There was a strange line in JJO's G139 recap last night, as he describes a happy dugout when Tommy Hanson didn't come out for the 9th inning.
“When (Hanson) left, I thought we had a chance, and that's how it happened,” said Rodriguez, who declined an opportunity to pitch the eighth because of shoulder fatigue. “We won. I could see he had great pitches, he was throwing them all for strikes and they were all dominant. He had a great fastball, 90-plus and great breaking pitches. Oh, I was happy he was gone.”
That's weird. Coop was willing to give him the ball, and Wandy declined due to shoulder fatigue. He only threw 85 pitches over the seven innings, but last night's innings brought him to a tie with his previous career high for IPs with 182.2 (2007). He has thrown 45 innings over 2008.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
