Royals sign right-hander Wells
CLEVELAND -- Right-handed pitcher Kip Wells, a 10-year veteran, signed with the Royals and joined them for Tuesday night's game against the Indians.
Left-hander Josh Newman was optioned to Triple-A Omaha to make room for Wells.
Wells, 31, had spent this season in the Rockies organization. He was designated for assignment last week.
"We signed him to pitch out of the bullpen for us," Royals manager Trey Hillman said.
Hillman wasted no time in getting Wells into a game. He pitched 1 1/3 innings on Tuesday night, giving up two runs, three hits and two walks in a 9-4 loss to the Indians.
Although Wells started on Opening Day for the Rockies, he pitched most of the season out of the bullpen and had a 1-2 record with a 5.27 ERA in 15 games, including two starts.
Wells missed 2 1/2 months after undergoing surgery for a blood clot in his right hand, rejoining the Rockies in late July.
"I was having circulation problems in my hand to where I was losing sensation, so once they figured out what it was, I was on the DL for basically 75 days," Wells said. "But part of that was, I was on blood thinners that had to run their course before the doctor would allow me to get back into competition."
To remove the clot, doctors cut into his right forearm and used a balloon procedure through his artery.
"Reports are that he's healthy," Hillman said. "I've spoken to some people about his condition this season and he's somebody we looked into as soon as we were a little bit light [in the rotation.] As far as I know, he's healthy and ready to go."
The bullpen has been hampered by a foot injury to left-hander Ron Mahay.
Although the Royals have not yet announced a starting pitcher for Saturday's game against the Tigers, Hillman said he's not projecting Wells for that assignment.
"We'll utilize him from the sixth inning on," the manager said. "In the majority of his career, he's been a starter, but he was signed with the understanding that he'd pitch out of the bullpen, until there's further evaluation and see where we're at."
The look at Wells won't cost the Royals a lot, because the Rockies are paying Wells' guaranteed $3.1 million salary for this season. The Royals will be liable for about $90,000.
In 10 years with the White Sox, Pirates, Rangers, Cardinals and Rockies, Wells has a 65-93 record with a 4.64 ERA in 246 games including 205 starts. His best year came in 2003 for the Pirates, when he was 10-9 with a 3.28 ERA in 31 starts.
Newman appeared in three games for the Royals, with no record and a 4.50 ERA. He was called up from Omaha on Aug. 9 when lefty Horacio Ramirez was traded to the White Sox.
He gave up six runs (three earned) in six innings. In his last outing on Sunday against the Yankees, Newman relieved starter Brian Bannister in the second inning and turned in four innings, allowing just one run.
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Astros tee off in seventh to top Giants
HOUSTON -- The final score of 12-4 does not show the struggles the Astros had in the first six innings against the Giants on Tuesday, but it does show the comeback ability they have been known for this season.
Houston was being one-hit through the first six frames, including 4 1/3 by young right-hander Tim Lincecum. It scored two runs in the third inning as Brad Ausmus walked and scored on a Darin Erstad double, and Erstad scored on a fielding error by second baseman Emmanuel Burriss.
"He's tough," Lance Berkman said of the starter. "If he's not the best young pitcher in the league, then I don't know who is. He's very difficult with several different pitches, an explosive fastball, a tough curveball that keeps you off balance."
But an unfortunate, yet key, at-bat by Ausmus in the fifth inning changed everything. Ausmus hit a line drive off Lincecum's right knee, taking him out of the game. X-rays were negative, but the loss of the starter proved costly for the Giants, whose bullpen held out for two innings before disaster struck.
The seventh inning started with an out by Michael Bourn followed by a walk by Ausmus. Hunter Pence, pinch-hitting for pitcher Roy Oswalt, singled to left, and Mark Loretta walked to load the bases.
Erstad hit a single to shallow left on two strikes, and Ausmus and Pence scored at nearly the same time, both beating the throw home from Fred Lewis to Bengie Molina.
The play at the plate was eerily similar to one a few weeks ago against the Mets, when Pence slid into Loretta's back to score two runs. Ausmus went back to tag third, and he said by the time he took off, Pence was already in his pocket.
"We're not sure if it's bad baserunning or lucky baserunning, but it worked out," Pence said. "I just read that it was going to fall in, but the runner at third in that situation has to make sure that they don't catch it, because they're going to score anyway."
Miguel Tejada then singled to right to reload the bases for a grand slam by Berkman off the left-field wall. The homer was just his second in the past 36 games and his fifth career grand slam.
Astros manager Cecil Cooper said that at-bat finally allowed him to relax, although the hitters before Berkman really made it happen.
"I just knew we were going to get some more right there, and he put a good swing on it," Cooper said. "That was definitely a big swing for us. I thought Erstad's at-bat was just key for us. He battled a tough left-hander on two strikes and got a base hit. Loretta had a great at-bat, a walk."
But the Astros were not finished. Geoff Blum hit a double to deep left to bring up Ty Wigginton, who hit a two-run homer to the front row in right field.
They notched two more in the eighth, a home run to the Crawford Boxes by Pence and a three-base score by Loretta, who singled to center before scoring on a Tejada double.
Pence had the day off because Cooper said he had noticed some frustration at the plate in the right fielder, but he showed he was still strong in the clutch.
Cooper said Oswalt did not have the best outing but was able to battle through some tough innings, leaving nine runners stranded.
"I didn't have really any kind of breaking pitch today," Oswalt said. "I just tried to battle with my fastball, tried to move my fastball around and put some different speeds on it. I got some key outs when I needed to, but I thought I gave up one too many for a while there."
Oswalt gave up three runs on 10 hits, walking three and striking out four.
Cooper walked to the mound in the seventh with two runners on and one out with the thought of taking Oswalt out, but the righty convinced him to let him finish the inning.
"I wanted to just check with him," Cooper said. "He's the guy that I think deserves that, and he said, 'I'm going to get him [John Bowker], don't worry.' I said, 'OK, you got enough left?' and he said, 'I'm fine.' So I'm going to let him have it."
Oswalt said he hoped to get a double play off Bowker but ended up striking him out, and when he expected Rich Aurilia to be aggressive on a fastball in the next at-bat, he threw a slider. Aurilia grounded into a force play at second.
Cooper said before the game that the goal was to get Lincecum out on a high pitch count. Although he left a different way, Cooper said he knew that was Houston's chance to catch back up.
The Giants' bullpen had to pick up 4 2/3 innings of work, using five pitchers.
"It didn't feel like a laugher really at any point in the game until real late," Berkman said. "It was a weird game. It started out like a pitchers' duel and ended up like a blowout."
But the Astros said they wished the Giants' starter had not gone down.
"I hope he's all right," Oswalt said. "He's a great competitor, and I like the way he goes about his business. One thing is he's aggressive with his strike zone."
Copyright 2008 Sporting Life UK Ltd, All Rights Reserved.
Swisher's walk-off marks 14-inning win
CHICAGO -- Nick Swisher didn't pay one ounce of attention to the twists and turns taking place between Minnesota and Seattle out in the Pacific Northwest, as the White Sox battled Detroit for just under five hours on Tuesday night at U.S. Cellular Field.
Neither did Joey Cora, the White Sox bench coach who filled in as manager while Ozzie Guillen served Game 1 of his two-game suspension.
"My concern was we might finish after them, even though they started on the West Coast, and they would get to watch us," said a smiling Cora, after witnessing the White Sox fight back from two strikes away from defeat in the 14th inning to claim a thrilling 10-8 victory over the Tigers, who are now all but afterthoughts in the American League Central race.
There are too many heroes to list in this particular win, ending a two-game losing streak for the White Sox. Alexei Ramirez tied the game with a home run off Kyle Farnsworth with two outs in the eighth, and Paul Konerko's sixth-inning blast helped the South Siders creep back from a 6-1 deficit.
Ultimately, Swisher will be featured on all of the highlight reels. He launched a 2-1, knee-high fastball from hard-throwing Joel Zumaya (0-1) for the game-winning three-run home run just to the right of center, coming with two outs and two on in the 14th and the White Sox down by an 8-7 margin.
When Swisher made initial contact, he wasn't sure if the ball would carry out because of the manner in which center fielder Curtis Granderson moved back toward the wall. Granderson eventually ran out of room, setting off a celebration at home plate as Swisher crossed with his 16th long ball of the season.
Orlando Cabrera started the 14th-inning uprising with a single to left, followed one out later by Carlos Quentin's double to right -- marking his fourth hit in seven at-bats. Cabrera scored on shortstop Edgar Renteria's rare error committed while fielding Jermaine Dye's slow roller, but Zumaya struck out Jim Thome to keep the tying run at third.
Quentin stayed there for a few moments, until Swisher connected.
"He basically waited the whole game to hit," said Cora of Swisher, who did not start on Tuesday but entered the game in the 11th and struck out in his one previous at-bat. "Zumaya is one of the toughest relievers to hit off of, and to hit like that in the 14th after waiting, it's unreal."
"It feels like you're hitting by sound, at that point," added a jubilant Swisher on tackling the challenge posed by Zumaya and his 100-mph fastball. "He's one of those guys that throws a very plus-plus fastball, and in that situation, all you can do is put the bat on the ball. You generate so much power on his fastball that if you hit the ball solidly -- which is rare -- it's gonna go a long way."
Zumaya walked past Swisher in the U.S. Cellular corridor running next to the clubhouses after the loss, and tapped him on the leg, indicating Swisher won this particular battle. But if Swisher gets the win, then the entire bullpen gets the save on this evening.
And that's no exaggeration. Gavin Floyd lasted only four-plus innings, and the entire seven-man bullpen allowed three runs on seven hits over the next 10 innings, while fanning nine. Ehren Wassermann allowed one run in the fifth, but the Tigers (55-57) didn't score again until Placido Polanco's two-run home run in the top of the 14th gave Detroit an 8-6 lead.
In fairness to Thornton, he was working in his third inning and had struck out a career-high five prior to Polanco's second two-run shot of the night.
"Thornton didn't let us ask if he was all right to pitch that last inning," Cora said. "He said, 'I'm all right. I got it.' It was a [total] effort by the whole bullpen. They stepped up big time."
"Today, we did a great job and gave a chance to our team to come back like we did," added Octavio Dotel, who threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings of relief.
Overshadowed by the White Sox rally from 6-1 and 8-6 deficits was the home debut for Ken Griffey Jr. as part of the White Sox. Griffey struck out three times and knocked out one single in six at-bats, but appreciated the standing ovation presented by the crowd of 35,371 prior to his first trip to the plate.
"I can count probably four other times that it's been like this, going back to Seattle," said Griffey of the huge show of appreciation. "500, 600 [home runs], things like that, and probably Cincinnati the first time."
The White Sox improved to 62-49 with the victory and took sole possession of the division's top spot after Joe Nathan blew a rare save in Seattle and the Mariners won their second straight. Minnesota (62-51) actually took the lead at Safeco Field about the same time Polanco homered, spelling impending doom for the White Sox.
Approximately 10 minutes later, the White Sox were celebrating a huge victory to begin this all-important 10-game homestand against the Tigers, Red Sox and Royals. The victory also kept Cora a perfect 2-0 as a fill-in manager.
"Ozzie can have this," said Cora, drawing a laugh after surviving Tuesday's marathon.
"Hopefully this is that momentum boost that we need," Swisher continued.
"A little bit of everything in the first four days, but I'm glad I'm here," Griffey added. "And I want to see more of it."
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Players caught off guard by Pudge deal
CLEVELAND -- Most of the Tigers didn't have to come to Progressive Field until later in the afternoon because they weren't taking full batting practice. By the time many arrived, their future Hall of Fame catcher was a New York Yankee.
Third baseman Carlos Guillen found out about the Ivan Rodriguez trade when he arrived in the Tigers' clubhouse. Center fielder Curtis Granderson found out beforehand through a text message from a friend and a hop to the internet.
"The best way I can summarize," Granderson said, "is that you never know what's going to happen, especially how quick stuff happens."
Either way, the realization that Rodriguez -- who had been a huge part of the club's rise to contention -- has been traded is out.
"It was one of those moments," said left-hander Nate Robertson, who joined the Tigers' rotation full time with Rodriguez behind the plate in 2004. "I didn't expect him to get traded. I don't know if there was a whole lot of speculation. He's been my catcher for five years. You throw to a guy for that long, to see him go, it's one of those moments."
There were similar sentiments in the clubhouse to varying degrees, but a realization, too, that baseball is a business. Players have realized the past couple years that the Tigers won't hesitate to make a trade, big or small, if the belief is that it'll improve the club or address a need. They also knew that Rodriguez was a free agent at season's end, so something could be possible.
"It's a business when it's all said and done," Granderson said. "The move was made, I assume, to make both sides better. Of course you don't want to see a teammate leave that I had a chance to play with since 2004. Of course you don't want to lose that part, but Dombrowski and the front office are trying to do something to better this ballclub. We understand that, and now we accept that and continue to move on."
They didn't have a whole lot of time. They had a game to play, and it ended up going 13 innings. Rodriguez was likely already back in Detroit by the time the game was over, having been furnished with a limousine back home before heading to New York on Thursday morning.
"I think each guy has their own special feeling about a situation like that, maybe a memory of Pudge, some game when he and Pudge played together," manager Jim Leyland said. "I think you allow players to handle that the way they want to handle it. But as a unit, you have to push on."
Robertson has plenty of memories. He was one of the young pitchers who has worked with Rodriguez for the vast majority of his Major League career.
"Obviously, he's a very confident player," Robertson said. "He came in '04 with a lot of confidence coming off a World Series championship. He earned our respect, and I think that's all you can ask of people is to get their respect. Guys looked to him to be a leader, and he certainly has done that role. He had a great career here. He did a great job, and I'm sure he's welcome in New York right now with their situation."
That's one upshot Guillen sees in the deal for both the Tigers and for Rodriguez.
"The Yankees need a catcher. We need a bullpen pitcher," Guillen said. "It's good for us and good for him. I think he's very happy."
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Armas delivers in first Mets start
ST. LOUIS -- All Jerry Manuel wanted from Tony Armas was a chance to win a game. Nothing flashy, nothing spectacular -- just a chance.
Now, proper results don't always follow such opportunities, but the Mets had to believe that if Armas gave them something north of mediocre, they could secure a victory. And that's precisely what happened. The Mets, buoyed by Armas, indeed held back the Cardinals in a 7-4 victory at Busch Stadium on Wednesday night.
But still, there sat Manuel after the game, uncharacteristically reserved.
"I have to see this on a consistent basis," Manuel said. "Obviously, when you perform the way we did tonight, it gives you hope. You know it's there, it's a matter of it becoming consistent. And when we can get to that point, we'll feel pretty good about ourselves."
Certainly the Mets wouldn't have been surprised had Armas faltered in his Mets debut, given that he was unemployed only half a year ago. Even Armas wouldn't have been too surprised -- not after he served up a two-run homer to Rick Ankiel in the first inning.
But after dominating Triple-A hitters for the better part of this season, Armas also had reason to believe he could succeed. He didn't get called up by the Mets on reputation alone. No, Armas earned this start because of his performances in Triple-A, so the Mets had to hold their collective breath and lean on whatever confidence they could find.
And Armas gave them enough. Working with backup catcher Ramon Castro -- not Brian Schneider, a teammate of his for years within the Expos organization -- Armas scrapped his hanging splitter after that rocky first inning. He relied almost exclusively on his fastball and slider the rest of the way, and the Cardinals struggled to hit either pitch.
So the success came, and Armas settled down. He smelled a victory.
"At the beginning, I thought it was going to be a wild night," Armas said. "But I was able to get into a little groove, and we were able to score a lot. That was the key. I've got to give a lot of credit to the offense."
Seems reasonable. Four runs in six innings looks a whole lot sharper in the context of a win than a loss. Castro, of all people, led the charge, doubling home two runs in the fourth inning and singling home another in the sixth. Bullying his way into more playing time now that Schneider has become mired in a slump, Castro spent most of Tuesday proving precisely why.
"Every time I play more, I feel better," Castro said. "I just want to help the team win -- especially now, when we need it."
And they do need it. They've fallen behind the Phillies in the National League East and they've fallen behind the Cardinals in the NL Wild Card, and this two-city trip is matching them up against both teams. These are the games they have to win. Not one here and one there, but three, four, five in a row. So far, that trick has eluded them.
Of course, this wasn't a complete win by any means. Armas gave the Mets a decent start, but he was only a temporary member of the rotation. He might not even be a member of the team much longer -- the Mets will likely decide his fate by this weekend.
And the Mets still endured mistakes -- Castro threw a ball into center field on a stolen-base attempt -- and they still endured some rough patches. But they managed to piece together enough positive aspects to engineer a win.
David Wright homered and rapped out three hits. Carlos Delgado produced two doubles and a single. And Duaner Sanchez, who suffered a scare when he took a line drive off his leg -- it's just a bruise and he should be fine -- pitched a perfect inning.
Combined, that was enough to polish over -- if not entirely forget -- the rough spots.
"We've got to get some consistency," Wright said, noting in particular the two-out hits. "We've had them this year, it just seems like we get them all in the same game."
Moments later, Ryan Church, who produced two hits and drove in a run, shuffled over to his locker after the game and saw Wright standing next to him.
Church grinned and raised his hand. He waited for a moment, before Wright turned to him and slapped it.
"Nice job," Church said. He grinned wider.
It was a nice job but an isolated job, though it doesn't have to be that way. Six games remain on this road trip, and the Mets could use every one of them. If the get them, they'll have more reasons to smile.
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Cubs come to terms with 26 Draft picks
CHICAGO -- The Cubs have signed 26 players from the 2008 First-Year Player Draft, including sandwich pick Ryan Flaherty, an infielder from Vanderbilt, and third-round pick Christopher Carpenter, a pitcher from Kent State.
Included in the group is Michael Brenly, son of Cubs television broadcaster Bob Brenly, who was a 36th-round pick. The younger Brenly was a catcher at UNLV.
The Cubs have signed 17 of the top 21 picks. They have yet to reach an agreement with No. 1 pick Andrew Cashner, a right-handed pitcher at TCU.
Flaherty played second base for Team USA last summer, and set a Vanderbilt single-season record with a 35-game hitting streak. This year, he led the team with 14 home runs, 63 RBIs while hitting .324 with 10 stolen bases.
The others in the top 21 to sign include Justin Bristow, a pitcher at East Carolina; infielder Josh Harrison of Cincinnati; catcher Luis Flores of Oklahoma State; pitcher James Leverton of Texas Tech; pitcher Randy Jackson of Furman; pitcher Toby Matchulat of Wabash Valley; infielder Jake Opitz of Nebraska; outfielder Anthony Campana of Cincinnati; and pitcher Dan McDaniel of Chabot College.
Joseph Coleman of Florida Gulf Coast, the 15th pick, also signed, as did first baseman Ryan Keedy of Alabama-Birmingham; pitcher Jonathan Nagel of Independence Community College; pitcher Jeffrey Beliveau of Florida Atlantic; outfielder David Macias of Vanderbilt; and outfielder Jericho Jones of Louisiana Tech.
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Rox cruise past Tribe in opener
DENVER -- For a team that's made producing runs with men in scoring position seem harder than solving a Rubik's Cube, the Rockies were willing to take runs any way they could against the Indians on Tuesday.
So when Jeff Baker laced a first-pitch fastball off the right-center-field wall and dashed for a two-run inside-the-park home run in the third inning of the Rockies' 10-2 win, the only Colorado player who didn't erupt in celebration was Baker, who was too busy huffing and puffing to enjoy his accomplishment.
"I was trying to catch my breath for the next inning and a half," Baker said.
Baker's inside-the-park homer -- the 10th in club history -- proved to be the beginning of a night in which the Rockies rotated around the bases all night. They tallied a season-high 17 hits, and five different players drove in two runs.
"It was a good effort tonight," manager Clint Hurdle said. "To put all three facets together like that with some consistency -- being able to score some runners, being able to get some two-out hits, a lot of two-strike hits, staying on balls, moving the ball around the ballpark offensively."
Brad Hawpe hit a two-run home run of his own in the fifth inning -- this one went over the left-field fence -- for his eighth homer of the season, and his fifth since returning from a strained right hamstring on June 6.
Indians pitcher Paul Byrd is known for his old-fashioned swinging windup and arsenal of pitches, but he didn't fool the Rockies. Byrd (3-7) gave up five runs on nine hits in four innings.
"He's crafty, smart, locates up and down and he's got some deceptions," Hawpe said. "We were just fortunate enough to hit some strikes today."
The Rockies scored six more runs, but they proved to be nothing more than exclamation points highlighting rookie right-hander Greg Reynolds' performance.
Reynolds (2-4) baffled the Indians over six innings by keeping his sinkerball down in the strike zone and mixing in his curveball on fastball counts. He gave up just one run on five hits and didn't surrender a walk for the first time this season.
"He made some improvements tonight, without a doubt," Hurdle said. "He pitched efficient, so there were some positives to work off of with Greg."
Reynolds gave up eight runs on 10 hits in just 3 1/3 innings Thursday against the Giants, but he worked with pitching coach Bob Apodaca over the past week to refine his mechanics, and the results were evident on Tuesday.
"When you get out there and competing and you're able to do the things you've been working on the previous week, it's a big step," Reynolds said. "You've got to do that to be successful."
He even contributed with his bat, hitting a single and a double.
"I've been watching Aaron Cook highlights," cracked Reynolds, who was referencing the pitcher's pinch-hit single on Monday.
Reynolds ran into trouble in the sixth when the first three batters to reach base. But after Apodaca came to the mound to remind him to work efficiently, Reynolds struck out Ryan Garko and forced Shin-Soo Choo to line to Omar Quintanilla, who made a diving catch and threw to second to double off former Rockie Jamey Carroll.
"Omar made a great play," Reynolds said. "That was probably the biggest play of the game for me and the team."
Matt Holliday went 3-for-5 with a double and a pair of singles, and Garrett Atkins roped a single down the left-field line to score two runners in the sixth.
The Rockies are 13 games below .500 (29-42), but Arizona's loss to Oakland on Tuesday has them eight games behind first place in the National League West. It's the closest they've been since May 12.
"Reynolds set the tone and we were able to back it up with some key hits," Baker said. "Hopefully we can continue to build off it."
Copyright 2001-2008 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
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