Dice-K the magician wins No. 15
BALTIMORE -- He has become the escape artist, weaving in and out of traffic and almost always coming away with a happy ending.
It's hard to fathom just how Daisuke Matsuzaka has been able to do it, but that topsy-turvy formula has resulted in another 15-win season.
With more than five weeks to go, the right-hander of the Boston Red Sox tied the career high in wins he set in 2007 by once again finding a way to minimize the damage. In Tuesday night's 7-2 conquest over the Orioles, Matsuzaka walked five and threw a whopping 105 pitches over just five innings.
"Get them on first and second and then let him start pitching," quipped Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "It's kind of a tight-rope act sometimes. He has the ability to make pitches. He has some power on his fastball. Just a lot of men on base and only two of them scored. Again, it wasn't that easy. Five innings, and that was a lot of work. But because we scored, it's a win. He worked hard."
Dice-K is now 15-2 with a 2.77 ERA. In this one, Matsuzaka achieved a somewhat unique feat, becoming the first American League pitcher to win six separate five-walk starts in a season since Bobby Witt in 1987. The last Red Sox pitcher to pull off that type of Houdini-ism was Mickey McDermott, who had eight five-walk wins in 1953.
"Whether I allow hits or I allow walks, the important thing is to not allow the runners to score," Matsuzaka said through interpreter Masa Hoshino. "That's the way I thought last year, and it's still the same this year."
While Matsuzaka and the flawless bullpen (four shutout innings) took care of matters from the mound, Kevin Youkilis continued his career season with the bat.
The first baseman, who is playing third while Mike Lowell is on the disabled list, went 3-for-5, including home run No. 24 on the season. In this one, Youkilis started at third, moved to first and then returned to third after an ejection of Dustin Pedroia caused Francona to get creative.
"Youk has been a huge player for us," Francona said. "Even tonight, defensively -- he's all over the diamond. He's been very productive at the plate. We need him to be."
Unlike Youkilis, Jason Varitek has spent much of the year in an offensive funk. But the captain went deep for the second night in a row and later added an RBI double.
"It's great," said Pedroia. "Hopefully, he can catch fire and keep it going. He's swinging the bat real well and he needs that."
The Red Sox (73-53) established early momentum for the second night in a row. Jacoby Ellsbury led off the game with a single to right and stole second against Orioles starter Daniel Cabrera (8-8). Pedroia drew a walk and David Ortiz drilled an RBI single up the middle. Jason Bay made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly to left.
Varitek's solo blast in the second, a liner to right, made it 3-0.
As it turned out, Matsuzaka needed every bit of that lead on a night he was far from his sharpest. The Orioles (60-65) rallied in their half of the third, getting RBI singles from Ramon Hernandez and Luke Scott to slim Boston's lead to 3-2.
"It was just one of those days," Matsuzaka said. "Lots of things felt different than usual, but I'm happy that the team got the win today."
An inning later, things almost got much worse for Matsuzaka when he loaded the bases with nobody out. But he got a huge strikeout against Melvin Mora on a 3-2 slider, and then Aubrey Huff popped to third to end the threat.
Remarkably, Matsuzaka has stifled opponents to the tune of 0-for-14 with the bases loaded this season.
"Now that you've said it, I think somebody is going to get that hit," said Matsuzaka. "It doesn't matter whether the bases are loaded or not, my job is to not let them score. If there's a base empty, of course that's a little easier. But it's not something I worry about too much."
Despite Matsuzaka's high-wire act, he is fourth in the AL in wins and second in winning percentage.
"He finds a way to win," Pedroia said. "That's all we can ask out of a starting pitcher. He's 15-2, so he's having a great year. He finds ways to get out of trouble. That's all we can ask."
As for Matsuzaka, he is pleased to again be a member of the 15-win club.
"I think I'd like to reach 15 wins every year if possible, on average," Matsuzaka said. "It's not that easy to get those wins, as you saw last year."
Then again, this year -- aside from the wins -- nothing has come easily for the right-hander.
At this time of year, however, style points count for nothing.
"There's not much left in the regular season, so each game is going to get more and more important," Matsuzaka said. "I just want to focus. We want to end the season on a high note, so I want to end the season on a high note without regrets."
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Maholm continues roll in Bucs' win
PITTSBURGH -- Another Paul Maholm start. Another quality outing.
The Pirates lefty continued his impressive 2008 campaign with an eight-inning gem on Wednesday to lead the Bucs over the Reds, 5-2, at PNC Park.
"He controlled the game," said Jason Michaels, who was among the list of players who came up with big hits and big plays to back the Pittsburgh hurler.
Maholm's effort, combined with a big fifth inning, helped the Pirates even up the three-game series at one game piece.
"It was an overall good win for us," manager John Russell said. "We played good defense. It was a solid game, all around."
Maholm was able to get ahead of hitters all night. His 22 first-pitch strikes helped set up five strikeouts, and he walked none.
His only two blemishes came on two pitches. In the third, he left a hanging curveball over the plate for center fielder Corey Patterson. Later, he left a meaty fastball for right fielder Jay Bruce. Both pitches landed in the right-center-field seats for solo home runs.
Every other time Maholm found trouble, his defense would bail him out. Michaels had two diving catches in right field, including one along the foul line to end the game, and Andy LaRoche dove and threw out pinch-hitter Adam Rosales from his knees in the sixth. The Pirates also collected three double plays for Maholm.
"They're really alert because he's throwing sinkers and changeups and stuff," Reds skipper Dusty Baker said. "He's been pitching great, according to our reports, as of late. He had a lot of defensive help tonight, especially with double plays."
Maholm outdueled Reds starter Josh Fogg, who was hit hard for four runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings. Ironically, Fogg, a former Pirate, came into the game as the career leader in wins (20) at PNC Park.
With his victory Wednesday, Maholm (8-7) is now two games behind Fogg and sits in second place with current Pirates starters Zach Duke and Ian Snell.
"It was just going after them, staying ahead," Maholm said. "The home runs happen. I just kept going after the guys.
"I was just trying to get deep into the game and take the load off the bullpen. Everything was, once again, just mixing pitches. I had a lot of sinkers for ground balls. I threw the breaking pitches when I needed them."
The Pirates' four-run outburst in the fifth was welcomed with open arms by Maholm. In the southpaw's previous three starts, the Pirates scored only two runs while Maholm was on the mound.
Brandon Moss helped prevent that from happening again with his double to right field, followed by Michaels' line-drive home run to the bleacher seats in left field to take a 2-1 lead.
Maholm then struck out trying to bunt and Freddy Sanchez flied out to almost extinguish the rally, but the Pirates managed to load the bases for Ryan Doumit, who came within inches of a grand slam when his hit banged off the Clemente Wall in right field. The Pirates' catcher settled for a two-run double.
"They picked me up," Maholm said. "I missed the bunt [and] we ended up scoring four. That was big. For me, it was going out there and putting up a zero."
Moss capped off the win with his first career home run at PNC Park in the eighth and John Grabow came in and picked up his third save of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth.
Maholm's numbers don't end there, however. He's given up two or fewer runs in seven of his last nine starts. He's also pitched eight innings in seven starts this year and has gone at least six innings in his past 18 starts since May 3.
"He goes right after the hitters," Michaels said. "He's not pitching around or trying to get guys to swing. It looks like he's just going right at them and the end result he's becoming the winning pitcher a lot more."
"He's a guy that when you send out there you feel like you have a really good chance to win," Russell said.
Copyright 2008 Sporting Life UK Ltd, All Rights Reserved.
Trio of three-run taters paces Angels
NEW YORK -- The Angels must hate to see July end.
One of the most productive months in franchise history came to a close with another rousing triumph on Thursday night, a 12-6 thumping of the Yankees. Torii Hunter, Juan Rivera and Vladimir Guerrero each unloaded three-run homers in front of 53,405 at Yankee Stadium.
Garret Anderson and Chone Figgins cracked four hits apiece, and Mark Teixeira joined the party on his second day with the club.
Hitless in his debut, against the Red Sox, Teixeira delivered a pair of singles, scoring and driving in his first runs with the Angels while making a dazzling ninth-inning diving play behind one by Figgins at third to short-circuit a Yankees rally.
"This team is so good," Teixeira said, grinning. "I hated playing against this team when I was with the Rangers. I'm just having fun being here right now. I know I'll get in my game."
Jon Garland advanced to 10-6 with the win, holding the Bombers to three runs across six innings. It was the 15th time in 22 starts he'd made it through the sixth. Andy Pettitte slipped to 12-8 with the loss, absorbing a pounding just as Josh Beckett had on Wednesday night in Boston.
The Angels finish the month winning 19 of 25 games, their second-best July ever. Their 68-40 record is the best in the Majors and the best in franchise history after 108 games.
The runaway American League West leaders have a 12 1/2-game lead over the Rangers, the biggest in franchise history. They have won eight of nine and 13 of the past 15, averaging 6.4 runs per game in July -- the second highest for a month in club history. They produced more homers (36) than in any month since June 2003, when they cracked 42.
Anderson batted .384 for the month with five homers and 22 RBIs, finishing with consecutive four-hit efforts. Hunter produced nine homers and 21 RBIs in July.
"You look at these guys and what they've done in their careers. Once we start hitting, we're going to fill a park with line drives," Anderson said, having scattered them all over the hallowed grounds in the Bronx. "Most of the guys on this team are line-drive hitters, and it keeps pressure on that pitcher.
"He makes that one mistake, and someone might hit it out of the park."
Pettitte made mistakes with Hunter and Rivera in the space of four batters in the third inning. Hunter went the other way, to right-center, and Rivera lifted a monster blast to left out by Monument Park.
The mistake to Guerrero was provided in the sixth by reliever Chris Britton, who felt the sting of a blast to left that was No. 18 for the right fielder, matching Hunter for the club lead. Guerrero and Hunter also share the club lead with 58 RBIs, one more than Anderson.
It was Figgins, as is his custom, who ignited the Angels in the third with his single. Teixeira's first Angels hit, an infield single, and his first steal of the season had two men in scoring position for Hunter, who let them stroll home in front of him when he lashed a ball into the seats.
"We actually worked the count," Hunter said. "Early in the season, we were swinging at everything. We got Pettitte -- and he's one of the best lefties in the game.
"When guys are going good, they're driving the ball the other way. You don't ask questions. [You] just come to the park every day and try to stay there."
The three-run hole Hunter created for Pettitte quickly got deeper, as singles by Anderson and Howie Kendrick preceded Rivera's shot.
Bobby Abreu's 14th homer of the season, in the fourth, stirred the home crowd, and a two-out triple by Melky Cabrera and an RBI single by Johnny Damon (coupled with a two-base error by Guerrero) made it 6-2 in the fifth.
The Angels sent Pettitte (5 1/3 innings, nine earned runs) to the showers in the sixth. After Jeff Mathis' double, Figgins' RBI single and a walk to Erick Aybar, Guerrero joined the mash unit with his towering drive off Britton.
Figgins' single, Aybar's RBI triple to the right-center gap, and Teixeira's line-drive RBI single to left finished the scoring in the eighth.
His athletes 37-19 are on the road, steamrolling everything put in front of them, but manager Mike Scioscia doesn't seem surprised by recent events, including wins in six of seven games on this East Coast trip.
"I don't think home runs are a fluke," Scioscia said. "Our offense, at its best, is multidimensional. Out of the gate, we were driving the ball well, then we just hit the skids.
"We pressured these guys a ton, and that's what we need to do. We've been doing a lot of good things on the bases and at the plate."
Scioscia continues to be an unwelcome guest in the Bronx. Since he assumed command of the Angels in 2000, his teams are 39-33 against the Yankees in the regular season and 7-2 in postseason play.
Yankees skipper Joe Girardi now knows how his predecessor, Joe Torre, felt in trying to contain the Anaheim Express.
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Howard, Burrell power Phillies to win
ATLANTA -- The nine errors at first base are hard to ignore. So is the .219 batting average that is the worst among Phillies starters.
But for all Ryan Howard has lacked in defensive prowess and average during this trying first half of the season, he has also hit 21 homers and driven in 71 runs, stats which rank among the best in the National League.
And as starting pitcher Adam Eaton said: "Nobody's got a problem with that at the end of the day."
Howard hit a three-run homer and Eaton received some much needed run support, as the Phillies beat the Braves, 7-3, on Wednesday night to guarantee their first series win since the first week of June.
The Phillies, who entered this series having lost nine of their past 11 games, seem to have righted themselves once again. All it took was a return trip to Atlanta.
Philadelphia has now won five straight and seven of its last eight against Atlanta. With the win, the Phillies also maintained their 1 1/2-game lead over the Marlins in the NL East.
"We're trying to put June behind us now, we're in July," Howard said. "And right now, with the way the offense has been going ... we're getting a couple W's and trying to get the ball going again."
Howard's three-run homer in the third inning off Braves pitcher Jorge Campillo gave the Phillies an early 4-0 lead. But his two defensive gaffes in the bottom of the ninth also prolonged what should have been a relatively stress-free evening.
With one out in the ninth, Gregor Blanco lined a ball down the right-field line that skipped over Howard's glove at first. After Brad Lidge struck out Yunel Escobar for the second out, Howard let a routine ground ball bounce off the tip of his glove, a play that would have ended the game had he fielded it cleanly.
"Just botched a couple balls," Howard explained. "It happens, so you can look at it how you want to look at it. The first ball was hit pretty hard. I welcome anybody to go out there and stand in front of that one. And the second one, I just completely [missed] it. It happens sometimes."
So with the bases full, Lidge had to deal with the hot-hitting Mark Teixeira. The Braves first baseman gave the closer a scare, roping an inside fastball that drifted foul. After fighting off a couple 95-mph fastballs, Teixeira struck out swinging, extending the Braves' woes with runners in scoring position during the first two games of this three-game set. They are now 2-for-24 in that situation.
"The game got real exciting," said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, whose pitchers wriggled out of three bases-loaded jams on Wednesday.
Eaton, who watched from the dugout as his five-plus innings of one-run ball nearly vanished, escaped with his third win of the season, and his first since June 3, when he allowed one run on three hits in 6 2/3 innings against the Reds.
The Phillies had scored just three runs over his past three starts, a span of 18 2/3 innings. They put up four runs in the first three innings Wednesday, hardly noticing the Braves were healthy and playing with their usual lineup for the first time in more than a month.
"Probably the best 'worst game' of the season," Eaton said. "A few strikes here or there could have made a difference."
Eaton was referring to the sixth inning, when he temporarily lost his aggressiveness, and thus lost his ability to get hitters out. He couldn't record an out in the sixth, and left with the bases full and the slumping Jeff Francoeur at the plate.
Chad Durbin entered the game and induced a bases-loaded groundout, then struck out Mark Kotsay to end the threat.
"That was probably the turning point of the game right there," Eaton said. "It cemented that we did have the lead and it was going to be tough to come back."
Durbin, whom some thought would be moved into the rotation after starter Brett Myers was optioned to Triple-A, didn't allow a hit in two innings of relief.
The Phillies had not won back-to-back games since June 12-13, when they beat the Marlins and Cardinals on consecutive nights. They also hadn't won a series since sweeping the Braves at Turner Field on June 6-8.
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Fukudome misses Wednesday's game
CHICAGO -- Cubs outfielder Kosuke Fukudome was scratched from Wednesday's Interleague game against the Baltimore Orioles because of tightness in his left calf and is day-to-day with the injury.
"It's been very minimal tightness for a couple days, but yesterday after the game, I felt a little stronger tightness," Fukudome said through interpreter Ryuji Araki after Wednesday's 7-4 Cubs win.
He felt playing on the artificial turf in Toronto and Tampa Bay contributed to the discomfort. Will he play Thursday?
"We'll see how I feel tomorrow, and go from there," Fukudome said.
Cubs manager Lou Piniella doesn't expect Fukudome to play in the series finale.
"This is the first time that I was aware of [the injury]," Piniella said. "He went out and ran before the ballgame, and he ran about 75 to 80 percent. That's about as good as he could do, and he felt it. With all the injuries we have here, there's no sense taking any chances with that. Let's get him well, and then we'll get him back in the lineup."
Fukudome, who is hitting .373 at Wrigley Field, was scheduled to lead off.
Before the game, Piniella was asked if Tuesday's loss was a result of a letdown after the Interleague series against the crosstown White Sox.
"No," Piniella said. "What I'm concerned about are all these injuries we're starting to encounter. There's no letdown. We played a good ballgame last night, and we got beat. We had chances. The team fought. We weren't flat.
"We had that one inning where we gave them some runs. That's not our problem. Our problem is we're starting to get a little thin."
Fukudome has reached base safely in 15 straight games dating to June 7, posting a .409 on-base percentage.
Eric Patterson was inserted into the leadoff spot on Wednesday.
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Dodgers' bats come through for Lowe
CINCINNATI -- If the rest of the Dodgers could consistently follow James Loney's lead, they and their offense might be in good shape.
Loney and the Dodgers found their often-absent bats and got a solid pitching performance from Derek Lowe in a 6-1 victory over the Reds at Great American Ball Park on Wednesday night.
Loney went 2-for-3 with a home run, a double, a walk and two RBIs, continuing his red-hot June and providing Los Angeles with the offensive spark it has so desperately needed throughout a lackluster road trip.
"Hopefully, we can just stay there," manager Joe Torre said. "That's the trick here -- to just try and stay there and get these good at-bats and making the pitchers work. I think we did a great job of that tonight."
The Dodgers lost five straight after beating the Padres, 7-2, on June 10. They beat the Reds, 3-1, in the series opener on Tuesday but still struggled mightily at the plate.
But Wednesday was different. Not only did Loney, who is batting .396 this month, contribute, Juan Pierre went 2-for-4, Andre Ethier went 3-for-4, and Blake DeWitt and Matt Kemp each recorded hits. The result was a surprisingly consistent offense that gave Lowe (5-6) plenty of room in which to operate.
"It was what managers like to see," Torre said, "when you score an inning, score another inning and score another inning. It was something we haven't done for a while -- sustain some kind of an offense."
Loney's recent success has keyed what offense the Dodgers have managed, and it's come after he sat down and disciplined himself on what pitches to take and what pitches to hit.
No longer does he anticipate a 2-0 fastball or a 3-1 pitch that comes close to the plate. He watches, waits and reacts.
Loney saw 21 pitches over his four at-bats, and the only time he swung at the first pitch, he hit an RBI double. His 439-foot blast in the fourth inning came on a full count and gave Lowe a little more breathing room by pushing Los Angeles' lead to 3-1.
"I've been working on my swing, getting comfortable and trying to be as consistent as I can," Loney said, "and not trying to get too happy in certain situations or certain counts or expect something all the time -- just react."
Los Angeles scored runs in the first, second, fourth, sixth and seventh innings and never trailed, giving Reds starter Bronson Arroyo fits from the very beginning.
But perhaps more important than the damage the offense did to Arroyo was the help it gave Lowe, who was scheduled to pitch in Thursday's series finale but was moved up in the rotation after Hiroki Kuroda had to miss the start with soreness in his right shoulder.
After a seven-inning, 121-pitch outing on Friday at Detroit, Lowe threw 5 1/3 innings on Wednesday and gave up just one run on three hits, with two walks and six strikeouts. He began to tire in the sixth after throwing 85 pitches.
"For me, personally, I know it's not as far as I wanted to go in the game, but I may be more proud of this game because it was an absolute struggle from pitch No. 1," Lowe said. "There are some games where the outs come pretty easily. But in these games, you're more proud of them than the ones where you go out and feel like you could do whatever you want.
"You just go out there and go as far as you can. You've got to be honest with yourself, and sometimes you don't necessarily have to be a hero out there and go as far as you can. Some days, that's all you've got."
For the Dodgers, it was enough.
Pierre singled to lead off the first and advanced to second when Jeff Kent was hit by a pitch. Pierre moved to third on a fielder's choice before scoring on a wild pitch.
The Dodgers scored again in the second when Ethier's single to left plated Kemp for a 2-0 lead.
Lowe's only mishap came when he gave up a solo home run to Edwin Encarnacion in the second that pulled the Reds to within one run. Loney's home run in the fourth made it 3-1.
Loney's RBI double in the seventh added another run before Pierre hit a one-out triple over the head of center fielder Corey Patterson. Patterson was playing shallow and could not recover in time to make the catch, allowing Ethier and Angel Berroa to score.
The win clinched for the Dodgers their first series win since they swept the Reds from May 19-21.
"Right now, road, home, another country, I don't think it really matters -- we're looking for wins," Lowe said. "We haven't gotten on a consistent roll. We had a good stretch in the middle of May, but it's been hit-and-miss. Hopefully, [on Thursday] we can end a successful trip here."
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Dempster completes bittersweet victory
CHICAGO -- Ryan Dempster went back to closing Wednesday night. He's still pretty good at it.
Dempster tossed his first complete game in six years to earn a 7-2 win over the Atlanta Braves, the Cubs' 10th straight victory at home. Dempster saved 87 games as the Cubs' closer. Getting to finish his own outing, for once, was the best part of the night.
"It was my win I had a chance to blow rather than somebody else's," he joked.
Dempster (8-2) struck out 11, gave up four hits and walked none. But the win came at a hefty price. Alfonso Soriano was taken out of the game after being hit by a pitch on the left hand and breaking his left ring finger in the second inning. The injury will keep him out for about six weeks.
"That's a real bummer," said Dempster, who is 8-0 at Wrigley. "It's hard to sit back and enjoy your victory when one of your best players and one of your leaders on your team goes down."
The bats came through without the star left fielder. Runs scored in the first three innings, courtesy of a Kosuke Fukudome three-run homer, a Ryan Theriot two-run double and a Jim Edmonds two-run single.
That eased Dempster, who varied his pitches and his speeds to baffle the Braves. His split-finger was particularly nasty.
"Today, I got it going early, and it was a really good pitch for me, whether I was getting a strikeout with it or getting a ground ball or even just changing speeds," Dempster said. "Aside from having fastball command, it was the difference-maker for me today."
Dempster worked into the ninth one other time this season, against San Diego on May 15. He didn't give up a run to the Padres, but he put two runners on and was two outs away from a complete game when manager Lou Piniella brought in Kerry Wood to save a four-run lead.
This time, Dempster shut the door. After Omar Infante reached on an error, he got Mark Teixeira to ground into a double play and struck out Ruben Gotay.
"Tonight, he was nice and fresh," Piniella said. "He wanted to finish, he deserved to finish and he did."
Working deep into games is a question mark when stretching out relief pitchers. Just ask the Yankees' Joba Chamberlain. But Dempster, who was an All-Star starting pitcher for the Marlins, believed early on that he could do it.
"It wasn't really a concern of mine [in Spring Training]," Dempster said. "I felt like I worked pretty hard this winter to go late in ballgames. I just didn't want to come back and be a five-inning pitcher."
Has Dempster reverted back to his old starting form? No, he's better than that. Dempster's lowest ERA when he was in the Florida Marlins' rotation was 3.66. It's down to 2.81 following Wednesday's performance.
"I remember him as a starter with the Marlins in those days, and he's different," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "He's a real pitcher. He's under control and mixes [pitches] well. He looks in terrific shape."
The Cubs hitters are looking pretty good, too. With two outs in the first, Derrek Lee walked, Aramis Ramirez singled and Fukudome plated them with his fifth homer. The blast gave the rookie, who once produced 34 round-trippers in a season in Japan, three home runs in a span of 34 at-bats after having only one homer through 34 games.
Corky Miller's pinch-hit, two-run homer broke up Dempster's shutout with two outs in the seventh, but that didn't keep Piniella from praising his starter.
Every time Dempster starts, the manager is asked how the right-hander has been able to transition so effortlessly from the bullpen to the rotation. On cue, he was asked again after another Dempster "W."
"Remember, he was a starter before he went to the bullpen," Piniella said. "He's more experienced. He's pitched under the scrutiny of closing for a year and a half here. He's added some pitches. I'll tell you what, he came to camp ready to fight [boxer Oscar] De La Hoya for 15 rounds. He was in shape, and he was on a mission, and he's gotten off to a great start."
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
|
