GaryMrMets
06-04-2004, 02:15 AM
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/sports/8824790.htm
Posted on Thu, Jun. 03, 2004
Outcome a Zeile shame for Wolf
By MIKE KERN
kernm@phillynews.com
IT'S NOT AS IF something like this hasn't happened to Randy Wolf before.
On April 18, against Montreal, the Phillies lefthander pitched six innings. He was taken out with the lead after giving up three runs on six hits. His team won, but he got a no-decision.
On May 17, at Colorado, Wolf went 6 1/3 innings. He left with a five-run lead. He wasn't too happy about the hook. Again. This time, the Phils wound up losing. After the game it came out that Wolf had felt a twinge in his pitching elbow. It turned out to be tendinitis. And it made him miss his next scheduled start.
Which brings us to last night at Citizens Bank Park.
For the most part, Wolf was in total command. He retired the first two New York batters he faced in the top of the eighth. Up to that point, the Mets had two hits and three baserunners. And the Phils led by a field goal. Then, poof.
Vance Wilson, pinch-hitting for Tom Glavine, singled. When Kaz Matsui followed with a ground double just inside third base, Phils manager Larry Bowa trudged to the mound. He put both his hands on Wolf's shoulders. There were boos.
Still, Wolf was lifted, after 104 pitches. To a standing ovation, of course. In came rookie righty Ryan Madson to face Todd Zeile, who was 5-for-23 against Wolf lifetime, including 0-for-3 in this one. Madson has been outstanding, but has been used a lot lately - five times in the seven previous games.
But really, was there any doubt Zeile, a Phillie in 1996, would loft a 3-2 pitch just over the fence in left-center to tie things? Or that, two innings later, he would deposit a 2-1 offering from Roberto Hernandez, who's been anything but outstanding since coming off the disabled list 2 weeks ago, into the seats in right?
That gave the Mets a 5-3 win and a sweep of the three-game set. The last time they did that here was May 1998.
Maybe it's one of those karma deals.
The Phils, who also lost in 10 innings on Tuesday, have dropped six of their last nine heading into an 11-day, three-city road trip that starts tonight in Atlanta.
"We've just got to shake this off," Hernandez said. "The game, and the series. It's unfortunate for Randy. He threw a tremendous game."
Amazingly, without much of a fastball. That's how good his changeup and curve were. And his location. But his pitch count going into the ninth inning was 90. And by the time he left, there was no decision involved. He had nothing more to give.
"We wanted to salvage one game, get on a plane and have a good night's sleep," Wolf said. "But it didn't work out that way.
"I told [Bowa] to be smart, to have someone ready. He asked me to be honest with him. My heart was telling me 'Mad Dog' had a better shot of getting [Zeile] out than me. He's a pretty good off-speed hitter. Hindsight's always 20-20. I wasn't checking the pitch count. I just went by how I felt physically.
"I knew the situation I was in. I was starting to make bad pitches. When my ball starts cutting, I start getting in trouble. I was leaving it over the plate."
Zeile went 7-for-15 in the series, with three homers and eight RBI. His second dinger also came with two outs, after pinch-hitter Karim Garcia had banged a double off the base of the wall in center with one down.
The Phils loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the 10th, but closer Braden Looper got Jim Thome to ground out to shortstop.
Jimmy Rollins, batting leadoff for the second straight game, went 3-for-3 with two walks. For the sixth time in his career, he started things off by going yard, his second longball of the season. But Tom Glavine, who gave up a two-run double to Bobby Abreu in the third, was almost as stingy as Wolf. He allowed three hits in his seven innings.
And the Mets had the right guy at the plate when they needed it. Twice. Of Zeile's 250 career HRs, 21 have come against the Phils, against whom he's batting .304. It's the first time he's driven in five runs in a little over 2 years.
"You can't make a mistake with [Zeile]," Hernandez said. "When you're going that good, you don't miss pitches. That's what it boils down to. We've got to get key knocks, and key outs, when we're called upon. We've got to pick each other up. We've got to play better.''
Of course, if Bowa had Billy Wagner available in his bullpen, Madson wouldn't even have been in there. Instead, Tim Worrell would be the setup man. But until Wagner (strained left groin) returns from the disabled list, it is what it is.
"People don't want to hear that," Bowa insisted. "I'm not blaming [Madson]. We have to put guys in different roles. I don't know what else you can do. We've got to win that game. I'm not going to sit here and make excuses.
"Randy threw great tonight. He was unbelievable. At the end of the seventh, we just asked him how he felt. He told Joe [Kerrigan, pitching coach] to have backup ready when he went back out there. He thought a fresh arm might do better. In my mind, it's the right move. We stretched him a little too far. We asked him to be honest with us. I can respect him, for what he did and what he said. We knew he was done at 90. It cost us a game. That's the way it goes. I'll sleep good tonight.''
He would have slept much better, naturally, had Zeile not come up so huge. The Mets, by the way, have evened their record at 26-26, and are only 1 ½ games behind the second-place Phillies in the National League East.
"I'm usually the guy who definitely wants to stay in there," Wolf said. "But I just knew [it was time to come out]. It's the kind of relationship you have to build [with your manager]. You have to do what's best for the team.
"Sometimes you go out there with almost nothing and have to get guys out. It's a state of mind. At no time could I blow it by them. At the end, it was like trying to fly with a wing clipped."
Posted on Thu, Jun. 03, 2004
Outcome a Zeile shame for Wolf
By MIKE KERN
kernm@phillynews.com
IT'S NOT AS IF something like this hasn't happened to Randy Wolf before.
On April 18, against Montreal, the Phillies lefthander pitched six innings. He was taken out with the lead after giving up three runs on six hits. His team won, but he got a no-decision.
On May 17, at Colorado, Wolf went 6 1/3 innings. He left with a five-run lead. He wasn't too happy about the hook. Again. This time, the Phils wound up losing. After the game it came out that Wolf had felt a twinge in his pitching elbow. It turned out to be tendinitis. And it made him miss his next scheduled start.
Which brings us to last night at Citizens Bank Park.
For the most part, Wolf was in total command. He retired the first two New York batters he faced in the top of the eighth. Up to that point, the Mets had two hits and three baserunners. And the Phils led by a field goal. Then, poof.
Vance Wilson, pinch-hitting for Tom Glavine, singled. When Kaz Matsui followed with a ground double just inside third base, Phils manager Larry Bowa trudged to the mound. He put both his hands on Wolf's shoulders. There were boos.
Still, Wolf was lifted, after 104 pitches. To a standing ovation, of course. In came rookie righty Ryan Madson to face Todd Zeile, who was 5-for-23 against Wolf lifetime, including 0-for-3 in this one. Madson has been outstanding, but has been used a lot lately - five times in the seven previous games.
But really, was there any doubt Zeile, a Phillie in 1996, would loft a 3-2 pitch just over the fence in left-center to tie things? Or that, two innings later, he would deposit a 2-1 offering from Roberto Hernandez, who's been anything but outstanding since coming off the disabled list 2 weeks ago, into the seats in right?
That gave the Mets a 5-3 win and a sweep of the three-game set. The last time they did that here was May 1998.
Maybe it's one of those karma deals.
The Phils, who also lost in 10 innings on Tuesday, have dropped six of their last nine heading into an 11-day, three-city road trip that starts tonight in Atlanta.
"We've just got to shake this off," Hernandez said. "The game, and the series. It's unfortunate for Randy. He threw a tremendous game."
Amazingly, without much of a fastball. That's how good his changeup and curve were. And his location. But his pitch count going into the ninth inning was 90. And by the time he left, there was no decision involved. He had nothing more to give.
"We wanted to salvage one game, get on a plane and have a good night's sleep," Wolf said. "But it didn't work out that way.
"I told [Bowa] to be smart, to have someone ready. He asked me to be honest with him. My heart was telling me 'Mad Dog' had a better shot of getting [Zeile] out than me. He's a pretty good off-speed hitter. Hindsight's always 20-20. I wasn't checking the pitch count. I just went by how I felt physically.
"I knew the situation I was in. I was starting to make bad pitches. When my ball starts cutting, I start getting in trouble. I was leaving it over the plate."
Zeile went 7-for-15 in the series, with three homers and eight RBI. His second dinger also came with two outs, after pinch-hitter Karim Garcia had banged a double off the base of the wall in center with one down.
The Phils loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the 10th, but closer Braden Looper got Jim Thome to ground out to shortstop.
Jimmy Rollins, batting leadoff for the second straight game, went 3-for-3 with two walks. For the sixth time in his career, he started things off by going yard, his second longball of the season. But Tom Glavine, who gave up a two-run double to Bobby Abreu in the third, was almost as stingy as Wolf. He allowed three hits in his seven innings.
And the Mets had the right guy at the plate when they needed it. Twice. Of Zeile's 250 career HRs, 21 have come against the Phils, against whom he's batting .304. It's the first time he's driven in five runs in a little over 2 years.
"You can't make a mistake with [Zeile]," Hernandez said. "When you're going that good, you don't miss pitches. That's what it boils down to. We've got to get key knocks, and key outs, when we're called upon. We've got to pick each other up. We've got to play better.''
Of course, if Bowa had Billy Wagner available in his bullpen, Madson wouldn't even have been in there. Instead, Tim Worrell would be the setup man. But until Wagner (strained left groin) returns from the disabled list, it is what it is.
"People don't want to hear that," Bowa insisted. "I'm not blaming [Madson]. We have to put guys in different roles. I don't know what else you can do. We've got to win that game. I'm not going to sit here and make excuses.
"Randy threw great tonight. He was unbelievable. At the end of the seventh, we just asked him how he felt. He told Joe [Kerrigan, pitching coach] to have backup ready when he went back out there. He thought a fresh arm might do better. In my mind, it's the right move. We stretched him a little too far. We asked him to be honest with us. I can respect him, for what he did and what he said. We knew he was done at 90. It cost us a game. That's the way it goes. I'll sleep good tonight.''
He would have slept much better, naturally, had Zeile not come up so huge. The Mets, by the way, have evened their record at 26-26, and are only 1 ½ games behind the second-place Phillies in the National League East.
"I'm usually the guy who definitely wants to stay in there," Wolf said. "But I just knew [it was time to come out]. It's the kind of relationship you have to build [with your manager]. You have to do what's best for the team.
"Sometimes you go out there with almost nothing and have to get guys out. It's a state of mind. At no time could I blow it by them. At the end, it was like trying to fly with a wing clipped."