The lineup — Sweeney to DH, Kent/Kemp to bench

Jeff Kent has two hits in his past 33 at-bats, a fact that would seem to be a lot more alarming when you are 40 than it is when you are, say, 27. But when the subject was brought up during Torre’s pregame this morning, Joe seemed to discount the notion that the five-time All-Star and probable Hall of Famer might be nearing the end.
“I have never been that age and doing that,” Torre said. “But I am assuming that sometimes, your body doesn’t listen to your mind. One thing you see in a lot of sports is that when you get older, I think the number of times you’re able to do what you want to do is curtailed somewhat. That’s why you try to manage how many games he plays. But I think he can still stand at the plate and believe he is going to do what he can do. I think he can still put up numbers and be a force, but I think it may take a little bit more work for him to do it.”

LF Pierre
RF Ethier
C Martin
1B Loney
DH Sweeney
CF Jones
3B DeWitt
2B Maza
SS Hu