From the Hardball Times, Josh Kalk on Scott Kazmir:

Also, we should get some help tonight. Minnesota has already lost and Boston is down 12-4 in the 6th. Of course, nothing is certain with Boston, especially against he Texas staff, but it would be nice to get help and then get a get-away win tomorrow.

Niemann pitched a very nice game tonight, He had a no-hitter through 7 and ended up with 8 innings, 2 hits, 1 run, 3 BBs and 11 Ks, throwing 71 strikes in his 103 pitches. He also had 7 ground outs and 6 fly outs.

From Posnanski's blog: Davy Johnson as a manager.
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"I do believe, though, that there are certain hard-to-pinpoint and difficult-to0calculate things a good manager can do to help a team win. One of the best managers I ever wrote about on a regular basis was Davey Johnson in Cincinnati in 1994 and, especially, 1995. I couldn’t tell you precisely what Davey did so well … I saw it in bits and pieces. You could just see how relaxed the players were, how confident they were even after a couple of losses. He seemed to rest guys just when they needed it, he moved around his lineup without irritating the players, he kept everyone in the bullpen busy and somewhat contented. He allowed players to hit their way through slumps and pitch their way through rough patches, but he also did not hesitate to make changes when they had to be made. He gave stars enough respect that they played hard for him, but he also gave the backups the feeling that he believed in them and expected them to come through. The Reds played aggressively (led the National League in stolen bases and doubles) and yet they played patiently too (third in the league in walks). They had pretty good starting pitching and pretty good relief pitching without any real stars."

Process vs. Results: How to remember a game:

Not strictly relevant to this site, but relates I think to to the issue of Process vs. Results that we sometimes discuss here.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/sports/baseball/24matsuzaka.html?_r=1&ref=baseball&oref=slogin

This was linked at "Outs Per Swing". I thought it funny:

http://sportspickle.com/features/volume7/2008-0730-gm.html

Incidentally, there are rumors that the kidnappers are negotiating with Friedman's next door neighbors who live in a huge mansion filled with children who disturb the neighborhood. Andy may want to make sure that deal does not happen.

Tim Beckham has begun to pick it up recently. Tonight he hit his first home run in a 2-4 night and got his 4th stolen base. His BA is up to .238 and while he is still not walking a lot, his BB rate is not awful nor is his K rate.

Price's line so far tonight:

5 IP, 2 Hits, 0 runs, 0 BBs, 9 Ks, 1.98 ERA

Maybe he has been reading some of the cautionary comments on this site and wants to set us straight.

Another take on the Rays' inactivity at the trade deadline:

http://seamheads.com/blog/2008/08/02/deadline-winners%E2%80%94when-less-is-more/

I think it misses some points, but also is on the right track.

That last title was supposed to be that Nady is not in the Pirates lineup tonight and there is no known injury. Now I read that Brignac is not in the Durham lineup.