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Halsey
picture of efficiency in finale
Lefty
scatters six hits in seven innings to
help win series
By
Steve Gilbert / MLB.com |
HOUSTON -- His Diamondbacks teammates
watched him all spring, so they knew
Brad Halsey had a very calm demeanor on
the mound.
But surely pitching in his hometown
against fellow University of Texas
pitcher and future Hall of Famer Roger
Clemens had to be a little special.
Certainly there had to be some extra
nerves there right?
Wrong.
"It's unbelievable," veteran left
fielder Luis Gonzalez said. "It's almost
like he's taking a walk in the park.
Nothing's fazing him. We're all hyped up
and rattled out there and he just kind
of walks around."
While he was walking around out there,
Halsey managed to hold the Astros to
just one run as he outpitched Clemens
for a 6-1 win on Thursday in front of
32,132 at Minute Maid Park.
After the game, reporters tried to get
Halsey to say the win was extra special,
but they fared about as well as the
Astros' hitters.
"I just took the approach like I always
do, I'm going to go out and go after
their lineup," he said. "I felt very
fortunate, when they did hit the ball
well it seemed like it was right at
people. My defense did a great job
behind me making all the plays."
OK, but how about facing Clemens?
"The Clemens thing?" Halsey said. "He's
another pitcher in this league and a
very good one."
About the only ground Halsey gave was
about pitching in his hometown in front
of a number of friends and family.
"I think for me it's special anytime I
have the opportunity to pitch at home,"
he said.
But that was it. That was as much
emotion as he was going to show.
"I think it's just part of my
personality," he said. "I'm not the kind
of person that rides the roller coaster,
I just try to stay pretty even keel. I
feel like it serves me well most of the
time."
That demeanor also works well with his
teammates.
"It makes you feel really at ease as a
teammate when he's going out there,"
fellow starter Shawn Estes said. "It was
a big game tonight. It really was. It
assures us of having a winning road
trip. You're facing Roger Clemens, who
has a 1.11 ERA, so you need him to go
out and pitch good. [Halsey] is unfazed
by everything right now. It's really
impressive."
The Diamondbacks certainly added to
Halsey's comfort level when they jumped
on Clemens for three runs in the first
inning.
Craig Counsell led off the inning with a
single, which right away put Clemens in
the stretch, and Counsell advanced to
third when Clemens' pickoff throw
scooted down the right-field line.
Alex Cintron then drove him home with a
groundout and after a Luis Gonzalez
single, Troy Glaus smacked a run-scoring
double off the left-field wall and
suddenly Arizona was up, 2-0.
Another error, this one by first baseman
Jose Vizcaino allowed Glaus to come
around to score and give the D-Backs the
early 3-0 advantage.
"We got some runs off Rocket early and
that's what you have to do," Arizona
manager Bob Melvin said. "You know if
you don't get him early, once he gets
settled in, he'll do what he did."
What Clemens (3-2) did was settle in
from there on out and not allow another
run before departing after six innings.
Arizona did manage to pad its lead in
the ninth on Gonzalez's three-run homer.
Meanwhile, the Astros had trouble
solving Halsey. The 24-year-old was
economical with his pitches, throwing
just 79 in his seven innings, a whopping
58 for strikes. He did not walk or
strike out a batter as he raised his
record to 3-2.
"To have a three-run cushion to work
with just allows me to be aggressive and
use all my pitches," Halsey said.
"Anytime we're able to score three runs
off a guy like that, it's very important
as a pitcher that I'm able to go out and
execute my game plan and do a job that
keeps us in the game."
Halsey did just that and he also left
his teammates and manager scratching
their collective heads about how
unflappable he is on the mound.
"I don't know what goes through his head
sometimes," Melvin said. "It's just
tough to read him and I think that's an
attribute that plays very well for him."
Steve Gilbert is a reporter for MLB.com.
This story was not subject to the
approval of Major League Baseball or its
clubs. |
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