Baseball

From Our Press Services

Jonathan Papelbon can do his Irish jig on Broad Street.

A person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Friday that the Philadelphia Phillies and Papelbon have agreed to a $50 million, four-year contract that’s the largest ever for a reliever.

Papelbon, who turns 30 on Nov. 23, had 219 saves over seven seasons with the Boston Red Sox, including 31 this year, when he made $12 million. The former Mississippi State standout will replace Ryan Madson, who also is a free agent.

B.J. Ryan’s $47 million, five-year contract with Toronto signed before the 2006 season had been the largest for a reliever.

Madson’s agent, Scott Boras, and Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. were close to a $44 million, four-year deal Monday. But Amaro told Boras the following day that team president Dave Montgomery wouldn’t approve the deal.

The right-handed Papelbon, a four-time All-Star, helped the Red Sox to the 2004 and 2007 World Series titles. He donned a kilt and danced his trademark Irish jig at both championship celebrations.

Papelbon has converted 88.3 percent of his save opportunities to go with a 23-19 record and a 2.33 ERA in 396 career appearances.

Other developments

Pujols visits Marlins, receives offer: A surprising visit by star first baseman Albert Pujols is sending the message: The Miami Marlins will be a much different franchise than the Florida Marlins.

Pujols, who spent his first 11 seasons with St. Louis, began his free-agent tour Friday when he was courted in Miami by the Marlins, only hours before they officially changed their name during a ceremony at their new ballpark. Pujols had lunch with team officials, checked out the stadium and received a contract offer.

The notoriously thrifty franchise, suddenly in the mood for a spending spree, declined to disclose details of the proposal. Free agents Jose Reyes and left-hander Mark Buehrle also received offers after taking ballpark tours earlier this week.

Ramos found: Venezuelan police rescued Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos on Friday, two days after he was kidnapped, officials announced.

Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami said on state television that Ramos was “safe and sound” and that he was rescued by police. He said the circumstances weren’t immediately clear.

Armed men seized Ramos at gunpoint Wednesday night outside his home in a working-class neighborhood in the city of Valencia. Authorities said Thursday that they had found a stolen SUV used by the kidnappers abandoned in a nearby town.

Security has increasingly become a concern for Venezuelan players and their families as a wave of kidnappings has hit the wealthy as well as the middle class.

Major League Baseball officials said it was the first kidnapping of a major leaguer that they could recall.

Cubs, Red Sox search for managers: Both the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox continued their interviews Friday for new managers.

Cleveland Indians first-base coach Sandy Alomar Jr. interviewed with the Cubs, who already have interviewed Phillies bench coach Pete Mackanin, Brewers hitting coach Dale Sveum and Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux as possible replacements for the fired Mike Quade.

Toronto first-base coach Torey Lovullo became the fourth to interview with Boston. Lovullo has managed in the minor leagues, including the Red Sox Triple-A affiliate in Pawtucket, R.I.

Alomar, Brewers hitting coach Dale Sveum and Phillies bench coach Pete Mackanin have already been interviewed. Former Pirates and White Sox manager Gene Lamont is scheduled for today.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Florida Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies game Saturday has been postponed by rain.

The game was originally scheduled for Sunday but was moved to Saturday afternoon as part of a split-doubleheader because of Hurricane Irene’s expected path up the East Coast.

The night game was already postponed Friday night and both games will be made up as part of a split-doubleheader on Sept. 15. The first game will begin at 2:35 p.m. and the second at 7:35 p.m.

Beginning with Monday’s game at Cincinnati, the Phillies will play 33 games in 31 days without a day off to finish the season.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Florida Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies game Saturday has been postponed by rain.

The game was originally scheduled for Sunday but was moved to Saturday afternoon as part of a split-doubleheader because of Hurricane Irene’s expected path up the East Coast.

The night game was already postponed Friday night and both games will be made up as part of a split-doubleheader on Sept. 15. The first game will begin at 2:35 p.m. and the second at 7:35 p.m.

Beginning with Monday’s game at Cincinnati, the Phillies will play 33 games in 31 days without a day off to finish the season.

Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Cole Hamels(notes) has been having a stellar season: He’s got the seventh-best ERA in the majors at 2.62 and is tied for seventh best in wins with 13.

The 27-year-old had a rare bad outing this past Friday against the Washington Nationals, though, going only five innings and giving up six hits, four walks, and three runs in a 4-3 loss. The pitcher’s performance caused some concern.

A source to CSNPhilly.com reports that Hamels “underwent a precautionary MRI Monday on his pitching shoulder.” Manager Charlie Manuel said Friday that the 6-3 lefty had some stiffness in the shoulder, the site reports.

“It was just one of those things where I wasn’t able to get loosened up,” Hamels said after the game, CSN reports. “It’s that time of the year where you’re a little fatigued a little bit and battle through it and move on to the next game.”

However, the team is taking extra precautions, giving Hamels the MRI and perhaps skipping him in his next scheduled start on Friday, according to the site.

The Philadelphia Inquirer notes that Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee said last week that the team would consider moving to a six-man rotation in order to give its starters extra rest in preparation for the postseason.

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Source: CSNPhilly.comPhiladelphia Inquirer

Related: Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Nationals

It isn’t every manager of the National League’s best team who comes to PNC Park to play the Pirates and is thrilled to go home with one win in a three-game series.

The Philadelphia Phillies’ Charlie Manuel might be the first, actually.

“They come to play,” he said of the Pirates.

This was late Sunday afternoon after the Phillies salvaged the third game of the weekend set, 7-3. The Pirates pitched so poorly, from out-of-control starter James McDonald to the last of six relievers, Daniel McCutchen, that the Phillies could have won, 17-3. But it didn’t matter. This still was the best weekend of ball in the 11-year history of PNC Park.

Don’t believe me?

Ask Manuel.

He also was the opposing manager in the only other series that came close. He brought the powerful Cleveland Indians — on their way to a sixth division title in seven years — to town June 15-17, 2001, to play a Pirates team that was 20-43 and on its way to 100 losses. The Pirates won all three games, the last, 1-0, when Todd Ritchie outpitched CC Sabathia and Brian Giles scored from first base in the bottom of the ninth inning on Aramis Ramirez’ double to shallow center field in front of Kenny Lofton.

What a weekend that was.

“This one was a little better,” Manuel said. “It had a little better feel to it. I think their team now has a little more talent. They enjoy playing. I like where they’re headed.”

Anybody who watched the three games against a Phillies team that’s on its way to a fifth consecutive division title will have a hard time arguing that point. The Pirates played a strong game Friday night, winning, 2-1, in 12 innings, then did it again Saturday night, winning, 6-3. Even Sunday, when the pitching was so horrendous, the Pirates had a couple of chances. Jose Tabata was robbed of a hit by diving second baseman Chase Utley with runners on first and third in the seventh inning and the Pirates down, 4-2, and Garrett Jones, who suddenly seems overmatched against everyone, struck out with two on in the eighth and the Pirates trailing, 5-3.

You’re not going to win every game, you know?

“I think the fans enjoyed it,” Manuel said. “The crowds last night and today showed that, if they start winning, they’ll definitely draw here. I think Pittsburgh is ready for a winning baseball team.”

You can’t get anything past ol’ Charlie, can you?

Of course, Pittsburgh is ready for a winning baseball team after 18-plus seasons of losing. Even this team is 28-30, which is below .500, which is below mediocrity. But just as the series against the Phillies had a different feel to it, these Pirates have a different feel about them. It’s a lot easier to believe they’ll compete — not necessarily win, but compete — every night.

Look at the Friday night game. The Pirates got one hit in eight innings off Phillies starter Cole Hamels yet still found a way to win in 12. Pirates starter Jeff Karstens pitched a terrific seven innings. The bullpen gave up just two hits in five innings. First baseman Lyle Overbay saved the game with a diving play in the 10th. Tabata got the winning hit.

Take the Saturday night game. Right from the beginning, the Pirates showed up to play, thank you very much, Mr. Manuel. Tabata, the leadoff hitter, turned a routine bouncer between shortstop and third base into a double with pure hustle and later scored. Starter Charlie Morton pitched seven wonderful innings. Andrew McCutchen had three hits. Overbay nearly hit for the cycle.

It all comes down to starting pitching, of course. The Pirates’ starters have been so much better than anyone expected and had a string of 13 games without allowing more than two earned runs before Paul Maholm blew a 7-0 lead in a 9-8 loss to the New York Mets Thursday. Karstens and Morton ran that streak to 15 out of 16 before McDonald imploded, walking three consecutive batters on 12 consecutive balls before leaving in the fifth inning. Pirates pitchers gave up 14 hits and seven walks. Pitching coach Ray Searage must have lost 20 pounds walking back and forth to the mound for consultations under the hot late-spring sun.

Now, it will be up to starter Kevin Correia — the first pitcher in baseball to get to eight wins — to start a new streak when the Pirates play the Arizona Diamondbacks at PNC Park Tuesday night. He has to pick up McDonald the way Karstens and Morton picked up Maholm. They didn’t let that difficult loss in New York turn into two losses and then three in a row.

So far, there has been no sulking by this Pirates club.

“Hurdle, he’s a very positive guy,” Manuel said of Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. “I’ve always found him to be that way. I’m sure with just him alone, they’re getting very positive feedback.”

The Pirates are starting to get it from other places, as well. This bunch isn’t the punch line to bad jokes the way the previous 18 Pirates teams were. That it has won 17 road games after winning 17 last season is a big part of it. So is winning two out of three from the Phillies.

The crowd of 39,441 Saturday night was the largest at PNC Park. Attendance for the three-game series was 108,807. It’s hard to say just how many were Phillies fans. 45,000, maybe? 50,000?

What isn’t hard to say is this:

The Pirates’ fans liked what they saw. Many will be back to see more.

It’s the feel, I tell you.

There’s definitely a different feel.

“The crowds last night and today showed that, if they start winning, they’ll definitely draw here. I think Pittsburgh is ready for a winning baseball team.”

– Charlie Manuel, Phillies manager

First published on June 6, 2011 at 12:00 am

Hey, interleague play is here, hoo-hah, hoorah, who’s excited? The 2010 American League champion Texas Rangers invaded Citizens Bank Park and you could just feel the anticipation of the AL-NL showdown in the stands, in the concourses and in the clubhouse.

No, stop, uh, actually, no, you couldn’t.

Nobody seemed to care. Bud Selig’s favorite attendance-goosing gimmick still sizzles in New York, Chicago, and LA but strikes out most everywhere else.

“Just another game to us,” said Philadelphia Phillies’ outfielder Ben Francisco with a shrug that would have had to been a lot more emphatic to approach blase.

Then again, Francisco and the Phillies have good reason to be unexcited by interleague play — because they are historically awful at it.

Friday’s minimalist 3-2 win, in which Francisco’s two-run homer accounted for 25 percent of the Phillies’ hits, lifted Philadelphia to 107-129 in interleague regular-season play. Only five franchises — Baltimore, Cincinnati, Arizona, San Diego and Pittsburgh — do worse when facing the other league. The Phillies are pretty much equally bad at home (54-66) as away (53-63) against the AL.

The beginning of interleague comes at an especially inopportune time for the Phillies’ hitless wonders, who managed that princely sum of four hits Friday. But since two were taters by Francisco and Raul Ibanez and since Texas couldn’t handle Doc Halladay’s medicine, it was enough — barely — to get by.

“It seems like if we can get Doc a couple of runs we’ll win every time; he’s pitching great,” said Francisco, who was 3-for-his-last-36 before hammering a 3-1 fastball from his old southern California high school foe C.J. Wilson into the left field seats. “Seems like we’re having trouble getting the runs, though.”

Seeming is reality. Since last Saturday the Phils have scored three, two, one, one, two, one and three runs while going 2-5.

What made Friday different, and a win, was the return of power. The Phillies hadn’t had a multi-homer game since May 5, and don’t underestimate how much the longball means to the Phillies. They are 20-4 when they homer, 7-13 when they don’t.

“We need to get more runs and I want to see the offense get better,” said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel in the “duh” moment of his postgame remarks. “We only had the four hits but two were home runs. That helped.”

Francisco’s hardly the only Phillie whose bat seems to be kept in the icebox. Ryan Howard is 0-for-23 with 14 strikeouts in his last 11 games. John Mayberry Jr. is hitting .235 as a starter. Carlos Ruiz is 4-for-his-last-42, and six of the eight starters Friday (excepting Jimmy Rollins and Placido Polanco) are now batting under .250.

“It’s baseball,” Francisco said. “You’re going to go into slumps; you’re going to have tough stretches. They say hitting is contagious. Maybe it takes just that one guy to get hot and everyone will follow him.”

It would behoove Francisco to be that guy if he wants to keep a starting spot.

The Phillies brought back Domonic Brown on Friday from Lehigh Valley and probably not to sit and watch. It’s likely that if Francisco (.221) and Mayberry Jr. (.233) — not to mention Ibanez (.236, though .375 since May 3) — continue to struggle, Brown’s going to see a lot of time, as Manuel hinted Friday. One bad sign for Francisco: Manuel said he thought Mayberry Jr., hardly Willie Mays with the glove, was better defensively than Francisco.

Francisco said he thought the Phillies’ batters needed to make the opposing pitchers work harder, and his home run at-bat Friday was the perfect example.

Behind 3-1, Wilson had to throw Francisco — a dead-pull, fastball hitter — some heat. A few seconds later and 395-feet away a fan in the left-center stands had a souvenir.

Wilson made few such mistakes as he punched out 10 Phillies in seven innings. He was helped, and so was Halladay, by home plate umpire Andy Fletcher’s big strike zone but found assistance even more from some feeble swings, especially from Howard, Wilson Valdez and Rollins.

Francisco dismissed any thought of his old scholastic rivalry with Wilson mattering at all.

“He was a better hitter than pitcher when I knew him,” Francisco said. “We grew up together, and he’s still the same guy, but that was 10 years ago.”

It seems like a decade since the Phillies swung the bats well. But for all their problems they are still 10 games over .500 and lead the NL East by 1 1/2 games.

Francisco, at least, may have turned the corner.

“I feel like my old self again,” he said. “You know, just as quickly as you can get cold you can get hot again.”

With their longtime nemesis of interleague play looming for much of the next six weeks, the Phillies had best hope they get hot — and quickly, too.

Brad Wilson can be reached at 800-360-3601 or bwilson@express-times.com. Talk about sports at lehighvalleylive.com/forums.