Tenacious M: Rangers Ride Millwood To 5-4 Victory
Right-hander Kevin Millwood (pictured) delivers a first-inning pitch against the Athletics on Tuesday, April 28th.
[Programming advisory: Tonight's Athletics-Rangers game has been postponed due to rain and will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Friday, May 29th.]
Against a unsettling backdrop of injuries that befell the now-last-place Oakland Athletics at an alarming rate on Tuesday evening, resurgent rotation stalwart Kevin Millwood battled through one of his gutsier all-time performances in a Texas Rangers uniform and led his younger counterparts by example in catapulting his team back to the all-important .500 threshold.
Synopizing a game which was (a) inexplicably blacked out locally by the second-round-bound Dallas Mavericks and (b) bereft of Pitch f/x data is difficult in a day and age where one is so accustomed to the luxuries of technology, but being forced to revert to the dulcet, reassuring tones of Eric Nadel's voice for an evening is anything but tragic, and one could definitely get the sense from the radio-side broadcast that Millwood was a man on a mission, determined to atone for his inability to keep Athletics off the basepaths and redeem the defense that had committed two costly errors behind him.
Right fielder Nelson Cruz ultimately compensated for his apparent fifth-inning defensive carelessness by smashing the game-winning RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning (plating Hank Blalock from second base and positioning closer Frank Francisco to work a flawless six-pitch ninth inning), but the delightful ending was largely enabled by Millwood's eight innings of four-run baseball -- worked on 121 pitches, representing his career-best fifth consecutive start of 110 pitches or more -- and stubborn refusal to entrust the game's outcome to the Rangers' improving-but-questionable middle relief corps.
Critics of the Bill James-conceived metric known simply as "Game Score" argue that the criteria it utilizes are both improperly weighted and arbitrary, and it's certainly not the sort of metric that one would center a detailed sabermetric study around, but it is a useful invention from the standpoint that it roughly encapsulates the quality of a starting pitcher's performance into a single number. Millwood amassed a game score of 67 on Monday evening (8 IP, 10 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K), which doesn't seem particularly impressive in and of itself until you realize that the veteran right-hander has logged game scores of 67 (April 6th), 75 (April 12th), 69 (April 18th) and 52 (April 23rd) in his other four starts thus far this season.
The last time that Millwood notched five consecutive game scores above 50? Try a five-start string spanning June 28th through July 18th, 2007, during which he posted a 2.18 ERA in 33 innings and limited the opposition to an inconsequential .198/.293/.241 batting line. The last time that Millwood notched four out of five game scores above the 60 mark? Try dialing all the way back to April 29th through May 20th, 2006, during which Millwood logged four starts of seven innings or more and two runs or less that were intersected by a fluky 1.1-inning disaster against the Twins on May 9th.
A run of three good starts is one thing, but we're fast approaching unchartered waters here with respect to the success being enjoyed by Millwood that's almost beginning to appear sustainable; quite frankly, he hasn't been this good for this long in nearly two years, and while we're often inundated with overwrought and overexaggerated stories of spring revivals as the calendar pages flip from February to March to April, the rigorous off-season conditioning program which Millwood espoused at the strong urging of team president Nolan Ryan is beginning to pay off in the form of enhanced run prevention -- a central tenet of what the Rangers are attempting to accomplish at the major league level. He's at the forefront of that movement right now, and is doing everything he possibly can to ensure that he's at the forefront of that movement in 2010 as well by virtue of relentlessly moving towards the requisite 180 innings that will convert his $12 million vesting option into guaranteed cash.
Talk might be cheap, but execution ain't, and Millwood delivering during a game in which he was evidently deprived of his best stuff -- and forced to overcome a torn fingernail, at that -- is a tremendous step in the right direction for a team that's still searching for its identity, but sure is capable of supplying some entertaining baseball during the course of that search.
Entertaining. And for the moment, winning.
13 Comments | in Game Recaps, The Season
Reader Comments (13)
So is the consensus that Millwood has just been lazy the past few seasons, not caring enough to get into playing shape in the spring, and then succumbing to injury as a result? If so, why is he in so much better shape this season? Oh yeah, he's pitching for a contract - I forgot.
Where did you find that pitch count stat (longest streak of 110 pitches or more? It will certainly be interesting to see how Millwood holds up later in the year if this kind of pitch count/innings count continues.
Agreed tball. It would be nice if the Rangers could give him some early run support so he doesn't need to throw 110 pitches and can get out of the game early.
$,
I have heard it said that the Braves system focused on the arms and control for their pitchers conditioning. Millwood certainly had the talent to make those his focus. But as he has gotten older he has needed to change his conditioning program to include more leg strength.
He has attempted to address this in the past, but he freely admitted he HATES running.
And as my Dr. constantly reminds me about water, for pitchers, there is no substitute for running.
I was at the game last night and even though their pitch counts were similiar through 5 innings, Millwood seemed to throw too many pitches that weren't strikes. With that said, I witnessed 3 Ranger hitters go down looking in the firt 2 innings.... something I don't think I've ever seen. The home plate umps strike zone was ridiculous and Anderson took advantage.... Millwood did not!
The Ranger pitchers simply do not throw enough strikes... I don't get it!
You can't tell me that this Anderson kid has better control than Millwood...
I don't know if it's Maddux philosphy to work around guys or what but we need guys that throw strikes. They don't have to throw them over the heart of the plate... but they also don't need to throw them 2 feet outside/inside either.
I've read interviews with both Maddux and Nolan where they have insisted that the Rangers pitching philosophy in every case, in every situation is to throw strikes, challenge hitters, get ahead in the count, throw fewer pitches, and walk as few batters as possible.
I can't imagine coaches ever telling a pitcher to work around someone, walking him to get to a different guy. I expect the problem lies in a collection of pitchers who don't have good command. I also wonder whether there's another matter at play: most of our pitchers aren't strikeout guys. They rely on the sinker / slider to get outs. And if you watch enough of these kinds of pitchers, you see them having to trick batters into swinging at pitches in the dirt to be successful - and many experienced hitters will lay off those pitches if they know they're coming.
I think that will change eventually, as long as Nolan sticks around. Guys like Holland, Feliz (recent outings not included), Main, and Beavan are known for having great control and avoiding walks.
Millwood is riding high right now. The question I have is will he revert to his former ways if the Rangers re-sign him to a contract. Hopefully, the 2010 contract will vest and the Rangers will choose to renegotiate at the end of next season. But with Holland and the cast, it will probably be in the best interests of the Rangers to allow Millwood to walk after next season.
Millwood, where have you been??? I won't continue to hold my breath, but it is nice to see. Fortunately, whether he hits the 180 IP mark or not, Texas has the option of bringing him back next year without extending the contract.
It'll be interesting to see whether Millwood can keep this up over the course of a very hot summer, and if Texas can hang around .500 and contention for the AL West through July. You always have to be thinking of the possible "flip" deadline deal with this team...
This was a bad outing for Millwood as far as his stuff/control is concerned. If on a bad night Kevin can give us eight innings and four runs, we should be jumping for joy. He starting to look like the pitcher we signed from Cleveland.
Let's all keep in mind that he's pitching for an option this year giving him the same motivation as a contract year. He'll truly be pitching for a contract next year, so we'll have two consecutive years of a motivated Millwood. While it would be nice to not need a contract year to motivate Millwood, we shouldn't really care anymore what motivates him unless Hicks decides he wants to give him the same deal after 2010.
JDolla$ says "I can't imagine coaches ever telling a pitcher to work around someone, walking him to get to a different guy."
Huh? Are you being sarcastic?
This happens all the time... see Bonds. Mcgwire, Arod, and HAMILTON (this year)!
i'm not suggesting Maddux, Nolan, etc... aren't preaching the importance of throwing strikes, I'm questioning the inability of 34 yr old pitchers being paid $12M a year to execute that plan! Or guys like McCarthy that leave everything up in the zone. Or CJ Wilson going postal every other night and losing his mind.
I'm questioning the accountability of these pitchers. Who is holding their feet to the fire and saying "throw freaking strikes or else"? I admit I don't know what the "or else" could be but I bet you the Lou Pinella and Joe Torre's of the world could tell you.
I like Wash... I really do... and I think he's a decent manager... but we may just need a Ron Gardenhire type guy that's going to hold these pitchers accountable when they refuse to follow the plan. And I refuse to believe Millwood, McCarthy, etc... can't throw strikes at will... c'mon, it's the MLB for crying out loud.
Obviously there are some hitters that managers will call the intentional walk on, or even instruct guys to be careful with. But I imagine a lot of that depends on the game situation as much as the batter.
But I don't really want to argue about it.
Actually, I'm on a strict de-blogging regiment, so this is probably the last you'll see of me around these parts. Have fun, guys - and thanks for all the good times.
Cheers, Joey.
JDolla$ out.
JDolla$... I hope you're not leaving the "community" on my account? I didn't want to start an argument... just wanted to prove my point. Perhaps I was too harsh... if so, my apologies!
To further prove my point though, take a look at the 1st inning of today's game. Braden's throw 15 of his 23 pitches for strikes... while Padilla was barely over 50%.
I just don't understand what our guys are doing on the mound... you would think Braden would be working around our offense instead of attacking the zone. You would also think Padilla would be attacking the zone but instead, he's getting too picky with the A's horrible offense.
I guess I'm just trying to say that our overall pitching philosphy has to change. We have to throw strikes and put the ball in play... trusting our D to make the plays. For some reason wer'e not doing that and I don't understand why.