ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -Carlos Quentin still needs more time.
The injured White Sox outfielder was not listed on the playoff roster posted in the Chicago clubhouse Wednesday, a day before Game 1 against Tampa Bay.
Quentin led the AL in home runs when he broke his right wrist on Sept. 1 after slamming it on his bat in frustration. He has not given up on playing again should the White Sox advance in the postseason, and was hitting off a tee.
“As long I keep taking swings, I think they keep an eye on that,” Quentin said. “I’m trying to do what I can to get back.”
The All-Star left fielder hit 36 home runs with 100 RBIs this season, batting .288 in 130 games.
The posted lineup for the White Sox in the opener: SS Orlando Cabrera, LF DeWayne Wise, RF Jermaine Dye, DH Jim Thome, 1B Paul Konerko, CF Ken Griffey Jr., 2B Alexei Ramirez, C A.J. Pierzynski and 3B Juan Uribe.
The other position players on the listed roster were outfielders Jerry Owens and Brian Anderson, outfielder-infielder Nick Swisher, infielder Josh Fields and catcher Toby Hall.
hicago manager Ozzie Guillen said Mark Buehrle will start Game 2, with John Danks set for Game 3 and Gavin Floyd in Game 4, if necessary.
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HELP FROM A HIGER POWER: The Chicago Cubs aren’t taking any chances in trying to break a 100-year championship drought.
Before Wednesday’s National League Division Series opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Father James Greaneus poured holy water on the wall of Cubs’ dugout. The act was caught on TV.
Greaneus, a longtime Cubs fan from the Midwest, contacted the ballclub and was invited to Wrigley Field, according to a team spokesman.
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WELCOME BACK!: Mark DeRosa made a neat return to the Cubs’ lineup, hitting a two-run homer Wednesday night in the playoff opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
DeRosa had missed the last four games because of a strained left calf. He started at second base for Chicago in Game 1 and homered off Derek Lowe.
DeRosa had played right field a lot down the stretch as All-Star outfielder Kosuke Fukudome struggled. Fukudome had been used as a defensive replacement as his average plummeted in the second half – he hit .193 in August and .178 in September.
Cubs manager Lou Piniella put Fukudome in right to start the playoffs.
“We went with our good defense in the outfield,” Piniella said. “I’m hoping Fukudome swings the bat well. He’s certainly capable of it.”
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a Bay may go without closer Troy Percival in their series with the White Sox.
Team officials have told Percival that it’s likely he will left off the first-round playoff roster. The 39-year old closer, battling back tightness, has 28 saves this season, but only one since Aug. 13.
“Right now it doesn’t look like I’m going to be on it,” Percival said. “They’re not 100 percent positive yet. There’s nothing I can do about it. It is what it is, and I understand I’ve spent the good majority of two months not healthy and not pitching well.”
Percival, who closed out the Angels’ championship in the 2002 World Series, provided key leadership for the upstart Rays, who are in the postseason for the first time ever.
“I’m not going to argue with them,” Percival said. “They’re going to do what they think is best. If it includes me great, if it doesn’t then I’ll be here clapping.”
Dan Wheeler filled in for Percival during his two stints on the disabled list (left hamstring and right knee), and converted 13 of 18 save opportunities.
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GREEN LIGHT FOR CRAWFORD: Rays left fielder Carl Crawford will hit fifth instead of his usual second spot for Game 1 Thursday.
Crawford hasn’t had an at-bat in a major league game since hurting a tendon in his right middle finger on Aug. 2. He would prefer to hit second, but is not complaining about Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon’s decision.
think that, the top of the lineup I can do a little bit more and cause problems for the other team,” Crawford said. “Joe, he’s been making the right calls all year long, and this should be no different. I’m hoping to see he had some smart reason why I’m sitting in the six hole. It always works. so we’ll go with the flow with it right now.”
Maddon said one reason was Crawford’s prolonged absence.
“He hasn’t played in a while,” Maddon said. “He’s got a whole bunch of different strengths. Everybody just looks at him as speed. But Carl, to me, is able to drive in an important run.”
Crawford played in two instructional league games this week, and is hopeful of returning to the second spot soon.
“I’m still convincing them right now,” Crawford said. “I won’t be in the two spot, so I don’t think they’re convinced all the way yet. Hopefully these next two games I can convince them a little bit more that I’m ready to be back and doing the things I do on the baseball field.”
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BULLPEN NEWCOMERS: Angels right-handers Jered Weaver and Jon Garland, members of the starting rotation this season, will be working out of the bullpen against the Red Sox.
It’s an unaccustomed role for both, and manager Mike Scioscia said they’ll probably get extra warmup time before being used.
the game on the road where they could take a fresh inning and go as long as they could,” Scioscia said. “I think it gives us a nice option with those two guys with so much length to really get matchups early on and not have to save anybody for extra innings.”
Ervin Santana is scheduled to pitch Game 2 and Joe Saunders Game 3 for the Angels. The schedule makes Game 1 starter John Lackey available for Game 4 without having to pitch on short rest.
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WINDY CITY RIVALRY: Both Chicago teams are in the postseason for the first time since the White Sox beat the Cubs in the 1906 World Series.
That fact has little meaning right now for White Sox outfielder Jermaine Dye.
“It’s like we’re two different cities in Chicago,” Dye said. “We don’t really read too much on what’s going on on the North side. We’ll worry about that hopefully if we meet them in the World Series.”
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BIG Z: Hit hard down the stretch, Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano insisted he’s ready for Game 2 against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday.
“This is a new age, new stage for the Cubs, new ballgame, new team,” he said Wednesday. “And I just have to go out there and try to do my job and have fun.”
rotator cuff.
He missed a start in early September before pitching a no-hitter against Houston at Milwaukee’s Miller Park on Sept. 14, momentarily easing concerns about his shoulder. But there were more questions about his health and mind-set after two rough outings against St. Louis and the New York Mets.
St. Louis chased him in the second inning, and Zambrano started to leave the mound before manager Lou Piniella arrived. Piniella made him go back and hand over the ball. That rough outing came after Zambrano flew home to Venezuela following his grandmother’s death.
Zambrano’s next outing against the Mets wasn’t much better. He allowed five runs in 4 2-3 innings but did not factor in the decision, and he balked at the idea of throwing a two-inning tuneup against Milwaukee in the regular-season finale.
Instead, Zambrano opted for a side session rather than pitch on three days’ rest, since the Cubs had already locked up the NL Central title. Had he gone Sunday, he would have had been starting Game 2 on three days.
“This ballclub needs me to be fresh, so that’s why I didn’t pitch on Sunday,” Zambrano said. “Plus, we were in the playoffs already, so we didn’t need that game. So why take some risk in that game?”
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BEEN THERE: Chad Billingsley will be making his first postseason start on Thursday, but it won’t be his first playoff appearance.
innings in relief in 2006, when the Dodgers got swept by the Mets in the first round.
“In ’06 it was a little different coming out of the bullpen. I mean, I was just kind of there in the moment, didn’t really know what to expect,” Billingsley said. “I’m going to approach it as any other start.”
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REMEMBERING RANDALL: The Phillie Phanatic struck again.
This time, the lovable mascot had one of his henchman do the dirty work in a parody of the infamous Randall Simon-Sausage Smacking incident of 2003. Three “hot dogs” raced in a takeoff of Milwaukee’s sausage race. The first dog relished his chance to stop and chat with the Phillies ball girls. The next dog wasn’t so lucky, nearly whacked out of his bun by a blow to the back with a pink bat – much like when Pittsburgh Pirates’ Simon infamously struck one of the Brewers’ sausage mascots.
The third hot dog was cooking – the other two could no longer, ahem, ketchup – and appeared on his way to an easy victory. But the Phanatic jumped the dog from behind and wrapped him in a flying tackle. He was cooked and Philadelphia’s favorite green mascot pulled away and crossed the finish line first for the win.
The Phanatic soaked up the roars from the crowd. What a hot dog.
It wasn’t that simple for Simon five years ago. He earned a three-game suspension.
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