Fullabull
06-21-2002, 06:37 PM
They have become Indiana Jones' team: The archeological A's.
They have unearthed their main RBI source, Jermaine Dye, now that the right fielder has started to transfer weight onto his still-healing, formerly broken left leg.
They have dug up a leadoff hitter and a second baseman - two of their most glaring weaknesses in their suddenly distant, dark May days as the dregs of the American League West - in Mark Ellis, recalled from the Triple-A River Cats on June 6. And they have dusted off their old starting pitching, specifically their old Tim Hudson. His latest resurfacing came Thursday in the rampaging A's 5-3 win over the Pirates at PNC Park.
Oakland completed a three-game sweep of Pittsburgh with their fourth consecutive win, their 12th in 13 games and 20th in their last 25, putting them a season-high nine games over .500. Their 15-3 June record is baseball's best. They are four games behind Seattle, one behind Anaheim and ready to pounce in the A.L. West.
Dye put it another, simple way.
"We're hot."
So is he.
Dye had three hits Thursday, including a three-run, first-inning double and a soaring, solo home run in the third off former Pirates prodigy Kris Benson (0-4) that gave Hudson all the runs he needed. Dye, whose season did not begin until April 26 after six months of leg rehabilitation, is batting .368 with three home runs and 14 RBIs over his last 12 games.
That's slightly ahead of his 2001 pace - 59 RBIs in 61 A's games - machine-like production that ended when he broke his left tibia in last October's playoffs.
Asked if he is starting to feel like the pre-break Dye, he said, "Yeah, in the last week or so. I'm looking for certain pitches (like the first-inning fastball from Benson), getting them, and hammering them."
Dye agreed with A's manager Art Howe's estimate that the Vacaville native is still at only 80 percent of his full health.
"But if he's at 80 percent, that's better than most of the outfielders in the league at 100," Hudson said.
Ellis, who set up Dye's first-inning hit with a single to lead off the game, continues to provide the best starts of any A this season. His hit Wednesday began Oakland's two-run first inning.
The A's fourth starter at second base in just over two months is batting .311 with nine runs scored while starting 10 of the last 11 games. Howe named Ellis his new, regular second baseman Thursday, partly because 39-year-old Opening Day choice Randy Velarde can't stay healthy - he has missed three consecutive games with a sore hamstring after missing a month with a broken hand.
But it's mostly because the pride of South Dakota has played flawless, error-free defense, gotten on base, and generally played - and acted - like he belongs here in his rookie season.
Even if he's been seen and not heard.
"He's said like one or two words to me all year," said Hudson, a former Southeastern Conference rival of Ellis' when Auburn played Florida. "Of course, quiet in this crazy clubhouse may be loud in others."
Said Ellis: "I'm not in awe of these guys up here. I want to help this team win, to go to the playoffs, to go to the World Series. I want to experience that."
His chances have improved with Hudson's renaissance. Since falling to 3-6 during an 0-4 May, the erstwhile ace is 2-0 and has allowed seven runs in his last five starts while regaining his darting, split-fingered fastball.
By GREGG BELL, The Sacramento Bee
They have unearthed their main RBI source, Jermaine Dye, now that the right fielder has started to transfer weight onto his still-healing, formerly broken left leg.
They have dug up a leadoff hitter and a second baseman - two of their most glaring weaknesses in their suddenly distant, dark May days as the dregs of the American League West - in Mark Ellis, recalled from the Triple-A River Cats on June 6. And they have dusted off their old starting pitching, specifically their old Tim Hudson. His latest resurfacing came Thursday in the rampaging A's 5-3 win over the Pirates at PNC Park.
Oakland completed a three-game sweep of Pittsburgh with their fourth consecutive win, their 12th in 13 games and 20th in their last 25, putting them a season-high nine games over .500. Their 15-3 June record is baseball's best. They are four games behind Seattle, one behind Anaheim and ready to pounce in the A.L. West.
Dye put it another, simple way.
"We're hot."
So is he.
Dye had three hits Thursday, including a three-run, first-inning double and a soaring, solo home run in the third off former Pirates prodigy Kris Benson (0-4) that gave Hudson all the runs he needed. Dye, whose season did not begin until April 26 after six months of leg rehabilitation, is batting .368 with three home runs and 14 RBIs over his last 12 games.
That's slightly ahead of his 2001 pace - 59 RBIs in 61 A's games - machine-like production that ended when he broke his left tibia in last October's playoffs.
Asked if he is starting to feel like the pre-break Dye, he said, "Yeah, in the last week or so. I'm looking for certain pitches (like the first-inning fastball from Benson), getting them, and hammering them."
Dye agreed with A's manager Art Howe's estimate that the Vacaville native is still at only 80 percent of his full health.
"But if he's at 80 percent, that's better than most of the outfielders in the league at 100," Hudson said.
Ellis, who set up Dye's first-inning hit with a single to lead off the game, continues to provide the best starts of any A this season. His hit Wednesday began Oakland's two-run first inning.
The A's fourth starter at second base in just over two months is batting .311 with nine runs scored while starting 10 of the last 11 games. Howe named Ellis his new, regular second baseman Thursday, partly because 39-year-old Opening Day choice Randy Velarde can't stay healthy - he has missed three consecutive games with a sore hamstring after missing a month with a broken hand.
But it's mostly because the pride of South Dakota has played flawless, error-free defense, gotten on base, and generally played - and acted - like he belongs here in his rookie season.
Even if he's been seen and not heard.
"He's said like one or two words to me all year," said Hudson, a former Southeastern Conference rival of Ellis' when Auburn played Florida. "Of course, quiet in this crazy clubhouse may be loud in others."
Said Ellis: "I'm not in awe of these guys up here. I want to help this team win, to go to the playoffs, to go to the World Series. I want to experience that."
His chances have improved with Hudson's renaissance. Since falling to 3-6 during an 0-4 May, the erstwhile ace is 2-0 and has allowed seven runs in his last five starts while regaining his darting, split-fingered fastball.
By GREGG BELL, The Sacramento Bee