Griffey Jr., Ramirez stalled as they pursue milestones

ESPN.com

Updated: May 25, 2008

Jody Gomez/US Presswire

Ken Griffey Jr. is still two homers shy of 600 for his career.

STANDING STILL

By Mark Simon, ESPN Research

Remember last season when it seemed to take forever for Alex Rodriguez to reach 500 homers? (It took a little more than a week.) Well, that looks pretty mild compared to what Manny Ramirez and Ken Griffey Jr. are going through in their quests to reach milestones.

Ramirez started the season looking like an MVP candidate but has since fizzled. Despite three hits and two RBIs Sunday, his numbers just haven't been Manny-like in pursuit of 500 home runs. Meanwhile, Griffey has looked like a 38-year-old nearing the end of his career. He also had three hits Sunday, but the power stroke needed to reach 600 home runs just hasn't been there.

This hasn't quite reached the proportions of Gary Carter's three-month struggle 20 years ago to get to 300 home runs (he went 64 games without a home run after hitting his 299th), but it's enough to warrant concerns.

Manny Ramirez
2008 season First 19 games Last 30 games
Batting average .342 .256
Slugging percentage .712 .354
Home runs 6 2
RBIs 20 11
At-bats 73 113

Ken Griffey Jr.
2008 season First 15 games Last 33 games
Batting average .286 .237
Slugging percentage .500 .333
Home runs 3 2
RBIs 11 11
At-bats 56 129

Past Baseball Tonight Clubhouses: May 22 | May 21 | May 20 | May 19 | May 18 | May 15

FORWARD THINKING: MONDAY

Brandon Webb • Diamondbacks at Braves, 1:05 p.m. ET: Brandon Webb (9-1, 2.69 ERA) finally lost, even though he pitched well in his last outing against Florida. Jair Jurrjens (5-3, 2.64 ERA) has not lost at Turner Field this season. He is 4-0 with a 1.48 ERA in five starts at home this season.

Sidney Ponson • Rangers at Rays, 7:10 p.m. ET: Sidney Ponson (3-0, 2.95 ERA) is coming off a complete-game victory against Minnesota. He has issued two or fewer walks in five of his six starts. Scott Kazmir (3-1, 1.57 ERA) has given up one run over his past three starts, a stretch of 19 innings. He won each of those starts.

Bartolo Colon • Red Sox at Mariners, 10:05 p.m. ET: Bartolo Colon (1-0, 3.60 ERA) was productive in his first outing with Boston, pitching five innings to pick up a win against Kansas City. Felix Hernandez (2-4, 3.34 ERA) has not won since April 16, going 0-4 in five outings. The Mariners haven't scored more than three runs for him since April 22 -- and that day, Seattle scored four.

• Complete list of pitching probables for Monday's games


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BBTN ON THE AIR: MONDAY

TIME WHO'S ON?
10:30 p.m. ET
ESPN2		 Host: Karl Ravech
Analysts: John Kruk, Buck Showalter, Eric Young
1 a.m. ET
ESPN		 Host: Karl Ravech
Analysts: Buck Showalter, Eric Young

BASEBALL TONIGHT MINUTE: KERSHAW'S DEBUT

SUNDAY DOUBLE PLAY

Every Sunday on the 12:30 p.m. ET "Baseball Tonight" show, Karl Ravech, John Kruk and Steve Phillips take part in the Sunday Double Play competition. Each of them selects a starting pitcher and a hitter to play for Sunday's games. They compete in three categories -- wins, hits and home runs -- based on the results of their selections. The results are cumulative for the season.

This Sunday's pitcher selections and results:

John: Chien Ming-Wang (no decision vs. Marlins)
Steve: Cole Hamels (no decision vs. Astros)
Karl: James Shields (no decision vs. Orioles)

This Sunday's hitter selections and results:

John: Alex Rodriguez (1 hit, 0 HR vs. Astros)
Steve: Jimmy Rollins (1 hit, 0 HR vs. Orioles)
Karl: Alfonso Soriano (1 hit, 1 HR vs. Pirates)

Here are the standings after the first eight Sundays:

Wins Hits HRs
John 3 13 0
Steve 1 8 0
Karl 4 5 2

Tune in to "Baseball Tonight" at 12:30 p.m. ET Sunday for the latest Sunday Double Play selections.

SUNDAY'S NOTEWORTHY PERFORMANCES

GOOD
Carlos Quentin• Carlos Quentin took care of all the runs for the White Sox, connecting on a pair of two-run homers as Chicago beat the Angels on "Sunday Night Baseball."
BAD
Jason Varitek• Jason Varitek, like all the Red Sox, had trouble in Oakland this weekend. On Sunday, he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in a 6-3 loss.
UGLY
Dave Borkowski• The Phillies scored five times in the sixth inning, but it got worse for the Astros in the seventh, when Dave Borkowski gave up six hits and six runs.

FANTASY: PREVIEW OF MONDAY'S GAMES

Adam Madison examines the pitching matchups in store for the 11 games on Monday's schedule in the American League and National League.

Fantasy Madison also looks at current injuries and details player reports that could help shape the way you put together your roster for Monday's games. Daily Notes