notes..

[wigs]

some ranger info and a good article that rips hart--

hafner will get first start

Narron said he plans to start the left-handed hitting Hafner, who was batting .338 with 19 home runs 72 RBIs in 104 games at Oklahoma, on Wednesday even though Detroit is starting left-hander Mark Redman. Hafner is expected to play designated hitter. Rafael Palmeiro will remain the primary first baseman.
"He'll play [Wednesday], sure," Narron said. "Welcome to the big leagues. Let's go get them."

With Todd Hollandsworth sidelined, Ruben Rivera started in center field. Jerry Narron said Carl Everett could start there later this week but wanted Rivera on Tuesday because Comerica Park has a large expanse in center field.

quote of the day
"I wasn't looking for trouble, but they started hitting on me," Rocker said. "I don't like it when two men dressed in drag are hitting on me."

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/baseball/rangers/stories/080702dnspocowlishaw.55036.html

 

[wigs]

stros

stros

Stuck in a monthlong struggle and yet to validate the four-year, $32 million contract he received before the 2001 season, Richard Hidalgo was told he essentially will platoon with Orlando Merced.

Astros manager Jimy Williams, who normally posts his lineup before his players arrive, didn't post the lineup Tuesday afternoon until after Hidalgo arrived and met with him in a closed-door, 15-minute meeting.

"What I said is (Merced) is going to start against righthanders," Williams said. "Hidalgo against lefthanders.

"We'll use both of their skills out there in whatever fashion it takes to win games. Maybe this will help Richie and, in turn, help our ballclub. ... But our conversation here was a positive conversation."

Hidalgo, 27, has seen his batting average drop to .245 while hitting .163 (13-for-80) since July 1.

At the time of Williams' decision, the righthanded Hidalgo was batting .234 (67-for-286) with 11 home runs and 35 RBIs against righthanders. Merced, 35, was hitting .345 (41-for-119) with four home runs and 16 RBIs.

Dotel and Wagner threw a total of 30 pitches Tuesday night to nail down a 2-0 win over Florida. Twenty-four were fastballs, none of them below 95 mph on the radar gun.

Dotel reached 97 mph four times; Wagner got to 100 once and 99 four times. Dotel faced three batters and struck out two; Wagner faced four and fanned two.
Since June 27, the Astros are 25-10 to jump back into contention in the NL Central. It's no coincidence Dotel and Wagner have been at their best during that stretch.
Dotel is 2-0 with a 0.39 ERA and has struck out 30 batters in 23 innings. Wagner has 12 saves with 23 strikeouts in 19 1/3 innings.

 

[wigs]

det

det

from det free press

Television analyst Joe Morgan thinks the change-up might replace the split-finger as the top complementary pitch to the fastball.
His theory is that because so many hitters are trying to hit home runs, the change-up is the pitch that most upsets their timing.
No pitcher gets more from the change-up than tonight's Tigers starter, Mark Redman.

After he lost his first five starts this season, Redman is 7-4 with a 2.19 ERA in his past 14. He has allowed three runs or fewer in 11 of those 14. He also has pitched at least six innings in each of his past 21 starts, since he lasted 4 1/3 in his first start, a 10-1 loss to Cleveland in the home opener.

"You have to know how to pitch with the change-up to make it effective," Redman said. "It's good only if you can spot your fastball and throw it with the same arm speed and arm slot as your fastball."

What really helps Redman's change-up is that it's actually three pitches in one. "I have a change-up that's fairly straight, one that dives away from a right-handed hitter and one that dives in to right-handed hitters," he said.

Redman, a left-hander, said he learned to throw the change-up effectively early in his career, and it has been his out pitch for a long time.

"Even back in college, that was my pitch," said Redman, 28. "You could just throw it down the middle to get outs. It helped me to develop confidence in the change-up."

rangers vs redman
everett 3-7 2 bombs(everett hitting .200 from right side TY)
palmeiro 2-4, perry 1-7, a-rod 3-6 1 bomb, pudge 1-5

"Only six AL pitchers have posted a lower ERA since the All-Star break than Redman's 1.72 mark. He missed the Rangers in their earlier two series against Detroit, denying him a chance to whittle down his 7.71 career ERA in three games against Texas. The Rangers are 9-25 this season against left-handed starters. "

 

[wigs]

couple more than i'll spare you guys--

stros vs burnett(1-0 vs hou TY 7 ip 3 er 5 bb 9 k rapuano hp ump)-
ausmus 2-5, berkman 2-8, biggio 4-9 1 hr
bags 2-7 1 hr 4 bbs, blum 3-10 3 bbs
lugo 0-2, merced 1-3, ward 1-7

fish vs oswalt(1-0 vs fla TY 7 ip 2r 1 er 4 bb 8 k froemming ump)
castillo 0-4, d lee 0-3, lowell 1-2 1bb, millar 1-2 1 bb
encarnacion 3-6 1 2b, wilson 1-3 1bb mordecai 2-2

redmond now gets to start fulltime at catcher for fla(although he has been designated starter for burnett this season) as johnson goes on dl, reliever blaine neal brought up--

finally, a good site to check, several updates

http://www.rototimes.com/baseball1/notesO.html