Hawkins fails in eighth this time
By Bruce Miles
Daily Herald Sports Writer
Posted Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Somewhere along the line, maybe the Cubs can find an inning that suits LaTroy Hawkins.
The ninth inning didn’t work out so well, as Hawkins lost his closer’s job to Ryan Dempster.
The thinking was that Hawkins would thrive again in the eighth as a setup man, much as he did in the past.
Well, it sounded like a good idea. Hawkins suffered his fourth loss Monday night in the Cubs’ 7-4 defeat at the hands of the New York Mets at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs had rallied from a 4-0 deficit to tie the game at 4-4 in the sixth, the big hit being Michael Barrett’s 3-run homer to pull the Cubs even.
Oh, and newly anointed closer Dempster didn’t do so hot either. Pitching with the Cubs down 5-4 in the ninth, he gave up 2 runs on 4 hits.
After the game, manager Dusty Baker was at a loss when it came to talking about Hawkins.
“I don’t know, man,” said Baker, whose team fell to 13-18. “He’s just snakebit right now. There’s not a lot to say. We put him in the setup, and he just made a bad pitch on his former teammate, Mientkiewicz, probably in the wrong location. I don’t know what to say.”
Hawkins is 1-4 with a 4.26 ERA. In addition to the 4 losses, he had 3 blown saves as the closer. The remaining fans among the 37,562 who endured a pair of rain delays booed Hawkins loudly.
“Turn the page and get them tomorrow,” Hawkins said. “I’m going to be the same, regardless, whether I go out there and give it up or I don’t. I’m going to be the same. You’ll never know.
“Be consistent, that’s all. Can’t get too high. Can’t get too low. I didn’t always have success. I’ve been there before. They’ll be clapping for me one day. You can guarantee that.”
The Cubs began the night scrambling for starting pitching. They called up Jon Leicester to start in place of Dempster, who was named the closer this past weekend.
Leicester had made 1 start at Class AAA Iowa after being optioned there on April 27, and he lasted 3º innings.
Against the Mets, Leicester gave up 5 hits and 4 runs in 3 innings. He gave up a 3-run homer to Mike Piazza in the first inning and a solo shot to Kazuo Matsui in the second as the Mets grabbed their 4-0 lead.
“I’ve started a lot in the minor leagues, but it’s different here,” Leicester said.
Todd Wellemeyer replaced Leicester and struck out three in 2 scoreless innings.
The Cubs’ sixth opened with Neifi Perez hitting a double down the right-field line and Derrek Lee walking. After Aramis Ramirez flied out to deep right-center, Mets manager Willie Randolph removed starting pitcher Aaron Heilman in favor of lefty Dae-Sung Koo.
Jeromy Burnitz greeted Koo with an RBI single before Barrett homered to left-center.
Hawkins retired Piazza on a comebacker to start the eighth. Mientkiewicz, a teammate of Hawkins’ at Minnesota, hit the first pitch he saw into the bleachers in right-center.
On offense, the Cubs picked up 10 hits, but they left eight on base.
“That hit’s eluding us, and the back end of the ballgame is out of whack,” Baker said.
By Bruce Miles
Daily Herald Sports Writer
Posted Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Somewhere along the line, maybe the Cubs can find an inning that suits LaTroy Hawkins.
The ninth inning didn’t work out so well, as Hawkins lost his closer’s job to Ryan Dempster.
The thinking was that Hawkins would thrive again in the eighth as a setup man, much as he did in the past.
Well, it sounded like a good idea. Hawkins suffered his fourth loss Monday night in the Cubs’ 7-4 defeat at the hands of the New York Mets at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs had rallied from a 4-0 deficit to tie the game at 4-4 in the sixth, the big hit being Michael Barrett’s 3-run homer to pull the Cubs even.
Oh, and newly anointed closer Dempster didn’t do so hot either. Pitching with the Cubs down 5-4 in the ninth, he gave up 2 runs on 4 hits.
After the game, manager Dusty Baker was at a loss when it came to talking about Hawkins.
“I don’t know, man,” said Baker, whose team fell to 13-18. “He’s just snakebit right now. There’s not a lot to say. We put him in the setup, and he just made a bad pitch on his former teammate, Mientkiewicz, probably in the wrong location. I don’t know what to say.”
Hawkins is 1-4 with a 4.26 ERA. In addition to the 4 losses, he had 3 blown saves as the closer. The remaining fans among the 37,562 who endured a pair of rain delays booed Hawkins loudly.
“Turn the page and get them tomorrow,” Hawkins said. “I’m going to be the same, regardless, whether I go out there and give it up or I don’t. I’m going to be the same. You’ll never know.
“Be consistent, that’s all. Can’t get too high. Can’t get too low. I didn’t always have success. I’ve been there before. They’ll be clapping for me one day. You can guarantee that.”
The Cubs began the night scrambling for starting pitching. They called up Jon Leicester to start in place of Dempster, who was named the closer this past weekend.
Leicester had made 1 start at Class AAA Iowa after being optioned there on April 27, and he lasted 3º innings.
Against the Mets, Leicester gave up 5 hits and 4 runs in 3 innings. He gave up a 3-run homer to Mike Piazza in the first inning and a solo shot to Kazuo Matsui in the second as the Mets grabbed their 4-0 lead.
“I’ve started a lot in the minor leagues, but it’s different here,” Leicester said.
Todd Wellemeyer replaced Leicester and struck out three in 2 scoreless innings.
The Cubs’ sixth opened with Neifi Perez hitting a double down the right-field line and Derrek Lee walking. After Aramis Ramirez flied out to deep right-center, Mets manager Willie Randolph removed starting pitcher Aaron Heilman in favor of lefty Dae-Sung Koo.
Jeromy Burnitz greeted Koo with an RBI single before Barrett homered to left-center.
Hawkins retired Piazza on a comebacker to start the eighth. Mientkiewicz, a teammate of Hawkins’ at Minnesota, hit the first pitch he saw into the bleachers in right-center.
On offense, the Cubs picked up 10 hits, but they left eight on base.
“That hit’s eluding us, and the back end of the ballgame is out of whack,” Baker said.