Thursday, July 18 Thursday's Around the Horn ESPN.com |
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AMERICAN LEAGUE Toronto: INF Chris Woodward is now the everyday SS after Felipe Lopez was optioned to Triple A-Syracuse. The 26-year-old Woodward entered Thursday's game hitting .293 with four home runs and eight RBI in 29 games. He has received more playing time since manager Carlos Tosca replaced the fired Buck Martinez on June 3. "We think he can be our shortstop for a very long time,'' Tosca said. Woodward, drafted in the 54th round in 1994, was thrilled to become an everyday player after spending parts of the last four seasons as a utility infielder. "I was really hoping that these guys would look at me as an everyday player,'' Woodward said. "I had my doubts. They've given me a chance now and I have to take advantage of it.'' Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi said he doesn't regret trading SS Cesar Izturis, who is starting for the Los Angeles Dodgers. "The guy is hitting .230 with a .270 on base percentage,'' Ricciardi said. "He catches the ball real well. I just have serious doubts if he's going to hit.'' ... Lopez struggled this season after being made the everyday SS in spring training after Alex Gonzalez was traded to the Chicago Cubs. "We think Lopez is a very talented player that was probably rushed to the majors,'' Tosca said. "Shame on us for having tried to rush him.''
Tigers at Yankees New York: Derek Jeter wasn't offended that the Tigers intentionally walked Alfonso Soriano to load the bases in front of him in the eighth inning. "I would have walked him, too,'' Jeter said. The move paid off when Jeter grounded out to end the inning. ... RHP Jeff Weaver is excited to see the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry up close this weekend for the first time. Weaver said there was nothing like it when he played for Detroit. "This is the stage you want to perform on,'' said Weaver, who is scheduled to start Sunday. "These are the pressure games you want to succeed at. It's a challenge.'' ... The Yankees signed former top prospect Ryan Bradley to a minor league contract and assigned him to Class A Tampa. ... Tom Nieto coached first base for the Yankees in place of Lee Mazzilli, who missed the game for personal reasons.
Twins at Indians Cleveland: With Thursday's loss, the Indians are 10 games under .500 (42-52) for the first time since the end of the 1993 season. Cleveland's 12½-game deficit in the AL Central is its largest since the Indians finished 19 out in '93. ... The sixth blown save by Cleveland's bullpen dropped the Indians to 34-7 when leading after six innings. They were 65-7 in 2001 when leading after six. ... Ellis Burks, who may be traded before the July 31 deadline, homered on Thursday and has seven in his last 18 games after hitting two in his previous 20. ... RHP Jaret Wright will be activated from the disabled list on Saturday to start the second game of a doubleheader in Kansas City. Wright hasn't started since June 21 last season. He has undergone two shoulder surgeries the past two years. ... 1B Jim Thome left Thursday's game in the seventh inning with tightness in his lower back. ... 3B Travis Fryman didn't start for the fifth straight game Thursday because of a sore shoulder.
Red Sox at Devil Rays Tampa Bay: LHP Wilson Alvarez (left elbow) started his rehab at the team's minor league complex. In the final season of a $35 million, five-year contract, Alvarez hopes to pitch for somebody next year. "I'm not ready to retire,'' said Alvarez, who missed the past two years with a left rotator cuff injury. "I still have some game left in my arm.'' ... RHP Luis De Los Santos was selected from Triple-A Durham and will make his major league debut Saturday at Toronto. The former New York Yankees farmhand was 6-1 with a 2.30 ERA for Durham. "We're looking for starters, we're looking for help,'' manager Hal McRae said. "Hopefully he'll provide some.'' ... Top OF prospect Carl Crawford had his batting average drop under .300 -- to .299 -- for the first time since April 9 after going 1-for-4 Wednesday for Triple-A Durham. ... Unlike last season, there will be no major infusion of young players during the second half as Tampa Bay finished the 2001 season at 62-100. "I knew this year would be more difficult for the players,'' McRae said. They had to play 162 games instead of 60. The stakes are raised. That's the situation we're confronted with.''
Mariners at Rangers Texas: OF Rusty Greer was transferred to the 60-day disabled list Thursday because of left elbow, neck, hip and back problems. He would be eligible to return Sept. 10, when the Rangers have just 19 games left. Greer has played only two games since making two great diving catches on June 2. He came off the 15-day DL last week, played one game, then went back on the DL. He has missed the end of the last two seasons because of injuries. If Greer doesn't play again this year, he will have missed 268 games over three seasons after missing just 50 games the previous four years. ... After his two-homer game Wednesday, Texas catcher Ivan Rodriguez had 204 career homers -- 199 of them while catching. Carlton Fisk has the most homers while catching at 351, and Rodriguez is 10th on that list.
White Sox at Royals Kansas City: 3B Joe Randa and All-Star 1B Mike Sweeney were both out again, Sweeney for the sixth straight day. Both said they hope to play on Friday. ... Three of Brandon Berger's seven career home runs have come off the White Sox. Byrd now has seven complete games in his career. When Aaron Guiel leads off, the Royals are 7-0.
Angels at Athletics Oakland: The A's held a players-only meeting before the game. ... 3B Eric Chavez entered in a career-worst 0-for-25 slump. Extra video study and e-mails from his friends and family haven't helped. ``I'm at the stage where I don't know who I am as a hitter,'' Chavez said. ... The A's are a major league-best 19-6 in one-run games this season. Oakland is 17-8 in games decided in the seventh inning or later, and 14-4 in games decided in the last at-bat. ... LHP Ted Lilly got the first look at the retro uniforms the A's will wear when they play Texas on Saturday night. Lilly will pitch in the bright-yellow tops worn by Oakland's 1972 championship team, while the Rangers will wear old Washington Senators uniforms. Lilly whistled as he tried on his nearly fluorescent jersey.
NATIONAL LEAGUE Atlanta: After a brief two-game homestand, the Braves travel to Philadelphia and Florida for a six-game trip. ... RF Gary Sheffield went 0-for-3 and had a 10-game hitting streak stopped. 3B Vinny Castilla extended his hitting streak to seven games with a first-inning single. ... LHP Tom Glavine lowered his NL-leading ERA to 2.55, just ahead of teammate Greg Maddux (2.59). ... RHP John Smoltz got his 20th straight save, one behind the club record of Mark Wohlers' set in 1995.
Mets at Expos Montreal: A crowd of 13,757 was on hand to see Colon pitch his second straight complete game. Colon scattered 13 hits as he threw 134 pitches to improve to 3-0 in four starts since he was acquired by the Expos from Cleveland on June 27. Colon, who remains tied for the AL lead with four complete games, allowed the most hits in a complete-game win since Jim Abbott allowed 13 and led the Chicago White Sox over the New York Yankees 9-4 on July 18, 1995. Jeff Fassero had a 13-hit complete-game loss for Seattle at the Chicago White Sox on Aug. 16, 1998. ... Colon is the first Expos pitcher to pitch consecutive complete games since July 1999, when RHP Javier Vazquez went the distance in consecutive starts against Pittsburgh and Chicago. ... RF Vladimir Guerrero homered for the third time in two games with one out in the eighth. Guerrero has hit seven of his 26 homers in eight games since the All-Star break. ... Guerrero's homer was the 107th of his career at home, moving him ahead of Gary Carter for the most at Olympic Stadium by any player. Carter hit 98 homers here for the Expos from 1977-84 and 1992, seven for the Mets from 1985-89 and one with Los Angeles in 1991. ... Montreal drew 117,655 to Olympic Stadium during its 3-5 homestand to boost home attendance to 432,516 and increase its per-game average from 8,427 to 9,496 during the homestand.
Reds at Pirates Pittsburgh: Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon was unhappy with an error given 2B Pokey Reese in a 6-3 victory Wednesday over Cincinnati, only Reese's second error this season. Reese was breaking toward second base when he couldn't come up with Austin Kearns' high-bounding grounder. McClendon said, "We're trying to get a Gold Glove for this guy ... that was a tough call.'' Reese won Gold Gloves with the Reds in 1999 and 2000. ... Because of speculation LHP Jimmy Anderson might be headed to the bullpen, McClendon called his outing Tuesday against the Reds, "The biggest win of this kid's career. He knew he was going to hear it if he didn't win.'' Anderson (7-10) limited the Reds to two runs in seven innings, only a couple of days after McClendon and general manager Dave Littlefield decided to keep him in the rotation. ... The 27-minute rain delay at the start of the Reds-Pirates game Thursday was the Pirates' 19th of the season -- 17 at PNC Park. The delay was the third in the Pirates' last two home stands and came in what otherwise has been a mostly rain-free month in Pittsburgh. The National Weather Service reported that less than two-tenths of an inch of rain fell during the first two weeks of the month.
Cubs at Phillies Philadelphia: The Phillies will wear 1980s-style uniforms starting Friday for their series against Atlanta, which will wear uniforms from 1974, the year Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run. ... Former 2B Tony Taylor will be inducted into the team's Wall of Fame on Saturday along with pitcher Rube Walberg of the Philadelphia A's. ... One of the runs charged to starter Robert Person on Wednesday night was changed to unearned. Person allowed three runs -- two earned -- in 5 2-3 innings. ... RHP David Coggin hasn't allowed a run in 10 innings. He has a 2.49 ERA in his last 14 games. ... LHP Dan Plesac has pitched five scoreless innings over his last seven appearances.
Astros at Brewers Milwaukee: CF Jeffrey Hammonds was not in the starting lineup Thursday for the second straight game after fouling a ball off his left ankle Tuesday. X-rays have shown that there is no fracture. Manager Jerry Royster said he wanted to rest Hammonds to get ready for the series this weekend at Colorado. ... 1B Richie Sexson had two singles and a double Thursday despite nagging tendinitis in his left hamstring. Royster said doctors have said that Sexson would need six weeks of rest for the hamstring to completely heal, but Sexson wants to continue to play. "My concern is the injury. If it looks like he could hurt himself more, I'll sit him down,'' Royster said. ... RHP Ben Sheets turned 24 Thursday ... CF Alex Sanchez was removed from the game in the fifth inning after he strained his left oblique muscle checking his swing. He is day to day.
Giants at Cardinals San Francisco: 2B Jeff Kent extended his hitting streak to 10 games, going 2-for-4 Thursday against the Cardinals. He also made his second error in as many days when he misplayed a ground ball by pinch-hitter Kerry Robinson in the eighth inning that allowed run to score. Kent dropped a throw from Robb Nen on a sacrifice bunt in the ninth inning Wednesday. "He's probably tired,'' Giants manager Dusty Baker said. "He didn't get a whole lot of rest over the All-Star break. He's swinging the bat great. He'll be OK. He'll go on a streak where he won't make an error for a lot of games.'' ... LHP Chad Zerbe hit Placido Polanco and Jim Edmonds in the eighth inning Thursday to load the bases. When Albert Pujols flew out to end the inning, Edmonds said something to David Bell at third base. Both benches emptied but nothing happened. "I've never see Jim get like that,'' Baker said. "David told him not to worry about it and he went off again. Nobody hit anybody. I don't think there's anything between them.''
Diamondbacks at Rockies Colorado: LHP Kent Mercker will throw to hitters on Friday. Mercker has been on the DL since June 6 after fracturing the fifth metacarpal bone and lacerating his left hand fielding a ground ball against the Los Angeles Dodgers. "The wait has been terrible because I would rather be out there good or bad,'' Mercker said. "I'd be better off on a secluded island.'' ... 3B Todd Zeile got a rare day off with a left-hander on the mound. Manager Clint Hurdle was quick to point out the move had nothing to do with Zeile's 0-for-4 night nor an error that started a two-run Arizona first inning on Wednesday. "I wanted to give him a blow and a mental pause,'' Hurdle said. "Fatigue wasn't a factor.'' ... SS Juan Uribe returned to the lineup after missing two games with a bruised left hand. ... Hurdle chose Juan Pierre in CF over Mark Little based on Pierre's success against Arizona starter Brian Anderson. Pierre is 4-for-10 with an RBI against Anderson. ... The Rockies went into Thursday without a home run in four straight home games. ... RHP John Thomson made his 100th start. Thomson joins Pedro Astacio (129) as the only two to start 100 games for Colorado. ... INF Greg Norton was activated from the DL before Thursday's game. Norton had been on the DL since July 1 with a strained right hamstring. OF Ross Gload was optioned to Colorado Springs. ... The Rockies claimed LHP Randy Flores on waivers from the Texas Rangers and optioned him to Colorado Springs. To make room for Flores on the 40-man roster, RHP Chuck Smith was given his unconditional release.
Padres at Dodgers Los Angeles: The Dodgers entered in a 1-7 tailspin, and some of their more superstitious personnel have pulled out all the stops. Clubhouse attendant Dave Dickinson is wearing his lucky jersey from the NHL All-Star game, which bears the name of Colorado Avalanche captain Joe Sakic. LF Brian Jordan, whose 3-for-25 slump has dropped his average to .263, has started taking batting practice inside instead of on the field because he had more success early in the season with that routine. "I've been on four division champion teams, and I've seen it happen before,'' said Jordan, who came to the Dodgers from Atlanta in the Gary Sheffield trade. "I think everybody's just trying to carry the load themselves. I'm guilty of it, too. Being new here, I'm trying to hit the big home run and I'm just finding myself falling in a hole.'' ... One day after the Dodgers were shut out for an NL-worst 10th time, manager Jim Tracy tweaked his lineup slightly -- shifting Shawn Green from third to cleanup, Paul Lo Duca from second to third and Eric Karros from cleanup to fifth. "A very slight adjustment is all it is,'' Tracy said. "I don't want to make any more of it than that.'' ... RHP Darren Dreifort will pitch another simulated game Friday before the Dodgers open a three-game series with San Francisco. |
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