8A THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
MLB
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1,2005
Player debuts with a grand slam
BY TIM REYNOLDS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MIAMI — Florida's Jeremy Hermida became the second player to hit a grand slam in his first major-league at-bat and the first to do it as a pinch-hitter, connecting in the seventh inning off the St. Louis Cardinals' Al Reyes in the Marlins' 10-5 loss last night.
Alan Diaz/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The only other player with a grand slam in first major league at-bat was pitcher William "Frosty Bill" Duggleby, who did it for Philadelphia at home against the New York Giants in the second inning on April 21, 1898, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
St Louis Cardinals' Hector Luna rounds third base after hitting a two-run home run off Florida Marlins Jason Vargas in the fifth inning yesterday in Miami. Scott Seabol scored on the home. The Cardinals won 10-5.
Only a few thousand people in the announced crowd of 20,656 remained to see Hermida's hit. The Marlins' top pick in the 2002 amateur draft and the 11th pick overall, he remained in the game as Florida's left fielder to start the eighth inning.
Sports Bureau Hermida, an outfielder whose contract was purchased from Double-A Carolina earlier in the day, batted for pitcher Brian Moehler with Florida trailing 10-0 and connected on the third pitch he saw in the big leagues.
ning.
Yet most of the night's other offensive fireworks came from the Cardinals. Albert Pujols had a season-high three extra-ball scores, scored twice and reached the 100-RBI mark for the fifth consecutive season, and Hector Luna also had three extra-base hits.
Friday where 25 of its final 29 games will be against NL East foes; the remaining four games are at Houston, another wildcard hopeful, from Sept. 12-15.
The loss put the Marlins (70-63) one game behind Philadelphia — a 8-2 winner in New York over the Mets — in the wild-card race. Florida starts a stretch on
David Eckstein stayed hot with three hits, including his seventh home run. Luna and Eckstein each finished with three RBIs. Jeff Suppan (13-10) threw five scoreless innings, leaving after a 35-minute rain delay in the bottom of the fifth.
Luna, who managed only five extrabase hits in his first 41 games of the season, also scored three times for the NL Central leaders, who took two of three in the series.
in the series.
Juan Pierre had two hits for Florida, which hadn't had a player other than Miguel Cabrera or Carlos Delgado home runs since Aug. 5.
runs since Aug. 3.
Pujols doubled off left fielder Cabrera's glove and scored in the third, then drove in his 100th run of the year on a triple — his second of the season and only the 11th in his career — in the Cardinals' four-run fifth against Jason Vargas (5-2). Pujols doubled again in the sixth.
Pujols doubled again in his 91 pitches for strikes to avoid what would have been a season-long three-game losing streak. Then again, the Cardinals simply haven't endured any long slides this season. They're now 41-8 after a loss.
a loss.
Yadier Molina drove in two runs and So Taguchi had two hits for St. Louis, which dealt Vargas the toughest outing of his brief major-league career. He lasted five innings, gave up career-highs in runs (seven) and hits (10), and saw his ERA rise from 3.16 to 4.15.
Quinn, who has started every game as goalkeeper this year, also reflected on her role.
"She didn't get tested too much today, but for the whole team it's good to get a shutout," Francis said.
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"It's kind of day-to-day," Quinn said of her status as keeper. "It helps when your teammates are supporting you."
"The important thing is that we got the W," Francis said.
Note: Senior forward Jessica Smith played only 25 minutes after injuring what appeared to be a hamstring. The Jayhawk co-captain started the game but was pulled in the first half as a precaution, according to Francis.
three games to get its first win. But he also said he understood that the schedule to this point may have something to do with the fact that it did take three games.
Bauer
Charm
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"I hope the kids look up to it as a goal for them," senior forward Caroline Smith said. "What people do on this team is pretty incredible, between managing school, soccer and our personal lives."
- Edited by Erin Wisdom
It's definitely worth the time and effort."
There they are. Positive role models.
where in our Kansas world of athletics. It just seems to be the not-so-good influences that we tend to listen, learn and write about.
Tons of kids waited patiently for football players to get to them on kids day. More than 700 fans participated.
Francis noted that he hadn't thought it would take his team
You can find evidence of our athletes showing their class all over campus.
And even better is the fact that those good guys are every-
Yeah, enough is enough of this bad publicity.
Softball and baseball players are also spotted signing and talking with fans after nearly every home game.
this bad property.
Congrats to the writers who broke the latest breaking news story. You did a great job.
Now maybe we can have the opportunity to show why we also cover a class of people worth looking up to.
Bauer is a Winfield senior in journalism.
the biggest hole to fill for the Tigers will be the void left by linebacker James Kinney. Kinney led the team in tackling last season, but exhausted his eligibility.
Invitation CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12A
Senior safety Jason Simpson will be the leader on defense. Simpson was a secondteam, All-Big 12 selection last season and was voted team safety of the year. He started all 11 games and had 98 tackles last season.
"They have both been very competitive and positive. They will both be impact players for us this year," Pinkel said.
In July, during a voluntary workout, freshman linebacker Aaron O'Neal collapsed and died from what was later diagnosed as viral meningitis.
Pinkel said it has been a very hard and traumatic time for his football team, and he is proud of the way they are handling it.
billy.
Junior linebacker Dedrick Harrington is the leading candidate to take Kinney's spot.
The offseason did not generate many bright spots for the Tigers either.
"Every player adjusts differently and every young man has to deal with it in different ways and the stages of what they are going through," he said. "The big thing is we have to support one another, and through time we will work through this."
Pinkel said he knew the team had to focus on the upcoming season and dedicated it to O'Neal. Pinkel said the seniors were supportive and provided leadership for the younger players.
Missouri will have an opportuity to return to the field Saturday, playing Arkansas State in Kansas City, Mo. Other key games on the Tigers' schedule will include an Oct. 15 date with Iowa State and an Oct. 22 home game against Nebraska. Missouri will close out its season Nov. 19 at Kansas State.
- Edited by Anne Burgard
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