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Kuo adds long ball to long journey
Pitcher throttles Mets, drills third of three straight LA
homers
LOS ANGELES -- It's taken Hong-Chih Kuo nine professional
seasons, but he now has as many Major League victories as
Tommy John operations (two). If pitching the Dodgers to a 4-
1 win over the slumping Mets with seven strong innings
Tuesday night wasn't milestone enough to celebrate for the
star-crossed left-hander, you should have seen Kuo's bat
flip while admiring his first Major League home run -- and
first homer by any Taiwanese-born player.
The theatrics were right out of the Reggie Jackson playbook,
the bat traveling only a few hundred feet short of the tape-
measure blast that completed back-to-back-to-back homers on
consecutive pitches by the bottom of the Dodgers batting
order in the second inning.
"I didn't mean to do that," Kuo said apologetically about
the hot-dogging. "I hit it, I know I hit it hard."
Wilson Betemit and Matt Kemp, inserted into the lineup by
manager Grady Little, slugged the first two off John Maine.
Kemp's landed in the sliver of fair loge seats, the first
homer there since Olmedo Saenz did it in 2005. Kemp added a
second RBI on an infield single in the sixth inning.
"It won't match the four home runs we hit last year, but
this was pretty exciting," said Kemp, referring to the
September game against San Diego.
Pretty exciting for sure for Kuo, who must like pitching
against the Mets because he's never beaten anyone else. His
maiden victory was last Sept. 8, a gutsy six scoreless
innings in raucous Shea Stadium against a powerhouse team.
That was the win that convinced management Kuo's elbow could
withstand the rigors of starting. Until that emergency
start, he had been overprotected and forced to pitch in
relief, where he has said he's not comfortable.
He tried to duplicate that win in Game 2 of the National
League Division Series at Shea and was the losing pitcher,
charged with two runs in 4 1/3 innings while the Dodgers
were scratching out only one run off Tom Glavine in a 4-1
defeat.
Kuo made history that night for starting a postseason game
with the fewest Major League wins, but nothing about his
career has been ordinary. He was signed out of Taiwan for
$1.25 million as a teenager, blew out his elbow in his first
professional game after striking out seven of the 10 batters
he faced and it's been a nightmare ride ever since,
including the five years he spent trying to get healthy.
He's nothing if not persistent. He signed in 1999, meaning
he's been in the organization longer than any current active
Dodger. That year, Kevin Malone was general manager, Davey
Johnson the field manager and Gary Sheffield and Eric Karros
hit 34 homers. Each.
His journey to the Major Leagues hit one pothole after
another. He was taken off the Major League roster at one
point and could have been taken by any club in the Rule 5
Draft. When his rehab stalled for the umpteenth time, he had
to be talked out of quitting the game. He's often credited
Darren Dreifort (two Tommy John surgeries) and Eric Gagne
(one) for their advice and counsel to keep him going.
Even this spring, when Little had Kuo penciled in as his
fifth starter, a shoulder strain derailed him. He allowed
the Padres only one run in six innings while dueling Jake
Peavy last week, but Kuo wasn't satisfied with four walks,
and in a bullpen session over the weekend, scrapped his
windup and went exclusively out of the stretch.
"I felt more comfortable that way," said Kuo, who walked
only one while scattering five hits. "Sometimes I can't put
it together with the windup and I overthrow."
Kuo's fastball topped out at 91 mph, several ticks below his
best last year, and he made it through the seven innings
with 89 pitches.
"I don't look at that," he said. "I got outs. I got ahead in
counts and that was important."
The home-run derby was pretty important for a club that
ranked 15th of 16 in the league for home runs. It started
with Betemit, getting his second start in three games at
third base after essentially losing his starting job a month
ago.
His opposite-field shot to left-center traveled 408 feet and
was his sixth of the year. Next up was Kemp, in only his
second start since being recalled from Triple-A, pulling one
447 feet and just tucking it inside the left-field foul pole
in the second deck.
"They gave us good pitches to hit and we took advantage of
it," Kemp said. "A first-pitch fastball and it was right
there. I didn't know it went that far, I was just running
the bases. Kuo really got a hold of one. It was a pretty
good swing. He hit it pretty hard. He can hit. I've seen him
hit balls really far in batting practice."
The Dodgers had 10 hits, including two by Juan Pierre and a
line single by Nomar Garciaparra, back in the lineup after
sitting out two games. Jonathan Broxton and Takashi Saito
finished up, each striking out a pair, Saito earning his
18th save.
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