by Todd Lammi
Milwaukee Brewers top prospect Mat Gamel was recalled from Triple-A, but don’t rush to pick him up just yet. It looks Gamel was brought up strictly to serve as the designated hitter in upcoming interleague games and as a pinch hitter off the bench. He struck out as a pinch hitter in his only at bat Thursday night. In other fantasy baseball news from around the diamond on Thursday…
Hitters:
Recent call up Nolan Reimold went 1 for 5 for the Baltimore Orioles. Reimold started in left field and hit seventh. With Adam Jones and Luke Scott out with injuries, Reimold should see consistent at bats the next few weeks.
Aubrey Huff hit his seventh home run of the season and now is second on the team with 32 RBI, one behind Nick Markakis.
Prince Fielder hit home run number eight on the season. Fielder has now driven in 12 runs in his last eight games and is up to 32 RBI on the year.
Torii Hunter, trying to carry the Los Angeles Angels on offense with Vladimir Guerrero out, went 3 for 5 with 3 RBI and stole two bases.
The Cleveland Indians had an offensive outburst as three players had four hits in their 11-7 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. Asdrubal Cabrera 4 for 5, four runs scored, Victor Martinez, 4 for 5 with 4 RBI and Shin-Soo Choo, 4 for 5 with 3 RBI and home run number four on the year.
David Wright went 3 for 3 with two RBI and stole four bases, bringing his season steal total up to nine.
David Ortiz, 0 for 7 with 12 runners left on base. Not a good sign for a power hitter when your on base percentage (.318) is higher than your slugging percentage (.300). With zero home runs midway through week 6, in 2009 his nickname has become “Big Floppy”.
Pitchers:
Josh Johnson only made it through four innings for the Florida Marlins, before being removed with shoulder issues. Not a good sign for a guy who has had injury problems in the past, although Johnson said he expects to make his next start.
David Bush allowed two runs in seven innings and struck out seven to pick up his second win of the year. Bush has now tossed seven innings in three consecutive starts.
Chad Billingsley and Cole Hamels matched each other pitch for pitch for seven innings with neither pitcher factoring into the outcome. Billingsley allowed one run and struck out nine. Hamels allowed one earned run and also struck out nine.
Justin Verlander allowed two runs in 6 1/3 innings and struck out 13, but did not factor into the decision. He has now racked up double digit figures in strikeouts in three consecutive starts, but at the same time, those three starts have produced his highest pitch count totals of the season, at 121, 118, and 122 on Thursday.
Matt Harrison picked up a complete game win, allowing two runs and striking out seven. Harrison has now allowed two runs in his last 23 innings.
Ryan Dempster allowed two runs in seven innings with five strikeouts to move to 3-2 on the season. The difference in numbers for Dempster in 2009 has been an increase in both his walk rate and home run rate.
Wandy Rodriguez allowed two run sin seven innings and struck out 11 to pick up his 4th win of the season and lower his ERA to 1.90.
CC Sabathia allowed two runs in eight innings and struck out five., lowering his ERA to 3.70.
Eric Milton is expected to start in place of Jeff Weaver for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday. James McDonald was sent to Triple-A with Milton being recalled. Milton was 3-2 with a 2.83 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 35 innings. He last pitched in the major leagues in 2007, finishing with a 5.17 ERA in 31 1/3 innings.
Closers:
Brad Lidge allowed a run in the ninth inning and has now given up a run in five straight appearances.
Brandon Morrow blew a win for Felix Hernandez, surrendering home runs to Hank Blalock (10) and Chris Davis (10) in the bottom of the ninth inning. Morrow has now given up six runs in his last three appearances.
