Josh Hamilton trying new contacts

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton went out for batting practice wearing contact lenses designed to cut down on the amount of light coming into his eyes to help him see the ball during the day.
The new contacts make Hamilton's eyes look red.

"I've never worn contact lenses in my life and I really would like to see the ball in the daytime, so therefore I'm trying any means possible to do that," Hamilton said. "I actually care and I want to be better and I don't want to suck in the day."
Hamilton said afterward that the contacts did help during batting practice. Manager Ron Washington throws a few batting practice sessions every day and Hamilton said normally he has trouble picking up Washington's throws because they come at him with the bleachers as the background. But he could see the ball better with the lenses on Friday.
Under the sun this season, Hamilton's numbers are dim. He is batting .122 (6-for-49) with no home runs, four RBIs and eight walks. He also has 17 strikeouts and a .429 OPS.
At night, it's a different story. Hamilton is hitting .374 (41-for-109) with six home runs, 28 RBIs, seven walks and a 1.076 OPS. And he only has 14 strikeouts while playing under the lights.
During his 2010 MVP season, the blue-eyed Hamilton hit a respectable .286 during the day and .384 at night.
Hamilton said Wednesday that he has a tougher time seeing the ball because he has blue eyes. An optometrist who talked to ESPNDallas.com on Thursday supports Hamilton's theory and explained why.
"Because of the lack of pigment in lighter color eyes -- like blue or green eyes as opposed to brown -- you get a lot more unwanted light and that can create glare problems," said Dr. Richard L. Ison, O.D., an optometrist since 1990 who currently works in Murphy, just northeast of Dallas.

Ison said the phenomenon is called intraocular light scatter, meaning the light scatters as it enters, producing a focal point that isn't as good.
His solution for Hamilton: Find a pair of sunglasses that he's completely comfortable wearing while batting.
Maybe these new contacts will take care of the issue.
Hamilton said the contacts will be used only during day games. He's not going to change what he's been doing at night. The slugger said he talked to a few club officials about his vision during the day and they suggested the lenses.
"It's just hard for me to see [at the plate] in the daytime," Hamilton said during the pregame show on 103.3 FM ESPN on Wednesday. "It's just what it is. Try to go up [to the plate] squinting and see a white ball while the sun is shining right off the plate, you know, and beaming right up in your face."
The Rangers have two day games against the New York Mets this weekend, and Washington, who said he'd never heard anything about pigmentation in the eyes affecting at-bats during the day, plans on starting Hamilton on Saturday. He hasn't decided about Sunday yet.

Justin Morneau to have neck surgery

MILWAUKEE -- Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau thought his sore left wrist would be taken care of with a short trip to the disabled list. His worrisome neck pain needed more immediate attention.

The Twins announced before Friday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers that Morneau will have neck surgery Wednesday to remove a herniated disk fragment, keeping him out another six weeks.
Morneau was placed on the 15-day disabled list earlier this month with a strained left wrist that was put in a cast to try to stabilize it. That also gave him time to rest his neck.
But after seeing a second neck specialist, the organization made the decision that surgery was the best option to help Morneau regain the form that led him to the 2006 AL MVP and two Silver Slugger awards.
"I was honestly kind of looking forward to him getting out of this cast and seeing where he was at, kind of hoping we'd have him back here in four or five days or whatever," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "I know Morny didn't want any part of this, really, he's been fighting this stuff with the surgery and trying to stay away from anything like that so he can finish out the season. ... I know it's frustrating for him, so I feel bad for him more than anything else."
Twins trainer Rick McWane said the procedure is non-invasive to remove the fragment but will keep Morneau out until August.
"He should be back playing full in six weeks," McWane said. "Even though the risk is small, there still is a risk that if he continued to play through this and not get it fixed that his full strength would not come back, so we made the decision."
Morneau is hitting .225 with four homers and 20 RBIs in 55 games, a year after missing the final 78 games of the season with a concussion.
McWane said the concussion and neck problems were not related.
"He's had a history of neck injuries. It's hard to tell when it happened," McWane said. "He had a documented and measurable concussion in addition to what we saw on an MRI. They both have physical signs. I don't believe they're associated."
The Twins have had daily injury updates that have at times lasted longer than Gardenhire's talks with reporters.
Minnesota activated reliever Joe Nathan (right forearm) before the game after he missed 28 games. Jim Thome (left quadriceps) also rejoined the team, though he will not be activated until Saturday at the earliest after he was slated to take batting practice on Friday.
Right-hander Kevin Slowey (abdominal strain) will throw two or three innings for Class A Fort Myers on Saturday. Right fielder Jason Kubel (left foot) is close to returning sometime during Minnesota's upcoming nine-game homestand beginning Monday. Center fielder Denard Span (concussion) played catch and hit off a tee for the first time without trouble.
All the injuries have contributed to Minnesota's uncharacteristic 32-41 record, which was fourth place in the AL Central entering Friday. Now the Twins will have to overcome Morneau's missing contributions for longer than expected.
"We'll do the best we can like we always do, but I feel bad for Morny because he really wanted to get back from this wrist thing, get back out on the baseball field and help us," Gardenhire said. "This neck thing is going to knock him out for a little bit longer, but we'll get him back. We'll get him back probably August, I'm guessing, and he'll help us down the stretch."

Mark Cuban ponders Dodgers

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban calls the Los Angeles Dodgers' situation a "mess," but he hasn't ruled out making a run at the team if it is put up for sale.
"I have an interest in Major League Baseball for the right deal," Cuban said in an interview with TMZ.com. "But it's just such a mess, right? I can't imagine that it's not going to be such a mess that it's [not] going to make it hard to turn around."

This week MLB rejected a proposed $3 billion television deal between the Dodgers and Fox. Cash from that deal was fundamental to the divorce settlement between owner Frank McCourt and his ex-wife, Jamie. The settlement is now scuttled, putting the future of the franchise in limbo.
The Dodgers have been under the supervision of MLB, which is investigating the finances of the team. Baseball very well could take over the team and force a sale. Or, the courts could rule that the team is community property in the divorce proceedings and force a sale of the franchise.
Whenever any team is about to go up for sale, Cuban's name comes up. He says that he "looked at the Rangers. I looked at the Cubs." But to him, the Dodgers' financial woes are more of a hurdle.

"But if it's just so screwed up, that the pieces are so messed up, that it takes 20 years to fix. ... I mean, there's literally franchises out there that are just in such disarray and such a mess, in multiple leagues, that no one can fix them," he said to TMZ.com.
Still, his desire to own an MLB franchise might be too strong to resist owning even a financially troubled outfit like the Dodgers.
"If the deal is right and they're fixable, then I'm very interested," he said.
One of the issues that Cuban sees with the team is how McCourt has structured the franchise.
"He's got his parking lots and he's got this and that -- all these sub-corporations. So who knows what's included," Cuban said.
For now, he just waits like everyone else to see what MLB does to deal with the situation. He believes the wait could last awhile.
"They (MLB) might just take it back and decide not to sell it for a while, right, because they're not stupid, either," Cuban said. "They might say we'll take it back, we'll fix it up some, and clean up some of the mess and then we'll sell it then, kind of like what the NBA did with the New Orleans Hornets."

Cliff Lee tosses six-hit shutout as Phillies top Cardinals

ST. LOUIS -- Cliff Lee approaches every start aiming to go nine innings. The St. Louis Cardinals put up little resistance in the left-hander's second straight shutout.

"There's total gratification," Lee said. "Every time I want to throw the whole game, there's no doubt about it. I think I could have gone the 10th and the 11th, too."

Lee scattered six hits and the Philadelphia Phillies got homers from Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard in the fourth inning of a 4-0 victory Wednesday night.

The Cardinals have totaled two runs and 11 hits in their first two games without injured Albert Pujols, who is expected to miss six weeks with a fractured left wrist. It didn't help that they have faced two of the game's best, with Roy Halladay giving up four hits in six innings Tuesday.

"He's arguably the best player in the National League," Lee said of Pujols. "He's an obvious threat and anytime he's not in the lineup you feel better about that when you're the opposing pitcher."

Kyle Lohse (7-4) worked eight innings to match his season best, allowing three runs and seven hits with no walks or strikeouts. He struggled only in the fourth when Rollins led off with his seventh homer and Howard hit a two-run shot, his 16th overall, with one out following a single by Chase Utley.

Lohse said he had to alter his game plan because strikes on the inside corner weren't getting called. He thought he had Rollins struck out a few pitches before giving up the homer.

"I kind of fell behind Howard and he was looking away and I left the ball up," Lohse said. "Other than that, I felt like I was in control. It was just an unfortunate night to be going against Lee."

Utley added an eighth-inning sacrifice fly for the NL East-leading Phillies, who have won 10 of 12 and will go for a three-game sweep on Thursday with Roy Oswalt facing Chris Carpenter.

Howard, who grew up in suburban St. Louis and still lives there, also singled and is a career .374 hitter with nine homers and 34 RBIs in 25 games at Busch Stadium. Both are highs for visiting players at the 6-year-old ballpark and the homer broke a tie with Adam Dunn and Prince Fielder.

"It's home, I think it's a little bit different when a guy gets to go back home and play where it all began," Howard said. "You're just a lot more comfortable, I guess."

Lee (8-5) has won all four of his starts this month, allowing only one run in 33 innings while lowering his ERA from 3.94 to 2.87. The 2008 AL Cy Young winner followed a two-hitter over the Florida Marlins with his eighth career shutout and has a 23-inning scoreless streak.

Leaning on his cutter, Lee retired 11 straight between the third and seventh inning and threw a career-high 126 pitches. Only Lohse reached third base after hitting a leadoff double off a curveball in the third for his first extra-base hit of the season.

"He threw the ball well all night as advertised," said Cardinals leadoff man Ryan Theriot, who had a single and walk. "You know what you're going to get. I thought we had a few little chances there, but Cliff's a great pitcher and that's what he does."

Lee is 6-1 since losing 3-1 at St. Louis on May 16 when he walked a career-high six in 6 1/3 innings. He opened this game with seven straight balls before settling in and made a nice leaping stab on Pete Kozma's grounder up the middle to help keep the Cardinals off the board in the third.

Including the loss at St. Louis in May, Lee had been 0-3 with a 5.84 ERA in his four previous road starts.

"That's just someone breaking down stats and nitpicking little things," Lee said. "To me, it doesn't matter if I pitch at home or on the road. It's all the same."

Game notesThe Cardinals turned a season-high four double plays. ... It was the longest outing of Lohse's career without a strikeout or walk. ... Both Howard and Rollins have four homers this month. All 16 of Howard's homers are against right-handed pitchers. ... The Phillies' 10-2 victory Tuesday was only the franchise's second in the last 66 years scoring double-digit runs without an extra-base hit. The other time was on Sept. 17, 2005, at Florida. ... Howard is 7-for-16 with two homers and eight RBIs against Lohse. ... Utley has 12 RBIs in the last 10 games. ... Shane Victorino has a 16-game hitting streak against the Cardinals, batting .368 (25-for-68) with four homers and 13 RBIs.

Padres defeat Red Sox in rain-shortened game

BOSTON -- The way things had been going for Clayton Richard, it only figured that he'd have to go through a day like this to get a win.

Will Venable hit a leadoff home run and Richard got some support for a change, lifting the San Diego Padres over the Boston Red Sox 5-1 Wednesday in a game delayed by rain four times before it was called after 7 1/2 innings.

Richard (3-9) lasted through two of the delays during the game, giving up one run and eight hits over five innings to snap five-game losing streak. The left-hander had lost five of his last six starts with a no-decision in the other despite holding opponents to three or fewer runs five times.

"It's good that he was rewarded for a performance that lasted like a 5 1/2-hour period," Padres manager Bud Black said. "He started warming up at 1 o'clock and I told him he was out of the game at 5:25. He deserved that."

Richard, who escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first by getting David Ortiz to bounce into an inning-ending double play grounder, felt as if all the Padres hitters were bothered by the lack of scoring in his starts.

"I think it's just frustration as a team," he said. "As a team you have a little more frustration."

It was the second straight win for San Diego after a season-worst six-game losing streak. The Padres finished their road trip at 3-6.

Adrian Gonzalez hit four singles against his former team to raise his major league-leading average to .359 and drove in Boston's run. The Red Sox lost for just the fourth time in 18 games and absorbed consecutive losses for the first time this month.

Ortiz went 0 for 3, stranding seven baserunners.

The game's start was delayed 35 minutes. Play was halted with two outs in the top of the third for 38 minutes and again in the middle of the fifth, with that delay lasting 31 minutes. The final one in the middle of the eighth -- was 40 minutes.

In the third delay, crew chief Ed Rapuano called for the tarp, but never left the field when he asked for the grounds' crew to take it off a few minutes later while the rain appeared to be falling at a similar rate.

"I thought (Ed) did a great job in a very tough circumstance -- with the weather and the field -- to keep the integrity of the game," Black said.

The Padres, who entered the day with the majors' worst batting average at .233, scored their runs on just seven hits, but benefited from wildness by John Lackey (5-6).

Lackey left in the fourth inning and exited to a spattering of boos, continuing his rough season.

"He went back out after the rain delay and just looked like he lost his feel," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "I don't think the conditions were good for either pitcher, but he just lost his feel."

Boston had 10 hits -- all singles -- and grounded into a pair of double plays.

Venable hit the game's seventh pitch into the right-field seats -- one of deeper parts of Fenway Park -- for his first homer of the season and the first leadoff shot of his career.

"Off the bat (I thought I hit it out). But when I saw (Mike) Cameron running back I wasn't sure," Venable said. "You hit the ball in a lot of other parks and you don't even have to look at it. But here, you've got a long way to go."

The Padres took advantage of Lackey's wildness, chasing him with four runs in the fourth. Orlando Hudson drew a leadoff walk and Anthony Rizzo was hit by a pitch before Cameron Maybin laid down a well-placed bunt for a single.

Lackey threw a wild pitch to allow a run and walked Venable, forcing home another. He also hit Jason Bartlett in the back with a 2-2 pitch with the bases loaded and Chase Headley had an RBI single, making it 5-0.

When asked about pitching in the conditions Lackey said, "They weren't great. I don't think I've ever hit anybody with the bases loaded before."

Lackey allowed five runs on four hits and four walks in 3 1/3 innings, raising his ERA to 7.36. He had seemed to turn his season around, winning his previous three starts before Wednesday when he was booed briefly as he walked off after being pulled.

Gonzalez's RBI single cut it to 5-1 in the fifth.

After ending the first, Ortiz left a pair of runners on in the third and fifth.

Game notesSan Diego improved to 18-18 on the road. ... Gonzalez went 8 for 14 with four RBIs in series. ... Francona said he's still not sure RHP Josh Beckett, who missed Tuesday start with a stomach ailment, will be able to start Saturday in Pittsburgh. "He's really sick," Francona said. "We're going to have to play this by ear. He's got a good, old-fashioned case of the flu." LHP Andrew Miller is a likely to start if Beckett can't. Francona appears to be leaning toward playing 1B Gonzalez in right field during Boston's upcoming nine-game road trip of all inter-league, thus allowing Ortiz to play first. "I don't want David to go 11 days without playing," he said. ... Black announced Tim Stauffer, Dustin Moseley and Cory Luebke will start the three home games against Atlanta this weekend, Luebke making his first start of the year. ... Hudson stole his career-best 11th base. ... Both teams have off-days Thursday.

Best 2011 baseball homerun

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