City of the Day

Los Mochis, MX. 7 Players, 1 Active. First Player: Benny Valenzuela (1958).

Los Mochis, which was founded by an American utopian-solialist group, has produced its share of major leaguers as Mexican influence continues to rise in the majors. Benny Valenzuela, the less famous of the two Valenzuelas, was the first player from Los Mochis. In 10 games for the Cardinals, he batted .214 with a double. The northwestern Mexican city did not produce another player until Chico Escarrega in 1982. Though he only played one season, it was a successful one, as he went 1-3 with a 3.67 ERA and a save over 38 games (two starts) for the White Sox. Teddy Higuera (eeg-air-a), arguably the greatest pitcher from Los Mochis, was next in 1985. He had a monster first four seasons in the majors before dropping off. In his rookie year with the Brewers, he went 15-8 with a 3.90 ERA at 26 years old. His best year came in 1986, when he was 20-11 with a 2.79 ERA and finished third in the AL in wins, 2nd in ERA, 6th in strikeouts (207), 3rd in complete games (15), and 2nd in shutouts (4). After winning 18 games in 1987, he had another magnificent year in 1988. While going 16-9, he posted a 2.45 ERA and led the American League in WHIP at 1.00. He dropped off from there, never winning more than eleven games in any of his six seasons. He finished his career 94-64 with a 3.61 ERA. Rosario Rodriguez was next, but pitched just three seasons from 1989-1991, going 2-2 with a 4.80 ERA and six saves for the Reds and Pirates. Matias Carrillo also played just three years, knocking in twelve runs and batting .251 over 107 games for the Brewers and Marlins. He was a teammate of Higuera in Milwaukee in 1991. In 1995, the greatest hitter from Los Mochis in Juan Castro debuted. Though he never played more than 113 games in any season, he was a consistent bat off the bench for 17 years. He had his best in 2003 with the Reds, when he hit nine home runs and batted .253 with two stolen bases in 113 games. Last year, his final in the majors, he batted .286 with a pair of runs scored over seven games for the Dodgers. Over his 17 years, he hit 36 home runs, doubled 123 times, and batted .229 through 1,103 games. In 2003, Luis Ayala, the only active Mochian, debuted with the Expos. He finished a magnificent rookie year 10-3 with a 2.92 ERA. His first four years with the Expos/Nationals were his best, as he finished 26-24 with a 2.82 ERA. After struggling and playing for four teams from 2008-2010, he returned to form with the Yankees in 2011. Over 52 appearances, he was 2-2 with a 2.09 ERA. This year with Baltimore, he is 4-4 with a 2.62 ERA and is gradually reclaiming his spot as one of the better long relievers in baseball. He has a 3.36 career ERA over 486 games.  

News

The Nationals decided to shut down Stephen Strasburg for the remainder of the season. More below.  

In his second appearance with the Sugar Land Skeeters, Roger Clemens tossed 4.2 shutout innings and gave up just two hits while his son, Koby Clemens, was the catcher.

Strasburg is done for the season. He was 15-6 with a 3.16 ERA through 159.1 innings. The decision comes on the heels of a rough start where he gave up five earned runs over three innings against the Marlins, tossing 67 pitches. He was supposed to pitch on the 12th in New York, but with obvious frustration at the impending shutdown, Strasburg could not get his nerves from getting to him, in the opinion of Davey Johnson. He will not pitch in the postseason, and will return in Spring Training for a full season of work. John Lannan will most likely replace him in the rotation. Lannan was 9-11 with a 4.30 ERA for AAA Syracuse and is 2-0 with a 3.46 ERA over two starts in the majors this season.

Game Scores

Marlins (62-77) beat the Nationals (85-53) 9-7 (10 innings).

Blue Jays (62-75) beat the Red Sox (63-76) 7-5.

Yankees (78-60) beat the Orioles (77-61) 8-5.

Phillies (67-71) beat the Rockies (56-81) 3-2.

Giants (78-60) beat the Dodgers (73-66) 5-2.

Rays (76-62) beat the Rangers (82-56) 3-1 (11 innings).

Cubs (52-86) beat the Pirates (72-65) 12-2.

Top Scorer: Cubs beat the Pirates 12-2.

Standings

AL East: Yankees (78-60, .565 WPCT). AL Central: White Sox (74-63, .540). AL West: Rangers (82-56, .594).

NL East: Nationals (85-53, .616). NL Central: Reds (83-56, .597). NL West: Giants (78-60, .565).

AL Wild Cards: A's (77-60, .562) and Orioles (77-61, .558). NL Wild Cards: Braves (79-60, .568) and Cardinals (74-64, .536).

Bottom Team: Astros (43-95, .312). Longest W Streak: Angels, 4 games. Longest L Streak: Dodgers and Rockies, 3 games.  

League Leaders

Offensive: AVG: Melky Cabrera (Giants), .346. Home runs: Josh Hamilton (Rangers), 39. RBI: Miguel Cabrera (Tigers) and Josh Hamilton, 116. Stolen bases: Mike Trout (Angels), 44.

Pitching: Wins: R.A. Dickey (Mets) and Gio Gonzalez (Nationals), 18. K's: Max Scherzer (Tigers), 213. ERA: David Price (Rays), 2.54 (180.2 innings, 51 earned runs).  Saves: Fernando Rodney (Rays), 42.

Top Performers

Offensive: Chase Headley (Padres): 2-4, 2 home runs (26), 4 RBI, 2 runs, AVG up .002 from .285 to .287, hitting streak to 9 games (17-42, .405 AVG).

Pitching: Derek Holland (Rangers): No Decision, 8 innings, 1 earned run, 2 hits, 2 walks, 11 K's (125), ERA drop: 0.20 runs from 4.79 to 4.59.

Worst Pitching Performance: Wei-Yin Chen (Orioles): Loss (12-9), 4.2 innings, 7 earned runs, 6 hits, 1 walk, 4 K's (138), ERA jump: 0.27 runs from 3.79 to 4.06.  

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Teams followed in this update: Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, Colorado Rockies

If your team is not included, please leave a comment.

HR: home runs. RBI: runs batted in. AVG: batting average. SB: stolen bases. ERA: earned run average. WHIP: walks/hits per innings pitched. K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage

Zack Silverman