Flores back in lineup after MRI
PHILADELPHIA -- Three days after hurting his right calf in a home-plate collision, Nationals catcher Jesus Flores was back in Washington's starting lineup for Tuesday night's game against the Phillies.
The 23-year-old collided with Colorado catcher Yorvit Torrealba at home plate in the sixth inning of Saturday's game in Washington. Flores was slow to get up after the collision, but remained in action for the rest of the game. He sat out of Sunday's game and underwent an MRI, the results of which were negative.
"I am OK, I feel OK and I'm ready to go," Flores said on Tuesday afternoon.
Flores hit No. 6 in Tuesday's starting lineup. This season, he is hitting .271 with eight home runs and 52 RBIs.
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Zink sent down after rough debut
BOSTON -- Red Sox knuckleballer Charlie Zink, unable to turn a 10-run lead into his first Major League victory, was optioned back to Triple-A Pawtucket on Tuesday night.
Zink, who joined the rotation after Tim Wakefield was placed on the disabled list, was sent back down to make room for pitcher Paul Byrd, who was acquired from the Cleveland Indians earlier in the day.
Facing the highest scoring team in the American League, Zink had a 10-0 lead in the first inning and a 12-2 lead after four innings, but couldn't get through the fifth. That's when the Rangers scored eight runs off him and relievers Javier Lopez and David Aardsma.
"[I] left some balls up," Zink said. "They're big league hitters, they're a great hitting team. I left some balls up, and they hit them well. I couldn't make an adjustment at that point. I know I can do better than this."
Zink ended up allowing eight runs on 11 hits with one walk and one strikeout in 4 1/3 innings, but the Red Sox needed to clear a roster spot for Byrd. Zink is the first Boston pitcher to allow eight runs in his Major League debut since Pete Smith against the Tigers on Sept. 13, 1962.
He is the fourth Boston pitcher to give up eight runs in a game this season. He allowed 11 hits, which is tied for most by a Red Sox pitcher in his Major League debut. Two others gave up 11 hits. One was Dave Pauley in 2006; the other was Roger Clemens in 1984.
"I thought he handled his emotions real well," manager Terry Francona said. "He competed. He threw the ball over the plate for the most part. The fifth unraveled but it unraveled on everybody."
Zink and Aardsma are the first two pair of A-to-Z Red Sox teammates to appear in the same game since first baseman Harry Agganis and outfielder Norm Zauchin on June 2, 1955, against the White Sox.
Copyright 2008 Sporting Life UK Ltd, All Rights Reserved.
Hafner, Barfield working their way back
ST. PETERSBURG -- On the field Wednesday at Tropicana Field, Indians manager Eric Wedge could watch one core player, Victor Martinez, take part in a full workout day as part of his return from elbow surgery.
On his computer, Wedge could watch another core player, Travis Hafner, take swings off a tee as part of his return from right shoulder weakness. The video was taken Wednesday morning and e-mailed to Wedge almost instantaneously.
Martinez is much, much closer to a return than Hafner, but Hafner appears to be making his first significant strides toward a return to action since he was placed on the disabled list May 30. On Thursday's off-day, head athletic trainer Lonnie Soloff will be in Cleveland to perform the latest strength test on Hafner's shoulder to see how it's coming along, and hitting coach Derek Shelton will be at Progressive Field to throw soft toss to Hafner.
"That's a significant step," Wedge said.
Second baseman Josh Barfield, who had surgery to repair a tendon on the middle finger of his left hand in mid-June, has also taken significant steps toward a return to action. Barfield, like Martinez, began running the bases and taking batting practice this week. He could be ready to go out on a rehab assignment as early as this weekend.
"I'm really close now," Barfield said. "My legs feel strong, because I've been able to lift a lot more. I've definitely made the most of this time off."
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Carmona rebounds as Tribe earns split
CLEVELAND -- The life of a Major League starting pitcher certainly comes with its fair share of perks.
As the Tigers and Indians slugged away at each until early Thursday morning, Fausto Carmona was watching the action from the comfort of his home. The guy throwing out the first pitch just a few minutes after noon couldn't possibly take the mound on less than five hours rest like the rest of his teammates.
It showed Thursday at Progressive Field as Carmona looked much sharper than the players behind him. The right-handed sinker-baller overcame an inordinate amount of sloppy defense to pick up his first win since May 12 and help the Indians salvage a split in the four-game series with a 9-4 victory.
"I thought he did a really good job of not letting it speed up on him today," manager Eric Wedge said. "We didn't play well defensively and he didn't let that get to him."
Quite the leap in just five days for Carmona, who was jumpy from the start in his return from the disabled list last Saturday. In a meltdown from the first pitch, Carmona walked three of the first four batters he faced before he was chased after allowing nine runs in three innings.
Instead, the Carmona that Wedge and the 34,186 in attendance saw Thursday was the same player who picked up 19 wins last year and showed flashes of the same dominance early this season, minus some control problems. His ability to overcome his fielders' woes Thursday stemmed from his ability to give them more chances with constant ground balls and allowed him to last 6 1/3 innings in picking up his fifth win of the year.
"You just control what you control," Wedge said. "What he does is put the ball on the ground and gives himself the chance to get two outs with one pitch."
For the record, Carmona didn't induce any double plays on this day, but he was able to minimize the damage when he had to.
His better composure showed right from the start, when he fell behind in the first inning after a wayward passed ball let Curtis Granderson advance from first base to third before eventually scoring him on a sacrifice fly. But unlike Saturday, it didn't snowball on him.
"I was more relaxed and more loose on the mound today," Carmona said through interpreter and first-base coach Luis Rivera.
The relaxed demeanor may have rubbed off on the Tribe's offense. Less than 12 hours after they were unable to execute a number of prime scoring opportunities in the 14-12, 13-inning loss, the Indians gave Carmona some cushion with timely hits off Justin Verlander.
Back-to-back two-out doubles from Ben Francisco and Jhonny Peralta in the first inning tied the game at 1. In the fifth, bottom-of-the-order hitters Sal Fasano and Asdrubal Cabrera worked Verlander for a hit-by-pitch and a walk, respectively, before Grady Sizemore provided the biggest blow of the day, a three-run homer -- his 27th of the season -- to put the Indians ahead for good.
But the game didn't come to an end without a few tense moments and a number of puzzling defensive miscues from baseball's best fielding team. Perhaps it was the result of some foggy eyes and heads, but Wedge wouldn't make excuses for his club that, after three errors Thursday, added seven errors to its season total (53) in less than 24 hours.
"The last two games have been really bad," Wedge said. "I'm not happy at all with some of the missed opportunities and the way we played defensively. There's no excuse for it."
The Tigers picked up another unearned run off Carmona in the sixth inning when Cabrera lost an infield fly in the sun, allowing Ramon Santiago to advance from second to third before scoring on a grounder mishandled, again, by Cabrera. But with two runners on, Carmona remained calm, inducing a Marcus Thames popup to end the threat.
"I didn't worry about it," Carmona said. "Matter of fact, when somebody made an error, I pointed at myself and said 'Let's go, you're going to be OK for the next ground ball.' It definitely didn't bother me."
But after the Tribe gave him more support in the sixth inning with a Fasano RBI single and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch from Sizemore, it got even sloppier on Carmona in the seventh.
Shin-Soo Choo, who said he forgot to grab his sunglasses before the inning, lost leadoff batter Edgar Renteria's pop fly in the sun, resulting in a double. Ryan Raburn followed with a single before both eventually scored as a result of a misplayed wild pitch by Fasano. But even after another Tribe error, Rafael Perez was able to end the inning with a 6-4-3 double play before he and Masa Kobayashi combined for perfect eighth and ninth innings, respectively.
"It just shows the type of character we have here," said Fasano, who added an RBI double in the Tribe's three-run eighth inning. "We only had a couple hours sleep and came out here and battled our tail off for nine innings.
"It's tough, but that's what we're paid for."
Some players, though, just get a few more benefits.
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Cain sparkles as Giants beat Cubs
SAN FRANCISCO -- If there wasn't a competition among Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum and Jonathan Sanchez before Tuesday night's game, there is now.
Cain one upped his fellow teammates with his best performance of the season, striking out 10 batters and allowing just two hits in eight shutout innings as the Giants took the second game of a four-game series against the Cubs in dramatic fashion, 2-1, at AT&T Park.
The burly right-hander not only put the Cubs' bats to sleep, but he also recorded his 100th strikeout of the season to give the Giants three pitchers with a 100 or more strikeouts before the All-Star break for the first time in the San Francisco era.
"It's pretty cool. I definitely haven't noticed that until the past couple of days when stuff has been on the Internet," Cain said. "It's definitely something that's good, and we've all been able to get deep into games, which sometimes doesn't happen when you get those strikeout numbers up."
For Cain, it's just the second time this season and the sixth time in his career that he has struck out 10 or more batters. Cain attributed his success on the mound to catcher Bengie Molina.
"Bengie just kind of kept calling a good game, going after their weaknesses," Cain said. "We were able to work at the knees with the fastball and change speeds with the curveball. We kind of got them off balance so they couldn't sit on something hard."
The strikeouts came and went, but it was Cain's poise on the mound and the Giants' defense that helped him get through two tough innings late in the game. In the sixth inning with two outs, Fred Lewis made a sliding catch in left-center field to prevent a double off the bat of Derrek Lee.
Then in the seventh inning after a lead off double by Daryle Ward, Aaron Rowand robbed Jim Edmonds of extra-bases when he made an over-the-shoulder catch as his momentum took him into the wall in center field. And if that wasn't enough, Jose Castillo made a spectacular stop at third, throwing off balance to first to get Mark DeRosa to end the eighth inning.
"That was awesome. There's nothing better than that," Cain said. "I definitely can say I got helped out by the ballpark tonight. Rowand went and got the ball off Edmonds, but the one that highlights the night was the diving play by Castillo."
Castillo, who made an error in the first inning, rebounded well with that great stop as Cain's pitch count reached 114.
"Omar [Vizquel] came to me and said, 'You just made the play of the game,'" Castillo said. "I just didn't want that ball to get by me, and when I caught it, I just turned and threw it. I've been playing long enough to know where first base is, so I just threw without looking."
Offensively, the Giants didn't do much, but the little they did was enough to earn them their fourth win in 19 games at home. Lewis was the sparkplug, scoring both runs in the game.
Lewis led off the bottom of the first with a single, then after advancing to third on a fielder's choice by Randy Winn, he scored on a perfectly executed double steal. According to manager Bruce Bochy, Winn was taking off on a hit-and-run and Lewis just ran once he saw catcher Geovany Soto throw to second.
In the fifth inning, Lewis, who hit a double to lead off, scored again on a single by Winn, giving the Giants a 2-0 advantage.
"Their guy [Jason Marquis] pitched well. We needed a great effort, and we're not the type of team that tries to slug it with the other team," Bochy said. "We executed well, we got a guy over and we got him in. It's the little things tonight that won the ballgame for us."
Closer Brian Wilson, who has a flair for the dramatic, picked up his National League-leading 23rd save of the season, but not before he allowed a run to score. Wilson needed nine pitches to finally strike out Ryan Theriot with runners on first and second to preserve the victory.
"I'm getting sick and tired of two-run leads," Wilson said. "I don't care how many runs I give up as long as we win."
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Dodgers to go to six-man rotation
LOS ANGELES -- It can't be said that Joe Torre won't push the envelope.
After Eric Stults' complete-game shutout Wednesday night, the Dodgers manager said he would go to a six-man rotation until the All-Star break just to keep Stults in it.
Thursday, Torre fielded a lineup that had All-Star catcher Russell Martin starting at third base (for the fifth time) and third baseman Andy LaRoche making his first Major League start at second base behind 20-year-old starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw.
Martin, Matt Kemp and James Loney were the only holdovers from the Opening Day lineup. Jeff Kent was getting a day game off after a night game. Delwyn Young started in right field instead of Andre Ethier against left-handed starter John Danks of the White Sox.
"We're looking for a little offense, so we'll take a shot with LaRoche at second," said Torre. "I'm comfortable with Russell at third. LaRoche had a couple innings at second in Detroit. He'll catch the ball. We don't want him getting too fancy. [Coach] Larry Bowa will tell him don't worry about making the double-play too quickly. He'll cover ground and catch the ball. I'm comfortable with that."
As for the six-man rotation, Torre joked that the alternative of not letting Stults start again posed a threat to the manager's security, professionally and otherwise.
"You want to get me fired and killed at the same time?" he asked.
He said a sixth starter would allow an extra day of rest for hard-throwers Kershaw and Chad Billingsley, as well as pitcher Hiroki Kuroda, who is expected to return from the disabled list to the rotation next week. Torre said the idea stems from the fact that the Dodgers play 20 consecutive days leading to the All-Star break. When Kuroda returns to the rotation, Chan Ho Park will return to long relief.
Torre said the rotation would be re-evaluated for the resumption of play after the break, depending in part on the uncertain return of Brad Penny from the disabled list.
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Sixty years later, Roberts recalls debut
PHILADELPHIA -- Robin Roberts prides himself on remembering "everything about everything in baseball."
The former Phillies pitcher smiled on Wednesday as he recalled the first start of his Hall of Fame career, which began 60 years ago, on June 18, 1948. He threw out the ceremonial fist pitch before Wednesday's game to mark the anniversary.
On the day of his debut, Roberts arrived at Philadelphia's Shibe Park about 3 1/2 hours before a night game against the Pirates.
"How do you feel, Roberts?" Phillies manager Ben Chapman asked.
Roberts, who was 21 years old, had just been called up from the Wilmington Blue Rocks, a Phillies farm team. He replied: "Fine."
"Can you pitch tonight?" Chapman asked.
"Yeah," Roberts told Chapman.
It was just the beginning of Roberts' 14-year stint in Philadelphia that included 234 wins and a team-record 272 complete games. Roberts was inducted into the Hall in 1976, and his No. 36 is one of four retired by the Phillies.
Facing his first Major League hitter, Stan Rojek, proved to be a nerve-racking experience for Roberts.
"I walked him on four of the wildest pitches you ever saw," Roberts said.
Then he settled in. He worked the next hitter, Frank Gustine, to a full count and got him to chase a high fastball for the strikeout.
"If he hadn't swung at that pitch, I might have gone back to Wilmington," Roberts said with a laugh.
Roberts lasted eight innings in his debut, giving up two runs on five hits in a 2-0 loss to the Pirates. He notched his first win five days later, throwing a complete game against the Reds.
These days, Roberts lives in Tampa, Fla., and watches the Phillies play when they face the Marlins in Miami and the Braves in Atlanta. He said he is impressed with the Phils' speed and hitting this season.
When Roberts threw out Wednesday's first pitch, lefty Cole Hamels served as his catcher. Roberts said he has enjoyed watching Hamels pitch this season. But how well would Roberts have fared in home run-friendly Citizens Bank Park?
"I'm not sure," he said. "I wouldn't walk anybody. I might not keep them in the park, but I wouldn't walk anybody."
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
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