Dodgers 8, Diamondbacks 3 … a possible awakening

Not by me, mind you. I’m on my last legs, what with it now being almost 2:30 a.m. Eastern time, which is the time on which my day began when the alarm went off at 6 this morning. But I digress … The boys finally worked counts tonight, which was a big reason why they were able to unload on the same Dan Haren who had dominated them just 16 days earlier. Haren had not pitched less than six innings in any of his four previous starts, nor had he thrown more than 100 pitches. Tonight, he threw 106 pitches, and he was gone after 4 2/3. The Dodgers finally seem to be getting what Torre has been preaching since Day 1 of spring training, and what worked so well for Torre’s Yankees teams for so many years. Ironically, the idea is to get the starter out early so you can face mediocre middle relief, and tonight, the Dodgers scored all six of their earned runs off Haren and would have been shut out by the bullpen if not for that two-out dropped fly ball by Justin Upton in the eighth. But whatever works, right? The boys go to 9-12 and move into a second-place tie with the Rox, six games behind the D-backs. Buenos noches. I’m going home and going to bed.