Wednesday, April 3, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
Toronto's Pat Hentgen went to school Monday night and the Blue Jays right-hander hopes to apply what he learned in tonight's start against the Oakland Athletics at Cashman Field.
Hentgen, a fixture in the Blue Jays rotation for the past three years, said he plans to take the same approach against the A's that Erik Hanson did in Monday's 9-6 victory over Oakland.
"I have to do it like Hanson did (Monday) and be aggressive and go after these guys," said Hentgen, who has not missed a starting assignment in three seasons with the Blue Jays.
And that means approaching tonight's game in the same way he would if he were pitching in a major-league ballpark.
"The most important thing is to go out and pitch like you would as if you were in any other ballpark," said Hentgen, 10-14 in 1995. "I think if you get caught up in the ball carrying or whatever, you can get in trouble. Shoot, the guy over there has to pitch on the same mound, in the same stadium."
Hentgen will be opposed by Oakland right-hander Ariel Prieto, who was 2-6 with a 4.97 ERA in 1995 after emigrating from Cuba to the United States. Prieto set the Cuban National Team record for strikeouts in one game when he fanned 20 at Nicaragua in 1990.
Undefeated in international play at 11-0, Prieto boasted a career average of 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings -- the third-highest ratio in Cuban baseball history. He left Cuba with 75 career victories in 139 starts and struck out 10 or more batters 73 times.
Hentgen acknowledged that the ball carries better in Las Vegas, but said it is just as important to establish the inside portion of the plate when pitching in a park such as Cashman as it is in any major-league stadium.
"I think pitching inside has always been one of my strengths and something that I have always done," he said.
"It doesn't matter what stadium you're in -- if big-league hitters get extended, they can drive the ball. I think if you get caught up in thinking all this stuff about having to change your game plan, you're going to end up pitching a bad game and being 2-0 (in the count) all the time."
Although he had never pitched in Cashman Field until Friday's exhibition game against the Seattle Mariners, Hentgen said he is well aware of the park's reputation for yielding cheap home runs.
In Monday's season opener, the Blue Jays hit three home runs and the A's two. Oakland manager Art Howe said that none were "legitimate" home runs.
"I think the ball definitely carries better here than it does in Toronto, that's for sure," Hentgen said. "And the fact that the alleys are 364 (feet) as opposed to being 375 makes a little difference.
"I think some of those (home runs) -- although they were all hit good -- I think some of them may have been in the ballpark in other stadiums. They may have short-hopped the wall or been off the wall, but I think they would have stayed in the park."
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