Short Hops: Stupid manager tricks

Stupid Manager Tricks

• Allowing prized 24-year-old Tim Lincecum to throw 138 pitches in a meaningless 7-0 game last Saturday just so he could get his first shutout was a chancy, if not irresponsible decision by Giants manager Bruce Bochy. The kid has a small body and high-risk mechanics to begin with, and the output left him with the third-most pitches thrown (3,357) by any pitcher this season.

• The only thing shocking about Ned Yost’s dismissal was that the Brewers took so long to wield the axe. Yost fancies himself tougher-than-thou, but under pressure, he gets tighter than a Ben Sheets curveball. This time last year, Milwaukee blew an 8 1/2-game lead with a late 19-24 skid exacerbated by their manager’s ejection from three games (and suspension) during the final week. Similarly in 2008, Yost has had all the calming influence of a squirrel in a ladies restroom, tightening the screws on his young team with rebukes, over-the-top rants and incongruous decisions.

Battered When It Matters

Jon Rauch was doing just fine in Washington. Taking over for injured closer Chad Cordero, he had saved 17 games by mid-July, which got him noticed by an Arizona team looking to bolster a struggling bullpen for the stretch run. The Snakes made a deal for him that, as it’s turned out, may have dealt the death blow to its postseason chances. They’ve lost 5 1/2 games in the NL West standings since acquiring the 6-foot-11 right-hander, and are barely in the playoff picture. The unfortunate Rauch has pitched in the teeth of many of his new team’s closest games, only to be chewed up and spat out. This has been his fate:

• Aug. 13: Allowed a tie-busting two-run homer in the eighth that led to a one-run loss to the Rockies.

• Aug. 22: Did exactly the same thing in a blown save against the Marlins.

• Aug. 25: Surrendered his third game-losing two-run longball in less than two weeks — this time a walk-off to the Padres.

• Sept. 7: Took the loss when he gave the Dodgers a pair of seventh-inning runs.

• Sept. 9: Lost again when he put the first two Giants runners on base in the ninth inning of a tie game, setting up his relief successor for a walk-off hit.

• Sept. 14: Saw his record dip to 0-6 in his 32 days with Arizona when the Reds tagged him for a 10th-inning homer.

Beaten to the Punch(out)

If Ryan Howard strikes out 10 more times in the Phillies’ last 11 games he’ll be the first big-leaguer ever to reach 200 — but not even the first professional one this year. A minor league outfielder named Jeramy Laster did that for the Tigers’ Lakeland club, hitting that number on the nose. In fact, Laster nearly whiffed his batting average (.204) and struck out more than twice as many times as he had hits (98).

HIT AND RUN

Short Hops’ recurring installment of slapdash observation and imprudent opinion:

There’s a chance that three Orioles will finish with 50 doubles. Brian Roberts and Aubrey Huff have 48 at the moment, with Nick Markakis close behind at 46. They’ve had only three players reach that level in their 108-year franchise history up to now.

Victor Martinez’s first career walk-off home run on Tuesday was the first ever allowed by Joe Nathan since he joined the Twins 335 appearances ago.

Recently we ranted about the scores of ways Milton Bradley has found to go M.I.A. this season. We were up to 13 three weeks ago. Since then, wrist soreness, an ouchy back and another ejection have been added to the list.

The Twins have nearly twice as many bunt hits as any other team — 59, to 30 for the Reds.

Remember April...when the Rays were the 1962 Mets and the Tigers were the 1927 Yankees?

QUOTABLES

“I don’t know about anybody else, but to me he’s not that good.” — Cardinals infielder Felipe Lopez after Ted Lilly held St. Louis to one run over eight innings on September 10. (Lopez is so “good” he was released by the Nationals, the worst team in baseball, in July.)