Another save for Chapman. 112 strikeout against 15 walks.

Sale fans 13 Yankees, vaulting Sox to sweep

By Scott Merkin / MLB.com | 8/23/2012 12:35 AM ET

CHICAGO --

During Addison Reed's short but successful baseball career, he has served as closer for both Stephen Strasburg and Chris Sale.

His closing work behind Strasburg came during two years at San Diego State. But after finishing off victory No. 15 for Sale during the White Sox 2-1 win over the Yankees before 26,319 at U.S. Cellular Field on Wednesday, Reed drew logical comparisons between two of Major League Baseball's best young starters.

"Both of those guys, they don't care who they are facing, what team it is, what batter it is," said Reed, who recorded two strikeouts in the ninth using his changeup as he picked up save No. 23. "They know they are going to probably be successful. The confidence they have is unbelievable."

This confidence, in turn, spills over to their teammates.

On Wednesday night, Sale's bravado helped the White Sox (68-55) complete their first sweep of the Yankees (72-52) of three games or more since June 15-18, 2000. It was their first home sweep of the Yankees since Aug. 6-8, 1991.

During the 1991 sweep, it's a safe bet that Sale (15-4), now 23, wasn't throwing 95 mph or mixing in devastating sliders and changeups.

The Yankees discovered in this series finale why Sale often gets mentioned as part of discussions centering on 2012 American League Cy Young candidates. Sale pitched 7 2/3 innings and allowed just one run in helping the White Sox maintain their two-game lead over the Tigers, who beat the Blue Jays by a 3-2 margin at Comerica Park.

For the fourth time this season, Sale topped the double-digit mark in strikeouts. He fanned 13 while walking one and giving up just three hits. Sale struck out Ichiro Suzuki three times and Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson two times apiece, as the left-handed hitters finished a combined 1-for-9 against him.

"That's the first or second time I've ever faced him, but, man, he's a pretty good pitcher," said Yankees right fielder Nick Swisher, who finished 0-for-3 against Sale with one strikeout. "Numbers don't lie."

"He's funky -- he has a different kind of motion," said Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter. "He sort of steps at the left-handers and away from us. His fastball moves. He throws hard. He gets it up there -- 95, 96 [mph] -- but then he also throws a lot of offspeed pitches for strikes. He's a handful."

Jeter provided the Yankees' only run via a one-out homer, his 13th, to left field, tying the game in the sixth inning. That deadlock didn't last long, as Alex Rios connected for his own one-out solo shot in the bottom of the inning.

It was home run No. 20 for Rios and RBI No. 72, coming on an 0-1, 91-mph fastball from Yankees starter Phil Hughes (12-11).

"Hughes is a guy who throws a high percentage of fastballs, so I guessed right," Rios said. "I knew I hit it good. I didn't know it was going to go out, but I knew I hit it good."

"All-around player, that's the one thing that impressed me about Alex," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "He's been great for us offensively, stealing bases and playing great defense. He's been consistent all year long."

Scoring chances weren't exactly plentiful for either division leader in this contest. The Yankees wasted a leadoff double from Mark Teixeira in the second and a one-out double from Cano in the fourth that barely stayed in the ballpark. The White Sox put two runners on base in the first, third, fourth and eighth, but outside of the Rios homer, they scored only on Kevin Youkilis' third-inning sacrifice fly.

Strikeouts of Casey McGehee and Ichiro to start the eighth ended Sale's night at 109 pitches, with Brett Myers retiring Jeter on a great defensive play by second baseman Gordon Beckham to end the frame. Before Beckham's effort, Sale walked off the field to yet another standing ovation in improving to 7-0 with a 1.17 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 61 2/3 innings over his last eight home starts.

Those are numbers belonging to a staff ace, the man you would put on the mound to open a playoff series. Just don't try to tell the humble Sale he's at the front of a strong White Sox rotation, as he would give that nod to Jake Peavy, the ultimate competitor in Sale's mind.

Sale won't allow himself to think about being considered a dominant pitcher, even after lowering his ERA to 2.65.

"I try not to; I just try to go with the flow, honestly," said Sale, who threw 70 of his pitches for strikes. "This is a game of ups and downs. You try to not get too up or too down. I wouldn't say that. I'm just happy to be in the situation I'm in.

"Each outing, he does something that was more impressive than the one before," said Reed of Sale. "It's fun to watch, and I'm glad he's on our team."

Reed knows a thing or two about dominant starters. The one he works with professionally helped erase the sting of this past weekend's three-game sweep in Kansas City for the South Siders.

"Winning those first two games and having a chance to sweep after getting swept in Kansas City goes to show what kind of guys we have in here," Sale said. "Every game is big from here on out -- no games from here on out where we can take a night off. It's go time now."

Where's Pomeranz when we need him ???

Aug. 22: Steal No. 148

One night after breaking Vince Coleman's single-season Minor League stolen base record, Billy Hamilton was not in the starting lineup for Pensacola.

But the Reds' top prospect came on as a pinch-runner in the seventh and swiped second two innings later for his 148th steal. It was the Southern League-leading 44th stolen base for Hamilton, who was promoted after leading the California League with 104 in 82 games with Class A Advanced Bakersfield

Red Sox, Dodgers Nearing Blockbuster

By Ben Nicholson-Smith [August 24 at 6:15pm CST]


6:15pm: The Red Sox and Dodgers are currently reviewing medical records, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com (via Twitter). The deal would include Rubby De La Rosa, James Loney, Jerry Sands, Ivan De Jesus, and a top prospect, according to Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com (Twitter link).

6:04pm: Adrian Gonzalez was scratched from the lineup and summoned from the dugout into the clubhouse along with Nick Punto, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com (via Twitter).

5:52pm: There are two deals on the table, one mega deal involving Carl Crawford and another with just Beckett and Gonzalez, tweets Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe.

5:48pm: Though the deal may not happen in its current nine-player form, something is expected to happen, tweets Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports.

5:10pm: Dodgers minor leaguers in the trade talks have included Allen Webster, Zach Lee, Rubby De La Rosa, and Jerry Sands, tweets Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.

5:06pm: The Red Sox would receive prospects and not just salary relief if the deal happens, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.

4:52pm: Boston would send some cash to Los Angeles if the sides complete a deal Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reports. Morosi confirms that the sides are close to a trade (Twitter links).

4:34pm: The Red Sox and Dodgers are closing in on a trade that would send Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto to Los Angeles, Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com reports (on Twitter). Hurdles remain, but the sides continue working toward a deal.

The Dodgers recently won the claiming rights to Gonzalez and Beckett. Gonzalez can't block a trade to Los Angeles, but Beckett must approve any assignment as a player with ten and five rights. Crawford and Punto cleared waivers earlier this month and can be traded without waiver-related restrictions.

The Dodgers have been willing to take on considerable salaries since their new ownership group gained control of the club at the beginning of the 2012 season. Adding the four Red Sox players would represent a substantial financial commitment:

Gonzalez will earn $21MM per season through 2016 and obtain a raise to $21.5MM for 2017-18. The total exceeds $130MM when accounting for the remainder his 2012 salary.
Beckett will earn $15.75MM per season through 2014. As noted above, he must approve any trade.
Crawford will earn $20MM in 2013, $20.25MM in 2014, $20.5MM in 2015, $20.75MM in 2016 and $21MM in 2017. His contract allows him to block trades to two teams.
Punto earns $1.5MM per season through 2013.
The Dodgers claimed Cliff Lee on waivers earlier this month after trading for Shane Victorino, Hanley Ramirez, Joe Blanton and Brandon League. The Dodgers would have to place MLB players on waivers before trading them to Boston, which could complicate trade talks.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports, citing a source, reports that the Dodgers have agreed to the players who will be sent to the Red Sox in the blockbuster deal involving Adrian Gonzalez.
Morosi's sources says that James Loney, Rubby De La Rosa, Jerry Sands, Ivan De Jesus and Allen Webster will be sent to Boston. Meanwhile, the Dodgers are set to acquire Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto. They will also get some salary relief. A deal will not be official tonight, as Beckett and Crawford have no-trade clauses and medicals still need to be reviewed. The trade would also need approval from the commissioner's office because of the money changing hands. But all signs are this will get done.

Related: Dodgers
Source: Jon Paul Morosi on Twitter Aug 24 - 7:48 PM

Red Sox, Dodgers Nearing Blockbuster
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [August 24 at 9:01pm CST]

9:01pm: The Dodgers are expected to pick up more than $260MM of the $271.5MM in combined salary that the Red Sox are sending to them, a source tells Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald.

The Dodgers are expected to pick up more than $260MM of the $271.5MM in combined salary that the Red Sox are sending to them

Can you imagine the Indians offering to pick up $260MM?

The Dodgers are obviously aiming to be Yankees West.

I really don't know what the Dodgers are thinking. Crawford and Beckett are obviously overpaid, and while Gonzalez is definitely a stud (and someone Boston would have held on to were they not so desperate to unload Crawford), Dodger Stadium limits what anyone is going to hit the same way his old stomping grounds in San Diego do. I don't think a team in LA needs to pay their first baseman that kind of money, in other words.

The Red Sox had a great run, but they fell off the treadmill this season--too much money tied up in aging, unproductive players; and too few prospects left to plug the gaps given all the win-now trades they have made in recent years. I guess the good news from the perspective of their fans is they did get a couple of rings out of it.

The Dodgers have raked thus far tonight for 16 hits. Looks like the huge move to win it this year pumped up some of the existing guys on the team.

And the newly acquired Gonzalez has a three run homer.

I really see the blockbuster as The Dodgers simply making an attempt and financial commitment to take it all in 2012 while they are close and have organizational momentum. They can part out the guys they got in the trade after the season, and greatly lessen the $260 million in payroll addition yesterday. If they have to look at parting out at a loss, they'll deal with it later.

They have no need or desire to part out the players. Gonzalez is worth every penny. Crawford will be a starting OF next year and Victorino will be gone. Beckett is worth 15 million a year in todays baseball economy for 2 years. Need a replacement for Billingsley now ,who just went on DL. G

Punto ????? Who cares. Great trade for the Dodgers for today and tomorrow.

Peter Gammons ‏@pgammo

Of the $188.7M the Dodgers have committed to players in 2013, $8.33M will go to Manny Ramirez.



Rusty adds, not sure but I think that would make Manny the highest paid Indian next year.

Hamilton steals win for the Wahoos

Reds' top prospect nabs four bases to reach 50 in Pensacola

By Robert Emrich / Special to MLB.com08/28/2012 12:52 AM ET
Not content to own the Minor League records for stolen bases, Billy Hamilton is seeking to obliterate it. The Reds' No. 1 prospect stole four bases, giving him 50 in Double-A Pensacola as the Blue Wahoos beat the Mississippi Braves, 3-2, in 10 innings on Monday.

Hamilton finished with two hits and scored twice for the Blue Wahoos. After singling to open the 10th inning, the 21-year-old shortstop stole second base. After Josh Fellhauer lined out for the first out, Hamilton nabbed third base and came around to score the go-ahead run on Yordanys Perez's sacrifice fly with one out.

Since breaking the stolen-base record Aug. 21, Hamilton has shown no signs of slowing down, swiping seven bases in six games. He currently leads both the Southern League and the California League in steals and is 154-for-190 in attempts this season.

For perspective, Huntsville's Josh Prince is second on Hamilton's current circuit with 41 stolen bases despite playing 87 more games. Hamilton has had 13 games in which he's stolen multiple bases for the Blue Wahoos, including two games of four stolen bases.

Fellhauer was 2-for-5 with two RBIs. He sports a league-leading .317 for the Blue Wahoos.

Pensacola's Curtis Partch (7-4) earned the win after allowing a hit in an inning of relief. Chris Manno retired the final two batters of the game to earn his second save.

A decade after 'Moneyball,' A's writing unique story

Upstart playoff contenders making a movie-quality run at October

By Anthony Castrovince | Archive

08/28/12 10:42 AM ET

CLEVELAND --

The "Moneyball" book had its place in the advance of baseball analytics, the movie treatment had its place in the Academy Award nominations, and the mystique of the movement still stands as the identity we often associate with the Billy Beane-era Oakland A's.

Something special, though, is taking place in this 2012 season. It's something that, if seen to its full fruition, would make for a better story than "Moneyball" ever was.

The present-day A's are a contender, no matter how much we might have assumed otherwise mere months ago. They are steaming toward September, having won nine of their past 11, including two of three over fellow Wild Card contender Tampa Bay over the weekend. And Oakland entered Tuesday with a record identical to that of the equally surprising Orioles, with both clubs holding a Wild Card spot in the American League.

For the A's to be in this position, with a roster scant on established veterans and loaded with retreads, qualifies as a surprise.

For the A's to hold onto this position down the stretch, despite the loss of Bartolo Colon to suspension and a grueling schedule that will pit them against contending teams in 23 of their final 29 games, will require a further test of their fortitude.

Don't think they've got it in them? Well, did you imagine they'd get this far?

"The fact that we've gotten contributions from not just the 25 guys here right now but many more than that with our Triple-A team, too, would suggest we can move on from just about anything at this point," manager Bob Melvin said. "We are a 25-man team here, and really -- probably -- a pool of 32."

Hold the roster of these current A's up next to that of their "Moneyball" predecessors from a decade ago, and the latter looks like an All-Star squad by comparison. It's laughable how much the movie, in particular, overlooked the contributions of certain top talents to instead give us a story centered on Scott Hatteberg.

"You had an MVP at shortstop [Miguel Tejada], you had three absolute Cy Young contenders [Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson and Barry Zito] in the rotation, and there were guys like Jermaine Dye," said Brandon McCarthy, the current de facto ace. "Yeah, there were a lot of fill-ins that made the story good, but there were still a lot of guys who were hugely respected in the game.

"Here, we're all kind of guys clawing and trying to fight and make a name for ourselves."

And remember, these 2012 A's are a team that, unlike even the O's, was supposed to take a step backward this season. A strong rotation was gutted by trades that sent Gio Gonzalez to the Nationals and Trevor Cahill to the D-backs, and closer Andrew Bailey was sent to Boston.

The focus was not as much on immediate contention as it was on a future move to San Jose -- a move that is still stalled.

But a funny thing happened on the road to irrelevance. The Cahill, Gonzalez and Bailey trades all reaped immediate returns, primarily in the form of rookie rotation stalwarts Jarrod Parker (8-7, 3.52 ERA), Tommy Milone (10-9, 3.87 ERA), All-Star reliever Ryan Cook (2.45 ERA) and productive right fielder Josh Reddick (26 homers, .813 on-base plus slugging percentage). A four-year, $36 million flier on Cuban import (and YouTube hit) Yoenis Cespedes brought added thump.

The lineup began to jell when Coco Crisp, who nearly departed in free agency last year before signing a two-year, $14 million deal to stay in Oakland, shook off an early-season slump and took over the leadoff duties on June 14. In the time since, Crisp has hit .304 with a .360 on-base percentage, while the A's have gone 42-22.

And even when Colon got suspended for 50 games, the timing worked out in the A's favor, as Brett Anderson was due to return from Tommy John surgery.

Anderson has now tossed seven brilliant innings in each of his first two starts. He blanked the Indians on Monday night, thanks in part to the help of a breaking ball that looked to be in midseason form. It was enough to make you forget the hit Oakland took with Colon's suspension.

"Colon was very well-liked here and did a nice job for us," Melvin said, "but I think the timing of Brett Anderson coming back and the depth of the starting rotation would suggest that we can move on from this fairly quickly."

It is a credit to pitching coach Curt Young, who returned to the Oakland organization after an eventful one-year run in Boston, that the A's always tend to get the most out of that staff, regardless of age or rank. Oakland starters have the second-best ERA (3.77) in the league, behind that of the Rays (3.50).

"I think our front office trusts us, and we trust them," Young said. "We've always had great depth in the starting pitching department. It's always been quality that's come to us through a trade. Gio is an example, Brett Anderson is an example. Jarrod Parker and Tom Milone. In all the trades that have happened, quality has come our way."

Like the Rays, this staff also benefits from the comforts of a home park that plays in favor of pitchers.

"I think guys gain confidence from that stadium they pitch in, and that carries over to the road," Young said. "We've got a bunch of confident guys, and their teammates know what they're going to get from them each time they take the mound. I think that's the most important thing when establishing a team."

And we might as well toss out one more Rays comparison, while we're at it. You don't outplay your payroll at this high a percentage without a certain amount of clubhouse chemistry or, at least, an environment in which the pressure to perform does not outweigh the pleasure in performing.

"Tampa's been the mold of that the last few years," McCarthy said. "You just don't see any uptightness or any panic from them. And that's the mold that we've been following."

If this season follows its current path, and if the A's don't tighten up or get besieged by injury, you just might see them wind up where three of the past four Rays clubs did: October.

It might not get the book or movie treatment. But man, what a story that would be.

Anthony Castrovince is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his columns and follow him on Twitter at @Castrovince. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.