Eckstein had only two hits and no walks in his last 24 at-bats through Saturday, his average slipping from .310 to .279 in five days. Eckstein likes to crowd the plate, but opposing pitchers have been busting him inside with hard fastballs, rendering him almost helpless. But Eckstein has had to deal with such pitches his entire career, and he said he just needs to make a little adjustment by stepping back from the plate a bit. . . . The team feared it might lose versatile reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa for the season because of a partially torn rotator cuff, but the righthander said he was told by doctors he could return in a week or two. Surgery does not appear necessary for Hasegawa, who is on a strengthening regimen and began playing catch Friday.
Batters walk away from the box swearing the pitch actually rises a bit.
Jarrod Washburn usually doesn't know how his fastball is going to move, whether it's going to cut or tail, but the lefthander knows he has excellent movement on the pitch. And that is what makes him so effective. The problem, at times, is control. Washburn, who rarely tops 92 mph with his fastball, usually aims for one half of the plate and lets his natural movement take the ball out of the strike zone as it nears the batter. But Washburn, who missed four weeks in March and April because of strep throat, found his groove in May and went 3-1 with a 3.73 ERA in six starts, walking 13 and striking out 30 in 41 innings.