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Tuesday, 24 June 2008 |
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By BRENDAN MCGAIR Sports writer PAWTUCKET – First pitch is a long ways away, but there was Charlie Zink, Monday night’s starter for Pawtucket, playing catch with pitching coach Rich Sauveur.
More like a skills competition, Sauveur explains.
“We come out here every night, two hours before his game, for a toss session in front of the dugout,” he said. “He likes to throw with me and we kind of have a knuckleball competition; it’s become part of his routine.”
Winning is something else that has become second nature for Zink in 2008. He sought victory No. 9 against Richmond, but that wasn’t in the cards as first-place PawSox needed 10 innings to pull out a 7-6 win over the Braves.
Jeff Bailey did plenty of damage prior stepping in against ex-Baltimore closer Jorge Julio in the 10th, but he left the bat on his shoulders, drawing a bases loaded walk to end things. Bailey finished with three hits, three RBI and two runs.
Richmond’s Scott Thorman broke the 5-5 deadlock with his team-leading 10th home run, The blast came against Pawtucket’s Jon Switzer, who earned his third win thanks to his teammates coming to his rescue.
Pawtucket tied it up when Richmond second baseman Derrick Arnold couldn’t come up with Jonathan Van Every’s grounder, which scored Chad Spann.
Zink went 8 1/3 innings (a season-high by a PawSox starter) while striking out a career-best 10. He was touched for five runs (four earned) and two back-to-back home runs in the sixth.
Somebody has to take the credit for Zink’s renaissance season to date, and the obvious choice is to pat the pitching coach on the back.
Not so fast, says Sauveur. “I think it’s the confidence he has,” he said. “It’s not me. It’s him.”
There is one area where Sauveur accepts praise. After Zink’s first start of the season (six runs in three innings on April 5), Sauveur suggested Zink expand his pitching selection by sprinkling in more change-ups.
“It’s not a pitch he throws 10-15 times a game, but he does have it in his arsenal,” said Sauveur. “He said the day I made the suggestion that he used to have a nice change-up.
“I said ‘Why don’t we start throwing it?’ He said that he never thought about it.”
Prior to last night, Zink has made 14 appearances since altering his strategy. He’s 8-1 over that stretch with a 1.69 ERA.
Clearly, Sauveur’s advice has worked. “If the knuckleball gets him behind in a count, he’s now got something else to go to.”
Sauveur took a fondness for Zink because the knuckler was a pitch that guided him through six big league seasons. Sauveur featured the knuckleball “75 percent of the time, though I never threw it to lefties” in addition to a fastball and curve.
“I feel I can relate to him very well,” said Sauveur.
Thanks to Sauveur, Zink is now a knuckleball pitcher who can occasionally mix in another pitch or two.
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EXTRA BASES: Van Every was named IL Batter of the Week after slugging four home runs and eight RBI in six games last week. He becomes the third PawSox to cop the honor this season, joining Brandon Moss and Joe Thurston. … Kyle Snyder (reoccurring groin strain) had no troubles with his bullpen session and reportedly will have another tomorrow. If no setbacks creep up, the next logical step would be to head down to Fort Myers. … Bobby Kielty (groin) hit off a tee Sunday with Johnson coming away impressed. Its possible Kielty could be taking batting practice by the end of the week. … Here’s a familiar name for Yankees fans: Chris Chambliss is Richmond’s hitting coach. Chambliss forever etched his name in the hearts of New Yorkers with his walk-off/series ending home run in the ’76 ALCS against Kansas City. He along with Willie Randolph hold the distinction as the only Yankees to win the World Series as both player and coach. … Devern Hansack will look to build off his last Thursday night’s outing (six scoreless innings) tonight against Richmond’s Jonathan Rouwenhorst.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 26 June 2008 )
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