Tagged: Jason Hammel

The 2009 Playoffs, Day 5

So the Phillies won game 1, as did the Dodgers and Yankees.  Then went to Washington D.C. and missed everything from Days 2, 3, and 4.  I come home to find that the Cardinals, who I picked to go to the World Series, have been swept.  The Phillies lost game 2 and I was aggravated (I was getting updates in Washington from a friend of mine), and then I found out they wanted to start Pedro Martinez and I went through the roof.  Lucky for them, it got cancelled.  The Yankees are up 2-0 on the Twins, but I heard about that blown call in Game 2 that basically changed the game, though I havn’t seen it.  Boston, who I had winning in 5, has their backs against the wall now after losing the first two, maybe things won’t be the same this year.

Los Angeles Angels at Boston Red Sox – Game 3 (2-0 Los Angeles)

12:07: Scott Kazmir v. Clay Buchholz

Scott Kazmir’s Record: 10-9, 4.89 ERA
Postseason Record: 1-1, 4.21 ERA (5 starts, 0 relief)

Clay Buchholz’ Record: 7-4, 4.21 ERA
Postseason Record: N/A

New York Yankees at Minnesota Twins – Game 3 (2-0 New York)

7:07: Andy Pettitte v. Carl Pavano

Andy Pettitte’s Record: 14-8, 4.16 ERA
Postseason Record: 14-9, 3.96 ERA (35 starts, 0 relief)

Carl Pavano’s Record: 14-12, 5.10 ERA
Postseason Record: 2-0, 1.40 ERA (2 starts, 6 relief)

Philadelphia Phillies at Colorado Rockies – Game 3 (1-1 tie)

10:07: J.A. Happ v. Jason Hammel

J.A. Happ’s Record: 12-4, 2.93 ERA
Postseason Record: 0-0, 3.00 ERA (0 starts, 2 relief)

Jason Hammel’s Record: 10-8, 4.33 ERA
Postseason Record: N/A

Four of the six pitchers have postseason experience, they all have a pretty fair amount of success.

Andy Pettitte has made 35 starts in the playoffs.  If you were to add up the starts of the other three pitchers with postseason experience you would have to multiply it by five to reach Pettitte’s amount.

J.A. Happ is the man who really should be on the mound, not Pedro Martinez.  I still remember that complete game shutout Happ pitched against the Rockies earlier this year, that game might have saved his role as a starter.

Oh the irony, Carl Pavano goes up against the New York Yankees tonight.  Could you even imagine him pitching a good game and saving the Twins playoff chances?

Clay Buchholz first playoff game will be one in which the Red Sox need to win, quite the pressure packed situation if you ask me.  Not to mention, they will be at Fenway Park, which adds even more pressure.

Jason Hammel may be one of the most average pitchers in the league.  Record, average, ERA, average.  However, that doesn’t mean he’s not effective.  I’ll bet Hammel does alright in playoff start #1.

Scott Kazmir is ready to go through the playoffs again, much like last year.  Although this year, Kazmir isn’t the ace anymore.  He’s also not playing for an underdog team either.  It’ll be similar, but not so similar for Scott.

Duel of the Dat – Monday, September 14, 2009

What pitching from two unexpected sources yesterday.  7.1 innings from Kyle Kendrick and 8 innings from Pedro Martinez.  What did we do to deserve that?  I don’t know and I don’t care, all I know is that I would absolutely love to see a lot more of it.  I’m sorry I taunted you Pedro, thus far, you’ve been a pleasant surprise.  Kyle, please keep it up, I like you, you know that, but the way you pitched last season made me not like you.

Pitchers who went 7 innings: Matt Garza (L, 7.1 innings, 9 hits, 3 runs, 0 walks, 8 K’s), Clay Buchholz (W, 5 hits, 1 run, 3 walks, 5 K’s), CC Sabathia (W, 5 hits, 3 runs, 4 walks, 1 K), Kyle Kendrick (W, 7.1 innings, 7 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 3 K’s), Brian Duensing (W, 8 hits, 0 runs, 3 walks, 6 K’s), Mark Buehrle (L, 5 hits, 3 runs – 2 earned, 2 walks, 3 K’s), Brad Penny (W, 5 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 2 K’s), Felix Hernandez (W, 4 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 5 K’s)

Pitchers who went 8 innings: Paul Maholm (W, 6 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 2 K’s), Jon Lester (W, 2 hits, 0 runs, 3 walks, 7 K’s), Pedro Martinez (W, 6 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 7 K’s)

Pitchers who went 9 innings: Javier Vazquez (W, 7 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks, 8 K’s), Tommy Hunter (W, 6 hits, 2 runs – 1 earned, 1 walk, 3 K’s)

The Duel of Yesterday: Tim Redding v. Pedro Martinez, but this very well could be the fullest i’ve ever seen it, look at all those pitchers who pitched really well yesterday, what a day.

The Matchups:

Los Angeles Angels (Jered Weaver, 15-5, 3.76) at New York Yankees (Joba Chamberlain, 8-5, 4.45)

Tampa Bay Rays (David Price, 7-7, 4.65) at Baltimore Orioles (David Hernandez, 4-7, 5.05)

Toronto Blue Jays (David Purcey, 0-2, 7.01) at Detroit Tigers (Justin Verlander, 16-8, 3.24)

Houston Astros (Wandy Rodriguez, 13-9, 2.76) at Cincinnati Reds (Bronson Arroyo, 12-12, 4.17)

Milwaukee Brewers (Jeff Suppan, 6-9, 5.05) at Chicago Cubs (Ryan Dempster, 9-8, 4.03)

Oakland Athletics (Brett Tomko, 4-3, 4.47 – 3-1, 3.90) at Texas Rangers (Scott Feldman, 16-4, 3.46)

Cleveland Indians (Jeremy Sowers, 6-9, 4.78) at Minnesota Twins (Carl Pavano, 12-11, 4.92 – 3-3, 3.65)

Florida Marlins (Ricky Nolasco, 11-8, 5.23) at St. Louis Cardinals (Todd Wellemeyer, 7-9, 5.62)

Arizona Diamondbacks (Billy Buckner, 2-6, 7.38) at San Deigo Padres (Kevin Correia, 10-10, 4.30)

Pittsburgh Pirates (Daniel McCutchen, 0-1, 4.85) at Los Angeles Dodgers (Jon Garland, 9-11, 4.23 – 1-0, 3.46)

Colorado Rockies (Jason Hammel, 8-7, 4.31) at San Francisco Giants (Tim Lincecum, 13-5, 2.34)

The Duel:

It looks like Tim Lincecum against Jason Hammel might be the best on the schedule today.  Tim is making his first start since losing to the Phillies (while striking out 11 I might add) on September 3rd.  The Giants will be overjoyed to have him back and they really need great things from him, and the rest of the staff, if they want to make the postseason.  Jason Hammel might have something to say about that tonight.  The Rockies are 4.5 games above San Fran and even just 1 win in this series can thwart the dreams of the Giants.  Hammel has been an incredibly solid arm for the Rockies this season and he hasn’t allowed more than 3 runs in a game since June 30th.  This is a big series and just imagine how exciting it would be with a Giants sweep.