Manager Jim Essian put Shawon Dunston back in his lineup Tuesday night and said he was not planning to platoon Dunston with Jose Vizcaino. Dunston brooded when Essian replaced him with Vizcaino twice over the weekend.
”I think it was good to get Vizcaino in for a couple of games,” Essian said. ”I have no platoon plans with Dunston and Vizcaino. I`ll use them how I see fit.”
Dunston went into Tuesday night`s game hitting just .224 with eight homers, 31 runs batted in and 14 errors in 91 games. He was mired in a 9-for- 56 slump, and until the seventh inning hadn`t homered since June 20.
Vizcaino came into Tuesday hitting .289-.300 from the left side and .259 from the right. He had three errors in 59 games.
Thanks, coach: Rick Sutcliffe credits pitching coach Billy Connors with noticing a flaw in his delivery. Connors told Sutcliffe to shorten his stride, and the advice seemed to work in Sutcliffe`s rehabilitation outing on Monday night in Iowa. Sutcliffe reportedly threw harder than he had in his most recent minor league stints.
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”I was surprised,” Sutcliffe said. ”It was just one little adjustment in my stride.”
Connors showed a newspaper photo of Sutcliffe pitching Monday night that he said demonstrated the change. ”Sut was popping the ball,” he said.
”There was no comparison to last time (when he was shellacked at Iowa).”
Dawson will fight: Andre Dawson was in the lineup after confirming his plans to appeal his one-game suspension and $1,000 fine to National League President Bill White.
Dawson said he objected to the punishment`s ”substantial” financial penalty. He wasn`t talking about the $1,000 fine, either.
”A suspension is without pay, and that`s what`s substantial,” Dawson said.
If Dawson is docked one day`s pay, it`ll cost him about $20,000.