Carpenter to miss start due to elbow inflammation
Tue, Apr 3, 2007
By Associated Press
ST. LOUIS -- Chris Carpenter will miss his next turn in the St. Louis Cardinals' pitching rotation due to right elbow inflammation.
Carpenter allowed five runs in six innings of a 6-1 loss to the New York Mets in Sunday night's opener. The Cardinals said Carpenter will be evaluated over the next three days.
Carpenter had been slotted to pitch again on Friday, jumping ahead of Adam Wainwright and Anthony Reyes to keep him on his regular routine despite two off days in the opening week. Instead, Wainwright will pitch Friday in the opener of a three-game series at Houston and Reyes will start Saturday.
Kip Wells, the team's new No. 2 starter, will start the finale of that series on Sunday. Wells had been scheduled to make his debut with St. Louis tonight.
Carpenter was an All-Star in each of the last two seasons, going 15-8 last year after winning the NL Cy Young Award with a 21-5 record in 2005.
Baseball Today - April 4
Wed, Apr 4, 2007
By Associated Press
SCOREBOARD
Wednesday, April 4
N.Y. Mets at St. Louis (8:10 p.m. EDT). Braden Looper makes his first career start after moving from the bullpen to the rotation.
Oddsmakers list the Cardinals as -108 home favorites and have set the total 9 1/2 runs.
STARS Tuesday
-Jake Peavy, Padres, Peavy struck out six, gave up three hits and walked two over six scoreless innings and San Diego topped San Francisco 7-0.
-Scott Olsen, Marlins, Olsen gave up two runs in 5 1-3 innings to get the win and went 2-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored and Florida beat Washington 9-3.
-Orlando Hernandez, Mets, pitched seven innings, allowing one run on five hits and had a two-run double in New York's 4-1 win over St. Louis.
-Vladimir Guerrero, Angels, went 4-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs in Los Angeles' 8-3 win over Texas.
OPENING DAY WOES
Giants ace Barry Zito lost an opening day start for the third year in a row. Zito, who signed a $126 million contract in the offseason, allowed two earned runs and four hits in five innings, struck out two and walked two. Zito lasted only 1 1-3 innings a year ago in the A's opener, allowing seven runs and four hits with four walks against the New York Yankees in the shortest outing of his career.
CARPENTER'S ELBOW
Chris Carpenter will miss a turn in the Cardinals' rotation due to right elbow inflammation, though the team thinks its ace won't be out long. Carpenter complained of soreness Monday, the day after he struggled in the season opener against the Mets. An examination by the Cardinals' team physician on Tuesday did not include an MRI, and Carpenter said he thought his elbow already had improved.
BUC'ING THE TREND
Pittsburgh rallied for the second straight night to beat Houston 4-2 in 10 innings Tuesday. The Pirates started 0-6 last season and were 3-79 when they trailed after seven innings. They've already won two of those this year and matched their best start since 2003, when they opened 4-0.
OUT
Right-hander Brad Lincoln, the Pittsburgh Pirates' top draft pick last year and a former star at the University of Houston, had reconstructive elbow surgery Tuesday and will miss this season. Six of the last seven pitchers the Pirates have drafted in the first round have needed major surgery: Lincoln, Bryan Bullington, John Van Benschoten, Sean Burnett, Bobby Bradley and Clint Johnston. Lincoln was 12-2 with a 1.69 ERA for Houston last season before the Pirates made him the No. 4 pick in the June draft.
SPEAKING
''I don't think I'm going to a movie. I feel like I'm in an adult timeout and so I want it to feel the way it's supposed to feel and learn from the error of my ways.'' - Colorado manager Clint Hurdle after he served a one-game suspension Tuesday for a dustup March 13 in a spring training game against San Diego. Bench coach Jamie Quirk filled in and the Rockies beat Arizona 4-3 in 11 innings.
Bulged disk in neck further delays season debut for A's Loaiza
Tue, Apr 3, 2007
By Associated Press
SEATTLE -- Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Esteban Loaiza has a bulged disk in his neck that will delay his season debut by at least a week.
A's assistant general manager David Forst said an MRI taken in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday showed the inflamed disk was the cause of the spasms that Loaiza was having in his right trapezius muscle.
''It's not herniated. Not surgical. It's something that can be treated,'' Forst said before Tuesday's game against Seattle, echoing manager Bob Geren's belief that the injury is not serious.
Loaiza, who was 11-9 last year in the first season of a three-year, $21,375,000 contract with the A's, is on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 25 and was scheduled to start Thursday for Triple-A Sacramento. He is eligible to come off the DL on April 9.
Now, the A's No. 2 starter will not throw again until April 10 - and Forst said that will merely be a game of catch on flat ground. It is unknown when his first rehabilitation start will come, but Forst said the team still wants Loaiza to have at least one minor league outing before he is activated.
''We'll wait until after (next) Tuesday to see how he feels,'' Forst said when asked when that rehabilitation start might come.
Loaiza traveled with the A's to Seattle for the season-opening series in anticipation of throwing on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. But Monday's session was called off, and the A's sent Loaiza back to the Bay Area to see San Francisco specialist Dr. Robert Rovner. Rovner prescribed physical therapy plus ice and stimulation treatments in the neck.
Loaiza said Monday that the spasms and tightness in his right trapezius are worse than the similar pain he had in his left trapezius that sidelined him from last April 29 through June 8. His 11 wins after that tied for fourth-most in the AL during that span.
Right-hander Joe Blanton moved up in the rotation to pitch Tuesday, when Loaiza was originally scheduled to start. Right-hander Chad Gaudin - whose 55 games for the A's last season were all in relief - is taking Blanton's usual spot Thursday at the Los Angeles Angels.
Geren is leaning toward Gaudin also taking Loaiza's second turn in the rotation, April 10 at home against the Chicago White Sox.
''More than likely, we'll stick with Chad,'' Geren said. ''It might have something to do with how he pitches (Thursday), but probably not.''
Royals R Octavio Dotel is out of tonight's game.
Royals SP Odalis Perez said Tuesday that the blisters he developed late in spring training are "not an issue" heading into his scheduled start tonight.
White Sox LF Scott Podsednik is day-to-day (hernia).
Mariners reliever Arthur Rhodes is questionable (elbow)
Rockies C Yorvit Torrealba is questionable (ankle).
Pettitte's return to the Bronx rained out
April 4th, 2007
Bronx, NY (Sports Network) - Andy Pettitte's much anticipated return to the Bronx will have to wait as Wednesday's game between the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Yankee Stadium has been postponed due to rain.
No makeup date has been announced.
The 34-year-old Pettitte was scheduled to start his first game for the Yankees since Game 6 of the 2003 World Series. After spending the last three seasons with his hometown Houston Astros, Pettitte signed a one-year, $16 million deal with the Yankees this winter.
Jae Seo was slated to start on the mound for the Devil Rays, who lost Monday's season opener to New York, 9-5.
Cardinals LF Scott Spiezio (back) has been added to the injury report as questionable for tonight.
Astros RF Luke Scott (elbow) has been added to the injury report as out of tonight's game.
Twins reliever Joe Nathan (birth of child) has been added to the injury report as questionable for tonight, but said he would try and make it back to close out the game if needed.
Cardinals LF Scott Spiezio (back) is not in the probable starting lineup.
Royals placed reliver Octavio Dotel on the 15-day disabled list, with a left oblique strain.