Friday, June 17, 2011

2011 MLB STANDINGS JUNE 16,2011

2011 Standings

Regular Standings | Expanded Standings | Wild-Card Standings
American League
East W L Pct GB Home Road East Cent West Streak L10
Boston Red Sox 41 27 .603 -- 19-13 22-14 18-9 10-9 11-8 Won 2 9-1
New York Yankees 39 28 .582 1.5 23-17 16-11 13-12 11-10 13-5 Won 3 6-4
Tampa Bay Rays 36 33 .522 5.5 15-18 21-15 15-12 14-10 6-9 Lost 2 6-4
Toronto Blue Jays 34 35 .493 7.5 17-18 17-17 13-18 13-9 7-6 Lost 1 4-6
Baltimore Orioles 31 35 .470 9.0 20-18 11-17 10-18 11-9 8-7 Won 1 5-5
Central W L Pct GB Home Road East Cent West Streak L10
Detroit Tigers 38 31 .551 -- 22-14 16-17 12-12 15-7 10-10 Won 1 6-4
Cleveland Indians 36 31 .537 1.0 20-12 16-19 12-10 13-12 8-9 Lost 1 3-7
Chicago White Sox 33 37 .471 5.5 16-17 17-20 11-12 6-11 14-13 Lost 2 5-5
Kansas City Royals 30 39 .435 8.0 21-20 9-19 6-7 9-16 14-14 Lost 2 5-5
Minnesota Twins 28 39 .418 9.0 11-16 17-23 6-18 13-10 9-8 Won 4 8-2
West W L Pct GB Home Road East Cent West Streak L10
Texas Rangers 36 34 .514 -- 20-13 16-21 10-12 16-11 9-9 Lost 5 2-8
Seattle Mariners 35 34 .507 0.5 19-17 16-17 11-8 12-17 9-9 Won 1 4-6
Los Angeles Angels 33 37 .471 3.0 15-20 18-17 9-13 13-12 9-11 Lost 1 3-7
Oakland Athletics 30 40 .429 6.0 16-16 14-24 5-12 13-15 12-10 Won 2 3-7
National League
East W L Pct GB Home Road East Cent West Streak L10
Philadelphia Phillies 44 26 .629 -- 28-12 16-14 23-13 11-8 8-4 Won 7 8-2
Atlanta Braves 39 31 .557 5.0 18-15 21-16 16-14 15-7 7-8 Won 1 7-3
New York Mets 34 35 .493 9.5 15-17 19-18 15-15 10-10 8-8 Lost 1 6-4
Washington Nationals 33 36 .478 10.5 17-12 16-24 13-19 9-7 10-8 Won 6 7-3
Florida Marlins 32 37 .464 11.5 15-22 17-15 11-17 9-10 10-9 Lost 7 1-9
Central W L Pct GB Home Road East Cent West Streak L10
Milwaukee Brewers 39 31 .557 -- 25-9 14-22 13-11 17-16 9-4 Lost 1 5-5
St. Louis Cardinals 38 32 .543 1.0 18-12 20-20 8-7 16-13 12-11 Lost 6 3-7
Cincinnati Reds 37 33 .529 2.0 20-15 17-18 3-7 24-14 10-9 Won 3 7-3
Pittsburgh Pirates 35 33 .515 3.0 15-18 20-15 8-12 16-10 9-10 Won 4 7-3
Chicago Cubs 28 40 .412 10.0 15-20 13-20 5-4 11-22 11-12 Won 1 5-5
Houston Astros 25 45 .357 14.0 13-25 12-20 5-13 13-22 5-9 Lost 3 2-8
West W L Pct GB Home Road East Cent West Streak L10
San Francisco Giants 39 30 .565 -- 19-12 20-18 5-11 11-8 20-11 Lost 1 6-4
Arizona Diamondbacks 38 32 .543 1.5 21-15 17-17 11-8 12-10 12-14 Won 1 5-5
Colorado Rockies 33 35 .485 5.5 17-18 16-17 7-5 9-9 17-21 Won 2 6-4
Los Angeles Dodgers 31 39 .443 8.5 15-19 16-20 8-8 10-14 12-15 Lost 3 3-7
San Diego Padres 30 40 .429 9.5 14-26 16-14 6-11 13-15 11-11 Lost 2 3-7
x-Clinched Playoff Spot; y-Division Champ
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Pirates player’s wife attacked in traffic dispute

Pirates player’s wife attacked in traffic dispute

Jun 16, 3:33 pm EDT

PITTSBURGH (AP)—A man attacked the wife of Pirates catcher Chris Snyder(notes) in a traffic dispute while Snyder sat in the car, unable to get out because he’d had back surgery, Pittsburgh police said.
Carla Snyder and the scooter-riding man, Subhash Arjanbhi Modhwadia, nearly collided Wednesday. The 44-year-old Modhwadia followed her to a gas station, kicked the vehicle and swung at Carla Snyder, police said. He also ripped a mirror off the car.
A passer-by and an off-duty police officer subdued him. Modhwadia bit the bystander and threw punches with keys between his fingers, police said. Snyders’two children also were in the car. Modhwadia is being held on $25,000 bail. The Pirates said the team is “grateful for those bystanders who stepped up to assist Chris to ensure no physical harm was done to his wife and children.
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Red Sox hold on to beat Rays 4-2

Red Sox hold on to beat Rays 4-2

By FRED GOODALL, AP Baseball Writer 7 hours, 55 minutes ago
Preview | Box Score | Recap

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP)—The Boston Red Sox concluded their most successful road trip in 34 years with another win.
Adrian Gonzalez(notes) homered and David Ortiz(notes), Darnell McDonald(notes) and Dustin Pedroia(notes)drove in runs to back right-hander Clay Buchholz(notes) and lead the AL East leaders to a 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday night.
The win was the 11th in 12 games for a team that left home in second place on June 6 and returns Friday with a 1 1/2 -game lead over New York in the division.
“I don’t get caught up in that. It just doesn’t make sense. But it was a good road trip,” manager Terry Francona said after going 8-1—Boston’s best mark on a trip of at least nine games since 1977.
In addition to maintaining their edge over the Yankees, the Red Sox dropped the third-place Rays 5 1/2 off the pace by rebounding from losing the opener of the three-game series to win the final two.
“We feel like we are playing better baseball,” Francona added. “I think that’s really what we need to stay focused on.”
The Red Sox outscored opponents 90-42 on the trip. They also got some quality pitching performances, including the first one-hitter of Josh Beckett’s(notes)career against Tampa Bay on Wednesday.
“It was a great road trip. We did a lot of good things,” third basemanKevin Youkilis(notes) said. “The biggest thing is finishing out games. We don’t have to score 15 runs or throw one-hitters. It’s doing the little things like we did tonight.”
Buchholz (6-3) allowed one run and two hits in five innings, limiting the Rays to Sam Fuld’s(notes) second-inning RBI double and B.J. Upton’s(notes) fourth-inning single before leaving the game because of lower back tightness. Tampa Bay trimmed a 3-1 deficit to one run on Casey Kotchman’s(notes) solo homer off Alfredo Aceves(notes) in the sixth.
Gonzalez’s solo shot off Kyle Farnsworth(notes) restored a two-run lead in the ninth.
Boston reliever Daniel Bard(notes) retired all four batters he faced and closerJonathan Papelbon(notes) worked through a ninth-inning jam to earn his 13th save in 14 opportunities.
Buchholz said his injury got progressively worse after the second inning.
“It’s a nagging back that’s been the same since last year,” the right-hander said. “I feel like I was in a better position tonight to come out a little early and not put anymore stress on my body than I had to. The way we’re playing right now, nobody wants to go on the (disabled list). That was my first thought, I’ve got to get through five innings.”
Kotchman doubled and Upton reached on an infield single to begin the Tampa Bay ninth. Pinch-hitter Elliot Johnson(notes) fouled out trying to lay down a sacrifice bunt, and Papelbon escaped by striking out pinch-hitter Justin Ruggiano(notes) and Sean Rodriguez(notes) to end the game.
Ortiz drew a bases-loaded walk in the first after Rays starter David Price(notes)(7-6) drew a warning from home plate umpire Gary Darling for hitting Kevin Youkilis with a pitch in the left arm to fill the bases. Both benches were warned, and Price settled down to strike out Jed Lowrie(notes) and get Carl Crawford(notes) to ground out.
McDonald singled and Pedroia doubled to drive in runs to make it 3-0 in the second. Ortiz drew a two-out walk to load the bases against Price again, but Boston missed out on an opportunity to do more damage when Marco Scutaro(notes) popped out to end the inning.
Price walked a season-high five while allowing three runs and five hits in five innings. The 25-year-old left-hander struck out five.
“I gave up three runs in the first two innings,” Price said. “That makes it tough on our offense.”
Tampa Bay’s bullpen kept the Rays in it with Juan Cruz(notes), J.P. Howell(notes), Joel Peralta(notes) and Farnsworth teaming to hold the Red Sox hitless until Gonzalez’s 14th homer with two outs in the ninth.
Price also helped by turning himself around after the rough first two innings.
“He’s not going to be perfect every time out there. … He didn’t have his best stuff, but he gave us a chance,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “We’ve just got to score more runs.”
Notes: Francona said Papelbon’s appeal of a three-game suspension for making contact with umpire Tony Randazzo on June 4 is getting closer to a resolution.… Maddon expects DH Johnny Damon(notes) will play in the field a couple times during a six-game interleague trip next week to Milwaukee and Houston. … Red Sox CFJacoby Ellsbury(notes) did not start, but entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the eighth. … Lowrie left the game in the first inning due to a sore left shoulder. … Tampa Bay Lightning backup goalie Mike Smith homered during batting practice. He got the ball and a shaving cream pie in the face for his long-ball effort. Smith and teammates Steven Stamkos, Nate Thompson and Teddy Purcell threw out ceremonial pitches.
Updated 7 hours, 55 minutes ago
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Forecasting: Let’s talk Dustin Ackley, rest-of-season

Roto Arcade
Thu Jun 16 09:23am EDT

Forecasting: Let’s talk Dustin Ackley, rest-of-season

By Andy Behrens
Forecasting: Let’s talk Dustin Ackley, rest-of-seasonOK, this is a big event, at least for some of us. We've kept Seattle Mariners prospect Dustin Ackley(notes) on the fantasy bench all season, demonstrating uncommon patience — almost reckless patience — and we've suffered through a plague of miserable middle infielders. Aviles, Hall, Getz, Sizemore, Barmes, et al. We've rejected trade offers, held firm, waiting for the Ackley surge.
And now, at last, he's up. Big event. Let's forecast.
Under normal circumstances, there's such a wide range of possible outcomes with prospects that it seems foolish to project them with any specificity. Instead, you need to consider a player's ceiling and floor, then determine whether the upside is worth the risk — who do you cut to make the add, what's your safety net if the prospect fails, will the player actually help in areas of need, etc.
But with Ackley, I think we may have a different sort of hitter, the unusual prospect with a decent, projectable floor. It's tough to imagine that his on-base skills won't accompany him as he makes the jump from Tacoma to Seattle. Ackley has drawn 55 walks in just 66 games in the PCL this year, leading the league by a wide margin. There are really no questions about his batting eye. Ackley's slash-line is plenty impressive this season (.303/.421/.487), but those rates don't begin to describe how ridiculously well he's hit in recent weeks. For the second straight year, he scuffled through a difficult April (.211/.336/.305), then binged. In May, Ackley hit .355/.449/.605. Thus far in June, .346/.500/.538.

We should also note that Ackley took MVP honors in the 2010 Arizona Fall League, leading all hitters in batting average (.424), OBP (.581), and slugging (.758). He's hit equally well against left-handed and right-handed pitching, too. And he's one of the all-time collegiate hitters, if that means anything to you. Basically, if any 23-year-old prospect is ready to succeed against major league pitching, it's this guy. His strikeout totals have been modest (79 last year, 38 in 2011), he lives on-base. In fact, if you're in a custom fantasy league that uses OBP as a stat, Ackley should have been owned long before the call-up. He'll qualify at 2B within a week. There's a lot to like here.
The trick with Ackley is that he isn't likely to bring exceptional power or speed totals. That's not to say he'll be a liability in homers and steals, but he doesn't figure to carry your fake team, either. He's hit nine home runs for Tacoma this year, which actually tops his full-season total from 2010 (7), and he's swiped seven bags in 10 attempts. Nice numbers, but it would be a small shock if he brought the 20/20 pace to the majors.
There's likely to be a wheel play in the M's lineup, as Adam Kennedy(notes) has been taking grounders at third. (Chone Figgins(notes), as everyone already knows, has been dreadful. We shall speak no more of him). Ackley will be an offensive boost for the Mariners, almost without question. Seattle is currently last in the American League in average (.228), OBP (.298) and slugging (.342). Even if Ackley is a disappointment, he'll still crush those team rates.
But I don't think he'll be a disappointment.
Here's my rest-of-season forecast, a service I rarely provide with prospects: 6 HR, 6 SB, 40 R, 33 RBIs, .287 AVG, .389 OBP. Book it. That's precision forecasting right there. Will those numbers work for you? They probably will, unless you're in a smallish league.
So this is a good day, gamers. The Ackley Era begins officially on Friday, as Seattle hosts the Phillies. Dustin will face Roy Oswalt(notes) in his debut and Vance Worley(notes) on Saturday, so the degree-of-difficulty isn't impossibly high. The Mariners then hit the road for a series against the Nats, and the opposing pitchers should be Livan, Lannan and Marquis. Again, that seems manageable. Point, click, add. Feel free to forecast in comments...
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