 08/31/2002 10:06 pm ET
Phoenix rises again for Witasick
Giants reliever exorcises demons at Arizona park
By Chris Shuttlesworth / MLB.com
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PHOENIX -- Kirk Rueter had stunned the Diamondbacks for five shutout innings Saturday and was enjoying a two-run lead against Arizona and Curt Schilling when he began to falter. He hit a batter and gave up a single to put two men on base in the sixth inning for Greg Colbrunn, a career .439 hitter against left-hander.
Giants manager Dusty Baker didn't want to take any chances with Rueter, who had thrown 91 pitches, right around his normal limit of 90-100. So for the first time since last November, Jay Witasick jogged out of the visitor's bullpen at Bank One Ballpark to face the Diamondbacks.
Witasick's last apperance in Arizona ranks as one of the more memorable World Series disasters in recent memory. With the Yankees' Andy Pettitte already coughing up four runs in two innings in Game 6 and then putting two more runners on base, Witasick came in and had to endure 1 1/3 innings in which he gave up nine runs (eight earned) on 10 hits and a wild pitch.
The D-Backs won that game, 15-2, to tie the Series and then took the decisive Game 7 for the title.
Fast forward to Saturday.
"He was the best guy and the strongest guy at that point," Baker said of his decision to call upon Witasick. "Everybody has a job to do, so you can't bring the past into the present or else it will forever haunt you."
Arizona manager Bob Brenly pinch-hit for Colbrunn, and Witasick struck out Erubiel Durazo. He then got Matt Williams, who had stroked an RBI double off Witasick in the Series, to fly out to left. With a brief pump of his fist, Witasick walked off the field.
"I tell you, the turning point of the game, really, was Kirk was tiring, getting the ball up, they were hitting him pretty hard, and Witasick came in and got a tough Durazo, struck him out and got out of that inning with nothing," said Baker. "That was a real, real big inning at that time. It was only 2-0. They were trying to get back.
"I know it felt good for us, and I know it probably felt 10 times that good for him."
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"Everybody has a job to do, so you can't bring the past into the present or else it will forever haunt you."
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-- Dusty Baker
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After a perfect seventh inning that ended with a strikeout of Alex Cintron, Witasick's exorcism was complete, and he had done his part to help the Giants to a 5-0 victory over the D-Backs. It was San Francisco's seventh consecutive victory, tying its season high, and sent Arizona to a season-worst four-game losing streak.
More important, it cut a game off the D-Backs' eight-game NL West lead and put the Giants a half-game behind Los Angeles for the NL Wild Card, pending the outcome of the Dodgers' night game in Houston.
But Witasick merely shrugged when asked if getting to face his demons was cathartic.
"For me, it's not something I needed to get over," he said. "I was over it after it happened. That's one thing about being a reliever, is that as soon as the outing's over, you have to think about the next day. Today's outing is over. I have tomorrow to think about."
Teammate Reggie Sanders, who as a member of the D-Backs cracked a run-scoring single off Witasick in Game 6, smiled broadly when told of Witasick's comments.
"That shows a lot of character," he said. "That shows a lot of belief in the stuff that you have. So that's one good thing. Secondly [is] getting the opportunity to come back and pitch in this ballpark to get over that mental psyche. So I think it's very positive. It shows how strong he is as a person."
Scott Eyre contributed a scoreless eighth, but when he walked Durazo to open the ninth, Baker took no chances with Williams, Steve Finley and Damian Miller due up. He called upon his closer, Robb Nen, for the second straight night.
Nen never had to face Miller. He induced a 5-4-3 double play, then got Finley to fly out to preserve the win for Rueter (12-7).
"Anytime a starter goes deep in the game, we obviously have the manpower down there [in the bullpen] to close the game off," said Witasick. "That's our whole goal, to keep the starter in the game as the winning pitcher."
Chris Shuttlesworth is an editorial producer for MLB.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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