Swishers tiebreaking HR sparks Yankees (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 19 June 2011 11:39:24 PM. © MLB News Blog

Nick Swisher hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the eighth inning and the New York Yankees routed the Chicago Cubs 10-4 on Sunday night in the finale of their first series at Wrigley Field in eight years. Brett Gardner added his first career leadoff homer for the Yankees, who have won eight of 10 since [...]

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The Process Versus The Blue Jays

post from Capitol Avenue Club on 19 June 2011 11:21:52 PM. © Capitol Avenue Club

Ricky Romero Although 2011 is Romero?s third year in the league, he?s still developing as a pitcher. His approach has varied each of the past three seasons, but he still remains a strikeout pitcher (8.18 K/9). Through 14 starts this season, he?s been generating swing-miss rates over 50% (!) on both his changeup and curveball [...]

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Show #152: The Braves Stumble At Home

post from Atlanta Baseball Talk on 19 June 2011 11:14:54 PM. © Atlanta Baseball Talk

Can the team be better? Heyward’s star. The starting rotation. And batting the pitcher 8th. // var LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_IFRAME_TOTAL_COLLAPSED_WIDTH = 520; var LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_IFRAME_TOTAL_COLLAPSED_HEIGHT…[...]

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The Naysayers Are Full of Crap!

post from LADodgerTalk.com - Daily Dodger Talk, LA Dodger News, Dodger Minor League Reports and Dodger Chatter on 19 June 2011 11:01:57 PM. © LADodgerTalk.com - Daily Dodger Talk, LA Dodger News, Dodger Minor League Reports and Dodger Chatter

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Very Little Goes Right as Rockies Lose 9-1

post from Purple Row on 19 June 2011 10:01:20 PM. © Purple Row

Detroit Tigers' Brennan Boesch scores as the ball is knocked from the glove of Colorado Rockies pitcher Rex Brothers on a wild pitch in the 7th inning of a baseball game in Denver on Sunday, June 19, 2011. Brothers left the game after the play with an injury to his arm. The Tigers won 9-1. (AP Photo/Chris Schneider)

Unfortunately, this game went pretty much exactly how I thought it was going to go. Justin Verlander (9-3) threw a complete game four-hitter for the Tigers while Aaron Cook (0-2) got roughed up in six innings of work. Cook allowed 8 hits and 4 runs, then Rex Brothers and Clayton Mortensen both allowed multiple runs in relief (Brothers doing so without getting any outs).

Ty Wigginton provided the offense with a solo shot (his 7th) in the 5th, while Troy Tulowitzki had two of the other three hits for Colorado. Other than that, not very much went right for the Rockies. It's probably best not to dwell on it. Instead, call your dad and tell him how much you appreciate his contribution to your life.

At least the Rockies won the series and sniffed the .500 mark. They play three games in Cleveland next, as we get to see Jason Giambi in full-on DH mode.

35 - 36

Games Back: 3.5

Streak: Lost 1

Games Left: 91

Graph: It's pretty depressing

via www.fangraphs.com

We Salute: Tulowitzki, Wigginton

We Are Disappointed In: everybody else

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-9-1

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The End of the First Half Brings the Reverse
Organizational Sweep for the Atlanta Braves Minor League Affiliates

post from Talking Chop on 19 June 2011 09:02:06 PM. © Talking Chop

Today saw the end of the first half of the season for Mississippi and below and I think everyone could use a few days off, especially Rome who has lost eight straight games. If you aren't familiar with minor league rules let me refresh you. The season is played in two halves. The winner of each half in each division goes to the playoffs. If a team wins the division in both halves the team with the second best record in the second half will play the first team. AAA does not set up this way. They play basically the same way the Majors do with the winners of the PCL and IL playing each other in the AAA World Series.

Durham Bulls 2, Gwinnett Braves 1

Jose Constanza LF - 2-4, 2B, SB(18), .344 Avg
Matt Young CF - 2-4, 3B, .290 Avg
Todd Redmond 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 1 K, 2.52 ERA

The Braves drop their third straight game to the Bulls after briefly taking the division lead from them. They currently sit two games back. Todd Redmond continues to be rock in the rotation for the Braves even when everyone around him is getting promoted to Atlanta. I'm not advocating that he should be promoted, but it is sad to see a guy who probably could pitch in the Majors just sitting in AAA doing good work. Also I do think Jose Constanza should get some ML work at some point just on principle alone.

Julio Teheran will try to improve his 1.78 ERA against the Syracuse Chiefs.

Mississippi Braves 1, Jacksonville Suns 3

Mycal Jones CF - 1-3, HR(4), BB, .241 Avg
Paul Clemens 3.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R(1 ER), 3 BB, 4 K, 3.29 ERA
Kenshin Kawakami 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 5.21 ERA

Mississippi pulled the same trick as Gwinnett by winning the first game of the series but losing the next four to the Suns. Clemens pitched into the fourth inning and was pulled presumably to pitch in Tuesday's All Star Game. Today was the last day of the first half for the Southern League and the Braves finished last in the South Division at 14.5 games out of first place. The Braves will be sending Clemens, Randall Delgado, J.J. Hoover, Brett Oberholtzer and Tyler Pastornicky to the All Star Game.

Kinston Indians 7, Lynchburg Hillcats 6

Andrelton Simmons SS - 2-4, 2B, CS(10), PO, .304 Avg
Adam Milligan LF - 1-3, 3B, BB, K, .277 Avg
Joey Terdoslavich 1B - 1-4, HR(12), 2 RBI, .260 Avg

At least one team could put together some offense, unfortunately the Hillcats' pitching wasn't up to par. Over the last two months Adam Milligan has walked in just under 10% of his plate appearances and struck out in just over 33%. During that span he has posted a wOBA around .390. He has put together a nice couple of months since shaking the rust off in April and I would expect him to get the call to Mississippi once the short seasons start up. Lynchburg finishes their first half in third place in their division with a 30-40 record and 11.5 games out of first place. They had a .500 record on the road but were 10 games under at home. Andrelton Simmons, Joey Terdoslavich and Todd Cunningham will represent the Hillcats on the All Star Team.

Lexington Legends 4, Rome 2

Tommy La Stella 2B - 0-4
Edward Salcedo 3B - 1-4, 2B, .268 Avg
David Rohm RF - 2-4, 2B, 3B, .250 Avg

Tommy La Stella, the Braves 8th round draft pick this year, made his professional debut today. He is the first 2010 Braves draftee to appear in a game this season. Rome finishes the first half of the season in last place in the Southern Division and in possession of the worst record in the league. Caleb Brewer and Jakob Dalfonso will be representing the Braves in the Sally League All Star Game.

DSL Braves - OFF DAY

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Game #70: Yankees at Cubs

post from Zell's Pinstripe Blog on 19 June 2011 08:09:34 PM. © Zell's Pinstripe Blog

Yankees (40-29) vs. Cubs (29-41) Pitching Matchup: LHP CC Sabathia (8-4, 3.28) vs RHP Randy Wells (1-1, 5.63) Yankees Lineup Gardner LF Granderson CF Teixeira 1B Rodriguez 3B Cano 2B Swisher RF Martin C Nunez SS Sabathia LHP The game will take place at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. It?s scheduled to start at 8:05p.m. [...]

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Navarro’s Shot Is All The Pitching Needs

post from LADodgerTalk.com - Daily Dodger Talk, LA Dodger News, Dodger Minor League Reports and Dodger Chatter on 19 June 2011 08:02:03 PM. © LADodgerTalk.com - Daily Dodger Talk, LA Dodger News, Dodger Minor League Reports and Dodger Chatter

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No Run Support For Norris, Astros Lose 1-0

LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 19: Bud Norris #20 of the Houston Astros throws a pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 19, 2011 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

Dioner Navarro hit a solo shot against Wilton Lopez in the eighth inning to break a scoreless tie, and the offense wasted a magnificent pitching performance by Bud Norris.

Norris shut down the Dodgers for six scoreless innings, and it looked as if he was in complete control on the mound this afternoon. He ended up throwing 99 pitches while allowing only one hit and striking out five. It was great to see Bud continue his recent success, and he now has a 0.85 ERA over his last three starts. With Wandy's nice start last night and Brett Myers' complete game on Friday, the starting pitching has been phenomenal lately (21 total innings and three earned runs).

Norris also laid out for a foul pop-up in the sixth, and it was quite an acrobatic display that you don't often see from a pitcher. It's a shame that he didn't get any run support as Hiroki Kuroda threw a very good game and locked up the Houston bats for seven innings. This game came down to the bullpen for both teams, and Wilton Lopez's mistake pitch proved to be the difference.

The offense only accounted for three hits, with two of them coming on doubles from Chris Johnson. Please come back soon Hunter.

As miserable as these last couple weeks have been, I think Dodger fans might have it worse. While they do sport a better record than our Astros, their future looks pretty bleak with their ongoing financial saga and ownership questions.

After the rough Pittsburgh series earlier this week, these last three games have generated a little bit of optimism. Let's hope our starting pitchers keep dealing in Arlington tomorrow night.

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Verlander wins with second straight CG (AP)

Justin Verlander didn’t need his best stuff to beat the Colorado Rockies. Verlander threw a four-hitter for his second straight complete game and the Detroit Tigers beat the Rockies 9-1 on Sunday. It was Verlander’s seventh straight win, but he said he wasn’t nearly as sharp as he has been lately.

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