News
Harden's splits are night and day
Chicago (67-66) at New York (61-74), 12:10 p.m. CT
By Kit Stier / Special to MLB.com
09/05/09 12:39 AM ET
NEW YORK -- Rich Harden is a bit of a mystery to his bosses. If manager Lou Piniella and pitching coach Larry Rothschild had an answer to the right-handed starter's home-and-away situation, perhaps he wouldn't be 3-6 with a 6.21 ERA in 13 starts at Wrigley Field this season and 5-2 with a 2.02 ERA in 10 starts away from the Friendly Confines. Both manager and coach believe Harden performs better at night than during the day, which doesn't make for positive vibes for the pitcher's start in broad daylight on Saturday afternoon against the Mets at Citi Field. While Harden will be pitching on the road, he'll be toiling in the heat of day in a game his team looks to win to keep alive its hopes for the National League Wild Card spot. "Tomorrow is a day game, right?" Piniella said. "He has pitched better at night than he has during the daytime. I don't have an answer definitively for you one way or the other." The stat sheet does. Harden is 2-5 during the day this season and 6-3 at night. He was a combined 7-1 with the A's and Cubs under the lights in 2008 and 3-1 in day games. "I mean, day games are not his forte," Rothschild said. "We play a lot more day games at home, but that's a hard one to explain. He hasn't pitched as well at home, but there have been days when he's thrown the ball pretty well and the results haven't been great." This subject has been at the center of numerous discussions between Rothschild and Harden, who was nowhere to be found before the Cubs lost to the Mets, 6-2, on Friday night. Rothschild then made a good point when discussing Saturday's day game against the injury-plagued Mets. "When he's throwing the ball the way he can, it doesn't matter who he's facing," the pitching coach said. "I kind of look at it that way. Go over there and throw the way you are capable of and it doesn't really matter who you face." But Rothschild would like a clear answer to this home/road, day/night dilemma. "Then we could do something about it," Rothschild said. "We have looked at a lot of different factors and the day games are one of them. We can't change the time of the game, so ..." Pitching matchupCHC: RHP Rich Harden (8-8, 4.19 ERA)
Harden had a 1.80 ERA in his first eight starts after the All-Star break, but hit a rough spot in his most recent outing, which came Monday against the Astros. He struck out nine, but lost his command and walked six in five innings, giving up five earned runs. Harden also gave up a homer to Carlos Lee, the 22nd long ball he has surrendered this season in 129 innings. NYM: RHP Nelson Figueroa (2-3, 4.50 ERA)
Figueroa was fantastic in his most recent outing at Wrigley Field, giving up one run on six hits in seven innings while striking out a career-high 10 batters. Figueroa now has a 2.59 ERA in his past eight appearances, including two starts. Figueroa's ERA in his seven home appearances this season is 6.87, compared to a 1.32 mark in three games on the road. With the win over the Cubs, Figueroa improved to 1-4 with a 3.79 ERA in his career against Chicago. Aramis Ramirez is 5-for-12 off Figueroa in his career, including a home run. Tidbits
Second baseman Jeff Baker went 3-for-3 Friday and has hit safely in 17 of his past 21 games. ... Chicago starters have given up just one earned run in their past 28 innings of work. ... The Cubs recalled infielder Bobby Scales from Triple-A Iowa and he was available for the club's game against the Mets at Citi Field on Friday night. Scales made his Major League debut with the Cubs earlier this year, and in 25 games with the team has hit .241 with a pair of doubles, one triple, three homers and seven RBIs. ... Piniella has this to say about Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, who is rapidly closing in on the storied franchise's all-time hits record: "What a great career he has had. He's durable. He has been spectacular. He has had the extra onus of being captain of the team. He has had a marvelous, marvelous career. He has some World Series rings, All-Star appearances, and now to have this achievement is pretty spectacular. He's a first-round Hall of Famer. A pretty classy young man, too." Tickets
Buy tickets now to catch the game in person.
On the Internet
MLB.TV
Gameday Audio• Gameday
• Official game notes On television
• CSN On radio
• WGN 720 Up next
• Sunday: Cubs (Randy Wells, 10-7, 2.90) at Mets (Mike Pelfrey, 9-10, 5.03), 12:10 p.m. CT
• Monday: Cubs (Ted Lilly, 10-8, 3.17) at Pirates (Daniel McCutchen, 0-0, 4.50), 11:35 a.m. CT
• Tuesday: Cubs (Ryan Dempster, 8-8, 3.96) at Pirates (Charlie Morton, 3-7, 5.43), 6:05 p.m. CT
Kit Stier is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
