Giants, A's owners present study in contrasts
Twenty years ago, the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A's faced off for baseball's biggest prize. But today, the players -- on the field and in the front office -- have changed, and so has the prize: Now it's Bill Neukom vs. Lew Wolff competing for the city of San Jose.
With their teams sitting out this week's World Series, both are looking ahead to winter, when baseball's 30 owners will meet to decide everything from TV deals to big trades. As Wolff, co-owner of the Oakland A's, and Neukom, managing general partner of the San Francisco Giants, rub elbows, they'll no doubt be mindful that this same group of millionaires soon could redraw the Bay Area's baseball map.
With a three-quarters vote, baseball's owners can terminate the Giants' territorial rights to the South Bay and let the A's move to San Jose. But first, a commission appointed by Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig is studying the A's stadium options. That committee met Thursday with San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and other city officials who've been assembling plans for a privately financed $489 million ballpark.
Neither the city nor committee member Corey Busch would comment on the discussion, nor would Busch say when the group would issue a decision.
So Neukom and Wolff must wait.
The two contemporaries (Neukom is 67, Wolff is 73) are a contrast in styles: One has a legalistic view of the world, the other a pragmatic view. They remain respectful adversaries nevertheless.
"If we went to high school together, and they handed out diplomas by grade point, he would be home by the time I got mine," said Wolff of Neukom's intellect. "He's a very impressive person."
Likewise, Neukom calls Wolff "very smart and very, very successful. ... He's got a great sense of humor and a good, healthy perspective on life."
Both are known as shrewd professionals who have earned tens of millions of dollars in their respective fields.
Neukom, a 6-foot-4-inch attorney with a penchant for bow ties and suspenders, is a former president of the American Bar Association. He grew up in San Mateo, where he said his love with the Giants began. He became a team limited partner in 1994 and last year was made managing general partner.
But he is perhaps best known as the longtime Microsoft general counsel who defended the company against antitrust suits brought by the U.S. Justice Department and the European Union. The cases ended in consent decrees in which the company admitted no wrongdoing but agreed to change some business practices.
Lauded for his keen tactical mind, Neukom can also play hardball. During the Microsoft trial, some legal experts believed his repeated challenges of Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson created an adversarial tone.
Not all cases have been as divisive; good lawyers are sometimes mediators, Neukom said. "I try very hard to have a sense of the merits (of a case) and to develop a position for my client and then to zealously advance that position. And the position should be based on the facts and on sound principles.''
The Giants have relied on facts and principles as the basis of their territorial rights claim, but they've also made efforts to woo their South Bay fans. In April, the team agreed to buy a 25 percent stake in the San Jose Giants, its Class A minor league affiliate.
Wolff, meanwhile, is described by those who know him as affable and low-key. The St. Louis native is a longtime developer of commercial buildings and hotels. Among other achievements, he helped transform parts of downtown San Jose, often with the aid of generous city subsidies. Keeping a sharp eye on the real estate market, in 1996 he and one of his investors, a billionaire Saudi prince, snapped up a two-thirds stake in the San Jose Fairmont Hotel when it was in financial straits.
In 2005, with Gap heir John Fisher, he bought the A's and took the helm as managing partner. Wolff also owns the San Jose Earthquakes and recently unveiled plans for a 15,000-seat soccer stadium near the airport.
Shorter in stature than Neukom, Wolff is fond of wearing a golf shirt and Windbreaker. "I waited all my life not to wear a suit and tie,'' quipped the A's owner.
For all his successes, Wolff's biggest business mistake ironically was related to a sports venture. In 1999, he joined a group of investors who had just bought Toronto's SkyDome. The stadium and its famous retractable roof ended up bleeding money, and after five years, the group sold it at a loss.
"It was the worst deal I ever made," Wolff told the Mercury News in 2006. But he also learned some important lessons, especially on control of teams and the places they play, saying, "Every team should control its own destiny."
Asked to characterize his negotiating style, he said, "I believe the best outcome is when everybody wins a little bit of something."
But some wonder whether Wolff, at 73, will have the endurance to find yet another location for the team if he can't move to San Jose.
"He's spent a lot of time and money in Fremont and time in Oakland" looking for a stadium site, noted one person who has worked with Wolff. "He's got to be thinking, 'How long do I have to wait for this?'"
Both Wolff and Neukom may know more in a few weeks when they attend an MLB owners' meeting in Chicago. League officials said it's unknown whether the territorial topic will be on the meeting's agenda.
But there is no rule against deal-making during breaks -- or afterward. Both men say they're not lobbying their fellow owners.
Still, many say the decision over territorial rights really lies with Selig, a college fraternity brother of Wolff's who encouraged the developer to invest in the A's.
Asked what he would do if he was trying a case, and the judge was a fraternity brother of the opposing attorney, Neukom said: "I would count on the judge to persuade us that he would be utterly impartial."
He added: "The commissioner himself has said many, many times how fundamentally important territorial rights are for each of the 30 teams."
However, Selig's committee may conclude that a move to the South Bay would make the most money for baseball's owners. MLB teams participate in revenue sharing, where the wealthiest teams end up supporting less lucrative ones like the A's. Team boosters are certain a move to the more demographically affluent San Jose would lead to higher ticket sales and end the team's taking subsidies from the revenue pool.
The Giants also are fighting to hold onto that affluent South Bay fan base, as well as the profitable advertising deals, sponsorships and club suites the team has secured at AT&T park with high profile Silicon Valley companies.
One source close to MLB, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the issue, stressed that whatever Selig does will be based on what is best for baseball, not his friendship with Wolff.
Other league observers said they would not be surprised if Selig ultimately cuts a deal between the two teams that gives financial concessions to the Giants. In that scenario, the A's might be required to pay their Bay Bridge rival handsomely -- perhaps a larger share of television rights for a period of time. Selig was involved in similar negotiations that let the Montreal Expos move into the Baltimore Orioles' traditional territory in 2005 and become the Washington Nationals.
"Wolff will be happy to move to San Jose, and the Giants will be happy that they got a big slice of Wolff's bacon," said another source close to the league, who also asked not to be named. "And if that happens, Selig will have pulled off a very good move for both sides."
(c) 2009 - San Jose Mercury News.
Tigers confirm interest in Chapman
DETROIT -- Add the Tigers to the meeting list for Cuban pitcher Aroldis Chapman as he talks with Major League teams.
Tom Moore, the team's director of international operations, confirmed a published report that the team has shown interest in meeting with the highly regarded left-hander and his representatives in the next couple weeks.
"It's something we're pursuing," Moore said Monday night. "He's of interest [to teams] with the arm."
The interest was first reported Monday evening by SI.com. The report lists the Tigers among nine teams to have shown some level of interest in Chapman, joining the Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles, White Sox, Cubs, Mets, A's and Cardinals.
That doesn't mean the Tigers are going to get into a bidding war. At this point, the Tigers don't go in with financial expectations. But with Chapman and his representatives meeting with clubs and allowing teams to get to know the highly touted hurler, the Tigers will take the opportunity to talk.
"We're basically just at the interest level," Moore said. "Because of the nature, I think it's a situation where they're going to take the time to allow clubs to spend some time with the player and see who he is."
How competitive the Tigers' interest would be in Chapman isn't yet clear. The 21-year-old southpaw, who defected from his native Cuba during an international tournament in July and established residency in the small European country of Andorra, is expected to draw intense bidding among some of the interested teams. Multiple reports have suggested he could ask for as much as $40-$60 million to sign, with the Yankees and Red Sox expected to be the most likely to offer anything resembling that kind of money.
Chapman has drawn those expectations thanks in large part to a fastball that has reportedly been clocked as high as 102 mph, though he supposedly throws more consistently in the 90s.
Given the Tigers' payroll and financial considerations, including a difficult economy in Michigan and looming negotiations on a long-term contract for Justin Verlander, Detroit's interest would seemingly have a limit.
The Tigers have generally avoided high-priced sweepstakes for international signings in recent years, preferring to use their resources to scout and sign more players to low- and middle-range deals and try to develop them from there. The one area where they've shown the most willingness to spend is in the First-Year Player Draft, where they've signed top high school pitchers Rick Porcello and Jacob Turner to lucrative contracts over the last three years.
The Tigers have had no history in recent years signing Cuban players. The last Cuban player they've had on their Major League roster, outfielder Alex Sanchez, was a trade acquisition from Milwaukee in 2003 after he had already established himself in the big leagues.
That doesn't mean the Tigers have avoided scouting or talking with Cuban players -- in fact, they have scouted Cuban players in international tournaments -- or for highly touted international players in general, but they haven't made a signing. Part of the process for international signings, Moore said, is determining the value and determining whether a signing for a certain price meets that value, much like any player.
(c) 2001-2009 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Phillies on the verge of something special
The Phillies postseason run in 2009 has been anything but predictable. In the Division Series, they beat a heretofore dominant Houston Street not once, but twice in back to back games. The latter in spectacular fashion with a two-out, three run rally in the 9th inning. And with Ryan ''get me to the plate'' Howard picking up this team and placing it on his back, the Philadelphia Phillies are seriously charging towards something special.
In the NLCS, the Phillies have again proven just how determined they are as a TEAM. In Game 1, they knocked around the Dodgers' George Sherrill who served up his first home run to a left handed hitter all year to Raul Ibanez. They then lose a tough but close game on a error and a bases loaded walk. That is the kind of end to a game that crushes a teams morale and swings the momentum wildly in the other teams' favor. The only problem with that is that the Dodgers had to play the Phillies and they hung a 11-0 thrashing on them. The Dodgers didn't get a man past second and couldn't solve Cliff Lee as he has been masterful this postseason.
Last night, Ryan Howard once again showed the world that he is going to take this team somewhere that the NL hasn't been in a long time. As the ball that Howard crushed landed in the seats, everyone found out he had tied the immortal Lou Gehrig's record for consecutive playoff games with at least one RBI. He is also getting close to shattering the postseason record for RBIs altogether. Later in the game, it looked again like a fielding error was going to doom the Phillies for another loss in this series. They battled in the 8th and forced Dodgers' skipper Joe Torre's hand to bring in closer Jonathan Broxton for a extended save out of the pen. In the top of the 9th as the temperature dropped, Brad Lidge raised his game and again flashed signs that he was back to last year's form. Lidge didn't allow a man to score and kept the game close. And once again the Phils would prove that you have to record all 27 of those outs before you declare a team the winner (I'm talking to you MLB ). A now cold Broxton had to go back out and face the bottom of the lineup. He got Ibanez to ground out to second, and was then greeted by his old nemesis, Mr. Matt Stairs. You could quickly see that he had no intention of actually throwing a strike to Stairs and sure enough, he proceeded to walk him. Broxton then does the unthinkable: hitting Carlos Ruiz in the elbow and putting the winning run on base. Next up was Greg Dobbs, who flared a ball over third for the second out of the inning.
With the Phillies hopes for victory now appearing slim to none, up walked Jimmy Rollins.
While nobody would confuse Jimmy for Mr. October in the playoffs, when it matters the most in the 9th inning, J-Roll has gone 4 for 6 against two very formidable pitchers in Street and Broxton. What happened next was nothing short of a miracle. For the third time in the history of the game, a team won with a two-out extra bases hit to win a game. As Jimmy made contact with Broxton 's pitch and it sailed into the gap, anyone and everyone watching started to realize they were witnessing something great. The runners were off on the pitch. Ruiz ran faster than he did when he mobbed Brad Lidge after the Eric Hinske strikeout. As he slid across the plate -- the Phillies won a incredibly improbable game for the ages, and also put the Dodgers on life support.
They can now close this series out on Wednesday and would then await the winner of the Yankees vs. Angels series. With the way this team is playing, we might just be witnessing the birth of the little red machine as it marches towards what could be this team's destiny and a very special place in baseball lore as not a one win National League team, but an honest-to-goodness, dare I say...dynasty. I sit here in amazement when I think that for the second year in a row, this team has captivated the region and has just about officially stolen the heart of the city from the Eagles. You don't see people in green anymore, you only see red. People barely grumbled about a pathetic loss to a perennial last place team in the Raiders. But that happens when you have a team as special as the Philadelphia Phillies. As the team keeps winning, the more they become THE place that free-agents want to land.
When did anyone think that would ever happen?
(c) 2009 Philly2Philly All rights reserved.
Cards outperformed by robust opponent
ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals may have had several chances to score runs in Game 1 of the National League Division Series and were only an out away from a win in Game 2, but after being ousted from the playoffs with a three-game sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night, the fact of the matter is simple: the better team probably won.
The Cardinals scored just six runs in three games and went a dismal 4-for-30 with runners in scoring position. The Dodgers, meanwhile, scored all five of their runs in the clinching 5-1 victory on Saturday night with two outs. The Dodgers outscored the Cardinals 9-1 with two outs.
Simply put, the Dodgers made the plays when they needed to and the Cardinals didn't.
"They had the best record in the National League and you can't wonder why," said infielder Julio Lugo. "It shows. The numbers are there. They have a great team."
The Cardinals won 91 games in the regular season but won just two of their last 13, including the playoff sweep. After clinching the NL Central title in Colorado, they won just one of seven games to close out the regular season.
And while the Dodgers stumbled down the stretch as well, they were able to turn things around when it counted. Los Angeles led the National League with 95 wins and looked every bit that good in sending the Cardinals home without a win in the postseason for just the second time in franchise history.
Cardinals players didn't need to admit it -- the stats did that -- but the better team likely advanced to the next round.
"They beat us, and we're a good team," said reliever Trever Miller. "And they beat us pretty soundly. They swept us, and I wasn't expecting that at all. They have no weaknesses that I see. They have a quality lineup. There's not one guy in there that you can pitch around because they can all do damage.
"Now they get to go home and rest up for a few days and see who they are going to play and kind of set their roster and be ready to go. Whoever they play in the next series, it's going to be a tough one for their opponent."
The game plan for the Cardinals to get back in the series with a win on Saturday was to score first and get the crowd involved in the game. Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez made sure that neither of those things happened, lining a two-out double in the first to score Matt Kemp and put the Dodgers in front before the Cardinals even had a chance to bat.
Ramirez doubled again in the third and had an RBI single in the seventh, his eighth three-hit game in his postseason career. His two RBIs gave him 32 in Division Series play, one short of Bernie Williams' record of 33.
"You have to remember, they got a couple of hits by one of the best hitters in the game," Lugo said. "Manny Ramirez is one of the best producers in the game. They're just good. Whoever they play, they are going to be tough."
The Cardinals were picked to win the series by several national pundits but never recovered from their late-season slide. As they head home for the winter to think about their missed chances, the Dodgers head home to await an opponent in the NL Championship Series.
"You're frustrated because it was so close and because it means so much," said pitcher John Smoltz. "But when you look back, yeah they did win the most games in the National League and they had their share of injuries, too, but they just found a way to win three games before we did.
"I think they are going to be awfully tough to beat."
(c) 2001-2009 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Astros limp into offseason with issues to address
With the Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals set to do battle in the National League playoffs, the Houston Astros officially begin the offseason after concluding one of the worst regular seasons under Drayton McLane, Jr.'s ownership.
At one point, it appeared the Astros (74-88) would be a legitimate contender in the NL Central when they swept St. Louis at home July 20-22.
Unfortunately, injuries to standout players, in conjunction with poor performances and horrendous luck, prevented Houston from taking the NL Central lead and forced them to plummet all the way down to a disappointing fifth-place finish.
In the midst of chronic losing and the inability to win on the road, McLane decided it was time to make a change and fired manager Cecil Cooper with 13 games remaining.
Not Clark's fault
Out with Cooper, in came interim manager Dave Clark, who led the team to a 4-9 record.
Nobody can throw Clark under the bus or attempt to judge his managerial skills considering he inherited a mess.
One thing's for sure -- the team's attitude improved significantly under Clark's guidance, but it still wasn't enough to turn a horrible situation into a promising finish.
The Astros concluded the 2009 season on a sour note Sunday when the New York Mets completed the three-game sweep at Citi Field. Mets right-hander Nelson Figueroa put his struggles on the back burner by tossing the game of his life in a complete-game, four-hit shutout to lead New York to a 4-0 win.
Figueroa had lost his previous five starts, but like so many average starting pitchers facing the Astros this season, he magically transformed into Cy Young on the mound and dominated Houston's precarious offense.
With Sunday's defeat, Houston lost 11 of their 13 final road games and finished with a lopsided 44-37 home record and 30-51 on the road.
Only the Mets (52), Pittsburgh Pirates (58) and Washington Nationals (55) posted more road losses among National League teams this season.
It seems like every National League team, especially divisional opponents, got a chance to beat up on the Astros.
Ironically, the Mets (70-92) were in even worse shape as a team and organization heading into the final series, yet Jerry Manuel's squad utilized the final three games against Houston to post a winning home record (41-40) in their inaugural season at Citi Field.
Despite the results of the final series, the Astros and Mets were both left with thoughts of what might have been.
They suffered critical injuries throughout the season, with New York players spending more than 1.480 days on the disabled list, including Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, J.J. Putz, Jose Reyes, Johan Santana and David Wright -- according to STATS LLC.
Tejada finishes strong
Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada cracked his 46th double of the season off Figueroa to extend his hitting streak to 21 games. Also, he finished one hit shy of recording the fourth 200-hit season of his 13-year career.
Tejada joins former Cincinnati Reds first baseman Hal Morris and current Philadelphia Phillies All-Star shortstop Jimmy Rollins as the only players in the last 20 years to end the season with a hitting streak of more than 20 games.
The 35-year-old veteran will carry his hitting streak into next season, but remains uncertain whether that will be in an Astros uniform or somewhere else once he hits the free-agent market this offseason.
Had he attained his 200th hit, Tejada would have joined Hall of Famers Rogers Hornsby, Nap Lajoie and Paul Molitor, as well as Juan Pierre, as only the fifth player in major league history to post a 200-hit season for three different franchises.
On a positive note, Clark elected to start veteran Aaron Boone at third base for Sunday's finale. Boone defied the odds by making it back to the big leagues when the rosters expanded Sept. 1 after undergoing open-heart surgery in March to replace a bicuspid aortic valve.
Decisions-making offseason
Now that the season's over, McLane and general manager Ed Wade plan to conduct a full evaluation from top to bottom of the entire Astros organization. First, they will begin the interview process and hire a full-time manager shortly upon the conclusion of the World Series -- if not sooner.
Rumors pertaining to potential candidates include Manny Acta, Tim Bogar, Clark, Dave Duncan and Ted Simmons.
According to MLB.com, several of the Astros players, including Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt, spoke up after Sunday's game on Clark's behalf by lobbying him to the media and proclaiming their belief that he makes the ideal choice to fill the role on a permanent basis.
"I think he's got the right type of demeanor and presence," Berkman told MLB.com. "I like him and think he would make a great choice. Nobody would have the least bit of problem with him being the next manager."
Once McLane and Wade hire the right manager, they intend to trim payroll and get younger on the field.
The Astros don't expect to be major players in the free-agent market, but it's conceivable they'll explore the possibility of signing at least one or two starting pitchers. Some of the top free-agent starting pitchers include Erik Bedard, Rich Harden, John Lackey, Jason Marquis, Brett Myers, Carl Pavano, Andy Pettitte and Joel Pineiro.
Also, it's been reported that Houston will attempt to re-sign setup man LaTroy Hawkins and closer Jose Valverde, but one of the toughest organizational decisions revolves around Tejada.
Tejada wants to stay in Houston and it certainly helps that his teammates, as well as McLane and Wade, absolutely love him. However, he's an aging veteran who made $14.8 million this season, which works against him.
"I really want to come back," Tejada said. "I have a great thing going with the Astros and in the Houston community with the charities I'm involved with. I don't know what will happen, but we'll just have to see how it plays out."
It's possible Wade will pursue four-time All-Star free agent Ben Sheets, who missed the entire 2009 season while rehabbing from elbow surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon. Sheets, 31, was chosen as the NL starting pitcher for the 2008 All-Star Game, and should be 100 percent for the start of the 2010 season.
In addition to being a top-notch starting pitcher, Sheets has been one of Oswalt's closest friends since the two represented team USA for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Realistically, Sheets could be the steal of the offseason and could generate a significant amount of interest from several teams in addition to the Astros.
Although it wasn't a pretty season, all Houston fans can do is sit back this offseason and have faith that McLane and Wade will construct the ideal blueprint for the organization's future.
(c) 2009 Clarity Digital Group LLC d/b/a Examiner.com. All Rights reserved.
Boston's party unusual, to say the least
BOSTON -- It was late Tuesday night, and the Red Sox didn't know quite what to do. After all, there isn't a manual for baseball teams on how they should celebrate if they can't clinch a postseason berth on the field.
But the more they thought about it and the more they huddled amongst each other, the Sox came to the conclusion that they should celebrate no matter what the circumstances.
So after losing, 8-7, to the Blue Jays on Tuesday night at Fenway Park, the team went in a few different directions. After all, there was some time to kill, with the Rangers-Angels game still in the early innings. With a Texas loss, Boston would officially be in the postseason.
Daniel Bard went to his apartment across the street to have a late dinner. David Ortiz said he was going to go out for a bit, but vowed to remain in the area -- just in case. Dustin Pedroia put his infant son to bed, but kept tabs on the happenings in Anaheim.
But by the time Rangers lost, 5-2, just before 1 a.m. ET, nearly 90 percent of the Red Sox's players had reconvened back in the Fenway Park clubhouse, where they sprayed each other with champagne and whatever else they could find.
Third basemen Mike Lowell was the first player to emerge from the party and speak to the throng of media stationed outside the clubhouse. Lowell had an American League Wild Card cap on backwards and a gray shirt that had a distinct stench of what comes with such a celebration.
"It's wet," Lowell said. "I just think guys feel the ultimate satisfaction of starting out in Spring Training. You have this goal. The season always brings ups and downs, but you fight through it collectively, and you enjoy the good times."
This was one of those times.
"I went home, put my son to sleep and came back," said Pedroia. "We all watched the game. At the [last out], we were all yelling at each other. That was pretty much it."
While the Red Sox are now in the midst of a terrific run of six postseason berths in the past seven years, several of the players on the team used to play for non-contenders.
Jason Bay never tasted a pennant race until coming to Boston in July of last season.
"I was on a team where this would have been a luxury, going to the playoffs," said Bay. "You construct a team, you put it together a certain way, a lot of things still have to go right. Four teams from each league get to go to the playoffs. That's the big thing -- everyone's pulling in the same direction."
Then there was Tim Wakefield, the senior member of the team at age 43, who has endured months of back woes to contribute to the cause. Including his time with the Pittsburgh Pirates, it was the 10th postseason berth of the knuckleballer's career. And he still cherished it.
"There's so much work that goes on from the offseason into Spring Training with one goal in mind and that's to get to the postseason and win the World Series," said Wakefield. "It doesn't matter how you get in as long as you get in."
And what does it say about the Red Sox that the team still had a unified celebration despite the unique circumstances?
"That says a lot about our team that we really care about where we're going," Wakefield said. "Most of the team is still here, 99 percent. It says a lot about the character of this team."
(c) 2001-2009 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Rockies' Wild Card lead drops to four
DENVER -- It's not as if Rockies right-hander Jason Marquis is bewildered by a slump that included another short, wild outing on Wednesday night.
Marquis gave up six runs (five earned) in 4 2/3 innings of a 6-3 loss to the Padres that reduced the Rockies' lead in the National League Wild Card race to four games over the Braves and Giants.
"I'm falling behind hitters with my sinker," Marquis said. "I'm having to rely on my secondary pitches, which are good when they complement my sinker."
Marquis (15-12) threw a 2-1 slider that Will Venable launched into the second deck for a second-inning leadoff homer in a two-run Padres inning. With two down in the fifth, Marquis fanned Chase Headley but launched a poorly located sinker, just like Venable, that became a three-run double.
Knowing what's wrong is fine. But Marquis, who carried the club through its rough early going but is 1-4 with a 6.49 ERA in his past six starts, must make the physical adjustment to be a force when it matters most.
"The adjustment that needs to be made is one that Jason can make, and one that he can make for himself," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said.
Marquis said he needs to regain his sinker, the pitch that he used to earn his first invitation to the All-Star Game this summer. If it doesn't return, his role in the playoffs -- it would take a major collapse for the Rockies not to qualify -- could be questionable. But he isn't panicking.
"I have plenty of time," Marquis said. "I'll work on it between starts, try to get the feel back."
The sinker, he noted, could return at any time. It would have been nice for him if it had come back during the at-bat against Venable.
"In that situation, I think it [the Headley strikeout] picks him up, he thinks 'That's the big out, now I'm one out away from escaping this," Padres manager Bud Black said. "Then Will gets that hit ... it's demoralizing."
Interestingly, other than the concern about Marquis, it was a decent night apart from the result.
Marquis left with a 6-0 disadvantage and turned the game over to the relievers, most of whom haven't been in key roles. Yet Matt Herges, Jhoulys Chacin, Joel Peralta, Randy Flores, Matt Daley and Joe Beimel combined to hold the Padres to one hit and one walk in 4 1/3 innings.
The strong bullpen effort came one night after several relievers were stellar in an 11-10 victory over the Padres on Tuesday. This was after a poor start by Jose De La Rosa.
"We obviously used some different guys tonight, and they all stepped up," Tracy said.
Also, the Rockies' offense kept the game interesting. Despite his early lead, Padres starter Tim Stauffer had to leave after 4 2/3 innings because the Rockies forced him to throw 101 pitches and drew five walks.
Seth Smith and Troy Tulowitzki drove in runs with singles in the fifth, but the inning ended when reliever Ryan Webb worked Yorvit Torrealba into a grounder with the bases loaded. In the seventh, Dexter Fowler doubled, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Todd Helton's sacrifice fly.
"We got to their bullpen early," said Rockies second baseman Clint Barmes, who went 2-for-3 with a double. "A lot of times when we've done that, we've come out ahead or had a chance to win, like tonight."
However, the Padres had decent bullpen work as well. Four relievers, including Webb (1-0) and closer Heath Bell (40 saves) held the Rockies to one run and three hits in 4 2/3 innings.
But the Rockies need strong starting pitching, as they've received for much of the season, to lock down the playoff berth and have a chance to advance. For Marquis to be a part of that, the math is clear.
Before Wednesday, hitters posted a .305 average off him after the first pitch was a ball, and .205 after it was a strike. If Marquis throws early strikes, he can test hitters' discipline with pitches that look like strikes but dip out of the zone.
"I just wasn't getting ahead," Marquis said. "If I'm getting ahead, it really doesn't matter what the other team's hitters are doing."
(c) 2001-2009 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
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