Notables:
-Madison Bumgarner threw five innings of one-run ball, striking out seven and walking only one. He now has a 1.00 ERA over 27 September innings with a 25:3 K:BB ratio.
-Detroit/Baltimore was postponed.
-Bronson Arroyo gave up only one run over seven innings en route to 17th win. I'm thinking they'll need him in the playoffs.
-Nice to see Mose Schrute return to the starting lineup on Thursday night after a lengthy layoff.
-Erick Aybar just missed making his voice a couple octaves higher.
-Dillon Gee took the loss Thursday, giving up two runs over six innings. I saw this guy pitch late this season in the minors and break the Buffalo Bisons single-season record for strikeouts. He's only 24 and should make for a nice sleeper in New York next year.
-The five walks were scary but Gio Gonzalez won his 15th game tossing seven scoreless innings.
-Cliff Lee threw seven scoreless innings with eight Ks and no walks (surprise, surprise). I wouldn't want to face the Rangers in the playoffs.
Save Chances:
-Ramon Ramirez, converted, (3). The ninja was…elsewhere, perhaps playing with Machine.
-Carlos Marmol, converted, (37). With 136 Ks over 76.2 innings, where do we have him among closers next year? Crazy thing is, he turns 28 in two weeks.
-Leo Nunez, converted (30). Very odd game, hence the "call on Nunez", although he did strike out both batter he faced.
-Joakim Soria, converted (43). Scoreless frame against the Rays.
-Neftali Feliz, conveted (39). Lowered the ERA to 2.77.
Other Closer Outings:
-Heath Bell, (1), loss. Raised his ERA to 1.86; shame on him.
-Francisco Cordero worked a scoreless inning (ahem, to improve his confidence – 7.56 September ERA), I mean, to get him some work.
Non-Closer Outings:
-Sean Marshall picked up a vulture win with 0.2 scoreless innings. Interesting to see what the Cubbies do with him next year.
-Zach Braddock pitched 0.2 innings. He's now owns a 1.72 ERA over the second half.
Tough Days:
-Jason Hammel gave up five runs over three innings and has had a tough September with a 6.41 ERA.
-John Lester gave up eight runs over four innings. I'm not a fan of showing a pitcher's ERA when saying "if you take out this outing he would have had this ERA". Point is those outings happen. Lester has had five outings of five earned runs or more, which is quite a stat for a guy with a 3.38 ERA.
-Sandy Rosario gave up three runs over zero innings. Not good.
-Francisco Liriano allowed three homers and ended up giving up five earned runs over 5.1 innings. He's obviously going to need to pitch much better next week.
Stolen Bases:
-Kelly Johnson (13), Andres Torres (25), Aubrey Huff (7), Brandon Phillips (16), David Eckstein (8), Emilio Bonifacio (12), Nelson Cruz (17), Rajai Davis (48), Mark Ellis (7), Mike Aviles (13), Dan Johnson (1), Desmond Jennings (2), B.J. Upton (42), Peter Bourjos (10)
Caught Stealing:
-Yorvit Torrealba (5 – never thought of him as a base stealer and never had more than four before this season's seven), Elvis Andrus (15)
Home Runs:
-Ronny Cedeno (7), Pablo Sandoval (13 – buy-low next year), Andres Torres (16), Buster Posey (17), Michael Stanton (22), Travis Snider (14 – don't sleep on him next year, .319 BA and six homers during September), Edwin Encarnacio 2 (18), Jose Molina (6 – the fastest catcher in the game), Carl Crawford (18), Victor Martinez (20), Jeff Keppinger (6), Drew Stubbs (22), Brandon Phillips (18), Jonny Gomes (18), Paul Konerko (39), Dayan Viciedo (4 – but a 19:1 K:BB ratio), Pedro Alvarez (15), Peter Bourjos (5), Jose Bautista 2 (54), Chris Carter (2), Cliff Pennington (6)
Stay Tuned:
-An argument is coming for Michael Stanton as ROY.