Marty Lurie Talks San Francisco Giants Baseball
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A's Get The Win They Need, Cubs Get Closer to Houston, Marlins and Phils Up


Ted Lilly needed some prodding from Tim Hudson before he went into the managers office and asked for the ball Sunday as he replaced Rich “My back is tight ” Harden prior to one of the more important games in the Athletics season.

That advice from Hudson was all the help Lilly needed Sunday as he went out and threw the same game he has thrown for the last month and completely shut down the Mariners enroute to a 12-0 win.

Lilly established his fastball early, blowing away Bret Boone and his MVP chances in the first inning with a 93 MPH pitch around Boone’s eyes with Ichiro on third and one out.

Boone was so overwhelmed by the pitch that was so far out of the strike zone, he slammed his helmet to the ground as he walked slowly back to the dugout.

Lilly didn’t finesse anyone Sunday: fastball in the low 90’s, followed by curves, changeups, and sliders, but it was his fastball that was popping against a team that was 30-15 against lefties and dying for another win.

Now the Rangers come in and the goal for the A’s is to wrap this thing up before Friday and the final three games in Seattle.

Tony Mounce (has pitched well in three tries vs. Oakland) tries for the fourth time to defeat Barry Zito who has never lost to Texas. Mounce will be gone by the sixth and that horrid Ranger middle relief will be on the spot if the game is still close.

Can A Rod get the big hit his team needs when it counts early in the game? Can Rafael Palmeiro the future hall of famer do the same? Or will they pad their stats as usual when the game is no longer up for grabs?

A loss to the Rangers and a Mariner win in Anaheim where Jamie Moyer faces tough Jarrod Washburn allows Seattle to dream about sweeping the A’s at home this weekend and forcing a playoff next Monday.

Click below for more!Mark Prior is as sure a pitcher on the mound in the NL since Tom Seaver worked for the NY Mets in the 70’s. Prior loves beating the Pirates and did so Sunday, with 131 pitches, 14 strike outs, and 7.6 innings of great ball.

Cubs are one back in the loss column from Houston and two back of Florida in the same column. Chicago will sit back and watch the scoreboard today as the Astros entertain the Giants in Houston. Ron Villone lefty for Houston against rookie tough guy Jerome Williams.

Ironic that Dusty Baker will root for the Giants, if SF knocks Houston around and the Cubs win the Central and the Giants end up with the best record, they will send the Cubs to Atlanta to play the Braves. If the Cubs win this week and the Marlins and Phillies split their remaining games, then the Cubs can win the wild card and face SF in the first round if the Giants have the best record.

Just have to watch what happens and see who goes where next week. But the Giants will have a say in the Cubs season and may ultimately have to face them in either the first or second round, the Giants can help put Dusty’s team, the team they fear the most, and the team he left under cloudy circumstances, into the playoffs.

I like this story.

The Marlins face the Braves most dependable starter Mike Hampton in the finale today in Atlanta. Mark Redman, a lefty, will have his work cut out for him against this Atlanta lineup which I still say is the best I’ve seen all year long. The only thing that may sink the Braves is their bullpen.

Jason Johnson throws for the Orioles today in Boston against disaster in waiting Jeff Suppan. We are now into the bullpen phase of the Red Sox week until Derek Lowe pitches again Thursday and that means anything can happen.

Folks are already counting on two Pedro wins versus the A’s. Let me point this out now, the A’s have faced Pedro recently and their “don’t swing until I have two strikes” approach has driven Pedro from their games after six innings or so with 110 pitches thrown. Before penciling in two wins for Pedro vs. the A’s, the righty better be prepared to throw 130 pitches and pray that his bullpen can save the game because they will be needed.

And that my friends is why Oakland will beat Boston because the Red sox bullpen will not outpitch the Oakland bullpen over five games. It ain’t going to happen.

Ramon Hernandez, never a pillar of courage behind the plate ( no secret he avoids blocking the plate), will have to dig deep to play effectively after being slammed by a 95 MPH fastball on his left elbow by Gil Meche Sunday. The A’s need Hernandez to catch this staff and simply cannot have him out of the game.

Roy Halladay has the Cy Young nailed down in the AL no matter what happens today versus Tampa Bay.

Speaking of the great Cy. Greg Maddux broke the tie with Young for the most consecutive seasons with 15 wins when he got victory number 15 Sunday for his 16th straight season of 15 or more victories (number 288 for his career).

Some perspective on why Maddux is an amazing pitcher. When Cy Young pitched from 1891 to the early 1900’s the game was quite different.

It wasn’t until 1893 that the mound was moved back to 60 feet six inches. How would you like to face Randy Johnson from 54 feet? It wasn’t until 1894 that a bunted foul was considered a strike. It wasn’t until 1903 that baseball as we know it took hold when Cy’s AL adopted the foul strike, meaning that a ball hit down the line out of play before that date simply didn’t count. It wasn’t until 1903 when a ball hit in that manner was considered a foul strike.

So Cy did some amazing things, but he did pitch when the game was different. Maddux deserves to stand alone as the most consistent winner of the last century and I’m saying something by giving him that accolade.

Maddux deserves to be recognized all over the baseball world for this amazing achievement.

Can’t let up now with one week to go, things look better for Oakland and Boston, but the Angels, Orioles, and Rangers may have something to say about how this all ends up.

Scoreboard watching is cool, try it.

0 comments

1 Anonymous { 09.22.03 at 12:03 pm }

Marty,

I was delighted to show up at the stadium yesterday to see the starting pitcher changed on the board. I am a big Lilly fan. but it seems many A’s fans have been slow to warm to him. So here was a chance for Lilly to show what he can do in a big game. And did he ever shine. I really think that hanging out with and pitching along side a gutsy guy like Hudson has rubbed off on him. Notice the fist pump in the 2nd inning? He would never have done that earlier in the season. And now he runs to the mound each inning, too. He is in a grove out there pitching rapidly and confidentally. Notice who was the first out of the dugout to congratulate him after each inning? Hudson, of course. And, in the meantime, the Rally Miggy was going insane in the dugout. It was a great team day.

Any thought on whether the whole Harden bad back scenario was a hoax?

A sweep of the Rangers is in the cards so our guys can rest in Seattle. Then, bring on the Red Sox. I like your comments about Pedro. We have done okay against him. He is a fragile pitcher and has been pitching a lot lately. We can wear him down to get to that always interesting bullpen. And then we tell Foulke that he may not pitch to Manny.

2 marty { 09.22.03 at 12:32 pm }

Very astute comment. I don’t think the Harden situation was a hoax and believe me I’m a conspiracy theory guy from the 60’s.
Sparks was going to start until Hudson went to Lilly and told Lilly that the team needed him. There is no way in the world that the A’s would choose Sparks for that game on their own. Also, why would you want to send a message to Harden, one of your future aces, that he wouldn’t be trusted in this game? That would really mess with his head and I don’t see the A’s taking the risk. Who knows what Harden’s threshhold of pain is, I think that is the only question about yesterday’s move. How hurt does one have to be to tell the manager you can’t go in a big game? That bears watching in the future, but with Tim Hudson around and Miguel and Chavez no one on this team will ever lay down on the job.
Lilly’s fastball is what got me, the pitch to Boone was the best he may ever have thrown to a big time hitter.
Marty

3 Anonymous { 09.23.03 at 1:12 pm }

Marty-

My take on Lilly is that it simply has taken him this long to get comfortable with what Peterson has done with him.

From your vantage point do you see that or other?

-C. Pyle, Morgan Hill

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