Chavez progressing at first base
Published: Sunday, March 14, 2010 at 7:33 p.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, March 14, 2010 at 7:33 p.m.
Eric Chavez’s bat may have been quiet but his glove was active. Playing in two consecutive games for the first time since last April, Chavez handled seven chances in the field flawlessly Sunday in Oakland’s 10-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals at Phoenix.
Chavez, who was 0-for-3 at the plate, will sit out two days and then play in two consecutive games again. He said that will be his first real test of the spring.
“It was better than I thought and that’s a good sign,” Chavez said. “Obviously the next time I go back-to-back will be another hurdle. I’ll let my body recover and get ready for two more.”
The six-time Gold Glove third baseman is changing positions after season-ending back surgery last June. Chavez moved capably around first base Sunday in his fifth appearance there. He had made one regular-season appearance at first in 2001.
“I really try to pick up what I can from anybody,” he said. “Even if I don’t use them, I like to hear other ideas and how others go about things. I’m listening to (Daric) Barton. I have asked him a question every day I am at first. I try not to be surprised.”
He had one play, an easy grounder off the bat of catcher Brayan Pena, in which he appeared momentarily confounded and wound up underhanding the ball to pitcher Trevor Cahill. He could have taken the play himself.
“It was good practice,” Chavez said. “I still need to get comfortable with who is hitting. The next time I’ll have that in mind and I will know the situation better.”
Kurt Suzuki doubled home two runs and Rajai Davis had two hits and two RBIs for the A’s. Jake Fox hit a three-run home run in the eighth.
Cahill’s third start was his best yet. He gave up two hits in four innings with a walk and two strikeouts and felt so good he threw 12 more pitches in the bullpen.
“It’s good to walk away from a decent outing and know what I need to work on,” Cahill said. “I tried to work on a new curveball and I threw about five or six of them.”
Kansas City’s Kyle Davies wasn’t so fortunate. He struggled through 2 2-3 innings, allowing six runs on seven hits. He walked three and did not strike out a batter. Vance Wilson hit a two-run homer and Buck Coats doubled in a run for the Royals.
Cahill and the rest of the pitching staff were treated to a motivational talk from former A’s ace Dave Stewart early in the day. The 22-year-old never saw Stewart pitch, not even on television replays.
“It was great to have somebody who has won 20 games talk to us,” Cahill said. “He covered all the bases. He talked about how the team feeds off the pitcher and gives the team confidence.”
Cahill did film a commercial with Stewart, which utilizes the former World Series MVP’s famed “death stare.”
“It’s one of those funny ones where he tries to teach me the stare down and I wasn’t getting it,” Cahill said.
Notes: RHP Matt Herges, at 39, is the oldest Royals players of the 58 remaining in camp. ... RHP Justin Duchscherer is expected to throw in a minor-league game on Wednesday. He was originally scheduled for Tuesday. ... RHP Joey Devine, who missed a week with tendinitis, plans to throw off the mound on Wednesday. ... Davis is 5-for-8 after starting the spring 1-for-19.
BREWERS 10, GIANTS 8
At Scottsdale, Ariz., catcher Gregg Zaun kept up his solid spring with a two-run double and Milwaukee beat the Giants.
Brewers starter Jeff Suppan gave up four solo home runs.
The game was played in front of a second straight sellout crowd of 12,000 at Scottsdale Stadium, including commissioner Bud Selig, a former owner of the Brewers.
On Dec. 4, Zaun signed as a free agent with the Brewers. They are his ninth team, and it has been a good fit thus far.
“I like it here. We have a great mix of young guys and veteran guys,” Zaun said. “That’s what you need. We have guys like Soupy (Suppan), myself, Jim Edmonds, Craig Counsell, with Hoffy (Trevor Hoffman) taking care of the bullpen.”
Zaun is 8 for 19 (.421) with a home run and his eight RBIs are tied for the team lead, matching shortstop Alcides Escobar.
“I’m very comfortable with my swing,” said Zaun, a switch-hitter.
He attributes the consistency to some changes in his hitting approach that he implemented in May of last season and said he had a better second half, which he split between Baltimore and Tampa Bay.
“I continued to do it when I started swinging again in the offseason. I want to make my swing as simple as possible,” Zaun said.
It is possible that Zaun could catch at least 100 games, and that means remaining healthy.
“I take a lot better care of myself now than when I was 28,” he said. “Sometimes you take that stuff for granted when you’re young. I’m a little smarter now.”Suppan is coming off a season in which he finished 7-12 in 30 starts, the 11th straight season in which he started that many games. He also spent nearly a month on the disabled list with a strained left oblique.
He gave up home runs to Aaron Rowand and Aubrey Huff in the first inning and Fred Lewis and Nate Schierholtz in the fourth.
Suppan won’t refrain from throwing a higher strike if he feels it is necessary.
“I’m not saying I’m going to throw four-seamers (fastballs) up all the time, but you do have to change up on the eye level,” Suppan said.
He threw a lot from the stretch against the Giants. When he threw from the stretch in a previous game against the Chicago Cubs, he said he did not feel comfortable, but he felt more so on Sunday.
“I am trying to build on the spring, working on the curveball and changing speeds,” he said.
Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez entered the game without allowing any runs in five innings. On Sunday, he gave up six earned runs and three hits with five walks in two innings.
Notes:Brewers reliever Chris Smith entered the game with two outs in the seventh inning and picked off Buster Posey at first base without throwing a pitch. He also pitched a scoreless eighth.
... The Giants play split-squad night games on the road against Texas and San Diego on Monday. ... Rowand has been scratched from the game against the Padres in order to rest a strained quadriceps.
... Infielders Edgar Renteria and Juan Uribe also will get the night off.
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