SAN FRANCISCO -- To protect his strained right groin, Giants right-hander Jason Schmidt will not pitch Tuesday night to open a three-game series at Florida, instead being held back until Saturday in Atlanta.

 

Schmidt played catch in the outfield Sunday at SBC Park, then threw off the batting-cage mound for about two minutes, throwing 15 pitches. Nothing hurt, nothing felt tight, but the veteran told pitching coach Dave Righetti and trainer Stan Conte he'd rather wait than force the issue.

 

"We'll be short in the 'pen, but [Wayne] Franklin will pitch Tuesday and we'll see what happens," commented Righetti. "Schmidt is fine to play catch but it's a precautionary thing. He has dealt with groin problems before and you have to go with his gut instincts. He felt he wanted a few more days and we'll give it to him."

 

Franklin was in the bullpen to start the season and did well, but he was switched to a starting role when Jerome Williams underwent biceps surgery and Dustin Hermanson became the closer. The left-hander pitched six solid frames vs. Montreal in the second game of last Wednesday's doubleheader at SBC Park, giving up only one run and four hits.

 

Conte said Schmidt, who strained his groin while running to first base on Aug. 17, hasn't practiced at full speed and is still in the rehab process.

 

"Groin problems can be potentially dangerous on the elbow, shoulder and everything else," said Conte. "We want to be as sure as we can be. We also needed him to get on the mound several times before Saturday."

 

Snow update: Entomology fans will be be interested to know it apparently wasn't a bug bite that caused first baseman J.T. Snow's left elbow to get infected. It's believed to be an infection of the bursa sac, probably due to baseball trauma -- banging it against something, falling on it, etc.

 

"We had it drained yesterday and we want to take advantage of the day off [Monday] and see how it goes," said Snow, who awakened Friday morning with a sore elbow that worsened as the day went on. He was scratched from Friday night's game and didn't play over the weekend.

 

"We have no idea what caused it," said Snow. "We don't think it was an insect bite. I'm going to ice it today and stay on antibiotics. There's still a little bit of fluid in there, so I'm day to day."

 

It's possible Snow could play Tuesday against the Marlins.

 

Conte said they are being cautious with Snow since similar infections could be serious -- "a three- to five-week situation if it's not under control. But we believe it is."

 

Felipe on Florida: Following the Florida Marlins' World Series victory last season, Giants manager Felipe Alou said he was on an ESPN show and when he walked out, there was Marlins owner -- and former Montreal Expos owner -- Jeffrey Loria waiting to talk to him.

 

Loria had fired Alou after 10 seasons as the Expos manager two months into the 2001 season, and the two hadn't discussed that move since then.

 

"He said it was a misunderstanding," said Alou, "and he apologized. It meant something to him, but I didn't have guilty feelings about anything. I have to say I appreciated that. A big guy comes over to a little guy and apologizes for what happened. It takes a big man to apologized.

 

"I was never fired from any job except that job," said Alou.

 

http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/NASApp/...ws_sf&fext=.jsp

Felipe on Florida: Following the Florida Marlins' World Series victory last season, Giants manager Felipe Alou said he was on an ESPN show and when he walked out, there was Marlins owner -- and former Montreal Expos owner -- Jeffrey Loria waiting to talk to him.

 

Loria had fired Alou after 10 seasons as the Expos manager two months into the 2001 season, and the two hadn't discussed that move since then.

 

"He said it was a misunderstanding," said Alou, "and he apologized. It meant something to him, but I didn't have guilty feelings about anything. I have to say I appreciated that. A big guy comes over to a little guy and apologizes for what happened. It takes a big man to apologized.

 

"I was never fired from any job except that job," said Alou.

Interesting

Shows that even though how many people hate Loria that he can be a stand up guy

 

Also that is awesome news about Schmidt. I hate to see players get hurt, but in this situation it works out.

I hope he makes a full recovery....after the Marlins are done playing them

 

Jason Schmidt - S - SF

 

 

The Giants have decided to push back Jason Schmidt's start to Saturday.

Schmidt, out with a strained groin, didn't feel ready to work in a game after throwing off the mound today. Wayne Franklin will start on Tuesday. Aug. 22 - 9:35 pm et

Intresting...I just found out about this all of a sudden.

Good news, if I've ever heard some

Im glad that schmidt wont pitch against us and i dont know about all of you but i hope he keeps on missing starts that way the giants wont have a good chance of winning. dont care if he gets healthy cause i'll tell you this no giant fan was rooting for A.J and Beckett to come back and be healthy, so i hope Schmidt does not get healthy......the same goes for Prior and Wood.

Great. Gives AJ a much better chance of a getting the W with Franklin pitching.

We probably have all the pitching advantages in all 3 games, lets see what we can do. 2 out of 3 is a must, a sweep would put is in prime position.

Fish have a chance to sweep. The giants didn't win at PPS during the playoffs last year.

the Giants are not going to have fond memories of the last time they were in the Pro......

I wouldn't say the Marlins are guaranteed a sweep here. The Giants have been playing some great ball lately. Their pitching is coming around, even their bullpen. The Marlins are very lucky that Schmidt isn't pitching, but that doesn't guarantee anything...

 

We'll see what happens. I may just sleep through the next 3 days. I hate watching these two teams play each other.... :thumbdown

Great news he isnt pitching. I have to give it to him he is one hell of a pitcher. But this is going to give the Fish an easier series.

I wouldn't say the Marlins are guaranteed a sweep here. The Giants have been playing some great ball lately. Their pitching is coming around, even their bullpen. The Marlins are very lucky that Schmidt isn't pitching, but that doesn't guarantee anything...

 

We'll see what happens. I may just sleep through the next 3 days. I hate watching these two teams play each other.... :thumbdown

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Are you a Marlins fan or Giants fan, and who will you be rooting for in this series?

great news ... Schmidt will win you 98% of the games he plays (not really but you knwo what I mean)

 

the fish have a great chance to win all three games. its gonna be tough since the giants are the giants, but at least the best pitcher in the league wont be pitching :thumbup

Well they don't get Beckett or Pavano either but I like that Schmidt isn't going, for sure.

its gonna be tough since the giants are the giants, but at least the best pitcher in the league wont be pitching :thumbup

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Without Bonds, the Giants would be bottom dwellers on par with the Rockies, Expos, etc. As long as we can get past Bonds with the least amount of damage the chance we will win is very high.

Well they don't get Beckett or Pavano either but I like that Schmidt isn't going, for sure.

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Josh is going Thursday

good for us as long we dont make franklin look like a cy young

good for us as long we dont make franklin look like a cy young

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For real, with the way this season's gone, we probably would've had a better chance with Schmidt.

good for us as long we dont make franklin look like a cy young

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For real, with the way this season's gone, we probably would've had a better chance with Schmidt.

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So true. At some point the guys are going to have to start winning all the games they should, and stop giving wins away.

 

To win the series against the Giants, they must start out with a win tomorrow night.

its gonna be tough since the giants are the giants, but at least the best pitcher in the league wont be pitching :thumbup

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Without Bonds, the Giants would be bottom dwellers on par with the Rockies, Expos, etc. As long as we can get past Bonds with the least amount of damage the chance we will win is very high.

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well they are not bottom dwellers and they still have barry

 

 

and the best pitcher in the world

 

good combo

 

best hitter + best pitcher = playoffs

Didnt Schmidt scratch himself from a game in the playoffs last year against us? What happened then? Wasnt there some controversy about Schmidt being able to pitch?

 

Hmmm...this is starting to sound familiar... :mischief2

What a game we had tonight, I wonder if we would have demolished Jason Schmidt of he pitched :lol .