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The Yankees took the field without Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Nick Swisher on Friday, a personnel hit that would severely limit most teams.

New York isn't most teams, however, and the Yankees didn't miss a beat. Curtis Granderson knocked in three runs to pace the offense in a 7-3 win, as the Yankees got contributions up and down their makeshift lineup.

"It was a good overall team effort," said Brett Gardner, who scored three runs. "We've got a good enough lineup, a good enough bullpen and a good enough starting five that even if a few guys are down and some other guys have to fill in, we still feel we can win."

The Yankees have won seven in a row—all without Rodriguez, who is eligible to return from the disabled list on Sunday—to match their...

In addition to being the fastest thrower in all of the land, Cincinnati Reds left-hander Aroldis Chapman appears to be a law-abiding resident alien of the United States.

To wit, Chapman reportedly is trying to update his automobile license plates now that he has moved from Class AAA Louisville — in Kentucky, o' course — to big-league Cincinnati.

Changing states isn't the only reason Chapman might want to keep up to date; His cars have vanity plates that indicate how fast he goes — from the mound to the plate, that is.

Chapman's Lamborghini plate reads "MPH102"; His Mercedes: "101 MPH."

As we learned over the past week or so, that's several miles per hour ago for Chapman.

He hit 105 mph in a minor league game before being promoted. He threw 102 in his major league debut and reached 103.9 mph in his second appearance. (We round up in America.)

Chapman, apparently, refuses to drive in expired plates.

Writes John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer:

"I just texted his adviser," Louisville trainer Tomas Vera said. "He's going to see if he can get 104MPH and 105MPH."

So that's why Chapman checks himself out on the scoreboard to see how hard he's throwing. He digs the speed, baby.

Jon Bois of SB Nation already has done some leg work to see if those plates are available in Ohio and Kentucky (in case he stays registered there). The results are mixed, though Bois has hatched an extremely amusing alternative vanity plate solution that requires a 25-vehicle motorcade.

Here's another thing you learn by going to the Ohio and Kentucky DMV sites: Anytime you see a zero on a license plate, it's not a zero — but instead the letter "O."

Heh, the more you know.

And, as for the Lamborghini itself, it goes a little faster than one of Chapman's pitches.

* * *

Follow Dave on Twitter — @AnswerDave

The New York Yankees matched a season high seven straight wins by beating the Toronto Blue Jays 7-3 in the American League on Friday. Curtis Granderson drove in three runs with a pair of doubles, while Brett Gardner hit a run-scoring triple and scored three times. Blue Jays starter Brandon Morrow (10-7) lasted only three innings, ending his five-game winning streak.

More photos » Jeff Roberson - AP

I really hope he stole that sign from a five year old. Penmanship counts! (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Jaime Garcia.  The St. Louis hurler went 6.2 strong innings, allowing six hits and two runs.  He also went 2-2 at the dish, including a double.  Honorary mentions go to Skip Schumaker, Scott Rolen, and Paul Janish.

Key Plays

• St. Louis got off to a flying start against Bronson Arroyo.  Skip Schumaker singled to lead off the first inning, and then Jon Jay tripled, bringing him in.  Albert Pujols then hit a sacrifice fly and Jay scored.  Cardinals lead, 2-0.
• The Cardinals tacked on another run in the second inning.  Brendan Ryan singled with one out, and then Jaime Garcia hit a double.  If Bronson had managed to get the pitcher out, Skip Schumaker's subsequent ground out would have ended the inning.  Instead, it was enough to score Ryan, and give the Cardinals would turned out to be an insurmountable 3-0 lead.
• By the third inning, the Reds started to look like they would make a game of it.  Paul Janish homered.  Cardinals lead, 3-1.
• In the fourth inning, Scott Rolen drew a one out walk, then scored when Jonny Gomes hit a deep double to left center.  Unfortunately, Gomes was thrown out trying for third.  Just because you can't hit the cutoff man, Jonny, doesn't mean other teams can't.  Even more unfortunately, Ryan Hanigan then singled, a hit likely would have tied the game.  Instead, Cardinals win, 3-2.

 

via www.fangraphs.com

Other Notes

• The Cardinals scored in consecutive innings for the first time in seven games.
• Jaime Garcia has beaten the Reds four times, but Paul Janish's homer ended a streak of 22.2 innings without allowing an earned run.
• Garcia is 4-4 lifetime batting against Bronson Arroyo.
• The one thing Jonny Gomes had avoided doing this season was grounding into a double play... until he did that in the second inning.

Final - 9.3.2010 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 RHE Cincinnati Reds 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 0 St. Louis Cardinals 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 3 6 0 WP: Jaime Garcia (13 - 6)
SV: Ryan Franklin (23)
LP: Bronson Arroyo (14 - 9)

Complete Coverage >

Jason Giambi and Troy Tulowitzki each hit a two-run home run to ruin left-hander Cory Luebke's big league debut and hand the reeling NL West-leading San Diego Padres their season-high eighth straight loss, 4-3 on Friday.



Troy Tulowitzki - Cory Luebke - San Diego Padres - Jason Giambi - San Diego

Ryne Sandberg was named the Pacific Coast League's manager of the year Friday, which can only put more pressure on the Cubs and general manager Jim Hendry in the search for a new manager. In only one season at Iowa, the Hall of Famer topped 15 others for the honor with the Iowa Cubs still in a tight race for the playoffs.

Rookie left-hander James Russell (1-1) became the fifth Cubs pitcher to pick up his first major-league victory this season.

Wishing Wells

More photos » Denis Poroy - AP

about 7 hours ago: Colorado Rockies' Jason Giambi, right, watches the flight of his two-run home run as San Diego Padres catcher Yorvit Torrealba looks on during the second inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept. 3, 2010, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

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Alright, that was Journey's unforgettable "Don't Stop Believing".  I'm going to break this set and say that there's a door here that's still looking mighty attainable to me, and apparently it seems to be still beckoning the Rockies as well.

I know some of you whippersnappers are pretty young and might not be able to remember all the way back to 2007, but I just thought I'd like to remind you that the Rockies not only had to close a gap on the Padres that season, but on September 12th, they were also seven games behind the New York Mets. This gap here:

NL West Standings W L PCT GB STRK San Diego 76 57 .571 0 Lost 8 San Francisco 74 61 .548 3 Lost 1 Colorado 70 64 .522 6.5 Won 1 Los Angeles 69 66 .511 8 Won 1 Arizona 56 79 .414 21 Won 4

(updated 9.4.2010 at 1:04 AM EDT)

Yep. This gap here looks workable. I think we could make ourselves a stew out of this.

Jason Giambi and Troy Tulowitzki, yes, you guys are getting shoutouts tonight, you know why. You rocked. Seriously. You too Aaron Cook. Man, all this week, I didn't think you had it in you, but you showed me something tonight, you know that? You showed what heart is, man. Alright I'm going to break it down a little right now, and spin this one for all the kids who still are playing for something.

 

You pack your bag, you take control,

Your moving into my heart and into my soul

Get out of my way! Get out of my sight!

I won't be walking on thin ice, to get through the night.

Hey, where's your work? What's your game?

I know your business, but I don't know your name...

 

Hold on tight, you know she's a little bit dangerous,

She's got what it takes to make ends meet, 

The eyes of a lover that hit like heat.

You know she's a little bit dangerous.

Yeah, that one goes out by Mondogarage who requested it because he likes all Swedish sugar pop bands. Can you believe Don Johnson turned that song down before Pers Gessle kept if for Roxette? Seriously. Don Johnson. Miami Vice. Didn't like Roxette.

I guess it takes all types... anyway I'm sending props out tonight to Huston Street and Raffy Betancourt, fire and ice, rock and roll..,

via www.fangraphs.com

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All rights reserved, retransmission or dissemination of this program is strictly prohibited. You've been listening to Rox Girl, until next week peeps, we're keeping it not dead.

More photos » Matt York - AP

Hey! What is this base, and why is it a different shape than the others? So this is what scoring looks like...

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Record: 56-79. Pace: 66-96. Change on last season:  -5.
Hinch/Gibson W%: .392/.446

It's Not Involved In Any Postseason Race Weekend here at Chase Field, with the Astros in town to take on the Diamondbacks. The Astros recently swept the Phillies and have won 8 of their last 10, while the Diamondbacks just swept the Padres and won 6 of 7. It should make for an interesting weekend, and tonight did not disappoint.

Daniel Hudson - soon-to-be founding member of the new "Big 3" here in Arizona - pitched 6 strong innings. Though his team couldn't hold the lead for an individual win, a team win is just as important. Augie Ojeda's sacrifice fly in the 8th inning put the Diamondbacks ahead and the good version of Juan Gutierrez closed it out out with a save.

Details in the usual place....

The Diamondbacks jumped on the board early off of Brett Myers. Stephen Drew and Chris Young both got aboard and Adam LaRoche doubled to score Drew (and Young almost tried for home but was held up). With runners on 2nd and 3rd base and nobody out, the Dbacks...... utterly failed to do anything more, as three pop flies stranded both runners. "Here we go again" - one couldn't help but wonder if the wasted opportunities would come back to haunt them.

Dan Hudson handled the Astros well until the 4th inning, when he allowed back-to-back singles to open the frame, and Jeff Keppinger singled to bring in Angel Sanchez to tie the game. In the 5th inning, Gerardo Parra misplayed a ball in left to give the pitcher Myers a "double," and the Astros used fundamentals (groundout to move him over, single to score him) to take the lead 2-1.

But the Dbacks game right back in the bottom half. Parra made up for his play by tripling to lead it off. Hudson showed he's not quite as adept with the bat as his DH predecessor and K'd, but Drew walked, then Young brought in Parra and LaRoche singled in Drew, and just like that the Diamondbacks had the lead right back. 

Wait, you mean teams aren't supposed to just give up once they get behind? Hey, I like this version!

Hudson was over 100 pitches after the 6th inning, so he was out, and Blaine Boyer came in for the 7th. He promptly gave up a ground rule double and a single, then got the double play - but, the two outs did NOT include one at home, so once again, Houston had tied the game. Two scoreless halves later, it was Ryan Roberts' turn to lead off with a double, and was moved over by Parra. Runner on third with one out in a tie game, another opportunity to wast-- hey! Look, it's Augie Ojeda off the bench to drive in the winning run with a sacrifice fly!! Perfect execution - "small ball" at its finest. Juan Gutierrez came in for the save and nailed down the win with very little apprehension.

Master of his Domain: A LaRoche, +18.3%
Honorable Mention: J Gutierrez, +17.6%
God-Emperor of Suck: M Montero, -19.3%

Over 500 comments is not a bad turnout for a Friday night. Apparently, 22 of us have no lives, says the man who led the thread with more than double his next nearest competitor. soco took first place, 'skins in second, and jinnah in third. All Present: BattleMoses, soco, DbacksSkins, Skii, pygalgia, kishi, Rockkstarr12, emilylovesthedbacks, jinnah, hotclaws, asteroid, snakecharmer, brian custer, NASCARbernet, Azreous, dbacks4life, Muu, Jim McLennan, Sprankton, justin1985, marionette, and Wailord.

Comment of the Day comes from a discussion of horrible beards and mustaches. (What baseball game?) After Phil posted a photo of himself, Emily decided his new nickname should be:

or
pedophil.

by emilylovesthedbacks on Sep 3, 2010 9:27 PM PDT

If you want a somewhat baseball-related comment, you'll have to go for soco talking about hotdogs.

Sounds like it's radio only tomorrow, for some other sport that seems to be occupying the minds and televisions of many Americans. Except for Jim's. In the evening start, Joe Saunders goes up against Bud Norris for Wailord's first recap as an official writer! 

More photos » Jed Jacobsohn - Getty Images

The Raiders were actually really helpful tonight. The leftover yard marks on the outfield grass provided a great tool to measure Kazmir's wild pitches.

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Scott Kazmir was, to put it frankly, as wild as anyone I've seen all year. Not just once, but twice, he threw a fastball to a left-handed batter so far outside that it missed the right-handed batter's box. No, really. In the first inning, he hit two batters and walked two more, the last of which came with the bases already loaded. And yet...that run was the only run that the A's would get with Kazmir still on the mound. Some of that was Kazmir settling down and regaining a little control, but a large portion was the same old story of the A's stranding sixty seven men on base (I didn't really count).

In fact, the only reason the score differential was as big as it was came from Anaheim's bullpen. The seventh inning featured three singles, a stolen base, a double, and two home runs, for six of the eight runs scored tonight by Oakland.

But in the end, the story was the A's pitching (as usual). Gio Gonzalez wasn't dominant, but he was certainly very good, as he scattered four hits and three walks in six innings without allowing a run. Michael Wuertz, Henry Rodriguez, and Brad Ziegler combined to one-hit the Angels through the remaining three innings, and preserve the shutout.

The A's continue the series with a marquee Cy Young-contenders pitching matchup as Trevor Cahill and Jered Weaver face off at 1:10 PM.

Current Series 3 game series vs Angels @ Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum --> Athletics lead the series 1-0 Fri 09/03 WP: Gio Gonzalez (13 - 8)
LP: Scott Kazmir (8 - 13)
8 - 0 win

Los Angeles Angels Halos Heaven
@ Oakland Athletics Athletics Nation

Saturday, Sep 4, 2010, 1:10 PM PDT
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

Jered Weaver vs Trevor Cahill

--> Sunny. Winds blowing out to right field at 10-15 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 75.

Complete Coverage >

Sun 09/05 1:05 PM PDT

Chad Billingsley hit a go-ahead two-run single in the fourth inning and limited the San Francisco Giants to two hits over eight innings, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 4-2 victory Friday night.



Los Angeles Dodgers - San Francisco Giants - Chad Billingsley - Los Angeles - United States

A bit of drama between pitcher Matt Garza and manager Joe Maddon was about the only sore spot for the Tampa Bay Rays in yet another victory over Baltimore.

The Chicago Cubs used the long ball in timely fashion on Friday afternoon, as it accounted for all but one run during their 7-6 win over the New York Mets from Wrigley Field.  (more…)

Curtis Granderson drove in three runs with a pair of doubles, Brett Gardner hit a run-scoring triple and scored three times, and the New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-3 on Friday to match a season high with their seventh straight victory. Mark Teixeira had an RBI double for the AL East leaders, who chased Brandon Morrow (10-7) after three innings, ending his five-game winning streak.

Denard Span delivered the go-ahead single in the seventh inning, emergency starter Matt Fox pitched 5 2-3 innings in his major league debut, and the depleted Minnesota Twins beat the Texas Rangers 4-3 on Friday night.



Texas Rangers - Minnesota Twins - Denard Span - Major League Baseball - Sports

To be fair, there’s a chance that Jose Guillen would have hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning if the home plate ump didn’t invent a new strike zone.

To be fair, there’s no excuse for Barry Zito walking two hitters to start an inning. That’s the kind of thing you expect from a 20-year-old rookie.

With those points out of the way, I’m pretty sure 95% of the right fielders in professional baseball could have caught Chad Billingsley’s line drive single. General rule: if it hits Jose Guillen in the glove, most right fielders could have caught it. Addendum to the general rule: if it hits Jose Guillen in the glove, there’s a good chance the anthropomorphic trash heap from "Fraggle Rock" could have caught it.

I’ll concede that maybe I’m being unfair. Maybe I have a dogmatic view of how a team should be built, and if a player falls outside of that view, I won’t give him a fair shake. Maybe. But here’s a post-game thread with a mission. I defy anyone -- anyone -- to explain how Jose Guillen is a better player than Cody Ross without referencing runs batted in.

I’ll wait.

Even if their defensive abilities were even, it’s not quite a fair fight. Both hitters are low-average, high-power, and oft-hacking types. Over the past three years, though, Ross has been the better power hitter, with 20+ home runs in a tough Florida park and plenty of doubles. It’s close, and Ross has some definite platoon splits that Guillen doesn’t have, but Ross has been the better hitter for a couple of years now.

Then you factor in that Ross runs well, and Guillen looks like he’s running with Saturn’s gravity. Then you factor in that Ross can field, Carlos Gonzalez’s broken-bat liner notwithstanding, and Guillen is lucky if he doesn’t swallow his mitt when he tries to catch a fly ball. How is Guillen worth playing over Ross?

One valid argument. That’s all I ask. Why is Guillen a better option to start over Jose Guillen? Throw me a bone. Maybe the game wouldn’t still be tied, but there’s a good chance it would be if anyone else were playing right field.

Zito was garbage, yes. The rest of the non-Posey offense was hot garbage, yes. But a team needs to play its best players. I don’t think Jose Guillen falls under that description, and I think it cost the Giants tonight.

Iowa's Ryne Sandberg was named PCL Manager of the Year. Tennessee's Bill Dancy was named Southern League Manager of the Year.

First baseman Rebel Ridling and second baseman DJ LeMahieu were named Florida State League Post-Season All-Stars. Catcher Michael Brenly was also named to the team. His dad must be proud, whoever he is.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs stopped the Memphis Redbirds, 4-2.

Chris Carpenter started against the Redbirds (a little bit of irony there) and he went six innings, allowing two runs on three hits. He walked three and struck out five.

Luke Sommer retired all six batters he faced to get the win in relief. Sommer struck out two.

Jeff Stevens pitched the ninth and recorded his tenth save. He walked two, but struck out Ruben Gotay to end the game.

Right fielder Brad Snyder hit his 25th home run of the season, a solo home run in the 7th. Snyder was 1 for 4.

Left fielder Jason Dubois was 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI. Shortstop Matt Camp was 2 for 3 with a walk and an RBI.

The win gives Iowa a one game lead in the division with three to play. It's now best of three to determine the divisional title. Mitch Atkins faces Lance Lynn Saturday Night at 7:05 in Des Moines.

Tennessee Smokies

The Tennessee Smokies were hooked by the Carolina Mudcats, 5-4 in ten innings.

Starter Trey McNutt went six innings and allowed three runs on eight hits. He walked one and struck out four.

Esmailin Caridad took the loss in relief. He was fine in the ninth inning, but allowed a run on three hits in the tenth without recording an out.  Caridad pitched 1+ inning and gave up one run on four hits. He did not walk or strike out anyone.

Catcher Steve Clevenger had three doubles in a 3 for 5 game. He scored twice. Second baseman Tony Thomas doubled and tripled in a 2 for 4 evening. Thomas scored once and had two RBI.

Left fielder Brett Jackson went 2 for 4 with a triple and a walk. Jackson had one RBI.  He also stole his 16th base for Tennessee and 28th overall. Center fielder Tony Campana went 2 for 4 with a walk and a run scored. He stole his 47th base of the season.

Daytona Cubs

Daytona was shot down by the Lakeland Flying Tigers, 3-2 in ten innings.

Brooks Raley started and allowed only one run over 5.2 innings. Raley allowed seven hits. He walked one and struck out seven.

David Patton got the loss in relief. He pitched 2.1 innings and didn't allow a hit, but did allow a run on five walks. (Two walks  in the tenth)  Patton struck out three.

Shortstop Junior Lake hit his ninth home run of the season. It was a two-run homer that tied the game in the ninth inning. Lake was 1 for 4.

Peoria Chiefs

The Chiefs lost to the Kane County Cougars, 4-2.

Brett Wallach pitched the first four innings and allowed three runs on two hits, including a two-run home run. Wallach walked three and did not have a strikeout.

Right fielder Jae-Hoon Ha was 1 for 3 with a double and a sacrifice fly.

Boise Hawks

The Boise Hawks caught the Yakima Bears hibernating, 4-3.

Starter Eduardo Figueroa got his second win, going five innings and allowing only one unearned run. Figueroa was tagged for only two hits. He walked one and did not have a strikeout.

Aaron Kurcz struck out the only batter he faced to get his ninth save.

DH Micah Gibbs was 2 for 3 with a double and a walk. He scored once and had one RBI.

More photos » Jim Mone - AP

This was a pretty nice catch.

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On Thursday night, the Twins lost a game they should have won.  On Friday, they won a game they should have lost, thanks to the likes of Matt Fox, Jason Repko and Danny Valencia.   Just like we said would happen in April.

A 4-3 victory over the playoff-bound Rangers would be good under any circumstances, but tonight's made it one to savor.  Let's be very clear on this: Matt Fox's start on Friday wasn't the best start by a Twins pitcher this year, but it was probably the most necessary.  After a game where the Twins set their bullpen on fire, used 3 of their 5 starters and lost one of them to injury for 1-2 starts minimum, the anonymous Fox gave the Twins everything you could have asked for against a formidable Texas lineup.  Fox surrendered a mere two runs in 5 and 2/3 innings with the help of some nice defense from Denard Span, Repko and an infield that remembered how to turn double plays, keeping Minnesota in the game while the Twins tried to figure out Rangers starter Jason Holland.  

That never happened, as Holland handcuffed the Twins through the first six innings, allowing just two runs.  However, in the bottom of the 7th, Valencia hit a seeing-eye single to left (after which he left the game with tightness in his right hamstring OH GOOD ANOTHER HURT IMPORTANT GUY), which was followed by a Repko walk.  Ron Washington went to his bullpen, and that gave the Twins the opening they needed.  Singles by J.J. Hardy and Denard Span plated pinch-runner Matt Tolbert and Repko, putting the Twins ahead for good.

Matt Capps did the rest.  After Jon Rauch and Randy Flores labored to get one out in the 8th,  Capps entered the game with runners on the corners and got two rather clutch-y outs.  With the offense not giving him any breathing room in the bottom of the 8th, Capps got the first out of the 9th, then gave up a Chip Carey Special to Vladimir Guerrero.  With Alex Cora pinch-running for Guerrero, Pedro Borbon singled to right.  Cora attempted to take 3rd on the hit, and Repko GUNNED.  HIM.  DOWN.  One fly ball out later, and Capps had the rare 5-out save.  His arm is being shipped to Cooperstown as I type this.

To recap: the Twins got 21 outs from two pitchers who were nowhere near Minneapolis 24 hours ago.  Their trade deadline closer got the last five.  And they might have gotten their biggest win of the season. 

Studs: Fox, Alex Burnett (hey, four outs and one run in a pinch, could've been worse), Span and Repko on defense, Capps, Valencia, Jim Perry and Jim Kaat in the booth for FSN.

Duds: No duds tonight, I'm in a good mood.

Enjoy your long weekend, everybody.