 04/13/2002 9:54 pm ET
Brewers starter looks good, despite historic Bonds HR
By Chris Shuttlesworth / MLB.com
SAN FRANCISCO -- No one can say Nelson Figueroa doesn't appreciate his place in history.
After giving up a first-pitch homer to Barry Bonds in what would become a 3-2 loss to the Giants on Saturday, Milwaukee's emergency starter rattled off the pertinent numbers to Bonds' assault on the record books.
"Yep, I'm No. 47 from last year," said the 27-year-old, who was acquired on waivers from the Phillies on April 5. "So who knows? Maybe he hits 80 this year. That [No. 47] was in McCovey Cove.
"It was a curveball away [in the first inning Saturday], and I thought -- well, I thought wrong, obviously -- [that] he didn't get all of it, didn't think he got enough of it to get it out. How many guys have said that now? 574 of us."
Actually, it's 344, with 15 pitchers having surrendered five or more, including names like Maddux, Smoltz and Schilling. Figueroa (0-1) took the loss Saturday because of two bad pitches that Bonds and Ramon Martinez each sent over the fence to give Livan Hernandez (3-0) his third win in as many starts. But the Brewers' starter looked impressive filling in for the injured Jamey Wright, who went on the disabled list Thursday.
"He did a real good job," said Manager Davey Lopes. "The guy's pitched on two days' notice, came out and gave us a strong performance. He made two mistakes. I liked what I saw -- gutsy and changes speeds. He knows how to pitch. It was a good outing, pretty impressive."
Figueroa, who spent a year and a half with the Phillies organization after arriving as part of the Curt Schilling deal, was not only happy with his outing (6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 2 K), but he's also excited to be a member of the Brewers, despite the team's current seven-game losing skid and 2-9 record.
"I think I'm going to get the opportunity to pitch a lot, and that's all you can ask for, is the chance to pitch in the big leagues," he said. "It seems like the coaching staff has confidence in me and I just want to go out there and do the best I can every time, no matter what role it's in. Right now, I'm bouncing back and forth. Until my opportunity comes to be in the rotation, I'm going to give it all I got either way."
The Brooklyn native started 13 games for the Phillies last season in two trips to the big leagues but moved to the bullpen after three straight August losses. He finished with a 4-5 record and a 3.94 ERA in 19 appearances. With Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, he threw three complete games among his 12 starts while walking only 18 batters in 87 1/3 innings.
"I think I've had success through Triple-A and I had success last year as a starter, and I would like to see what happens if I'm given a full-time starting job," said Figueroa. "But if it's not meant to be yet, it's not meant to be yet. There's a lot of guys who started out their careers relieving and became very productive starters.
"My strength is definitely not trying to overpower people. ... My best asset is mixing my pitches, and when they're looking for X, give them Y."
Figueroa admitted that the immense presence of Bonds in the lineup likely accounted for the homer that Martinez clubbed in the third inning which proved to be the difference in the game.
"That was a mistake by me," he said. "I definitely did not want to give Barry the opportunity with runners on base with two outs. I wanted to go after Martinez and I didn't want to walk him, for sure. I just left the ball over the plate, and he made me pay for it. ... That's what the good hitters are supposed to do, and I tip my cap to him."
And like just about every other person paying even the smallest amount of attention to baseball these days, Figueroa can only marvel at the destruction Bonds is committing against opposing pitchers.
"He's just in a league of his own. The thing is, he doesn't miss a pitch. There's some guys, even when they're locked in, you can make a good pitch and they'll pop it up. ... There's no defense for a home run. That's the kind of hitter he is. I've never gotten to face Babe Ruth and I never will, but I tell you what, with Barry Bonds, I can't see anybody being anything like that right now."
WAKING UP: Lopes liked what he saw from his offense Saturday, as the Brewers outhit the Giants, 9-5. Jose Hernandez led the charge with a walk and three hits in his four plate appearances, and catcher Raul Casanova went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored.
"We swung the bats better today," he said. "Jose got four real quality at-bats, Cassie was swinging the bat real good. It's coming; it's just a little slow coming. Jenks [Geoff Jenkins] had a hit, Richie [Sexson] had a hit.
"We gotta get 'em going together, if we're going to be successful. These are the guys that have to hit, along with Jeffrey [Hammonds]. We just haven't been able to put them together enough times to be successful. You look at the last five games -- that's four one-run losses in the last five games. It's not like people are just [blowing us out]."
In one attempt to get the lineup going, Lopes dropped Eric Young from the leadoff spot and had Alex Sanchez bat at the top of the order. Sanchez went 1-for-3 with an RBI while Young was hitless in three at-bats, although he was robbed in the fifth on a great defensive play by J.T. Snow.
"E.Y.'s struggling a little bit right now, but it's not that he's not going to be the leadoff hitter. Sanchez is a leadoff hitter also. ... [We were] just starting with a different change, different look. For the most part, it was fine."
Chris Shuttlesworth is the editorial producer of sfgiants.com and can be reached at sitecontent@giants.mlb.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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