Isringhausen's season is likely finished
ST. LOUIS -- Right-hander Jason Isringhausen's tough 2008 season appears to be over after an MRI and exam revealed right elbow tendinitis and a partial tendon tear in his flexor group.
The Cardinals announced Isringhausen's test results following Tuesday's game against Pittsburgh. Manager Tony La Russa anticipates that Isringhausen will miss the remainder of the season.
"I think so," La Russa said when asked if he thought Isringhausen was out of the picture for the rest of '08.
Isringhausen's last outing was on Saturday in Cincinnati. He allowed one hit and no runs in one inning while picking up a hold.
La Russa said he spoke with Isringhausen on Tuesday afternoon.
"I definitely believe he could pitch next year," La Russa said.
No ligament damage was found during Isringhausen's exam.
"It's unfortunate," Cardinals starter Braden Looper said. "He's a guy who has been here for a long time. My heart goes out to him because I know what he has gone through this year and continued to try to battle."
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
CC earns seventh win in new uniform
SAN DIEGO -- It was business as usual for the sensational CC Sabathia on Wednesday. He notched another win, even though the Padres made him work for it.
Sabathia did not cruise through this start like some of his others, but that did not stop him from preserving his perfect record with Milwaukee and helping his new team to its eighth straight victory, a 7-1 yawner over the Padres at PETCO Park that had many fans heading for the exits before Sabathia finished his seven-inning stint.
"I feel like I'm pitching pretty good," Sabathia said.
If this is, "pretty good," Sabathia's Brewers teammates would love to see what else he has in store. He has won 10 straight decisions dating to his final days with the Indians and is 7-0 with a 1.55 ERA in eight Brewers starts since the July 7 trade.
He surrendered nine Padres hits on Wednesday night but allowed only one run in seven innings. Sabathia struck out eight and walked one.
He got help once again from first baseman Prince Fielder, who started the scoring with a solo home run in a three-run second inning that included Sabathia's run-scoring groundout. It was Fielder's second go-ahead home run in as many nights.
Corey Hart added a three-run triple in a four-run fifth inning as Milwaukee piled on against Padres starter Josh Banks (3-5). Banks was charged with seven earned runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings.
"He's been everything we thought he'd be," Hart said of Sabathia. "When he's out there, we feel like we don't have to score a lot because he's not going to give up a lot. He's been pitching as well as anybody in the National League right now. I think we're more relaxed because the pressure is not there to score five runs."
But they have been scoring for Sabathia. The Brewers have scored more than three runs in six of Sabathia's eight starts, and he won the other two.
"I like the way he plays," Fielder said. "It's a lot of fun to play for him. When you know you don't have to score a lot of runs, you just relax and good things happen. You know you have to just get him a couple."
Even with the win, the Brewers lost ground to the Cubs, who swept a doubleheader in Atlanta on Wednesday and hold a 3 1/2-game lead in the National League Central.
The Brewers acquired Sabathia to help close that gap, and he had worked into the ninth inning of each of his past two starts including a 103-pitch, five-hit shutout of Washington on Aug. 8 at Miller Park. But he had to grind against the Padres, who had a baserunner in every inning but the third and tallied nine hits against the left-hander.
Sabathia walked one and struck out eight.
"They did do a good job of having some good at-bats, making me work, putting the bat on the ball," Sabathia said. "I have to tip my cap to them because they did a pretty good job. I felt like I had pretty good stuff tonight, and they made me work."
Sabathia needed 114 pitches to do it, but he escaped in every inning but the fourth, when catcher Nick Hundley grounded into a run-scoring fielder's choice that briefly cut Milwaukee's lead to 3-1.
Hart extended the lead in the top of the fifth inning against Banks, a right-hander making his first career start against the Brewers. With first base open, Banks intentionally walked Fielder to load the bases with one out for Hart, who yanked a 1-and-2 pitch over third base for a triple that scored three runs.
"That's why we've got Corey hitting behind Prince in that spot," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "He has the knack and that ability to pick up those big at-bats. If they do have a situation where there's a base open, I want an All-Star behind Prince that's going to hopefully make somebody pay."
Hart scored from third on Craig Counsell's sacrifice fly for a 7-1 lead but the Padres threatened in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases on three consecutive singles to lead off the inning.
After a visit with pitching coach Mike Maddux, Sabathia escaped by retiring the heart of San Diego's lineup in order. Kevin Kouzmanoff popped out, Adrian Gonzalez struck out swinging on a pitch away and Chase Headley grounded into an inning-ending force out.
"It was more of a grind for him tonight," Yost said. "But he does not give in. He does not allow big innings to happen. ... Any team can climb back into a game, quick, in that situation. He didn't allow that to happen."
Yost is mulling his starting rotation for the remainder of the season and will have to make some sort of adjustment when the Brewers have three off-days in the span of eight days beginning next week. If they keep Sabathia as close as possible to an every-fifth-day schedule, the Brewers could squeeze nine more starts out of the left-hander.
That would be just fine with Fielder.
"We're excited to have him," said Fielder, who isn't exactly surprised by Sabathia's success. "He's an unbelievable pitcher, don't get me wrong. But he's a Cy Young winner, too. I knew he was going to do well."
Copyright 2008 Sporting Life UK Ltd, All Rights Reserved.
Umpires' call has Dodgers protesting
ST. LOUIS -- The Dodgers played Wednesday night's 9-6 loss to the Cardinals under protest because of a dispute about a substitution in the top of the eighth inning.
Casey Blake's one-out double had just cut the St. Louis lead to 9-6 with Mark Sweeney in the on-deck circle to bat for Pablo Ozuna. Sweeney moved toward home plate, and umpire Chris Guccione was about to motion Sweeney into the game when manager Joe Torre, now wanting Jeff Kent to bat instead against Cardinals right-hander Brad Thompson, asked if Sweeney was already in the game.
With his back to the plate as he shouted to Torre in the Dodgers dugout, Guccione told Torre that Sweeney was not officially in the game. But simultaneously, Sweeney was stepping into the batter's box, which, according to the rules, meant he was officially in the game. Torre, not knowing that Sweeney had entered the box, called back Sweeney (thinking he hadn't been used) and sent Kent up.
St. Louis manager Tony La Russa verified with the umpires whether Sweeney had been used. Guccione said no, but was overruled by crew chief Tim Welke who, from his first-base vantage point, saw Sweeney enter the batter's box.
"Actions speak louder than words," said Torre.
After a delay approaching 10 minutes, which included multiple huddles of the umpires and managers, Torre sent up Kent, who took a called strike three for the second out. Angel Berroa popped out to end the inning.
"The rule is when you touch the batter's box, whether the umpire points or not," said La Russa. "You can protest a violation of a rule, but I don't think there was. I think we're good."
Torre didn't question the rule, but protested on the grounds that he was acting on what he had been told by Guccione, who confirmed Torre's version.
"I'm basing it on what the umpire tells me I can do," said Torre. "When an umpire tells me something, if I can't believe the umpire, how do I go about my business? It's judgment on their part."
The umpires will send a written report to MLB offices in New York, but chances of anything happening appear slim.
"It was the perfect storm," said Welke. "But we're right on this one."
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Webb first to 15 wins in topping Dodgers
LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers may have won the Manny Ramirez sweepstakes, but the D-backs came out on top on the scoreboard Thursday night with a 2-1 win in front of 42,440 at Dodger Stadium.
With the victory, the D-backs lead in the National League West increased to two games over the Dodgers. Arizona has now won eight of its last 10 games.
The game was a battle of sinkerball pitchers, with Brandon Webb and Derek Lowe both doing their best to kill the grass with ground-ball out after ground-ball out.
"In my eyes, it's the biggest game we've played all year," Webb said. "These guys are right on our tails."
The right-hander scattered six hits over eight innings to become the Majors' first 15-game winner.
"That was probably some of the best stuff I've had all year," Webb said. "I was able to keep the ball down when I wanted to. My changeup was real good, and mechanically, I felt real sound."
The Dodgers have struggled against Webb, as he has won eight of his last nine starts against them and the only game he didn't win, he held them to just one run over eight innings and left with a lead.
The Dodgers grabbed a 1-0 lead in the sixth when Russell Martin flared a ball toward second that just short-hopped Orlando Hudson. That prevented him from throwing out Juan Pierre trying to score from third, and it also kept him from turning a double play.
The D-backs erased the deficit and took a 2-1 lead in the seventh thanks to Mark Reynolds' RBI double and an RBI single by Chris Snyder.
As they've been doing a lot lately, the D-backs executed well at the plate in the inning with Reynolds going the other way with a pitch and Snyder driving his single up the middle.
"They did some good things to execute in their inning and we did some in ours," D-backs manager Bob Melvin said. "Mark didn't try to do too much and stayed the other way and Snydes just staying up the middle. We had four real good at-bats in a row right there, and it ended up winning the game for us."
That was all the offensive support that Webb would need, though there were some anxious moments for him in the eighth.
Andre Ethier, who did not start the game because of flu-like symptoms, led off the inning with a pinch-hit single to make him 7-for-15 in his career against Webb. Mark Sweeney followed with a pinch-hit single of his own, and a Pierre sacrifice bunt put runners at second and third with just one out.
Matt Kemp then lifted a fly ball to shallow left, where Conor Jackson caught it and threw a strike to Snyder at the plate to nail Ethier.
"He's proud of his defense right now," Melvin said of Jackson, who moved from first to left after Eric Byrnes' season-ending injury. "He's been working hard every day. Came in read the ball pretty well, had his feet underneath him in good position to throw, made a good throw and Snydes made a good tag. Not only do we get the out, we get the emotion back in our duguout."
Said Jackson, "I feel good out there, I feel comfortable. My biggest thing was just keep the ball down, hit the cutoff and keep it reasonably in the area of the plate so they can make a play."
Either slide to the pitcher's mound side of home plate and swept the plate with his right hand, but not before Snyder got him.
"I got him on the shoulder," said Snyder, who held the ball in his right hand while pumping his fist as he jogged towards the dugout. You've got to sell out in a situation like that; that's the game right there."
Brandon Lyon closed things out in the ninth for his 23rd save. It was quite a contrast to the last time these two teams met a couple of weeks ago in Phoenix, when Lyon allowed seven runs in 1 2/3 innings over back-to-back nights. Despite that, Melvin had no hesitation in going to him.
"He just had a couple of off games at our place against the Dodgers," Melvin said.
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Phillies deciding Friday's starter
ATLANTA -- Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said on Wednesday that no decision had been made regarding who will start Friday's series opener against the Mets.
"I haven't talked to anybody," Manuel said. "Haven't talked to nobody at all today."
No decision was announced after the game.
Brett Myers, who was the fifth starter in the Phillies' rotation, agreed to be optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Tuesday. Candidates to replace Myers include reliever Chad Durbin, who didn't allow a hit in two innings of relief on Wednesday, or Minor Leaguers J.A. Happ and Carlos Carrasco.
Cole Hamels will pitch Thursday's series finale against the Braves.
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Bruce gives Reds win in extras vs. Jays
TORONTO -- Step right up, folks. This was a tightrope act you won't see every day at the ballpark.
In the top of the seventh inning of a tied game, Reds reliever David Weathers pitched himself into and out of a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam against the Blue Jays and used only six pitches. It was a crucial moment in Cincinnati's 6-5, 10-inning win over Toronto on Wednesday night.
To begin the seventh, Alex Rios singled to center field, Vernon Wells pulled a single to left field and Matt Stairs singled up the middle --- all on the first pitch they saw from Weathers.
Trouble, big trouble.
"One of two things is going to happen," Weathers said. "We're either going to get out of this and get a shot at it or I'm about to give up the farm. Pretty simple."
Yet, Weathers escaped unscathed. Scott Rolen popped out to second base on the first pitch, and on the second pitch, Lyle Overbay broke his bat on a grounder back to Weathers, who started the 1-2-3 double play that ended the inning. Weathers pumped his fist excitedly as he walked off the mound.
"That's not the easiest one to get out of," Weathers said.
Jared Burton (4-1) provided scoreless eighth and ninth innings to hold Toronto down until Cincinnati scraped something together with a small-ball rally in the top of the 10th.
"When you can come back and grind out a one-run game like that, it was good for us," said Burton, who has a 0.74 ERA over his last 20 appearances.
Back-to-back walks by Norris Hopper and Paul Janish off Brian Wolfe (0-2) and David Ross' sacrifice bunt set up the go-ahead run. Against Jesse Carlson, Jay Bruce skied a routine one-out fly ball to left field that easily scored Hopper. Francisco Cordero worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the 10th inning for his 15th save.
Coming off a 14-1 loss to Toronto on Tuesday, the Reds have a shot at taking two of three from the Blue Jays with a win on Thursday.
It could have been a disastrous night for the Reds, who blew an early five-run lead they had on Blue Jays starter Roy Halladay.
Ken Griffey Jr. gave the Reds a 2-0 first-inning lead when he connected for a two-run home run to right field off Halladay. It was Griffey's ninth homer of the season and No. 602 for his career. Four straight hits to start a three-run third inning helped the Reds widen the lead. Adam Dunn and Brandon Phillips each hit RBI singles, and a run-scoring fielder's choice by Joey Votto gave Cincinnati a 5-0 lead.
"You get five runs off Doc Halladay, that's almost unheard of," Reds manager Dusty Baker said.
Halladay, the 2003 American League Cy Young Award winner, came in 4-1 with a 2.00 ERA over his last seven starts.
The Reds, who stranded 11 runners, went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position -- including leaving the bases loaded in the seventh.
Reds starter Aaron Harang labored and gave up four runs in the fourth, including a pair of two-run home runs to Adam Lind and Joe Inglett. Harang was charged with five earned runs and seven hits over 5 2/3 innings, with three walks and three strikeouts.
"It was a battle all night," Harang said.
Weathers was on the mound when he blew the save opportunity that let the tying run score in the sixth.
On Marco Scutaro's two-out RBI single to left field, Dunn made an on-target throw on one-hop ahead of Overbay, who scored from second base. The ball got past Ross, and the game was tied at 5.
Weathers certainly redeemed himself with crisis creation and crisis aversion maneuvers.
"That was beautiful," Baker said. "They could have been off to the races."
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Francis, Rox take down Indians
DENVER -- Rockies left-hander Jeff Francis is on a hot streak, if you're going by his numbers in his last four starts, which include Wednesday night's 4-2 victory over the Indians at Coors Field.
Francis (3-6), who gave up two runs, one earned, and five hits in six innings, is 2-1 with a 2.88 ERA in his last four starts. His first-inning issues, which were prominent in his awful start to 2008, seem to be behind him.
But Francis gave a matter-of-fact assessment that he had some luck early in the game, like a liner that Ryan Spilborghs grabbed near the right-field wall and a line-drive double play to in the second.
"I threw a lot of strikes and I was able to force some contact, get some guys to get themselves out, but a couple of times in the game I got a break," Francis said. "Things went our way.
"The last two outings [including a no-decision against the White Sox], you pitch well but go into the seventh and don't get an out, it leaves kind of a sour taste in your mouth. But the bullpen picked me up like they always do."
Francis had the sound of a man who hasn't reached his best. It's exactly the approach the Rockies insist upon and, frankly, the only one that'll work.
The Rockies have won 10 of their last 14 games and have taken five straight series. They have a shot at a sweep of the Indians on Thursday night. But there's no need to start admiring their handiwork.
The record for Francis and that of the club (30-42, last in the National League West and eight games behind the Diamondbacks) serve as reminders that the recent ability to win games is going to have to last for another four months.
"We're just going to stay focused on coming out here every day, working hard and getting better," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "That's what we've said since the beginning. It took us longer to get some traction than we've wanted to. We've developed some traction now."
Jeff Baker hit his second home run in as many nights, off Aaron Laffey (4-4) to open the fourth, and scored three times. Omar Quintanilla knocked in two runs, on a double in the second and a single in the sixth.
Baker, who had an inside-the-park homer in Tuesday's 10-2 victory over the Indians but cleared the left-field wall Wednesday, and Quintanilla could go to the bench once shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and second baseman Clint Barmes return from injury within a week.
But Baker has hit .414 over his last 10 games, with 10 of his 16 hits for extra bases, and Quintanilla has doubled in his last four games. The sharpness they've gained through regular playing time could make them bigger threats off the bench.
Francis has struggled with his changeup -- a real weapon -- all season. Although he had some good ones Thursday, he relied mainly on his curve and locating his fastball on both sides of the plate and finished with two strikeouts and no walks.
"The last two times out he's throwing strikes and locating the ball better," Hurdle said. "I think that's the biggest key."
But Francis hit two during the sixth and gave up former teammate Jamey Carroll's RBI double.
Francis left after Casey Blake's single to open the seventh. Blake would eventually go to third on a passed ball by Rockies catcher Chris Iannetta and score on a sacrifice fly, but Jason Grilli struck out two, including Carroll to end the inning with two on base.
The Rockies' Willy Taveras opened the seventh with an infield single, stole second and went to third on Indians catcher Kelly Shoppach's wild throw, and scored on Spilborghs' sacrifice fly for a two-run lead.
Taylor Buchholz posted his 15th scoreless appearance in his last 16 games with a perfect eighth. Brian Fuentes earned his 12th save and extended his string of successful save chances to six.
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
|
