|
Don't
ever count out El Duque
By Jim Baumbach. jim.baumbach@newsday.com.
Newsday.com,
June 1, 2007.
The way Orlando Hernandez's outing began
last night, it looked as if he wasn't going
to last very long.
A leadoff single followed by a triple,
and the next thing he knew, there were groans
coming from the fans.
But as El Duque has showed the baseball
world several times now, no matter what
happens, you really can't ever count him
out. He is the man of many arm angles and,
seemingly, so many lives, too.
On this night, Hernandez responded to his
early troubles in remarkably dominant fashion.
After giving up those first two hits and
a sacrifice fly, the righthander threw seven
scoreless innings, allowing only one more
baserunner.
His final line read two runs, two hits
and a walk in seven innings, but it was
even more impressive than the numbers indicate
because of how easily he breezed through
the Giants' batting order time and again.
After throwing 95 pitches, he told manager
Willie Randolph he was done (after the seventh).
Still, the Mets are encouraged by his progress.
"He's getting stronger and stronger
and feeling better and better," Randolph
said. "Sometimes he just needs to get
in a rhythm. Duque's like that sometimes."
Said Hernandez, "I'm feeling good,
no pain."
It's his second straight positive start
since missing a month because of a case
of bursitis in his right shoulder; in 13
innings spanning those two starts, he's
allowed two runs, four hits and a walk.
Before the game, Randolph described Hernandez
as an "artist" because of the
way he paints the strike zone with so many
different pitches, speeds and arm slots.
"You don't see many pitchers who can
manipulate the baseball the way he does,"
Randolph said.
Randolph has seen this act from Hernandez
since the righthander defected from Cuba
to the Yankees in 1998, and El Duque's last
two outings have been reminiscent of his
early days in pinstripes.
Hernandez certainly didn't flinch when
things started in rocky fashion last night.
After Randy Winn led off the game with a
hard single to centerfield, Hernandez worked
the count full to Omar Vizquel after falling
behind 3-and-0. But Hernandez left a 71-mph
breaking ball too high in the zone and Vizquel
smacked a triple over the head of Carlos
Beltran.
Rich Aurilia plated Vizquel with a sacrifice
fly to medium rightfield, but Hernandez
made sure that would be all the scoring
for the Giants. The only other batter to
reach base came on a leadoff walk to pitcher
Matt Cain in the third. But Winn flew out
to leftfield and Hernandez induced Vizquel
to hit into an inning-ending double play.
"I didn't change anything," El
Duque said, " just had better location,
maybe."
Even Barry Bonds couldn't hit Hernandez
on this night, though he did hit two balls
hard. He easily could have had hits in the
fourth and seventh innings. In the fourth,
Bonds hit what would have been a hard single
to right if not for the shift the Mets employed,
and in the seventh, Bonds hit a liner that
rightfielder Endy Chavez caught on the run.
"He went right after him," Paul
Lo Duca said of Hernandez's pitching against
Bonds.
Not many other Giants could say they hit
the ball hard, which is a testament to Hernandez's
ability to keep hitters guessing.
Of course, with his shaky personal health
history and his age - he's believed to be
well into his 40s - he also has his own
team guessing when he might get hurt again.
But considering the way he has pitched when
healthy this season, the Mets feel he is
every bit worth that risk.
|
