WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2005
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
5B
MLB
Pitching stable, not Rocky
BY EIDIE PELLS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DENVER — The razor-thin lead. The boos as the manager approaches the mound. That sinking feeling as the bullpen stirs to life.
In only two weeks, it has become all too familiar to the Colorado Rockies. Jose Acevedo hasn't been a part of any of that, though, and yesterday, he helped write a different ending in an 8-1 victory against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
"You just go in there and pitch and try to get people out," said Acevedo, acquired from Cincinnati earlier this month and called up from Colorado Springs on Monday. "That's our job."
And where the rest of the bullpen has struggled, Acevedo made that job look easy. Brought in to protect a two-run lead with two outs in the eighth, he got Chad Tracy to pop out with two men on. The Rockies responded with five runs in the bottom of the inning.
Chin-hui Tsao pitched a scoreless ninth and while it wasn't a save situation, it surely felt like one. By getting the final four outs, Acevedo and Tsao kept things from getting worse for the Colorado bullpen, which had blown six saves in the first 12 games.
"It was a relief for all of us," said left-handed reliever Brian Fuentes, who got a rare day off.
Matt Holliday closed out his 4-for-4 day with a bases-loaded triple in Colorado's five-run eighth to make the ninth easy for Tsoa.
Jeff Francis (1-0) pitched a terrific 7 2-3 innings, not allowing a runner past second after the first inning. He appeared on the way to a complete game in the eighth, when manager Clint Hurdle made a visit to the mound, simply to tell Francis
the game was his.
It was not a popular appear ance.
"I can tell my mom, that's the loudest I've ever been booed in my career." Hurdle said.
A few minutes later, Francis allowed a single that gave put runners on first and second with two outs.
Hurdle walked back to the mound and summoned Acevedo.
"I thought we were going to go ahead like 5-3." Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said. "I thought we had a good chance there in the eighth inning once we got him out of the game."
Instead, Acevedo threw a fastball that caught Tracy on the hands and the Rockies were on the way to their third win of the year.
"It was a big out." Hurdle said. "It was a very big out."
Todd Greene had a bases-loaded walk in the third and Michael Restovich homered off former Rockies starter Shawn Estes (1-1) in the fourth to give Colorado a 3-1 lead.
Francis, a left-handed rookie, had the strongest outing of his short career, throwing 89 pitches through the first seven innings and raising the possibility that the bullpen, which came in with a 1-6 record and an ERA of 9.73, might not have to get involved.
The Rockies had blown saves in their last two games. On Monday, Ryan Speier imploded to waste a nice start by Shawn Chacon, who as a closer last season was part of a bullpen that blew 34 saves. So far, this year's bullpen is on pace to blow 71.
Francis struck out four and walked three.
"It hasn't just been the bullpen struggling, it's been the whole team," Francis said. "To see them and shut the door like that is great."
Jack Dempsey/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Jeff Francis winds up to deliver against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the sixth inning at Coors Field yesterday in Denver. Francis pitched 7 2/3 innings as the Rockies defeated the Diamondbacks, 8-1.
CYCLING
Cyclist to appeal doping suspension
Tyler Hamilton may not compete in Tour de France
BY JOHN SARCHE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DENVER — Olympic gold medalist Tyler Hamilton vowed yesterday to fight his two-year suspension from competitive cycling, denying doping accusations.
Nonetheless, the Russian Olympic Committee filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport seeking to strip Hamilton of his gold medal and give it to silver medalist Vyacheslav Ekimov.
"The fight's far from over," he said. "Obviously, yesterday was very disappointing. Myself, my family, all my sponsors and my teammates were shocked."
The independent American Arbitration Association-North American Court of Arbitration for Sport handed down the suspension Monday, citing a blood-doping violation discovered at a race in September.
He can return to competition April 17,2007,but he would forfeit all results since Sept.11, 2004,the day of the positive test at the Spanish Vuelta.
The positive test occurred a month after Hamilton won the time trial at the Athens Olympics. Hamilton allegedly tested positive in Athens, but that case was dropped after his backup sample was frozen, leaving too few red blood cells to analyze.
Hamilton said he expected the arbitrators to rule for him.
U. S. Olympic Committee spokesman Darryl Seibel declined to comment on Hamilton's suspension and said he didn't know the status of the Russian appeal.
"I'm certainly not a quitter
and I'm not going to give up until I'm vindicated," he said. "My chances of racing in this year's Tour de France are slim to none. That's what got me out of bed every morning."
The arbitration panel ruled that Hamilton's positive sample was from a transfusion of another person's blood. That would increase Hamilton's red-bloodcell count, increasing his endurance, the U.S. Anti-Doning Agency said.
Based on blood tests done in spring and summer 2004, cycling's international governing body, Union Cyclist International, had warned Hamilton and his Phonak team that he was under suspicion.
"UCI took the necessary action to protect the integrity of its sport," said Terry Madden, USADA's chief executive officer.
The UCI denied Phonak a racing license last fall because Hamilton and two other team riders had been charged in drug cases in the previous three months. Hamilton said Phonak successfully appealed the decision in December and will be able to compete in the Tour de France and other UCI Pro Tour events this year.
Phonak fired Hamilton in November, nearly a year before his contract was set to expire. He said at the time that he agreed to leave to improve the team's chances of competing on the pro tour.
Hamilton was considered a possible successor to six-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. The two were once teammates on the U.S. Postal Service team. Hamilton finished fourth in the 2003 Tour despite a broken collarbone.
Hamilton earned a six-figure salary with Phonak and has endorsements deals with Nike, Oakley and other sponsors.
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