Baseball notebook: Loss mark could grow
For Chicago White Sox starter John Danks, the disappointment of what he calls “a broken record” is building exponentially.
“It’s getting harder and harder,” Danks said. “That’s the blunt truth.”
Imagine then the suffering of the Blue Jays’ Jo-Jo Reyes.
Danks, the best of the White Sox’s starters the last three seasons, has gone 10 consecutive starts without a victory. But Reyes hasn’t won since June 13, 2008. He’s 0-4 this season and 0-13 in his last 28 starts.
When Reyes starts Monday against the Indians, he will risk setting the all-time mark for the most consecutive starts without a victory. He has tied the mark that was shared by the Boston Braves’ Cliff Curtis and the Oakland A’s Matt Keough.
Curtis set the record in 1910-11 – and went 0-23 in the process (a consecutive loss record that former Cub and Met Anthony Young broke in 1993) – and Keough tied it in 1978-79. Now it’s Reyes’ turn in the barrel.
“It kills me because he has pitched so well for us,” catcher J.P. Arencibia said. “But we haven’t really scored for him. … He continues to give us quality starts, and that’s all you can ask for him to do.”
Reyes, who began his career with the Braves in 2007, has a 5-19 record and 6.04 career ERA.
Texas’ Hamilton not changing his style
Josh Hamilton missed six weeks after breaking a bone in his right shoulder with a headfirst dive into home plate. But the latest in a string of injuries hasn’t changed his playing style.
In his second game back with the Rangers, Hamilton slid headfirst into first base to beat out an infield single, stole second base with a headfirst dive and advanced to third on a wild pitch, again going in headfirst.
“All this showed is that I want to win,” Hamilton said. “I get paid to play hard. I’m going to play the game the way I know how to play it, to be true to myself and to be true to my teammates.”
Hamilton has missed 141 games since the start of the 2009 season, but manager Ron Washington believes there’s no changing him.
“That’s just the way he plays the game,” Washington said. “I don’t say much to him about anything he does out there.”
Hamilton’s injury history could cost him in a major way, however. He’s eligible for free agency after 2012, and the Rangers are monitoring his health closely. Some executives believe they might bid to sign Albert Pujols rather than invest massively to keep Hamilton.