|
Scranton's Kennedy outduels Zink |
|
|
Sunday, 03 August 2008 |
|
By BRENDAN MCGAIR Sports writer PAWTUCKET – Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s pending loss could be the New York Yankees’ gain.
It’s easy to go out on a limb and say Sunday was Ian Kennedy’s final start in a Triple-A uniform. The 24-year-old right-hander, who began the season in the Bronx, hurled seven innings of two-run ball, a shutdown performance that went a long way in Scranton salvaging a split of a brief two-game set with Pawtucket, winning by a 5-2 count before 8,668.
Kennedy’s superb start can be taken into an even greater account considering who was pitching at the exact time in Yankee Stadium. Darrell Rasner’s days as a member of New York’s starting rotation may be in jeopardy after Los Angeles clipped him for five runs on seven hits in four innings – and that was a Angels lineup that didn’t feature usual thumpers Vladimir Guerrero (day off) and Torii Hunter (bereavement).
Down on the farm, Kennedy has kept his end of the bargain to unseat Rasner. He took the mound Sunday having allowed just two runs in his last 20 innings. Now a winner for the third time in his last four decisions, might Yankee fans see Kennedy called up in time to work Friday night’s game at Angels Stadium?
“That would be pretty cool because I’m from California. I would be able to get to see my family and friends,” said Kennedy, a Long Beach native. “If the call doesn’t come, then I’ll just go out and continue to get better.”
The funny thing is that Rasner was called up to replace Kennedy earlier this season after the youngster went winless in his first six starts. He was out for 15 days in June after straining his right lat muscle, further continuing a nightmare season (0-3 with a ghastly 7.41 ERA with the Yankees) that began with such high hopes.
Kennedy went to the minors with checklist of things to work out. High up on the sheet was to hone his off-speed pitches. Because he lacks a blazing fastball (usually clocked in the high 80s to low 90s), Kennedy needs to count on his change-up and curveball even more.
On Sunday he kept the PawSox off-balance by establishing his secondary pitches early before deploying his fastball. He got up to 94 mph in the third inning against Pawtucket second baseman Joe Thurston, but that’s believed to be the exception rather than the norm.
“Instead of looking ahead or further down the lineup, I’ve been focusing on the now instead of the future or the past,” said Kennedy. “The fastball might not be powerful, but it gets on you. I wanted to show I could throw my off-speed stuff for strikes.”
“He doesn’t throw extremely hard, but he freezes guys,” said PawSox manager Ron Johnson about Kennedy. “He keeps guys off-balance.”
The only damage Kennedy allowed was a RBI single to recent addition Josh Wilson and a solo home run to Gil Velazquez. He walked just one and struck out six, throwing 96 pitches (67 strikes).
“When you start throwing balls, your plan changes. (Pawtucket) is a pretty good hitting team and I wanted to get ahead of them,” said Kennedy, now 4-2 with Scranton. “Sometimes you catch yourself thinking ‘How do you get back to the bigs?’ The way to get back is not really worrying about it, only worry about your task at hand.”
Scranton manager Dave Miley didn’t tip his hand whether his club would be in the market for a new starter. “He went out and did what he needed to do,” said Miley after the his club cut Pawtucket’s lead in the IL North to a half-game. “It was a quality start.”
***
With the trade deadline now in the past, it seems the Red Sox have no choice but to fix their bullpen concerns internally. Hold on says David Aardsma after the right-hander tossed a clean sixth inning for the PawSox, striking out two.
“Obviously we all thought something was going to happen for the ‘pen. But honestly, in games when it’s really mattered, the bullpen has done real well,” said Aardmsa, whose been on the disabled list since July 19 with a right groin strain. “Each guy has been stepping up and doing their job. (Mike) Timlin has done great. (Hideki) Okajima has done awesome lately. (Manny) Delcarmen is throwing lights out. (Craig) Hansen was throwing good right before he left. (Jonathan Papelbon) is Paps.”
Aardsma threw 14 pitches (eight strikes). His fastball got up to the mid 90s and came away encouraged with how he felt throwing his splitter. He’s scheduled to work an inning Tuesday night in Scranton before hopefully joining Boston in Kansas City.
“Obviously it felt great not holding anything back. I felt I could actually let the ball go,” said Aardsma. “What I really liked was that I was able to throw the ball where I wanted to instead of just throwing it.”
***
Bartolo Colon was walking around the PawSox clubhouse and will accompany the club to Scranton. Johnson says Colon is on track to work a couple of innings Tuesday. Colon has already been on the DL twice this season, once with a right oblique strain (April 10-May 10) and lower back strain (June 17 to present).
***
EXTRA BASES: PawSox knuckleballer Charlie Zink’s bid to become a 14-game winner will have to wait another day. Zink allowed three runs on eight hits in five innings, throwing 101 pitches. “He could have gone back out there, but we wanted to get (Aarsdma) in for a clean inning,” said Johnson. … Ben Broussard homered for the second straight day for Scranton. … The “battle for first place” shifts to PNC Field over the next four days. Tonight’s matchup features Chase Wright (1-0) facing David Pauley, who has dropped two of his previous three starts. Pauley is 12-4. |
|
Last Updated ( Friday, 08 August 2008 )
|
Horoscope