Short Hops: The strife of Brian

IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES, IT WAS THE END? OF TIMES
It was a mismatch. The Twins were surging, the Indians were scuffling and Paul Byrd had never been able to do anything with Justin Morneau. As of August 6, Byrd had been tagged for 13 hits (three of them homers) in 27 at-bats by the 2006 MVP. Momentum meant nothing that night, however, as the 12-year vet needed just 99 pitches to spin his first shutout in more than two years. Three times he set down Morneau harmlessly. After inducing him to pop up on the first pitch in the fifth inning, the right-hander told his teammates in the dugout, “If you’re not right with Jesus, get right with him, because he may be coming back. I just got Morneau out twice.”

IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED, WAIT 11 YEARS
In 1996, Tim Harikkala was knocked out in the fifth inning of his first major league start. It would be more than a decade before he made another one. Unfortunately, the results were much the same: The Rockies journeyman couldn’t get out of the fourth against the A’s on August 12 and, as happened while he was with the Mariners in his debut, he was immediately shipped back to the minors. The persistent right-hander had signed with Colorado (for whom he also worked as a reliever in 2004) after pitching earlier this season — and the two previous — in Korea.

THE STRIFE OF BRIAN
After hitting two home runs in his first 186 at-bats of the season, Maicer Izturis muscled up for three in his next 11. But Brian Giles outdid him. The Padres outfielder had two to show for his first 287 trips, then nailed five in a recent weekend series in Cincinnati, including back-to-back two-jack games. Giles, who’s hit 267 of them in his career, is now verging on a full year since hitting one in his own ballpark. He has until September 4 to avoid it.

WHAT IN THE SHAWN HILL?
Washington’s Shawn Hill threw 10 straight hitless innings. That’s not easy to do considering he achieved it over three STARTS encompassing 101 days. The perpetually injured left-hander threw a hitless final frame on May 6, was removed from a no-hitter after five innings in his start on the 11th, then returned from shoulder problems to blank the Phillies the first four innings on August 14. Hill is an intriguing guy. He set the pattern for his fragility — and toughness — back in Little League, when he played an entire season in a cast due a broken leg. A Tommy John surgery survivor who’s been shelved for big chunks of the past four years, he’s also notable for having hit a game-winning grand slam in his first professional at-bat and for being the last Canadian to play a game for the Expos.

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

Two of the Cardinals’ MLB record-tying 10 straight hits on August 6 came off the bat of their No. 8 hitter — pitcher Braden Looper. That was as many as he’d had his entire seven-year career prior to 2007.

The walkless streak of Royals rookie shortstop Tony Pena extended to 244 plate appearances before it ended. It took a wild man to do it. For Yankees reliever Sean Henn, it was his 32nd free pass in 43 career innings.

Extra! Extra! David Murphy’s first four hits for the Rangers were doubles, and seven of the first nine hits for fellow rookie Justin Upton of  the Diamondbacks went for extra bases.

The Dodgers had a recent stretch in which they went 1-for-43 with runners in scoring position. In April, the Nationals endured an 0-for-30 streak.

Lenny DiNardo, a converted reliever, has pitched past the sixth inning in only one of his 14 starts. He’s given up five or more runs four times, but in the other 10, his ERA is 2.17. In 26 innings out of the pen, it’s 1.38.

The Brewers have lost Chris Capuano’s last 15 starts. Other than that, they’re 62-42 this season, a record that would give them a nine-game lead in the NL Central.

Michael Cuddyer went through this seven-AB stretch: GIDP, out trying to stretch a single into a double, GIDP, K, K, K, K.

There’s a serious glitch in the Red Sox offense. The OBP of their leadoff hitters is .319. Only the White Sox are worse in the AL.

Barry Bonds yanked one he didn’t get credit for. During a softball game for Giants families, he pulled out the dangling tooth of Cole Roberts, the six-year old son of teammate Dave.

QUOTABLES
“That we’re not very good athletes.” — The thought that popped into Derek Lowe’s mind when he saw fellow pitcher Brad Penny doubled over after beating out an infield hit.

“I am good for something, I guess: height.” — 6-foot-6 Corey Hart after scaling a fence to rob Tadahito Iguchi of a game-tying homer.

Del.icio.us | Digg it | Athlon Sports RSS Feeds