Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 3-3

123456 TRIBUNE 3 SPORTS CUBS WHITE SOX By Paul Sullivan Tribune staff reporter Twenty-seven days after punching A.J. Pierzynski, Michael Barrett finally got to tell his side of the story Friday morning to Major League Baseball during the appeal of his 10- game suspension. MLB vice president John McHale Jr.is expected to announce a ruling early next week, meaning Barrett could miss all or part of the June 30- July 2 series against the White Sox, unless his suspension is reduced. Barrett was accompanied by three representatives, including a lawyer from the union and Cubs general manager Jim Hendry, during a 2- hour-15-minute hearing in the Wrigley Field conference room. interesting how all that Barrett said.

felt like I was on Neither Barrett nor Hendry would comment on defense strategy, other than remark: stand by what said since the whole thing Barrett claimed after the incident that Pierzynski had stepped toward him after their home-plate collision, precipitating the punch. Pierzynski insisted he was only going to retrieve his helmet. Hendry said the hearing included video replays of the May 20 incident. postgame media briefing was halted by the Cubs after minutes. Management did not want Barrett to discuss the hearing at all.

Barrett was out of the lineup Friday with an unspecified back injury and could miss start as well, even though he insisted the problem was MLB disciplinarian Bob Watson, who also attended the hearing, put the blame for the hearing delay on the union. took the Watson said. the way the system is. The player has seven days before he can an appeal. Then everybody schedule is backed up off thatand the club gets involved.

not a process to be done like in the NBA or in the White Sox general manager Ken Williams had complained after the suspension was announced that Barrett played again the next day. should get a chance to beat us or the next time we Williams said. our luck, play against us and serve his suspension when they play the As it turns out Barrett could miss playing against both the Tigers and the Sox. No verdict on Barrett penalty One by diverse collection of pitchers warmed up in the Cubs bullpen on a sweltering Friday at Wrigley Field. First came Notre Dame wide receiver Jeff Samardzija, a fifth-round draft pick who is expected to sign with the Cubs in the next few days and begin his pro career Monday at Class A Boise.

Next came Wade Miller, who continues to recover from shoulder surgery with no return date on the immediate horizon. Third in line was Kerry Wood, who is on the disabled list with discomfort in his right shoulder but should be ready to return next weekend in Minneapolis. And last, but not least, came Mark Prior, who performed the now-traditional towel drill before what most hoped was the final bullpen session of his three-month rehab from a shoulder strain. The Cubs had said before the game they would announce whether Prior would return to the majors Sunday, but manager Dusty Baker and pitching coach Larry Rothschild said after the 5-3 loss to Detroit that a decision still had not been made. Baker said the Cubs were waiting to see if soreness had subsided enough.

Prior was unavailable for comment. Beforehand, Baker addressed the possibility of Prior returning on Sunday. Afterward, he seemed more pessimistic. were hoping to make a decision by the end of the he said. not here Calling Dr.

Dusty Oakland outfielder Milton Bradley credits Baker for helping change his attitude when they met during the off-season. Baker was hoping to get the Cubs to swing a deal for Bradley last winter, but nothing came of their meeting. kind of lost a lot of my spirit after leaving L.A.,” Bradley told the Los Angeles Times. me now, being successful is not having a problem occur. Dusty Baker gave me this little book during the offseason: Sweat the Small It kind of got me to the not life and death, then just let it Extra innings Gonzaga star Adam Morrison, in the Chicago area to work out for the Bulls, took some feeble swings in the batting cage before game.

He got some batting tips from Cubs reliever Ryan Dempster, an .077 career hitter. told him to watch me and do everything the Dempster said. Dempster and his wife, Jenny, will play host Saturday to a number of Chicago-area families who have a father serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. CUBS BITS BY PAUL SULLIVAN Tribune photo by Phil Velasquez Mark Prior performs the towel drill while working out in the Cubs bullpen on Friday. Line forms at right for bullpen By Mark Gonzales Tribune staff reporter CINCINNATI With Scott Podsednik fighting to regain his hitting stroke, Tadahito Iguchi struggling to solve left-handers and Joe Crede nursing lower back discomfort, Pablo Ozuna is destined to get more at-bats.

But White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen stopped short of making Ozuna a full-time starter despite his .427 batting average and the spark he has provided recently. think Ozuna can play every Guillen said before Friday game in Cincinnati. my Guillen believes Ozuna serves the Sox best in his current role, which involves pinch-running, pinch-hitting against left-hand- ers and spelling Podsednik, Iguchi and Crede. Ozuna started and contributed heavily in the last two victories against Texas left- handed starters John Koronka and John Rheinecker, and Ozuna is batting .440 against lefties in 50 at-bats this season. Ozuna also leads the Sox with a .667 batting average with runners in scoring position, including a .750 mark (6-for-8) with runners in scoring position and less than two outs.

Ozuna touches right now turns to Guillen said. think the biggest hit he got Thursday was that two- out, two-RBI hit That was the game right there. He comes through in the clutch. The way we used him better off using him the same Ozuna has 75 at-bats; only Chris Widger and Ross Gload have fewer for the Sox. will get his Guillen said.

helping Pod- sednik and Iguchi a little bit. Now going to start helping Joe. going to be helping people and getting more at-bats. has been struggling against lefties, we might put Ozuna at second Ozuna hot but be a regular Guillen: .427 hitter play every day Ozuna few thousand Detroit fans chanting go, in the bottom of the ninth, turning Wrigley Field into Tigertown for a day. was more cheers than we got the entire season, home and Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge said.

Detroit came in hitting .237 against left-handers, but five of the 10 hitters Rusch faced had extra-base hits, forcing Baker to pull the plug early and hand the ball over to Angel Guzman. Guzman pitched 5 1 3 innings and allowed only one run while striking out eight, earning a start in place of Rusch. reason start was simply because his longest start was four Baker said. Rusch, whose earned-run average climbed to 7.80, appears destined to return to the bullpen. assume where going to end he said.

threw the ball great, came in and picked me up. We need to do something going to change for the better for us, and that may be what the case Rusch gave up back-to-back doubles to Curtis Granderson and Placido Polanco leading off the game, putting the Cubs in the hole before the crowd of 40,683 had settled into their seats. Ivan sacrifice fly made it 2-0, and Marcus Thames led off the second with a solo homer. After Chris double and two-out RBI triple in the second, Baker made the slow walk to the mound. Rusch and Baker were loudly booed as they left the Rusch for his poor performance and Baker presumably for starting him.

The Cubs collected only six hits off Tigers starter Nate Robertson (7-3) and three relievers, three of which came off the bat of Blanco, who homered and drove in two runs. Aramis Ra- mirez added a solo homer with one out in the eighth, but none of the last five Cubs hitters got the ball out of the infield. not like getting beat Baker said. a hit or two away. just got to keep talking to them, keep preaching to them, and keep their confidence Tribune photo by Phil Velasquez Cubs catcher Henry Blanco lines a single to left in the seventh inning Friday for his third hit of the game against the Tigers.

CUBS: Tigers chase Rusch in 2nd CONTINUEDFROMPAGE1 WHITE SOX 12, REDS 4 WHITE SOXABRHBIBBSOAVG. Podsednik lf512301.250 Iguchi 2b421011.285 Konerko 1b322110.315 Gload 1b101000.217 Dye rf311110.299 Crede 3b523400.298 Ozuna 3b000000.427 Widger c511000.255 Uribe ss512100.209 Anderson cf522100.174 Garcia p301001.333 b-Cintron ph100000.279 Riske TOTALS4012161133 CINCINNATIABRHBIBBSOAVG. Lopez ss412000.283 Phillips 2b401000.302 Griffey cf311000.277 McCracken cf100001.174 Aurilia 3b411301.258 Dunn lf400003.235 Kearns rf311111.269 Hatteberg 1b400000.283 Ross c301001.341 Claussen p100001.095 Mays p100000.000 Yan a-LaRue ph100000.182 White TOTALS3347418 WHITE a -grounded into double play for Yan in the 7th. -flied out for Garcia in the 9th. Griffey (1), Aurilia (4).

LOB: WHITE SOX 6, Cincinnati 3. 2B: Konerko (13), Crede (13), Uribe (8), Anderson (4). HR: Kearns (13), off Garcia; Aurilia (9), off Garcia; Crede (10), off Claussen. RBIs: Podsednik 3 (23), Konerko (51), Dye (49), Crede 4 (43), Uribe (22), Anderson (16), Aurilia 3 (28), Kearns (39). SB: Kearns (3).

Garcia. SF: Dye. GIDP: Podsednik, LaRue. Runners left in scoring position: WHITE SOX 3 (Dye, Uribe 2); Cincinnati 1(Hatteberg). DP: WHITE SOX 1(Iguchi and Gload); Cincinnati 1(Lopez and Hatteberg).

WHITE SOXIPHRERBBSONPERA Garcia Riske100002163.38 CINCINNATIIPHRERBBSONPERA Claussen Mays472102751.29 Yan10000173.52 White211110236.26 Claussen pitched to 3 batters in the 3rd. Inherited runners-scored: Mays 2-2. WP: Mays, White. Umpires: Home, Ed Montague; First, Ed Hickox; Second, Jerry Layne; Third, Marvin Hudson. Time: 2:37.

32,673. HOW THEY SCORED WHITE SOX FIRST: Podsednik flied out. Iguchi singled. On error, Iguchi to second. Konerko walked.

Dye walked, loading the bases. Crede homered, scoring Iguchi, Konerko and Dye. Widger popped out. Uribe fouled out. Four runs.

White Sox 4-0. REDS FIRST: Lopez singled. Phillips popped out. Griffey singled, Lopez to second. Aurilia homered, scoring Lopez and Griffey.

Dunn flied out. Kearns walked. Kearns stole second. Hatteberg flied out. Three runs.

White Sox 4-3. WHITE SOX SECOND: Anderson doubled. Garcia sacrificed, Anderson to third. Podsednik singled, scoring Anderson. Iguchi flied out.

Konerko doubled, scoring Pod- sednik. Dye flied out. Two runs. White Sox 6-3. WHITE SOX THIRD: Crede singled.

Widger singled, Crede to second. Uribe doubled, scoring Crede, Widger to third. Mays pitching. Anderson singled, scoring Widger, Uribe to third. Garcia struck out.

On wild pitch, Anderson to second. Podsednik singled, scoring Uribe and Anderson. Iguchi struck out. Konerko flied out. Four runs.

White Sox 10-3. WHITE SOX SIXTH: Iguchi flied out. Konerko singled. Dye singled, Konerko to second. Crede flied out.

Widger reached second on error, Konerko scored, Dye to third. Uribe flied out. One run. White Sox 11-3. REDS SEVENTH: Kearns homered.

Hatteberg grounded out. Ross singled. LaRue, pinch-hitting for Yan, grounded into a double play, Ross out at second. One run. White Sox 11-4.

WHITE SOX EIGHTH: Iguchi walked. On wild pitch, Iguchi to second. Gload singled, Iguchi to third. Dye hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Iguchi. Crede flied out.

Widger grounded out. One run. White Sox 12-4. a sacrifice bunt in the second. But his most significant contribution came after Rich Aurilia hit a three-run home run and Austin Kearns drew a two-out walk in the first.

Garcia (8-4) retired 16 of the next 17 batters until Kearns hit a home run to lead off the seventh. was throwing sliders, a good changeup and good Garcia said. the way I should pitch. The last three or four starts, I tried to throw hard. It work for me.

I have to pitch my ability to stabilize the game and prevent a slugfest enabled him to win for the first time since May 20, when he beat the Cubs 7-0. way this ballpark plays and the kind of hitters they have, anything can Guillen said. not an easy ballpark to pitch in, and we saw This might have been most important outing, considering he won in his last four starts and had an 8.10 ERA with 10 homers allowed during that span. He also got it together after the first inning started poorly. drives you crazy for a couple of minutes, and all of a sudden he puts the gears Guillen said.

seems like every time they score, he gets mad and he turns it up a Garcia limited the damage after the Aurilia homer, which was important because the Reds have hit at least one home run in 15 consecutive games, and 102 homers have been hit in the first 34 games at Great American. There have been only 22 homerless games in the 278- game history of this park. Garcia improved to 17-6 with a 2.33 ERA in interleague games, but he contemplating a switch to the NL. really want to pitch Garcia laughed. The Sox have gained only one game on first-place Detroit in the American League Central since June 4, but are 8-3 since then and are starting to play the style that earned them a World Series title.

we have better baseball ahead of Crede said. these are important games here, and starting to hit the dog days of summer. And the weather is starting to heat up. You want to get those wins because mean a lot in AP photo by Al Behrman Joe Crede (left) is greeted by Tadahito Iguchi (15), Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko after his slam. WHITESOX: After 3-run 1st, Garcia finds groove CONTINUEDFROMPAGE1 AP photo by Al Behrman Freddy Garcia bears down Friday night during his rocky first inning against the Reds.

the guys do the little things, going to be easier for us to win more Guillen TIGERS 5, CUBS 3 DETROITABRHBIBBSOAVG. Granderson cf322120.287 Polanco 2b412111.284 Rodriguez c301102.306 b-Wilson Ordonez rf501101.303 CGuillen ss400003.284 Thames lf411101.308 Walker Zumaya TJones Shelton 1b311011.278 Inge 3b401001.222 Robertson p300001.000 Gomez lf100000.241 TOTALS355105411 CUBSABRHBIBBSOAVG. Pierre cf300000.243 TWalker 2b401001.294 Ramirez 3b411100.248 Nevin 1b200020.313 Murton lf400001.263 Novoa p000000.333 JJones rf411001.286 Cedeno ss400000.291 Blanco c413200.173 Rusch p000000.200 Guzman p100000.167 a-Bynum ph100001.231 Aardsma p000000.000 Ohman p0000001.000 Mabry lf000000.216 TOTALS3136324 a -struck out for Guzman in the 7th. -singled for Rodriguez in the 9th. Robertson (1).

LOB: Detroit 8, CUBS 5. 2B: Granderson (15), Polanco (9), Shelton (12), Inge (9), JJones (11). 3B: Granderson (3). HR: Ramirez (11), off Zumaya; Blanco (1), off Robertson; Thames (13), off Rusch. RBIs: Granderson (33), Polanco (25), Rodriguez (32), Ordonez (44), Thames (23), Ramirez (36), Blanco 2 (8).

CS: Ordonez (2). Guzman. SF: Rodriguez. GIDP: JJones. Runners left in scoring position: Detroit 6 (Polanco 2, Ordonez, Thames 2, Robertson); CUBS 2 (Pierre, Murton).

Runners moved up: Ordonez, Ramirez, Cedeno. DP: Detroit 1(Guillen, Polanco and Shelton); CUBS 1 (Blanco and Cedeno). DETROITIPHRERBBSONPERA Robertson JWalker 1 3 0000080.92 Zumaya 2 3 1110172.34 Tjones ,18100001157.00 CUBSIPHRERBBSONPERA Rusch 2 3 64402547.80 Guzman5 1 3 31138965.68 Aardsma100001186.59 Ohman 2 3 10010195.02 Novoa 1 3 0000024.45 Inherited runners-scored: Novoa 2-0, Guzman 1-0. HBP: by Robertson (Pierre). PB: Blanco.

Balk: Guzman. Umpires: Home, Bill Welke; First, Tim McClelland; Second, Marty Foster; Third, Fieldin Culbreth. Time: 3:02. 40,683. HOW THEY SCORED TIGERS FIRST: Granderson doubled.

Polanco doubled, Granderson to third. Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Granderson, Polanco to third. Ordonez singled, scoring Polanco. Guillen struck out. Ordonez was caught stealing at second.

Two runs. Tigers 2-0. TIGERS SECOND: Thames homered. Shelton doubled. Inge popped out.

Robertson struck out. Granderson tripled, scoring Shelton. Guzman pitching. Polanco struck out. Two runs.

Tigers 4-0. CUBS SECOND: J.Jones doubled. Cedeno grounded out, J.Jones to third. Blanco singled, scoring J.Jones. Guzman sacrificed, Blanco to second.

Pierre grounded out. One run. Tigers 4-1. CUBS FOURTH: Jones grounded out. Cedeno lined out.

Blanco homered. Guzman grounded out. One run. Tigers 4-2. TIGERS FIFTH: Granderson walked.

On balk, Granderson to second. Polanco singled, scoring Granderson. Rodriguez singled, Polanco to second. Ordonez grounded out, Polanco to third, Rodriguez to second. Guillen struck out.

Thames popped out. One run. Tigers 5-2. CUBS EIGHTH: T.Walker flied out. Zumaya pitching.

Ramirez homered. Nevin grounded out. Murton struck out. One run. Tigers 5-3.

Ozzie Guillen likes what little he has seen from reliever Agustin Montero. But whether Guillen likes Montero enough to carry 12 pitchers remains to be seen as Cliff Politte is expected to be activated from the disabled list Tuesday. not too many Guillen said Friday. we need Ross Gload because I want to use Jim Thome at first base. I like the way Montero throws.

I like the way Montero handles himself. going to be a tough decision, but we have to make Montero has a 4.50 ERA in seven games but could get less work because the Sox added David Riske from Boston. like Guillen said he told Riske. put pressure on anybody. Go out and do the best, no matter what you do.

You fail, just be ready for the next Riske said he is fully recovered from the lower back problems that sidelined him for sev- en weeks with Boston. had a back problem in Riske said. had a little bit of a problem from spring training, but it got Common culture Sox pitcher Jose Contreras said common in his native Cuba for pitchers to pitchin- side or hitan opponent in retaliation. difference is you never see batters charging the mound, but you see stuff off the Contreras said. seen fights off the Extra innings Guillen said catcher A.J.

Pierzynski is expected to return to the lineup Saturday night. Pierzynski missed the last two games with a bruised right elbow but told Guillen he was available to play. Center fielder Brian Anderson who had a pair of hits he had a date set for his appeal of a five-game suspension for his involvement in a fight with the Cubs on May 20. WHITE SOX BITS BY MARK GONZALES Guillen likes Montero but needs glove at 1st.