 05/19/2002 10:47 pm ET
Beckett talks of walks after win
Two free passes too many for Marlins starter
By Chris Shuttlesworth / MLB.com
SAN FRANCISCO -- Josh Beckett took a no-hitter into the sixth inning
Sunday, stopped his team's four-game losing streak and gave the Marlins
only their second win through the midpoint of the team's 14-game road
trip -- with both wins coming from Beckett.
But the rookie, who celebrated his 22nd birthday Wednesday, will spend
the plane flight to Cincinnati obsessed with one nagging aspect of the
4-2 victory over the Giants.
"Too many walks," said Beckett in a lament he repeated often in his
postgame comments. "I'm definitely happy with the game I pitched. I felt
good. It's nice to get a win out of it. I just got to cut the walks down.
There's no way I should walk that many. I had decent control today. You
shouldn't walk two guys when you have decent control."
That's no misstatement -- Beckett (2-2) was upset at himself for
issuing just a pair of free passes, a testament to his intense desire to
win.
Granted, one of those walks led directly to the only run Beckett
allowed in his seven innings. Tom Goodwin led off the fourth with a walk,
then stole second, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on Reggie
Sanders' sacrifice fly.
Josh Beckett
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That meant that before the Marlins tied the score in the top of the
seventh on Andy Fox's sacrifice fly, Beckett was looking at the
possibility of pitching a no-hitter but ending up with a loss. He instead earned
the victory thanks to Preston Wilson's three-run homer in the
eighth.
"I'm just glad that we won," he said. "What if I'd throw a no-hitter
and lost? Dumb walk."
Beckett may have been upset with his occasional lapse of control, but
his manager was thrilled at his performance, especially since Beckett
has been battling a blister on his middle finger, an injury that forced him
on the disabled list earlier this month.
"Did he throw well, wow," said Marlins skipper Jeff Torborg. "He's
pitched very well, and that was after being on the disabled list and coming
back with no rehab. ... His finger is a little sensitive right now, but
he went to the curve when he needed it, back to back a couple of times,
even.
"He's got that special competitive fire that the real good ones have,
and that's tough to measure. It's just something you feel. Because he's
not intimidated."
Said Wilson: "He was great. He made pitches when he had to, only gave
up one hit. He really just kept us moving along in the ballgame. He was
working fast and throwing strikes, and those are two great elements to
have."
After the Marlins scored their first run in the seventh, Torborg said
he debated pulling Beckett for a pinch-hitter, but he decided to let him
go one more inning. He retired the side in order and left after
throwing 90 pitches, the low end of the 90-to-100-pitch range Torborg and
pitching coach Brad Arnsberg had set for him.
"I didn't want to come out," said Beckett. "Not much I can do -- it's
not my decision. I just told them I don't want to come out. And when
they said, 'Yeah, I'm getting you out of there,' that was it. I'm not
going to argue with him."
So Beckett left the contest with a 1-1 tie and an impressive line of
one hit, five strikeouts and those two irritating walks.
"I'm pleased with it; it's just walks will kill you," he said. "I
showed you. I gave up a run without giving up a hit. Eighty percent of
leadoff walks score."
Even when contemplating how he felt about not having to face Barry
Bonds, who sat out Sunday's game, Beckett couldn't avoid returning to his
theme of the day.
"Probably would have walked him," he said. "I've been walking
everybody."
For the record, Beckett now has a respectable 15 walks in 43.2 innings,
best among Marlins starters, and he's never walked more than three
batters in a game. But his fanatical desire for perfection leads Torborg to
believe that Beckett might possibly one day get that no-hitter.
"Well, you gotta be lucky, too," he said. "But he's got the stuff to do
it and he's got the desire to do it and he's got the poise."
Bush signed: With Alex Gonzalez headed to the disabled list
after dislocating his left shoulder in Saturday's game, the Marlins
announced they will sign infielder Homer Bush before Tuesday's game in
Cincinnati. They'll need to make a spot on the 40-man roster for Bush, but
they will wait for the results of Monday's medical tests on Gonzalez and
right-hander Brad Penny, who also returned to Florida to have his ailing
right elbow examined.
"Good little player," said Torborg of Bush, who can play second, short
and third. "I don't know him personally, other than being around when I
was telecasting, but he's a good player. He can make things happen --
runs well, been on winning teams."
The 29-year-old Bush was designated for assignment by Toronto on May 8
after batting .231 with one homer and two RBIs in 23 games. Overall, he
has a .289 average with 11 homers and 110 RBIs in parts of five seasons
with the Blue Jays and Yankees.
Torborg said Bush will come off the bench initially, but his
versatility at other positions could be utilized in the future. Andy Fox will be
the everyday shortstop while Gonzalez is out.
ETC.: Armando Almanza pitched 2/3 of a inning with a walk and a
strikeout in his sixth rehab outing with Single-A Jupiter. He'll pitch
an inning Monday and Tuesday and then could join the team in New York
next weekend. ... Luis Castillo extended his hitting streak to eight
games with a 3-for-4 day. ... Julian Tavarez will start in place of Penny
on Thursday in Cincinnati. ... The game was delayed one hour, 32
minutes by rain.
Chris Shuttlesworth is an editorial producer for MLB.com and can be
reached at sitecontent@giants.mlb.com. This story was not subject to the
approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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