Tuesday, August 06, 2002
Notes from Monday's games
The Associated Press
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Orioles-Blue Jays
BALTIMORE: Rookie starter Rodrigo Lopez, the loser Monday, is 6-1 in nine starts following an Orioles loss this season. ... INF/OF Melvin Mora has 10 RBIs in his last 11 games. ... The Orioles have lost 25 of their last 33 games at SkyDome. ... The Orioles have lost 11 of their last 18 overall. ... Tony Batista, who had started every game at 3B for Baltimore this season, moved to the DH slot on Monday. Jose Leon started
TORONTO: 1B Carlos Delgado missed his second straight game with a sore back. He missed Sunday's game, ending a franchise-record streak of 432 consecutive games played. Delgado said he went into manager Carlos Tosca's office before Sunday's game and told him he couldn't play. “You want to play, but you don't want to be stupid,” Delgado said. “It was nagging me for five, six days, and it wasn't getting better, so I figured I'd play it safe and take a couple of days off.” Delgado said he'll see if he can play after taking batting practice on Tuesday. ... OF Vernon Wells has 28 RBIs in his last 28 games, while Of Jose Cruz Jr. has 29 RBIs in his last 32.
———
Royals-Twins
KANSAS CITY: LF Chuck Knoblauch, still sore above his elbow after being hit by Minnesota's Rick Reed on Friday, was out of the lineup for the second straight day but is expected back for Tuesday's game in New York. Knoblauch, who missed 39 games earlier this year with a strained forearm, took the Royals' lineup card out to the umpires at the plate before the game. ... 3B Luis Alicea hit his first home run since last Sept. 8, a span of 225 at-bats. ... 2B Carlos Febles tied a career high with four hits — the last time he did it was Aug. 12, 2000, against Baltimore. ... The Royals, 4-11 against the Twins this year, have outscored Minnesota 73-68. ... Neifi Perez, Brent Mayne and Febles — the bottom third of the order — went a combined 10-for-15 with nine runs scored. ... The Royals scored more than four runs for the first time in 13 games. They beat Cleveland 13-12 in 10 innings on July 21.
MINNESOTA: 3B Corey Koskie was held out of the lineup after bruising his chest Sunday when Royals first baseman Chan Perry hit him with a ball that was intended for home plate. Koskie spent the night in a hospital as a precaution, underwent tests Monday morning and was released. He said he could play Tuesday in Baltimore. “It hurt,” said Koskie, whose chest was still red from the impact Monday. “I guess it's like someone punched you in the chest as hard as they could.” ... The Twins' clubhouse was subdued in victory after Koskie's scare on Sunday but back to normal Monday. An enlarged paper replica of a baseball was taped to the chest of Koskie's jersey in his stall. ... DH David Ortiz extended his career-best hitting streak to 18 games. Marty Cordova's 23-game hitting streak in 1996 was the team's longest before this one. ... The Twins, who travel to Baltimore and Boston this week to play the Orioles and Red Sox for the first time this season, went 8-2 on their 10-game homestand and averaged 29,777 per game. ... The Twins' bullpen had its consecutive scoreless innings streak ended at 20 innings. ... The Twins' club-record 12-game errorless streak ended with pitcher Joe Mays' throwing error in the sixth. They went 118 innings without an error. ... The last series the Twins lost to an AL team was May 17-19 in New York against the Yankees. ... OF Bobby Kielty, who turned 26 Monday, has two hits in his last 19 at-bats.
———
White Sox-Devil Rays
CHICAGO: Manager Jerry Manuel plans to talk with RHP Todd Ritchie, who lost his major league-leading 15th game last Saturday, when the team returns home Tuesday. Ritchie is listed as the probable starter for Thursday's game against Anaheim. ... Razor Shines, manager of the White Sox's Class-A Winston-Salem club, will manage Peoria of the Arizona Fall League. ... The White Sox left 45 on base during the four-game series at Tampa Bay, which they split. ... Chicago has allowed 37 runs over the past 10 games. ... DH Frank Thomas was given the day off. He has three hits in his past 19 at-bats. ... SS John Valentin went 0-for-3 and is hitless in 14 at-bats.
TAMPA BAY: Manager Hal McRae said SS Andy Sheets, 2B Felix Escalona and RF Jason Conti will remain in the starting lineup. They have replaced Chris Gomez, Brent Abernathy and Ben Grieve respectively. ... 1B Steve Cox has a sore foot and was the designated hitter. Regular DH Aubrey Huff started at first base. ... RHP Ryan Rupe (right knee tendinitis) increased his bullpen session from 5 to 8 minutes. He is throwing off the mound every other day. ... Rookie LF Carl Crawford went 0-for-3 on his 21th birthday. ... Huff received a letter from a Bronxville, N.Y., man that included a check for $1.27. After mentioning reports about the team's financial situation, the letter ended by saying the man was looking forward to getting Huff's autograph on the canceled check. Huff joked that he was going to cash the check and buy a Big Mac.
———
Angels-Tigers
ANAHEIM: The Angels skipped batting practice after arriving in Detroit at 3 a.m. EDT after playing extra innings with the Yankees on Sunday. Anaheim was originally scheduled to have the day off before traveling to Chicago, but were forced to Detroit to make up a May 16 rainout. ... Anaheim is on pace to hit 334 doubles, which would break the team record, set in 1998, by 20. ... Troy Percival has allowed one earned run in 34 2-3 innings (0.26 ERA) against Detroit.
DETROIT: Manager Luis Pujols didn't want to be drawn into a war of words with former Tigers pitcher Jeff Weaver, who was quoted as saying that he hoped Pujols would be fired during the offseason. “This is a free country and you can say what you want,” Pujols said. “I'm not going to comment on what Jeff Weaver says.” ... Monday's game was billed as “Silent Night” — the Comerica Park scoreboard video screen was turned off and only organ music was played. There was also a demonstration of 19th-century baseball before the game.
———
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Dodgers-Phillies
LOS ANGELES: The Dodgers have the second-lowest total in the majors for walks (287). Detroit began Monday with 248. ... 1B Eric Karros (nine homers) hasn't homered since July 2, a span of 25 games. He went 7-for-14 (.500) in the final three games of the series. ... Nomo's career high for strikeouts in a game is 17, set April 13, 1996, against Florida. ... The Dodgers have 50 games remaining, 28 at home and 22 on the road.
PHILADELPHIA: The Phillies have an extra-base hit in 109 of 111 games. The team leads the NL in doubles (225) and triples (30). The team has homered in 26 of its last 38 games. ... LF Pat Burrell was not in the starting lineup. He had a pinch-hit appearance in the eighth and increased his team-high games played total to 109. ... SS Jimmy Rollins is 3 for his last 26 (.115). ... RHP Mike Timlin has allowed 12 homers in 67 innings. He has given up two homers in three appearances with the Phillies. ... Rollins and C Todd Pratt each sustained elbow injuries but each maintained they would play in the series opener Tuesday at San Diego. Rollins was hit on the right elbow by a pitch in the eighth inning. Pratt hyperextended his left elbow while catching a pitch in the seventh inning.
———
Diamondbacks-Mets
ARIZONA: The Diamondbacks have won 12 of 14 games to open a seven-game lead over Los Angeles in the NL West, their largest lead since winning the division by 14 games in 1999. Arizona finished a four-game sweep of the Mets with a 12-7 slugfest Sunday and a 2-0 shutout by Randy Johnson on Monday. “This is as good as I've seen us play,” 3B Matt Williams said. “When we score two runs, Randy pitches a shutout. When we give up seven, we score 12.” ... Johnson struck out the first six batters, his personal best and two shy of Jim Deshaies' record. The Big Unit also took a no-hitter into the sixth inning for the 20th time of his career, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Roger Cedeno's infield hit broke up Johnson's bid for a second career no-hitter. “He made a pretty good run at it for five innings,” SS Craig Counsell said. “It's fun to watch every fifth day seeing a great pitcher pitch.”
NEW YORK: Shawn Estes allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings. He is 1-2 in his last four starts despite a 1.67 ERA. “It's frustrating,” Estes said. “I've had losses like this before but it's not something you ever get used to.” ... The teams combined for 15 homers in the four games, tied for the most in any series at Shea Stadium. The Mets and Pirates also hit 15 in July 1966. ... 3B Edgardo Alfonzo (sore ribs) and 2B Roberto Alomar (strained left groin) sat out again Monday. “Robbie is close, maybe a day away,” manager Bobby Valentine said. “Fonzie feels better, better than expected. He's a couple of days away.” ... Valentine and 1B Mo Vaughn have a difference of opinion on the definition of must-win games. Vaughn called both Sunday and Monday must wins, a term Valentine doesn't like to use. “Must win usually means go home if you lose to me,” Valentine said. “Maybe he doesn't understand the connotation of it. I think we're on the same page, just expressing it differently.”
Reds Stories
Agassi guts out tough victory on day one
Costa captured confidence and uses it well
Kafelnikov offers no excuses for early ouster
No. 2 Safin, Kafelnikov make first-round exits
No pressure, just opportunity
Parents' condition concerns Haas
Safin's disappointing year hits bottom
ATP Masters Results
Hingis desires wild-card spot in U.S. Open
Injured Kidd replaced by Davis on U.S. national team
Chick Hearn 'meant everything to all of us'
Lakers announcer Chick Hearn dead at 85
Rocker apologizes for anti-gay statements made in restaurant
Tonya Harding admits she drove drunk
Why the mob left boxing for ice dancing
French, Russian skaters speak up
321.4-yard drives take golfer only so far
Fans flock to see Lance
NASCAR investigating Stewart incident
Nationals up next for champion Perkins
First football foe: Heat
Key linemen given new deals
No ill will toward Bledsoe
Palmer back in Ohio, with expansion Texans
Giants 34, Texans 17
Heck, Madden and Michaels hit it off
Is Mariucci miffed Spurrier ran it up?
Vick hurts shoulder, says he's OK
• Return to Reds front page...
Notes from Monday's games