Diamond Rundown – Edition Twenty One

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

Camden Crowd : The Baltimore Orioles lost on Tuesday in front of their largest crowd of the season at Camden Yards where 48,515 turned out to see the O’s lose to the Red Sox 7-2.  The sell-out pushed the lifetime attendance over the 50,000,000 mark in the 17-year history of Camden Yards.  Oriole fan Kevin Gracie was recognized as the 50-millionth fan and awarded $50,000 and complimentary season tickets for five years.

Notable Quotable I : “He’s a good pitcher.  I hope he opts out of his deal.”  Johnny Damonof the Yankees on Toronto’s A.J. Burnettwho beat the Yankees for the third time this year in Toronto’s 2-1 win over New York on Tuesday.

You Complete Me : Florida’s Ricky Nolascowent the distance for a two-hit complete game shutout to beat the Giants 6-0 on Tuesday.  The complete game ended a Major League-high streak of 301 games without a complete game by the Florida Marlins.  It was the first complete game since Anibal Sanchezon September 16, 2006.

Short Goes Long : Cleveland’s Jhonny Peraltahit his 20 ^th home run in their 8-5 win over the Royals on Wednesday.  It was the third time in his Indians’ career that Peralta hit 20 home runs in a season.  The only other shortstop in Cleveland history to do so was Woody Heldin 1959, 1960 and 1961.

Going Deep : Detroit’s Nate Robertsongot hammered for five home runs in 3 2/3 innings in the Tigers 9-1 loss to the Rangers on Wednesday.  Robertson became the first pitcher in the Majors to give up five home runs in a game since Carlos Silvagave up five home runs to the Orioles as a member of the Twins on August 22, 2006.

The Front-Runners : No, this isn’t about Jimmy Rollins.  On Thursday, Cleveland’s Cliff Leeimproved his record to 18-2, the most wins in the American League.  He also lowered his ERA to a league-low 2.43.  Over in the National League, Arizona’s Brandon Webbpitched seven shutout innings to improve to a Major League-high 19 wins.  It marked the third consecutive start that both Webb and Lee notched wins on the same day.

A Game of Streaks : The Nationals beat the Phillies 4-3 on Thursday to snap Washington’s 12-game losing streak.  In the loss, 45-year-old Jamie Moyerextended his streak of games where he has allowed three or less runs to 14 consecutive starts.  It is the longest streak in Phillies history since Chris Shorthad a streak of 23 consecutive games in 1967.  The Phillies only saw 41,568 fans turn out for the game which snapped their streak of 16 consecutive sell-outs.

One and Done :  Carlos Delgadohit a walk-off single and the Mets beat the Braves 5-4 on Thursday.  It was the 27 ^th consecutive one-run road loss by Atlanta, increasing their Major League record of futility in one-run road losses.

Oh, Snap! : The Angels lost 2-1 to the Twins in 12 innings and Garret Andersonlost his 23-game hitting streak going 0-for-5 with three strikeouts on Thursday.

Notable Quotable II : “It was exciting.  He had advice for how he deals with struggles and the mental side.  It was nice the way he put things.  I told him I can be afraid of contact, and he said, ‘I’m afraid of contact, too.’”  Philadelphia’s Kyle Kendrickon a meeting arranged with then-San Diego pitcher Greg Madduxby Kendrick’s teammate Jamie Moyer.  The advice paid off at the expense of Maddux who was outpitched by Kendrick in his Dodger debut on Friday.  The Phillies beat the Dodgers 8-1 and Kendrick notched his 11 ^th win of the season — his first since July 31. 

The Hard Way : The St. Louis Cardinals scored 18 runs without a home run in their win over the Braves on Friday.  They were the first team since the White Sox on September 27, 2003 to score at least 18 runs without the aid of the long ball and just the 10 ^th team to accomplish the feat since 1956.

Bobbin’ Along : Milwaukee’s J.J. Hardydelivered with a walk-off single in the bottom of the 12 ^th to give the Brewers a 4-3 win over the Pirates on Sunday.  The game-winning hit came on J.J. Hardy Bobblehead Day at Miller Park.

Good for the Record… and the Bank Account : The Milwaukee Brewers had their 21 ^st straight sellout on Sunday and have sold out every game since the CC Sabathiatrade.

Keep on Hittin’ : The Twins lost on Sunday but Joe Mauerextended his hitting streak to 16 straight games.  Also, Justin Morneaujoined Harmon Killebrewas the only Twins’ players to register three consecutive 100-RBI seasons.

‘90s Expansion Exterminator : Florida’s Ricky Nolasconotched the win over the Diamondbacks on Sunday and improved to 4-0 against the D-backs in his career.  In addition to his dominance over the D-backs, Nolasco is a combined 8-0 against Arizona, Colorado and Tampa Bay.

Numbers Game
10: The Dodgers beat the Rockies 3-1 on Thursday.  The game featured James Loney’s 10 ^th home run, Derek Lowe’s 10 ^th win (he’s 10-10), Hong-Chih Kuo’s 10 ^th hold and Jonathan Broxton’s 10 ^th save.
30: Boston’s Daisuke Matsuzakawent to 15-2 on the season with a win on Tuesday in the Red Sox 7-2 win over the Orioles.  It was also Matsuzaka’s 30 ^th career win — the most of any Japanese-born player in their first two seasons surpassing Hideo Nomowho had 29 career wins in 1995-96.
200: San Francisco’s Tim Lincecumstruck out his 200 ^th batter in their 5-0 win over the Padres on Friday.  Lincecum improved to 14-3 and became the first Giant since Jason Schmidtstruck out 251 in 2004 to do so.
206: Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddonwon his 206 ^th game as the Rays manager on Saturday as the Rays beat the White Sox 5-3.  The win moved Maddon past Larry Rothschildand he became the winningest manager in the Rays’ short history.
609:  Ken Griffey Jr.hit his first home run in a White Sox uniform on Wednesday in the team’s 15-3 win over his first team, the Seattle Mariners.  Griffey’s 14 ^th homer for the year was his 609 ^th home run of his career.  The home run tied Griffey for fifth on the All-Time Home Run List with Sammy Sosa.

Grand Slams
Willie Harris, Washingtonvs. Chicago Cubs (8/22)

Walk-Off Archive
Single:  Carlos Delgado, NY Metsvs. Atlanta (8/21);  J.J. Hardy, Milwaukeevs. Pittsburgh (8/24);  Alexei Ramirez, Chicago White Soxvs. Tampa bay (8/24)      
Double:  None 
Triple:  None 
Home Run:  Omar Quintanilla, Coloradovs. Cincinnati (8/24);  Pedro Feliz, Philadelphiavs. LA Dodgers (8/24)
Sacrifice Fly:  Bengie Molina, San Franciscovs. Florida (8/20)
Wild Pitch:  Emmanuel Burris(scored on wild pitch by Kevin Gregg), San Franciscovs. Florida (8/21)