 06/09/2004 9:28 PM ET
Notes: Durrington gets his due
25th man gets start at designated hitter Wednesday
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By Adam McCalvy / MLB.com |
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| Trent Durrington had one RBI in 31 at-bats. (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
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ANAHEIM -- With Anaheim left-hander Jarrod Washburn on the mound for the second game of an Interleague series, Brewers manager Ned Yost stacked his lineup card with as many right-handed hitters as he could find.
The card included designated hitter ... Trent Durrington?
Yep, Durrington, the 25th man on the roster who entered the game batting .192 with one home run and one RBI in just 26 at-bats this season. Wednesday was his second start this season.
"I feel pretty good actually," said Durrington, 28, who came up through the Angels minor league system. "I scuffled there early in the year. But then I kind of figured out what my role is on this team, and my last couple of at-bats have been better."
Durrington has what Brewers manager Ned Yost calls, "The toughest job in all of Major League Baseball, and that's being a pinch-hitter in the National League."
"There's no time to make adjustments," Durrington said. "It's not like I can see a guy once and then adjust the next time up. I don't get a next time up. You just have to stay consistent, every time."
Despite his statistical struggles, Durrington is a Yost favorite. He is a decent defender at third and second base, and serves as the Brewers' emergency catcher, trekking to the bullpen on most nights to help warm up Brewers relievers.
Durrington also "pitched in" earlier this season, retiring the only batter he faced -- Houston's Jose Vizcaino -- in an April 17 Astros rout. He made Milwaukee's Opening Day roster after coming to camp with a minor league contract.
"They could send me down; it would be no problem," said Durrington, who has two minor league options remaining. "But I can't worry about that."
With Durrington, right fielder Brady Clark and shortstop Bill Hall in Wednesday's lineup against the Wisconsin native Washburn, the only right-handed bat on Yost's bench was catcher Chad Moeller.
On and on and on: Some tidbits on Tuesday's 17-inning, marathon Brewers win, courtesy of front office legend Mario Ziino:
Ben Sheets has pitched in three of the last four 1-0 games involving the Brewers. He's 1-1 with a no-decision in those games.
The last extra-inning, 1-0 game for the Brewers was Aug. 11, 1992, when Jaime Navarro took a 10-inning loss against California's Chuck Finley.
The last extra-inning, 1-0 victory was May 6, 1989 when Bill Krueger earned a 10-inning decision over Kansas City's Tom Gordon.
Tuesday's 17-inning victory equaled the longest 1-0 game in club history, matching the 17-inning loss on Sept. 5, 1974. Closer Tom Murphy dropped a 1-0 decision to Chicago's Bart Johnson.
The Brewers have had at least one 1-0 game each year since 1970 with the exception of 1982 and 1996.
The Brewers have won their last three 1-0 decisions and are 50-45 all-time.
Tuesday's game marked the 14th time that the Brewers and Angels played in a 1-0 game (7-7).
What if? No doubt that it was a wild game, finally ending in the top of the 17th inning when Craig Counsell scored from first base on Scott Podsednik's double. But it almost got even wilder.
Yost said that at one point in extra innings he considered using Durrington, the only position player not used. In the event catcher Gary Bennett was hurt or had to leave the game, Durrington would have caught, Clark would have moved in to play third base and right-handed starter Wes Obermueller would have played right field.
Obermueller was an outfielder and shortstop at the University of Iowa before he converted into a full-time pitcher.
Icing on the cake: A day after the Brewers made him the fifth overall pick in the First-Year Player Draft, Mark Rogers allowed just two scratch singles and struck out 16 Tuesday night as top-ranked Mount Ararat High School beat -- ironically -- No. 3 Brewer High School, 4-1, in the regional final of the Eastern Maine Class A baseball championship.
Rogers threw 96 pitches and his fastball topped out at 96 mph on a radar gun held by Brewers' area scout Tony Blengino. Rogers did throw four wild pitches, two that led to just the second earned run he has allowed all season.
"I'm working on about eight hours of sleep since Saturday," Rogers told the Bangor News. "I'm running on adrenaline right now, but I came out and pitched and we won the game, and that's all I care about."
Mount Ararat will face defending state champion Deering High School (Portland, Maine) in Saturday's state final.
More draft news: In the 48th round on Tuesday, the White Sox drafted catcher Peter Vukovich, whose Dad, Pete, pitched five seasons with the Brewers and won the American League Cy Young Award in 1982.
Last call: Yost said he was undecided about Saturday's starter against the Astros. Left-hander Chris Capuano is penciled in, but Capuano allowed six runs in a shaky minor league rehab assignment at Advanced Single-A High Desert on Tuesday night. He was sidelined with a strained muscle in his back. "It involves a roster move," Yost said. "So we have to be sure that he feels good." ... Left-hander Doug Davis will travel back to Milwaukee on Thursday morning to be fresh for his Friday start against the Astros. The Angels scheduled the series finale as a night game, meaning the Brewers will not make it home until about 7 a.m. CT. They then play the Astros at 7:05 p.m. Adam McCalvy is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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