The Feed

Hell's Bells For Lee Smith

Trevor Hoffman is getting close to snatching the career lead in saves from Lee Smith. With 471 under his belt, the Padre closer is seven away from Smith's mark and if Hoffman ties and/or passes him before the season is out it will likely mean that the Padres keep playing in October. His 35th save brought last night's 4-1 win over the Diamondbacks to a close and kept the Padres a half-game up on the Phillies in the Wild Card standings. Mike Piazza drove in two runs to set up his longtime All-Star game teammate and Dave Roberts went 4-for-5 with a run and the other two RBI.

• Now I like a good pitching duel as much as the next guy but I'd be lying if last night's Astros-Brewers game doesn't sound like nine innings of watching paint dry. 13 runners left on base between the two teams,  six of them in scoring position, says that David Bush and Roger Clemens pitched well but who really gives a fig? Yes the Astros have won five straight games but they can't hit a lick and don't seem to me to be a viable postseason contender. They finally pulled out Wednesday's game 1-0 on a walk-off RBI groundout by Aubrey Huff. How does that happen, you ask? I'm not quite sure but it seems Jeff Cirillo's mastery of the field is about equal to each team's futility at the plate.
• The Dodgers continued their mastery of the Reds, finishing off a three-game sweep of the fading midwesterners behind Greg Maddux's renewed excellence. Maddux won his 330th game, and hasn't lost since coming West at the trading deadline, by being ruthlessly efficeint on the mound. He needed just 77 pitches to cruise through seven innings in the 7-3 Dodger win and even drove in two runs to make his primary job that much easier.

Ozzie's Boys Roll On

The White Sox opened up a one and a half game lead in the Wild Card race Wednesday after falling behind 3-0 in the first inning. The Devil Rays jumped all over Jon Garland - Rocco Baldelli led off with a home run and his mates followed with three more hits to open up their lead. They extended it to 4-0 on Delmon Young's second RBI of the night in the second inning but the Sox starter settled down from there. Garland shut Tampa out over the next six innings while the Chicago bats finally got going in the eighth. Tadahito Iguchi hit a two-run home run and Jermaine Dye singled, stole second and scored on a Jim Thome hit to go ahead 5-4 and set up Bobby Jenks for his 38th save.

• The Twins did their part to help out the White Sox by dropping their second straight decision to the hapless Royals. Luke Hudson kept eight of the nine Twins in line over his seven innings, allowing just a two-run homer to Michael Cuddyer, and earned his seventh win. Cuddyer also homered off Joe Nelson in the ninth, his third hit in three tries, but the non-Cuddyer Twins were just 3-for-29 on the night and Cuddy could've used the help. Ryan Shealy had the go-ahead RBI in the sixth for K.C. and venerable Mike Sweeney drove in a pair for a 4-3 loss that must really chafe Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire.
• The news in Boston just isn't getting any better. The Sox lost their sixth straight game Wedenesday night, 7-2 to the Athletics, and if that wasn't enough or if David Ortiz's heart problems weren't enough, now comes news that rookie pitcher Jon Lester has been undergoing tests for cancer. He was scratched from a scheduled start Monday with back pain and sent back to Boston for evaluation and the possibility of cancer is one that's being explored, according to the Boston Herald. He's been diagnosed with enlarged lymph nodes, a warning sign for the hideous disease that we hope is incorrect in this case.

Rocky Mountain Highs

The Mets used their prodigious bats to crush the Colorado Rockies again on Wednesday using four homers to grease their way to an 11-3 laugher. The win, coupled with the Yankees and Tigers splitting a doubleheader, leaves the Mets with the best record in all of baseball. It's the latest they've held such a position since 2000, when they lost the Subway Series to the Yanks.

Jose Valentin led the homer parade with a pair of solo blasts in support of Dave Williams. The lefty, plucked after an unsuccesful stint with the Reds earlier this year, scattered nine hits and three runs over seven innings for the win. He was then dispatched to AAA so that the Mets can get another infielder up for the bench. They need a more flexible bench come the playoffs so ex-Met Edgardo Alfonzo could get the call as a reserve while Williams will be back once rosters expand over the weekend. 

David Wright and Carlos Delgado added homers for the Mets, who led 5-0 after one inning and cruised from there.  It was Wright's first home run since July 28 against the Braves.

You Win Some, You Lose Some

The Yankees split a doubleheader at the Stadium yesterday, beating the Tigers 2-0 in the afternoon and falling 5-3 in the nightcap when Scott Proctor gave up a two-out ninth inning home run to Craig Monroe.

Chien-Ming Wang did a terrific job once again for the Bombers during the day. The sinkerballer shut out the Tigers for seven and two-thirds innings, allowing just three hits to pick up his 16th victory of the year. Proctor threw one pitch to get Wang out of an eighth inning jam and Mariano Rivera was flawless in the ninth for his 32nd save. The Yankees scored each of their runs in the bottom of the fifth. Craig Wilson hit a solo homer off Tigers starter and hard-luck loser Nate Robertson and Jason Giambi followed a bit later with a sacrifice fly that scored Johnny Damon.

In the nightcap, Joe Torre elected to keep Mariano Rivera on the bench with a 3-2 lead entering the ninth. Kyle Farnsworth would normally get the call to close out a game in such cases but his oft-balky back flared up and forced Torre to pull a Captain Harris and exhibit an over-reliance on Proctor. Like a night at the Blue Oyster Bar, things quickly went haywire as Proctor struggled to get two outs while walking Brandon Inge and Curtis Granderson. The second walk brought Monroe to the dish and shortly thereafter the Yankees hope for a doubleheader sweep went off into the Bronx night.

And Now I'd Like To Play One Of My Older Hits

Latrell Sprewell, late of the Minnesota Timberwolves and last seen trying to feed his family, is in trouble for putting someone in a chokehold again. He's being investigated for sexual assault by the Milwaukee Police Department after an incident on his yacht, "Milwaukee's Best," Tuesday.

According to police, a 21-year-old female alleged that she and Sprewell were having consensual sex Tuesday aboard his yacht, "Milwaukee's Best," when Sprewell began to strangle her. Police allegedly observed red marks on the woman's neck.

Sprewell is, of course, best known for attacking his coach P.J. Carlesimo during a practice while with the Golden State Warriors in 1997. It's also been a bad summer on the boat for Spree, he needed the help of a tugboat to get him out of trouble a few weeks ago although this situation seems to need a defter touch than a tug captain might posess. It's been a rough slide for Latrell since he left the Knicks. His play suffered, his image suffered when he wouldn't accept five million clams to play last season and now he's living on a boat getting into trouble with the cops. Sounds like a Spreeality show.

The Present and The Future

The Chicago White Sox entered the first game of their series with Tampa Bay with a lot on the line. The Devil Rays, as ever, are pointed toward the future and the latest building block debuted Tuesday night in Chicago. The Present outslugged the Future 12-9 but Delmon Young didn't disappoint in his first big league appearance. He was 2-for-3 with his first career homer after getting drilled by Freddy Garcia with the first pitch he saw as a pro. Young's homer was part of an inspired, if futile, Tampa comeback after falling behind 7-0 after two innings. Jermaine Dye continued to stalk the MVP favorites with his 39th homer and four RBI but Garcia and the bullpen provided exhibit umpteen of why the White Sox are scrambling for a playoff spot a year after taking the World Series.

• Oakland isn't experiencing the same difficulty throwing the ball as their Chicago counterparts. Kirk Saarloos outpitched Josh Beckett 2-1 and the A's extended their West lead to seven and a half games over the Angels. Saarloos's six and a third innings of one run ball came on the heels of Esteban Loaiza's seven shutout innings Monday and heaped even more dirt on the Red Sox season. St. Louis, San Diego and the Dodgers are reported to be front-runners in a David Wells trade that is "90-10" going to happen before Thursday's deadline.
• The Twins made it back into the race behind the strongest lefthanded pitching in baseball but saw their Wild Card get chewed up by Mark Redman, a less heralded southpaw than Johan Santana and Francisco Liriano. Redman and the Royals shut out Minnesota 2-0 in the Metrodome by turning the clock way back. Redman's pitches never topped 84 and, as befits late-August near the lakes, got as low as 64 miles an hour. Matt Garza's seven strikeout fourth big league start was wasted, though the start was good news for the Twins - as was word that Liriano would throw off a mound today.

The National League Isn't Good

It's Wednesday August 31st and there are still nine teams within five games of the National League Wild Card lead. Only three of those teams are above .500, one of whom, the San Diego Padres, are the new nominal leader for the playoff spot. The Padres are a half-game up on the Phillies and Reds after last night's play and they are rumored to be the leader in the hunt for David Wells as the Red Sox cut bait on their oversized lefty. He'd join Chris Young in the rotation although he couldn't do much to improve on Young's performance Tuesday night. The righty allowed three hits over seven innings and Mike Piazza homered in the Friars 8-3 win over Arizona that put them back in the postseason for the first time since surrendering the West division lead to the Dodgers.

Those Dodgers enabled the Padre move into the Wild Card lead with a 16-inning 6-5 win against Cincinnati. Ramon Martinez connected with the game-winning homer in the bottom of the 16th to send the Reds tumbling from the Wild Card lead for the first time since June 13. Derek Lowe pitched the last three innings for L.A. in his first relief appearance of the season while Ryan Franklin gave up Martinez's home run for the loss.

• The Marlins and Phillies are nipping right at the above heels. Both of the Eastern afterthoughts won on Tuesday. The Marlins took their ninth straight game, clubbing the Cardinals 9-1, and did it without their manager Joe Girardi, something they may need some getting used to. Girardi remained in Florida with his pregnant wife with Tropical Storm Ernesto approaching the state. Scott Olsen threw eight strong innings, Dan Uggla homered and drove in four runs and Wes Helms drove in three more. That's three people who have never been in your kitchen.
• Ryan Howard tied Mike Schmidt for the Phillie single-season home run record with his 48th in Philadelphia's 10-6 win over the Nationals. His 125 RBI (three last night) are still a good bit behind the 170 Chuck Klein netted back in 1930 but there's still a month to go. It would have to be one helluva month but there's still a shot. Keep those fingers crossed, Klein fans, I think the record is going down!

They Seem Like The Same Baseballs To The Mets

There's been a lot of talk this season about the lengths the Colorado Rockies travel to prepare baseballs for play at Coors Field. The balls are put in a humidor to dampen them to combat the thin air of the Rocky Mountains. Although this has been done, with Major League Baseball's approval, for some time this season has seen a marked uptick in the Rockies pitching fortunes and multiple 1-0 games, a first in the stadium's history. That ignores the work the Rockies have done in developing pitchers like Jason Johnson and Jeff Francis in favor of seeing a sinister reason behind the offensive slowdown.

The Mets did their best to chalk up a vote for the same old, same old column. Carlos Beltran hit a solo home run in the first, David Wright singled in a run two batters later and the Mets were off and running toward a 10-5 victory. Jose Reyes added a two-run shot in the second inning that both scored and supported Mets starter Steve Trachsel. For Beltran it's a career-best 110 RBI and counting after a sixth inning double gave him two for the night - his 39th home run also set a career high for the MVP candidate.

Boston Throws In The Towel?

A terrible month of August on the field looks to have taken its toll on the Boston Red Sox physically and psychologically. David Ortiz left the team before their series with Oakland kicked off Monday to return to Boston for further tests on his heart. He had originally spent a night there during the Yankee series for an irregular heartbeat, a condition that resumed during the West Coast swing. The team's medical director Dr. Thomas Gill issued a statement today that said that Ortiz wouldn't play return to the field before all tests are done and he's been issued a clean bill of health.

No matter that this news pushes the Yankees closer to a division title, best wishes for Ortiz to be back on the field and in full fitness as soon as possible. But with Manny Ramirez and Jason Varitek struggling with injury or ego right now, the on-field ramifications of Ortiz's absence can't be understated. The Sox are a little short in the lineup even with their two sluggers and captain healthy, without them catching the Yankees, White Sox or Twins is a pipe dream.

It seems Theo Epstein shares that assessment with the news that David Wells is being shopped to interested parties.  The portly lefthander has pitched well with nothing to show for it of late with Boston. Poor relief work has sullied some fine starts and there's more than one team that could use an experienced and relatively able arm. With the Sox reeling their way out of the hunt, there's great value to getting something in return for Wells at this late date in the season. Wells has already passed through waivers so he's good to go in a deal, perhaps to his hometown Padres? With the shortage of sturdy pitching in New England, a Wells trade would be tantamount to a white flag, something more than one Red Sox blogger has already done.

For Real This Time

It's a story we've run before on The Feed but this time it seems fact has caught up to conjecture: Chad Pennington is, in fact, your starting Jets quarterback. After three preseason games failed to conjure a challenger to the recovering shoulder surgery-aholic, head coach Eric Mangini did the sensible thing and tabbed Pennington to be the man under center come September 10th in Tennessee.

"It's become really clear to me he's distinguished himself in the way I was looking for," Mangini said. "He's made great progress in the preseason, especially over the last couple weeks. That consistency I've been looking for has been there, his presence, his ability to move the team, his leadership, all those things I've been looking for. He's done an outstanding job. It's clear to me he should be the starter, and he will be."

No word on how the backups will shape up except that second-round pick Kellen Clemens is assured of a role leaving Patrick Ramsey and Brooks Bollinger to battle for the remaining spot behind Pennington. So long as he's healthy, Pennington has to be the quarterback even if he's shown little arm strength in the preseason. The Jets offense seems to be a pretty low-risk design as far as throwing the ball goes so that shouldn't preclude Pennington being successful. The development of the offensive line would help keep him healthy and his intelligence will likely be a benefit to a team trying to find its way.

In less good news from Jets-land, Curtis Martin was moved from the preseason physically-unable-to-perform (PUP) list to the regular season one. It means that Martin's body isn't ready to allow him to start practicing and it seems like a pretty slim shot that he'll make any on-field appearances this season. Or ever. The Kevan Barlow trade effectively closed the book on Martin's distinguished tenure with the team, today's move makes it all the more official.