City of the Day
Portland, ME. 13 Players, 2 Active. First Player: Kid Madden (1887-1891).
Portland has produced more than double ballplayers than any other city in Maine, beating Lewiston by seven. The first player to come from Portland debuted way back in 1887 with the Boston Braves. Over five years in the majors, he went 54-50 with a 3.92 ERA. None of the next four players played more than a handful of games, and even Roy Weir, who played four years with the Braves from 1936-1939, could only manage 29 games, in which he was 6-4 with a 3.55 ERA. Another one-year player, this time Dick Joyce with the Kansas City Athletics, played just one year, going 0-1 with a 2.77 ERA in 1965. Finally, in 1977, a player who would put up a real track record came around. Bob Stanley debuted for the Boston Red Sox, and after 635 games in the major leagues, was 115-97 with a 3.64 ERA. As one of baseball's early closers in 1983, he was 8-10 with a 2.85 ERA and 33 saves, second only to Kansas City's Dan Quisenberry, who was busy saving a then major league record 45 games. In 1979, another one year player in Fred Howard debuted, but the tides were turning for Portland. Pete Ladd debuted along with Howard in 1979 and went on to have a successful six-year career as a reliever. In 1983, he saved 25 games with a 2.55 ERA for Milwaukee, and finished with 39 saves over 205 games in his career. In 1985, a pitcher named Bill Swift came around, and pitched 14 years in the majors for the Mariners, Giants, and Rockies. His 1991 season was his best as a reliever, saving 17 games and posting a 1.99 ERA through 71 appearances in Seattle. His real success, however, was in San Francisco. From 1992-1993, he combined to go 31-12 with a 2.51 ERA over 64 games (56 starts). His 2.08 ERA in 1992 led the majors, while his 21 wins in 1993 put him one behind the major league leader. He finished his career 94-78 with a 3.95 ERA. In 2005, yet another pitcher in Tim Stauffer came from Maine, and over seven years for the Padres (on the exact opposite corner of the country), he is 23-31 with a 3.94 ERA. In 2011, he was 9-12 with a 3.73 ERA, but has been limited to just one start in 2012. Ryan Flaherty is hoping to become the first hitter from Portland to play more than one season, and looks on pace to do that with a successful debut with Baltimore this year. Over 62 games, he has four home runs and is batting .211.
News
Diamondbacks traded Joe Saunders (6-10, 4.22 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, age 31) to the Orioles for Matt Lindstrom (1-0, 2.72 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, age 32) and a player to be named later.
Astros traded Steve Pearce (3 HR, 22 RBI, .254 AVG, 1 SB, age 29) to the Yankees for cash considerations.
Newly acquired Dodger Josh Beckett tossed 5.2 innings in his Dodgers debut, giving up three runs.
Padres top prospect Casey Kelly debuted for the Padres, tossing six shutout innings and adding a single to boot. He gave the Padres their 8th straight win.
The Brewers Ryan Braun, Aramis Ramirez and Corey Hart went back-to-back-to-back with home runs in the nine run ninth inning.
Orioles closer Jim Johnson was the first to 40 saves.
Game Scores
Red Sox (62-67) beat the Royals (56-71) 5-1.
Blue Jays (57-70) beat the Yankees (74-54) 8-7 (11 innings).
Rockies (52-75) beat the Dodgers (69-60) 10-0.
Rangers (76-52) beat the Rays (70-58) 6-5.
Padres (60-70) beat the Braves (73-56) 3-0.
Brewers (60-67) beat the Cubs (49-78) 15-4.
Nationals and Phillies didn't play.
Top Scorer: Brewers beat the Cubs 15-4.
Standings
AL East: Yankees (74-54, .578 WPCT). AL Central: White Sox (71-56, .559). AL West: Rangers (76-52, .594).
NL East: Nationals (77-50, .606). NL Central: Reds (78-52, .600). NL West: Giants (71-57, .555).
AL Wild Cards: Orioles and A's (70-57, .551). NL Wild Cards: Braves (73-56, .566) and Cardinals (71-57, .555).
Bottom Team: Astros (40-88, .313). Longest W Streak: Padres, 8 games. Longest L Streak: Nationals and Diamondbacks, 4 games.
League Leaders
Offensive: AVG: Melky Cabrera (Giants), .346. Home runs: Adam Dunn (White Sox), 38. RBI: Josh Hamilton (Rangers), 111. Stolen bases: Mike Trout (Angels), 41.
Pitching: Wins: 5 tied with 16. K's: Max Scherzer (Tigers), 195. ERA: Felix Hernandez (Mariners), 2.43 (196.2 innings, 53 earned runs). Saves: Jim Johnson (Orioles), 40.
Top Performers
Offensive: Aramis Ramirez (Brewers): 3-5, double, 2 home runs (20), 4 RBI, 2 runs, AVG up .004 from .291 to .295, hitting streak to 4 games (9-17, .529 AVG).
Pitching: Brett Anderson (A's): Win (2-0), 7 shutout innings, 2 hits, 2 walks, 5 K's (11), ERA drop: 0.65 runs from 1.29 to 0.64.
Worst Pitching Performance: Alex Hinshaw (Cubs): No decision, 0.0 innings, 5 earned runs, 4 hits, 1 walk, 0 K's, ERA jump: 1.59 runs from 4.45 to 6.04.
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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
