Lopes on Hamels' steal; Myers "probably" will be with team in Houston
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Lopes on Hamels' steal; Myers "probably" will be with team in Houston
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
Davey Lopes had already left the clubhouse by the time it opened to media last night, but I caught up with him today to talk about the decision to send Cole Hamels in the fifth inning of last night's 1-0 win.
Lopes has carte blanche when it comes to the Phillies' base-stealing efforts. Every now and then, Charlie Manuel will tell him not to send a runner. But those are rare occasions.
So last night, when he saw that the Giants weren't holding Hamels on first base, and when he clocked pitcher Jonathan Sanchez at a 1.7-seconds fromer delivery-to-home, he decided to send him.
"It was done for us to win a ball-game," Lopes said. "The way the game was looking, another run was huge."
Jimmy Rollins was at the plate with two outs and a 1-2 count and the Phillies were leading 1-0. In normal circumstances, a 1.3 to 1.4 second delivery-to-home time is considered good.
Lopes said he wasn't concerned about the prospect of Hamels getting hurt on a slide.
"I don't feel like my ass is on the line," Lopes said. "I feel the injury factor is always there. . .If Charlie says don't run him, we don't run him."
Manuel said he had no problem with Hamels running.
Lopes said the last pitcher he sent was Andy Ashby, when he was coaching for the San Diego Padres. Ashby made it safely. There was no throw from home.
Lopes said former general manager Pat Gillick would occasionally needle him about never sending a pitcher from first.
"Pat has been on my ass for two years," Lopes said.
But don't expect it to start a trend.
"You're not going to see pitchers running all over the place," Lopes said.
^
Brett Myers will pitch for the second consecutive night tonight at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Manuel said Myers will "probably" be with the Phillies when they travel to Houston this weekend, but a lot depends on how the righthander responds tomorrow after his outing.
I thought the steal was great! I hate when pitchers are handled with kid gloves (although when they are actually hurt I think they should have time to heal rather than being pumped with cortisone or whatever to get them back on the field quicker)— betsy72- Davey Lopes is the man! Now if they just had a third base coach who is not risk adverse.— Dull
- Are these men not athletes? If they have the wheels, pop the clutch!— stinkytom
- Are these men not athletes? If they have the wheels, pop the clutch!— stinkytom
- stinkytom--- I held my breath with that slide of Hamels'-- it was not the best!! Glad he came out of it alright though-- regardless, he is an athlete, just not a regularly practiced base stealer.— Joe Gonnelli
- Did you literally or figuratively hold your breath?— Jerome99RIP
- gutsy call by Davey,he stole a lot of bases in LA..sometimes, u go on guts.and hope it works out.this time it did,alls well.cole ran it like he'd done it before.lets not make much of it ,we won and thats what matters.once again, gutsy call davey.....go phils!!— teephilly76
- gutsy call by Davey,he stole a lot of bases in LA..sometimes, u go on guts.and hope it works out.this time it did,alls well.cole ran it like he'd done it before.lets not make much of it ,we won and thats what matters.once again, gutsy call davey.....go phils!!— teephilly76
- The Phils should steal a lot more. it really distracts a pitcher's concentration, and leads to more RISP and more runs. Great players, like Willie Mays and Barry Bonds, set a standard that others should emulate.— Delaware Jim
- Speaking of pitchers, why do the photographers for this site always capture the pitcher when he has the dumbest possible facial expression during his delivery? Doesn't that cease being amusing at some point?— Alpheratz
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- You gotta make them throw the ball. Thats the way the game is played. If he doesn't know how to slide what is he doing in the Majors and if he gets hurt well thats the risk you take in any sport.— Wally 24
