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GAME LOG
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- If given a choice between pitching a shutout
in his first game at Dodger Stadium or getting his first major
league hit -- and a dinner from manager Art Howe -- Kevin Appier said
he would pass up the free meal.
Fortunately for him, the Oakland Athletics right-hander got both
on Sunday in a 6-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The shutout, his 11th in the majors, ended a drought of 36
starts by the 32-year-old right-hander without a complete game.
"As far as throwing a shutout, that's special anywhere," said
Appier, who grew up about 60 miles north of Dodger Stadium in
Lancaster, Calif., and hadn't been in the ballpark since high
school.
The day started out on an inauspicious note for the 12-year
veteran, who was forced to change his right shoe after retiring his
first batter. Appier broke one of the spikes on his right shoe and
tore off the bottom of it while trying to dig a hole on the front
side of the mound for his landing leg. But that was the last of his
problems.
Appier (6-3) scattered seven hits, struck out six and walked one
while improving his road record to 5-0. The shutout was his first
in 75 starts since May 5, 1997, when he pitched Kansas City to a
2-0 victory at Boston with a five-hitter.
"When you go out there, you think you have the potential to do
something like this," Appier said. "My stuff seemed pretty good
today, but the best thing about it was my command. I was hitting my
spots really good today, and fortunately, they hit it at people
most of the time."
Appier, who got his fastball up to 90 mph on the radar gun,
threw 122 pitches and retired Paul LoDuca on a pop foul for the
final out. The complete-game shutout was the first by an Oakland
pitcher since Sept. 4, 1998 when Kenny Rogers beat Tampa Bay 3-0.
"It may have been his motion, it may have been the sunlight, it
could have been a couple of things. I'm sure everyone in here would
have a different answer," said Mark Grudzielanek, who struck out
his last two times up. "He threw all his pitches, and we just
couldn't put a couple of our hits together and get something
going."
Appier was staked to a 5-0 lead before he threw his first pitch.
In the fourth inning, he hit a bloop single to right field and his
teammates shouted toward Dodgers starter Eric Gagne (1-4) to throw
the ball out of play as a keepsake for Appier.
"I didn't hit it good, but fortunately, it fell in," he said.
"It was a lucky hit, but it's still a hit -- and Art has to give me
a dinner now."
Howe couldn't believe he lost his bet with Appier. It was only
the fifth hit by Oakland pitchers in 55 at-bats spanning four
seasons of interleague play.
"I can't imagine him not having other hits, the way he swung
the bat today," Howe joked. "He didn't put much of a dent in it.
I think he massaged it out there, but it was a big knock for him."
Miguel Tejada highlighted a five-run first inning with a two-run
double and Jason Giambi scored on the front end of a double-steal,
helping the AL West leaders win for the ninth time in 11 games.
Gagne failed to retire any of the first five batters while
loading the bases with consecutive walks. Terrence Long, who opened
the game with a single, scored when Gagne grazed cleanup hitter
Matt Stairs above the right elbow with a 2-2 pitch.
Tejada made it 3-0 with a double to right-center and Eric Chavez
capped the rally with a two-out, two-run single that extended his
hitting streak to 10 games -- the longest of his career and the
longest of any Oakland batter this season.
Gagne was charged with six runs and six hits in five innings,
striking out six and walking four. Pitching coach Claude Osteen
noted that the rookie's primary problem has been handling his
emotions before the game begins.
"He gets so high for a ballgame, and it's basically through
inexperience," Osteen said. "I mean, it's a feeling you want to
have _ but you can't get it two days before you pitch. It's got to
peak at the right time. He just puts so much stuff on himself
leading up to the ballgame that by the time he gets there, I think
he's halfway worn out, mentally."
Game
notes
The Dodgers will reach the 1 million mark in home
attendance on Monday night when they host the NL West-leading
Arizona Diamondbacks in the opener of a four-game series. ...
Appier had pitched only one other complete game in the last three
seasons, a three-hit, 7-1 victory on May 12, 1999, for the Royals
against Toronto. All three hits in that game were by current Dodger
Shawn Green, who had a first-inning double on Sunday.
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