Diamond Rundown – Edition Nine

Facts, figures and other tidbits from the ninth week of the ’08 major league baseball season.

Jamie Moyer Chronicles – Part One : On Monday, pitcher Jamie Moyerbecame the sixth pitcher in Major League history to beat all 30 teams.  Moyer finally notched a win against the Colorado Rockies as Philadelphia pounded the Rox 20-5.  The other five pitchers to complete the feat – Curt Schilling, Kevin Brown, Al Leiter, Terry Mulholland and Woody Williams.

Notable Quotable I : “Fire Willie!”  The remaining New York Mets fans at Shea Stadium as the Mets fell to the Florida Marlins 7-3 on Monday, the same day manager Willie Randolphgot a vote of confidence from the front office after a meeting.

Stealing Home I : With the bases loaded against the Indians, White Sox pitcher Ehren Wassermanattempted a pick-off of Jamey Carrollat first base and Carroll got caught in a rundown.  David Delluccibroke for home from third base and Paul Konerko’s throw was in the dirt which allowed Dellucci to score.  Carroll took second and Grady Sizemorestole third giving the Indians a triple steal.

Back-to-Back ³ : In Tuesday’s Orioles-Yankees game, Baltimore’s Kevin Millarand Ramon Hernandezhit back-to-back homers in the second inning which was countered by New York’s Bobby Abreuand Alex Rodriguezwho hit back-to-back home runs in the fourth.  In the fifth, the Orioles countered with back-to-back home runs again, this time by Luke Scottand Kevin Millar.  The Yankees blew a 4-0 lead, and 8-4 lead and a 9-8 lead and lost the game 10-9 on an Alex Cintronwalk-off single.

Dazzling Debut : Everyone was expecting great things from Cincinnati’s top prospect Jay Bruce.  On Tuesday, Bruce delivered in his first Major League game – he went 3-for-3 with a double, a stolen base, two runs scored, two RBI and two walks plus a standing ovation from the fans and a shaving cream pie from teammates.  The Reds beat the Pirates 9-6.

A Good Run Spoiled : Kansas City’s Mark Teahanhit a game-tying 3-run inside-the-park home run in the ninth but the Royals lost in 12 innings, 4-3.

Notable Quotable II : “My back hurt.  I wanted to run into center field because I knew my teammates were trying to kill me.”  Seattle’s Jose Lopezafter his walk-off single ended their losing streak at seven against Boston on Tuesday.

Giambi Street? : In the 17-year history of Camden Yards, 42 home runs have landed on Eutaw Street beyond the right field wall.  Yankees slugger Jason Giambihit three of the last five that landed there including one on Tuesday and one on Wednesday.

More From Camden Yards : On Wednesday, Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitewon his 15 ^th game at Camden Yards.  At 15-4, Pettite is the winningest visiting pitcher in the park’s history.  Pettite is 24-6 against Baltimore.

Notable Quotable III : “Too many babies here.  They don’t know how to play the game and win the game right, the way it’s supposed to be played, and that’s the problem here.  Now I know why this organization’s been losing for a while.  Now I know.”  Kansas City’s Jose Guillenafter the Royals blew an 8-3 lead in the ninth inning and eventually lost 9-8 in 10 innings to the Twins on Wednesday.

Super Sub : Washington’s Ryan Langerhansdidn’t start but finished strong.  Langerhans providing a game-tying RBI single as a pinch hitter then stole a base but was left stranded.  Then, Langerhans stole a home run from Kevin Kouzmanoffwith a leaping grab.  Unfortunately, no one could catch Jody Gerut’s 3-run homer three batters later and the Nationals went on to lose 5-2.

Demolish The Place, Please! : Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Brad Pennycan’t wait until the Mets move out of Shea Stadium after this season.  On Thursday, Penny lasted just four innings and gave up six runs (five earned) in their 8-4 loss to the Mets.  In his career, Penny is 1-10 at Shea.

Airing It Out In Arizona : In his 11 year career, San Francisco’s Randy Winnhas hit just 98 home runs but 10 of them have come against the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Eight of the 10 home runs that Winn has hit against Arizona have come at Chase Field including two in Thursday’s game against the D-Backs.  It was Winn’s fourth multi-homer game of his career, three of those four came against Arizona.

Hammering Heilman : 2008 is becoming more and more forgettable for Mets reliever Aaron Heilman.  On Friday, Heilman failed to record an out while giving up four hits and four earned runs.  It was the eighth time in 26 appearances that Heilman gave up 2+ runs in ’08.  Heilman was 0-2 with two blown saves and a 6.67 ERA through Friday’s game.

Cain v. Maddux III : San Francisco’s Matt Cainand San Diego’s Greg Madduxsquared off for the third time in 2008 on Friday.  The two teams have two more series against each other this year so they could meet again but the Padres won two of three of the first three match-ups and the last two went 13 innings.  San Diego won 7-3 on Friday in 13 innings and both Cain and Maddux earned a no decision.  Maddux pitched six innings and gave up two earned runs while Cain pitched seven innings and gave up three earned runs.

Filling Up A Stat Sheet : Yankees outfielder Bobby Abreuhad a big game on Friday.  In their 6-5 win over the Twins, Abreu went 3-for-4 with two triples, four runs scored and a stolen base.  The stolen base was his 300 ^th making him the 12 ^th player since 1950 to steal 300 bases, hit 400 doubles and 200 home runs in a career.

One Is The Loneliest Number : If the Braves are involved in a close game, they are probably on the losing end.  The Braves have lost 20 one-run games in a row on the road since August 2007, the second longest streak in Major League history according to the Elias Sports Bureau.  The record is held by the ’00-01 Kansas City Royals who lost 21 one-run road games in a row and tied the Braves with the ’85-86 Pirates who also lost 20 in a row.  The Braves are 2-16 in one-run games this year and lost four one-run games in the past seven days.

Stealing Home II : A failed suicide squeeze and a Justin Verlanderpitch in the dirt that bounced away from Ivan Rodriguezled to Seattle’s Kenji Johjimastealing home plate on Saturday.  Johjima, running on the pitch, slid in safely to give the catcher credit for a steal of home in their 5-0 win over the Tigers.

Notable Quotable IV : “I never saw as many people out here.  It’s real nice to see the fans.  They should have cowboy night every night.”  White Sox manager Ozzie Guillenon the sell-out crowd on hand in Tampa Bay.  Guillen was a member of Tampa Bay in 2000.  The sell-out wasn’t due to their best start in the team’s history or that their ace Scott Kazmirwas seeking his fifth consecutive win (which he got).  Instead, it was due to a post-game concert by country music star Trace Adkins.

Complete : Nationals starter Jason Bergmannmight have lost the game on Saturday but he did win a consolation prize.  Bergman went the distance in their 4-0 loss to the Diamondbacks for Washington’s first complete game since August 15, 2006 which ended the team’s longest complete game drought in the history of baseball.  The game clocked in at 1 hour and 52 minutes, the fastest in the history of Chase Field.

Jamie Moyer Chronicles – Part Two : Philadelphia’s Jamie Moyercontinued his success against the Florida Marlins.  Moyer went seven innings and gave up five runs and the Phillies put up seven to extend Moyer’s dominance over Florida.  He is now 8-0 in eight starts against the Marlins.

Streakin’ Shortstops : Both Michael Youngand Jose Reyesended the week with a 17-game hitting streak.  Reyes one-upped the Rangers shortstop by reaching base safely in 32 consecutive games.  The Mets shortstop reaching base streak is not the longest of the season — Albert Pujolsreached safely in 42 consecutive games.

Numbers Game
22: Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollinshas not been caught stealing since August 31, 2007 and since then has stolen 22 consecutive bases.  This season, Rollins is 8-for-8 in stolen base attempts.
300: Toronto’s 12-0 win over Oakland on Wednesday gave manager John Gibbonshis 300 ^th career win.  Gibbons is third on the Blue Jays all-time wins list behind Bobby Cox(355) and Cito Gaston(683).
400: Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Atlanta by the Brewers was manager Ned Yost’s 400 ^th career win.  Yost closed out the week with 403 wins and is 20 wins away from passing Tom Trebelhornfor second amongst Milwaukee Brewers managers. 
500: Boston’s Manny Ramirezbecame the 24 ^th member of the 500 home run club in Baltimore on Saturday.  The home run was a first-pitch solo shot in the seventh inning off of Chad Bradford.  It was Ramirez’s second home run off of Bradford.  Ramirez hit #370 off of Bradford, too – a first-pitch solo shot in the seventh inning.
579: Florida’s Luis Gonzalez’s 579 ^th career double on Tuesday moved him ahead of Wade Boggsfor 18 ^th place on the all-time doubles list.  Of the 17 players ahead of him, 13 are eligible for the Hall of Fame and all 13 are enshrined there.    
4,672: Arizona’s Randy Johnsonstruck out nine on Thursday tying him with Roger Clemensfor second on the all-time strikeouts list.  One more strikeout and he will be in sole possession of second place – just over 1,000 strikeouts behind all-time leader Nolan Ryan.

Grand Slams
Josh Hamilton, Texasvs. Tampa Bay (5/27)
Jesus Flores, Washingtonvs. San Diego (5/28)
Luis Rivas, Pittsburghvs. St. Louis (5/31)

Walk-Off Archive
Single:  Alex Cintron, Baltimorevs. NY Yankees (5/27);  Gary Mathews Jr., LA Angelsvs. Detroit (5/27);  Jose Lopez, Seattlevs. Boston (5/27) ;  Alfonso Soriano, Chicago Cubsvs. LA Dodgers (5/28);  Brandon Phillips, Cincinnativs. Atlanta (5/30);  Juan Rivera, LA Angelsvs. Toronto (5/31);  Maicer Izturis, LA Angelsvs. Toronto (6/1);  Jose Castillo, San Franciscovs. San Diego (6/1)
Double:  Fernando Tatis, NY Metsvs. Florida (5/28)
Triple:  None
Home Run:  Cliff Floyd, Tampa Bayvs. Chicago White Sox (5/30);  Jay Bruce, Cincinnativs. Atlanta (5/31);  Gabe Gross, Tampa Bayvs. Chicago White Sox (6/1)
Walk:  Garret Anderson, LA Angelsvs. Detroit (5/26)
Sacrifice Fly:  Mike Cameron, Milwaukeevs. Atlanta (5/27)