Another Pat-astrophe
Hentgen is rocked again
By MIKE RUTSEY -- Toronto Sun
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Toronto Blue Jays Vernon Wells reacts after striking out in the first inning against the New York Yankees Wednesday, July 21, 2004 at New York's Yankee Stadium. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) |
You would like to think it was a case of plenty of rust and nothing more.
You would like to give Pat Hentgen the benefit of the doubt, given that he had pitched just two innings since his previous start back on June 27th and that it was the first-place New York Yankees, in their own den, he was facing last night.
Hentgen has been a great pitcher, is a class act and you can't help but wish players like that nothing but the best.
But if it isn't over for Hentgen, it's close.
Prior to the game, Blue Jays manager Carlos Tosca was hoping that Hentgen could give him 70-75 pitches, maybe go five innings. That was a dream.
SUFFERED
Hentgen lasted 67 pitches but could make it only 2 2/3 innings as the Jays and Yankees squared off for the first time this season. The rest of his line was seven hits, eight earned runs, four walks and no strikeouts. Hentgen suffered the loss in the 10-3 pounding, dropping his record to 2-9.
The string of beatings has to be crushing.
"It's frustrating," Hentgen said. "I tried to grind it out but it wasn't happening. I was trying to throw the ball there (on the corners). It reminded me of my last start. It was the same thing."
Following his outing on June 27 against Montreal, where in 1 2/3 innings he walked five and gave up six runs, Hentgen was removed from the rotation, placed in the bullpen and his spot given to rookie David Bush.
But when Roy Halladay came up with a tired shoulder earlier in the week, necessitating a four- to six-week rest period, the Jays gave the ball back to Hentgen.
There is nobody else and the Jays have to pray that the 35-year-old right-hander can find a way.
He couldn't last night, even though the Yankees lineup was missing shortstop Derek Jeter (wrist) and first baseman/DH Jason Giambi (virus).
"I was out there trying but trying and doing is two different things," Hentgen said. "It was a terrible game. I just had an awful game."
In the first inning, Hentgen gave up a double and hit Gary Sheffield, but didn't give up a run. The floodgates, though, opened in the second as he allowed five runs on three hits, four walks and a wild pitch.
The next inning, Hentgen was lifted with a sixth run in, two out and two on. He watched as his two baserunners trotted home when Sheffield hammered Bob File's first pitch into the seats in left.
"The will is there to pitch good but the other stuff isn't there now," Tosca said of Hentgen. "He knows he has to live on the corners. With what he's carrying (his stuff), that's the way he has to pitch."
Hentgen's next scheduled start is Monday when the Yankees come to Toronto.
It's hard to imagine how it will get any better.
