Time for Heads to Roll

If there was ever a time to be upset with the play and/or management of a team, now is the time for the Toronto Blue Jays. They came into Boston Thursday night, two games behind the Red Sox for second...


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Catfish Stew: Boston I Hear It's Not Much of a
Baseball Town

"The Boston gig has been cancelled..."

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More on Lester

The Boston Globe provides more information on Jon Lester's cancer. It sounds similar to Andres Galaragga's condition: The most recent case of a major league player with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was Andres Galarraga, who was playing for the Atlanta Braves in...


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Rusty Glavine

The Mets knocked the Astros down a peg in the wild card race last night, no thanks to Tom Glavine. Glavine, in his first game back since being diagnosed with blood clots, blew a 5-3 lead in the fifth inning...


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Bronx Banter: I Love a Rainy Night

I can only imagine what must have been running through a Minnesota Twins fans' mind last night as they watched Alex Rodriguez hit two homers and a bases loaded RBI single--"This is the guy who is supposed to stink?" Now batting .282 with 29 dingers and 99 RBI, Rodriguez, according to my pal out west, Rich Lederer, "is having one of the best seasons for a bum in recent memory." Rodriguez had that good look back last night--even when he grounded into a double play his second time up, his frustration inspired confidence, instead of a "here we go again" feeling. Lee Jenkins reports in The New York Times:

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Wild Race Continues

The NL Division races are looking more and more complete as the Cardinals and the Dodgers keep on winning. Chris Carpenter easily beat the Pirates 3-1 last night for his third complete game, allowing three hits while striking out eight....


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Saturday Update

The Day by Day Database is up to date....


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Minor League Scorebook

News

• Bill Valentine recently had cause to defendthe Travs' relations with the Angels in the comments section ofTravelerocity; here's an excerpt:

  Memphis has been in last place nearly all year and for the past several years they have had very poor teams ....Springfield is below US in the standings..in fact we lost ten out of eleven games and GAINED A GAME on Springield...(so how were they playing?)

  We have won one pennant and were in the championship series last year...in five years with the Angels...

  Prospects? One of Springield's top prospects is 31 yearsold....neither Memphis or Springfield have many prospect because theCardinal traded them off faster than they can develope [sic].... for 30 year olds for the major league team...face it...the Cardinal manager does not play many rookie players...but the Angels bring up and play rookies every year....and for that reason they keep their prospects and do not trade them away... This week the Travelers were selected the 14th over all team in the minor leagues for prospects that have played here during this season...

  Over nine players on the Angels played in Little Rock in the last twoyears..what more do you want?

  [...]

  Bill Stoneman flies into Little Rock every year and spends at least three days...we can call him on the telephone at anytime...we have dinner with him during the winter meetings and spring training....try that on for size with other major league teams....

  What you are really over looking is that we are completing our sixth years with the Angels in Ray Winder Field..(which has the worse infield and outfield in professional baseball)...and NOT ONE TIME have the Angels ever complained about the field...their advice when players complain...if you can play the field in Little Rock you can play any where in baseball...

  They have stuck by us and we have a great relationshilp with them...

  The Travs had very strained relations with the Cardinals toward theend of their last contract, especially since Albert Pujols never setfoot in Arkansas. I wish some of the other minor league teams wouldget blogs of this quality; it's great to see this kind of interaction.
• Team USA beat the Dominican Republic 12-2 in an Olympic qualifying game played in Havana, Cuba. Brandon Wood went 1-2 with a walk.

Scores

2006-09-01: Portland 3, Salt Lake 1 # Murphy: 1-4, 2 K
Morales: 0-4, 1 K
McPherson: 1-4, 1 RBI, 1 K
Gorneault: 0-4, 2 K
Eylward: 0-3
Haynes: 2-3
Shell: (L, 5-9), 7.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 6 H, 6 K, 0 BB, 6.21 ERA
For all those folks wondering where Dallas McPherson was, why, here heis again, driving in the Bees' only run. The Bees have lost fourstraight games since clinching the PCL Pacific North Division title,and have scored onlythree runs during that skid.2006-09-01: Springfield 4, Arkansas 5 # Rodriguez, S: 3-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB
Evans: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 BB
Brown: 2-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Wilson: 2-4
Rodriguez, R: 6.0 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 8 H, 3 K, 1 BB, 1 HR, 6.63 ERA
Pullin: (W, 2-0) (in relief), 3.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 K, 1 BB, 4.70 ERA
At least the last homestand at Ray Winder will contain one win; it was alsothe lastnight game to be played there. Sean Rodriguez drove in threeruns, including a two-run homer, and a game winning RBI single in thebottom of the ninth. Matt Brown had a two-run dinger in the bottom ofthe third; Rafael Rodriguez got in a quality start, save for anunearned run courtesy of a botched fielding job by Matt Brown.2006-09-01: Rancho Cucamonga 21, Lancaster 8 # Sutton: 2-5, 1 3B, 2 BB
Leahy: 2-6, 2 2B, 5 RBI, 1 BB
Collins: 3-6, 1 2B, 5 RBI, 1 BB
Reilly: 2-6, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Lopez: 2-5, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 K
Sandoval, F: 3-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB
Remole: 3-6
Johnson: 4-5, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI
Leblanc: 3-5, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB
Posey: (W, 4-10), 5.0 IP, 6 R, 4 ER, 9 H, 2 K, 1 BB, 3 HR, 5.65 ERA
Jepsen: 1.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 H, 0 K, 1 BB, 1 HR, 3.58 ERA
It's games like this one that screw up your Pythagorean numbers at theend of the season. Micah Posey gave up six runs but managed to squeak outa win anyway, and the Quakes outhit the JetHawks 24-12. Rancho scoredin crooked numbers in five innings, and seven of nine; Josh Leblanc,Pat Reilly, and Ben Johnson all homered. Every Rancho offensiveplayer had a multi-hit game. Ryan Leahy and Michael Collins bothdrove in five runs each.

This was Michael Collins' second consecutive game at first base; sinceJuly 1, he's been splitting catching and 1B/DH duties about 50/50.I'm not sure what this means for him as a prospect, but it's likelynot good.2006-09-01: Cedar Rapids 8, Kane County 2 # Coon: 2-3, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 2 BB
Rosario: 2-5, 1 2B, 3 K
Trumbo: 0-4, 1 RBI, 1 K
Davies: 2-4, 1 K
Hill: (W, 4-10), 9.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 8 H, 6 K, 2 BB, 1 HR, 4.27 ERA
The previously uninteresting Andrew Triplett Hill threw a completegame with two runs on six strikeouts, two walks, and eight hits. TheKernels plated two in the first inning and never looked back.2006-09-01: Orem 2, Idaho Falls 3 # Pettit: 3-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K
Phillips: 2-4
Mount: 0-2, 1 K
Haynes: 4.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 6 H, 0 K, 2 BB, 2.96 ERA
Holler: (L, 2-4) (in relief), 0.1 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 K, 2 BB, 4.99 ERA
P.J. Phillips cashed in Darrell Sales' seventh inning double to tiethe game, but the unreliable Blake Holler gave up a walkoff RBI single toJoseph Dickerson to lose it.2006-09-01: AZL Padres vs. AZL Angels: Missing report # The AZLAngels schedule page claims there was supposed to have been a gametoday and one tomorrow. Left hand, this is right hand, over...2006-09-01: Fresno 4, Las Vegas 3 # Garcia: 2-5
Young, D: 0-3, 1 BB
LaRoche: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 K
Alvarez, N: 2-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K
Robles: 1-3, 1 BB
Dunlap: 0-1, 1 K
Hanrahan: 0-1, 1 K
Hoffmann: 0-1, 1 K
Thomas: 5.0 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 4 H, 3 K, 1 BB, 0.00 ERA
Miller: 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 3 K, 3 BB, 3.86 ERA
Osoria: (BS, 6), 1.1 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 K, 1 BB, 4.44 ERA
Carter: (L, 2-4) (in relief), 1.2 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 K, 1 BB, 3.83 ERA
Adam Thomas, who had bounced up and down between Jacksonville and VeroBeach this year, got an emergency start for Vegas and actuallyperformed creditably. Franquelis Osoria got a blown save, and LanceCarter took the loss, surrenderingan earned run in the top of the tenth on a wild pitch. Nick Alvarezhad a two-run homer in the loss.2006-09-01: Jacksonville 2, Carolina 1 # Dewitt: 0-4
Zapp: 0-2, 2 BB
Hu, C: 2-4, 1 RBI
Raglani: 1-3, 1 BB, 2 K
Lundberg: (W, 15-2), 6.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 5 K, 1 BB, 2.27 ERA
LaMura: 2.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 K, 2 BB, 1.79 ERA
2.5-A pitcher Spike Lundberg blanked the Mudcats over six innings.The winning run got aboard and to third thanks to two errors and awild pitch; Chin-Lung Hu drove him in with an RBI single. Both Sunsruns were unearned. Jacksonvillepitching limited Carolina to only five hits.2006-09-01: Vero Beach 1, St. Lucie 6 # Paul, X: 1-3, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Mitchell: 2-4, 1 2B
Apodaca: 2-4, 1 K
Wade: (L, 2-4), 5.2 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 6 H, 4 K, 5 BB, 2 HR, 8.24 ERA
2006-09-01: Columbus 2, Charleston 0 # De Jesus: 0-4, 2 K
Denker, T: 3-4, 1 2B
Rivera, J: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI
McDonald: (W, 5-10), 9.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 10 K, 2 BB, 3.98 ERA
James McDonald threw a sparkling three-hitcomplete game shutout over the Charleston RiverDogs. DavidSutherland and Juan Rivera drove in single runs on doubles in thesecond and seventh innings.2006-09-01: Ogden 7, Casper 1 # Rogowski: 2-5, 1 2B, 1 3B, 3 RBI, 2 K
Santana: 2-3, 1 2B, 2 BB
Bell: 3-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K
Johnson: (W, 4-5), 6.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 9 K, 1 BB, 3.79 ERA
Acheatel: 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 4 K, 0 BB, 2.38 ERA
Ryan Rogowski hit a bases-clearing triple in the top of the second tocap a four-run inning; the Raptors followed that with a three-runeighth. Steve Johnson had his best game since a July 2 seven-inning,ten-strikeout shutout.2006-09-01: GCL Dodgers did not play

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Shoals: Tigers 9, Angels 0

There's armies of words I could use for this game I did not watch or listen to; the Angels are, really and truly, done for the year, as of this writing, eight games back. Barring a complete and total collapse of the A's, the Angels will be watching the postseason in their living rooms, which is probably as it should be. I won't dwell too much on the told-ya-so part except to note in passing that I called it a week ago, at least, and BP clocked in before the season started. Jeff Weaver's a memory, Esteban Loaiza is throwing in the mid-90's, and we hear ace Rich Harden is coming back from the DL any day now.

But, it's probably time to think about what's wrong here. For starters, Ervin Santana hasn't been able to really shake his home/road splits, and that's got to change if he wants to be anything besides a tenuous fifth starter. Considering his youth, I'll give him a bye for now, but the fact is he's got to step it up. The team's offense was a big fat zero, and I go straight back to my June OBP rant, though in fact the Angels stranded eight; that was just Kenny Rogers being Kenny Rogers. But some of it was the Angels' natural hacktasticness, a systemwide tendency that hurts them facing guys like Rogers. There was a great piece recently in BP about Mark Teahen, including this quote by Billy Beane: "power is something that can be acquired. Good hitters develop power. Power hitters don't become good hitters." Dallas McPherson and Brandon Wood, that's your future calling.

Recap

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A Good Year to be Chris Young

The NL West must now contend with two Chris Young's. The pitcher for San Diego raised his strikeouts and lowered his ERA to become the top starter on the team. The Diamondbacks, however, have their own version in the outfield,...


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