09/10/2002 03:48 am ET
Hurting Dodgers turn to Brown
Can Brown bail out black-and-blue rotation?
By Ken Gurnick / MLB.com
SAN FRANCISCO -- The Dodgers have expected Kevin Brown to be a savior ever since they signed him. Ready or not, he sure gets the chance Tuesday night.
With Kazuhisa Ishii out indefinitely, Andy Ashby out awhile and Odalis Perez unable to step up Monday night, the man who should be ace will make his first start in more than three months against the streaking San Francisco Giants.
The Giants caught the Dodgers for the Wild Card lead Monday night with a 6-5 win in a see-saw opener of a three-game series. The teams play six more times in the next 10 days, but the Giants have the momentum of 12 wins in the last 15 games, while the Dodgers have lost five of six.
They've also lost Ishii after his frightening incident Sunday, then Monday announced Andy Ashby couldn't go Tuesday because of an infected finger blister. And with Brown 8-2 lifetime against the Giants, the decision was made to give him the ball only days after manager Jim Tracy said Brown's relief performances so far had been "like a roller-coaster, up and down."
Brown's teammates, meanwhile, had to get on with the season and shake off the sight of Ishii being carted off to the hospital in an ambulance. They held a team meeting before Monday night's game to be updated on Ishii, who underwent surgery for a fractured skull after getting drilled in the head with a line drive. They wrote Ishii's No. 17 on their caps.
"We met about it, everybody said a prayer and we all hope he's going to be back and be OK," said Brian Jordan, who had a 2-RBI double. "But it wasn't any factor in the game. It was time to move on and we kept battling back. We didn't quit or give up."
And because of that, the loss was particularly frustrating as Perez allowed No. 8 hitter David Bell, 2-for-16 coming into the game, to drive in three runs with three hits, including a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning. All three hits were pulled to left field, the same mistake pitch repeatedly with the pitcher, albeit competent hitter Livan Hernandez, on-deck.
"That just can't happen," said Jordan, who wound up with the home run ball and angrily flung it into the left-field wall. "It can't happen, not now. The No. 8 hitter, with two outs? You can't throw it into his wheelhouse."
Perez had his worst start in nearly two months and conceded he did not have his best stuff, with Barry Bonds hitting the longest home run in Pac Bell Park history as proof. But Perez defended the pitch Bell hit.
"I don't think it was a bad pitch," said Perez. "Maybe he was looking for a pitch inside, because he hits it out. It's part of the game."
Teammate body language told a different story. The Dodgers had just tied the game in the top of the inning on Eric Karros' first RBI single. Even when the Giants tacked another run in the seventh, the Dodgers responded with two in the eighth, aided by a Barry Bonds error.
And in the ninth, Dave Roberts worked a two-out walk against Robb Nen, then stole his 43rd base, tying Luis Castillo for the league lead, before Paul Lo Duca's bid for a hit bouncing into right field was flagged by J.T. Snow, who threw to Nen covering first.
Now, for all of his manager's insistence of not placing unrealistic expectations upon Brown as he returns from back and elbow operations, the Dodgers look to him to be the stopper.
"I know he'll bring his 'A' stuff tomorrow," predicted Lo Duca. "That's Brownie. We took a low-blow with Ishii, but we feel pretty comfortable having a guy like Brown to insert."
Pitching coach Jim Colborn wasn't setting the bar quite that high.
"My expectations aren't what you'd really expect because of his ailments and the fact he's not been in the rotation," Colborn said. "He should compete, and that's what we want. We'll watch carefully. This is a building block and I think he'll get better.
"He's fighting a lot of demons right now in a lot of ways. He has high expectations of himself. He's never faced this kind of adversity physically. From the people I've talked to, the fact he's this far along is miraculous."
Ken Gurnick covers the Dodgers for MLB.com. This article was not subject to approval by Major League Baseball or its ballclubs.
Kevin Brown will take Andy Ashby's turn in the rotation Tuesday. (Osamu Honda/AP)
Brown to start over Ashby
By Brian Dohn, LA Daily News Staff Writer
SAN FRANCISCO -- One-time staff ace Kevin Brown is back in the Dodgers rotation after a blister-turned-infection in the middle finger on Andy Ashby's pitching hand knocked him out of today's start.
Brown, who made seven relief appearances since being activated Aug. 15, will make his first start since May 26 at Pac Bell Park against the Giants, an organization he's dominated throughout his career.
The Dodgers have been hesitant to put Brown back in the starting rotation as he recovers from elbow surgery last September and back surgery June 11. He was 2-3 with a 4.06 ERA in nine starts before returning and pitching out of the bullpen. He was 1-0 with a 5.65 ERA as a reliever, but didn't allow a run in his last three outings.
Brown, who could throw as many as 90 pitches, had a routine follow-up exam with back specialist Dr. Richard Watkins on Monday and was given clearance to start.
"Expectations are not what you would normally expect from Kevin Brown because of his ailments and because he hasn't really been in the rotation, but he should compete and that's what we want,' Dodgers pitching coach Jim Colborn said. "We want him to get experience and it's a building block for the rest of the work he's going to do in September."
Brown was roughed up for seven earned runs in an opening-day loss, but he was overwhelming in his career against the Giants. Brown is 8-2 with a 2.44 ERA in 13 career games against San Francisco.
"You're not scared of nobody. You just don't race to to get to certain people, but you're not scared of anybody," Giants manager Dusty Baker said. "It's like, 'OK, man, I'm not scared of Shaquille O'Neal, but if he's not playing, then it doesn't matter.'"
With left-hander Kazuhisa Ishii likely out for the season after getting hit in the head with a line drive and undergoing surgery, Tracy said Brown also would start during next week's four-game series against the Giants at Dodger Stadium.
Ashby won't pitch again until Sunday, leaving the Dodgers scrambling for a pitcher in Friday's game in Colorado. Among their choices are right-handers Kevin Beirne and Rob Ellis and left-hander Victor Alvarez, but Dodgers manager Jim Tracy could piece together a game using relievers.
Ashby pitched with a blister much of the season, but it began irritating him the past few weeks. Pitching coach Jim Colborn said the injury became infected after a Sept. 4 start at Arizona.
"If you don't give it until Sunday, then it's not going to heal," said Ashby, who is winless in his last three starts. "It's frustrating, but it's something you have to deal with."
Giants' scheduling nightmare: When San Francisco's game at Atlanta was rained out Aug. 15, it created a headache for the Giants. The teams will play an Sept. 30 make-up, if the game means something. It also means the Giants would travel to Atlanta for one game, and if they are tied for the wild card after that they must travel back to the West Coast for a playoff game, most likely against the Dodgers. The winner of that game would then turn around and travel to Atlanta for the first round of the playoffs.
Odds and ends: The Dodgers recalled first-base prospect Chin-Feng Chen, who had 26 homers and 84 RBI in his first season with Triple-A Las Vegas. He is the first Taiwanese players to reach the major leagues. The Dodgers also recalled outfielder Luke Allen and left-handed pitcher Victor Alvarez, and purchased the contract of Ellis. Each played at Las Vegas.
Hurting Dodgers turn to Brown
Can Brown bail out black-and-blue rotation?
By Ken Gurnick / MLB.com
SAN FRANCISCO -- The Dodgers have expected Kevin Brown to be a savior ever since they signed him. Ready or not, he sure gets the chance Tuesday night.
With Kazuhisa Ishii out indefinitely, Andy Ashby out awhile and Odalis Perez unable to step up Monday night, the man who should be ace will make his first start in more than three months against the streaking San Francisco Giants.
The Giants caught the Dodgers for the Wild Card lead Monday night with a 6-5 win in a see-saw opener of a three-game series. The teams play six more times in the next 10 days, but the Giants have the momentum of 12 wins in the last 15 games, while the Dodgers have lost five of six.
They've also lost Ishii after his frightening incident Sunday, then Monday announced Andy Ashby couldn't go Tuesday because of an infected finger blister. And with Brown 8-2 lifetime against the Giants, the decision was made to give him the ball only days after manager Jim Tracy said Brown's relief performances so far had been "like a roller-coaster, up and down."
Brown's teammates, meanwhile, had to get on with the season and shake off the sight of Ishii being carted off to the hospital in an ambulance. They held a team meeting before Monday night's game to be updated on Ishii, who underwent surgery for a fractured skull after getting drilled in the head with a line drive. They wrote Ishii's No. 17 on their caps.
"We met about it, everybody said a prayer and we all hope he's going to be back and be OK," said Brian Jordan, who had a 2-RBI double. "But it wasn't any factor in the game. It was time to move on and we kept battling back. We didn't quit or give up."
And because of that, the loss was particularly frustrating as Perez allowed No. 8 hitter David Bell, 2-for-16 coming into the game, to drive in three runs with three hits, including a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning. All three hits were pulled to left field, the same mistake pitch repeatedly with the pitcher, albeit competent hitter Livan Hernandez, on-deck.
"That just can't happen," said Jordan, who wound up with the home run ball and angrily flung it into the left-field wall. "It can't happen, not now. The No. 8 hitter, with two outs? You can't throw it into his wheelhouse."
Perez had his worst start in nearly two months and conceded he did not have his best stuff, with Barry Bonds hitting the longest home run in Pac Bell Park history as proof. But Perez defended the pitch Bell hit.
"I don't think it was a bad pitch," said Perez. "Maybe he was looking for a pitch inside, because he hits it out. It's part of the game."
Teammate body language told a different story. The Dodgers had just tied the game in the top of the inning on Eric Karros' first RBI single. Even when the Giants tacked another run in the seventh, the Dodgers responded with two in the eighth, aided by a Barry Bonds error.
And in the ninth, Dave Roberts worked a two-out walk against Robb Nen, then stole his 43rd base, tying Luis Castillo for the league lead, before Paul Lo Duca's bid for a hit bouncing into right field was flagged by J.T. Snow, who threw to Nen covering first.
Now, for all of his manager's insistence of not placing unrealistic expectations upon Brown as he returns from back and elbow operations, the Dodgers look to him to be the stopper.
"I know he'll bring his 'A' stuff tomorrow," predicted Lo Duca. "That's Brownie. We took a low-blow with Ishii, but we feel pretty comfortable having a guy like Brown to insert."
Pitching coach Jim Colborn wasn't setting the bar quite that high.
"My expectations aren't what you'd really expect because of his ailments and the fact he's not been in the rotation," Colborn said. "He should compete, and that's what we want. We'll watch carefully. This is a building block and I think he'll get better.
"He's fighting a lot of demons right now in a lot of ways. He has high expectations of himself. He's never faced this kind of adversity physically. From the people I've talked to, the fact he's this far along is miraculous."
Ken Gurnick covers the Dodgers for MLB.com. This article was not subject to approval by Major League Baseball or its ballclubs.
Kevin Brown will take Andy Ashby's turn in the rotation Tuesday. (Osamu Honda/AP)
Brown to start over Ashby
By Brian Dohn, LA Daily News Staff Writer
SAN FRANCISCO -- One-time staff ace Kevin Brown is back in the Dodgers rotation after a blister-turned-infection in the middle finger on Andy Ashby's pitching hand knocked him out of today's start.
Brown, who made seven relief appearances since being activated Aug. 15, will make his first start since May 26 at Pac Bell Park against the Giants, an organization he's dominated throughout his career.
The Dodgers have been hesitant to put Brown back in the starting rotation as he recovers from elbow surgery last September and back surgery June 11. He was 2-3 with a 4.06 ERA in nine starts before returning and pitching out of the bullpen. He was 1-0 with a 5.65 ERA as a reliever, but didn't allow a run in his last three outings.
Brown, who could throw as many as 90 pitches, had a routine follow-up exam with back specialist Dr. Richard Watkins on Monday and was given clearance to start.
"Expectations are not what you would normally expect from Kevin Brown because of his ailments and because he hasn't really been in the rotation, but he should compete and that's what we want,' Dodgers pitching coach Jim Colborn said. "We want him to get experience and it's a building block for the rest of the work he's going to do in September."
Brown was roughed up for seven earned runs in an opening-day loss, but he was overwhelming in his career against the Giants. Brown is 8-2 with a 2.44 ERA in 13 career games against San Francisco.
"You're not scared of nobody. You just don't race to to get to certain people, but you're not scared of anybody," Giants manager Dusty Baker said. "It's like, 'OK, man, I'm not scared of Shaquille O'Neal, but if he's not playing, then it doesn't matter.'"
With left-hander Kazuhisa Ishii likely out for the season after getting hit in the head with a line drive and undergoing surgery, Tracy said Brown also would start during next week's four-game series against the Giants at Dodger Stadium.
Ashby won't pitch again until Sunday, leaving the Dodgers scrambling for a pitcher in Friday's game in Colorado. Among their choices are right-handers Kevin Beirne and Rob Ellis and left-hander Victor Alvarez, but Dodgers manager Jim Tracy could piece together a game using relievers.
Ashby pitched with a blister much of the season, but it began irritating him the past few weeks. Pitching coach Jim Colborn said the injury became infected after a Sept. 4 start at Arizona.
"If you don't give it until Sunday, then it's not going to heal," said Ashby, who is winless in his last three starts. "It's frustrating, but it's something you have to deal with."
Giants' scheduling nightmare: When San Francisco's game at Atlanta was rained out Aug. 15, it created a headache for the Giants. The teams will play an Sept. 30 make-up, if the game means something. It also means the Giants would travel to Atlanta for one game, and if they are tied for the wild card after that they must travel back to the West Coast for a playoff game, most likely against the Dodgers. The winner of that game would then turn around and travel to Atlanta for the first round of the playoffs.
Odds and ends: The Dodgers recalled first-base prospect Chin-Feng Chen, who had 26 homers and 84 RBI in his first season with Triple-A Las Vegas. He is the first Taiwanese players to reach the major leagues. The Dodgers also recalled outfielder Luke Allen and left-handed pitcher Victor Alvarez, and purchased the contract of Ellis. Each played at Las Vegas.
