|
| |
|
|
|
Baseball roundup: Monday's action on the diamonds |
|
|
|
Written by THE CANADIAN PRESS
|
|
Tuesday, 08 July 2008 |
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hiroki Kuroda celebrates after the last out of the ninth inning. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Kevork Djansezian)
Related Items
No keywords found
Hiroki Kuroda wasn't as upset about losing his bid for baseball history as he would have been had he given up runs in a tight game.
Kuroda took a perfect game into the eighth inning and settled for a one-hitter, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 3-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Monday night. The right-hander retired the first 21 batters before Mark Teixeira lined his 70th pitch into the right field corner for a double leading off the eighth.
"My main concern was that he was the leadoff hitter in that inning, it was a 2-2 count and I didn't want to walk him because I didn't have that big of a lead," Kuroda said through a translator. "I was concentrating more on not allowing any runs. I wasn't really nervous, but I felt the pressure from the fans because they were expecting something big."
Catcher Russell Martin of Chelsea, Que., said the slider he called for didn't miss its target by much.
"Teixeira's first at-bat he swung over a slider, but the pitch he hit was a little bit higher in the zone than that one," Martin said. "But you've still got to give credit to Teixeira for putting a good swing on it. As soon as he hit it and I heard the sound, I kind of put my head down. There went the perfect game - but at that point, you've still got to win the game. It was an awesome performance."
Teixeira was the only baserunner for the Braves, who had flown across the country after waiting through a one-hour, 50-minute rain delay in a 7-6, 17-inning victory over Houston on Sunday - the longest game ever at Turner Field.
"We don't want to have a perfect game thrown against us, but Kuroda was great tonight - probably the best pitching performance we've seen all year," Teixeira said. "His stuff was great - a mid-90s fastball, putting it exactly where he wanted it, sinking his fastball at 90 to get you to ground out or miss. He probably made one mistake all night, and I just got lucky enough to put a good swing on it. It definitely was the most hittable pitch I saw all night."
Kuroda (5-6) was attempting to become the first Dodger to throw a no-hitter since Sept. 17, 1996, when countryman Hideo Nomo beat Colorado 9-0 at Coors Field.
"He was throwing 95 m.p.h. sinkers that were dropping off the table," Atlanta catcher Brian McCann said. "There was nothing we could have done. He had awesome stuff. He was phenomenal."
Kuroda, 33, signed with the Dodgers in December as a free agent after 11 seasons with Hiroshima of the Japanese Central League. He threw 91 pitches and struck out six in a game that lasted just two hours and three minutes.
Elsewhere in the NL it was: Colorado 4, Milwaukee 3; Pittsburgh 10, Houston 7; New York 10, Philadelphia 9; and Florida 3, San Diego 1.
At Los Angeles, the closest the Braves came to a baserunner before Teixeira's hit was in the seventh, when Gregor Blanco dropped a bunt to the left of the plate on Kuroda's first pitch of the inning. Rookie third baseman Blake DeWitt made a barehanded pickup and threw him out by a step.
Kuroda was sidelined 18 days because of a sore shoulder. He rejoined the rotation on July 2 and held the Astros to five hits over seven innings in a 4-1 victory. The complete game was the second in 15 starts for Kuroda, who beat the Cubs 3-0 with a four-hitter and had a career-high 11 strikeouts on June 6.
Manager Joe Torre nearly ran out of superlatives describing Kuroda's effort.
"He was close to perfect. That's the only way to describe it. You can't get much closer to being perfect than that," Torre said. "He worked fast and threw a lot of strikes, as evidenced by his pitch count at the end of the game. That was about as robotic as you've ever seen any pitcher just throw one strike after another. He was like a machine. He kept us on the edge of our seats."
When Torre managed the Yankees, David Cone and David Wells each pitched a perfect game at Yankee Stadium.
The win moved the Dodgers in a tie for first in the NL West with idle Arizona, although they are still a game under .500.
Jose Campillo (3-4) took a one-hitter into the fifth before the Dodgers scored their runs. The right-hander walked James Loney to open the inning, and Nomar Garciaparra drove a 1-2 pitch into the bullpen in left one out later for his second homer of the season.
Kuroda, who bunted three pitches foul with a runner at first in the third inning, sacrificed DeWitt to second after he singled. Matt Kemp drove in DeWitt with a single. Kemp is 8-for-29 with six walks since Torre switched him to the leadoff spot seven games ago.
Campillo allowed three runs and five hits over seven innings in his Dodger Stadium debut.
With only five games left before the All-Star break, the Braves (42-48) are assured of going into the break under .500 for only the third time in the last 18 seasons. It also happened in 1991 (39-40) and 2006 (40-49).
Atlanta right-fielder Jeff Francoeur, who was demoted to double-A Mississippi on Friday because of his .234 batting average, rejoined the Braves on an emergency recall after outfielder Omar Infante (right hamstring) was placed on the disabled list.
Under normal circumstances, Francoeur would have had to spend 10 days in the minors. The four-year veteran, who had four hits Sunday in his third game with Mississippi and was 7-for-13 during his three-game stint in the minors, would have been in the starting lineup against the Dodgers but was unable to get on an earlier flight.
Rockies 4, Brewers 3
At Milwaukee, Ubaldo Jimenez allowed three hits over seven innings and Colorado beat the Brewers 4-3 on Monday night, spoiling a daylong welcome party for CC Sabathia.
-
Pirates 10, Astros 7
At Pittsburgh, Nate McLouth and Ryan Doumit both homered and were among 10 Pirates with hits as Pittsburgh snapped a three-game losing streak.
-
Mets 10, Phillies 9
At Philadelphia, Pedro Martinez pitched into the sixth inning then watched New York give back nearly all of a nine-run lead before holding on.
-
Marlins 3, Padres 1
At San Diego, Jorge Cantu hit a two-run home run off Greg Maddux, which was enough to carry Ricky Nolasco and Florida to the victory.
-
Los Angeles needed a Texas boy to beat a Texas team and they got one in Torii Hunter.
Hunter homered twice, the first capping a six-run second inning, and Angels held on for a 9-6 victory over the Rangers.
Vladimir Guerrero, Jeff Mathis and Hunter all homered in the big second inning that gave the Angels an 8-0 lead.
Hunter spent the day with his family at his house in nearby Prosper - which is north of Dallas - before hitting two homers in a game for the second time this season.
"Baseball is all mental," said Hunter, who had an RBI single in the first and homered in the seventh. "Just coming home to my family, being around my brothers, it kind of relaxes you a little bit."
Hunter, who signed a five-year deal with the Angels in the off-season, had driven in just one run over his past 15 games.
"I haven't been playing up to par like I should be," Hunter said. "I'm trying to get used to this team, my environment, the travel, the whole thing."
All three of Los Angeles' homers in the second were off Rangers starter Luis Mendoza (1-3), who allowed eight runs in 1 1-3 innings.
Mendoza, who has not won in five starts this season, allowed nine hits and two walks in the 14 batters he faced.
"We have to do a better job of pitching early," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "If we keep the damage down to a minimum, we can stay with them."
Elsewhere in the AL it was: Kansas City 7, Tampa Bay 4; Boston 1, Minnesota 0; and Oakland 4, Seattle 3.
At Arlington, Texas, Ervin Santana (10-3), who was named an All-Star for the first time, allowed six runs and 10 hits in seven innings. He struck out six in winning for just the second time in six starts.
David Murphy and Chris Davis homered off Santana in Texas' five-run fifth that nearly erased the eight-run deficit.
"In this park with their offence, you have to pitch well," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Their offence got them back in the game. Pitchers have their work cut out for them. I thought Ervin did a good job."
Francisco Rodriguez pitched the ninth for his 35th save, the most ever before the All-Star break. Atlanta's John Smoltz had 34 before the break in 2003.
Mathis hit a two-run homer that put the Angels ahead 4-0. After Maicer Izturis' run-scoring single, Guerrero hit a two-run homer that travelled 436 feet and extended the lead to 7-0.
Hunter homered on the next pitch - a 442-foot shot that landed in the second deck in left.
"That was wind-aided," Hunter said with a smile. "Thank God for wind. I shocked myself."
That knocked Mendoza out of the game in favour of Dustin Nippert.
Nippert pitched seven innings in the longest relief outing in the majors this season. He gave up one run and allowed four hits - one of which was Hunter's solo homer in the seventh.
Ian Kinsler of the Rangers went 4-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 19 games. Kinsler doubled in the third and scored on Josh Hamilton's double.
Murphy's three-run homer brought Texas within 8-4, and Davis' two-run shot cut Los Angeles' lead to two in the fifth.
"We were trying to chip away," Murphy said. "There was one big inning where the momentum swung our way. It just wasn't enough."
Hunter's homer made it 9-6 in the seventh, and the Angels had a chance to build on their lead in the eighth with runners on first and third with one out.
Izturis hit a grounder to first baseman Davis, who threw home. Rangers catcher Max Ramirez was bowled over by Mathis trying to score.
Ramirez, who appeared to be injured on the play, suddenly picked himself up and threw out Casey Kotchman trying to advance to third. The rookie catcher stayed in for the rest of the game.
Royals 7, Rays 4
At St. Petersburg, Fla., John Buck and Mike Aviles hit 10th-inning homers to lead Kansas City, snapping Tampa Bay's seven-game winning streak.
-
Red Sox 1, Twins 0
At Boston, Manny Ramirez hit a run-scoring single in the eighth to lift Boston in a pitching duel between Daisuke Matsuzaka and Minnesota's Scott Baker.
-
Athletics 4, Mariners 3
At Oakland, Calif., Wes Bankston hit his first career home run, Dana Eveland won his third straight decision and the Athletics ended an eight-game home losing streak.
 |
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed