News
Smoltz admires former pupil Millwood
Boston (55-36) at Texas (48-41), 8:05 p.m. ET
By Ian Browne / MLB.com
07/19/09 5:49 PM ET
TORONTO -- Back in the glory days of John Smoltz, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, there was another pretty good pitcher coming through the Atlanta Braves' pipeline. He was the younger guy who did his job every fifth day and absorbed the greatness he was watching on the days in between.So when Smoltz faces off against former teammate Kevin Millwood on Monday night at Rangers Ballpark, it will be a trip down memory lane for both pitchers, who are now at very different points of their respective careers.
Millwood is now an established workhorse, while Smoltz is on a quest to make a strong impact on his new team at the age of 42, following right shoulder surgery.
"Kevin, he was a workhorse," said Smoltz. "He went out there and pitched a lot of games. ... [I]t's hard to think of Kevin as a veteran pitcher. That makes me antique. But having to pitch against him in the American League is kind of a unique twist of events."
Though Smoltz hasn't shared a clubhouse with Millwood since 2002, he is proud of what the right-hander has accomplished.
"He's endured a lot and been able to develop in a tough park, a tough place to pitch," Smoltz said. "He's done really well. He's really been the anchor of that staff for quite some time. He was similar to me, but he really picked the brain of Maddux, which is a good brain to pick. We pitched similar, so we could learn from each other in the way each guy faced the lineup."
As far as Monday is concerned, Smoltz can only hope Millwood didn't learn too much from him.
"It will be fun to face him," said Millwood. "I learned a lot from him in Atlanta, and it will be fun to use some of that stuff to try and beat him on Monday."
Smoltz is still in the early stages of his comeback. This will be his fifth start, and he is coming off his first win in a Boston uniform -- a five-inning, one-run performance against the Royals.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox have hardly any breathing room in the American League East, where they lead the Yankees by just one game.
Pitching matchupBOS: RHP John Smoltz (1-2, 5.40 ERA)
Smoltz closed out the first half by earning his first victory since April 17, 2008, a span of 450 days. The 42-year-old righty tossed five innings of one-run ball against the Royals on July 11 at Fenway Park, striking out a season-high seven. In one career appearance at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Smoltz recorded a three-out save. TEX: RHP Kevin Millwood (8-7, 3.46 ERA)
Millwood allowed four earned runs over six innings against the Mariners in his most recent start on July 11. He has run into a rough stretch, seeing his season ERA steadily increase to 3.46 from 2.64 over his past three starts. Manager Ron Washington decided to give Millwood some more time to rest; he will be going on eight days after his last start. Millwood entered the All-Star break atop the American League in innings pitched and only one-third of an inning behind Adam Wainwright for the Major League lead. He has thrown 110 pitches in 13 of 19 starts this season. Tidbits
Shortstop Jed Lowrie will make his second start since coming off the disabled list on Monday. ... Manager Terry Francona wasn't sure after Sunday's game if he would remove the slumping J.D. Drew from the leadoff spot. ... Dustin Pedroia has a 10-game hitting streak entering Monday. ... This is the first of two trips to Texas for Boston this season. The Sox lost two out of three to the Rangers at Fenway in June. Tickets
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• Tuesday: Red Sox (Josh Beckett, 11-3, 3.35) at Rangers (Tommy Hunter, 1-1, 2.35), 8:05 p.m. ET
• Wednesday: Red Sox (Tim Wakefield, 11-3, 4.31) at Rangers (Vicente Padilla, 7-5, 4.67), 8:05 p.m. ET
• Thursday: Off-day
Ian Browne is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
