City of the Day
Abilene, TX. 6 Players, 1 Active. First Player: Bill Shores (1928-1936).
The central-Texas prairie town of Abilene has produced six players, and, for the most part, its players have found success. Bill Shores put Abilene on the baseball map in 1928 when he broke in with the Philadelphia Athletics under Connie Mack. Not only was he the first player from Abilene, but he was the first major leaguer ever to wear No. 13. By 1929, the 25-year-old went 11-6 with a 3.60 ERA. In 1930, he helped lead the A's to the World Series Championship by going 12-4 with a 4.19 ERA. He finished his six-year career 26-15 with a 4.17 ERA. However, Abilene did not see another player make the bigs until Chuck Harrison in 1965. He broke in with the Astros and had his best year in 1966. At 25 years old, he hit nine home runs and batted .256 with a pair of stolen bases in 119 games. He finished his five-year career with 17 home runs and a .238 average. Bill Gilbreth played for the Tigers and Angels in his three-year career, but did not find much success, going 2-1 with a 6.69 ERA. Three Dave Johnsons played in the major leagues, and one of them was from Abilene. This one pitched four years for the Orioles and Twins, going 4-10 with a 4.64 ERA. In an 11-game debut in 1974, he was 2-2 with a 2.93 ERA and a pair of saves. Phil Lombardi played three years for the Yankees and Mets from 1986-1989, hitting three home runs and batting .239. The only active player from Abilene is also the best player, having pitched 10 years in the majors. John Lackey broke in with the Angels in 2002, and went 9-4 with a 3.66 ERA in their World Series Championship run. He then went 2-0 with a 2.42 ERA in the postseason, then picked up the historic Game 7 win to clinch the World Series. In 2005, he had a breakout season, going 14-5 with a 3.44 ERA. 2007 turned out to be his best season, as he went 19-9 with a 3.01 ERA, leading the AL in the latter mark. After a couple more good seasons, he has struggled since coming to Boston. In two seasons, he is 26-23 with a 5.26 ERA. Over his 10 seasons, he is 128-94 with a 4.10 ERA through 295 games (294 starts). He has been successful in the postseason, going 3-4 with a 3.12 ERA over 14 games (12 starts).
News
With a 6-4 extra inning win yesterday, the Nationals pull to a magic number of one to clinch the NL East. If the Braves lose one game, or the Nationals win one game, for the rest of the season, the Nationals will clinch. In order to win 100 games this season, the Nationals merely have to win four straight. They are the only team with a chance to do so.
With a home run yesterday, the Tigers' Miguel Cabrera tied Josh Hamilton for the home run lead, inching him closer to the majors' first Triple Crown since 1967.
Cubs lost their seventh straight game.
Game Scores
Nationals (96-62) beat the Cardinals (85-73) 6-4 (10 innings).
Blue Jays (70-88) beat the Yankees (91-67) 3-2.
Orioles (91-67) beat the Red Sox (69-89) 4-3.
Phillies (79-79) beat the Marlins (67-91) 9-5.
Braves (92-66) beat the Mets (73-85) 2-0.
Rays (87-71) beat the White Sox (83-75) 10-4.
Dodgers (83-75) beat the Rockies (62-96) 3-0.
Diamondbacks (80-78) beat the Cubs (59-99) 8-2.
Top Scorer: Rays beat the White Sox 10-4.
Standings
AL East: Orioles and Yankees (91-67, .567). AL Central: Tigers (85-73, .538). AL West: Rangers (92-65, .586).
NL East: Nationals (96-62, .608). NL Central: Reds (95-63, .601). NL West: Giants (92-66, .582).
AL Wild Cards: Orioles/Yankees (91-76, .576) and A's (90-68, .570). NL Wild Cards: Braves (92-66, .582) and Cardinals (85-73, .538).
Bottom Team: Astros (52-106, .329). Longest W Streak: Dodgers, 4 games. Longest L Streak: Cubs, 7 games.
League Leaders
Offensive: AVG: Melky Cabrera (Giants), .346. Home runs: Miguel Cabrera (Tigers) and Josh Hamilton (Rangers), 43. RBI: Miguel Cabrera, 136. Stolen bases: Mike Trout (Angels), 47.
Pitching: Wins: Gio Gonzalez (Nationals), 21. K's: Justin Verlander (Tigers), 239. ERA: David Price (Rays), 2.56 (204 innings, 58 earned runs). Saves: Jim Johnson (Orioles), 49.
Top Performers
Offensive: Matt Kemp (Dodgers): 3-4, 2 home runs (22), 2 RBI, 2 runs, AVG up .005 from .303 to .308, hitting streak to 1 game (3-4, .750 AVG).
Pitching: Marco Estrada (Brewers): Win (5-7), 8 shutout innings, 4 hits, 1 walk, 11 K's (143), ERA drop: 0.23 runs from 3.87 to 3.64.
Worst Pitching Performance: Dallas Keuchel (Astros): Loss (3-8), 2.1 innings, 7 earned runs, 8 hits, 1 walk, 2 K's (38), ERA jump: 0.61 runs from 4.66 to 5.27.
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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
