From the Houston Chronicle’s Jesus Ortiz :
Bothered by a bruised left groin, Astros lefthander Wandy Rodriguez expects to go without a protective cup tonight when he starts against the Los Angeles Dodgers in his quest to remain undefeated this season.
Rodriguez has been plagued by a tender left groin in his last two outings. He attributes the bruising in the area to his cup digging into his left side.
Rodriguez (3-0, 2.52 ERA) says he has made some improvement through stretching exercises under the guidance of Astros athletic trainers Dave Labossiere and Rex Jones.
“I’m fine,” he said. “I’m ready to start. They were stretching the muscle, and I feel fine. I possibly won’t use the cup so I can see if it will help me get better. I’m not worried about not using a cup because I have real good hands.”
Red Sox pitching coach Al Nipper claims that Boston has a good shot at signing Roger Clemens, certainly good news for a team that is still looking to find a suitable substitute for likely NL All-Star Bronson Arroyo (currently working on a one-hitter against the Nationals).
In all seriousness, a 1-2-3 of Clemens, Schilling and Beckett would be kind of unfair. And the Rocket can help Beckett deal with his anger management issues (channel the aniexty through bat tossing, liberal application of eye-black, etc.).
Milwaukee’s Ben Sheets had a tough debut against the Mets ten days ago, but looks pretty deadly so far this afternoon, striking out 8 Braves in 5 innings, with the Brewers holding a 3-1 lead.