Greg Maddux followed Roger Clemens into the 300-win club, and though they have two distinctly different styles of pitching, Maddux believes they have more in common than most people think.
“We’re the same kind of pitchers, to be honest,” Maddux said. “I just think we do it at different speeds. To be perfectly honest, we do the exact same things on the mound. Just subtract 10 [m.p.h.] on the radar gun.”
Maddux doesn’t have the sculpted body of Clemens, and though he does work out, his regimen is different than the all-out weight-lifting program that Clemens employs.
“Unlike a lot of guys, the time he spends in the weight room is doing his legs and stuff,” bench coach Dick Pole said. “He doesn’t work on his upper body. There was concern early on about him being able to carry the load of starting pitching. But he’s amazing.”
Like Clemens, Maddux has also had a relatively injury-free career. He only has been on the disabled list once, with a lower back problem at the outset of the 2002 season with Atlanta.
“It’s just being lucky, really,” Maddux said. “There’s no pill you can take to prevent injuries. You’ve got to be fortunate, and hopefully your aches and pains don’t keep you from playing.”
Take a mulligan
Matt Clement lost for the third time in two years to Jason Schmidt on Friday night, a rare subpar outing by Clement this season.
“It was just one of those games,” Clement said. “For the most part this year, I’ve been able to keep the team around. We both bent a little bit [Friday], and I guess I broke a little bit and he didn’t. That’s probably why he’s going to win the Cy Young Award.
“I can’t expect to go out there and win when I give up six runs facing Jason Schmidt. It’s not going to happen. Just go prepare for your next start. This was one time where I let things get out of hand more than I wanted to.”
Extra innings
Corey Patterson’s home run into McCovey Cove on Saturday was the seventh by an opposing player at SBC Park, and the second this season. The other one was hit by former Cub Hee Seop Choi, then with Florida but now with Los Angeles. The Giants have hit 37 home runs into the bay since the ballpark opened in 2000. . . . Kent Mercker experienced some back stiffness again during Saturday’s outing, but said afterward it’s nothing to worry about. “He’s been throwing well,” pitching coach Larry Rothschild said. “Hopefully it’s not anything that’s going to set him back.”