Batista shuts out Dodgers on six hits
07/20/2006
PHOENIX -- As he watched from his position in left field, Luis Gonzalez saw something very familiar Wednesday night.
"I had flashbacks to 2001, the Miggy of 2001," Gonzalez said after watching Miguel Batista toss a six-hitter as the Diamondbacks beat the Dodgers, 8-0.
The win was Arizona's seventh in its past nine games and pushed the D-Backs into third place in the NL West, three games behind the Padres.
Getting consistent innings from Brandon Webb has been a constant this year for the D-Backs, but the rest of the rotation has not always followed suit. In order to play meaningful games in September, they need Batista to display the same consistency.
"Webby and then he's the guy we look to next," D-Backs manager Bob Melvin said. "If we're going to compete and go all the way down to the end in this division, Miguel's going to be a key guy for us. Coming in, that was the plan, Miggy was going to be one of the go-to guys."
It's no different than 2001, when the club needed Batista to pick up some innings in a rotation that was dominated by Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. Batista did just that down the stretch for the eventual World Series champions.
Even if Batista joins Webb in providing consistency, the team will still need help from its other starters -- Juan Cruz, Claudio Vargas and Enrique Gonzalez.
"We are sucking some innings for the team," Batista said of he and Webb. "We are trying to get people like Juan Cruz healthy and able to last out there. I believe [Enrique] Gonzalez is going to be a great starter. They are a little [young] and they have stuff to learn, but if we get those guys going, probably by the end of September we might be pushing other people out."
Batista (9-5) is not a strikeout pitcher -- he fanned just two Wednesday -- so to be effective he needs help from his defense and he got it, particularly from shortstop Stephen Drew.
In six games since making his Major League debut, Drew has shown himself to be a very capable defender and he had his first multi-hit game Wednesday, doubling twice and adding a triple.
"Defensively, he's made some great plays already," Melvin said. "Offensively, get the first hit out of the way and then get a couple under your belt, now you get rolling a little bit and you feel like you belong. Certainly his at-bats, other than maybe one at-bat today, he was pretty much on everything."
The D-Backs struggled early against Dodgers starter Derek Lowe, who appeared to have his sinker working as he limited Arizona to just three hits in the first three innings.
In the fourth, though, the D-Backs broke through as they scored four times on five hits -- including a two-run homer by Shawn Green -- to grab the lead.
"Lowe had a good sinker the first couple of innings and then it flattened out the third and fourth and we were able to take advantage of it," Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez had a significant hit in the fourth for two reasons. The first was that his double knocked in Chad Tracy for a 1-0 lead. It also was Gonzalez's 525th career double, tying him for 31st on the all-time list with Ted Williams.
Meanwhile, Batista kept mowing down the Dodgers.
"That could be the best he's thrown this year," Melvin said.
As the innings wore on, Batista could see the finish line and was not about to look to the bullpen for help. Instead, he wanted his third complete game of the year, which would tie him with Webb for the second most in the NL.
"I believe that baseball has evolved to a point to where a lot of starters don't go out there with the mentality of throwing a complete game and that's totally bad for the game," Batista said.
Batista's desire for complete games was sowed on a plane ride he shared from the Dominican Republic to Miami with Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal. The legendary hurler did not like to come out of a game. Ever. He completed 244 games in his career, one more than his win total.
"He told me, 'Nobody relieves me. I relieve myself. After the seventh I come with a different mentality and I've got to finish my game,'" Batista recalled.
Source: http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/
PHOENIX -- As he watched from his position in left field, Luis Gonzalez saw something very familiar Wednesday night.
"I had flashbacks to 2001, the Miggy of 2001," Gonzalez said after watching Miguel Batista toss a six-hitter as the Diamondbacks beat the Dodgers, 8-0.
The win was Arizona's seventh in its past nine games and pushed the D-Backs into third place in the NL West, three games behind the Padres.
Getting consistent innings from Brandon Webb has been a constant this year for the D-Backs, but the rest of the rotation has not always followed suit. In order to play meaningful games in September, they need Batista to display the same consistency.
"Webby and then he's the guy we look to next," D-Backs manager Bob Melvin said. "If we're going to compete and go all the way down to the end in this division, Miguel's going to be a key guy for us. Coming in, that was the plan, Miggy was going to be one of the go-to guys."
It's no different than 2001, when the club needed Batista to pick up some innings in a rotation that was dominated by Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. Batista did just that down the stretch for the eventual World Series champions.
Even if Batista joins Webb in providing consistency, the team will still need help from its other starters -- Juan Cruz, Claudio Vargas and Enrique Gonzalez.
"We are sucking some innings for the team," Batista said of he and Webb. "We are trying to get people like Juan Cruz healthy and able to last out there. I believe [Enrique] Gonzalez is going to be a great starter. They are a little [young] and they have stuff to learn, but if we get those guys going, probably by the end of September we might be pushing other people out."
Batista (9-5) is not a strikeout pitcher -- he fanned just two Wednesday -- so to be effective he needs help from his defense and he got it, particularly from shortstop Stephen Drew.
In six games since making his Major League debut, Drew has shown himself to be a very capable defender and he had his first multi-hit game Wednesday, doubling twice and adding a triple.
"Defensively, he's made some great plays already," Melvin said. "Offensively, get the first hit out of the way and then get a couple under your belt, now you get rolling a little bit and you feel like you belong. Certainly his at-bats, other than maybe one at-bat today, he was pretty much on everything."
The D-Backs struggled early against Dodgers starter Derek Lowe, who appeared to have his sinker working as he limited Arizona to just three hits in the first three innings.
In the fourth, though, the D-Backs broke through as they scored four times on five hits -- including a two-run homer by Shawn Green -- to grab the lead.
"Lowe had a good sinker the first couple of innings and then it flattened out the third and fourth and we were able to take advantage of it," Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez had a significant hit in the fourth for two reasons. The first was that his double knocked in Chad Tracy for a 1-0 lead. It also was Gonzalez's 525th career double, tying him for 31st on the all-time list with Ted Williams.
Meanwhile, Batista kept mowing down the Dodgers.
"That could be the best he's thrown this year," Melvin said.
As the innings wore on, Batista could see the finish line and was not about to look to the bullpen for help. Instead, he wanted his third complete game of the year, which would tie him with Webb for the second most in the NL.
"I believe that baseball has evolved to a point to where a lot of starters don't go out there with the mentality of throwing a complete game and that's totally bad for the game," Batista said.
Batista's desire for complete games was sowed on a plane ride he shared from the Dominican Republic to Miami with Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal. The legendary hurler did not like to come out of a game. Ever. He completed 244 games in his career, one more than his win total.
"He told me, 'Nobody relieves me. I relieve myself. After the seventh I come with a different mentality and I've got to finish my game,'" Batista recalled.
Source: http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/
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