging a mediocre 4.42 runs per game. For the Dodgers, they are having just as much difficulty plating runners, seeing the under post a mark of 6-3-1 in its past 10 games.
"The second half, all of a sudden it goes the other way," Dodgers hitting coach Don Mattingly told the Los Angeles Times. "I haven't done anything different. I never try to change anything, as far as how to approach at-bats."
And then take a look at the pitchers. Joe Saunders has been solid for the snakes and has seen the under go 1-1 in his three most recent starts. Across the diamond, Chad Billingsley has had the under cash two of the past three times he took the bump.
Overall, the under has gone 3-0-1 in the team’s past four meetings.
Pick: Under
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This Day in Baseball
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On October 2 in Baseball History...
1908 - Addie Joss of the Cleveland Indians pitched a perfect game, defeating the Chicago White Sox 1-0.
1916 - Grover Alexander pitched his sixteenth shutout of the season, allowing only three Boston Braves hits in a 2-0 triumph.
1919 - In Game Two of the World Series, White Sox pitcher Lefty Williams falters in the third inning as the Reds take a 3-0 lead. Swede Risberg and Chick Gandil fail in the clutch in a 4-2 Cincinnati win. Chicago manager Kid Gleason tells owner Charlie Comiskey that he is suspicious of his players, but neither league president follows with action.
1920 - The only tripleheader in this century was played, with the Cincinnati Reds defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first two games. The Pirates won the nightcap, which was called after six innings because of darkness.
1921 - The Yankees close the season by beating the Red Sox, 7-6. Babe Ruth hits his fifty-ninth home run off Curt Fullerton.
1932 - The Yankees sweep the Cubs in the World Series. Tony Lazzeri hits two homers and Earle Combs adds another in the 13-6 laugher.
1936 - The Yankees even the World Series and set a Series record for runs as they demolish the Giants 18-4. Lefty Gomez coasts to a six-hit win, while every member of the Yankees lineup makes a hit and scores at least one run. Tony Lazzeri hits a grand slam, the first in World Series play since 1920.
1938 - Bob Feller struck out eighteen Detroit Tigers, setting a single-game record that stood until Steve Carlton broke it in 1969.
1947 - The Dodgers squeak out a 9-8 win over the Yankees, jumping on Bobo Newsom and Vic Raschi for six runs in the second inning. Yogi Berra becomes the first player to hit a pinch home run in World Series history, belting one off Brooklyn's Ralph Branca in the seventh inning.
1949 - The Yankees and the Red Sox enter the last day of the season tied for first place and nearly 70,000 pack Yankee Stadium to see the finale. Vic Raschi nurses a 1-0 lead into the eighth against Ellis Kinder before the Yankees score four runs and go on to win the game and the pennant 5-3. Ted Williams also loses the batting title as George Kell goes two-for-three in Detroit (.3429 to .3427).
1954 - The Giants sweep the American League team with the best record in history, scoring four runs in the fifth for a 7-4 win over Cleveland. The Indians had won 111 games, a record that stood until surpassed by the 1998 Yankees.
1955 - Surprise Brooklyn starter rookie Roger Craig pitches six innings for the 5-3 win to even the World Series. Two home runs by Duke Snider and one by Sandy Amoros prove too much for the Yankees.
1958 - The Braves erupt for seven runs in the first and go on to defeat the Yankees 13-5. Lew Burdette is shaky but beats New York for the fourth consecutive time in the World Series. He also chips in with a three-run home run.
1962 - Just 25,321 fans are on hand at Dodger Stadium for the second game in the best-of-three playoff against the Giants. A ninth-inning sacrifice fly by Ron Fairly sends Maury Wills home with the deciding run in the Dodgers' 8-7 win.
1963 - Sandy Koufax fans the first five batters he faces and becomes the first pitcher to fan fifteen in a World Series game. Johnny Roseboro's three-run home run is the difference as Los Angeles beats the Yankees 5-2 at New York.
1965 - Sandy Koufax's 2-1 win against the Braves clinches the National League pennant for the Dodgers. With thirteen strikeouts, Koufax ups his modern major league season record to 382. (Nolan Ryan will do Koufax one K better in 1973.)
1966 - Sandy Koufax clinches the third Los Angeles pennant in four years, working with just two days rest for a 6-3 win at Philadelphia. Koufax sets Los Angeles records with twenty-seven wins and a 1.73 ERA.
1968 - Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals set a World Series record by striking out seventeen Detroit Tigers in Game 1.
1969 - The Seattle Pilots play what will be their last game in Seattle in a 3-1 loss to Oakland. A crowd of 5,473 shows up.
1972 - Bill Stoneman of Montreal pitches his second no-hitter, beating the Mets 7-0. The temperature at Jarry Park is 53 degrees as 7,184 watch the doubleheader split.
1974 - During a 13-0 Braves win over Reds, Hank Aaron homers off Rawly Eastwick. It is Aaron's 733rd career clout and comes in his last National League at-bat.
1977 - Dusty Baker homers in his final at-bat of the season during a 6-3 loss to the Astros. It is Baker's 30th home run of the year, enabling him to join teammates Steve Garvey (33), Reggie Smith (32) and Ron Cey (30) in making the Dodgers the first team ever to boast four 30-homer hitters in one season.
1978 - In a one-game playoff for the American League East title, Bucky Dent hit a three-run homer off Mike Torrez, leading the New York Yankees to a 5-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
1984 - In the first LCS game played with replacement umpires, the Cubs clobber the Padres 13-0 in the opener of the National League series. Chicago hits five home runs at Wrigley Field, including one by winning pitcher Rick Sutcliffe.
1985 - Tigers first baseman Darrell Evans hits his major league-leading 40th home run of the season and becomes the first player to have a 40-homer season in each loop. Evans hit 41 homers for the Braves in 1973.
1986 - Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets became the first pitcher in baseball history to strike out two-hundred batters in each of his first three seasons, fanning seven en route to an 8-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
1986 - Mike Scott strikes out eight Giants in a 2-1 Astros victory to run his season total to 306, becoming the third National League pitcher to fan 300 batters in one season. Scott loses his bid for a second consecutive no-hitter when Will Clark doubles in the seventh inning.
1988 - Minnesota's season-ending 3-2 win over the Angels is watched by 35,952 fans, making the Twins the first American League club ever to break three million in season attendance.
1991 - The Toronto Blue Jays clinched the American League East title and became the first team in sports history to draw four million fans in one season.
1992 - Carlos Baerga becomes the first second baseman in American League history to hit .300 with 200 hits, 20 home runs and 100 RBI.
1995 - The Seattle Mariners, behind Randy Johnson's three-hitter, beat California 9-1 in a one-game playoff for the American League West title.
