Schedule Benefits Slow Starters

There is at least a bit of good news for slow starters like the White Sox, Mets and Oakland. Their early holes in the division race, aren’t nearly as imposing than they would have been a year ago.

Baseball’s new unbalanced schedule makes it much easier for teams to make up ground by winning head-to-head matchups.

“We’ve dug ourselves a good hole,� said Oakland’s Jason Giambi, whose team entered the weekend 10 games behind Seattle in the AL West. “But the good thing is that you can also make up a lot of games fast by playing well in head-to-head competition. We can try to work our way out of that.�

Seattle has propelled its way to an eight-game lead in the division behind a 15-4 mark against Texas, Anaheim and Oakland. Unfortunately for the Mariners, they have 38 division games remaining.

“It would mean a lot more if we didn’t have to play those teams so much,� manager Lou Piniella said. “That third time around gives teams a chance to play catch-up.�

That’s just what baseball wanted. Tired of seeing some division rivals wrap up their head-to-head meetings before Labor Day, baseball revised its schedule for this season.

Teams will play their division rivals 18 or 19 times each -- two more series than in previous years.

“If you wind up in a bad situation, you want the chance to play the team ahead of you,� said Yankees manager Joe Torre, whose team dropped eight of 13 gams to division rivals Toronto and Boston so far. It’s very hard to catch up when you’re watching the scoreboard all the time.�

But not everyone likes the new schedule which leaves some teams and their superstars making one trip instead of two into many cities.

“I don’t part particularly like it,� Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. “I like to go to certain cities. I think the fans get cheated a bit because they only will see guys like Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa once in some cities.�

The early series between rivals like the Red Sox and Yankees, and Braves and Mets have provided some of the best theater early this season.

But it remains to be seen how excited Brewers fans will be for Pittsburgh’s third trip to Milwaukee.

Also, extra meetings could mean extra animosity built up between players and teams -- which isn’t a bad thing according to White Sox manager Jerry Manuel.

“If you play each other enough, you get tired of seeing some guys,� he said. “When you get tired of seeing someone, you might have a tendency to have an argument. That’s a good thing.�

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WALK THIS WAY: Alfonso Soriano, the New York Yankees’ ultra-aggressive rookie second baseman, has accomplished a remarkable statistical oddity: his batting average is higher than his on-base percentage.

Entering this weekend’s series against Oakland, Soriano hadn’t walked in the major leagues since last April 23.

That’s an unbelievable span of 126 plate appearances -- including 96 this season -- without a walk. Throw in a pair of sacrifices -- which count toward on-base percentage but not batting average -- and Soriano’s .277 average is three points higher than his on-base percentage.

“I imagine the walks will come, but when the ball’s in the strike zone, I’ll swing,� Soriano said through a translator.

The Yankees, whose recent run of success has been built in part on patience at the plate, aren’t panicked about Soriano’s lack of discipline.

Manager Joe Torre compares Soriano’s aggressiveness to that of Derek Jeter when he was a rookie. But Jeter managed 48 walks that season.

“I don’t want to take his aggressiveness away from him,� Yankees manager Joe Torre said. I think you wait a period of time and you see how it’s developing, and then you give him something to think about. But right now I’m just going to let him play.�

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MILLER TIME: Wade Miller might be one of the only people not surprised by his remarkable start this seasons

Miller, a hard-throwing 24-year-old right-hander, is 3-1 with a 2.35 ERA and 40 strikeouts in his first four starts this season.

“I’m not all that surprised by my start, as a couple of teammates and coaches might be,� Miller said. “I felt at the end of last year I was doing what I’m doing now.

“Last year, I was a little nervous going out there but then I got used to going out there every five days. I expect if for myself. I don’t have pressure from my team or anyone else. I have pressure from myself.�

Miller’s strength is a wicked sinking fastball that some compare to former Astros ace Mike Scott’s famed split-fingered fastball.

“It’s like a spitball or something,� manager Larry Dierker said. “It’s 90-something miles per hour and it moves down eight inches or more right at the last minutes and that’s unhittable. If he could do that all the time, he’d never have to throw another pitch.�

Miller worked his way into the Astros’ rotation last year, finishing 6-6 with a 5.14 ERA. Despite an injury scare in spring training, he’s answered one of the many questions surrounding the Astros’ rotation.

“If he pitches like that each time out he’s going to win a lot of games,� Milwaukee’s Geoff Jenkins said. “He’s impressive. His fastball really moves and his curve is very good.�