Via MLB.com

Chipper Jones has exited tonight’s ballgame against the Marlins in Florida with a strained hamstring. The report explains that General Manager Frank Wren says that the injury is not expected to be serious. Chipper was trying to run out a ground ball when he pulled up lame with a left hamstring injury. After being evaluated by the teams trainer, he was helped off of the field.

Over at Talking Chop, the game thread is suggesting that Tim Hudson’s early exit is due to elbow soreness. More information to come.

Update-07/23/08-9:31pm EST

FSN Florida is reporting that Hudson will be reevaluated tomorrow. The announcers are giving off an impression as if a DL stint is likely.

It’s not often that you get to compliment a Rockies pitcher for what he can do at home, but Ubaldo Jimenez, the lanky fireballer from the Dominican Republic, has been an exception. While Colorado’s best pitcher, Aaron Cook, succeeds with a fairly equal home-road split—6-3, 3.43 ERA at home, 6-3 3.75 ERA—Ubaldo has the kind of reverse Coors split that makes statisticians and baseball physics professors scratch their heads. Including last night’s gem—a complete-game 10-1 defeat of the Dodgers—UJ is 5-2, 2.58 ERA at Coors and 1-7, 5.82 ERA away from it.

Hard to say why this is true, since his fastball should be even straighter in Colorado’s thin air, and his breaking ball should break even less. Perhaps these work in his favor, pumping up his heater while taking enough snap off his curve to help him throw it for strikes. Interestingly, he’s got both fewer walks (27 vs. 38) and strikeouts (43 vs. 59) at home, in spite of the fact that he’s thrown almost twenty more innings there (73.1 vs. 55.2). Is he less aggressive at home, or does Coors make him look just hittable enough to get guys out?

Some of it has been his improved control, to be sure. He’s always been known for his blazing heater, but it hasn’t been until this season that he’s improved his breaking ball to the point where it complements his thunderous fastballs. His performance last night was testament to this, as his fastball touched 100, while his curve was in the mid-seventies and cutting the corners of the plate. If he can keep working those, and mix in his decent changeup, he’s got a good future ahead of him.

Last night’s complete game effort against the Dodgers had only one blemish, a ninth-inning solo shot to Matt Kemp. Otherwise, Ubaldo looked both solid and composed, not an easy feat in baseball’s high-altitude bandbox. He struck out only four and walked two, at one point retiring thirteen in a row. And it only took him 117 pitches to finish the job, 76 of them through the first seven innings.

His only moment of crisis came in the eighth, when Nomar led off with a double and Andy LaRoche walked with one out. Delwyn Young, pinch-hitting in the pitchers’ spot, grounded into a double play on a 3-1 pitch and the inning was over. After Kemp roped one into deep center to lead off the ninth, Jimenez took a deep breath and retired the next three guys in order, sealing another home-field win for this improbable Rockie.

Is this the humidor effect? The maturation of a young pitcher? A statistical blip? Hard to say–but it’s going to be fun to watch Ubaldo Jimenez and find out.

According to Yankees.com, catcher Jorge Posada will require surgery to his shoulder. At this point, Posada is said to be considering a position change, although this would greatly set him back for 2009 and it is unknown what type of impact he would have with the Yankees even if opted for rehab.

Posada had a nice comeback when he first returned from the disabled list, although one can see that he was clearly struggling, and was possibly being overworked. All this, according to Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus, can be linked to an ‘off-balance’ throw Posada made early in the season.

Given the Yankees reluctance to play Posada at first base to this point in the season, it would be tough to believe they would want him there now, knowing full well that surgery is on the horizon. The Yankees and Brian Cashman have time to figure out what the market has to offer, which should in turn affect their decision to push Posada for surgery or rehab.

• Dean Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that the Pirates and first round draft pick Pedro Alvarez are still knee deep in contract negotiations. According to sources they’re about $2 Million dollars apart, and I guess it’s worth mentioning that Alvarez’s ‘adviser’ is Scott Boras.

• It looks as though Dodgers GM Ned Colletti is going to be active come the trade deadline, he’s supposedly looking to fill gaps at Shortstop and Third Base. Some of the names that have been popping up include - (former Dodger) Adrian Beltre, and Cleveland’s Casey Blake. If they’re going for third base help, what is going to happen to Andy LaRoche?

• A crack team of scientists from Italy and the United States say the have come up with a urine test that will detect HGH, this according to a report in USA Today. They plan to start human trials soon.

• LA Angels Manager Mike Scoiscia was on “The Show” with Rob Dibble and Kevin Kennedy and he had this to say about maybe moving the All-Star Game to a Wednesday instead of Tuesday.
  

  “I think it’s a no brainer to play the game [All Star game] on a Wednesday, give everyone that 4 day break and just make that standard operating procedure. These guys need more days, the guys in the All Star game have to play in the game and then play Thursday and that is a tough task. You can have more things leading up to the All Star game, spread the events out a little bit, play the game Wednesday, which will allow the weekend pitchers to catch their breath and maybe pitch a little deeper and more and players could play more with a couple of days off and I think that’s the first thing that should happen if they want to keep the game where they want it to be.”

• According to Buster Olney (sub req), the New York Yankee’s are taking at close look at Seattle Mariners Southpaw Jarrod Washburn. He’s been overly pedestrian over the course of the season, though he has pitched a bit better in the last couple months.

• The Milwaukee Brewers have signed former Baltimore Oriole Outfielder Jay Gibbons. If you remember Gibbons was named in the Mitchell Report and was released from his contact shortly after. Though official word from the Orioles Front office was that it was a “Baseball Decision”.
  

  “They sat down and basically interviewed him,” Brewers GM Doug Melvin said, according to MLB.com. “Gord is familiar with him from Toronto, and [Gibbons] wants to get back and playing. I don’t know exactly what his [off-the-field] issues were, but they were not enough to not give a guy a second chance. He’s always been a good guy with a good work ethic.”

  He had been playing for the Long Island Ducks of the Independent Atlantic League.

This week on BDD Live…Kansas City Royals General Manager Dayton Moore joins us to talk about the state of his club, the trade deadline, and what we can look for as we head into the final third of the season. Then, New York Yankees top prospect Austin Jackson takes time out of his day to discuss his recent hot streak, the progress he’s made this season, and his expectations heading into 2009. You won’t want to miss this show! Tune in to BDD Live this Saturday at 12:00 noon Eastern!

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The New York Mets have been on a roll since taking three of four against the Phillies at the start of July, but it mattered not as their bullpen squandered a 5-2 ninth-inning lead and 8 innings of great pitching from Johan Santana. The threesome of Duaner Sanchez, Joe Smith, and Pedro Feliciano allowed six runs on five hits and a walk in two-thirds of the ninth inning to continue a trend that started last season: the Phillies’ dramatic come-from-behind victories against the Mets’ bullpen.

Charlie Manuel was ejected between the end of the third and the top of the fourth, presumably because he was upset that Carlos Delgado wasn’t called out on strikes on a check-swing. Replays showed that Delgado clearly swung at the pitch, but he was given leniency and ended up hitting a two-run home run off of starter Joe Blanton instead.

Despite that, the Phillies’ use of strategy was the impetus behind their victory. Charlie Manuel intelligently set his 2-3-4-5 with Chase Utley, Pat Burrell, Ryan Howard, and Jayson Werth, alternating left- and right-handed hitters. This was important because the Mets, with Pedro Feliciano and Scott Schoenweis, like to use their left-handed relievers as LOOGY’s (left-handed, one-out guys), and this lineup configuration counters that. It proved to play a vital role in the Phillies’ comeback.

The genius continued in the top of the ninth inning with fill-in manager Jimy Williams’ slick use of his bench. After Jayson Werth led off the inning with a single against right-handed reliever Duaner Sanchez, Williams pinch-hit Greg Dobbs, a left-hander, for Pedro Feliz, a right-hander. It seems like a no-brainer, but Feliz typically doesn’t get pinch-hit for since he has a propensity for the home run, and he’s the Phillies’ everyday third baseman. Dobbs, however, is the best pinch-hitter in baseball with 18 hits in 44 at-bats (.409) going into the night. He fouled off the first three pitches, then took a Sanchez change-up into right-center for a single to put runners on first and second with nobody out.

Shane Victorino kept the good times rolling with a single to center field, loading the bases. Mets manager Jerry Manuel replaced Sanchez with right-hander Joe Smith to face right-hander Carlos Ruiz. Ruiz hit a chopper up the middle, fielded by Jose Reyes. Instead of taking the sure out at first base, Reyes got greedy and tried to step on second base himself in an attempt to get a double play. Instead, the fleet Victorino beat Reyes to the bag, and everyone was safe as a run scored, so the bases were still loaded.

Williams pinch-hit left-hander Geoff Jenkins for the pitcher to face the right-hander, so Manuel countered by bringing in Pedro Feliciano. Not to be outsmarted, Williams pinch-hit So Taguchi for Jenkins to keep the match-up in the Phillies’ favor. Taguchi had been a disappointment for the Phillies throughout the season, with his playing time growing more slim as the season went on and as his futility continued. As a pinch-hitter, he’d yet to notch a hit, a season after being the best pinch-hitter in the league.

Taguchi had a great eight-pitch at-bat where he fouled off three pitches with two strikes to stay alive. On the eighth pitch, he took Feliciano’s pitch to the opposite field and it sailed over the head of right fielder Endy Chavez — who was playing shallow and shaded towards right-center — for a game-tying two-run double.

Contrasted to the Phillies, the Mets’ use of strategy was awful. They should have anticipated that Williams would pinch-hit for Jenkins since the Phillies make it a point to keep Jenkins away from lefties: he’s only had 21 plate appearances against them this season with a .248 OPS. Additionally, Feliciano had struggled in his last appearance against the Reds on the 19th, giving up four earned runs in one-third of an inning. Furthermore, the Phillies were hitting for a 1.045 OPS against Feliciano this season and he had a 4.76 ERA against them last season.

It just made little sense to bring Feliciano in at that point, especially since Scott Schoenweis is having a better season, had been pitching well since the start of June, and hadn’t been used since the 18th.

The Mets erred again with their defensive positioning of Endy Chavez in right field for So Taguchi’s at-bat. You can understand their thinking with having Chavez shaded towards right-center and shallow, since Taguchi isn’t the type of hitter who has tremendous opposite-field power. However, in the late innings, you generally try to keep the ball in front of you if at all possible, so a no-doubles defense was the preferred defensive positioning. If Chavez is playing in a no-doubles defense, Taguchi’s hit is instead caught and the Phillies only score one run and the Mets get a precious out. As they say, though, hindsight is 20/20.

Looking back on the game, and considering past history, everyone will say that the Mets collapsed, and they certainly did, and a lot of it was self-inflicted. What shouldn’t be overlooked is that the Phillies outsmarted the Mets throughout the game, even though they were facing one of the best pitchers in baseball in Johan Santana.

- Bobby Abreu doubled, homered, and drove in 3 runs, and Robinson Cano added 2 hits and 2 RBI as the Yankees continued their second half surge by defeating the Twins, 8-2. Is it me or do you get the sense that the air is starting to come out of the sails for Minnesota? This is a team that is just way too young.

- Rick VandenHurk and 4 Florida relievers combined on a one-hitter, while Mike Jacobs led the offense with a 3-run home run as the Marlins humiliated the Braves, 4-0. The lone Atlanta hit? A single by Chipper Jones. Very sad for Braves fans.

- Jayson Werth and Carlos Ruiz each contributed 2 hits, and So Taguchi and Jimmy Rollins each smacked 2-run doubles in a 9th inning that saw the Phillies plate 6 runs on their way to a stunning 8-6 win over the Mets. Ramon Castro and Carlos Delgado each hit 2-run homers for New York, and Endy Chavez had 3 hits but got thrown out at the plate trying to score twice. Mets fans can lay this loss strictly on the shoulders of their manager. There is no reason Johan Santana should have been pulled after 8 solid innings.

- Paul Maholm gave up just one run on 5 hits over 8 innings, and Freddy Sanchez doubled, homered, drove in 2 runs and scored 3 more as the Pirates made easy work of the Astros, 8-2. Perhaps Houston does need to add a starting pitcher at some point, but Randy Wolf? and this year?

- Nick Swisher hit a 3-run homer, Alexei Ramirez launched a grand slam, Jim Thome reached base 4 times, and Jermaine Dye went 3-for-4. Guess who won? The Rangers take another one on the chin, this time losing to the White Sox, 10-2. Mark Buehrle tossed 7 1/3 strong innings for Chicago. Chris Davis did manage 3 hits and hit his 8th home run of the season for Texas.

- Ubaldo Jimenez pitched a complete game 4-hitter, Ian Stewart went 3-for-3 with a home run and 4 RBI, and Jeff Baker contributed 4 hits as the Rockies battered Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers, 10-1. After putting up 16 runs on Monday, LA only managed to scrape together one run on 4 hits on Tuesday. Brad Hawpe also had 3 hits and a home run for Colorado.

- Adam Lind went 4-for-5 with a 3-run homer, Alex Rios added a double and a home run, and John McDonald collected 4 RBI as the Blue Jays finally found some offense to come from behind and beat the Orioles, 10-8. Melvin Mora and Nick Markakis each had a double and a home run for Baltimore. Mora finished the contest with 4 hits and 5 RBI.

- Dallas Braden allowed just one run in 5 innings, Kurt Suzuki had 3 hits, and Jack Hannahan hit a 3-run homer as the A’s knocked around the Rays, 8-1.

- Johnny Cueto struck out 10 over 6 innings, Jay Bruce picked up 3 hits, and Jeff Keppinger stroked an RBI double in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Reds a 4-3 walk-off win over the Padres. Edgar Gonzalez had 3 hits, and Brian Giles reached base 3 times and drove in 2 runs for San Diego.

- Placido Polanco doubled, homered, drove in 2 runs and scored 3 more, and Magglio Ordonez went 3-for-5 with 2 RBI to lead the Tigers to another convincing win over the Royals, 7-1.  Mark Grudzielanek’s 3 hits were about all Kansas City had to show for the evening.

- J.J. Hardy and Prince Fielder had 2 hits and an RBI apiece, and Bill Hall capped off the night with a game winning homer in the top of the 9th inning as the Brewers rallied to shock the Cardinals, 4-3. St. Louis is going to need to find a better way to finish off games on the mound if they want to stay in contention. In fact, someone like Jon Rauch would have been a nice fit for the Cardinals. At least there’s still time to swing a deal.

- Conor Jackson singled, doubled, homered, drove in 3 runs and scored 2 more, and starter Yusmeiro Petit kept his team in the game with 5 solid innings of work as the Diamondbacks defeated the Cubs, 9-2. In their 4 losses since the All-Star break, the Cubs have scored a total of 4 runs. Are anyone’s palms starting to sweat in Chicago?

- Jeff Mathis hit a solo home run, drove in 2 runs, and scored 2 runs, and 4 different Los Angeles pitchers combined to pitch 6 shutout innings of relief as the Angels just got by the Indians, 3-2. K-Rod picked up his 41st save of the year for Los Angeles.

- J.D. Drew reached base 3 times, homered, and drove in 2 runs, and Daisuke Matsuzaka ran his record to 11-1 by throwing 7 1/3 strong innings to help the Red Sox double up the Mariners, 4-2.

Tuesday’s Scoreboard

Wednesday’s Probable Pitchers

**Note - Due to inefficient code, we have changed the scoreboard to what you see above. Click through for full boxscores and play-by-play courtesy of MLB.

BDD’s daily recaps are provided by founder and managing editor Joe Hamrahi. Joe’s a CPA, a financial executive, a baseball analyst, and a proponent of using all available information (read stats and scouts!) in order to make better baseball decisions! Joe can be reached at jhamrahi@baseballdigestdaily.com.

During batting practice on Tuesday, pitcher Josh Fogg was struck in the face by a Joey Votto line drive which required 30 stitches to repair.  The injury puts Fogg’s scheduled start on Friday in jeopardy and his status will be known after he is evaluated on Wednesday.

Fogg returned to the rotation for the third time this season on July 5 and is 1-0 with a 2.60 ERA in three starts.  The Reds have won all three games where Fogg started.  With Aaron Harang on the DL and their best two Triple-A options — Daryl Thompson and Matt Maloney – also out, the Reds would be forced to dig deep or re-shuffle their rotation to replace him should he not be able to go.

One solution is to move up Edinson Volquez one day since the team has Thursday off. 

—–

Former Baltimore Oriole and Mitchell Report mention Jay Gibbons is one step closer to a return to the Majors.  On Tuesday, Gibbons passed a physical and signed a Minor League contract with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Gibbons, 31, was assigned to Double-A Huntsville to fill in for injured outfielder Michael Brantley and is expected to jump to Triple-A Nashville when Brantley returns in two weeks. 

Gibbons hit .280 with five homers and 19 RBI in 27 games with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League.  Earlier this season, Gibbons sent a letter to every team in the Majors expressing his remorse for previous actions, desire to play again in the Majors and willingness to donate any compensation received to charity.  During the All-Star break, Gibbons met with Brewers assistant general manager Gord Ash and amateur scouting director Jack Zduriencik in New York.

Brewers GM Doug Melvin stated Gibbons has a good chance at a September callup with Milwaukee if he progresses as expected.

—–

Trading reliever Jon Rauch and locking down shortstop Cristian Guzman for two more years was not enough for the Nationals on Tuesday.  In addition to those two moves, Washington got third baseman Ryan Zimmerman back from the DL, recalled pitcher Garrett Mock from Triple-A Columbus and sent down freshly obtained second baseman Emilio Bonaficio to Columbus.

Zimmerman — out since May 26 with a small tear of the labrum in his left shoulder — was in the lineup tonight for their game against the Giants and Mock is expected to be used out of the bullpen although the team has long-term plans for him to be a starter.

Finally, the team received bad news on outfielder Wily Mo Pena after his surgery which ended his surgery.  Pena is expected to miss four to six months but should be available for Spring Training.

—–

Utilityman Omar Infante returned from the DL on Tuesday for the Braves and the team sent infielder Brent Lillibridge to Triple-A Richmond to clear a roster spot for Infante’s return. 

Infante was out since July 6 and played five different positions in 41 games so far this team.  Infante’s versatility and .282 average made the Braves decide to skip a rehab assignment for Infante and option Lillibridge to the Minors.  Lillibridge was impressive in the field but 0-for-11 in his last three appearances.

The Braves also received good news on pitchers Tom Glavine and Mike Hamptonwho both threw bullpen sessions on Tuesday.  Hampton thinks he could be ready as soon as next week and Glavine thinks he can return ahead of the time table he is currently on.

—–

Less than a day after giving up 10 runs in one inning, Kansas City Royals pitcher Jimmy Gobble admitted he was pitching in pain and went on the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday.

Gobble told manager Trey Hillman that he had been pitching with back pain for a while and Hillman told the media he would have never left Gobble in the game on Tuesday if he knew he was suffering from a back injury.  Gobble threw 45 pitches and gave up 10 runs on seven hits and four walks which pushed his ERA from 7.99 to 11.31.

—–

On Monday, Los Angeles Dodgers starter Eric Stults was handed an 11-0 lead but failed to get through the fourth.  Although the Dodgers went on to beat the Rockies 16-10, Stults was optioned back to Triple-A Las Vegas to make room for starter Clayton Kershaw who was scheduled to start on Tuesday.

The poor start by Stults on Monday landed him on the next plane to Vegas because manager Joe Torre felt that Stults needed to return to the Minors to “find his aggressiveness.”  Called up on June 19, Stults was 2-2 with a 3.18 ERA in six starts.

—–

A tough year got tougher for outfielder Chris Duncan on Tuesday.  After Monday’s game, Duncan — who experienced neck pain prior to the game — could not sleep due to neck pain and after an examination on Tuesday, it was revealed he had a bulging disk in his neck.  Now, Duncan is on the 15-day disabled list and was replaced by outfielder Joe Mather. 

The team and Duncan hopes he will only miss two weeks as he was finally looking like the player they saw in 2006 and 2007.  In 2008, he is hitting .248 with a .346 on-base percentage and just six home runs and 27 RBI in 76 games.

Mather spent just four days in the Minors and will provide depth in the outfield.  He hit .244 with two homers and five RBI in 20 games during his first Major League stint from May 30 to July 17.