An
incident today marks
the second time the Phillies have had a problem with Freddy Garcia that I could've told them about:
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Phillies right-hander Freddy Garcia was injured Sunday
night when he ran into an equipment cart that had stopped along the warning
track in San Francisco's ballpark.
Garcia bruised his left leg in the collision, raising question as to whether
he will be able to make his scheduled start Monday night in the opener of a
three-game series at Arizona. Garcia, who was running to try to catch a fly
ball, toppled onto the cart used by the grounds crew and was clearly in pain. He
was quickly carted off the field on the vehicle.
"I'm not upset. I'm just kind of curious why it was out there during our
batting practice," Philadelphia general manager Pat Gillick said in the
clubhouse, before his team concluded a four-game series against the Giants.
Click on the picture to the right, and you'll see a shot I got of Freddy as he ran into the center field wall at Fenway last year during batting practice. I had my camera set up, thinking I'd get a good close-up shot as he slowed down. He didn't.
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Though I said it would solve all our problems yesterday, I do have some concerns about Toby Hall's uber-quick rehab if he can't throw to second.
Namely, it reminds me of the Nationals-Astros game last year where
Frank Robinson was driven to tears after watching Matt LeCroy, a non-catcher who started at catcher, fail to throw out seven basestealers in less than seven full innings. Robinson pulled LeCroy in the middle of the inning, and then cried about it to the press afterwards.
As much as I'd like to see the Sox give A.J. Pierzynski a day off with a guy who can actually hit left-handed pitching, I don't know if I'd like to see the faster teams turning walks into doubles off pitchers who ignore baserunners and a catcher with no arm. If Hall could DH in the interim, though, that would be dandy.
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Minor league round-up:- Norfolk 4, Charlotte 3 (11 innings)
- Brian Anderson hit his first homer of the year, a two-run shot in the seventh inning that tied the game. After starting off his minor-league stint 0-for-7, he's 7-for-13 over the last three games.
- Josh Fields had an RBI double, driving in Jerry Owens, who went 0-for-3 but drew two walks and stole two bases.
- The Knights threw a mish-mash of pitchers out there, but Paulino Reynoso and Ehren Wassermann continue to impress. Reynoso is tough to watch -- slow and throws a lot of pitches -- yet hasn't allowed a run in 11 1/3 innings.
- Tennessee 10, Birmingham 3
- The Smokies outscored the Barons 28-4 over the three-game series.
- Wes Whisler was responsible for all 10 runs, although two were unearned. He didn't retire any of the seven batters he faced in the fifth. Fernando Hernandez Jr., Edwardo Sierra, Tim Bittner and Oneli Perez threw five scoreless innings of relief.
- Chris Getz had two hits and two RBI; Robert Valido scored two runs, but struck out twice. His OPS is .436.
- Frederick 7, Winston-Salem 1
- Coming off his worst start of the year, Justin Cassell lasted only 2 1/3 innings, giving up a run. So far, I can't find what happened, but I'm hoping the three walks doesn't mean he was having arm troubles.
- Aaron Cunningham and Micah Schnurstein both went 1-for-4; David Cook hit a solo homer, his sixth of the year.
- Asheville 6, Kannapolis 5
- Chris Carter fell a homer short of the cycle, and raised his average to .310. He's slugging .517.
- Kanny's 6-7-8-9 hitters Michael Grace, Archie Gilbert, Scott Madsen and Hancer Vargas and went 8-for-16 with two doubles, two walks and an RBI apiece.
- Matt Long pitched well enough to win, but only lasted 5 1/3 innings, striking out two. Ryan Rote gave up four runs in the ninth to blow the save.