Hennessey starts off right in Giants' win

看板SFGiants作者COBRAS518 (4/10~14成大雄友周)時間19年前 (2006/04/17 17:35)推噓0(0推 0噓 0→)

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04/17/2006 12:57 AM ET Hennessey starts off right in Giants' win Righty recalled from Fresno, hurls 6 1/3 scoreless innings By Rich Draper / MLB.com LOS ANGELES -- This rivalry between the Dodgers and Giants harkens back to eras when spikes were honed to a sharp edge and beanballs and bench-clearing brawls were natural in baseball, but San Francisco manager Felipe Alou tried to snuff out any hint of a burning fuse in the wake of Easter Sunday fireworks at Dodger Stadium. The Giants savored a 2-0 victory, thanks to a super 6 1/3 innings from Brad Hennessey -- he flew in earlier from Triple-A Fresno -- and shutout ball by three relievers, including deluxe closer Tim Worrell. Two potential explosive incidents highlighted the emotional game, with Jeff Kent being beaned and Barry Bonds smacked on his upper arm, but there's also a lasting memory of Giants shortstop Omar Vizquel cooking up a little witchcraft with third baseman Pedro Feliz. Alou tried to downplay the hit-by-pitches as anomalies, and while both sides got a bit steamed, no one involved thought they were purpose pitches. "We have a tremendous relationship with the Dodgers since I took over the club and [Jim] Tracy was managing the team, and I believe we can have an even better relationship," he said. "We don't accept people throwing at hitters. "And if anyone believes Hennessey was throwing at Kent, that's bush league. It's not a big-league thought. I hope they don't believe that and that the guy wasn't throwing at Barry." But the Blue Crew was certainly seeing red when Kent caught an 81 mph changeup on the helmet and crashed to the ground in the seventh inning. The former Giant was taken to a hospital to be examined as a precaution after reporting blurriness in his left eye. In the next frame, Bonds was, as the San Francisco coaches claimed, "drilled" by Dodgers right-hander Tim Hamulack, who was immediately ejected. Giants catcher Mike Matheny said Hennessey's throw got away from him. Simple as that. "It still hurts the same, though, when you get hit in the head," he said. " It's a bad deal." As for Bonds, Dodgers manager Grady Little said it was unintentional. "The ump thought he did it on purpose, but that wasn't the case," said Little. "Barry's hanging over the plate and we're trying to go in and away. It hit him on the elbow pad." While that was interesting theater, the real story was 26-year-old Brad Hennessey coming back to the Giants after being demoted to Fresno following a so-so spring when he never found his groove. But he was on target, throwing strikes with his slider, sinker and change, and his effort enabled the Giants to head to Phoenix for a four-game series against the Diamondbacks with a 2-1 series win under their belts. "It was a beautiful job, a great job of pitching and I was real proud of him," said Matheny. "He came in and did exactly what anybody would ask for. He was moving it around and using all his pitches." Hennessey said, yes, the pitch to Kent was a changeup: "I was trying to get ahead and put too much into it and it kind of came out of my hand early." Oddly enough, Hennessey said he was fairly calm despite the emergency start. "It was one of the more relaxed times I've had out there," said the right- hander. "That made it a little easier to pitch well. I got off to a good start in Fresno again and knew what I was doing and in control of myself. That made it easy having that confidence." In addition to Hennessey's brilliance, Worrell methodically earned his fifth save of the season, while Vizquel managed -- almost impossible -- to enhance his reputation as a master defenseman and a great baseball mind. Vizquel led off the sixth with a double and scored on a balk by Jae Seo, but a rarely seen play was the talk of postgame. In the sixth, with pinch-runner Cody Ross on second and Rafael Furcal on first , Kenny Lofton hit a sharp grounder to second baseman Ray Durham, who fed Vizquel for the force -- but instead of trying to nail the swift Lofton at first, Vizquel whirled and threw a strike to Feliz. What? Ross was thinking the same thing when he found himself caught off the bag at third. Matheny was among Giants startled by the play, which Vizquel had planned while pitching coach Dave Righetti and others were talking to Hennessey following a walk to Furcal. "He amazes me," said the catcher. "He does something every day that floors me, the way he thinks and how under control he is, aggressive at the same time. "Every kid in America that wants to be a big-league shortstop should be watching every move that guy makes -- and every kid in Venezuela." Regarding the play, Feliz said it was the first time he'd been involved in such trickery. "It was an anticipated play," he said. "He told me to be ready for a double- play ball, that he was going to third. It's not easy, and nobody goes to third ." The Giants are thankful Vizquel is certainly not a nobody. Rich Draper is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. -- COBRAS.....只有三種...... 嚴肅認真的COBRAS....... 幽默搞怪的COBRAS....... 還有.....溫柔體貼的COBRAS....... -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 140.116.110.92