Scioscia masters bullpen maintenance
ANAHEIM -- With the ever-expanding importance of the bullpen, one of a manager's most essential tasks is making sure all the parts are functional and operational, that arms are kept fresh and positive attitudes are maintained.
This, over the years, has been one of Mike Scioscia's principal strengths as field commander of the Angels.
En route to assembling the best record in the Majors, Scioscia and pitching coach Mike Butcher have been getting maximum effort and production about the seven-man bullpen featuring closer Francisco Rodriguez. His 46 saves entering a two-game series against the Mariners have him on pace to eclipse the all-time record of 57 saves by Bobby Thigpen of the White Sox in 1990.
For Scioscia, keeping the bullpen in prime working order is a daily chore he shares with Butcher.
"It starts in Spring Training when you start putting everything in place," Scioscia said. "Once you've evaluated your bullpen and made decisions on the roles you can create down there, you want to keep them in that bubble, keep them from wearing down.
"You see if there's a role change during the year and make adjustments as you go. We've made some minor changes in our 'pen. The most important thing is keeping them in their roles and in their bubble."
The most significant alteration in the Angels' bullpen scheme has involved the emergence of Jose Arredondo as a force in a setup role alongside Scot Shields. Arredondo has seized most of the seventh-inning responsibilities previously held by Justin Speier, whose 4.88 ERA in 45 appearances reflects his struggles.
Scioscia credits Butcher with keeping him informed each day on the status of each of the club's relievers.
"Butch has done a great job of keeping them sharp," Scioscia said. "Every day we go over where they are, who might need a day. If a guy's struggling in a role and he's busting his head against the wall, you have to make adjustments. We're seeing it with Justin.
"Guys work their way into a role. You rarely see a guy come up and you're putting him right in the back end of the bullpen. Francisco was very quick to the back end, but that's unusual."
Like K-Rod, Arredondo has arrived quickly as a late-game force. His 4-0 record and 0.93 ERA in 33 outings are testimony to his dominance, along with 31 strikeouts against 26 hits and 13 walks in 38 2/3 innings pitched.
"You try to build that pyramid up to the closer," Scioscia said. "Arredondo's been a big part of getting that alignment. Jose doesn't have a lot of experience, but his stuff has been electric. He's been in every situation, and he's done the job."
Experience has taught Scioscia to resist any impulse to wear out the hot hand.
"You can't do that," he said. "You're definitely in tune with that every day. That's what Butch does with [bullpen coach] Orlando [Mercado] and [bullpen catcher] Steve Soliz. They evaluate how a guy's warming up, how he looks, if he's getting a little fuzzy. When a guy needs a rest, he needs it that day."
Copyright 2008 Sporting Life UK Ltd, All Rights Reserved.
Defense sets up Jays' walk-off win
TORONTO -- There is no column in a box score that can account for the type of defensive save that Blue Jays shortstop John McDonald provided on Tuesday night. It was the type of play that could easily be lost amidst the final result.
Toronto pieced together a dramatic comeback at Rogers Centre, claiming a 4-3 walk-off victory over Oakland that was punctuated by Kevin Mench's game-winning single with two outs in the ninth inning. McDonald was in the on-deck circle for the clinching hit, but he was pivotal to the outcome.
A spectacular leaping catch by McDonald in the eighth inning quickly thwarted an Oakland rally, and helped Toronto rookie Scott Richmond avoid what would've been a hard-luck loss. The line score will show that A's closer Huston Street blew the save. McDonald might as well have earned one.
"Mac is unbelievable," Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston said. "We've had a lot of great shortstops here and you could put him right there with them. He's really showed me something here. He's made play after play after play. He enjoys doing it, too."
The play in question came in the eighth inning, when the Blue Jays (57-56) trailed, 3-2. Oakland (53-59) loaded the bases with no outs -- courtesy of a pair of walks and a single from Carlos Gonzalez -- forcing Toronto reliever Brandon League into a critical situation.
A's second baseman Mark Ellis drilled the first pitch he saw from League to the left side of the infield, where it seemed destined for left field. A base hit would've likely scored at least one more run for the A's, providing at least a two-run cushion for Oakland to work with over the next two innings.
"That's another run or two for them," said Gaston. "And, who knows what's going to happen after that with the bases loaded?"
McDonald had other plans.
The shortstop dove to his right, snared the low line drive for the inning's first out and tumbled to the turf. McDonald noticed that the catch caught Oakland's Emil Brown too far off second base, and the shortstop quickly fired the baseball from his knees to second baseman Marco Scutaro.
Scutaro gloved the relay throw, completing the double play. Then, with runners on the corners, League induced another groundout -- this time off the bat of Jack Hannahan -- to end the inning, setting the stage for Toronto's late rally.
"It hung up there a little bit," said McDonald, referring to the line drive. "It worked out perfectly. I think the biggest part of that play was Marco -- my low throw to second base, him coming up with that pick. He made it look real easy, but that wasn't an easy play for him."
From his seat on the bench, Richmond was in awe of McDonald's effort.
"Unbelievable," said Richmond, who was asked if he'd ever seen a similar play. "Absolutely not. Not at Independent ball level. Double-A level. Nothing. That was unbelievable. He was Gold Glove-caliber last year and, obviously, it's the exact same this year."
The play held Toronto's deficit to one run -- a gap the club overcame in the home half of the ninth. Against Street, Alex Rios led off with a single and later scored on a double by Rod Barajas. Three batters later, pinch-runner Brad Wilkerson was circled by a mob of Blue Jays at home plate after Mench delivered the game-winning single.
The win netted a no-decision for Richmond, who allowed three runs on seven hits over 5 2/3 innings in his second career start in the big leagues for the Blue Jays. Minus a two-run triple by A's shortstop Bobby Crosby in the fourth inning, when Oakland took a 3-1 lead, Richmond was effective for Toronto.
"He kept us in the game," Gaston said. "That's what's important. One pitch different and he probably would've won the game -- just one high pitch to Crosby. Otherwise, you can't ask much more than for him to keep you in the game and that's what he did."
Gaston might've asked for more from his offense, which struggled to solve A's lefty Greg Smith for the first six frames. Besides a run-scoring triple from Adam Lind in the second inning and an RBI single by Scutaro in the fifth, the A's managed to handcuff the Jays hitters until the ninth.
A lack of offense has been the unfortunate theme to Toronto's season and it's one reason the light-hitting McDonald hasn't garnered as much playing time as perhaps Gaston would prefer. At least under Gaston, McDonald has started 14 of 39 games -- compared to just seven in the 74 contests by former manager John Gibbons earlier this year.
McDonald knows his path to more playing time rests in his bat.
"I think what's going to get me back in there is hitting more balls hard," McDonald said, "and keeping it out of the air and starting to get hits and contributing to this club offensively rather than just on one side of the ball.
If Toronto wasn't dealing with so many health woes, Gaston said McDonald would likely start more often.
"It's real hard [to keep McDonald out of the lineup]," Gaston said. "I hope that we can get where -- maybe next year, or sometime during this season -- we get everybody back and it doesn't matter that much. You win with defense, too."
McDonald proved that against the A's.
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Pujols lifts Cards in Carp's return
ATLANTA -- For the first time in a long time, the Cardinals' bullpen might actually welcome a narrow lead in the late innings. But the club's offense continues not to oblige.
For the third night in a row, the Cardinals tacked on multiple runs in the late innings on Wednesday, turning a tight game into a 7-2 rout of the Braves. The night was most notable for Chris Carpenter's return from the disabled list following Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery, but it nearly heralded another return as well.
Had the Cards' 5-2 lead stayed unchanged in the top of the ninth, Jason Isringhausen would have gotten a shot at his first save since May 5. Instead, the Redbirds kept up another uncharacteristic late offensive assault.
"We're just getting big hits after big hits," said Albert Pujols, whose seventh-inning RBI double provided the game-winning run.
After St. Louis fell behind, 1-0, Cesar Izturis and Adam Kennedy each drove in a run in a two-run fifth inning. But Omar Infante's RBI single against Brad Thompson tied the score, and that's how it remained through the sixth.
Facing Jair Jurrjens in the seventh, Kennedy stroked a two-out single. Pujols doubled into the corner in left field to score the second baseman. Pujols has at least one extra-base hit in each of the past five games.
For the third night in a row, the Cardinals tacked on extra runs late against a wobbly Braves bullpen. Joe Mather highlighted the insurance outburst with a two-run homer in the eighth. The lead stood at three after eight innings, but Ryan Ludwick and Troy Glaus knocked RBI singles against Julian Tavarez to remove any doubt about the outcome. In three games at Turner Field, the Cardinals have scored 13 runs in the eighth and ninth innings.
"It's always big getting late runs," Pujols said. "They're a tricky ballclub out there. They're not going to give up. They're a young ballclub, but they know how to play the game. They can get a big rally going. You want to score as many runs as you can."
Carpenter was effective in his return to action after nearly 16 months, even if he wasn't quite as sharp as he might have liked. The right-hander allowed one run on five hits, striking out two and walking two. He needed 67 pitches for four innings, and 36 of his offerings went for strikes.
"I would have liked to have been better," Carpenter said. "I would have liked to be able to locate a little better and go a little longer. But I went into it [thinking], 'I want to take the ball and when [manager Tony La Russa] says I'm done, I'm done.' That's what happened. I was able to get out of some situations early on to not make it a big lead for them."
Thompson turned in a solid effort in relief of Carpenter, pitching 2 2/3 innings of one-run ball for his second relief win in five days. Since his recall from Triple-A Memphis on June 30, Thompson leads all Cardinals relievers with 19 innings, and he has a 3.32 ERA in that span.
Thanks to another Cubs win over the Brewers, St. Louis moved into a virtual tie with Milwaukee for second place in the National League Central as well as the NL Wild Card lead. Chicago holds a four-game lead in first.
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Brenly moved by Giants' wall tribute
SAN FRANCISCO -- Bob Brenly typically receives a friendly reception when he returns here. But he wasn't expecting the tribute that awaited him at AT&T Park.
Brenly, the Chicago Cubs' television analyst who caught for the Giants from 1981-89, is one of eight players from the 1980s whose images appear on the left-field wall as part of the club's ongoing celebration of its 50th anniversary in San Francisco. Earlier this season, players from the '60s and '70s were featured on the wall.
Brenly, a National League All-Star in 1984, is joined by Dave Dravecky, Will Clark, Jose Uribe, Robby Thompson, Kevin Mitchell, Mike Krukow and Jeffrey Leonard.
"It's really gratifying in a lot of ways," Brenly said Wednesday. "Guys play their career and it seems like it's over in a heartbeat and you move on to other things and you assume that everything you did back then had been pretty much forgotten as people move forward. And then to come back to the ballpark to see your mug out there on the wall ... it makes you feel pretty good. People still remember."
Brenly, who also coached with the Giants from 1992-95, said that he will forever cherish the relationships he built, on and off the field, as a member of the ballclub: "The people who were around the team, the people who were around the ballpark, the people who I grew to know while living in Foster City for 16 years. This was home. Both my children were born here. It was really a special time in my life. I think any ballplayer would say that about his playing career."
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Inside Pitch: Where might Sabathia go?
Where might C.C. Sabathia wind up should the Indians decide to trade the left-hander?
We asked a few industry types with no stake in Sabathia's fate for their predictions and two teams came up time after time.
The Angels and the Cubs.
The Indians haven't decided whether they will trade Sabathia or try to sign him to an extension before he becomes a free agent, but if they do decide to deal Sabathia, those two clubs could be the front-runners for his services.
"With Sabathia you've got to have a team that can afford to sign him," one official said. "Some of the teams that could, like the Mets, Yankees or Red Sox, I don't think they could come up with a package that [Cleveland GM Mark] Shapiro would take over what the Angels or Cubs could offer. Especially the Angels."
The Angels have a deep farm system and a number of near-ready prospects who might tempt the Indians. The Angels are also in first place in the American League West with the best record in the league.
"They don't have to make a deal," another official said. "I don't know how motivated they would be to make a major trade in their situation."
Sabathia would provide an immediate boost to the Cubs rotation and with right-hander Ryan Dempster, Chicago would have a formidable opponent in any series.
The Cubs are also in first place and have the best record in baseball.
The principals, however, may see things different than their colleagues.
"The situation could look a lot different a few weeks from now," one said. "A losing streak or an injury can change things in a hurry."
Purpose pitches
Even if the Braves fall out of contention, there are no guarantees that they'll be trading Mark Teixeira. While there's still no sense that they'll be able to re-sign the switch-hitting first baseman, there is some thought that they also won't get much in return for him before this year's trade deadline.
"I just don't know what teams are going to be willing to give up for a guy they'll have for two months without any certainty that they'll be able to sign him," one American League scout said.
Some believe the Braves might get more compensation via draft picks.
Double-A Montgomery, fueling speculation that the prized lefty could be with the team by August. Price was lights-out at Single-A Vero Beach and is expected to do well at the next level.
If Price, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft, does make the jump to the Rays by August, the Rays could have some interesting arms on the block. Perhaps one of a trio of right-handers: Jason Hammel, Edwin Jackson or Andy Sonnanstine.
Hammel and Jackson are out of options and would certainly draw offers in a market in which pitching is scarce.
The key is Price. If the Vanderbilt product demonstrates he is ready, the Rays could get a boost for their playoff hopes in more ways than one.
A scout on Seattle right-hander Felix Hernandez before Hernandez sprained his ankle on Monday night: "You can build around that guy. Throwing 97 [mph], throwing strikes. Hard slider, changeup. That's some pretty good stuff."
The Cubs have scouted San Francisco outfielder Freddy Lewis but their interest in the fleet-footed outfielder isn't believed to be serious at this point.
The 27-year-old Lewis has done a nice job in the leadoff spot for the Giants, and his speed and left-handed bat would fit nicely on the Cubs. But with Alfonso Soriano due to return soon and the re-emergence of Jim Edmonds, the Cubs believe they will be set in the outfield.
At least one team won't be beating a path to Seattle's door should the Mariners decide to deal left-hander Erik Bedard. A scout who has monitored Bedard said the pitcher is "not well-liked; if they could move them, they probably would."
The impressive debut of Cincinnati's Daryl Thompson against the Yankees on Saturday (five scoreless innings, four hits allowed) is another piece in the evolution of the Reds pitching staff and why it bodes well for the organization's future.
With Cincinnati's extremely hitter-friendly ballpark, the need for pitchers who produce ground-ball outs or a lot of strikeouts is a logical course to follow. As the Reds have seen all too often, fly balls have a way of leaving the ballpark.
With arms like Thompson, Edinson Volquez and Johnny Cueto, the Reds are piecing together a rotation that should be able to win at Great American Ball Park.
Now if they can only get Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo going.
One year after winning his first Gold Glove, Atlanta's Jeff Francoeur finds himself being criticized for both his offensive and defensive inconsistencies. Francoeur added 15 pounds during the offseason and according to one AL scout, "looks a lot slower."
Francoeur's .248 batting average has provided him plenty of frustration. He has hit remarkably better during day games and recently was fitted for a corrective contact lens to wear during night games. But his troubles seemingly extend beyond his vision issues.
"He just doesn't look right," the scout said. "Mechanically he's doing so many different things. I've never seen him move his hands so much from at-bat to at-bat."
The midway point of the season is Saturday and the three best records in the NL (through Wednesday) are in the NL Central: Chicago 49-29 (.628), St. Louis 45-34 (.570) and Milwaukee 43-35 (.551).
"I think the Wild Card is going to come from the Central," a veteran NL scout said. "The West is having a hard time getting two teams to .500. It's a four-team race in the East but I think they're going to beat up on each other a lot in the second half. In the Central, the Cubs may be the best team in the league and St. Louis and Milwaukee are already strong and figure to be stronger in the second half when they get some of their [injured] guys back."
Florida shortstop Hanley Ramirez is better as a leadoff hitter than in the No. 3 spot, according to one scout.
"He doesn't seem as aggressive as earlier in the year," the scout said. "He started off hot as a firecracker. Cooled when they moved him to the three hole. Got hot again when they moved him back to leadoff. Lately, he doesn't seem to have that aggressiveness he had earlier."
The Marlins, after optioning Mike Rabelo to Triple-A on Tuesday, are looking for a veteran catcher. Matt Treanor is manning the position for the NL East contenders.
Not only will the Yankees and Mets have to come from behind if they are going to make the playoffs, they'll have to buck history to get there.
Both New York teams will move to new parks next season, and only four teams have brought their old houses down in the playoffs: the 1989 Blue Jays, 1996 Braves, 1999 Astros and 2005 Cardinals.
The Astros stole 62 bases in April and May, but just 15 in June with a Major League-high 11 caught stealings.
"The pitchers have adjusted to what we've been doing, now we have to adjust," Astros manager Cecil Cooper said. "Texas started that against us last month and now everybody's doing it."
The Astros, who lead the NL with 77 stolen bases, are still running but the success rate has come down as opposing pitchers are holding the ball, utilizing the slide step and changing their pitch rhythms. They're holding Houston stolen-base threats like Michael Bourn in check more often by continually changing things up.
"Michael's still learning," Cooper said. "This is the first time he's played every day, and there's a lot to learn."
Cooper wants Bourn to keep learning pitchers but avoiding falling into predictable patterns.
"It takes a while to learn what you need to learn," Cooper said. "In this game you're always making adjustments."
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Phelps elevates game after back injury
OMAHA, Neb. -- It's not often that kids venture outside of their contemporary circles for idols, but once Cord Phelps watched an NFL highlight video, he found the type of aggressive idol that would become a fixture in his athletic personality.
"My brother and I would always play one-on-one in the backyard and I would pretend I was Dick 'Night Train' Lane," Phelps said. "He was a ferocious safety notorious for head hunting."
Eventually, however, Phelps would turn in the pigskin for an aluminum bat, and trade one-on-one football with learning switch-hitting with his father in the backyard. The aggressiveness would remain in his game, though, and this season, it would key a season that would put him on the national radar.
Indians scouting director Brad Grant said Phelps was "definitely" on the Indians radar after a sophomore season that Phelps would label disappointing. The second baseman hit .301 with no home runs, leaving him with a paltry .425 slugging percentage.
"We saw someone who has the chance to be an offensive second baseman, with the ability to stay up the middle defensively," Grant said.
For Phelps, his sophomore season was a struggle, as he gutted through a painful stress fracture in his back. Phelps said it sapped him of all power, so Stanford opted to give Phelps the summer off to rehabilitate his injury. Phelps said it's been a year since he's had pain in the back, and as a result, credits health as the single biggest reason for an increase in his power numbers this season.
After entering the spring without a college home run in 278 at-bats, Phelps hit two in his first game against Nebraska. It was a sign of things to come, as Phelps would end up with 13 home runs, and a reinvigorated .345/.441/.570 batting line. As a result, Phelps would become the fourth college second baseman drafted, taken 107th overall.
"Power was the one piece that elevated his game to the next level," Grant said.
On Wednesday, Phelps had the opportunity to show off his skills against the first second baseman drafted in 2008, Oakland selection and Miami infielder Jemile Weeks. While Weeks was taken 94 spots ahead of Phelps, the Cardinal got the last laugh by playing a key part in Stanford's 8-3 win, eliminating the top-seeded Miami from the College World Series.
Batting leadoff, Phelps would finish just a home run short of the cycle. After leading off the first and third with a single and double, respectively, Phelps' biggest damage came in his fourth plate appearance in the fifth inning. With two outs, Phelps hit a triple beyond the outstretched arms of Miami center fielder Blake Tekotte, bringing home Stanford's Toby Gerhart and Jake Schlander for Stanford's sixth and seventh runs.
Phelps would get one try at the first cycle in the College World Series since 1956, but ultimately lined out to right fielder Dennis Raben to finish with a team-high three hits.
"Obviously I knew in the back of my mind that I was a home run away from the cycle," Phelps said. "But I feel like in baseball, when you think about something like that, it never happens.
"The last at-bat I was trying to get on base and keep it rolling, and obviously that didn't happen, but it was still a good night."
Phelps helped set the tone for Stanford immediately, collecting the team's first hit in the first inning, and its first run in the third.
"That was a big part of it, getting started with the leadoff hitter, getting started with a couple of base hits early," said center fielder Sean Ratliff, who hit the game's lone home run in the four-run fifth.
Phelps is ideal for the leadoff role, as he led the Cardinal with 40 walks on the season. Beyond a healthy back, Phelps' improved plate discipline has also played a large role in his breakout.
"The more at-bats you get, you get a better idea of what pitches you're going to swing at and what to let go," said Phelps. "My mechanics are a bit different this year, but it's more my mental approach from at-bat to at-bat [that has led to success]."
After taking last summer off, it has now been almost two years since Phelps has used a wood bat in games. The 21-year-old was an All-Star in the New York Collegiate Baseball League in 2006, where he batted .276 in 127 at-bats. Phelps said it will be his revised plate approach, and a learned ability to be aggressive on pitches in the zone that will help him succeed with a wood bat.
As a former salutatorian at Santa Barbara High School, and a student-athlete award winner in college, the Indians know Phelps has the intelligence to handle anything that will be thrown at him in pro ball. But Phelps knows that, on the field, it will always help to be more Night Train Lane than Albert Einstein.
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Atkins' homer caps 'fun' win for Rockies
DENVER -- A few weeks after back spasms and a stiff neck cost him three games and a 1-for-18 slump led to a one-day benching, Rockies third baseman Garrett Atkins is officially back.
Atkins made several diving stops and punctuated a five-game hitting streak by belting a two-run homer into the left-field bleachers Tuesday night to help the Rockies beat San Francisco, 10-5, in the opener of a three-game series.
The Rockies' win was their 600th at Coors Field. They have won five of their past six games and they ended the Giants' four-game winning streak.
Atkins has come a long way from the last day of May, when he dejectedly sat in the dugout and watched the Rockies lose to the Cubs in Wrigley Field -- a day that manager Clint Hurdle thought would clear his mind.
"It was fun to have a game like that," said Atkins, who has a team-leading nine home runs. "I've always been kind of a line-drive hitter, and home runs seem to come in bunches, so hopefully that's the case now."
Right-handed pitcher Aaron Cook wasn't as dominant as he has been in recent starts, giving up four runs (three earned) on nine hits and striking out three, but he got enough key outs to earn his ninth win of the season, tying a career high.
"Aaron gave us a good start," Hurdle said. "He's found a way to win now without his good stuff and compete. He still made pitches and stayed away from the big inning."
All-Star candidate Matt Holliday went 0-for-3 in his first game since suffering a strained left hamstring on May 24. But the Rockies knocked 12 hits and scored in bunches.
The offense provided a knockout blow early to Giants starter Pat Misch (0-3) by tagging him for four runs in the second. The first three Rockies reached base, and Omar Quintanilla and Cook hit consecutive singles. Willy Taveras and Jeff Baker followed with sacrifice flies.
The Rockies have struggled all season to knock in runs when they have a chance, hitting .238 with runners in scoring position before the game. On Tuesday, they left just four runners stranded.
"It was one of those nights where we got those clutch hits with runners on," said Quintanilla, who went 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. "That's what we need. We relaxed, took normal at-bats, didn't press with runners on, and good things happened."
Todd Helton had three hits, including a three-run opposite-field homer in the seventh.
"It was fun to watch," Holliday said. "Those are the guys who swung the bats well. We got guys in. [Jeff] Baker got a sac fly, Willy got a sac fly -- that's good offensive execution."
Hurdle was particularly complimentary of Atkins, comparing the way he dove for ground balls to a kid dirty from playing in a sandbox. For Atkins, the view from the sandbox is certainly better than the view from the bench.
"It's been nice the last five or six games," Atkins said. "We started playing good baseball, and we've proven that when we play good baseball, we got a chance to put together good stretches, and that's what we're doing now."
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
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