A's Look to Lidle, Giants Juggle Pitching for Dodgers
Cory Lildle has been a major contributor to the A’s staff during the teams last two second half runs through the American League.
Tonight, he can solidify his playoff role with a strong game against Anaheim. The key to Lidle is throwing strikes with his fastball. If Lidle has it tonight, he will not be pitching from behind in the count, will pitch at a brisk pace, and will keep the ball in the park.
The Angels won’t disclose their starter for games two and three, but let the A’s know that John Lackey will pitch tonight. In the baseball world, not letting your opponent know the planned pitching rotation is considered bush (minor league).
The Giants need game one in LA and saved Jason Schmidt for the opener. The Dodgers losers of 7 of 9, come back with Hideo Nomo, perhaps their best pitcher.
We are finally at crunch time for these races, let’s look at the openers.The A’s faced Lackey last week and finally caught up with the 6’5″ righthander in the fourth inning when it was clear Lackey could not throw the ball past the A’s hitters. Lackey lacked command of any pitch other than his fastball, not a good formula in the majors. Tonight, he better have a couple of pitches he can control, or the A’s will tee off on him.
I don’t expect a lot of runs in this series. The weather has been cool at night, with a hint of marine air, this combination usually cuts down on home runs and scoring.
The A’s bull pen has not looked good for over one week now. The good news is that the key players in the pen, those who pitch in winning games, are pitching better than the ones who have been needed to hold a losing score close.
Ricardo Rincon and Billy Koch are solid and well rested. The challenge for Art Howe is finding a reliable eighth inning righty. Jim Mecir heads the pack, but is not getting people out consistently right now. Neither Jeff Tam nor Chad Bradford shut the door on Anaheim or Seattle this past week. Bradford’s demise is particularly troubling because he has been Howe’s go to guy in the eighth inning for the past three months.
In a game of bull pens, which this series may be, the Angels have the edge unless the A’s get into the Angel pen early in the series and tire them out.
Anaheim probaby will throw Jarrod Washburn Tuesday night, Kevin Appier on Wednesday (he was knocked out early Saturday), and Ramon Ortiz on Thursday. If they do that, all will be pitching on three days rest, meaning pitch counts become important and the bull pen comes into play more often.
That scenario makes Lackey’s outing more significant tonight. If the A’s knock him out early and force three or four relievers into the game, it could set the tone for the Angel pen all week.
Needless to say, having Lidle, Mulder, Zito, and Hudson lined up for the A’s should tip this series in favor of Oakland, and take the pressure off the A’s relievers.
The Giants appear to be under tremendous pressure as Dusty Baker, Benito Santiago, and Dave Righetti all were thrown out of the game Sunday in the ninth inning. Replays showed that the may have been correct beefing about one of the calls, but the alleged foul tip they argued about, was called correctly. Losing control doesn’t help in a tight race, these umpires have long memories and word gets around.
The Dodgers turn to Nomo, a Giant killer in an effort to tie up the race. LA needs to hit with some consistency, that seems to be their biggest fault. Nomo’s game is huge since Kevin Brown has not given the Dodgers much since his courageous return from back surgery, and he is slated to start Wednesday.
The Giants have that one extra tangible asset, Barry Bonds. If LA pitches to Bonds at all, they are crazy. The Giants should take care of LA this week and cruise past Milwaukee, San Diego (again), and Houston to wrap up the Wild Card in the NL.
The Giants just need to avoid a sweep in LA and they will be all right, even losing three of four won’t kill them.
Minnesota clinched Sunday. Playing the Twins is not a cake walk unless you have a strong lefthanded staff. The A’s do, and the Angels don’t. More on that as the match ups materialize, but at this point beating the Twins ace Brad Radke, in your park, is the key.
Minnesota will open on the road and you don’t want to go into the Metrodome tied 1-1 with the Twins fans going nuts. Minnesota’s home playoff record is something to fear especially if you don’t have a strong lefty ready for them.
There is an old saying “Be careful what you wish for, you may get it, ” both the A’s and Angels want the Twins first instead of NY, but unless their pitching is set up perfectly, it could be trouble for either team, facing Minnesota.
Winning the first game of the series doesn’t guarantee anything, but with the A’s set with the big three up next, like hurricanes lined up on a weather map in the Caribbean, beating Cory Lidle is a must for Anaheim.
Watch the count, if Lidle is avoiding the 2-1, 3-0, 3-1 hitters counts and getting ahead early in the at bat (0-1, 0-2), he’ll be OK, if he doesn’t, it will be a long night for Oakland.
Now, the games get tighter, I told you this was coming, let’s enjoy the drama all week.
Remember, don’t freak out about one game, there are still two weeks to go.
0 comments
Good perspective Marty. Although the A’s are one game behind, I think they are in great shape with 4 games at home against the Angels. The Angels still have some games against the desperate Mariners who won’t be eliminated quietly.
I think the Yankees and A’s both DO NOT want to face eachother in the first round. The Yankees still realize that a 5-game series with the A’s would be a nightmare for them, with Hudson, Mulder, and Zito.
I do question the move to have Lilly rehab his arm in the middle of a pennant chase. It’s too much pressure to get his arm strength back and also think about winning your division. Personally, I think he should shut it down for the season and get ready for next year. His velocity is just not there as well as location.
But, this series, the A’s have to start breaking through the Angel Bullpen (Shields, Donnely, Webber) . They have had the A’s number.
Regarding Lidle’s role in the playoffs? I think Art Howe learned from last year that Lidle is a crap shoot in the playoffs. He should be a long man if a starter struggles, and I think they A’s need to go with their best–Mulder, Hudson and Zito.
Dale
Tonight’s game depends on which Cory Lidle shows up. It seems like the A’s have two; one a world-class pitcher, the other; a guy that seems like he made a wrong turn and wound up in the ballpark. I hope that Art Howe can find a way to make sure that the right one shows up for the rest of the season.
Yesterday’s game also showed that Ted Lilly’s arm isn’t any where near where it needs to be for this part of the season. He is good for about two innings before he starts throwing batting practice. It would be better to put Harang in the starting job and have Lilly back him up in the bullpen. -David and Steve
Harang threw 52 pitches in two innings, I’m not sure three or four innings from Lilly isn’t a better alternative considering there is an upside if Lilly can give the A’s a few relief appearances against the Twins or Yankees, but I agree he is a huge experiment at a critical time in the race. Should the A’s start Fyhrie on Friday?
Marty
So, here’s a question for you, Marty. If given the choice, should the A’s go all out for the division title and the chance to avoid the Yankees in the first round, or should they focus on lining up the pitching rotation for whomever they would play? If nobody in the rotation of five skipped a start from this point forward, Zito would pitch the last game of the regular season.
I think I agree with Dale about the problems with rehabbing Lilly in the midst of the pennant chase. I think one can reasonably argue that his start cost the A’s two games in the Anaheim series. If Mecir had not pitched so much in Lilly’s start, I don’t believe Tam would have been in the game to give up the game winning hit to the Angels. I think either the A’s should shut down Lilly, or they should commit to letting a Lilly/Fyrhie or Lilly/Harang combination pitch at least into the seventh inning to keep the bullpen fresh.
Steve B.
My opinion is win the division. The A’s have enough lefthanded pitching to beat the Twins even if you have to bring Mulder back on three days rest in ther ALDS. I don’t want to see a game five in NY. However, I will tell you this, if the A’s did get the Yankees first, I feel the big three, if on proper rest, could take the Yankees out in three this time. Truthfully, they should have gotten the job done in game three last year regardless of Jeremy’s non slide. So, if the division is a real longshot going into the last weekend, I would set up the rotation for NY instead of trying for a dramatic comeback to win the division, if it comes to that.
A good question on who to start Friday. It really goes back to our earlier discussions about the A’s need for a fifth starter, when you mentioned over and again Ismael Valdes. He would look good right about now. Not so much for the post-season as for the stretch run.
I think I would be inclined to start Lilly but commit to pitching the Lilly/Harang/Fyhrie combination for enough innings to save the bullpen frontline for later games. It is just disturbing and frightening at any point to see Tam come in with the game on the line. He pitches his best when it means the least.
Steve B.
I agree with every word.
Steve B.
Once again I doubt that Mike Scoscia is going to skip Mickey callaway to let Washburn pitch on 3 days rest, and if he does, I dont think Appier will be pushed up either, especially iwth the way he just pitched. Callaway was fine last week but bad defense and bad calls hurt him and eventually he got knocked out. Who knows how long he would ahve lasted had his defense made the plays behind him.
As for the 4 game series, I expect the Angels to win tonight. The next 3 will be a challenge but I think they can take 1 of them especially if it becomes a battle of the bullpen.
As for Seattle not wanting to go quietly, by the time they play the Angels they willl likely be mathematically eliminated if Texas pulls a repeat.
TJ
I agree about Tam. When the A’s are already behind he pitches fine but otherwise he chokes.
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