Notes from Friday's games
August 4, 2006
CLEVELAND: Manager Eric Wedge said Fausto Carmona will remain in the club's long-term plans as its closer, despite blowing his first two opportunities earlier in the week. ``He's our guy right now and I want to keep giving him that experience,'' Wedge said. ... Wedge also said C Victor Martinez, who has struggled throwing out runners attempting to steal, is getting better behind the plate. ``He's been working so hard continually and he's done a good job at getting better,'' Wedge said.
DETROIT: Rookie RHP Justin Verlander will skip his scheduled start Sunday because of fatigue in his right arm. He is 14-3 to lead the majors in wins and his 2.79 ERA is second in the AL and third in the majors. ``It's something I think I can pitch through,'' Verlander said. ``But to be on the safe side ... `` ... The Tigers agreed to terms with their 2006 first-round draft choice, LHP Andrew Miller, on a four-year deal. He pitched at North Carolina.
---
---
NEW YORK: OF Bubba Crosby was designated for assignment by the Yankees, who recalled RHP Jose Veras from Triple-A Columbus. Crosby was hitting .207 in 65 games with New York. Veras was 4-3 with 19 saves in 44 games for the Clippers this year. His first appearance will be his major league debut. ``We probably needed another arm,'' manager Joe Torre said. ... OF Johnny Damon homered in his first at-bat Friday. It is the fourth time this year and 20th time in his career he's led off a game with a homer.
BALTIMORE: The Orioles placed RHP Kris Benson on the 15-day DL with tendinitis in his right elbow. The move is retroactive to July 26, the day after he last pitched. RHP LaTroy Hawkins returned from bereavement leave and took Benson's spot on the roster. ... Baltimore signed free agent C Chris Widger to replace C Javy Lopez, who was traded to the Red Sox. Widger, in his 10th major league season, was given his release by the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday after batting .187 with one homer in 27 games this year.
---
---
CHICAGO: Sluggers Jim Thome and Paul Konerko returned to the lineup. Thome had not played since Saturday because of tendinitis in his right wrist and back spasms. Konerko was hit by a pitch in the sixth inning Tuesday and was lifted for a pinch hitter in the eighth with a contusion above his left elbow. ... The White Sox are the only team in baseball to feature four players with 70 or more RBIs. Thome, Jermaine Dye, Konerko and Joe Crede are all on pace to finish with more than 100.
TORONTO: LHP Gustavo Chacin allowed two runs and six hits in 2 2-3 innings in his second rehab start for Triple-A Syracuse. He threw 65 pitches, 45 for strikes. Chacin faced only seven batters in his first rehab start. The 25-year old Venezuelan hasn't pitched since June 9 due to a left elbow injury that has sidelined him twice this season. Manager John Gibbons said he'll make at least one more rehab start. ... RHP Dustin McGowan will move to the bullpen after making one start. Toronto recalled RHP Francisco Rosario from Triple-A Syracuse and he'll start Saturday against Chicago. ``We think (Rosario) bounces back better with some time in between,'' Gibbons said. ``We like McGowan as a bullpen guy.''
---
---
BOSTON: 3B Mike Lowell was out of the lineup, one day after fouling a ball off his left foot. ``He's very sore,'' manager Terry Francona said. ``He's just real tender. Knowing Mike, he'll be ready to play tomorrow. We'll see how he is.'' X-rays were negative. ... RHP Tim Wakefield (ribs) is expected to resume playing catch on Saturday. ... RHP Keith Foulke (right elbow) is scheduled to make his second minor league rehab outing for Triple-A Pawtucket on Saturday. ... LHP David Wells (right knee) will make his second start Saturday since coming off the DL on July 31. ``He's doing fine,'' Francona said. ``He's doing real well.''
TAMPA BAY: LHP Scott Kazmir (left shoulder inflammation) had his scheduled return to the rotation pushed back from next Tuesday to Friday to allow time for additional bullpen sessions. ... CF Rocco Baldelli missed his second consecutive game with right hamstring tightness. ``He's still sore. ... I didn't want to push it,'' manager Joe Maddon said. Maddon said Baldelli might play this weekend. ... DH Jonny Gomes, 5-for-66 since the All-Star break, was rested. ... 3B B.J. Upton took flyballs the past couple days in preparation for the Devil Rays' shift on Boston DH David Ortiz, which has four players in the outfield. ... The Devil Rays suspended minor leaguer OF Elijah Dukes for 30 games. The action was taken because of a series of incidents that prompted earlier suspensions from both the organization and the International League.
---
---
MINNESOTA: Manager Ron Gardenhire, who missed the previous four games with a stomach virus and inflammation of his lower abdominal walls that hospitalized him on Wednesday, rejoined the team on Friday. He and his wife Carol drove down from Minnesota, leaving at 9 a.m. and arriving at 4 p.m. ``I didn't want to get in an airplane,'' Gardenhire said. He said that was as sick as he has been. ``It's the longest anything has grabbed a hold of me where I felt I couldn't do too much,'' he said. ``The hospital was a godsend. They kept me on IV and threw in a couple of drugs in there that made me sleep. My stomach was playing dueling banjos. Wednesday I felt miserable.'' He said he watched the victory on Thursday night over Kansas City after being released from the hospital, but was in the emergency room on Wednesday and missed the Twins' 10-2 loss to Texas. ``I asked in the hospital how it turned out and they didn't want to tell me,'' Gardenhire said. ... LHP Francisco Liriano threw a bullpen session Friday and got the thumbs up from pitching coach Rick Anderson. Liriano, who missed a start Wednesday with inflammation in the forearm muscle, will make his next start on Monday at Detroit.
KANSAS CITY: RHP Scott Elarton, who had surgery Tuesday to repair a torn labrum, was back in the clubhouse on Friday with his right arm in a sling. Elarton said his arm would remain in a sling for four weeks and then he would begin range of motion exercises. He said he probably would be able to start soft toss throwing in November. He said in ``the best case scenario'' it would be May or June before he could return to the majors. Elarton was 4-9 with a 5.34 ERA in 20 starts before the injury. ... The Royals' 38-70 record was the same as last year after 108 games. The Royals lost a franchise-record 106 games in 2006. ... RHP Todd Wellemeyer worked 4 2-3 innings, allowing just one unearned run and three hits, on Thursday against the Twins. It was Wellemeyer's longest outing since June 12, 2003, when he went five innings at Baltimore for the Cubs.
---
---
---
PITTSBURGH: The Pirates have five shutouts this season after Tom Gorzelanny and Josh Sharpless combined on Friday's three-hitter. ... The Pirates have had one complete game this season. Zach Duke beat the Cubs on May 2 with a five-hit shutout. Duke will pitch Saturday against Mark Prior. ... Jack Wilson didn't play as he recovers from a sore calf. Wilson will probably sit until Sunday's series finale. Wilson has batted .372 in 19 games since the All-Star break. ... Cubs manager Dusty Baker was impressed with Gorzelanny, the young lefty for the Pirates, who was born in Evergreen Park, about 20 miles from Wrigley Field. ``A youngster we had never seen before was kind of effectively wild today,'' Baker said. ``Out of the zone and up. Ordinarily he would walk a lot of people in a short period of time. We helped him out with some balls out of the zone.'' ... The Pirates have won four of their last five games at Wrigley Field.
CHICAGO: Ronny Cedeno made his first major league start at second base and his inexperience showed. He couldn't get a ball out of his glove while making a pivot and his throw was late, costing the Cubs a double play. Another time he forgot to cover the bag, giving up an extra base. The gaffes helped the Pirates score three runs. Cedeno moved to second base when the Cubs acquired SS Cesar Izturis for Greg Maddux. ... RHP Mark Prior will try to get his first win of the season on Saturday. He's 0-5 with a 7.20 ERA after starting the season on the DL with a sore shoulder. ... Not only did RHP Carlos Zambrano have his nine-game winning streak snapped, he lost to the Pirates for the first time in his last nine starts against them. He entered the game with a 7-0 record in his previous eight outings against Pittsburgh. He is 7-3 lifetime against the Bucs.
---
---
PHILADELPHIA: The Phillies are 46-0 when leading after eight innings, the only team in the NL to be undefeated when leading after eight innings. ... Philadelphia has stolen 12 consecutive bases on the road. ... The Phillies arrived at Shea Stadium after sweeping St. Louis in a three-game series and are 12-8 since the All-Star break, tied for second-most wins in the NL.
NEW YORK: New York went into Friday night's game with 64 wins, most in the NL and tied with Boston and the New York Yankees for second-most in the majors behind Detroit (72). ... Mets have passed 3 million in ticket sales for the 2006 season, the earliest they have reached that plateau since 1989. ... SS Jose Reyes finalized his four-year $23.25 million contract extension, which includes an $11 million club option for a fifth season. ``I signed the deal already,'' he said. ``I want to play baseball for the Mets and I hope there's another contract when this one is over.''
---
---
ATLANTA: Some members of the Braves traveling party were at Great American Ball Park to see some of the six hitless innings from former Atlanta star RHP Greg Maddux Thursday against the Reds. ``I'd like to see him throw a no-no every night,'' said manager Bobby Cox, who watched on television. ``Well, not for the Dodgers. I'll retract that statement.'' ... 1B Adam LaRoche was available to pinch hit, but he missed his second consecutive start Friday with a strained right hamstring that forced him to leave Wednesday's game at Pittsburgh in the fifth inning. LaRoche could have pinch hit Thursday if needed, Cox said, and he might be available to start Saturday afternoon, depending on how he reacts to batting practice Friday ... RHP Jason Shiell will become the second consecutive Braves starter to make his first career appearance against Cincinnati on Saturday.
CINCINNATI: LF Adam Dunn, who had struck out nine times in 12 at_bats in the Reds' previous three games, didn't start Friday for just the second time this season as manager Jerry Narron loaded the lineup with right-handers against LHP Chuck James. ``We're seeing right-handers the next six games, and we've got day games Saturday and Sunday,'' Narron said. ``This gets (Chris) Denorfia in a game with a chance to face a left-handed pitcher.'' Ken Griffey Jr. was Cincinnati's only left-handed starter. ... RHP Bronson Arroyo's start on Saturday will be just the second of his career on three days' rest or less. He allowed four hits and two runs in six innings of his other short start, on Aug. 1, 2000, for Pittsburgh against Los Angeles in the nightcap of a doubleheader at Three Rivers Stadium ... LHP Eric Milton celebrated his 31st birthday Friday.
---
---
LOS ANGELES: The Dodgers entered the road trip against the Marlins with a major league-leading six straight wins. ... OF Andre Ethier continues to push for NL Rookie of the Year. He leads all NL rookies in batting average (.346), on-base percentage (.391), slugging percentage (.560) and is seventh in home runs with 10. ... The Dodgers dropped five of seven games to the Marlins last season, including three of four at Dolphins Stadium.
FLORIDA: The Marlins announced the signing of 3B Chris Coghlan, their second pick in the June draft and the 36th overall. Coghlan, who played at Mississippi, was scheduled to report to the Gulf Coast Marlins immediately. ... The Marlins have hit 14 homers in their last seven games. Florida's 46 home runs since July 1 rank second only to Atlanta's 53 during that span. ---
FLORIDA: The Marlins announced the signing of 3B Chris Coghlan, their second pick in the June draft and the 36th overall. Coghlan, who played at Mississippi, was scheduled to report to the Gulf Coast Marlins immediately. ... The Marlins have hit 14 homers in their last seven games. Florida's 46 home runs since July 1 rank second only to Atlanta's 53 during that span. ---
MILWAUKEE: RHP Jose Capellan, on the DL with a shoulder injury, is scheduled to make a rehab appearance with Double-A Huntsville on Monday. ... RHP Ben Sheets makes his seventh start in an injury-abbreviated season on Saturday against the Cardinals, against whom he's 4-11 with a 4.11 career ERA. He's 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA in two starts since being activated from the DL on July 25. ... The Brewers were 19-34 on the road, second-worst in the majors, with no winning trips of more than three games.
ST. LOUIS: The Cardinals have had two losing streaks of seven or more games for the first time since 1986, a season sandwiched between two World Series appearances. Manager Tony La Russa, whose team entered Friday's game on a seven-game skid after losing eight in a row in June, said he wasn't tempted to shake things up. ``I don't know who's on the bench that should be playing, because I'd like to win this game,'' he said. ``This is our club. Mostly what you try to do is figure out how you can do things better.'' ... Leadoff hitter David Eckstein was 1-for-10 in the first three games of a six-game homestand, dropping his average to .293. But La Russa will leave him at the top of the order for now. ``I see enough to where I think he can come out of it,'' La Russa said. ``If it looks to me like he's getting under water, then I'll move him.''
SBR Top-Rated Sportsbooks
Notes from Friday's games
Reply With Quote