SUNDAY, MAY 30, 2010
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BASEBALL
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Strasburg labors through five-plus innings
Prospect yields homer, called for a balk in Class AAA loss
by Dave Sheinin
syracuse, n.y. — When he en-
tered the Syracuse Chiefs’ dug- out after his warmups Saturday night, with the first pitch min- utes away, the stadium overflow- ing with fans and a gorgeous late-spring sky overhead, Ste- phen Strasburg wasn’t just feel- ing the electricity — he was gen- erating it. He tapped fists with every last one of his teammates, gulped down some liquids and prepared to go to work. About 100 minutes later, when he was pulled in mid-inning from what stands as the worst start of his minor league career, Strasburg’s body language was
Nationals Journal
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nationalsjournal
Storen adjusting
to big league life
Washington Nationals reliever
Drew Storen has been a major leaguer for 13 days, and he is still getting used to the idea. Standing on the mound feels mostly the same as Class AAA. Everything else, he said, feels different — he flies everywhere, stays in nice hotels and sees his highlights on “SportsCenter.” “Everything is bigger,” Storen said. “Playing in the minor leagues, you don’t really have the big impact. If you mess up, you’re going to mess up in front of a few thousand people instead of 29,000 people. You kind of have to adjust to that.
“I wouldn’t say that I’m
comfortable, but I am getting into a routine, which is the big thing. The first week or so, it’s kind of flustering. Now I know what I need to do and what work I need to get done. I’m feeling more comfortable, but I wouldn’t say I’m settled in.” The shock of his first night — “I really wasn’t nervous, because I couldn’t understand what was going on,” Storen said — has faded. His handful of performances has been steady, “as advertised,” Manager Jim Riggleman said. Over five outings, all coming in pressure spots, Storen has yielded one earned run on two hits and three walks while striking out five. Storen credits his short tenure
in Class AAA Syracuse for his early success. Hitters are obviously better, but Storen feels like they take the same approach. “A lot of those guys are old big leaguers, anyway,” Storen said. “Guys are really looking for one pitch, and it’s tough to fool them. Luckily, I had that taste of Triple A, because I started using my fastball more. It was good for me to make that stop. “The only difference I notice is
the defense is unbelievable. I love that. You have catchers back there who know what they’re doing, and if they put it in play, somebody is going to make the play. That’s kind of the biggest difference.”
Rodríguez close to return
Catcher Iván Rodríguez, on the
15-day disabled list since Monday with a strained lower back, is progressing well and remains on schedule to come off the DL as soon as he is eligible, Riggleman said.
Riggleman doesn’t think Rodríguez will need a minor league rehab assignment. If he does, Riggleman said he would complete the assignment before his 15 days are up, a sign of how quickly his back is healing. . . . The Nationals optioned
outfielder Justin Maxwell to Class AAA Syracuse after Friday’s game in San Diego to make room on the roster for Saturday starter J.D. Martin.
—Adam Kilgore
NATIONALS ON DECK
AT SAN DIEGO
Sunday, 4:05 (MASN2)
AT HOUSTON
Monday, 2:05 (MASN) Tuesday, 8:05 (MASN2) Wednesday, 8:05 (MASN2) Thursday, 2:05 (MASN2)
VS. CINCINNATI
Friday, 7:05 (MASN2) Saturday, 7:05 (MASN2) June 6, 1:35 (MASN2)
RADIO: WFED (820 AM, 1500 AM)
far different. He walked head- down into the dugout, ignoring every outstretched hand and pat on the back his teammates of- fered. There was nothing outwardly wrong with Strasburg as he start- ed for the fifth time as a member of the Class AAA Chiefs, his 10th time as a Washington Nationals minor leaguer. His fastball still rang up plenty of 99 mph read- ings on the stadium radar gun, while his wicked curveball and change-up induced their usual assortment of awkward swings. But there were several other moments Saturday night, during Strasburg’s five-plus-innings, 86- pitch start in the Chiefs’ 3-2 loss to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, where he looked merely ordinary.
One of those moments came in the third inning, when a 26-year- old journeyman named Rene Rivera — whom the Yankees had
signed eight days earlier out of the independent Atlantic League — became the first hitter to ho- mer off Strasburg this season. Rivera, who played 53 games in the big leagues in the middle part of the last decade, blasted a 99-mph fastball out of the park in right-center field. As the crowd of 13,115 at Alli- ance Bank Stadium let out a col- lective gasp, Strasburg appeared livid with himself as the ball exit- ed the playing field, screaming something into his glove before gathering himself quickly and finishing off the inning. Two innings later, Strasburg made a mess of the top of the sixth inning and wasn’t allowed the chance to clean it up himself. Trying to protect a 2-1 lead, Stras- burg immediately found trouble when an infield single and a sharp single to left put two run- ners on with no outs. When Strasburg flinched as he peered
in for a sign from catcher Jamie Burke, he was called for a balk — his first this season — and the runners advanced a base. Finally, when he walked Jeff
Natale to load the bases, his night was over. By the time two of the inherited runners scored against Chiefs reliever Josh Wil- kie, Strasburg’s 0.39 ERA through his first four starts with the Chiefs had risen to 1.27, and his overall ERA in the minors — 0.99 entering the game — shot up to 1.43. The outing surpassed his May
2 start for the Class AA Harris- burg Senators against the Altoo- na Curve as the worst of Stras- burg’s brief career. Both times, he allowed six hits and three earned runs, but the majority of hits in the Altoona game were weakly struck. On Saturday night, the majority were hard- hit. The home run and the balk, for that matter, would break all
ties.
Still, such talk must come with this disclaimer: If this was Stras- burg at his worst, anyone who has ever stood atop a pitcher’s mound would take that deal. He had moments of sheer domi- nance. He struck out the side in the fifth (working around a two- out single) on a curveball and two fastballs. He fielded his posi- tion exquisitely, handling three tough come-backers with ease. And he threw first-pitch strikes to 13 of his final 14 batters. All indications are that Stras- burg will make another start for Syracuse at the end of the week, then take the mound for the Na- tionals at Nationals Park the fol- lowing week. That moment will still be awaited breathlessly in Washington. Nothing that happened here
Saturday night should change that.
sheinind@washpost.com
Nothing doing for Phillies’
Halladay
First time two perfect games have occurred in the same season
Associated Press
miami — Philadelphia Phil- lies ace Roy Halladay threw the 20th perfect game in ma- jor league history, delivering the marquee performance of his all-star career in a 1-0 win over the Florida Marlins on Saturday night. It was the second perfect game in the majors this month alone, Dallas Braden doing it for Oakland against Tampa Bay on May 9. It’s the first time in the modern era that there were a pair of per- fectos in the same season. Colorado’s Ubaldo Jiménez threw a no-hitter, too, in April. Halladay struck out 11, then
got pinch-hitter Ronny Pauli- no to ground out to end it, and was cheered by a crowd of 25,086 throughout much of the night. Although there were a couple of good plays behind him, Halladay didn’t need any great defensive work in this gem. The 33-year-old righty was a veritable one-man show. Always stoic on the mound,
Halladay (7-3) broke into a big smile as his teammates rushed to congratulate him. Halladay has long been dominant, and the former AL Cy Young winner was the cen- terpiece of a multiteam trade that brought him from Toron- to to the two-time NL champi- ons in the offseason. He was within one out of a
no-hitter on Sept. 27, 1998, in just his second major league start, pitching for the Blue Jays against Detroit. Pinch- hitter Bobby Higginson ended that on the first pitch he saw, hitting a solo home run. Halladay faced three Mar- lins pinch-hitters in the ninth. Mike Lamb led off with a long fly ball that was caught on the center-field warning track, Wes Helms struck out looking and Paulino hit a grounder that backup third baseman Juan Castro ranged to his left to get. It was the Phillies’ second
perfect game. Jim Bunning threw the other in 1964. On the short list of base-
ball’s perfect games, the first two — by John Richmond and John Ward — were pitched five days apart in 1880, two decades before what is con- sidered the modern era.
GREGORY BULL/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Josh Willingham’s three-run home run Friday night was his 10th, extending a remarkable stretch he credits to getting good pitches to hit.
Willingham stays steady during torrid start
Nats’ outfielder won’t
change his approach, or try to make sense of it
by Adam Kilgore
san diego — Josh Willing-
ham really doesn’t have an ex- planation, even though what he’s doing begs for one. “I’m not doing anything different than I ever have,” he said. Willingham thrives on plainness, but his sea- son defies simplicity. For rough- ly its first two months, he’s been one of the most productive of- fensive players in baseball. In his fifth full season, at age 31, Willingham is on pace for the best year of his career by far. Af- ter he launched a three-run home run in the Washington Nationals’ 5-3 victory Friday night over the San Diego Padres, Willingham placed himself at or close to the top of most every significant statistical category in the National League. Willingham’s 10 home runs tie Adam Dunn for most on the Nationals and rank tied for sev- enth in the NL, two behind the leaders. He is tied for the league lead with 35 walks, which has led to a .437 on-base percentage, far and away the best in the league — he could strike out his next six at-bats and still be ahead of Jason Heyward, the second most prolific at reaching base.
Willingham’s .988 on-base plus slugging percentage ranks
third. His OPS+ — an advanced measure of OPS based on ball- park factors and then adjusted to make 100 league average — is 163, one point behind Heyward, the NL leader. By one of the most complete measures of of- fensive production, Willingham is the second best player in the league. The All-Star Game is roughly a month and a half away, and if Willingham re- mains on his current pace he would be a likely candidate to make his first. Why the outburst now? Wil- lingham is as healthy and re- ceiving as consistent playing time as he ever has. But when he tries to figure it, he throws up his hands. “I can’t say one or two things,” Willingham said. “I’m just try- ing to take a pretty simple ap- proach, to be honest with you. That approach is just go up there and relax and try and get a good pitch to hit. That’s about all I think about.”
Steadiness and consistency
have been Willingham’s hall- marks since he arrived in Wash- ington before last season. “Low maintenance,” is how Manager Jim Riggleman described Wil- lingham. His favorite pastime is fishing. He is unassuming with an earnest, wry sense of humor. “That’s the guy you want to
marry your daughter right there,” Riggleman said. “To watch his game go to another level, you couldn’t feel better for somebody.” The notion of reaching a new level seems foreign to Willing-
ham. When asked about what he deems his potential, Willing- ham furrowed his brow as if he didn’t understand the question. “Duh,” chided Ryan Zimmer- man, standing at the next lock- er. “.300, 35, 140,” referring to batting average, home runs and RBI. Willingham just laughed. Is it the case, Willingham was
asked, that he’s just doing what he’s always done, but better? “Yeah,” he said. “I guess. You
know, I’ve some good months and some bad months and some average months. I’m in a pretty good stretch right now. All you can do is trying to keep it going.” Baseball is a game of streaks. As a hitter, you just try and be as consistent as possible.” In line with his stable ap- proach, Willingham cast his own ability as a secondary fac- tor in his hot streak. When he sees pitches he likes to hit, he explained, he’s been hitting them. “A lot of it has to do with the pitches you get to hit,” Willing- ham said. “It seems like in the course of the season, you get better pitches to hit sometimes than you do other ones. It seems like when you’re going bad, they’re making perfect pitches on you, and when you do get a pitch to hit, you foul it back, just a tick off. When you’re going good, you do get pitches to hit, and you hit ’em hard and they fall in. It’s just crazy.” Willingham’s
remarkable
start extends beyond his of- fense. Willingham has a 0.9 UZR/150 in left field, which
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means Willingham, once re- garded as a below-average de- fensive player, has been better than average. He’s stolen four bases without being caught. “He’s unbelievable,” Riggle- man said. “He’s just been great. The ultimate professional. Leaves it all out there. Doesn’t show emotion. Just steady as a rock. Great at-bats. Just a smart player. Everything. He’s just out- standing.”
Willingham is operating on a one-year, $4.6 million contract, and the Nationals control his rights until the end of 2011. Wil- lingham hopes he can strike a contract extension, the sooner the better. “He doesn’t have any interest in playing anywhere but Washington,” said Matt Sosnick, Willingham’s agent. Willingham, typically, pushes
that out of his mind. He is at his best when he makes the game as simple as he can, and maybe that’s the only explanation. “That’s basically your only
goal, is trying to be consistent,” Willingham said. “You got to re- alize that you’re going to be hot- ter at some times than others and you’re going to be colder at some times than others. ’Bout it.”
kilgorea@washpost.com
O’s unable to carry out their plan
Baltimore Sun
toronto — The Orioles en- tered their series against the Toronto Blue Jays with the in- tent of making quality first pitches while showing pa- tience at the plate. In a 5-2 loss to the Blue
Jays on Saturday, Orioles pitchers gave up four home runs, three of them on the first or second pitch of an at- bat. The hitters allowed To- ronto starter Brett Cecil to get through eight innings on 96 pitches, and without going to a three-ball count to any of hitters he faced. That added up to the Ori- oles’ fourth straight loss, and their 16th defeat in the last 18 games at the Rogers Centre. “Absolutely it’s frustrating,” said Orioles infielder Ty Wig- ginton, who had one of the Orioles’ five hits. “Whenever a game starts you fully expect to go out there and win a ball- game and unfortunately, we’re coming up on the wrong side.” Vernon Wells broke an eighth-inning 2-2 tie by bash- ing a Jason Berken hanging 1-2 slider off the third deck in left field. Three batters after Wells’s blast, Alberto Castillo hung a first-pitch slider that Lyle Overbay lifted over the wall for a two-run homer, his sec- ond homer of the game.
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