Breitmann Tuning » use began sometime after the 1998 season

LOS ANGELES -- Brandon McCarthy couldnt find his best stuff. Thankfully for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the bullpen could. Again.Despite his struggles, McCarthy won his second straight start after a 14-month recovery from Tommy John surgery, and the Dodgers scored a disputed run to beat the San Diego Padres 4-3 on Saturday.I hadnt really had one yet, coming through the minor leagues, a day where it felt totally foreign, but today it did, McCarthy said.Yesterday, the ball felt perfect in my hand, he said. Today it felt like I was throwing a football.McCarthy (2-0) gave up three runs in five innings, including a first-inning, two-run homer by Yangervis Solarte.The right-hander retired 10 of the next 12 hitters, holding the Padres to a pair of walks. McCarthys win came six days after he threw five scoreless innings in his return from major surgery.Going five innings meant the Dodgers bullpen needed to come up big. Again. Los Angeles relievers have thrown 28 innings over the last six games.I know Ive asked a lot of them, but to a man, theyve responded, manager Dave Roberts said.I think were looking forward to getting to that break. With those guys, theyre prepared. Theyre taking care of themselves. Im trying to be mindful of their usage, but still trying to win baseball games.Dodgers reliever Adam Liberatore got two outs for his club-record 24th consecutive scoreless appearance. He broke the mark of 23 set by John Candelaria in 1991, but didnt know it at the time.Dave was coming out, and Yas (Dodger catcher Yasmani Grandal) came out and said, Congrats. And I didnt know what he was talking about, he said. It seemed like a really weird thing to say in that situation. Im getting pulled and the guys saying, Congrats. Kenley Jansen pitched a scoreless ninth for his 26th save.It was 3-all in the fifth when Corey Seager scored from second base on a throwing error by shortstop Alexei Ramirez as he tried to complete a double play.With runners at first and second, Adrian Gonzalez hit a high bouncer to second baseman?Ryan Schimpf, who threw to Ramirez for a forceout.Justin Turner slid toward the outfield side of second base -- which he grabbed as he went by -- and Ramirez made a wide throw that glanced off the glove of first baseman Wil Myers. The Padres challenged the call, but replay upheld the original ruling that Turners slide was legal.Youre running along the grass and then the next that you know, youre 6 feet outside of the grass, so you clearly at some point in time changed his path, Padres manager Andy Green said.Was it not close enough to call? I guess thats what they decided, he said.Solarte homered over the fence in right-center field to give the Padres a 2-0 lead in the first. Over his last 19 games, Solarte is hitting .380 (27 for 71) with seven doubles, four homers and 16 RBIs.Luis Perdomo (3-4) took the loss.POMERANZ TO PETCOPadres starter Drew Pomeranz (8-7, 2.47) was picked on Saturday to the National Leagues All-Star team for the first time in his career.Hes earned everything hes gotten this year, Green said. Hes definitely rewarded the front office for the faith it had trading for him, and understanding the type of pitcher he could be, and is.MOST IN MAJORSTravis Jankowski easily stole second on the first pitch to Solarte in the first inning, his ninth theft in 16 games since June 21, the most in the majors during that stretch.TRAINERS ROOMPadres: C Derek Norris was back in the starting lineup after leaving Friday nights game with a right quad contusion suffered in a first-inning collision with Dodgers 2B Chase Utley. He regenerates quickly, Green said. He took a shot. Its a testament to how tough he is. We waited to post the starting lineup to see if he was capable of going.Dodgers: RHP Julio Urias will head to the minors to learn to pitch in relief, Roberts said before the game. The Dodgers want the 19-year-old to learn to pitch in a variety of situations before reaching a team-imposing innings cap. The Dodgers will make the move after the All-Star break, Roberts said. ... OF Andre Ethier (fractured tibia), out since spring training, is playing catch, taking swings in the batting cage. Hes more of a baseball player now, Roberts said. The Dodgers are hoping hell return in early August.NEXT UPPadres: LHP Christian Friedrich (4-4, 4.42) starts in Sundays finale before the All-Star Game. After posting a 3-1 record with a 2.12 ERA over his first six appearances for the Padres, Friedrich is 1-3 with an 8.31 ERA over his last five. Hes given up six home runs in those five appearances.Dodgers: RHP Kenta Maeda (7-6, 3.07) hopes to right himself after three starts in which hes gone 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA, giving up three home runs along the way.Germaine Pratt Womens Jersey . Deulofeu injured a muscle in his right leg in Evertons 4-1 win over Fulham in the English Premier League on Saturday. Barcelona says that its team doctors will "co-ordinate" with Evertons medical staff as Deulofeu recovers. Boomer Esiason Youth Jersey . Patrice Bergeron and Daniel Paille scored 20 seconds apart a few minutes after Stamkos was taken off the ice on a stretcher with a broken right leg, and the Bruins beat the Lightning 3-0 on Monday afternoon. http://www.bengalsrookiestore.com/Bengals-Germaine-Pratt-Jersey/ . Marincin has played in two NHL games so far this season with two penalty minutes. The 21-year-old has three goals, four assists and a plus-5 rating in 24 games with the American Hockey Leagues Oklahoma City Barons this season. Michael Jordan Bengals Jersey . -- Jimmy Walkers first PGA Tour trophy came with a special gift tucked inside. Joe Mixon Jersey . Any real chance at payback wont come until the playoff. Still, Pittsburgh knows its taut 3-2 win over the Bruins on Wednesday night is a pretty good place to start laying the groundwork. "They are a very good defensive team," Penguins forward Brandon Sutter said.Lets start here: If I did this list again tomorrow, Id likely change my mind. The easy thing to do would be to just go to the Baseball-Reference all-time WAR leaderboard, plug in the top 10 names and call it a day.The problem with doing that is we get this: 1914, 1890, 1907, 1986, 1951, 1905, 1954, 1984, 1907, 1897. (And if we extended the list to the top 15, wed get 1915, 1907 and 1911.)Those are the dates each of the players began their major league careers, meaning nine of the top 15 players started before the United States even joined World War I -- more than 100 years ago. Yes, I have a problem with that. Does it make sense that the majority of the elite players in the games long history didnt play against black players, wore baggy wool uniforms and used gloves that look like something you use to take a turkey out of the oven with?Of course not. So my top 10 list includes players from all across the baseball timeline.10. Mike SchmidtHe hit just .267 in his career? As Bill James once said, if hed hit for a higher average, hed be the greatest player to play the game. Schmidt led the National League eight times in home runs and was first or second nine times in WAR among NL position players. He drew walks, won nine Gold Gloves and played on a lot of good teams. And, yes, this could have been Honus Wagner or Stan Musial or Lou Gehrig or Rickey Henderson or Mantle or Roger Hornsby. This wasnt easy! But none of them had the best cry ever.9. Greg MadduxThis spot was between Walter Johnson and Maddux (although I was tempted to put Pedro Martinez here because of his unbelievable peak level of performance, the greatest attained by a pitcher), but I went with the recent guy. For his career, Johnson averaged 6.4 WAR per 250 innings; Maddux averaged 5.2. But if you remove Madduxs terrible rookie season and the final two seasons when he was sort of just hanging on, he averaged 5.8 per 250 innings. Thats pretty close, and adjusting for the more difficult era Maddux pitched in, Im taking him over the guy who pitched 100 years ago and basically used one pitch for much of his career.8. Ty CobbYes, hes an old-timer -- but one whose game would have translated to all eras. He won 12 batting titles in the dead ball era and is one of the greatest base stealers to play the game. Cobb was also a big enough guy -- 6-foot-1 -- that I believe that if hed come up in modern baseball, hed have added power to his game. So you have a center fielder who would hit for average, power and steal 50 bases a year. Id take Mickey Mantle and maybe even Ken Griffey Jr. at their peaks over Cobb, but Cobb had the longevity those two lacked.7. Alex RodriguezAm I comfortable with him in my top 10? No. But this isnt a list of the most beloved player, and the man does have 695 home runs, more than 2,000 RBIs and 2,000 runs, more than 300 stolen bases and 3 MVP Awards -- and Juan Gonzalez stole the award from him in 1996, when A-Rod hit .358 with 36 home runs as a 20-year-old and we all dreamed of what his future would be like.6. Roger ClemensHe won his first Cy Young Award at 23 and his seventh one at 41. And, no, he wassnt the only old pitcher to be great in his 40s -- see Warren Spahn and Nolan Ryan, for example.dddddddddddd He led his league seven times in ERA and a bunch of times in a bunch of other things. If theres a knock against him -- well, other than his Vitamin B-12 shots -- its that he isnt the first pitcher youd choose for a big game. His postseason record wasnt as terrible as many have suggested -- 12-8, 3.75 ERA in 34 starts -- but he also wasnt exactly Curt Schilling or John Smoltz.5. Ted Williams Hes 14th on the all-time WAR list even though he missed nearly five full seasons while serving in World War II and then Korea. He was great enough to hit .388/.526/.731 at age 38. He was also indifferent in the field and on the basepaths and, like Bonds, a general pain in the butt. He also benefited from Fenway -- he hit .361 there, .328 on the road, although with more home runs on the road -- but you can argue that he, and not Babe Ruth, was the games greatest hitter.4. Babe RuthBlasphemy? Perhaps. No doubt, based strictly on value compared to peers, Ruth is easily No. 1 (plus he pitched!). Heres my issue: How would Ruths game translate to modern baseball? For example, in 1920 he hit .376/.532/.847 with 54 home runs while striking out 80 times. Thats not a lot of strikeouts by todays standards, but in 1920 the AL averaged just 3.0 Ks per nine innings. In 2016, thats up to 7.9 Ks per nine, an increase of more than 250 percent. If Ruth struck out at the same rate compared to his peers in 2016 as he did in 1920, wed be looking at 200 strikeouts. Hes not hitting .376 striking out 200 times a season. Maybe hed still be Babe Ruth, but maybe hed be Adam Dunn.3. Barry BondsPeople forget that he was on track to become a top-10 all-time player before his alleged performance-enhancing drug use began sometime after the 1998 season. From 1989 to 1998, he averaged 8.4 WAR per season (which included two strike-shortened seasons). He was the best position player in the NL seven times -- through 1998. Then, from 2001 to 2004, he exploded off the charts, putting up numbers wed never seen before. Considering Bonds defensive value and speed, however, I cant rate Williams (at No. 5) ahead of him.2. Hank AaronHis career numbers at the plate are nearly identical to Willie Mays -- .941 OPS for Mays, .928 for Aaron -- and, like Mays, he was amazingly durable and consistent, aging well into his late 30s. Aaron was a very good right fielder (and certainly would have been a capable center fielder), but Mays was a great center fielder, so ...1. Willie Mays... Willie is the easy choice to rank ahead of Aaron. Mays hit for power, average, was maybe the best defensive center fielder in MLB history and one of the games best baserunners: In 1971, at age 40, he led the National League in baserunning runs added. He was durable, playing 150-plus games for 13 consecutive seasons. So he won just two MVP Awards? Well, he probably should have won eight or nine, as he led the NL in WAR nine times. ' ' '