Sinker

David Herndon learned how to throw his sinker by accident as a sophomore in college. Now it's just about the only pitch he throws. Herndon has been a revelation for the Phillies after the team took a flier on him as a Rule 5 pick during the off-season. He didn't allow a run the entire spring. Through three major-league outings and 3 1/3 innings, he remains spotless. He has done it by throwing sinkers on 78.9 percent of his pitches. So how does he get by with one pitch? Herndon shrugged when asked.

Baseball, at times, can be a simple game. For Phillies lefthander Terry Mulholland (and most pitchers, for that matter), all the technical stuff involving radar guns and release points, all the scouting reports on strengths and weaknesses and setting up hitters, all the seam-head mumbo-jumbo about left-right percentages and late-inning pressure situations can be boiled down to two simple equations: Pitches down = Good. Pitches up = Bad. Einstein probably could have invented an obtuse mathematical formula to explain that principle.

The saga of the mystery man continues. It looked for awhile yesterday as if Bruce Ruffin, the lefty phenomenon of '86, would satisfy the expectations of his manager - namely, that he would protect a lead in the waning moments of a ball game. The expectation was that Ruffin would pitch three innings, throwing the sinker that bewitched National League batters five years ago. But he has struggled ever since, and this spring he has embarked on yet another quest to find himself.

So far in his career, Cole Hamels has thrown two pitches - a fastball and a change-up - with consistent effectiveness. He is trying to augment those this spring by improving his curveball and adding a cutter. But Hamels' efforts to diversify go still further. The 26-year-old lefthander is also working on a sinker this month. The sinker, or two-seam fastball, induces ground-ball outs, which in turn can reduce pitch counts and allow Hamels to pitch deeper into games. Hamels actually tinkered with the pitch in several games last summer.

For Derek Lowe, it was the ultimate "What if?" game, the kind of night where he wished he could have taken back the two pitches that eventually doomed the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opener of the National League Championship Series. Lowe had his masterful sinker ball working for the first five innings but found that the pitch abandoned him in the sixth, when Chase Utley and Pat Burrell hit home runs for all of the Phillies' scoring in their 3-2 win over the Dodgers last night at extremely loud Citizens Bank Park.

After he threw 109 pitches Friday, Roy Halladay declared it "was about as close as I've felt to where I want to be. " Halladay has made four starts in 2013 and the evolution has been constant. That was more than evident in Halladay's pitch selection. He relied on his sinker more than ever while with the Phillies. Against St. Louis, Halladay threw his sinker 50 times, according to Pitch F/X data. Research by ESPN Stats & Info showed it was the most frequently Halladay has used his sinker in a game since the beginning of 2009.

A couple of hours before Kyle Kendrick provided the Phillies with the kind of performance that is becoming standard for the underrated and underappreciated 28-year-old righthander, relief pitcher Chad Durbin recalled the running joke that used to be told about his teammate. "He's got two pitches: a sinker and a sinker," Durbin said. "It was half joke, but the reality was that his sinker was good enough that he could come up and get big-leaguers out with one pitch. He had some secondary pitches, but he didn't really need to go to them.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The pile of envelopes in Vance Worley's locker slowly disappeared Friday. One by one, Worley signed each baseball card with a blue sharpie and inscribed his number, 49, at the end of his name. "See this one?" he said, pointing to a card. "Look at the gloss. It won't stick. " Fan mail comes in larger quantities now, just one adjustment for the 24-year-old righthander now firmly a member of the Phillies rotation. Last spring, Worley was sent to minor-league camp almost two weeks before opening day. By summer, a city was captivated by the bespectacled pitcher who hopped off the mound every time he recorded a strikeout.

Kyle Kendrick's most recent major-league stint lasted less than 24 hours, and his development is far from complete. After being recalled from triple-A Lehigh Valley on Friday afternoon and losing Friday night's 13-inning game against Boston, the righthander was optioned back to Lehigh, and lefthanded reliever Sergio Escalona was recalled. Kendrick won 21 games for the Phillies in 2007 and 2008, but did so primarily with his sinker. Demoted in spring training with orders to work on his change-up and cutter, Kendrick was earnestly engaged in that process when Scott Eyre strained his left calf Thursday night in New York.

Pitching yesterday for the Lakewood BlueClaws, J.C. Romero, who will turn 33 next week, felt a little like a Dutch uncle dispensing advice to wide-eyed 18-to-22-year-olds. "I said, 'Listen, just because you're a professional athlete, there are some things that come with the territory,' " the lefthanded reliever said after pitching two perfect innings for the Phillies single-A club. Lakewood won, 5-3, over West Virginia. "They have to understand what is normal for everybody else can sometimes be a problem for us," Romero said.

A couple of hours before Kyle Kendrick provided the Phillies with the kind of performance that is becoming standard for the underrated and underappreciated 28-year-old righthander, relief pitcher Chad Durbin recalled the running joke that used to be told about his teammate. "He's got two pitches: a sinker and a sinker," Durbin said. "It was half joke, but the reality was that his sinker was good enough that he could come up and get big-leaguers out with one pitch. He had some secondary pitches, but he didn't really need to go to them.

After he threw 109 pitches Friday, Roy Halladay declared it "was about as close as I've felt to where I want to be. " Halladay has made four starts in 2013 and the evolution has been constant. That was more than evident in Halladay's pitch selection. He relied on his sinker more than ever while with the Phillies. Against St. Louis, Halladay threw his sinker 50 times, according to Pitch F/X data. Research by ESPN Stats & Info showed it was the most frequently Halladay has used his sinker in a game since the beginning of 2009.

PITTSBURGH - The cutter backed up on Roy Halladay, caught Andrew McCutchen between the hip and butt. The boos from the 39,585 at PNC Park were loud and instantaneous, a good thing since the usual April crowd in this place might have otherwise heard the expletive the Phillies ace screamed as he pivoted toward the centerfield wall. This was in the fourth inning of a scoreless game Thursday, a game that already mirrored the last real game Halladay had pitched in, a game in which the margin of error was again microscopic.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The pile of envelopes in Vance Worley's locker slowly disappeared Friday. One by one, Worley signed each baseball card with a blue sharpie and inscribed his number, 49, at the end of his name. "See this one?" he said, pointing to a card. "Look at the gloss. It won't stick. " Fan mail comes in larger quantities now, just one adjustment for the 24-year-old righthander now firmly a member of the Phillies rotation. Last spring, Worley was sent to minor-league camp almost two weeks before opening day. By summer, a city was captivated by the bespectacled pitcher who hopped off the mound every time he recorded a strikeout.

CINCINNATI - Don't ask Vance Worley to explain his penchant for called strikeouts because he is as confused as the batters who watch his sinkers float into the catcher's mitt. "Is that weird?" Worley said. "That's weird. " Worley struck out seven in Thursday's 6-4 victory over Cincinnati, and six of them were looking. This season, 52.2 percent of his strikeouts are called, the highest percentage for any National League pitcher with at least 100 innings. Ultimately, Worley was displeased with his effort Thursday because he allowed three seventh-inning runs that morphed a rout into a taut affair.

CINCINNATI - Don't ask Vance Worley to explain his penchant for called strikeouts because he is as confused as the batters who watch his sinkers float into the catcher's mitt. "Is that weird?" Worley said. "That's weird. " Worley struck out seven in Thursday's 6-4 victory over Cincinnati, and six of them were looking. This season, 52.2 percent of his strikeouts are called, the highest percentage for any National League pitcher with at least 100 innings. Ultimately, Worley was displeased with his effort Thursday because he allowed three seventh-inning runs that morphed a rout into a taut affair.

SAN DIEGO - On the 14th pitch of the tedious at-bat by Jorge Cantu, Roy Oswalt decided he had to end it some way. Cantu had fouled off nine pitches against the Phillies starter in the fourth inning of Thursday's 3-0 win. Oswalt had thrown him sinkers, change-ups, and curveballs. So he invented pitch No. 14, a usual slider grip with his middle finger driven into the ball to alter the spin. "I spiked it," Oswalt said. Just about anything has worked for Oswalt since he became a Phillie.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The outline of two fingers had been traced onto the surface of the rawhide using a black marker. Along the outer red seam, the image of an index finger. Next to it, a middle finger. Yesterday morning, David Herndon procured the ball from the small cubbyhole on top of his locker and clamped his right hand over the lines. Slowly, he cocked the ball backward, his fingers sitting perfectly on top of their guide, his arm cocking backward and then moving forward in a slow, smooth mimic of his delivery.

Sometimes you live by the hook, sometimes you die by the hook. The hook, that's the 1/2 point that dangles at the end of a team's name on the Delaware parlay cards. And last week we had the Colts minus 3 1/2 against the Redskins. Colts won by three, knocked us out of a $220 payout. This week, strictly teaser and super-teaser action: Wagering $40 on Falcons plus 2 1/2, Bears plus 2 1/2, Patriots plus 9 1/2,Broncos minus 1 1/2 and Giants plus 9 1/2. Try $40 on Falcons plus 6 1/2, Titans plus 7 1/2, Bears plus 6 1/2, Saints minus 3 1/2, Rams plus 13 1/2, Giants plus 13 1/2. Last week: Lost $90. Bankroll: $530.

More than an hour before the first pitch of the Phillies' 4-0 win over St. Louis on Wednesday, Kyle Kendrick grabbed a chair and rolled over to Brian Schneider's locker. Schneider pulled out a large sheet of white paper as Kendrick leaned closer to listen. Schneider, the backup catcher, did most of the talking. Kendrick nodded. "These guys swing the bat," Schneider said later, recounting his conversation with Kendrick. "When you throw it, you can't just say you're going to throw some early strikes.