His Delivery Is Anything but Special

Opposing batters have silenced the merengue and turned up the rap. Hard rap. It is not music to Jose Lima’s ears.

Hoping to build on his career-best 21-10 record of last year and help compensate for the departed Mike Hampton, the animated Houston Astro right-hander is getting pounded--and not only at cozy Enron Field, where he gave up a club-record 12 runs in a 12-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Thursday, including a club-record four home runs in the first inning and a club-record five overall.

Lima is 1-4 with an 8.42 earned-run average and has given up 38 hits and 27 earned runs in the 24 innings of his last four starts.

“I should kick my own butt,” Lima said after Thursday’s trauma. “I stunk. I’ve never been so frustrated and disappointed in my life.”

Manager Larry Dierker believes Lima has regressed mechanically.

“Jose is reverting to his form when we got him,” Dierker said. “He’s dropping down to a more sidearm delivery, and rather than drive everything down hard to the knees, he’s leaving almost everything up.”

That’s a dangerous practice anywhere, but especially at Enron, where there have been 46 homers in 12 games and an average of 12.4 runs a game.

Lima, of course, will receive no sympathy from batters often annoyed by his flamboyant mannerisms. Those emotions could be contributing to his free fall.

“He’s a very emotional player,” Dierker said. “When he’s in trouble, he starts flailing away. Instead of using his head, he thinks with his heart. His emotions get the best of him.”

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Lima’s problems against the Cubs began with game-opening homers by Eric Young and Ricky Gutierrez.

It was an unlikely bit of power by the prolific table setters.

Young, the former Dodger second baseman, is batting .333.

Gutierrez, the former Astro shortstop, is batting .371 and finding the holes so frequently that Young has restricted his base stealing so as not to take the bat away from the No. 2 hitter.

He has six steals but is confident he’ll approach or exceed last year’s 51.

“I had 18 steals last April and my wheels were hurting a little after that,” Young said. “Ricky has been swinging a hot bat, and I have to allow him to do his thing. It’s not just about me running. The opportunities will come, and usually in bunches.”

An opportunity for the Cubs to get back in the National League Central race may come this week when Kerry Wood, returning from elbow reconstruction, and Ismael Valdes, sidelined since March because of shoulder tendinitis, are expected to join the rotation.

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The St. Louis Cardinals went into the final day of the first month with 53 homers. The onslaught included two homers by 20-year-old left-hander Rick Ankiel, who, given his 3-1 record, 2.16 ERA and .500 batting average (six for 12), has been everything he was touted to be and more.

Ankiel is making batting seem so easy that “some people are suggesting we play him at first base or in the outfield between starts as if he was back in high school,” General Manager Walt Jocketty said.

With the Cardinals off to a 16-8 start, Jocketty has the early lead for executive of the year, having rebuilt the pitching staff and adding Jim Edmonds and Fernando Vina to the lineup.

“To me,” he said, “getting off to a good start was very important. It sets the tone. We saw it with the Rams here. They won their first three games and that built a lot of confidence and enthusiasm for the rest of the season.”