Bucked Is the New Pipped:
- JP Arencibia, called up to fill in for injured All-Star (cough) John Buck, begins his MLB career by hitting the first pitch he sees out of the park, and finishes his debut with a 4-for-5 line with three runs scored and three RBI. He screwed up hitting for the cycle though, hitting a second home run in his final at-bat instead of a triple. Once he has some experience I'm sure he won't make that kind of mistake again.
Damn, It's Good To Be a Noob:
- other rookies with big nights: Trevor Plouffe hit his first big league home run; Jordan Brown went 3-for-4; and Pedro Alvarez went 3-for-6 with a game-winning home run
Shield Your Eyes, Tampa Fans:
- James Shields threw a batting practice session Saturday. Unfortunately for the Rays, it counted as a game. He served up nine hits -- SIX home runs and three doubles -- to the Jays in four innings, sprinkling in four walks, resulting in eight runs. The six homers allowed in a game ties the modern record, and he's the first non-knuckleball pitcher since World War Two to give up that many.
...The Rest of the Story:
- In case you're wondering, George Caster of the Philadelphia Athletics was the pitcher who coughed up six home runs in a game back in 1940, while Tim Wakefield and RA Dickey are the knuckleballers to do it since. Tommy Thomas established the modern record with the St. Louis Browns in 1936, although Charlie Sweeney holds the all-time record by allowing seven in a game with the "World Series"-winning St. Louis Browns of the American Association (the franchise that eventually became the Cardinals) way, way back in 1886.
Notables:
- Jake Westbrook, who was never mistaken for Bob Feller during his Cleveland career, strikes out nine Marlins in his second NL start after striking out seven Astros in his first.
- Joe Mauer went 4-for-5 with his 36th double of the season. Last year's power surge wasn't a fluke, despite what his new home ballpark would have you believe.
- Livan Hernandez continues his quest to prove to all us doubters that he's the Cuban reincarnation of Satchel Paige, retiring the first 13 batters he faced and allowing two runs (one earned) over seven innings to lower his ERA to 3.03.
- Hiroki Kuroda was pretty good facing Hernandez too, retiring the final 17 batters he faced and striking out eight over seven innings, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk.
- Bruce Chen gave up only a Russell Branyan solo shot over seven innings, with a 4:0 K:BB ratio, to win his seventh game.
- On "Hey, Remember When We Were Good And Luis Gonzalez Won Us a World Series?" night in Phoenix, Chris Young went 3-for-4 and homered twice, including the game-winner in the bottom of the ninth.
- Tim Hudson gave up three hits and a walk over eight shutout innings, striking out six, to win his 13th game.
- Gio Gonzalez tossed seven scoreless to get the win over the Rangers, in a game featuring the kind of intense pressure you only get in early August.
- Scott Kazmir miraculously didn't suck in his first start off the DL, conceding just one unearned run over five innings before the Angels decided not to push their luck and yanked him.
- Cole Hamels struck out 11 without walking anyone over seven innings, but foolishly gave up one run and took the loss because Johan Santana was busy tossing 7.1 shutout innings of his own.
- Curtis Granderson went 2-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored, and stole his second base in three games. It's hard to say just how much his early season groin injury may have lingered, but it looks like he's finally got his wheels back.
- aside from Arencibia, the other big bat for the Jays Saturday belonged to Aaron Hill, who went 3-for-5 with two home runs of his own. That gives him four home runs and four multi-hit games in six August contests.
- Drew Stubbs returned to the starting lineup and went 3-for-4 with a home run.
Save Chances:
- Joakim Soria, converted (31). One hit and two K's in a scoreless inning.
- Billy Wagner, converted with extreme prejudice (27). Struck out the side on 11 pitches.
- Francisco Rodriguez, converted (24). Struck out two and walked one in 1.2 innings to preserve a 1-0 win.
- Mariano Rivera, converted (23). One perfect inning. Ho hum.
- Trevor Hoffman, converted (6). One clean inning, no mess no fuss no bother. There was nothing wrong with John Axford, but Hoffman got the call anyway.
- J.J. Putz, converted (3). Bobby Jenks' back tightened up before the game, so Putz got the call with the game on the line and struck out one in a perfect inning.
- Nick Masset, converted (2). He came in after Francisco Cordero had done his best Ricky Vaughn impression, walking the bases loaded and then plunking a batter to bring in a run. Masset walked in a run himself, but fortunately for the Reds they'd entered the inning with a three run lead.
- Leo Nunez, blown (7). Four hits from the heart of the Cards order resulted in two runs. Not good.
- Aaron Heilman, blown (5). And boy, did he blow up real good, giving up a leadoff home run to Jerry Hairston, followed two outs later by a game-tying solo shot by Adrian Gonzalez. He was pitching for the fourth straight night though, and got rewarded with the win when Chris Young hit his second homer of the night to lead off the bottom of the ninth, so I guess that's some measure of justice.
- Joel Hanrahan, blown (3). Gave up a three-run blast to Ian Stewart in the ninth.
- Huston Street, blown (2). Showed his solidarity with Hanrahan by surrendering a 10th inning three-run home run of his own to Pedro Alvarez.
- Ryan Franklin, blown (2). A Dan Uggla solo shot in the ninth tied it, then he coughed up another run with one out in the 10th to take the loss.
Other Closer Outings:
- Jonathan Broxton pitches a scoreless ninth and 10th, walking two and striking out two, to notch the victory.
- David Aardsma walked one and struck out two in a scoreless ninth with the Mariners down 2-1.
- Francisco Cordero: see Masset's note, above.
Non-Closer Outings:
- Matt Thornton worked the eighth in front of Putz and put up an identical line, striking out one in a perfect frame.
- Scott Feldman did no better in long relief than he'd done in the rotation this season, allowing three runs in 4.2 innings.
- Felix Doubront struck out two in a perfect eighth inning to kick off his conversion to a set-up role.
Tough Days:
- Clayton Richard couldn't escape the fourth inning, coughing up five runs on five hits and two walks in 3.2 innings.
- Josh Bell went 0-for-3, and is now 2-for-22 since being called back up.
- Jeremy Bonderman pitched on three days rest and it showed, as he gave up four runs on four hits and four walks in 4.1 innings. He did strike out five though, if you're looking for any kind of silver (or at least nickel-plated) lining.
- Rich Harden walked five batters in 2.1 innings, getting charged with three runs, before getting yanked.
- Lance Berkman is now 2-for-22 as a Yankee after an 0-for-3 day. He did score his first run in pinstripes though.
- Brad Mills was pretty shaky, giving up five runs on five hits and four walks in four innings, but given what the Jays were busy doing to poor James Shields at the time no one really noticed.
Injuries:
- Alexi Casilla hurt his ankle sliding into home in the third inning, and is day-to-day.
- Bobby Jenks was unable to pitch due to stiffness in his back, and given that Ozzie Guillen was probably looking for an excuse to replace him as closer anyway don't be surprised if the White Sox are overly cautious with his recovery.
Home Runs:
- Jose Bautista (34), Dan Uggla (25), Ricky Weeks (23), Adrian Gonzalez (22), Carlos Quentin (22), Ryan Zimmerman (22), Chris Young 2 (19), Aaron Hill 2 (18), Adam Jones (16), Garrett Jones (16), Ian Stewart (16), Jason Kubel (15), Adam Lind (15), Hanley Ramirez (15), Russell Branyan (14), Drew Stubbs (14), Lyle Overbay (13), Edwin Encarnacion (12), Jeff Francoeur (11), Chris Snyder (11), Pedro Alvarez (10), Victor Martinez (10), George Kottaras (9), Jerry Hairston (8), Erick Aybar (5), Coco Crisp (4), Todd Helton (3), Donnie Murphy (3), Taylor Teagarden (3), JP Arencibia 2 (2), Dan Johnson (1), Trevor Plouffe (1)
Stolen Bases:
- Rajai Davis 2 (34), BJ Upton (32), Carlos Gonzalez (17), David Wright (16), Nelson Cruz (14), Curtis Granderson (10), Alexei Ramirez (8), Gabe Gross (4), Ramiro Pena (4), Gregor Blanco (3), Alexi Casilla (3), Alex Gordon (1), Jorge Posada (1)
Caught Stealing:
- Alexis Rios (12), Justin Upton (7), Gordon Beckham (6), Omar Infante (4), Asdrubel Cabrera (3), Michael Cuddyer (3)