Phoenix, AZ (AP)- The Hartford Whalers won their only game today but not
without loss or concern. After edging out the Tucson Border Patrol, 7-6, the
team's attention immediately shifted to their ace starter, Greg Maddux. Maddux was pulled after walking only the first batter he faced due to soreness in his
throwing arm. He simply whinced in pain, shook his head and walked off the
playing field as he dropped the ball on the mound. Maddux (15-4) had not
missed a start all season nor had he been pulled before the 5th inning all
season. Whalers fans around the country can breathe a collective sigh of
relief however as the injury was later deemed only 6% serious and should not
hinder Maddux's ability to start in five days. Of what happened, Maddux simply
said, "I strained something. It hurt. I came out. But I'll be on the mound
in five. Let's all thank Tony (Saunders) for an excellent outing in relief,
though. He's today's big story, not me." Most of the press would beg to
differ with Greg but Saunders (5-3) did pitch 6 innings out of the pen,
allowing 4 earned runs on 6 hits for the win. Jeff McCurry followed Saunders
for an inning and pitched well, as did Jack Broskie who pitched a scoreless,
hitless 8th inning in which he struck out all 3 batters he faced on 13 pitches.
Closer Hipolito Pichardo came on and recorded his 17th save (3rd in the EL) of
the season in the 9th, despite struggling somewhat with his control. Former
member of the Border Patrol, and the EL's July Player of the Month, Tony
Phillips, provided yet another spark for Hartford. Phillips went 1 for 3 with
a 2-run blast and a sacrifice fly against his former club. Former Larimer
Knight, catcher Hector Villanueva, also provided a punch going 2 for 3 with a
2-run double and a run scored on Phillips' homerun. Manager Jeremy Chrabascz
commented on the game and other things on his way to his LIMO:
Today's game was a gut-wrenching thing to watch. First, Greg (Maddux)
goes down after facing a batter and them we're forced to call in a
rookie and put major league pressure on him. But Tony should get
tons of credit and we certainly appreciated his effort coming in cold
like that. I'm sure glad we won because on top of Maddux's scare I'm
not sure I could've dealt with a road loss on top of it. That's all I
have to say about today, though. Doctors have told me Greg will be
back in a week so I guess that's our Christmas present.
* He went on to issue the following special greeting/message:
First of all, a pleasant holiday greeting and hopefully a safe holiday
season for everyone. Secondly, I'd like to wish Owner Jay Scudeiri
a hearty welcome to the PVBL. I'm sure the Houston Hellraisers will
find much future success in the league. In the meantime, if he'd
like to part with Canseco and/or Tartabull we'll get him whatever he
wants for Christmas.
