Game 88: Dodgers vs. San Francisco 3:1
After spending the first month of the season in the minor leagues, with the thought in the back of his head that he may be through in the majors, Aaron Sele has proven he can still pitch at the big league level. In doing so, he has given the Dodgers' shaky starting rotation quite a boost.
Truth of the matter is,, the 36-year-old right-hander has been unbeatable at home.
Sele worked six strong innings, Nomar Garciaparra extended his hitting streak to 21 games, and the Dodgers beat All-Star Jason Schmidt 3-1 Sunday.
Sele (6-2) allowed four hits and one run while walking two and striking out a season-high seven before being relieved by Brad Penny to start the seventh. Sele is 6-0 with a 1.65 ERA in seven starts at Dodger Stadium this season.
"This guy throws strikes," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "He changes speeds and throws strikes. That's the No. 1 ingredient to winning baseball."
Sele, who went 6-12 for the Seattle Mariners last season, has no explanation for his remarkable success at home.
"I like pitching with this team behind me," he said. "Teams usually put the ball in play against me. The guys play great defense."
As Little pointed out, Sele is anything but overpowering. His fastball rarely rises above 85 mph, and most of his strikeouts come on off-speed pitches.
Sele has had a much tougher time on the road, going 0-2 with a 4.71 ERA in four starts.
The Dodgers enter the All-Star break with a 46-42 record and trail NL West-leading San Diego by two games.
"We're right where we need to be," Sele said. "Everybody's bunched up. We've got a good chance going into the second half."
The Dodgers lead the National League Wildcard standings.
Penny, an All-Star who hadn't pitched since Wednesday, retired only one batter in the second relief appearance of his career, leaving with runners at first and second. The Giants loaded the bases with two outs before Danys Baez forced Moises Alou to ground into a force out. It was the second time Alou failed to come through with two outs and the bases loaded.
Takashi Saito, the fifth Dodgers pitcher, pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his eighth save in as many chances.
Schmidt (6-5) allowed seven hits and three runs in six innings with one walk and three strikeouts. He hasn't won since June 6, going 0-3 with three no-decisions.
Barry "Steroid Boy" Bonds returned to the Giants' lineup after taking Saturday off because of a sore right knee and went 1-for-4 but was held homerless.
The Dodgers scored all the runs they would need in the first. Rafael Furcalsingled, and scored on Cesar izturis' double. Izturis took third on Nomar Garciaparra's fly to right, and scored on Andre Ethier's sacrifice fly.
Garciaparra, hitting .358 and tied for the NL batting lead with Pittsburgh's Freddy Sanchez, singled to start the sixth and later scored on a single by Jose Cruz to complete the scoring.
"I'm not worried about it," Garciaparra said of his hitting streak. "You just go out and keep playing. Today the biggest at-bat for me was the first one, moving the guy over."
Some thoughts:
1) Garciaparra had a career-high 30-game hitting streak as a rookie with the Boston Red Sox in 1997. It sure would be nice to see him at least match that streak. With the All-Star break giving him some extra rest, and him having matured since his rookie season, it doesn;t seem unreasonable to surpass that mark.
2) Jeff Kent sat out his sixth game because of a strained muscle in his left side. However, he is supposed to be back in the lineup Thursday.
3) Thought it was nice to see Sele cap an 11-pitch at-bat against Schmidt by hitting a broken-bat single in the third.
4) Bonds is 1-for-8 with four strikeouts against Sele in his career. Hopefully he doesn't get anymore hits off of Sele again this year.
5) Any idea why J.D. Drew was kept out of the lineup? Was it just to give him some rest? Andre Ethier replaced him, batting cleanup for the first time as a major leaguer.
Truth of the matter is,, the 36-year-old right-hander has been unbeatable at home.
Sele worked six strong innings, Nomar Garciaparra extended his hitting streak to 21 games, and the Dodgers beat All-Star Jason Schmidt 3-1 Sunday.
Sele (6-2) allowed four hits and one run while walking two and striking out a season-high seven before being relieved by Brad Penny to start the seventh. Sele is 6-0 with a 1.65 ERA in seven starts at Dodger Stadium this season.
"This guy throws strikes," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "He changes speeds and throws strikes. That's the No. 1 ingredient to winning baseball."
Sele, who went 6-12 for the Seattle Mariners last season, has no explanation for his remarkable success at home.
"I like pitching with this team behind me," he said. "Teams usually put the ball in play against me. The guys play great defense."
As Little pointed out, Sele is anything but overpowering. His fastball rarely rises above 85 mph, and most of his strikeouts come on off-speed pitches.
Sele has had a much tougher time on the road, going 0-2 with a 4.71 ERA in four starts.
The Dodgers enter the All-Star break with a 46-42 record and trail NL West-leading San Diego by two games.
"We're right where we need to be," Sele said. "Everybody's bunched up. We've got a good chance going into the second half."
The Dodgers lead the National League Wildcard standings.
Penny, an All-Star who hadn't pitched since Wednesday, retired only one batter in the second relief appearance of his career, leaving with runners at first and second. The Giants loaded the bases with two outs before Danys Baez forced Moises Alou to ground into a force out. It was the second time Alou failed to come through with two outs and the bases loaded.
Takashi Saito, the fifth Dodgers pitcher, pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his eighth save in as many chances.
Schmidt (6-5) allowed seven hits and three runs in six innings with one walk and three strikeouts. He hasn't won since June 6, going 0-3 with three no-decisions.
Barry "Steroid Boy" Bonds returned to the Giants' lineup after taking Saturday off because of a sore right knee and went 1-for-4 but was held homerless.
The Dodgers scored all the runs they would need in the first. Rafael Furcalsingled, and scored on Cesar izturis' double. Izturis took third on Nomar Garciaparra's fly to right, and scored on Andre Ethier's sacrifice fly.
Garciaparra, hitting .358 and tied for the NL batting lead with Pittsburgh's Freddy Sanchez, singled to start the sixth and later scored on a single by Jose Cruz to complete the scoring.
"I'm not worried about it," Garciaparra said of his hitting streak. "You just go out and keep playing. Today the biggest at-bat for me was the first one, moving the guy over."
Some thoughts:
1) Garciaparra had a career-high 30-game hitting streak as a rookie with the Boston Red Sox in 1997. It sure would be nice to see him at least match that streak. With the All-Star break giving him some extra rest, and him having matured since his rookie season, it doesn;t seem unreasonable to surpass that mark.
2) Jeff Kent sat out his sixth game because of a strained muscle in his left side. However, he is supposed to be back in the lineup Thursday.
3) Thought it was nice to see Sele cap an 11-pitch at-bat against Schmidt by hitting a broken-bat single in the third.
4) Bonds is 1-for-8 with four strikeouts against Sele in his career. Hopefully he doesn't get anymore hits off of Sele again this year.
5) Any idea why J.D. Drew was kept out of the lineup? Was it just to give him some rest? Andre Ethier replaced him, batting cleanup for the first time as a major leaguer.
posted by Blue Man | 11:50 AM
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