Diamondbacks 0, Dodgers 1: Fire on the Mountain. One run, boys. One.
AZ Snakepit — ... Not much else to talk about. Jon Rauch pitched a scoreless seventh in a one-run game, erasing a leadoff single on a double play. And ...

Random Off-day Thread
AZ Snakepit — ... sure paqs will cover this in more detail! Email not likely to get much response: "My name is _____, I am the Promotional Manager for ______ which is the largest online supplier of Keychains.  I would like to send your company a variety of FREE samples of our New York Yankees Keychains so you can write a review about them on your website." Yeah, sure... We'll get right on that... I mentioned to Jayson Stark that Dan Uggla homered off Jon Rauch in both ends of the double-header in Florida. He dug into the ...

Diamondbacks 9, Padres 6: Let's play two! Or 18 innings, anyway...
AZ Snakepit — ... I have to say, outside of that ninth inning, the bullpen were great [ok, that's got to be up there with, "Apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?"] Jon Rauch pitched a rare for him, clean inning; ...

NL West Report: Randy Johnson wins 300, Dodgers Stadium gets its own zip code
Purple Row — ... Arizona has 7 of the first 64 picks in this year's draft, which starts tomorrow at 4MDT.  Their first two picks are at 16 and 17.  For comparison the Mets have zero picks in the first 64.  All of these high picks have led the FO to increase their draft budget, perhaps spending eight digits. Reliever Jon Rauch has struggled mightily this season to the tune of a 5.26 ERA.  Rauch and AJ Hinch had a closed door meeting regarding his ineffectiveness.  The former Nationals' closer was being ...

Diamondbacks claim Blaine Boyer off waivers
AZ Snakepit — ... and Jon Rauch each threw less than fifteen pitches, so may be usable as well, though they may want to stay away from Qualls. ...

Diamondbacks 3, Astros 8: Billy Buckner is Yusmeiro Petit in disguise
AZ Snakepit — ... came in to replace him, and allowed all three inherited runners to score. That has certainly been part of the problem for the Diamondbacks' bullpen: they have allowed 44% of them to cross home-plate, the worst figure in the NL [league average is only 32%]. Jon Rauch also struggled in the eighth, allowing two runs on two singles, with the aid of a couple of stolen-bases and a wild pitch. ...

Demons and Angels: the best and worst Diamondbacks from the past 28 days
AZ Snakepit — ... and Jon Rauch. I'm splitting this one up, since both players deserve kudos. Whitesell's second go around in the majors have been a great deal more successful than his first: he's hitting .308 with more walks than K's, and an OPS of .955. Will he stick when ...

Diamondbacks 12, Royals 5: Crowning Achievement
AZ Snakepit — ... It'd be nice to say that the game simply ended there without any further damage, but after solid appearances by Scott Schoeneweis and Jon Rauch, the wheels continued to fall off of the bus for Juan Gutierrez. He labored through a 27-pitch inning, giving up three earned runs for the third consecutive outing. Five Royals reached base, and we can only be thankful that the game was completely out of reach by that point. Gutierrez's ERA was 3.92 on May 19, and an effective two-week span had lowered that to 2.90, but after the past three abysmal ...

Gameday Thread, #67: 6/18 vs. Royals
AZ Snakepit — ... All-Star ballot-boxes with votes for Upton, Reynolds, etc. Cast 100 or more ballots and you get entered into raffle prize drawings throughout the evening, where you can win a lot of autographed D-backs merchandise: Stephen Drew autographed jersey Mark Reynolds autographed bat Justin Upton autographed bat Justin Upton game used bat Dan Haren autographed ball Chris Snyder autographed ball Doug Davis autographed ball Jon Rauch autographed ball or tickets to each game in the next home ...

Retraction - BA Player of the Year Versus BA Prospect of The Year
True Blue LA — ... RHP-Josh Beckett  2001 Josh Beckett OF-Josh Hamilton  2000 Jon Rauch LHP-Rick Ankiel  1999 Rick ...

View From the Other Side: Washington Nationals Series Preview
Bluebird Banter — ... improve his game. The D though, ugh, sometimes it makes you wonder... Which reliever do you what on the mound with the game on the line? After the last two nights watching Mike MacDougal beat the Yankees, I'll say him, but that's only because everyone else has failed in the closer's role this year. If not MacDougal, either Joe Beimel or Ron Villone, but i'd welcome a healthy Chad Cordero or Jon Rauch back in a heartbeat...  We'd like Nick ...

Does the Arizona bullpen really suck?
AZ Snakepit — ... Random luck? Poor choice of bullpen pitchers? I leave the interpretation to you, though it'd take more analysis, since situations vary. You can inherit a runner on third with no outs, or one on first with two outs - letting the former come home is a much smaller sin than the latter. Still, particularly bad in this aspect is Zavada, who has somehow managed to maintain a 0.00 ERA, while letting eight of nine inherited runners score. Gutierrez and Jon Rauch are also above 40%; Pena and Schoeneweis are the sole members of the current 'pen below league-average, ...

Diamondbacks 1, Rangers 2: They're No Rangers to Love
AZ Snakepit — ... Unfortunately, there's not a lot of good stuff to talk about from that point on. Jon Rauch and Chad Qualls were good out of the pen to keep it a one-run game -- Rauch worked around a leadoff walk with a double play and a strikeout, and Qualls had his good hard fastball working, inducing three groundouts in the ninth. You'd think asking the offense to get two measly runs would be reasonable, but such was not the case. Drew doubled to lead off the eighth, yet the middle of the order could do nothing to bring him home. And with the game on the line ...

Rangers 9, Diamondbacks 8 - Rally Backs Twice Fall Short; Consolation Prize of Free Armless Tacos
AZ Snakepit — ... 's help to get out of the 10th, and Jon Rauch pitched a great 11th inning, working around more bad plays behind him (or rather in front of him, as the error was on ...

Diamondbacks 1, Angels 2: Every day, something different(ly awful)
AZ Snakepit — ... You'll probably find this hard to believe, but do you know who has been our best reliever in the past month? The answer - and you might want to sit down first - is Jon Rauch. Yep: the man for whom no abuse was adequate in the first third of the year, and who had a 9.31 ERA in April. He worked a smooth, impeccable, 1-2-3 eighth inning today, and since May 27, has been unscored upon in thirrteen of his fourteen appearances. He has an ERA of 1.17 in that time, covering 15.1 innings, holding opposing batters to a .157 average (8-for-51, with no ...

Everything you wanted to know about labrums [but were afraid to ask]
AZ Snakepit — ... Maybe Webb can get some advice from Jon Rauch, who has been under the knife not once but twice for this affliction. He had his first torn labrum while a top minor-league prospect in the ...

Angels 12, Diamondbacks 8 - Wherein Arizona Plays To New Levels Of Epic Fail
AZ Snakepit — ... The short answer - no. Zavada continues to be the lone bright spot in the bullpen and pitched yet another scoreless inning (with the help of his infield behind him) to extend his streak to 15 games, but Jon Rauch gave up a solo home run in the 8th and Tony Peña continues to self implode and allowed a 2-run shot in the 9th. Arizona's offense could not mount any sort of attack against the Angels' relievers - Bulger, Speier and Fuentes pitched the 7th, 8th and 9th and only Bulger allowed a 2-out double by Lopez. Los Angeles pulled away in this one, and ...

Diamondbacks 6, Reds 2: Better Than A Sexy Bull Durham
AZ Snakepit — ... , and Jon Rauch were all needed to close it out. After Cincinnati loaded the bases, Rauch was able to hold the Reds to only one run on a sacrifice fly. He overcame some borderline calls to finally record the last out, putting a dagger into the hearts of many Reds fans. Qualls jumped in for the ninth and had a clean 1-2-3 inning to end the game. Hopefully we can look forward to more 1-2-3 closeouts by CQ. ...

The June Swoon: Reviewing the Diamondbacks Month
AZ Snakepit — ... Before we get to the five candidates for Diamondbacks' Player of the Month, I want to give out a couple of awards for the "Most Improved" Hitter and Pitcher of June. The former goes to Chris Young, who improved his OPS from .420 to .910. Of particular note, he led the team in walks, trotting to first in June more often than he struck out - that's especially impressive since in May, his K:BB ratio was 23:2. He was also 7-0 stealing bases. On the mound, it goes to Jon Rauch, who had an ERA of 2.08, allowing seven hits and three walks in thirteen innings. ...

Diamondbacks 2, Reds 3: AZ bullpen left with Red faces...
AZ Snakepit — ... ' 22nd home-run of the year. In his seventeenth start, it looked like Doug would finally get the win without having to pitch shutout baseball. While it was only a one-run lead, surely the worst was over, after a nerve-wracking eighth inning where Jon Rauch, ...

Might these sorry looking snakes sport hidden venom?
Purple Row — ... to anyone else is vast regardless.  Their bullpen has the 28th worst ERA at 4.91, but that's a bit misleading, according to their 3.99 FIP and 4.11 tRA.  Do note, however, that closer Chad Qualls has blown three of his last five save opportunities, including one yesterday, part of a June with a 5.59 ERA.  Fangraphs claims Arizona pitchers are the 10th most valuable in the league, so they are indeed a threat. AJ Hinch's bullpen includes Qualls, Jon Rauch, Tony Pena, Blaine Boyer, Esmerling Vazquez, Juan ...

Diamondbacks 4, Rockies 3: St. Penelope of the Cross is clutch [and vote for Mark!]
AZ Snakepit — ... relieved Jon Rauch for the last out in the seventh, fanningTodd Helton for the second consecutive night. Peña retired all three batters faced in the eighth, after SS issued our only walk of the day - give Tony's June ERA was 11.42, this was a hopeful performance. And ...

Diamondbacks 6, Padres 5: And did we mention, vote for Mark?
AZ Snakepit — ... , then, after a twin-killing courtesy of  DFA Clark, a pinch-hit homer from Chad Tracy tied the game. Jon Rauch pitched a scoreless ninth and, with two outs, ...

Diamondbacks 4, Padres 3: Davis gets his just deserts - a win
AZ Snakepit — ... And it was a sequence which nearly continued, for in the eighth inning, with a two-run lead, The Blowfish almost gave it away. Jon Rauch came in and allowed a leadoff double, then the next hitter smacked the ball even harder to right-field. It hit right on the top of the fence, yet inexplicably, instead of bouncing over the fence for a game-tying homer, to blow Doug's win, shot almost straight up into the air and came down into ...

Diamondbacks 7, Marlins 14: The Mother of All Meltdowns
AZ Snakepit — ... third, lost 13-6 August 19, 2005 @ Reds - ten-run fourth, lost 17-3 Total line for the relief corps tonight:     Arizona bullpen: 3.2 IP, 11 H, 3 BB, 11 R, 8 ER Well done. You must get up very early... What's even more remarkable is that our relievers [with a little help from Petit] managed to turn a seven-run lead into a seven-run deficit, without us ever seeing our best bullpen pitchers. No Chad Qualls. No Jon Rauch. No Clay Zavada. No Tony Pena. Qualls, I can ...

Diamondbacks Mid-Term Report Card
AZ Snakepit — ... Drew, C+, 98 OPS+, -0.6 UZR I'm tempted to append "Must try harder" to the grade, since great things were expected after his 2008 season (110 OPS+). He hasn't lived up to that, though I wonder if injury played a part, as he has been better since coming back off the DL (OPS .795 vs. .666). We'll be hoping for the same second-half explosion we saw last year: his current OPS is almost the same as at this point in 2008. Middle of the pack Jon Rauch, C+, 105 ERA+, 1.387 WHIP The archetypal bad kid appears to ...

Rox set to avenge pre-ASG series loss to Snakes
Purple Row — ... greatest ERA/FIP split in the majors by a large margin.  We miss Haren, one of their only two starters worth fearing.  We do draw Scherzer, whom we beat July 3, as well as the reliably mediocre to below average Doug Davis and Jon Garland. After going through a rough patch, blowing three saves in five chances, Chad Qualls has converted four straight saves.  The large bullpen for AJ Hinch otherwise includes Blaine Boyer, Juan Gutierrez, Jon Rauch, Leo Rosales, and Esmelring Valdez.  One of those ...

Diamondbacks 6, Rockies 5: Max-imum Pessimism
AZ Snakepit — ... Fortunately, the good bullpen decided to show up, restricting the Rockies to just one hit over the remaining five innings. That was an RBI triple off Jon Rauch with two outs in the eighth, putting Colorado one behind, and bringing in Qualls for a four-out save - as noted above, he chewed through the opposing batters without issue and at a high rate of knots. However, credit should be given to ...

Diamondbacks 11, Pirates 4: Capt. Invincible Takes the Night Off
AZ Snakepit — ... Three hits and a walk for Reynolds. Two hit and a walk apiece for Drew and Upton - the former is 9-for-17 since returning to the lead-off spot, so seems quite happy there. A hit and two walks for Augie, a hit and a walk for Parra and Whitesell. The only position player who didn't score or drive in a run was Chris Young, who had a miserable night at the plate, going 0-for-5 with an ugly strikeout. Credit also goes to the bullpen: Blaine Boyer, Juan Gutierrez, Jon Rauch and Clay Zavada all pitched 1-2-3 innings, ensuring a calm, ...

Diamondbacks 7, Pirates 0: Was this Doug Davis's swan-song?
AZ Snakepit — ... have done that since 1987 - A-Rod, Pujols, Miguel Cabrera and Andruw Jones. I think we'll be happy if J-Up's career follows any of those paths. He had two hits and a walk,  Montero and Stephen Drew had their, by now almost customary, two-hit nights, and Ojeda doubled twice, only the fourth time in his career he's had two extra-base knocks in the same game. The good - or, at least, credible - bullpen showed up after Davis left. Juan Gutierrez, Jon Rauch and Chad Qualls each delivered a scoreless inning; Qualls ...

Part 4 of the D-Backs Deadline Possibilities: The Chad Qualls/Jon Rauch Trade Market
AZ Snakepit — ... Here we are, at the final edition of my brilliant idea for wasting countless hours of summer, the D-Backs Deadline Possibilities series, with a final piece on the last two really marketable pieces on our roster that we would actually consider moving - our eighth and ninth inning guys, Jon Rauch and ...

Diamondbacks trade deadline news and rumors
AZ Snakepit — ... against tough lefties and enough playing time to keep Montero fresh." Not related to the current deadline, but did you know Arizona made a stab at getting Mark Teixeira from the Rangers two years ago? "The Diamondbacks came in at the last minute, but the Rangers weren't interested in first baseman Conor Jackson," according to this report analyzing the deal. And if you want a good laugh, it appears Washington are still gleeful over trading us Jon Rauch: "Clear he was dealt at the top of his value - and there are ...

Futurebacks Fifty Mid-Season Report: 46-50
AZ Snakepit — ... -type.  The numbers possibly suggest a Jon Rauch comparison - a guy who relies on fly-ball outs in order to retire guys with stuff that will get only the occasional strikeout, and relying on command to jam guys and get awkward swings to force them to hit the ball weakly.  He appears much more comfortable in the relief role after being a starter at Florida State, and the 10 walks in over 60 innings is fantastic.  He won't frustrate you with free passes, but perhaps needs a slight bit of luck to get outs.  Is also 24 in Hi-A ball, and ...

Diamondbacks 3, Mets 2: Go Wild in the Citi
AZ Snakepit — ... As noted, Vasquez had a solid seventh, and Jon Rauch was positively brutal, chewing through the Mets, 1-2-3, on 12 pitches. I sense a Player of the Month nomination for Rauch in the upcoming review, and it'd be entirely on merit. In eighteen appearances since June 17, this is the Blowfish's line: ...

That was the month that was: the Diamondbacks in July
AZ Snakepit — ... Nice to have confidence in the bullpen, and this month was almost like the good old days with the Four Relievers of the Apocalypse. Qualls, Jon Rauch, ...

Diamondbacks 6, Mets 5: Mark Reynolds unwraps two birthday gifts
AZ Snakepit — ... providing such an eminently hittable pitcher for us to warm up against, was deeply appreciated. Not least by Mark Reynolds who, on his 26th birthday went deep twice off Figueroa. That gave him four homers this series, eight in 16 games since the All-Star break, and puts him on page for 49 homers by the end of the season. After Figueroa was lifted, things became a lot more nervous, and Arizona had to get the last twelve outs with a one-run lead. However, Dan Haren, Jon Rauch and Chad Qualls did the needful, and we held on. ...

Diamondbacks 4, Pirates 3: Just How He Drew It Up
AZ Snakepit — ... was a two-run shot by Andy "Finally I'm the Only A. LaRoche on This Team" LaRoche, which he hit right after a Steve Pearce walk. Otherwise, Davis allowed just four other men on base, and he erased Lastings Milledge with a beauty of a pickoff move to eliminate that threat rather quickly. All in all, Davis' line was certainly deserving of a win (like so many of his other starts this season): 7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. He lowered his ERA to 3.67 in the process. Jon Rauch pitched a heart-attack-free scoreless eighth, which brought Chad ...

Diamondbacks 11, Pirates 6: "Like Olsen, but with a tch instead of s"
AZ Snakepit — ... , who pitched two scoreless frames, and Jon Rauch, who got the win, battling back in the eleventh after putting the first two men aboard. That was likely the most dangerous point for Arizona, who had squandered a great chance of their own in the eleventh, when they had loaded the bases with one out. However, Montero struck out, completely unable to cope with a series of change-ups [sounded like there was some equipment abuse in the dugout as a result], and Tracy grounded out. ...

Diamondbacks 7, Mets 4: The Adventures of Trent, King of the Desert
AZ Snakepit — ... However, more important than any offensive production was the seven innings that he pitched, allowing only two runs on a fourth-inning triple. His control was perhaps a bit shaky, with three walks, but the Mets managed only four hits off him. The outing was his eighth quality start in the past ten games, and dropped his ERA to 3.62. Curiously, all three pitchers used tonight ended with almost the same ERA. Jon Rauch (3.65) followed with a scoreless eighth, ended by a diving catch from ...

The SnakePit Hatchlings Report: Prospects 6-10 w/ Esmerling Vasquez
AZ Snakepit — ... His ERA is now well below 4 at a shining 3.72 after tonight's two scoreless frames, and this is despite starting the season with a 6.91 ERA by May 26.  So I looked up his numbers since then, and found that in that span, he has pitched 24.1 innings, allowed 18 hits and 10 walks (this is the most important number) for a 1.15 WHIP, allowed 4 runs, all earned, for an ERA of 1.49, and struck out 21 for a 2.1:1 K/BB ratio.  For all that people have been talking about Jon Rauch's run of success and recent tears from guys like ...

Your 2010 budget...
AZ Snakepit — ... $3.05 million* Gerardo Parra: $410,000 Justin Upton: $450,000 Bench Chris Young: $3.25 million Eric Byrnes: $11.67 million Ryan Roberts: $410,000 Starting pitchers 1 Dan Haren: $8.25 million 2 Max Scherzer: $1.475 million 3 4 5 Homegrown pitcher: $420,000 6 Jarrod Parker: $400,000 Relievers Chad Qualls: $4.5 million* Jon Rauch: $2.9 million Juan Gutierrez: $410,000 ...

The Raucherrection of Jon
AZ Snakepit — ... When Jon Rauch came over for the Washington Nationals in July last season, expectations were high that he would prove a crucial component in a strong bullpen down the stretch. Those hopes were cruelly dashed, as Rauch imploded. He not only posted a 6.56 ERA, he gave up runs in crucial situations - the result was six losses for the reliever in barely a month, defeats which basically holed the Diamondbacks' play-off chances below the waterline. It was a shock when the team chose to exercise its 2011 team option, and the qualms seems ...

Signing deadline looms for NL West teams
Purple Row — ... After having a terrible start to the season, Jon Rauch has turned his season around in a big way.  Jim McLennan explores in his story:  ...

Diamondbacks 1, Phillies 5: Who'll Stop the Rain?
AZ Snakepit — ... off Garland, who trudged off the mound with a final line of 5.1 innings, eleven hits, two walks and five earned runs. Things looked like they were going to get even worse, as Daniel Schlereth uncorked a wild pitch, to move the two inherited runners into scoring position, and ended up walking his first batter on four straight balls. But Howard struck out with the bases loaded for the second time and a groundout allowed Schlereth to avoid further damage. Leo Rosales and Jon Rauch finished things off. Meanwhile, Moyer was finishing ...

Diamondbacks 0, Astros 1: Why Can't Snakes Walk?
AZ Snakepit — ... and Jon Rauch posted zeroes, though they could hardly have been in more contrasting fashions. Gutierrez loaded the bases with one out, and it took a niftily-turned 6-3 double-play by Mark Reynolds to get him out of the jam. Rauch retired all three batters he faced, on eleven pitches. Still, both men continued their impressive form since the break, with ERAs of 2.25 and 2.13 respectively - I have to say, the bullpen could be a strength for this team in 2010, if they can keep up the performances they've shown in the second-half. ...

Diamondbacks 7, Astros 5 - Hits, Walks, and Runs, Oh My
AZ Snakepit — ... and Jon Rauch each pitched scoreless frames in the 7th and 8th, with Rauch striking out the side, to get to former Astro ...

Diamondbacks 4, Gigantes 5: Down, But Never Out
AZ Snakepit — ... doubled to lead off the inning and would later score from third on a wild pitch. (Montero's defense aside, I really don't think he could've gotten that one; Dan was spiking the ball in the dirt all night, and Miggy did the best he could.) Fortunately, Dan was able to get out of the 7th inning with no further damage. (Gutierrez, I believe, was warming just in case.) A.J. Hinch brought in Big Jon Rauch for the 8th, and why not, Rauch has only allowed 3 earned runs since the All-Star Break (an ERA of 1.98). Ohhh but unfortunately, that number doubled tonight, ...

Gameday Thread, #127: 8/26 vs. Giants
AZ Snakepit — ... Doesn't seem like I missed too much last night, except Jon Rauch deciding to make a mockery of my kind words concerning him, providing the power for ...

Twins Acquire Jon Rauch for PTBNL
Twinkie Town — ... 2009 - Jon Rauch 2-2 58 0 0 0 2 1 54.1 57 27 25 5 17 35 4.14 1.36 ...

Jon Rauch traded to Minnesota from the Diamondbacks.
AZ Snakepit — ... Jon Rauch has been dealt to Minnesota for a player to be named later, according to the Minnesota Star-Tribune. Gambo and Ash are reporting that catcher John Hester is getting the call-up from Reno to take the spot on the roster - if so, he'll be the ninth player to make his major-league debut for the Diamondbacks this year. It appears AJ Hinch is implement a tattoo-based variation of ethnic cleansing in the Arizona clubhouse. First, it was Felipe Lopez; now, it's Jon Rauch. If were Ryan Roberts, I would pick up a change of address form ...

Game 128: Texas Rangers @ Minnesota Twins
Twinkie Town — ... and Jon Rauch to Uncle Andy's Bullpen Factory.  (Peep the details in the stories below this nonsense, courtesy of Jesse.) ...

Gameday Thread, #129: 8/28 vs. Astros
AZ Snakepit — ... This one will be pretty brief, since my lunch-hour, which should have been devoted to a detailed analysis of tonight's game, was instead spent coming up with stuff to say about the trade of Jon Rauch, which did not include the letters WTF. This will therefore be brief and functional: all I have to say is that Yorman Bazardo had to have one of the coolest names in the game, sounding more like the hero of a Russ Meyer film than a starting pitcher. That is all. ...

Gameday Thread, #130: 8/29 vs. Astros
AZ Snakepit — ... barely gets time to drop his bags off, before his recall - really, he replaces Jon Rauch, with Hester replacing Snyder. ...

That Was Exciting: Twins 5, Rangers 3
Twinkie Town — ... there's no doubt it's one of NBP's highlights of the year. Baker had owned Cruz most of the game, but in the seventh there were some hard-hit balls.  Ian Kinsler battled, earning a hard single on the ninth pitch of his plate appearance.  Blalock smashed an inside fastball to right field, which Michael Cuddyer caught over his head.  Then came Cruz, who homered into the same gap Kubel did, and gave the Rangers their second lead at 3-2. Jon Rauch's debut was a successful one, giving up a two-out double to ...

Twins nip White Sox in walk-off win
Twinkie Town — ... on the first pitch he saw before retiring the Sox with the game tied. Jon Rauch pitched a solid ninth to set up the heroics in the bottom of the inning. Rauch has pitched two innings for the Twins and gotten two wins. Lucky him. ...

Diamondbacks 3, Dodgers 4: More an AZ loss than an LA win
AZ Snakepit — ... let him go. I'm beginning to think Arizona pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre deserves some credit: it's not just Boyer who has turned around, but Jon Rauch, ...

Joe Nathan Blows the Sweep
Twinkie Town — ... out as he tried to stretch a single into a double, through Jon Rauch and another double play, through Joe Mauer (did he stare down Randy "Oops that fastball got away from me" Williams?) getting plunked, through ...

The SnakePit Hatchlings Report: Kevin Mulvey & Tony Abreu
AZ Snakepit — ... for cash considerations as a separate but coinciding deal to the trade that sent Jon Rauch to the Twins for a player to be named later - to complete the Rauch trade, the Twins sent cash considerations to the ...

Arizona could be a tricky hurdle for Rox
Purple Row — ... , Tony Pena, and Jon Rauch.  Granted none of those are scary names and two of them are recent, but the point is after committing to youth, they have actually gotten better.  By a lot.  In fact, since the Rockies took two of three from them in mid-July, Arizona is 21-19, and that includes a 1-9 stretch on the road.  So they've been a .500 team of late despite basically conceding the season.  We are left to wonder where Arizona would be had they sustained their early season ineffectiveness and injuries.  Most interesting of all ...

Scott Baker Leads Strong Pitching Effort, Twins Win
Twinkie Town — ... In case anyone is still wondering, Nathan's ninth inning was perfect.  What else, what else...Jon Rauch is a stud, Punto and Mauer and Jason Kubel picked up multi-hit days, and ...

NL West Report: D-Backs, Dodgers not done dealing
Purple Row — ... and RHP Daniel Cabrera and acquried RHP Kevin Mulvey from Minnesota to complete the Jon Rauch trade.  Traded Jon Garland to Los Angeles. ...

Blue Jays come back on Rauch and Twins
Twinkie Town — ... pitched five strong innings but ran into trouble in the sixth, leaving with the bases loaded and a 3-0 lead. Jon Rauch relieved him and let all the runners he inherited from Duensing score plus three of his own to give the Blue Jays what would be an insurmountable lead. ...

Shadow Twins Top 20 PRE-SEASON Prospects in Review
Minor League Ball — ... , RHP, Grade C+: 3.93 ERA with 113/54 K/BB in 149 innings for Rochester, 153 hits. Real Twins traded him to Arizona for Jon Rauch. I'll go along with that. ...

Gameday Thread, #143: 9/12 vs. Brewers
AZ Snakepit — ... ' rotational debut of Kevin Mulvey, who essentially came to us as the player to be named later in the Jon Rauch trade. ...

Twins 5, Indians 4
Twinkie Town — ... relieved Baker with one on and one out in the sixth and promptly got ahead of Hafner 0-2 before Pronk leaned into a slider to get nicked on the elbow, earning first base the Ernie Pantusso way.  Gardy brought in Jon Rauch, who induced a double-play grounder to end the threat. ...

Twins Foiled By...Nate Robertson?
Twinkie Town — ... , who would later score off a sacrifice fly with Jon Rauch on the hill.  Liriano clearly still has some work to do mentally.  All the talent in the world, and I'm not going to complain too much about a guy with his stuff being "effectively wild", but there has to be some sort of consistency because right now there's none. ...

Minnesota Twins 2010 Payroll & Roster
Twinkie Town — ... Add to this Jon Rauch's $2.9 million dollar deal for next summer, and the last $100,000 owed to somebody named...wait, let me check this... ...

Dodgers Head East To Begin Feast
True Blue LA — ... , The Bison struck out in his first three at-bats, but got his first major league hit with an eighth-inning single off Jon Rauch.  However, in three games since in our nation's capital, Kemp is hitless in 14 at-bats. ...

Minnesota Twins 2010 Roster & Payroll (Part II)
Twinkie Town — ... Gomez, Denard Span Right Field:  Michael Cuddyer, Denard Span, Jason Kubel Designated Hitter:  Jason Kubel Starting Pitcher:  Scott Baker, Kevin Slowey, Nick Blackburn, Brian Duensing, Francisco Liriano, Glen Perkins, Anthony Swarzak, Boof Bonser Relief Pitcher:  Joe Nathan, Matt Guerrier, Jose Mijares, Jon Rauch, Jesse Crain, Pat Neshek, Brian Duensing, Glen ...

2 GB
Twinkie Town — ... three bases-loaded walks to pull away from the Royals for good.  I've said it before, I'll say it again: it just has to suck to be a Royals fan. Butler's second home run did narrow the lead to 6-4 in the bottom of the 5th, but the Twins answered with two runs in the top of the 7th, including a very welcome run-scoring triple from Delmon Young.  And that was that. Other notes: That bum Mauer went 0-for-2 with three BBs.  Jon Rauch and Matt Guerrier flirted with danger, but escaped ...

Twins Have Won 10 of 11: Who's Hot?
Twinkie Town — ... starts where the opposition couldn't score over 13.1 innings, and then a third that wasn't nearly as impressive. Jesse Crain has strung together six consecutive scoreless appearances (although it's now been over a month since Crain has been charged with a run). Just one run against Jose Morales in seven appearances. Five innings and six appearances under Matt Guerrier's belt have garnered opponents just one run. How about the big man, Jon Rauch?  Five scoreless appearances. Joe Nathan ...

NL West Report: Dodgers and Rox aim for October, the rest looking to 2010
Purple Row — ... , Tony Pena and Jon Rauch, but Rauch and Pena were traded, Qualls battled injury, and Schoeneweis dealt with the unfortunate passing of his wife. The foursome combined for a 4.46 ERA in 163.1 IP for the D-Backs this season. ...

Twins Win Nail-Biter In 10: Delmon Young's Insurance Run the Difference
Twinkie Town — ... Enter Jon Rauch being awesome, Span getting a base hit to lead off the tenth.  Cue Orlando Cabrera not ending an inning but in fact giving the Twins the lead after Span advances on a wild pitch.  Twice.  Joe Mauer walking, ...

Gameday Thread, #157: 9/29 vs. Giants
AZ Snakepit — ... Games until the blessed, merciful end of the season: 6. Before I forget, a minor point of amusement I noted from the opener of today's double-header between the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins. Both pitchers involved in the decision had ended last year playing for the Diamondbacks: Jon Rauch took the win for Minnesota, while Brandon Lyon gave up two runs in the tenth, not helped by a couple of wild pitches, and took the loss. Just wanted to mention that. Oh, and if you're looking for something to do on Thursday ...

September: A Gurgling Vortex of Suckitude in Review
AZ Snakepit — ... remember at the break, we were hoping for the same second-half surge we got from Drew in 2008. It hasn't happened, with a 50-point drop in his OPS since the break, though this month was better than May for Drew. Could the problem be his removal from the lead-off spot? There, he hits .305, eighty points higher than in the two-hole.  Kevin Mulvey: 23 IP, 23 H, 12 BB, 18 K, 18 ER, 7.04 ERA Not looking like one of Byrnes' best trades. Jon Rauch has a 2.08 ERA for the Twins, and picked up as many victories in ...

1 GB. No, Really.
Twinkie Town — ... to go deep into the bullpen in a game the Twins led 10-0.  Ron Mahay put out Crain's fire, Matt Guerrier did likewise for Mijares (who was shown on SportsCenter attacking the dugout wall with his foot after leaving the game), and Joe Nathan pitched a drama-free 9th to post his Twins-record 46th save. Beyond that: Jason Kubel hit his 25th home run, Orlando Cabrera committed two errors, Joe Mauer is at .366 after 1-for-4 night, and Jon Rauch was the only reliable bullpen arm that went unused. Enjoy ...

Mauer's MVP Beats Greinke's Cy Young, Twins Stave Off Comeback
Twinkie Town — ... took the third fastball he saw and deposited it over the right field fence, cutting Minnesota's lead to one.  Another single saw Mijares get the hook for Jon Rauch, who did his job one batter too late. ...

Twins Hammer and Homer Royals for the Sweep: Bring On the Tigers!
Twinkie Town — ... at the dish, this game suddenly didn't look like such a sure shot.  Gardenhire power walked to the mound for the third time that inning, stuck two fingers up Mahay's nose, pulled down, said "Get outta here you knucklehead"  and then poked Mahay in the eyes.  Out came Jon Rauch. ...

The 2009 Diamondbacks: what the heck happened?
AZ Snakepit — ... Cole Gillespie Roque Mercedes 0.0 Tony Peña 0.5 Brandon Allen -0.6 Jon Rauch 0.3 Kevin Mulvey -0.1 ...

Twins are Central Division Champs!
Twinkie Town — ... Baker gave up three runs in the third, but held the Tigers right there into the seventh. Jon Rauch got him out of a jam, one of six relievers to strand runners late in the game to keep the Twins in it. ...

Make Your Pitch: The AL playoff teams want YOU...
AZ Snakepit — ... You should support the Twins because they are the underdogs, with the 24th-highest payrollin baseball  - the trio of A-Rod, Jeter and Teixeira earn more than the entire Minnesota roster. They're a model of small-market success: this is their fifth trip to the post-season since 2002, despite never even reaching $75m in salaries. The Twins have also got the sadly-missed Jon Rauch on their payroll, who has been a crucial cog in their charge to the AL Central title, making their success our success-by-association. Like Arizona, they're a young team ...

The Good, The Bad, and The Hopeful - A 2009 Retrospective, Part 1
AZ Snakepit — ... half of this story. Every story has a beginning, and this one starts back in Spring Training. Coming off the 2008 season that saw Arizona lead the NL West for 136 game days – that last of those on September 5th – the Diamondbacks had work to do in Spring. Gone were Gold Glove second basemen Orlando Hudson, soon-to-be-300-game-winner Randy Johnson, closer Brandon Lyon, and bullpen stalwarts Juan Cruz and Brandon Medders. Jon Rauch, Tony Peña and Chad Qualls were expected to play more ...

The Bottom Line: Twins Struggle to Hold Leads VS Yankees
Twinkie Town — ... games two and three could have been won by the Twins if only they could lock it down. Nick Blackburn pitched very well in game two.  And back home, Carl Pavano pitched an absolute gem in game three.  Pavano struck out nine Yankee hitters in seven innings, walked nobody and allowed just five hits.  Sadly, two of those hits came in the top of the seventh, when Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada each went deep. Ron Mahay, Jon Rauch and Jose Mijares each walked a batter in the ninth, loading ...

HHH Metrodome - A Visitor's Perspective
Twinkie Town — ... A funny thing happened next - so as I said, my friend is a Nationals fan.  When Jon Rauch came out, he mentioned something about how funny it would be if Rauch blew the lead, but then was still pitcher of record when the lead was re-taken, and getting the BS,W - for old time's sake.  Well. ...

The 2009 Diamondbacks Season, Part I: Overview
AZ Snakepit — ... instead, proved a false economy. Matters weren't helped by the trades of Tony Peña and Jon Rauch, who would have helped keep the average down if they'd still been in Arizona. A curious thing: despite a higher ERA, the bullpen held batters to a lower OPS overall than the starters, .734 vs. .756; in particular, their HR/rate was much better, at 0.79/nine IP compared to 1.17 for the rotation. The OPS was just one point above the bullpen number from 2008, and not much above 2007 (.721), probably explaining why RRAR has remained fairly constant, as their ...

The 2009 Diamondbacks Season, Part IV: The Eighth-inning Retch
AZ Snakepit — ... but in the eighth, the figure increased to .338. So, the numbers there were a combination of factors: bad luck in BABIP, inability to keep the ball in the park, especially with runners on base, and clutch hitting by the opposition. Let's now break it down and see which of our pitchers were most often used in the eighth inning, and then take a look and see how they did. Put another way: "Hooray! I get to use another diagram!" And here it is: Jon Rauch, Juan Gutierrez and Peña were the main workhorses, ...

The 2009 Diamondbacks Season, Part V: The Bullpen
AZ Snakepit — ...     Significantly worse: Blaine Boyer (.779), Jon Rauch (.853), Clay Zavada (.959), Scott Schoeneweis (1.078), Daniel Schlereth (1.192) ...

Target Offseason
Twinkie Town — ... Personally, I see the Twins standing pat at 3B this offseason, or possibly bringing back Crede, again on an incentive based contract.  I see the Twins starting the year with Crede or Harris/Tolbert/Punto at 3B, then bringing Valencia up at the end of May/beginning of June.  The Twins appear comfortable with Valencia, and I do not see any reason to cheat Valencia of his opportunity to prove his worth. Relief Pitchers:  Twins management signed Jon Rauch and Ron Mahay in August to complete their midseason ...

The 2009 'Pitties: Single-game Performance of the Year
AZ Snakepit — ... This game was nearly an awful example of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Leading 6-1 in the bottom of the ninth, Juan Gutierrez and Chad Qualls allowed five runs to blow the game. In extra innings, the offense didn't help, being blanked for eight straight frames before Mark Reynolds homered off pinch-pitcher Josh Wilson in the 18th. But fortunately for Arizona, Jon Rauch, Esmerling Vasquez, Clay Zavada + Leo Rosales were magnificent, allowing no hits from the 10th through the 18th, effectively ...

Twins Non-Tender Candidates
Twinkie Town — ...   A solid end to the season hasn't stopped speculation from some that, due to the kind of money he'll get through arbitration this year, he should be considered a non-tender candidate.  The bullpen is already considered to be a position of strength for the Twins in '10, with Matt Guerrier, Jon Rauch and Jose Mijares all performing well this season, Pat Neshek due to be back and ready to pitch and, of course, Joe Nathan at the end of it all. Is $2,000,000+ too much to pay for a ...

The 2009 'Pitties: Game of the Year
AZ Snakepit — ... Not quite as close a poll for the second of the 2009 'Pitties. The B-bullpen of Jon Rauch, Esmerling Vasquez, Clay Zavada and Leo Rosales swept majestically to a collective victory, for their nine innings of no-hit ball in the marathon against the Padres. The same game is also nominated in this week's category. One of the good things about baseball having a 162-game schedule is that, even in a disappointing year like the Diamondbacks experienced in 2009, there will still be contests which we remember with ...

The 2009 'Pitties: Unsung Hero
AZ Snakepit — ... Jon Rauch: 54.1 IP, 110 ERA+ (Arizona only) The odds of Rauch being nominated for any kind of award seemed very bleak after the opening month of the 2009 season: over his first fourteen appearances, opponents were hitting him at a ...