Wednesday, June 07, 2006 |
Pickoff Moves
Today's Birthdays
Bones Ely BRO b. 1863, played 1891, d. 1952-01-10
Lafayette Henion BRO b. 1899, played 1919, d. 1955-07-22
Odalis Perez LAN b. 1977, played 2002-2005, All-Star: 2002. He's been so bad recently that we've forgotten how very good he was back in 2002, and again in 2004. OP looked like he could be a young, solid left-hander the Dodgers needed when they traded for him in the Gary Sheffield dump; for two years (2002 and 2004) he was valuable, but like the Star Trek movies, every other year was bad — until this year, when he appears to be awful in an even year. He's charred a few bridges in LA by grumbling to the press about his run support; we're unlikely to see the Dodgers excercise his option after his contract expires following the 2007 season. He'll get the start tonight against a reëngineered Tom Glavine (h/t: Crank).
Trevor Wilson ANA b. 1966, played 1998
Doing It Right: Angels 12, Devil Rays 2
At some point, Ervin Santana was bound to have a good game either on the road or during the day; our little homebound vampire had to budge eventually, and as it turned out, it was against the D-Rays' ace, Scott Kazmir, a trade that has not done well by the Mets; both of their halves of this deal are now on the DL for the balance of the season. It was a rare astute pickup of the former regime in Tampa, now thankfully away fishing permanently.But until the D-Rays — perhaps not long to be called that anymore — have a more complete turnover in what they politely call talent here, the losing won't change much. The fact that they nearly started the year with Lance Carter in the bullpen tells you lots about this team; the fact that they neatly insisted in unloading him to the Dodgers as a quid pro quo with Danys Baez tells you that the new front office does not consist entirely of chumps.
Absent from yesterday's starting lineup was Chone Figgins, whom Mike Scioscia had taken the uncharacteristic step of calling out in the press for his lackadaisical play earlier in the week:
Scioscia criticized Figgins on Monday for "not busting it" against Tampa Bay when an errant throw by catcher Mike Napoli got by Figgins in center field for another error, allowing Julio Lugo to score from second and Carl Crawford, who had walked, to reach third.Maybe, maybe not; Figgins sat in favor of newly anointed leadoff man Orlando Cabrera, who went 3-5. In another unusual lineup featuring Juan Rivera hitting second, Rivera responded with a 3-5 performance that included a pair of RBIs. And even then, Figgins came in late to the game and popped out another home run; one of the men expected to get those, Tim Salmon, went 0-3 and left the game early. Robb Quinlan broke a four-game hitless streak with a 1-5 performance, but remains mired in a stretch of eight games in which he hasn't had multiple hits in a single game.Figgins did not appear to be running at full speed as he retrieved the ball, which rolled about 40 feet behind him, and Scioscia let him know in the dugout.
"That's not like Figgy," Scioscia said. "It's something we need to clean up, and it's been addressed."
Today, we get treated to another Jered Weaver start. Let's hope Weaver makes the decision as to whom to demote or send down to Salt Lake a tough one.
Delino DeShields Retired In 2002: Dodgers 8, Mets 5
"Neither one of us were very sharp tonight. It wasn't the smoothest game ever," quoth Derek Lowe, and how right he was. But in the end, it was the Dodgers who came out on top thanks to a six-run sixth that left Derek Lowe as the winning pitcher. A great win for the Dodgers, who managed it despite the presumptive Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez appearing on the mound for the Mets, but he's hardly the Pedro! of five years ago. Simply, the Dodgers ex-Red Sox players (Nomar, Lowe) were better than the Mets'.And then there was Gagné. Aside from the win, did anything else in this game really matter but his appearance, getting his first save in about a year? He came in and mostly threw strikes, striking out a pair as the Gagné of old. His velocity is still down; maybe it will always be so. Speed isn't everything; if he can locate those pitches, we have many more nights like last night ahead, Boras and the fates notwithstanding. Bonne chance, Eric.
Roster Notes
- Jeff Kent is not expected to come off the DL on schedule.
- Dioner Navarro will start a rehab assignment at Las Vegas on Thursday.
- Darin Erstad was pulled from yesterday's rehab game in the sixth because of recurring soreness in his ankle. He aggravated the injury trying to cut off a ball in the gap.
- And Now We Know: Bartolo Colón's fastball was clocked between 89-91 MPH. Not Fast Enough. Jered, pitch a good game tonight. I have a feeling the team's gonna need you.
- Woody Williams is nearing a return to the Padres; he expects to be back in the first week of July.
- Rangers starter Adam Eaton has thrown from 75 feet but is weeks away from throwing from a mound.
- Another Rangers pitching casualty, Brian Anderson, has had a setback from Tommy John surgery, and will have an MRI done presently.
- The Rangers reactivated Antonio Alfonseca.
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