The Daily Intelligencer from Doylestown, Pennsylvania • Page 18

C2 Tuesday, May 8,2007 The Intelligencer To Place a Classified Ad Call 215-345-3010 215-957-8125 215-538-6362 www.phlllyburbs.com On deck for Phillies Tonight at Diamondbacks CSN Eaton (3-2) vs. Owings (1-1) BASEBALL Star of the Day Brad Penny struck out a career-high 14 and allowed only five baserunners in seven shutout innings, helping the Dodgers beat the Marlins, 6-1 Yankees ship Igawa to minors; Capps suspended THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK The Yankees shipped struggling pitcher Kei Igawa to the minors to make room on the roster for right-hander Matt DeSalvO; Igawa was optioned to Class- A Tampa, keeping right-hander Darrell Rasner in the big leagues after he pitched 5 2-3 shutout innings in a victory over the Mariners. New York had planned to send Rasner right back to Triple-A after his start, but changed course. In other AL news: Mariners reliever Julio Mateo apologized for his arrest following a dispute with his wife at a Manhattan hotel. Mateo was suspended for 10 days without pay, a penalty the players' association may challenge this week.

Former Tigers outfielder Ron LeFlore was arrested while signing autographs for failure to pay at least $48,000 in child support. LeFlore was arrested at Gibraltar Trade Center in Mount Clemens, authorities said. He was arraigned in Wayne County Circuit Court in Detroit on the felony count. Tigers reliever Joel Zumaya is expected to be out for 12 weeks because of a ruptured tendon in his middle right finger. He was examined in New York by Dr.

Charles Melone, who was scheduled to perform surgery. Devil Rays relief pitcher Juan Salas was suspended for 50 games after becoming the first player this year to flunk a drug test under Major League Baseball's testing program. Jon Leicester became the latest addition to the ever-changing pitching staff of the Orioles, joining the bullpen as a long man in place of Kurt Blrkins. Indians pitcher Jake Westbrook was placed on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained left abdominal muscle, and the team called up Fausto Carmona to take his place in the rotation. Yankees reliever Scott Proctor was suspended four games and manager Joe Torre was penalized one game by Major League Baseball, a day after a skirmish between the Mariners and New York.

Proctor appealed his suspension, meaning he can pitch until a hearing is held and a ruling is issued. Bench coach Don Mattingly will manage in Torre's absence. NL news and notes: Pirates reliever Matt Capps was suspended for four games and fined for hitting the Brewers' Prince Fielder with a pitch during a 6-3 loss in Milwaukee, Capps hit Fielder high in the right shoulder just after giving up a three-run homer to J.J. Hardy in the seventh inning. Home plate umpire Alfonso Marquez immediately ejected Capps, who was also fined an undisclosed amount.

The Mets were close to reaching agreement with right- hander Brian Lawrence on a minor league contract. The deal was pending a physical, according to a base- ball official with knowledge of the negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity because it wasn't yet complete. A Mets fan has filed suit, contending a drunken, 300- pound man fell on her during the home opener at Shea Stadium and broke her back. Ellen Massey sued the team, the beer concession, the union that represents the security guards at the ballpark and 'John Doe," the unidentified man who toppled on her. Massey had surgery for spinal injuries and was hospitalized for about two weeks, said her lawyer.

National league Brewers 3, Nationals 0 WashingtonABR HBIAvg. MilwaukeeABR HBIAvg. FLopez 2b 4000 .248 Weeks 2b 3000.246 CGuzmanss4 0 1 0 .143 Hardyss 4 0 1 0.336 Zimmerma 3b4 0 2 0 .256 Fielder tb 4 0 0 0 266 ChurchII 4 0 1 0.282 BHallcl 4 0 3 0.268 Kearns rt 4030 .285 JEstrada 4 1 2 0.296 DYoung 1b 4 0 0 0 .224 rf 3 1 1 0.300 Schneidec 4000 .204 JenkinsII 3 11 3.345 Logancf 3000 ,250 GraffaniSb 3 0 0 0.222 Chicop 2 0 0 0 .091 Capuanop 3 0 1 0.143 a-Belliaph 1000 .274 FCorderop 0 000 Rivera 0000 Totals 34 0 7 0 Totals 31 3 9 3 Washington 000 000 000 0 7 1 Milwaukee 030 000 OOx 3 9 0 a-(liedoul(orChicoinlhe8th. CGuzman (1). LOB: Washington 7, Milwaukee 5.2B: Zimmerman (8).

HR: Jenkins off Cfiico. RBIs: Jenkins 3 (16). CS: BHall (3). GIDP: JEslrada, Mench. Runners left in scoring position: Washington 3 (Church, DYoung, Schneider); Milwaukee 2 (BHall, JEslrada), Runners moved up: Kearns.

DP: Washington 2 (CGuzman, FLopez and DYoung), (Rivera, CGuzman and DYoung). NL Standings East NewYork Atlanta PHILLIES Florida Pot GB Central Pet GB West Pet GB 19 11.633 19 12.613 14 14 17452 5K 14 17.452 Washington 9 23.281 11 Milwaukee Chicago Houston Cincinnati Pittsburgh St. Louis 22 10.688 Los Angeles .19" 15 14.517 SK San Diego 18 14.563 1 San Francisco16 14.533-,, 2 Arizona 17 16.515 Vk 13' American League AL Standings 14 17.452 14 18.438 8 17.433 8 12 17.414 East Boston NewYork Pet GB 20 10.667 14 16.467 6 Tampa Bay 14 17.452 614 Baltimore 14 18,438 7 Toronto Central Cleveland Detroit Minnesota Chicago 13 18.419 2 Pet GB 19 10.655 19 11,633 Vi 16 15.516 4 14 14.500 4JS Kansas City 10 22.31310'/ 2 West Pet GB Los Angeles 17 15.531 Seattle 14 13.519 Oakland 15 15.500 1 Washington Chico 2-4 Rivera Milwaukee' Capuano 5-0 FCordera 13 IP 7 8 1 1 IP 8 7 I 0 ER BB SO NP ERA 3 1 5 93 6.03 0019 2.70 ER BB SO NP ERA 0 0 9 98 2.31 0 0 I 10 0.00 Monday's Games PHILLIES at Arizona (n) San Diego 4, Atlanta 2 LA. Dodgers 6, Florida! Houston 5, Cincinnati 4 Milwaukee 3, Washington 0 Colorado at St. Louis (n) N.Y.

Mets at San Francisco (n) Today's Games PHILLIES (Eaton 3-2) at Arizona (Owings 1-1), 9:40 LA, Dodgers (Hendrickson 2-0) al Florida (Obermueller Houston (Rodriguez 0-3) at Cincinnati (Milton 0-4), 7:10 San Diego (Germano 0-0) at Atlanta (Villarreal 1-0), 7:35 Pittsburgh (Snell 2-2) at Chicago Cubs (Lilly 2-2), 8:05 Washington (Simonlacchl 0-0) at Milwaukee (Bush 2-3), 8:05 Colorado (Buchholz 1-1) at St. Louis (Thompson 1-0), 8:10 N.Y. Mels (Glavine 3-1) at San Francisco (Cain 1-2), 10:15 Wednesday's Games PHILLIES at Arizona, 6:40 Washington al Milwaukee, 1:05 Colorado al SI. Louis, 1:10 N.Y. Mets al San Francisco, 3:35 L.A.

Dodgers Florida, 7:05 Houston al Cincinnati, 7:10 San Diego al Atlanta, 7:35 Pittsburgh al Chicago Cubs, 8:05 Sunday's Games PHILLIES San Francisco 5 San Diego 3, Florida 1 Monday's Games Cleveland 10, Baltimore 1 Seattle 3, N.Y. Yankees 2 Today's Games Texas (Wood 0-0) al N.Y.Yankees (Pettitte 1-1), 7:05 Sealtle (Ramirez 2-1) at Detroit (Bonderman 1 -0), 7:05 Tampa Bay (Seo 1-2) al Baltimore (Gutlirie 1-1), 7:05 Boston (Beckett 6-0) at Toronto (Zambrano 0-1), 7:07 Oakland (Gaudin 1-1) al Kansas City (De La Rosa 3-2), 8:10 Chicago White Sox (Vazquez 2-1) at Minnesota (Bonser 0-1), 8:10 Cleveland (Lee 0-0) at LA. Angels (ESanlana 24), 10:05 Wednesday's Games Seattle al Detroit, 7:05 Texas at N.Y, Yankees, 7:05 Tampa Bay at Baltimore, 7:05 Boston at Toronto, 7:07 Oakland at Kansas City, 8:10 Chicago White Sox at Minnesota, 8:10 Cleveland at LA. Angels, 10:05 Sunday's Games N.Y. Yankees 5, Seattle 0 Cleveland 9, Baltimore 6 Oakland 5, Tampa Bay 3 Boston 4, Minnesota 3 Detroit 13, Kansas City 4 Texas 3, Toronto 2 Chicago Wh'rle Sox 4, L.A.

Angels 3,10 innings Julio 200 0 0 2 2514.09 Gardner 100 0 0 0 13 2.89 Nolasco (Ethier) 1. HBP; by Julio (La Roche). Astros 5, Reds 4 Houston AB Bl Avg. ClnclnnatlAB BIAvg. Biggio2b 4 11 0 .263 Freel3b 500 0.267 Ensberg3b 3000 .242 Halteber1b4 0 1 0.300 Berkman tb 3211 .279 Griffey Jr.

rf 4 0 1 0.314 CaLeeII 4 1 0 .298 BPhillip2b 4 0 1 0.260 3 1 2 3.262 Hamilton cl 4 0 0 0.292 4 0 2 1 .250 Dunn II 2211.270 4010 .198 AGonzaless4 2 2 3.306 300 0.299 Valentine 400 0.216 3 0 0 0.125 Lohsep 0 0 0 0 Stantonp 0 0 0 0 CoHeyp 1000 .333 Santos 0000 32 5 8 5 Scott rf Pence c( AEverelt ss Ausmus Oswalt TreMille Quails a-Lamb ph Wheeler Totals Houston Cincinnati 3020.333 0 0 0 0.000 00000000 b-Conine phi 0 0' 0.269 Totals 35 4 4 Capuano pitched to 2 batters in the 9th. Inherited runners scored: FCordero 2-0. Umpires: Home, Mike Estabrook First, Joe West Second, Charlie Relilord Third, C.B. Bucknor, 17,751 Padres 4, Braves 2 San Diego AB Bl Avg. Atlanta AB BIAvg.

MGiles2b 5010 ,322 Johnson2b4 0 0 0.303 BGiles rt 4120 .289 Harris II 3 0 1 0.444 JoCruz If 4001 .321 CJones 3b 4 0 0 0.291 AGonzale1b3 2 2 1 .298 AJonescI 4 0 0 0.220 Bardc 4010 .250 McCannc 3 1 0 0.301 KGreene ss 5000 .242 Francoeu rl 3 1 0 0.292 Cameron cl 4020 .203 Thorman 1b3 0 0 1.261 Kouzmano3b3 0 0 1 .108 Woodward ss30 2 1.257 CYoung 0100 .083 James 1 0 0 0.000 HBellp 0000 Villarrep 0000.000 b-Sledgeph 1000 .241 a'Orrpn 1 0 0 0.250 Linebrin 0 0 0 0 Paronlo 0000 Hoflmanp 0 0 0 0 Moylanp 000 0.000 c-Diazph 1 0 0 0.290 Yatesp 0000 Totals 33 4 8 3 Totals 30 2 3 2 San Diego 010 111 000 4 8 0 Atlanta 000 020 000 2 3 1 a-slruck out lor Villarreal in the 5th. b-louled out lor Bell in the 8lh. c-flied out lor Moylan in the 8lh. Woodward (1). LOB: San Diego 12, Atlanta 4.2B: AGonzalez (7).

3B: Woodward (1). HR: AGonzalez (9), otl James. RBIs: JoCruz (10), AGonzalez (29), Kouz- manoll (8), Thorman (13), Woodward (4). SB: BGiles (1), Cameron (4), Harris (3), Woodward (1). SF: Kouzraanotl.

GIDP: KGreene. Runners left In scoring position: San Diego 7 (MGiles 2, JoCruz, AGonzalez 2, Cameron, Kouzmanolf); Atlanta Runners moved up: Thorman. DP: Atlanta 1 (Thorman, Woodward and Moylan). NP ERA 8104 3.29 18 0.44 0 8 3.24 1 10 4.26 BB SO NP ERA 3 94 4.84 0 20 4.20 1 27 3.00 0 35 2,51 1 15 5.27 Inherited runners scored: Villaneal 3-0. Paronto (BGiles) 1.

HBP: by Paronto (CYoung), by CYoung (Francoeur), Umpires: Home, Jim Joyce; First, Jetf Nelson; Second, Jim Wolf; Third, Tim Tschida. 3:00. 19,189 San Diego CYoung 4-2 LinebrinkH.6 Hodman 9 Atlanta James 3-3 Villarreal Paronlo Moylan Yales IP 6 1 1 1 IP 32-3 11-3 1 2 1 2 0 1 0 3 .1 1 2 1 2 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 ER 2 0 0 0 ER 2 0 1 0 0 BB 2 0 0 0 BB 4 1 2 1 0 Dodgers 6, Marlins 1 LA ABR Furcalss 5 0 Pierre cf 5 0 Garciapa 1b 5 0 JKent2b 5 2 LGonzale If 3 0 Marline 4 2 Ethier rf 3 1 la Roche 3b 2 1 Seanezp 0 0 Penny 3 0 Betemiph-3b1 0 HBIAvg. 2 0 .235 1 0 .279 0 0 .276 2 1 .301 0 0 .279 2 1 .321 1 0 .278 1 2.333 00 1 2.250 0 0 .153 Totals 36 610 6 Florida AB HaRamire ss4 0 Uggla2b 4 1 MiCabrer3b4 0 Jacobs 1b 3 0 d-Boone ph 1 0 Willingh If 4 0 Borchard rt 4 0 Olivoc 3 0 Reedcf 3 0 Nolasco 1 0 a'-Woodph 1 0 Julio 0 0 c-AmezagphIO Gardner 0 0 Totals 33 1 Los Angeles 020 400 000 6 10 0 Florida. OOO 000 010 1 6 0 a-flied out for Nolasco in the 6th, b-slruck out lor Penny in the 8th.

c-llied out for Julio in the 8th. d-grounded out for Jacobs in (he 9th. LOB: Los Angeles 7, Florida 5.2B: JKent (9), Borchard (4). 3B: Martin (1). HR: Uggla (6), off Seanez JKent (3), off Nolasco.

RBIs: JKent (18), Martin (20), La Roche 2 (2), Penny 2 (2), Uggla (19). SB: La Roche (1). SF: La Roche. Runners left In scoring position: Los Angeles 2 (Gam- aparra 2); Florida 1 (Reed). Runners moved up: LGonzalez, HBIAvg.

1 0.336 1 1.232 1 0.349 0 0.283 0 0.314 1 0.281 1 0.213 1 0.245 0 0.077 0 0.000 0 0.190 0 0 0 0.232 0 0.000 6 1 000 200 030 5 8 2 020 000 002 4 8 0 a-grounded out lor Quails in the 9th. b-flied out for Santos in the 9th. Ensberg (6), Berkman (2). LOB: Houslon 4, Cincinnati 6.2B: CaLee (7), Pence (2), BPhillips (4). HR: Scott (3), oil Coffey; Berkman (3), otl Lohse; AGonzalez 2 (7), ofl Wheeler, Oswalt; Dunn (9), off Oswalt.

RBIs: Berkman (16), Scott 3 (19), Pence (7), Dunn (19), AGonzalez 3 (16). Ensberg. GIDP: BPhillips. Runners let) In scoring position: Houston 2 (Ausmus, Oswalt); Cincinnati 2 (Dunn, AGonzalez), Runners moved up: CaLee. DP: Houslon 2 (Scott and Berkman), (AEverett, Biggio and Berkman).

ER BB SO NP ERA 2 2 1 5 96 3.00 00006 6.75 00005 4.40 2 2 1 1 18 3.60 ER BB SO NP ERA 3 3 1 1 1 1 0 0 Houston Oswalt 5-2 Quails 4 WheelerS, 6 Cincinnati Lohsel, 1-3 Slanton Coffey Santos IP 7 6 1-3 1 2-3 0 1 1 IP 71-3 7 0 0 2-3 1 1 0 Los Angeles Penny 40 Seanez Florida Nolasco 1-1 IP 7 5 2 1 IP 610 Hamels Continued from Page 1 Hoffman fascinates Hamels. Hitters are late on his fastball because they're guarding against the changeup, and they can't hit his changeup, even when they know it's coming, because of the pitch's downward bite and Hoffman's deceptive arm speed. I need one of those, the 15-year-old thinks. He tries to throw one during practice. He grips the baseball with his whole hand, locking his left wrist and keeping it straight.

His pitching coach notices. Try this, the coach says. He curls Hamels' index finger, touching the tip of the finger to the tip of the thumb, and he rotates Hamels' wrist counterclockwise to a slight angle, loosening it. In that moment, it's as if the coach has just turned a tiny key, opening a magic box that contained something Cole Hamels needed, something special. Cole Hamels 4-1 this season for the Phillies, with all of 180 innings of major-league experience possesses the best changeup in baseball.

This is, to a degree, a quantifiable fact. Earlier this year, Tom Koch-Weser of STATS a company that analyzes sports information and statistics, calculated the "whiff rate" the ratio of the number of swings and misses to the number of swings of various pitches from various major-league pitchers. According to Koch-Weser, Hamels' changeup had a "whiff rate" of .514 in 2006, meaning that if a hitter swings at Hamels' changeup, there is less than a 50 percent chance his bat will actually make contact with the ball. No other pitcher's changeup was close. "I would rate Cole's changeup in the top five I've seen," said Tom House, a former major- league pitcher and pitching coach and the cofounder of the National Pitching Association, where Hamels has trained.

"And remember, there's more in the tank." The Phillies have not produced a homegrown 20-game winner since Chris Short in 1966. Nevertheless, Hamels, who in 47 innings this season has struck out 52 and compiled a 3.59 ERA, has a chance to be the next, provided his health permits him a projection that, for now, remains uncertain. Since learning his changeup, he has suffered a series of injuries, including a broken hand from a bar fight, chronic back problems and a shoulder strain. The first of those, though, was the most severe, the most sickening, and it put Hamels' entire baseball career at risk. That he has maintained his mastery of his changeup even with metal in the marrow of his bones suggests the pitch really is a gift from the gods.

The coach who opened the magic box is Mark Furtak, the pitching coach at Rancho Bernardo High. When he began tutoring young pitchers, Furiak often would show them In good company Former big-league pitcher and pitching coach Tom House spent parts of four years working with Cole Hamels. The co-founder of the National Pitching Association, House ranks Hamels' change- up among the five best he's seen in baseball over the past 50 years. Here are trie other four: Johnny Podres LHP, ERA Lefty spent 12 seasons with Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers. Best known for beating Yankees in Game 7 of the 1955 World Series.

Was pitching coach for NL champion 1993 Phillies. Trevor Hoffman RHP, 488 saves, 2.75 ERA Padres right-hander has saved 40 games or more eight times and may be greatest closer of all time. Inspired Hamels, a San Diego native, to learn the change- up. Andy Messersnttth RHP, 13059,2.86 ERA Two-time 20-game winner was one of Major League Baseball's first two free agents in mid-1970s. "His change-up was up there," House said.

"As good as any I've seen." Jamie Moyer (Right) LHP, ERA Late-bloomer still going strong and baffling hitters at age 44 for Phils. House was his pitching coach in Texas in 1989. how to grip a split-fingered fastball, the pitch du jour of the late 1980s and early 1990s. But after noticing how Greg Maddux threw his circle changeup, Furtak shifted the focus of his teaching sessions, in part because a changeup doesn't put as much strain on a teenager's arm as a slider or split-fingered fastball does. Because Hamels threw a four-seam fastball, Furtak showed him, in essence, a four-seam circle changeup.

To this day, Hamels curves his index finger and thumb along the ball's horseshoe stitching, resting his middle, ring and pinky fingers on the white hide. By letting the ball tumble off those three fingers, Hamels gives his changeup the look of a four-seam fastball but the action of a screwball; it fades down and away from right-handed hitters and down and in to left-handed hitters. "When he first started throwing it, it was all over place," Furtak, 41, said. "But I kept forcing him to throw it." Hamels made the varsity team as a sophomore. By then, he could use his changeup as a strikeout pitch.

"It wouldn't be over the plate," he said, "but I could always get guys to fish." So effective was the pitch that Blalock and Furtak began to notice a pattern: Matt Wheatland, the senior ace of the Rancho Bernardo staff and an eventual first-round draft pick of the Detroit Tigers, would win a game, surrendering a run or two. The following week, against the same opponent, Hamels would throw a shutout. "Guys were more confused against Cole," Blalock said. "We were like, 'Whoa, we've got something They did have something, until a game later that season. Hamels tried to throw a fastball.

The ball left his hand and soared straight up, landing on top of the backstop, and a loud crack paralyzed every player, coach and spectator. It was the humerus the long bone that runs from the shoulder to the elbow in Hamels' left arm. It sounded like a tree branch had broken. "Chills," Blalock said. "You don't ever want to see that." Blalock remembered the look on Hamels' face in that instant, his bewildered countenance, his arm dangling at his side, as if Hamels were asking himself, What just happened to me? Eventually, Hamels met with Dr.

Jan Fronek, the Padres' team physician. Fronek told him the spiral fracture required an unusual surgery, and even then, Hamels might never pitch again. To stabilize Hamels' arm, Fronek slid thin metal rods, each the thickness of a coat hanger, ER BB SO NP ERA 0 0 14110 1,39 1 0 1 24 3.50 ER BB SO NP ERA 6 2 4100 7.30 2108 3.21 0 5 8.10 1 10 6.06 1 11 3.77 Slanton pitched to 1 batter in the 8th. Inherited runners scored: Quails 1-0, Stanlon 1-0, Cottey 2-2. Umpires: Home, Rick Reed First, Chuck Meriwether Second, Alfonso Marquez third, Tim Timmons, 2:46.

17,362 into the marrow of the humerus. For eight months, Hamels was not to touch a baseball; that way, the bone could fuse around the rods. Fronek then called House, whose National Pitching Association is based in San Diego. After Hamels finished his medical rehabilitation, he joined House at his pitching camp and performance laboratory, where House uses three-dimensional motion analysis and digital imaging to break down a pitcher's arm motion and determine his optimum conditioning programs. House's drills strengthened Hamels' rotator cuff, and when he began throwing baseballs again, Hamels found he had retained the touch on his changeup.

"He showed up with that pitch," House said. "I can't take any credit for that." Truth be old, the greater obstacle for Hamels was in his mind. He had to overcome the apprehension that accompanied taking the mound in a competitive situation the fear that he would break his arm again. He did not pitch in a varsity game for Rancho Bernardo his junior season. In fact, Furtak said, he was scared even to throw a bullpen session.

"There were times he said he was progressing fine," Blalock said, "and the next day, he'd say his arm was sore and he didn't know if he could throw. I told him, 'Cole, you forgot you get sore. It's time for you to get back on the hill. You're going to start on this day, and that's For that first start of Hamels' senior season, against Valley Center High School, Blalock and Furtak kept him on a 50-pitch limit. They removed him from the game after five innings.

He had not allowed a hit. His fastball had registered 92 mph on the radar gun. It wasn't until after the Phillies made him their first-round pick in 2002, during his first year of pro ball, that Hamels learned to throw his changeup for strikes. The secret, he said, is to keep his wrist loose, so that he can snap it when he releases the ball and control the changeup's direction. Though his natural release causes the ball to drop down and in to a left-handed hitter, Hamels can also throw a changeup that breaks in to a right-handed hitter.

In the fourth inning of his 8-5 win Sunday over San Francisco, Hamels threw three such changeups in a row to the Giants' Randy Wynn. Wynn took the last one for strike three. "The past couple of years, I've actually been able to do it more effectively," Hamels said. "Day in and day out, you have to have confidence to throw it." Why wouldn't he? After all, everybody's got a curveball or a slider. He has a pitch that sets him apart.

Eight years after he was that rail-thin freshman in search of something special, Cole Hamels has found it. Maybe, finally, the Phillies have, too. Mike Slelskl is a columnist for The Intelligencer. He can be reached at (215) 949-4215 or at.