Haren's turnaround picks up steam in 2
LOS ANGELES - The Dodgers just have to hope Dan Haren's evil twin has made his last appearance.
The veteran right-hander continued his late-season renaissance with six solid innings in the Dodgers' 2-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks Friday night.
Not that long ago, Haren seemed to be clinging to the tail end of the Dodgers' starting rotation, his legs dangling over the edge. After his start against the Chicago Cubs on Aug. 1, Haren had a 6.04 ERA over a 14-start stretch. The Dodgers had lost 10 of those 14 starts - and most had lost all hope that Haren could turn things around. Even Haren admitted to doubting himself.
'Absolutely, I lost my confidence, for sure,' he said after Friday's win. 'Any pitcher would, having the stretch of starts I had.'
Things have definitely turned around. With one error-aided clunker against the Milwaukee Brewers included, Haren has won four of his past six starts, posting a 2.04 ERA and - almost inexplicably, given the loud ringing left in the ears from the previous 14 starts - holding opposing batters to a .203 batting average in that time.
'I think his stuff is always fairly similar, it looks like,' Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. 'I think he just got out of sync a little bit and when he's out of sync a little bit he doesn't have that late life. ... If he doesn't have that little bit of late movement, it turns into flat and it gets hit.
'He had that late movement tonight and it seems like he's had that for a few starts now.'
Haren has offered a checklist of changes that have given his season late life - some 'real small mechanical changes' in his delivery, more generous use of his curveball, pitching more aggressively inside to right-handed hitters and making fewer mistakes with his cutter.
'That was really biting me during that rough stretch,' said Haren, who gave up 22 home runs in his first 22 starts, but only three in the past six.
'Well, he didn't show it to us, his teammates,' Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis said when told of Haren's admission he had lost confidence in himself. 'He was always a professional, a guy who knew - it was always in there and he believed it.'
Now that he has rediscovered it, Haren has thrust himself back into favored status for the fourth spot in a potential post-season rotation - a spot that seemed ear-marked for Roberto Hernandez not that long ago.
'I haven't looked that far ahead,' Haren said. 'I don't really know how a playoff rotation will work out. Obviously, I know we've got the front three guys. If there's a need for a fourth, I'd like to be that guy
Haren padded his resume against the Diamondbacks on Friday, holding them to one run on four hits and a walk while striking out six.
And he padded his wallet as well. By making 28 starts and pitching 162 innings so far this season, Haren has reached four incentives in his contract worth a combined $1 million in bonuses. He remains 18 innings short of activating a player option that would guarantee him another $10 million in salary if he pitches in 2015.
The Dodgers gave him just enough offensive support to win Friday. They scored on a bloop single by Hanley Ramirez in the second inning and a solo home run by Matt Kemp leading off the third.
Diamondbacks lefty Vidal Nuno retired 14 consecutive batters after giving up Kemp's home run and the Dodgers had just one more hit in the game.
The win allowed the Dodges to maintain their two-game lead over the second-place San Francisco Giants in the NL West. The Giants won a rain-interrupted game in Detroit on Friday.
Contact the writer: bplunkett@ocregister.com
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