SPORTS
June 22, 2013 | Kevin Baxter
The Angels lost one starting pitcher when they placed Jason Vargas on the disabled list Friday afternoon. Then a few hours later they appeared to have misplaced another. Oh, sure, that looked like Jered Weaver on the mound at Angel Stadium -- stringy blond mane, scruffy facial hair, big red No. 36 on his back. But that guy sure didn't pitch like Weaver, giving up four runs and a season-high nine hits in six innings of a 5-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. "There's not one issue that Weav's dealing with.
SPORTS
June 22, 2013 | HELENE ELLIOTT
Shadows covered most of the infield at Angel Stadium when Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Gerrit Cole took his place on the mound and brought the heat back to a cooling Friday evening. Pitching quickly and efficiently in only his third major league start, the Orange Lutheran High graduate and three-year UCLA product handcuffed an Angels lineup that had recently found its collective batting stroke. As Cole threw two- and four-seam fastballs that topped 100-mph a half-dozen times and stayed in the 90s into the seventh inning, he generated a strong sense that something big was happening and a promising career was being launched.
SPORTS
June 17, 2013 | By Chris Foster
Former UCLA pitcher Gerrit Cole has achieved historical significance … in just two starts. Cole, who made his major league debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates last week, is the first to beat Cy Young winners in his first two starts, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Cole beat San Francisco Giants' Tim Lincecum in his debut and followed that with a victory over the Dodgers' Zack Greinke. Some 1960s hipster praise came from Pirates catcher Michael McKenry after Cole went 5 2/3 innings to beat the Dodgers on Sunday.
SPORTS
June 15, 2013 | By Dylan Hernandez
PITTSBURGH - Speaking for the first time since he was in the middle of a violent brawl between the Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks last week, Yasiel Puig had little to say. To the surprise of even of some of his teammates, Puig wasn't suspended when Major League Baseball issued penalties Friday to players and coaches for their roles in the melee. But evidently, Puig didn't share his teammates' concerns. Asked whether he feared he could be suspended, Puig smirked and replied, "For what?"
SPORTS
June 12, 2013 | By Chris Foster
Gerrit Cole had an impressive major league debut Tuesday … a nd he pitched well too. Cole, a former UCLA pitcher, was called up by the Pittsburgh Pirates and sent out to face the San Francisco Giants. Cole had already pitched two scoreless innings when he came to the plate with the bases loaded. He fell behind, 0-2, worked the count full and then singled to right to drive in two runs. “I got a little lucky,” Cole told reporters after the game. “That was my first hit since high school.” Lucky or not, the Pirates' Andrew McCutchen told reporters, “He looked like a big league hitter working the count like that.” As for the pitching part, Cole lived up to being the first overall pick in the 2011 draft.
SPORTS
June 6, 2013 | By Chris Foster
Rarely has one college team had two such dominant pitchers. UCLA was a handful with Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer as starters in 2011. Cole was the first overall pick in the major league draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Bauer was taken No. 3 by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Cole has progressed steadily through the Pirates' organization, and appears on the verge of a major league debut. He has a 5-3 record with a 2.91 earned-run average at triple-A Indianapolis. He has thrown 19 consecutive scoreless innings after holding Durham scoreless for seven innings Wednesday.