Loaiza not limited by pitch count in 1st start

[IE]

He hasn't pitched in a regular-season major-league game this year, so Esteban Loaiza has watched the Blue Jays closely the past two nights.

"I'm looking at the hitters to see what they're expecting," Loaiza said. "Joe (Blanton), they got to him quick and then he shut them down, moved the ball around."

Loaiza will take what he learned from watching Blanton on Monday and Dan Haren on Tuesday when he starts at Toronto today. Loaiza missed the first seven weeks of the season with a bulging disk in his neck, then injured his right knee during a rehab start in May and had arthroscopic knee surgery May 31. The A's brought him back slowly; Loaiza made four starts at Triple-A Sacramento this month.

One concern today is that Loaiza might try to do too much after missing nearly the entire season.

"The season is coming to an end," he said. "I have to do the best job I can, get the win and go from there."

Manager Bob Geren said that Loaiza will not be on a pitch count because he threw more than 100 pitches twice with Sacramento.

Loaiza is the A's highest-paid pitcher. He's in the second year of a three-year, $21 million deal. As Geren has noted several times recently, Loaiza was the AL Pitcher of the Month last August.

Loaiza will be the 51st player the A's have used this season. Dee Brown or J.J. Furmaniak will be sent to Sacramento to make room for the right-hander.

 

[IntenseOperator]

Loaiza known as.....

The greatest Mexican pitcher of all time :00hour

 

[BleedDodgerBlue]

Loaiza known as.....

The greatest Mexican pitcher of all time :00hour

you are a fcking moron


fernandomania mean anything to you douchebag?


gl

 

[IntenseOperator]

Loaiza known as.....

The greatest Irish pitcher of all time :00hour
















(I know he broke some kind of record for Mexican pitchers (set by Ferdi) a few years back, I can't find it right now.)

 

[IE]

i think it was the fastest mexican driver that ever pitched in the majors, I/O..

On June 14, 2006 Loaiza was arrested after being pulled over by police who clocked his Ferrari doing 120 MPH on a California freeway near San Lorenzo. He subsequently failed a sobriety test. He appeared in court on July 14, 2006. After the incident, GM Billy Beane banned alcohol in both the home and visitor clubhouse

 

[IntenseOperator]

i think it was the fastest mexican driver that ever pitched in the majors, I/O..

On June 14, 2006 Loaiza was arrested after being pulled over by police who clocked his Ferrari doing 120 MPH on a California freeway near San Lorenzo. He subsequently failed a sobriety test. He appeared in court on July 14, 2006. After the incident, GM Billy Beane banned alcohol in both the home and visitor clubhouse

That's what it was. Thanks!

He is also the only Mexican pitcher to have a 21 win season and tell his real age. lol

 

[IntenseOperator]

Coming off the waiver wire heap to pitch 7 innings for the LAD in a road win vs the division leading Cubs with their "ace" going. The Great Mexican pitcher made only his 3rd start of the season.

 

[IntenseOperator]

Loaiza eclipses Zambrano in LA debut


CHICAGO -- The $8 million the Dodgers risked by claiming Esteban Loaiza looks like money well spent, at least compared to the $91.5 million the Cubs coughed up to keep Carlos Zambrano.


Loaiza out-everythinged Zambrano on Monday, debuting for the Dodgers in an 11-3 rout over the Cubs. The right-hander, claimed from Oakland last week, pitched seven solid innings, hit a two-run single and didn't run through a stop sign to get thrown out at home or rip his team's fans afterward, as Zambrano did.

While Zambrano is winless since July, for at least one start Loaiza was exactly what the Dodgers thought he'd be when they grabbed him -- a professional with the pitching and the poise to take the ball, ignore a hostile environment and be big-game clutch.

"He has the reputation as a gutsy guy, just like Boomer [David Wells]," said Luis Gonzalez, who scored three runs on his 40th birthday and planned to celebrate both at a team birthday dinner. "You pair them with [Brad] Penny and [Derek] Lowe, and our gem, [Chad] Billingsley, and these are huge pickups."

Loaiza -- who traded a new watch for coach Mariano Duncan's uniform No. 25 -- knows why he was acquired and is candid about his agenda.

"I'm here for a reason -- to help get into the playoffs," he said. "I'm here to prove I can still go out and win games, and I'll do my best to do my part. I had surgery on my knee this season, and I want to show I can win."

The manager seems to like his club's chances a lot more with Loaiza and Wells than without them.

"This means a lot to the ballclub," said Grady Little. "These guys will play a big part in what happens here from now on. We've got our backs to the wall, but both of them have certainly been a big lift to us."

The victory returned the Dodgers to within three games of the Wild Card and four games of the division lead.

"We still have a shot at that," Gonzalez said of first place. "The Wild Card is Plan B. Right now, our team has turned the corner a little. Everything is tightening up in this division."

Loaiza, who spent the first four months of this season on the disabled list with injuries to his neck and knee, allowed three runs over seven innings that weren't overwhelming, but effective enough. It was only his third Major League start this year.


"You couldn't ask for anything more," said Little.

Loaiza has a sub-90-mph fastball, and he served up a home run to Alfonso Soriano on his second pitch, but he induced two inning-killing double-play grounders from the free-swinging Cubs. Soriano, who also doubled on the play on which Zambrano ran through the stop sign, was only 3-for-27 against Loaiza previously.

"The home run was in the beginning of the game, and I'm not going to lose 1-0, I guarantee you that," said Loaiza, who apparently hasn't followed the Dodgers carefully this year. "I was just thinking, there's a lot more game left. They were aggressive, and I had a game plan and stayed focused."

He enjoyed a huge lead, the rare occurrence coming courtesy of the Dodgers offense and Zambrano, who proved to be a perfect match. The Dodgers hammered out 13 hits, and five of them had multiple RBIs, led by James Loney's three. Jeff Kent, Russell Martin and Andy LaRoche joined Loaiza with a pair of RBIs as the Dodgers exploited Zambrano's wildness to rally from a pair of early deficits.

"We saw he was struggling with his command, and we were more selective," said Martin. "We stayed patient and waited for pitches to drive."

While the Cubs had two early leads, the momentum swung in the bottom of the third (when Zambrano ignored third-base coach Mike Quade) and the top of the fourth (when Loaiza's two-run single provided a 4-3 Dodgers lead).

"That was a killing blow," Little said of the hit by Loaiza, who had only four RBIs since 1998.

The Wrigley fans voiced their displeasure at Zambrano's performance, and the Cubs starter fired back postgame.

"I don't accept the fans were booing me," Zambrano said. "I don't understand that. I think these are great fans of baseball, but they showed me today they just care about them. That's not fair."

The game was stopped several times, twice over confusion about the turning on and off of the Wrigley Field lights, which puzzled Little because it was a day game.

And Scott Proctor's eighth inning was interrupted during the first batter when he doubled over in pain, something he's done several times since he joined the club.

Proctor explained that when his mechanics are off, he gets a twinge in his shoulder, but the pain immediately subsides. He was insistent on remaining on the mound, hit 94 mph on the radar gun with his next pitch and went on to record a strikeout in a scoreless inning.