MLB Capsules - NL: Pirates, Astros open 2nd half on different paths

HOUSTON (AP) — Two teams headed in opposite directions face off when the Houston Astros and Pittsburgh Pirates return from the All-Star break with a weekend series.

The surprising Pirates have abandoned their usual spot in the basement of the NL Central for a much better view near the top of the division, finishing the first half with a winning record for the first time since 1992. The Astros? They dropped nine of 10 to limp into the break with a major league-worst 30-62 record.

“There’s something different about us,” said Pittsburgh center fielder Andrew McCutchen, fresh off his first appearance in the All-Star game. “It’s more of knowing that we’re going to go out and have a good game and have the opportunity to win than just hoping that we win this year. That’s been the difference with us. Just being real positive and almost knowing in our head that we can go out and we’re going to win.”

The Pirates (47-43) are just 10 games away from matching their win total from last year’s major league-worst 57-105 season. The huge turnaround was one of baseball’s biggest surprises in the first half, but not for the players in Pittsburgh’s clubhouse.

“I think we all believed in ourselves and the better we played, it just kind of grew into a confidence we had day in and day out,” pitcher Jeff Karstens said Thursday. “There were a lot of people that probably doubted us, but we never doubted ourselves.”

Karstens and the rest of Pittsburgh’s rotation have played a prominent role in the Pirates’ success this season. Karstens’ 2.55 ERA is fifth in the NL and teammate Paul Maholm is just behind him in eighth with an ERA of 2.96.

McCutchen is proud of Pittsburgh’s first-half success and excited that it created a buzz that this team that hasn’t had in many years. He smiled broadly Thursday night while recalling seeing a fellow passenger on his commercial flight from Arizona to Houston reading a newspaper that featured a story about Pittsburgh’s strong first half.

“That’s pretty awesome to be able to see that, and it just makes you feel good and gets you pumped up for the second half,” he said.

That doesn’t mean McCutchen and the Pirates are content with what they’ve done so far. For the season to be a success, they say they must keep it up after the break.

“We had a real good first half,” McCutchen said. “We haven’t done that in a long time, so it’s very exciting to see what we’ve done and be a part of it. We just have to learn from what we did the first half and continue from there and try to have an even better second half.”

The Astros are in a much different place, simply hoping to get on track and salvage something positive from a difficult season. Ask general manager Ed Wade what he hopes to see from his team in the second half and his answer is simple.

“How many games do we have in the second half? Win ‘em all,” he said, only half-joking.

But he does believe the Astros are more talented than their record indicates and says he needs to see more consistent play from many players if they hope to secure their spots for next season.

“We’re giving a lot of young guys some really great opportunities here and (they are) well deserved because we think they’re very good players and I hope they take advantage of these opportunities and play up to their potential because if they do that we are going to win a lot of games,” he said.

Houston center fielder Michael Bourn has been one of the few bright spots and leads the majors with 35 stolen bases. As one of the longest-tenured players on the team, he sees it as his responsibility to lead by example and help the younger players gain confidence. He said the team can’t do anything about its terrible first half but it can to use it as incentive to get better.

“You can’t run away from it,” he said of the record. “You can’t not talk about it. We know where we stand. We have to make small climbs from there. You can’t look at the big picture. You look at it in small fragments ... and try to improve every day.”

NOTES: The Pirates optioned pitcher Daniel Moskos to Triple-A Indianapolis. ... Pittsburgh pitcher Ross Ohlendorf (right shoulder strain) will begin a rehabilitation assignment on Thursday with Single-A Bradenton. ... Pirates INF Steve Pearce (right calf strain) had his rehab assignment transferred from Bradenton to Triple-A Indianapolis. ... The Pirates signed 1B Alex Dickerson, a third-round selection in this year’s draft.

Dodgers hoping worst is behind them

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The All-Star break certainly was a welcomed respite for Don Mattingly and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The beleaguered rookie manager and his equally frustrated team have struggled on the field and dealt daily with off-the-field turmoil — a string of unwanted headlines that have tarnished the once-proud franchise.

Los Angeles starts the second half at Arizona on Friday night, stuck at 41-51 and in fourth place in the NL West, 11 games behind San Francisco.

“The biggest disappointment is being in this position with a team that’s capable of being in the playoffs and competing with anybody in the National League,” All-Star center fielder Matt Kemp said.

From Day One, it’s been a difficult year at Dodger Stadium. On opening day, Giants fan Bryan Stow was savagely beaten in the parking lot following the game. The 42-year-old Stow is in a San Francisco area hospital, recovering from brain injuries.

The bitter divorce proceedings between Frank McCourt and his estranged wife, Jamie, and the legal tug-of-war over which one of them owned the team has hovered over the club all season.

Major League Baseball assumed control of the club’s day-to-day operations in mid-April and Frank McCourt recently filed for bankruptcy protection.

McCourt took that Chapter 11 action after Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig rejected a proposed a broadcast rights deal with Fox Sports that McCourt said would’ve alleviated worries about covering payroll expenses every two weeks.

Selig was concerned that the Dodgers’ embattled owner would instead use that Fox Sports money to take care of his own personal debts.

Even famed announcer Vin Scully was dragged into the fray when court documents revealed the Hall of Fame broadcaster — in his 62nd season behind the microphone — was still owed more than $150,000 as part of his contract. In some instances, checks made out to some employees and stadium workers bounced and were later reissued.

Talk about a bad hop.

“Obviously, it’s kind of weird, thinking: ‘Hey, the paychecks might not be in the mail,’ but they’ve assured us that we don’t have anything to worry about on that front,” second baseman Aaron Miles said.

“It makes for a little bit of a distraction from the baseball end of it — maybe a good distraction, sometimes — but the players in this clubhouse have not focused on that. We’ve stayed focused on the field, even though we’ve had some tough cards dealt our way this year. It seems like Donnie’s been thrown a curveball every other day because of all the injuries.”

To top it off, McCourt last week fired Steve Garvey, one of the team’s most popular players in Los Angeles, from the marketing and community relations department. That came after Garvey went public with his hopes of buying the club and recruited 1988 World Series MVP Orel Hershiser to join his investment group.

If that isn’t enough drama for one fan base, there was that smoky interlude on May 28 at Dodger Stadium, when the upper deck seats behind first base had to be evacuated after a small fire broke out in a storage area. The entire scene at Chavez Ravine over the past 3½ months has provided a wealth of material for all the joke-meisters on late-night television.

“People are going to say what they say, but I don’t care what other people say. I’m not worried about it,” All-Star pitcher Clayton Kershaw said.

“People ask us about it, and we just tell the truth — that it doesn’t affect what’s on the field. As a team, all we worry about in this clubhouse is playing baseball because that’s our job and that’s all we’re here to do.”

The attendance at Dodger Stadium has been in dramatic decline. A franchise that drew in excess of 3 million in each of the previous 15 seasons following the strike-shortened 1994 and 1995 campaigns is averaging 36,610 through their first 50 home dates.

That’s 2,392 fewer per game than the Los Angeles Angels have averaged in their 48 home dates down the freeway at the Big A. The Halos never outdrew the Dodgers in any of their 50 previous seasons as Southern California’s other team, including the four years they shared Dodger Stadium from 1962 through 1965 before relocating to Anaheim.

“There’s a lot of people who are on the bandwagon when things are going good. And when it’s not going good, people jump off,” Kershaw said. “That’s just the way it is, and you have to accept it.”

Kemp has done his part. The six-year veteran who won a Silver Slugger award and Gold Glove in 2009 has returned to form after a sub-par 2010 campaign. He is among the top three in the NL in home runs (22), RBIs (67), slugging percentage (.584) and stolen bases (27), but is uncomfortable with the notion that he has carried the team.

“We win together and we lose together,” Kemp said. “This isn’t a one-man or a two-man show. This is 25 guys pulling together. We haven’t played the way we needed to play, so we’ve got to do better things in the second half.”

Just two seasons ago, the Dodgers reached the NL championship series for the second straight year under Joe Torre. To some of the veterans, it seems like ages ago.

“A lot of us still have that taste in our mouths from that,” right fielder Andre Ethier said. “That’s what makes this year so frustrating — because we know how good this team was and how great this organization can be, and how much fun it can be when you’re winning.”

Ethier also is in his sixth season with the club, so he has more of an emotional stake in this situation than many teammates. The All-Star provided one of the few highlights so far with a 30-game hitting streak.

“When you come to the Dodgers, it’s instilled in you what it means to be a Dodger and how to play like one, and you take so much pride in that,” he said.

“Now, when you hear the stuff people say about the organization and see the way things have been handled in the organization, it’s makes you upset and a little embarrassed.”

The non-waiver trade deadline is July 31, and it is yet to be determined whether the team will become buyers or sellers by then.

“What will it take for us to be sellers? We’ll measure it as we get closer,” general manager Ned Colletti told The Associated Press two days before acquiring left fielder Juan Rivera from Toronto on the day of the All-Star game.

“We’ve got a lot of games in our division, so we have to be a little bit careful of jumping the gun on something like that. And it’s not something I’m accustomed to or something that I like doing,” he said.

Mattingly’s first season as a big league manager has been extremely challenging because of all the injuries, particularly to the bullpen and the left side of his infield.

Shortstop Rafael Furcal has been on the disabled list three times. Fourteen different players have been on the DL already, including closer Jonathan Broxton, who is out for the season.

“The toughest thing to handle has been the losing, as much as anything,” said Mattingly, who has started eight different players in left field — not counting Rivera.

“We’ve had our chances to win games, and we haven’t been able to put enough of them together at this point. It would be easy for me to say, ‘Well, if we’d have had this, that and the other, it would be different.’ It would be a nice excuse, but we can’t make excuses.”

-- JOE RESNICK

Mets to use closer by committee to replace K-Rod

NEW YORK (AP) — The next time Mets manager Terry Collins picks up the bullpen phone to call for his closer his decision will be a little more difficult.

He could ask for veteran Jason Isringhausen. Or Bobby Parnell and his 100 mph fastball. Or promising rookie Pedro Beato. Heck, if there are three left-handed hitters due up, Tim Byrdak might make the run in from the bullpen.

With Francisco Rodriguez getting settled in with his new teammates in Milwaukee after being traded on All-Star game night, the ninth inning has become a whole lot murkier for a team trying to remain relevant in pennant and wild card races.

The relievers sure don’t mind.

“That’s every day for us down in the bullpen,” Parnell said Thursday. “You never know what name’s going to be called when the phone rings.”

Isringhausen, Beato and Parnell have all earned a look in that spot after having solid seasons. Collins is reluctant to name a full-time closer before the Mets open the second half with a three-game series against division-rival Philadelphia.

“I’m not going to name one guy. All that leads to if things don’t work out then I got to make a move,” Collins said. “In two weeks there may be one guy. I don’t know.”

Isringhausen would appear to be a natural choice, having notched 293 career saves — two more than K-Rod — but this is the 38-year-old former Mets’ phenom’s first season back after missing 1½ years due to injuries.

And while Isringhausen moved right into Rodriguez’s abandoned locker in the Mets clubhouse, he knows he’s there to help the youngsters.

Parnell has received praise for finally learning how to control his slider as a complement to a blazing fastball. Beato began his major league career with 12 appearances without giving up an earned run.

Even though sharing the role means it will be more difficult to find a routine in the bullpen, Beato is ready for the challenge.

“It’s new on this level but it’s not new to me,” said Beato, who closed for Baltimore’s Double-A team last season.

Regardless of who finishes the game, the Mets are entering a crucial period. At 46-45, they are third in the NL East, 11 games behind the Phillies and 7½ games behind the wild card-leading Braves.

Losing money and embroiled in the Bernard Madoff scandal, should the Mets fall further out of contention before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, New York’s first-year general manager Sandy Alderson could unload several other players to clear money for next season and help build up the farm system.

Rodriguez’s trade made immediate sense because he was on track to reach 55 games finished this season, automatically triggering an option that would pay him $17.5 million next year. But Calros Beltran and even Jose Reyes could find themselves on the way out if the Mets don’t play well.

“There’s no magic number above or below which makes us a buyer or seller,” Alderson said. “It’s one of those things we’ll probably know when we see it.”

Also, first baseman Ike Davis had a cortisone shot Thursday in his aching ankle and will wait three more weeks before deciding if season-ending surgery is the best option.

Davis began running last week for the first time since soon after he was hurt in a collision with David Wright on May 10, and he felt pain while running without warming up while wearing a weight — and stress — reducing harness.

Alderson said Reyes, the NL’s All-Star shortstop, likely will not be back when he is due to return from the disabled list. Out since July 3 with a strained left hamstring, Reyes was on the field Thursday for a workout but has not ramped up his running yet.

“He’s just not doing anything that would put a strain on that hamstring,” Alderson said. “We’ll be careful.”

On a more positive note, star third baseman Wright (stress fracture in back) will play his first rehab game Friday for Class-A St. Lucie. He’s been out since May 16.

-- HOWIE RUMBERG

Rodriguez comfortable with trade to Brewers

DENVER (AP) — Francisco Rodriguez says he’s fine with being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers despite previously indicating he did not want to be dealt to the club.

When Rodriguez signed with the New York Mets after the 2008 season he and his former agent, Paul Kinzer, created a list of 10 teams he did not want to be traded to, and Milwaukee was on that list. Rodriguez said his agent never sent the letter to the players association or major league baseball.

“I’m still trying to find out what happened. I was told by my ex-agent about the 10-team list and Milwaukee was one of them,” Rodriguez said. “When I got the phone call from the GM and told I was traded I was a little confused. I just found out my agent never sent the letter to the players association or MLB. The Mets had an opportunity to trade me to any place.”

Rodriguez said Milwaukee was on the list because it had an established closer in Trevor Hoffman, who has since retired.

“That was my No. 1 reason. At that time Hoffman was here,” he said. “That’s not an issue at all. I’m a Brewer now. I just want to win.”

The Mets sent Rodriguez and cash to the Brewers on Tuesday night for two players to be named. The Mets’ first-year general manager Sandy Alderson said Thursday in New York he told Rodriguez’s former agent there was no list.

“We proceded with the trade market on that basis,” Alderson said. “I had discussions with the former agents in the last two or three weeks and we made them aware that as far as we knew there was no list.”

Rodriguez said he had heard rumors he might be traded but he was taken aback by Tuesday’s deal.

“It was a surprise, definitely, and a little bit of a shock,” he said. “I knew I was on the market, I knew eventually the Mets were going to find a way to trade to me, but I never thought it would have been Milwaukee.”

Hoffman may be gone but the Brewers have a reliable closer in place in John Axford, who is 23 of 25 in save situations this year. Manager Ron Roenicke said Axford will be used in a save situation for Thursday’s series opener in Colorado but added Rodriguez will get an opportunity to close games.

“I talked to them both to let them know what I’m thinking,” Roenicke said. “We’re going to see how it goes. I told Frankie in tonight’s game if we have a save situation I was going to put Ax in, but he’s going to be closing games. We’re going to see how it goes. All I know is the eighth, ninth inning, we should be really good.”

Roenicke said his choice of closer could come down to individual situations.

“Sometimes we’ll look at matchups, sometimes we’ll look at how guys have done against them in the past and maybe match that up a little bit better,” he said. “I just look at like we’ve added a great piece to our bullpen.”

Rodriguez is a four-time All-Star and set the single-season saves record with 62 in 2008 with the Los Angeles Angels. He is 32-27 with 291 saves and a 2.54 ERA with the Angels and Mets.

“I’ve been closing all my career, my mindset is as a closer, but we’ve got a good closer here, too,” Rodriguez said. “How it’s going to play out, it’s up to the manager. I just have to be ready when they make the phone call to the pen and call my name.”

Rodriguez said he has no bitterness toward the Mets.

“It’s a business, that’s how I look at it,” he said. “When I signed with them I did want to stay there but things started going south, things started going wrong. We didn’t perform well enough. Unfortunately they have issues losing money so it’s understandable they had to get rid of big guys with big contracts.”

Giants talking to Riggleman about scouting job

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The San Francisco Giants are talking to former Washington Nationals manager Jim Riggleman about a scouting job.

Riggleman was in San Diego to meet with Giants general manager Brian Sabean and manager Bruce Bochy after Thursday night’s series opener against the San Diego Padres.

Riggleman abruptly resigned as Nationals manager on June 23, telling the team he wanted his contract option picked up for next season, or he would quit.

Bochy was Riggleman’s third base coach with the Padres in 1993-94 and was promoted to manager after Riggleman left to take the Chicago Cubs’ job.

“They’ve been kind enough to talk to me about doing some part-time stuff and see where that leads,” Riggleman said. “Boch called me when all this happened and said that he had been talking to Brian, and to just lay back for a little while and see if we could figure out a time to talk.”

Both sides stressed that Riggleman wasn’t officially on board yet..

“I look forward to sitting down with Riggs and Brian and talking,” Bochy said. “It could be doing some scouting, it could be looking at our minor leagues, basically some consulting, too. We’ll find out tonight after we sit down and see what makes sense.”

Riggleman said he doesn’t regret the way he left the Nationals.

“I’m a little out of sorts about the whole thing,” he said. “I made my bed, I’ll sleep in it. It would take me a long time to go into all the details, but basically I felt it was the right thing to do and I’ll have to stick by that.”

-- BERNIE WILSON

Trial ordered in attack on Pirates player’s wife

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A man charged with assaulting the wife of Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Chris Snyder during a road rage incident has been ordered to stand trial.

A Pittsburgh judge Wednesday ordered 44-year-old Subhash Modhwadia to be tried on charges including aggravated assault and criminal mischief for the June 15 altercation with Carla Snyder.

Investigators say Modhwadia was riding a scooter when he nearly collided with the sport-utility vehicle being driven by Carla Snyder. Modhwadia allegedly followed her into a parking lot and kicked the vehicle then swung at the woman.

Authorities say an off-duty police officer and a passer-by subdued Modhwadia until police arrived.

Pittsburgh police say Chris Snyder was in the passenger seat unable to help his wife because of recent back surgery.

Modhwadia is being held on $25,000 bail.

Cardinals guarantee $27 million to LHP Garcia

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Pitcher Jaime Garcia is guaranteed $27 million over the next four years under the contract he agreed to this week with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Garcia gets a $500,000 signing bonus under the agreement announced Wednesday and salaries of $3.25 million next year, $5.75 million in 2013, $7.75 million in 2014 and $9.25 million in 2015. The Cardinals hold an $11.5 million option for 2016 with a $500,000 buyout. If that option if exercised, St. Louis can exercise a $12 million option for 2017, also with a $500,000 buyout.

He is making $437,000 this season.

The 25-year-old lefty leads the team in victories, going 9-3 with a 3.23 ERA. He went 13-8 with a 2.70 ERA last season, a year after reconstructive elbow surgery.