DODGERS NOTEBOOK : AGGRESSIVE PITCHING PAYS.For the past four days, the Dodgers have led the major leagues in earned-run average. Those who direct the pitchers attribute their success to the growing maturity of youngsters on the staff, plus an increased emphasis on pitching aggressively. ``The bottom line,'' catcher Mike Piazza Michael Joseph Piazza (born September 4, 1968 in Norristown, Pennsylvania) is an American Major League Baseball player who currently plays for the Oakland Athletics. He began his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers and played for the Florida Marlins, New York Mets, San Diego Padres said Monday, ``if you're nippin' and fooling around early in the count, you're eventually going to have to come at the guy hard anyway, so why not get it done early when you can come at him more aggressively? ``Guys are realizing they only have to use three or four pitches (per batter), where in the past it might be six or seven. It's something I have to reiterate all the time: The only way to pitch quality late into a game is to conserve yourself and keep your pitch count down.'' The Dodgers began play Monday night with a team ERA of 2.71, slightly ahead of the 2.81 figure put up by the glitterati glit·te·ra·ti pl.n. Informal Highly fashionable celebrities; the smart set: "private parties on Park Avenue and Central Park West, where the literati mingled with glitterati" of Atlanta's staff. The Dodgers were also first in the majors in strikeouts with 207. ``We have guys with good arms, and we want them to use those arms,'' said pitching coach Dave Wallace. ``We say, `Use you fastball.' Then the fastball becomes three or four different pitches within the strike zone, and it sets up everything else.'' Added Piazza: ``I think we probably just have a staff that's matured a lot.'' Passed over? A magnetic-resonance imaging test on pitcher Tom Canditotti's right knee revealed a sprain sprain, stretching or wrenching of the ligaments and tendons of a joint, often with rupture of the tissues but without dislocation. Sprains occur most commonly at the ankle, knee, or wrist joints, causing pain, swelling, and difficulty in moving the involved joint. of the tendon above the kneecap kneecap (patella), saucer-shaped bone at the front of the knee joint; it protects the ends of the femur, or thighbone, and the tibia, the large bone of the foreleg. The kneecap is embedded in the tendon tissue of the quadriceps femoris, a large thigh muscle. , according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Dr. Frank Jobe, who said, ``I suspect he'll skip a turn (in the rotation) and come back for the next one, but he may not even have to do that. We sort of have to take it day by day.'' The schedule favors the Dodgers in this regard. They are off Thursday, which just happens to be Candiotti's next scheduled turn, so they could pass him over and work the other four starters on their customary four days' rest. Refresher course: Left fielder Billy Ashley, on the disabled list since April 20 with a pulled hamstring, will begin a rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Albuquerque today. Medical chart: Shortstop Greg Gagne (hamstring strain) sat out a third straight game. . . . First baseman Eric Karros (ribcage ribcage Noun the bony structure formed by the ribs that encloses the lungs strain) reported marked improvement, but missed his seventh straight. . . . Center fielder Brett Butler is being bothered anew by the tonsillitis tonsillitis Inflammatory infection of the tonsils, usually with hemolytic streptococci (see streptococcus) or viruses. The symptoms are sore throat, trouble in swallowing, fever, and enlarged lymph nodes on the neck. that plagued him in spring training. |
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