July 2008 Archives

A lot will be said and written about tonight's eighth inning. Like whether plate umpire Angel Hernandez made the right call (he did, according to Andre Ethier, who was tagged out). Like whether Andre Ethier made a good or bad slide into the plate. (``You have to pick one side or the other,'' Joe Torre said.). Like whether Larry Bowa should have sent Ethier in the first place (``I think so. You have to force them to make not only a throw, but a catch and a tag. I never even thought he would do anything other than that.'') But -- and you have heard me sermonize on this subject time and time again -- Juan Pierre, whether it was on his own or on orders from the bench, did the Diamondbacks a huge favor when he sacrificed the runners into scoring position. He put them one out closer to getting out of the jam, and he might have even put Bowa in a position where he felt he HAD to send Ethier on that shallow fly ball by Matt Kemp, which was the second out. Yes, Pierre might have GIDP'd (in which case there still is a runner on third with two outs). And no, there is no guarantee he would have gotten a hit or a walk or gotten on base any other way. But IMHO, you have to AT LEAST take a shot at it, instead of GIVING the opposition an out. Believe me, Brandon Webb doesn't need any gift outs. Dodgers fall to 54-54 and two behind the Snakes. There is an old baseball axiom that every team will win one-third of its games, and every team will lose one-third of its games, and it's what you do with the other one-third that determines your fate. Well, the Dodgers have now won one-third and lost one-third, with that other one-third all out in front of them beginning tomorrow night. So we'll see. But even with ManRam coming, they can't afford anything worse than a split in this series.

Kent is nursing some little leg thing, and Ethier is sick

LF Pierre
RF Kemp
C Martin
1B Loney
3B Blake
CF Jones
SS Berroa
2B Ozuna
RH Lowe

... is anybody's guess at this point, including, apparently, Joe Torre's. He said he has no idea what he is going to do with all these outfielders. He also said they don't know what the roster move is going to be and that it doesn't have to be made until Manny actually gets here tomorrow. I'm guessing they DFA Delwyn Young, but they also could KEEP Delwyn Young and DFA Mark Sweeney if they think DY is going to be a better pinch hitter. But they are already going to have a deeper stable of pinch hitters because somebody (Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Juan Pierre, Andruw Jones) is going to be out of the lineup every night.

Dodgers owner Frank McCourt confirmed the Manny Ramirez trade during his press conference to announce that the Dodgers will host the finals of the World Baseball Classic next year. Tony is awaiting comment from general manager Ned Colletti on the trade.

The Daily News' Tony Jackson has received confirmation of the trade...

To Dodgers: Manny Ramirez
To Boston: Jason Bay
To Pittsburgh: Andy LaRoche, Bryan Morris (from Dodgers), Craig Hansen, Brandon Moss (from Boston)

There are several reports, unconfirmed as of yet by the Daily News, that the Dodgers have acquired Boston's Manny Ramirez in a three-team trade. According to a report by foxsports.com, the Dodgers will give up third baseman Andy LaRoche and pitcher Bryan Morris, who will head to Pittsburgh along with Boston players Brandon Moss and Craig Hansen. Pittsburgh's Jason Bay would go to Boston.

Chad Billingsley pitched his second career complete game and first career shutout, and the Dodgers shut out their opponents for the fourth time in the past five games and the 10th time this season, tops in the National League. Now, it's on to the showdown, a four-game set with the Snakes beginning tomorrow night. The Dodgers go to 54-53, their first time above .500 since May 27, when they were 26-25. They still trail the Snakes by one game, and that will absolutely, positively change, one way or the other, tomorrow night. ... Matt Kemp extended his hitting streak to 17 games, longest by a Dodgers player since Nomar's 22-gamer June 16-July 13, 2006. ... Billingsley is now 7-2 with a 2.60 ERA over his past nine starts.

Hey, it worked once, so why not try it again? This is in no way a probability, from what I understand, but it IS a definite POSSIBILITY. We'll know by 1 o'clock tomorrow, so stay tuned. This is what I just filed for tomorrow's paper.

By Tony Jackson
Staff Writer
With baseball's annual non-waiver trading deadline looming at 1 p.m. today, the Dodgers might delve into their not-too-distant past in an attempt to upgrade their already-solid starting rotation. Although no deal was believed to be imminent as of game time on Wednesday night, the San Diego Padres seemed desperate to unload veteran Greg Maddux, with the Dodgers apparently the only possible club to which the four-time Cy Young Award winner, career 351-game winner and future Hall of Famer would be dealt.
The Dodgers acquired Maddux from the Chicago Cubs two years ago today. He responded by going 6-3 with a 3.30 ERA in 12 starts, helping the Dodgers to the National League wild card.
The Dodgers are said to have some interest in Maddux, but acquiring him probably would make the Dodgers responsible for the remainder of Maddux's $10 million salary, which would come to about $3.3 million. Thus, a trade could depend on owner Frank McCourt's willingness to add to his payroll. But such a deal probably wouldn't require the Dodgers to give up a frontline big-league player or prospect because of the Padres' eagerness to unload Maddux.
Playing in the Dodgers' favor is the fact Maddux has an unlimited no-trade clause in his contract and doesn't want to leave the West Coast.
``His position really hasn't changed,'' Padres general manager Kevin Towers told the San Diego Union-Tribune. ``He only wants us to focus on West Coast, contending clubs. That kind of eliminates our options, other than one club.''
Actually, it also leaves the Angels as a possibility, but they don't need starting pitching. And Maddux, who has spent his entire, 23-year career in the N.L., presumably isn't interested in changing leagues at this point.
Maddux, 42, isn't having his typical season. He is 4-8 with a 4.29 ERA and went a career-worst 14 consecutive starts without winning, a drought that ended on Monday night against Arizona. But his lack of success this season can largely be blamed on the fact he plays for a subpar club that entered the day 24 games below .500. The Padres have scored a total of 15 runs in Maddux's eight losses this season.
Maddux would potentially bolster a rotation that presently includes Chad Billingsley, Derek Lowe, Clayton Kershaw, Hiroki Kuroda and Jason Johnson, with two-time All-Star Brad Penny due off the disabled list in the next week or so.
It doesn't appear that the Dodgers will be able to acquire a shortstop -- a position general manager Ned Colletti has identified as high on the club's wish list -- before today's deadline. However, once the deadline passes, almost every player in the majors will be waived, and those who are claimed by other clubs will simply be pulled off waivers by their current clubs. Any player who clears waivers without being claimed can still be traded until Aug. 31.

Lefty going for the Giants tonight, so I'm sure that's why.

Kemp. RF
Blake. 3B
Martin. C
Kent. 2B
Loney. 1B
Jones. CF
Ethier. LF
Berroa. SS
Billingsley. RHP

Who knew Jason Johnson would give the Dodgers six shutout innings? This was a big night for him, his first big-league win since May 28, 2006, in his first big-league start since Aug. 18, 2006. Chan Ho Park and Jonathan Broxton finished off the five-hitter, giving the Dodgers' their ninth shutout win of the sason and third in their past four games. All nine of those shutouts have come at Chavez Ravine. Matt Kemp ran his hitting streak to 16 games, the longest by a Dodgers player since Andre Ethier hit in 16 in a row back in 2006 (this seems to be recurring theme here, does it not?). Juan Pierre stole his 100th base for the Dodgers and has now stolen at least 100 for three different clubs, something only four players in big-league history have done. And the Dodgers climb back to .500 for the second time in three days -- and the second time since May 30 -- at 53-53. Snakes won, so the Dodgers stay one back in their quest to make the playoffs for the first time since -- yes, you guessed it -- 2006.

That announcement is that the 2009 World Baseball Classic semifinals and finals will be held at Dodger Stadium, with one semi March 21, the other semi March 22 and the final March 23. The press conference will be held on Thursday in the Stadium Club, several hours before that night's showdown with the Snakes. I'll be contentedly chronicling the daily doings of the Dodgers in Glendale, Ariz., on those days -- that's right around the time the opening-day roster should be starting to take shape -- but some people actually find this WBC thing interesting. MLB president and COO Bob DuPuy will be on hand Thursday, along with several Dodgers officials, broadcasters and players.

Here's tonight's lineup. Jones still sitting. Martin also is sitting because Joe wants him to rest for one game before the Arizona series, because he is playing all four of those.

Pierre. LF
Kemp. CF
Ethier. RF
Kent. 2B
Loney. 1B
Blake. 3B
Berroa. SS
Ardoin. C
Johnson. RHP

The boys looked for all the world like they were going to come back from a 7-0 deficit and win. But after scoring five in the fifth and one in the sixth -- and leaving the tying run on third when Juan Pierre flied out -- they never had another baserunner. Pierre's fly ball began a string of 10 consecutive outs from that point until the end of the game. The last Dodgers' hit was by, of all people, Andruw Jones, who delivered a pinch-hit, RBI single to drive in the final Dodgers run. Hiroki Kuroda was pretty much awful, giving up seven earned runs on nine hits over 3 2/3 innings. In three second-half starts, he is now 0-2 with a 13.11 ERA. Dodgers fall to 52-53, but the Snakes and the Rox both lost, so the standings remain unchanged, at least at the top. Dodgers stay one game back.

He has a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee. What we are being told is that he will have ``very little'' activity over the next few days, then will ``progress to baseball activity as tolerated.'' I love the vagueness of this prognosis. Speaks volumes, IMHO.

It's pretty basic, or at what is now considered pretty basic with Andruw Jones having taken a seat. Padilla covering the game tonight, so I probably won't blog much until postgame unless there is breaking news.

Dodgers:

Pierre. LF
Kemp. CF
Martin. C
Kent. 2B
Loney. 1B
Blake. 3B
Ethier. RF
Berroa. SS
Kuroda. RHP

Clayton Kershaw finally gets his first big-league win, giving the Dodgers six-plus shutout innings in which he allowed just four hits. Dodgers outscored the hapless Nats 11-2, holding them scoreless for the final 19 innings. This Washington team is, to put it mildly, not very good. Dodgers got a home run from James Loney, and an RBI single from Russell Martin, and that was more than enough to complete the three-game sweep. Dodgers finally get back to .500 at 52-52, first time since they were 27-27 on May 30, and since then they had fallen as many as seven games under -- 31-38 on June 15 after getting predictably swept in Detroit. That's the good news. The bad news is that while the Dodgers were sweeping the Nats, the Snakes were sweeping the Giants, so the boys stay a game back in the standings, and the Rockies were sweeping the Reds, so they stay six back. They'll be a factor before it's all said and done.

Not sure why, other than Sweeney has been healthy and ready to go for several days now, and they were waiting for a roster spot to open up. I guess this means Nomar is the backup 3B, although Berroa and Ozuna can play there too, I believe.

Joe Torre said this morning that, ``Right now, we're going with the hot hands.'' Andruw, of course, isn't that right now. Basically, what that means is that Andruw has to wait until someone else cools off until he gets back into the lineup on an everyday basis. ``It means we're trying to win as many games as we can,'' Torre said. Joe also said there could be matchups, such as certain opposing pitchers, that he'll still want to play Jones against. ``(But) we faced two left-handers (Friday and Saturday), and I saw some good at-bats here and there. But there is still a lot of stuff he has to get better at. I'm not speaking out of school, because Andruw feels the same way.''

LF Pierre
CF Kemp
C Martin
2B Kent
1B Loney
SS Garciaparra
3B Blake
RF Ethier
LH Kershaw

Just got the release from Josh, which I pasted below. Again, this is a scaled-down version of the eight-player deal the clubs never consummated earlier this month. That one was CC Sabathia, Casey Blake and Jamey Carroll for (I believe) Santana, Matt Kemp, James McDonald, Cory Wade and Andy LaRoche. I didn't know who those players were when I reported that deal and McCourt denied he had nixed the trade for financia reasons and that the real problem was that the players simply didn't match up. Once I found out who the players were (in dribs and drabs over the past couple of weeks), I tend to agree with him. Anyway, here's the release. Corresponding roster move probably won't be announced until they tell the player affected, but it almost has to be either LaRoche or DeWitt.

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Dodgers announced today they have acquired third baseman Casey Blake and cash considerations from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for minor league catcher Carlos Santana and minor league right-hander Jonathan Meloan. The announcement was made by Dodger General Manager Ned Colletti.

"Casey Blake is a gamer," said Colletti. "His experience and character will be a plus as we head down the stretch in the final two months of the regular season."

Blake leads the Indians with a .289 batting average and 58 runs batted in this season. He has hit 11 home runs and has posted a .365 on-base percentage and .465 slugging percentage. Blake's .393 batting average with runners in scoring position ranks fifth in the Major Leagues in 2008.

The Des Moines, Iowa native set career highs for Cleveland in home runs (28), RBI (88), hits (159) and runs scored (93) in 2004. Last season, Blake slugged 18 homers and drove in 78 runs while helping the Indians reach the postseason. In the American League Championship Series, he batted .346 (9-for-26) with one home run and two runs batted in.

He has appeared in 859 career games spanning 10 seasons with the Blue Jays, Twins, Orioles, and Indians. The versatile veteran has played the majority of his career at third base, but also has logged significant playing time at first base and right field.

Blake attended Wichita State University, where he was drafted by the Blue Jays in the seventh round of the 1996 First-Year Player Draft. In his biography in the 2008 Indians Media Guide, Blake lists his favorite baseball moment at Kirk Gibson's game-winning home run for the Dodgers in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series.

Meloan, 24, is 5-10 with a 4.97 ERA in 21 games (20 starts) for Triple-A Las Vegas. He has struck out 99 batters in 105.0 innings for the 51s. The right-hander reached the Major Leagues in 2007 for the first time, appearing in five games for the Dodgers and posting an 11.05 ERA in limited action. He is in his fourth professional season after being selected in the fifth round of the 2005 First-Year Player Draft.

Santana, 22, is batting .323 with 14 homers and 96 RBI in 99 games for Single-A Inland Empire. The Dominican Republic native is in his fourth professional season after being signed as a free agent on Aug. 13, 2004.

Although no one in the organization will confirm it, the Dodgers are believed to have agreed in principle on a three-player trade with Cleveland -- a scaled-down version of the earlier eight-player trade that would have brought CC Sabathia to Los Angeles. This one will bring third baseman Casey Blake to the Dodgers, along with cash considerations to cover the slightly more than $2 million he is still owed for the rest of the season. In return, the Indians get Jon Meloan, the fireballing reliever and potential closer who had a shaky debut for the Dodgers last September and hasn't been back to the majors since, and Carlos Santana, one of the Dodgers' many catching prospect and the one who is thought to be the farthest away from the majors. He is having an OUTSTANDING season at Single-A Inland Empire, but with Russell Martin a fixture in the majors and Lucas May a year ahead of Santana, Santana became expendable.

Blake will become the Dodgers' everyday 3B. Not sure what this means for Andy LaRoche and Blake DeWitt, other than one of them is probably headed to Las Vegas. More as the day goes on.

And they did it in a crisp 2:16, making the sportswriters just as happy as the fans. Chad Billingsley was solid, scattering five hits over 7 2/3 innings. Nomar Garciaparra had the big hit for the Dodgers, a two-run single with the bases loaded in the sixth to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead, and the Dodgers tacked on another one when James Loney followed with a run-scoring groundout. That was all it took for the boys to improve to 50-52. Snakes are pounding the Giants in the ninth, so the Dodgers will stay one game back. ... BTW, I'm missing tomorrow's game, first one all year, so unless someone else steps up, this blog is going to take a day off, as well. I'll check in with you early Sunday morning. Have a great weekend, everybody.

This is from si.com's Jon Heyman, and if you believe it, it paints a bleak picture of the way this organization is being run from the top down.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/jon_heyman/07/24/scoop.dodgers/index.html

Anyway, as the headline says, Ethier becomes the first odd-man out. But Torre emphasized that he hasn't yet made up his mind how this four-outfielders-for-three-spots scenario is going to shake out -- although he expects to make it up fairly quickly.
``We're at a point in the season where we can't take a month to make up our minds for anything,'' he said.
Torre did say he recognizes the dramatic improvement on the part of Ethier over the course of the season. From what I can deduce, the mentality on the part of club officials seems to be that Andruw Jones was signed to give the Dodgers the one thing they were missing last year, so without him in the lineup, they're still missing it. Which is true to a point. But if having Jones in there actually makes the club WORSE, then you're not really giving yourself the best shot of winning, are you?

Here's the lineup

LF Pierre
RF Kemp
C Martin
2B Kent
SS Garciaparra
1B Loney
CF Jones
3B LaRoche
RH Billingsley

Apparently, he has a right oblique strain that he suffered during his ninth-inning pinch-hitting appearance on Wednesday at Colorado. I'm assuming Pierre will be in the lineup tonight, possibly with Andruw Jones sitting, but we'll see.

Well, six games into the second half, the offense has officially returned to its first-half form. Proving once again that you can never hide a player when he is struggling, the game found Andruw Jones in the eighth inning, when the Dodgers had the tying runs on second and third and one out. If you didn't see it, I'll give you one guess as to what the result was. Put it this way, it was the same result that Andruw has now gotten 29 times in 51 at-bats this season with runners in scoring position -- and it wasn't a hit, because that has only happened four times in those 51 ABs. Meanwhile, the Dodgers are still waiting for one of their starting pitchers to give them a quality start, something that didn't happen once on this trip. Kuroda became the first one to go six, but he gave up five earned runs on nine hits. ... Dodgers fall to 49-52. Snakes play later, but does it really even matter anymore?

Joe Torre said this morning that Jeff Pentland, who was hired as a ``roving minor-league hitting instructor,'' is going to stick around with the big club for a while, and Torre didn't rule out him staying for the rest of the year. A big part of his job is helping Don Mattingly get acclimated to the full-time hitting coach's role and providing an additional set of eyes and an additional perspective. There is a limit on how many coaches you can have in the dugout in uniform, so Pentland stays in the clubhouse during games.
``He is basically doing what Donnie was doing when Donnie would visit while Mike (Easler, former hitting coach) was on the bench,'' Torre said. ``He will be watching on TV. If a player goes up (to the clubhouse) to look at an at-bat, Jeff will be there for tha player to talk to about it.''
Torre said special instructor Manny Mota also will continue to travel with the team as an extra hitting coach, although Mota isn't on this trip for personal reasons.

Here's today's lineup
RF Kemp
LF Ethier
SS Garciaparra
2B Kent
1B Loney
CF Jones
3B LaRoche
C Ardoin
RH Kuroda

The fact Ubaldo Jimenez was so pitch-efficient -- he threw 114 in a complete game and got through the first seven innings on just 75 -- would seem to suggest that the Dodgers have fallen back into their old habits. And as you know, I am the first one to jump on the boys when they make it too easy on an opposing pitcher. But in this case, that doesn't appear to be what happened. Jimenez threw an inordinate (especially for him) number of strikes, and the Dodgers had little choice but to swing at them. When you're a beat writer, you try to write every story from the perspective of the team you cover, and when that team gets taken to school by a pitcher, you try to figure out why. This time, there wasn't a why -- other than the fact Jimenez was just GOOD. I mean, really, really good. If he had pitched like this last October, the Rockies might have won a game in that World Series. ... Dodgers fall to 49-51 and one game behind the Snakes. The boys are now 0-3 this month, having been outscored 24-8, in games in which they had a chance to reach .500 for the first time since May 30.

Torre says if Pierre's rehab goes well, he will rejoin the big club either Saturday or Sunday. Joe was very non-committal on how the outfield will shake out at that point. What was interesting was that while Joe did say on the one hand that he isn't ready to sit Andruw Jones --

``It's still (too) early for me. Both Donnie (Mattingly) and (Jeff) Pentland are here working on specific things with him. It's one thing to practice, but it's a second thing to go out there and play games and try to put that into practice. I don't think he has had enough time for that yet.''

-- on the other hand, Torre didn't rule out the possibility that Andruw could find himself sitting if this keeps up much longer.

``I have seen Andre (Ethier) and Matty (Kemp) make great strides, Andre with the consistency of his at-bats and Matt seems to be getting a better feel for it right now. The thing that is great about this game is that you reserve the right to change your mind.''

Joe also was non-committal on who his fifth starter will be now that Stults has been sent out. Dodgers won't need one until Tuesday. Could be Jason Johnson. Could be a trade between now and then. But he said it won't be Park because he likes Chan Ho in the pen., and he also said Penny won't be ready by then.

Here's tonight's lineup

RF Kemp
LF Ethier
C Martin
2B Kent
1B Loney
SS Garciaparra
CF Jones
3B LaRoche
LH Kershaw

Headline should be self-explanatory. I gotta run downstairs to try to catch them before they leave.

You hate to go negative after the boys scored a season-high 16 runs and banged out a season-high 18 hits. But when you stake a starting pitcher to an 11-run lead, he HAS to throw strikes and give you innings, and Eric Stults did neither. Torre lifted him with one out in the fourth, leaving him four outs shy of qualifying for the win.
``He wasn't aggressive,'' Torre said. ``Otherwise, I wouldn't have gone to get him. It looked like he was trying to protect the lead as opposed to going out and pitching.''
Stults agreed for the most part,
``I was trying to be aggressive, but I wasn't as sharp throughout as I would have liked to have been,'' he said. ``It was just one of those days. Not pitching for a while (since July 11) could have something to do with it, but that's not really an excuse. You just have to go out there and execute pitches.''
But Stults was far from the only one who didn't do that. He combined with relievers Brian Falkenborg (who got the win by scorer's decision), Cory Wade, Joe Beimel and Hong-Chih Kuo to give up 10 runs on 20 hits (how do you get out-hit when you win by six runs?) They also combined to walk six batters, four of them after the Dodgers built a 12-1 lead.
Anyway, the Dodgers improved to 49-50 and stayed tied with the Snakes, pushing the Rockies seven back. There were more offensive heroes to mention, but the biggest was James Loney, who went 3 for 6 with a triple and drove in five runs. He has now driven in 24 runs in 14 career games at Coors, including nine, six and five in three games.

Torre said before the game that Andy LaRoche is going to start all three games. Here is the quote:
``I had planned on giving him a couple of games. It has really been unfair to him. Knowing that the end of July is looming, you have to find out as much as you can about your players. If you're looking to help your ballclub, you want to make sure you have an idea of the people you have. He'll probably play this series, especially (facing) the left-hander (Glendon Rusch) Wednesday.''
Sounds pretty cut and dried to me. A lot of us -- and a lot of YOU, judging by some of the comments you have been posting -- have long suspected the Dodgers are looking to move this guy. But that shouldn't obscure the fact that he has had three really good plate appearances tonight, and we're only in the fourth inning. He walked each of his first two times, the first time after falling behind 1-2, and he just blooped a 3-2 pitch into right field for a single to score Andruw Jones -- who actually got a hit to lead off the inning -- and give the Dodgers a 12-1 lead.

Clayton Kershaw is on his way to Denver. He will be officially recalled from Double-A Jacksonville tomorrow, with a corresponding move to come at that time. Jason Johnson was supposed to pitch tomorrow night, and the fact he wasn't even on the 40-man roster until his contract was purchased from Vegas on Friday would at least SEEM to suggest he might be the odd man out. But let me stress that I am NOT hearing that from any little birdies or anything like that. I'm just guessing. And don't forget that Johnson basically saved the Dodgers' bacon with his three innings out of the pen on Friday night.

Here's tonight's lineup. Nomar is sitting, despite the fact he has 14 hits in his past 42 at-bats since coming off the DL on July 4. Dylan Hernandez and I tried to talk to him about sitting tonight and the fact he seems so comfortable back at SS, but he wasn't in much of a mood to talk. Probably has something to do with sitting in the middle of a hot streak, but we asked him that point blank and he didn't bite, so again, I'm just speculating.

RF Kemp
LF Ethier
C Martin
2B Kent
1B Loney
CF Jones
3B LaRoche
SS Berroa
LH Stults

It is smokin' hot here, and unusually humid, with some afternoon clouds rolling in. I remember from when I lived here (1995-2000) that during the hottest part of the summer, it seems to cloud up and rain at least a little bit almost every afternoon. We should be fine by 7:05, though, when Eric Stults takes the hill against Kip Wells, who is making his first start after a stint on the DL with a blood clot in his right hand. Very important for the boys to carry the emotion of yesterday's ninth-inning rally into this series, because these Rockies are good enough to get back into this race if you let them -- and assuming the Cubs handle the D-backs this week, a three-game sweep of the Dodgers would put the Rox in the thick of everything.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, I hastily pounded out a blog entry saying the Dodgers were going to have a very, very hard time winning this division because the Diamondbacks have Dan Haren and Brandon Webb and the Dodgers, well, don't. Having completed it, I set it up a mouseclick away from posting and settled back to watch the ninth inning. Approx. half an hour later, the Dodgers' universe looked very different from up here in the Chase Field press box, and, one would imagine, from the clubhouse, as well. If this team DOES win this division, these players and their fans will look back for a long time on what transpired in that ninth inning -- particularly when Matt Kemp stepped to the plate with two outs and saw eight pitches from a struggling Brandon Lyon, five of them with two strikes, before he ultimately shot a game-tying, RBI double up the gap in left-center, the ball rolling to the deepest part of the park while Pablo Ozuna raced all the way home from first and dived stylishly into home plate. Andre Ethier and Russell Martin followed with RBI hits of their own and Jonathan Broxton proved he can overcome his own shakiness to record a save, as well, and the Dodgers pulled even with the Snakes once again at 48-50. The boys take two of three. Snakes coming to Chavez Ravine a week from Thursday for a four-game rematch. In the interim, it's on to Colorado for three, then back home for three each with the Nats and the Giants.

No one getting the day off, including Martin. Dodgers will need every ounce of offense they can muster against Brandon Webb.

RF Kemp
LF Ethier
C Martin
2B Kent
SS Garciaparra
1B Loney
CF Jones
3B DeWitt
RH Lowe

Ozuna, a utility IF like Maza, was DFA'd by the White Sox on July 8 to clear room for Paul Konerko, who came off the DL that day. Ozuna hit .281 (18 for 64) in 32 games for the Sox, with three doubles and six RBI. He can play all four infield spots and in the outfield, although he hasn't play the outfield much since breaking his leg last season.

Joe Jareck of the Dodgers' PR staff sent along this link to an interesting story about Ozuna, if you're interested. I mean, I guess it's interesting. I haven't read it yet.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/1046288,CST-SPT-sox09.article

Dan Haren turned in seven shutout innings against the Dodgers, but this game was all about defense. The Snakes played too much of it -- Conor Jackson robbed Matt Kemp of extra bases with an out-of-this-world catch at the wall in left-center with his back to the field, Mark Reynolds snared two smoking line drives off the bat of Jeff Kent at third and three-time Gold Glove 2B Orlando Hudson made a diving stop to rob Blake DeWitt for the final out of the seventh with a runner on -- and the Dodgers didn't play enough of it. Delwyn Young misjudged a routine fly ball off the bat of Hudson in the first inning, turning it into a double that led to an Arizona run. Ironically, that play didn't become nearly as glaring until the ninth, when Young delivered an RBI double to pull the Dodgers within 3-2. DY wound up stranded on third when the game ended, a one-run loss in a game when his miscue cost the Dodgers a run. Had the Dodgers lost 3-0, which was the score when they came to bat in the ninth, his miscue wouldn't have made much of a difference. ... Dodgers fall to 47-50 and back into second place, a game behind the Snakes. Brandon Webb going for Arizona tomorrow.

He threw a 40-pitch side session at Dodger Stadium today and felt fine. He is scheduled to throw another one on Tuesday.

Mark Sweeney becme eligible to come off the DL today, but doing so would have meant cutting back to 11 pitchers the day after Joe Torre needed eight of them to get through an 11-inning game, so the decision was made to wait. Meanwhile, Juan Pierre continues to improve. He did some running on the field early today, and Torre said he could be ready either to begin a rehab assignment or possibly even to rejoin the Dodgers as early as the next couple of weeks. ... One thing I forgot to mention in today's paper about last night's game was the play Blake DeWitt made to save the game and send it to extras. D-backs on first and third and two outs in the ninth, Augie Ojeda shoots a smash up the 3B line. DeWitt snared it on a vicious hop, planted and threw Ojeda out at first by no more than two steps. ... Here's tonight's lineup, with Andruw sitting one more day with flulike symptoms because Torre didn't want to risk having to replace him in-game like he did last night. Jones is available off the bench.

CF Kemp
RF Ethier
C Martin
2B Kent
SS Garciaparra
1B Loney
LF Young
3B DeWitt
RH Billingsley

As Matt Kemp rightfully pointed out after the game, every game is big the second half, no matter who it is the Dodgers are playing. But this game, and this series, are bigger than others. Nothing like a head-to-head matchup between the leaders to kick off the second half. Dodgers finally got untracked offensively, hitting a season-high four homers -- two by Nomar, his first two-homer game in six years; and one each by Kemp and James Loney, with Loney's coming off Doug Slaten in the 11th inning and deciding the game. All four homers were BLASTED. Garciaparra's first one broke a plate of food in the swimming pool. His second one landed 10 feet deep into the D-backs bullpen in left. Kemp's was a towering drive that finally came down 10 rows deep in left field. And Loney's was a line drive that landed 15 rows deep in right. ... Big night for Jonathan Broxton, who looked every bit the part of a big-league closer in blowing out three consecutive D-backs hitters in the 11th. He struggled in both of his appearances as the Dodgers' closer last year, when Saito had a minor injury. so this was a reassuring effort both for Broxton himself and for Joe Torre and Rick Honeycutt. ... Dodgers go to 47-49 and tie the Snakes for the lead, with the Giants and Rockies seven back. This is a two-team race, folks, and it's going to be fun to watch. Game 2 at 5:10 tomorrow.

One of you asked for this the other night. Here it is. To the left of the thing in the middle is glass, to the right of it is open air. This was taken at approx. 2:15 in the morning, a little more than half an hour after the game ended.

100_0123[1]

Torre met with him today and basically told him that he'll be the PRIMARY closer, and that he will get the call if the Dodgers have a slim lead in the ninth tonight, but he won't be the ONLY closer. Chan Ho Park is out of the rotation so he can be used in that role on occasion, and Torre also said he might use Hong-Chih Kuo or Joe Beimel in save situations if the other team had two or three left-handed hitters coming up in the inning. It sounds like closer by committee, with the one qualifier being that Broxton is going to get the call MOST of the time. ... Park will be replaced in the rotation by veteran right-hander Jason Johnson, whose contract was purchased from Las Vegas earlier today to take Takashi Saito's roster spot. ... Stop us if you have heard this one before: Jason Schmidt has been shut down, his rehab assignment put on hold. He felt discomfort in his shoulder after his last rehab start. Torre said he'll throw a couple of side sessions here, and if those go well, he'll resume his rehab. ... Oh, and even as Don Mattingly takes over as hitting coach, Jeff Pentland, one of what are now three roving minor-league hitting instructors, will be with the club for the next few days to work with Andruw Jones, whom he worked with during Jones' all-too-brief rehab at Vegas. Jones apparently didn't swing and miss at a single pitch during that three-day assignment, which originally was supposed to last a couple of weeks until Juan Pierre went on the DL.

Here's the lineup
RF Kemp
LF Ethier
C Martin
2B Kent
SS Garciaparra
1B Loney
CF Jones
3B DeWitt
RH Kuroda

There is nothing I can possibly say in this space to do justice to this game. There were a couple of occasions late in the game when I made a point of turning away from the deadline pressure I was facing and reminding myself that I was witnessing something truly, truly special, something that no one who was here and stuck it out to the end -- which, incidentally, came at 1:37 a.m. local time -- will ever forget. I have only seen a handful of games in this ballpark -- this was the 15th, by my recollection -- but almost all of them have been memorable. There was the 12-inning game to start the 2000 World Series. There were two-run homers by Tino Martinez and Scott Brosius, both with two outs in the ninth, to send Games 4 and 5 of the 2001 Series to extra innings, both of which the Yankees went on to win. There was Game 6 of the 2003 Series, when Florida's Josh Beckett pitched a five-hit shutout to give the Marlins the title. But I can honestly say none of that compared to tonight.

I'm frantically writing on deadline and don't have time to write this up myself, so here is the email from Dodgers PR chief Josh Rawitch, which just came over.

Please forgive the delay, but Saito wanted to make sure he reached his family first before it was released to the media.

He has been diagnosed with a sprained ligament in his right elbow and he will rehab the area for an estimated six weeks, at which point he will be reevaluated.

Ned is here at the All-Star Game, so getting him is going to be tough. He just gave me this quote to pass along.
"We'll get together with Joe and come up with a plan. Obviously, it is not easy replacing someone like him. As far as trading for a closer, its a lot like trying to acquire a shortstop - it's a premium position and most teams don't carry an excess. We also have candidates within the staff. Many times closers are discovered in times like this. We'll know more about what we'll do short-term in a couple of days. And we'll know more about Saito's status as the rehab develops."
We will put Saito on the 15-day DL and have a corresponding move on Friday.
Thanks and again, sorry for the delay.

Josh

Now they are introducing the starting lineups not by having them run out and line up along the first- and third-base lines, but by having them run out to stand among the HOFs at their respective positions. This just sends chills down your back watching this, even though I have a really bad seat in the secondary press box. I can see the mound, home plate, first base, right field and the area where the second baseman plays. I can see third base, shortstop and center field through a glass partition separating this box from the owner's box next door. I can see the 2B bag only if I lean one way or the other and look around the support beam at the front of that partition. And I can't see LF at all unless I stand up. But somehow, my full, unobstructed view at Chase Field on Friday night is going to pale in comparison to this.

No idea, but it takes 45 of them, by my eyeball count, to put on this pregame show. They just walked in from the bullpens and stood at their respective positions. There are 15 pitchers, 2 catchers, five 1Bs (Willie McCovey, who now walks with a cane, is sitting in a chair), three 2Bs, 5 SSs, four 3Bs and 10 OFs. Paul Molitor is standing alone right on second base, I'm guessing as a DH. They're all wearing dark-colored sports coats and the caps of the respective teams they played for. This is really, really cool if you're a true baseball fan ... and even if you're a horrifically jaded one like me

... not that you'll be able to tell when the game starts at 8:40 Eastern time, because it'll be just about dark by then. But hey, TV rules everything. This game has a slim chance of being over before midnight. The buildings that form the backdrop here are, like most buildings in New York, really, really old. Most of them appear to be tenament apartment dwellings. But really, they only add to the ambience. I realize this place bears no resemblance to the original Yankee Stadium, before Steinbrenner's grand refurbishing in 1974-75. But looking at those buildings, you can't help thinking that they were probably there when Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig played here. Looking at one window, you can almost imagine Ralph and Alice Kramden living inside. Looking at another, maybe Ricky and Lucy Ricardo. I'm not sure, but it looks from the outside like the new park across the street is going to face a different way, possibly toward the Manhattan skyline off in the distance to the South. The North end of Manhattan is just across the river from here, but that famous skyline doesn't start for about 100 blocks. Reserves from both leagues are lining up along the baselines now for formal introductions, with flashbulbs going off everywhere. ... By the way, Giants ace and recent Sports Illustrated cover boy Tim Lincecum won't be playing tonight. He came down with a sudden illness. One of the Giants beat writers told me there was a rumor he was taken away from the hotel in an ambulance last night, but that couldn't be confirmed, and it sounds like nothing more than a rumor. Hope he's OK. ... Ernie Banks adressed the N.L. team before the game, in the clubhouse, and emphasized the importance of winning it, something the N.L. hasn't done since 1996. ... Lou Piniella just got his usual ``Louuuuuuuuu'' greeting that goes back to when he was playing for the Yankees. He was the first player I can remember when I was a kid about whom the broadcasters would say, ``They're not booing, they're chanting Louuuu, Louuuu.'' So David Letterman, whenever his audience didn't like one of his lame one-liners, would always say, ``They're not booing, they're chanting Daaaaave, Daaaaave.''

Turns out his appt with Dr. ElAttrache isn't until 5 p.m. West Coast time, so we aren't going to know anything for a while and maybe not even until tomorrow. I know this is a big issue with a lot of Dodgers fans -- I can tell by the number of emails I have gotten today inquiring about it -- but I appreciate your patience. Dr. ElAttrache isn't going to the tell the Dodgers anything, and rightfully so, until he tells Saito himself. Josh Rawitch is here at Yankee Stadium working for MLB, and Ned Colletti is here, too, so we should get the info shortly after they do.

Jaime Jarrin, the Dodgers' Hall of Fame Spanish language broadcaster and one of the classiest people in the game, just told me he has decided that after this All-Star Game, he will no longer call any All-Star Games or World Series for ESPN. He has called a total of 25 World Series and 20 All-Star Games for either the Dodgers' Spanish radio network or ESPN. ``My family needs me at home,'' he said. ``This year if the Dodgers don't go to the postseason, I will be able to travel someplace (in October) where I couldn't go in November because of the climate. I told (ESPN) it wasn't a matter of needing more money or going to the competition. It's just has to do with my schedule. It's just too much.'' Jaime will be 73 in December and has a wife, two sons and three grandsons. ``My wife Blanca and my sons Jorge and Mauricio are delighted that I have made this decision,'' Jaime said. ... Ned just told me Dr. ElAttrache wasn't in Los Angeles today, and that's why he couldn't examine the MRI results until tomorrow. So don't read anything into the previous update other than what it said. However, Ned did echo what Torre said yesterday. ``Are we concerned? Yes,'' he said. ... With the HR Derby about to start, I was about to complain about them playing the music too loud. But then I realized it's a live concert by 3 Doors Down. It's so loud the table is shaking under my laptop as I type this.

That is when Dr. ElAttrache will take a look at the MRI results. I'm not sure exactly what to read into that, or if anything should be read into it at all other than just what it says. Guess we'll know tomorrow. But once again, as Torre said on Sunday, you have to be prepared for the worst. ... Former Angels OF Don Baylor is on the field, in uniform, as a special N.L. coach, something Rockies manager Clint Hurdle got permission to do. Hurdle was the Rockies' hitting coach before he was their manager, including for two years during Baylor's tenure as their manager. Don, who still lives in the Palm Springs area, has been out of baseball since resigning as Seattle's hitting coach at the end of the 2005 season. He also beat bone cancer a few years ago, and he looks great, at least when viewed from the press box as he stands on the field talking to people. I had the privelege of covering him for a few years in Colorado. Just a tremendously classy guy.

Ask any cynical, jaded ball scribe like myself, and they will tell you that today, the day of the All-Star Workout and Home Run Derby, is the longest, most draining day of the season. There are simply too many of us chasing too few nuggets of readable, informative news with too many restrictions placed up on that pursuit, and very few of us will walk out of Yankee Stadium tonight feeling like we had a successful day of doing what we do. But there is still some semblance of a baseball fan in almost every one of us, and the day when I can no longer appreciate being here is the day I will give this all up. There is something special about an All-Star Game and the days leading up to it, and having one at Yankee Stadium in its final season is truly an experience never to be forgotten. This place is old and outdated -- and its shiny, new replacement across the street is almost complete -- but it is still arguably the most famous, historic venue in the history of American sports. ... Nothing new on Takashi Saito and his MRI yet, but I'm hoping for word on that shortly. Josh Rawitch rode the subway up here with Ned, and said Ned hadn't heard anything at that point. ... Russell Martin is presently taking ground balls at shortstop during batting practice, just as he does frequently at Dodger Stadium.

The boys salvaged one before the break, and on a day when Arizona lost, no less. Chad Billingsley went seven spectacular innings, striking out a career-high 13 and holding the Fish to five hits, all while throwing just 106 pitches and without walking a batter. The Dodgers, who played 28 games during the first half in which they scored zero runs or one run, had one of their occasional breakouts. Although they scored their nine runs on only eight hits, the encouraging thing was that they drew seven walks from Andrew Miller and Mark Hendrickson, who combined to throw 139 pitches over the first seven innings. If the Dodgers can carry that over, they might be OK -- especially if they win two of three or even sweep the Diamondbacks beginning on Friday in PHX. Dodgers improve to 46-49 and stay one game back. BTW, this has to be one of the latest All-Star breaks on record in terms of number of games played before (95 in the Dodgers' case) vs. number of games played after (67). That means that when play resumes, there is a strong sense of urgency right from the get-go. ... Jason Schmidt got lit up for five runs (four earned) on five hits over 2 1/3 innings, with three walks and two strikeouts, in his rehab start for Las Vegas against Tacoma. But these things aren't about results. They're about progress, and there were no report of Schmidt's arm falling off. ... Ivan De Jesus Jr. went 2 for 3 with a walk and a double in the Futures Game at Yankee Stadium. He played 2B.

Saito will have an MRI tomorrow to determine the extent of his injury. ``It's never good when your closer comes out of a game,'' Torre said. ``I think you have to assume the worst ... (but) let's see what happens. I hope he can just rest it for four or five days and (return).'' ... Matt Kemp is back in the leadoff spot, but only because Jeff Kent isn't starting and Joe wanted Nomar's bat in the middle of the lineup.

He left after striking out the first two batters in the ninth inning when he experienced tightness in his right elbow. He'll be re-evaluated tomorrow. Not sure it mattered that he left the game, because by that time the Dodgers had already scored three runs, pretty much exceeding their daily allotment, so they weren't going to score again. Andruw Jones came to the plate five times tonight and struck out five times. Yeah, he's going to get it turned around any day now. With one day left before the All-Star break, the Dodgers appear to have hit rock bottom, emotionally if not record-wise. Tonight, they went 0 for 6 with RISP, and they are now in serious danger of closing out the first half by being swept in a four-game series at home by the Florida Marlins, the same club the Dodgers swept at Dolphin Stadium back on April 29-May 1, when Rafael Furcal was healthy and the Dodgers were in the midst of an eight-game winning streak. Dodgers fall to 45-49, and the .500 mark is getting increasingly difficult to envision. They are now two behind the Snakes.

Apparently, the Matt Kemp experiment has died a noble death, because Garciaparra is batting in the leadoff spot for the first time since July 15-16, 2002, for Boston at Detroit. According to the Dodgers' PR staff, he batted there exclusively in 1997 and started out there in '98 before he was moved down the order to provide pop in the middle (you may recall he had pop in those days). Kemp batted .255 (12 for 47) leading off, albeit with a home run, two doubles, a triple and six walks. He has struck out 32 times in his past 90 plate appearances, not exactly the numbers you look for in a leadoff man. Haven't seen the rest of the lineup yet.

Ryan Volstad pitched a gem against the Dodgers, but the fact he got through 8 2/3 innings on 100 pitches is an indication the Dodgers still aren't working counts consistently. Dodgers didn't get a runner past first base until the ninth inning, when Delwyn Young advanced to second on Andre Ethier's groundout. DY then scored on Russell Martin's RBI single, averting the shutout and ruining Volstad's bid for a complete game. The game ended when Jeff Kent flied to the warning track in right field. A few more feet and the game would have been tied. Dodgers fall to 45-48 and remain one behind the Snakes. ... By the way, it was only a formality, but the Dodgers officially informed Vero Beach and Indian River County today that they won't return there for spring training in 2009.

RF Kemp
LF Ethier
C Martin
2B Kent
CF Jones
1B Loney
SS Garciaparra
3B DeWitt
LH Stults

It is as follows: Hiroki Kuroda, Chad Billingsley, Derek Lowe, Chan Ho Park, Eric Stults. D-Lowe will go about 10 days without pitching, but this means he won't have to pitch in the Colorado series July 21-23, because his history at Coors Field is, by his own admission, pretty bad. Kuroda's ``opening-day'' assignment will no doubt make big waves in his native Japan. Don't forget Penny and Schmidt will join the rotation at some point around the end of the month.

Yes, Brian Falkenborg gave up a home run to Hanley Ramirez in the 11th, but it shouldn't have come to that. And besides, Ramirez is one of the hottest hitters in baseball -- his winning blast capped his first career five-hit game. On a night when the Dodgers battled back from 3-0 to tie, then battled back from 4-3 to tie but somehow never led, they left what would have been the winning run in scoring position in the seventh, eighth and 10th innings. After going 3 for 3 with RISP, all in the third inning, they went 0 for 5 thereafter. And that is why they missed yet another chance to reach .500 for what would have been the first time in six weeks and again fell out of their tie for first place. They are now 45-47.

The Dodgers have agreed in principle with top draft pick Ethan Martin on a $1.73 million signing bonus. He took batting practice (even though he was drafted as a pitcher) under the watchful eyes of several people, including Joe Torre and Tommy Lasorda, and actually went yard four times. ...
Rafael Furcal made his first appearance since his surgery. Says he is going to play it safe, but that he feels great. He only feels pain at the site of the surgery, where he used to also feel it in his left leg.
``I think I will play (again), because I feel so much better than before,'' he said. ``We have three months left. They say ... six, seven, eight weeks. But I don't want to go on the field just because I feel good. I want to get it a little bit stronger.''

D-Lowe became the latest Dodgers starter to flirt with perfection. His bid ended on a leadoff single by Gregor Blanco in the seventh, but Lowe still got the win in what was probably his best performance of the season. Dodgers move to 45-46 and back into a first-place tie with Aironza. ... This didn't make the paper, but Jason Schmidt came out of last night's rehab start fine. He'll make his next one as scheduled on Sunday against Tacoma. Mark Sweeney will start his rehab tomorrow. And Juan Pierre is said to be ahead of schedule with the MCL sprain in his left knee. He was supposed to miss four to six weeks, so I'm not exactly sure what ahead of schedule translates to.

As always, Mike Easler handled it with extreme class. He's going to stick around through Sunday, then become the organization's third roving minor-league hitting instructor along with Gene Clines and Jeff Pentland, who was added a couple of weeks ago. They're going to continue trying to instill the Torre approach to hitting, that finally is beginning to sink in at the major-league level, in the minors. ... Torre and Ned Colletti met with Mike last night to give him the news, and the fact of the matter is Mike never really had the keys to the car. The door was always open for Mattingly to come back as hitting coach, and although most of us assumed it wouldn't happen until next year, he decided to do it now. Torre said Mattingly and 3B coach Larry Bowa were ``necessary to come in with me,'' something Mattingly had planned to do before it was announced on Jan. 22 that he wasn't coming after all because of personal reasons -- it turned out he was going through a messy divorce. He has been with the club at various stops on the road all season, so it's not like he will be coming into a totally unfamiliar situation.

Not much to say about this one, except that the Dodgers still can't beat top-of-the-line starting pitchers -- Jair Jurrjens stuffed them for a run on five hits over six innings -- and Chad Billingsley no-hit the Braves through four, ran into trouble in the fifth and then couldn't stop the bleeding. Dodgers fall to 44-46 and back into second place, a game behind the Snakes. ... Here's Jason Schmidt's line for Las Vegas tonight against Tucson, if anyone cares: four innings, five hits, three runs (two earned), one walk, two strikeouts, one HR. He threw 59 pitches. I THINK he was supposed to throw 70, so I'll have to find out tomorrow why it was cut short. My guess is it was 70 pitches or four innings, whichever came first.

I was told this morning, by a source completely separate from the ones from which I got the earlier story, that Matt Kemp WAS involved in the aborted trade for Sabathia, Blake and Carroll, and that either Jon Meloan or James McDonald also was involved. My source wasn't sure which one. Can't imagine Sabathia would have been much better than Kuroda was last night. If Kuroda can keep this up -- he has now thrown 16 scoreless in two starts since coming off the DL -- that's a pretty big presence in the rotation.

In case you haven't seen it yet, this is the news of the day:

http://www.dailynews.com/dodgers/ci_9812507

or at least it WAS the news of the day, right up until Hiroki Kuroda went out and nearly pitched a perfect game. Turned out to be a one-hit shutout in which he retired 27 of 28 batters, giving up only a leadoff double to Mark Teixeira in the eighth inning. And with that, the Dodgers (44-45) move into a first-place tie with the idle Snakes. Dead even. No percentage-point separation. This is as tied as tied can be. It's a whole new ballgame, with 73 ballgames to go for each team.

Some Kuroda trivia
--it's the first one-hitter by a Dodgers pitcher since Derek Lowe on Aug. 31, 2005 at the Cubs
--it would have been the first perfect game by a Dodgers pitcher since Sandy Koufax, also against the Cubs, on Sept. 9, 1965
--it would have been the first no-hitter by a Dodgers pitcher since Hideo Nomo at Colorado on Sept. 17, 1996
--it was the third complete-game shutout by a Dodgers pitcher this year, something that hadn't happened even once during the past two seasons or since Lowe's aforementioned one-hitter. The previous shutouts this year were by Kuroda against the Cubs, a four-hitter on June 6, and Eric Stults against the White Sox, a four-hitter on June 25.
--Kuroda pitched seven shutout innings in his previous start on Wed. night at Houston and now has allowed six hits over 16 shutout innings since coming off the DL.

RF Kemp
LF Ethier
C Martin
2B Kent
1B Loney
CF Jones
SS Garciaparra
3B DeWitt
RH Kuroda

If you saw my game coverage in today's paper, it centered mostly on the fact the Dodgers seem to have taken on a radically different personality over the past week or so, a fact that manager Joe Torre and a couple of the players backed up after Sunday's game. Well, I ran across this quote while reading the San Francisco Chronicle on the flight home this morning. It came from Giants shortstop Emmanuel Burriss, and it seems to back up the notion that these Dodgers have a new feistiness about them:
``I don't know if the Dodgers were playing harder (than other opponents) because of the rivalry or because we're on their tail, but I definitely had that sense out there. There seems to be more intensity.''

This was a big win for the Dodgers. It turned on a couple of key moments. First, with the game tied in the bottom of the second, the first two Giants got on base, and Matt Cain, trying to bunt, then popped a bunt just to the left of home plate. Russell Martin tried and failed to make a diving catch, and the ball bounced into foul territory. The plate ump originally ruled that the ball had made contact with Martin's glove in fair territory, which would have meant a single for Cain and bases loaded, no outs. But the 3B ump, who had a better angle, said it never touched Martin's mitt -- and televised replays seemed to back that up -- and that made it just a foul ball. Cain wound up sacrificing, but Eric Stults then pitched out of the second-and-third, one-out jam by striking out Fred Lewis and Ray Durham, and the Dodgers immediately came back with two runs in the top of the third. The other key moment was in the bottom of the fifth, with the Dodgers leading 5-2. The first two Giants batters reached, putting runners on first and third with none out, and Torre pulled Stults two outs shy of qualifying for the victory. On came Brian Falkenborg, the goat on Saturday night's game. He immediately got Bengie Molina and Aaron Rowand to pop up, then struck out Jose Castillo, preserving the three-run lead. Falkenborg was done for the day at that point, but he wound up getting the win by scorer's discretion. It was his first big-league win since Mother's Day 2004, his last stint with the Dodgers, when Olmedo Saenz's three-run jack in the 14th inning gave the Dodgers the victory. ... Dodgers improve to 43-45 with their seventh win in their past 10 games, and they remain a half-game behind the Snakes, who beat the Pods.

He won't be the starter this year -- he finished way down the list in fan voting. But he will be going to Yankee Stadium for the first time in his life (and, as he pointed out, probably the last), something he says he is really excited about.
``I fortunate enough to have a chance to play there,'' Martin said. ``A lot of people in this game never have the opportunity to play there, so I'm fortunate, especially with this being the last season of Yankee Stadium. It's going to be awesome.''
Martin also said he thinks this year's All-Star Game will be a more relaxing experience for him. Last year was his first, and it can be a bit of a whirlwind for those who have never been.

The San Diego-Arizona score went up as a final in the top of the seventh inning, literally about five seconds before Andy LaRoche grounded sharply to second to end the inning and strand runners on second and third. LaRoche was hitting for Chan Ho Park, who had been dazzling over six innings, allowing a run on three hits with seven strikeouts. On came the bullpen, and out went the game. Giants scored four in the bottom half, and the Dodgers whiffed (11 times in the game) at a chance to take over the division lead. They fall to 42-45 and stay a half-game behind the slumping Snakes. Dodgers now have to go at least 6-2 the rest of the way to be .500 (48-47) by the All-Star break.

But Ethier, who is sizzling, is playing against the lefty Barry Zito

RF Kemp
LF Ethier
3B Martin
2B Kent
CF Jones
SS Garciaparra
1B Loney
C Ardoin
RH Park

Today's sim game didn't go well. He shut it down in the fourth inning after he ``felt a little something in the back of his shoulder,'' according to Joe Torre. He'll see the doctor on Monday. No one seems to think it's anything major, but Chan Ho Park will fill that spot in the rotation for the rest of the first half. If it goes longer than that, Kershaw will be recalled again. There doesn't seem to be any sense of urgency with this, and really, his two-time All-Star status notwithstanding, why should there be? Penny last pitched on June 13 at Detroit, and the Dodgers lost that day to fall to 31-37 and remain a season-worst 5 1/2 games behind the Snakes. Since they, they are 11-7, and there is a chance they could leapfrog the Snakes into first place tonight. Now, I'm not saying Penny's absence is the reason. I'm just saying that the team clearly hasn't been all that affected by his absence.

Probably not. Not at this point, anyway. But according to multiple industry sources, the Dodgers have more than a passing interest in acquiring the reigning A.L. Cy Young Award winner -- IF the price is right. From what I understand, right now, it isn't. Sabathia is a free agent at season's end, so acquiring him carries with it the chance that he will be nothing more than a two-month rental. Dodgers aren't going to give up a ton of prospects for that. ... The other rumor out there centers on Jack Wilson, the Pittsburgh shortstop, who would seem to me to be exactly what the Dodgers need and exactly what they're looking for. He is an everyday-caliber SS, a former All-Star who can hit, and he has a year left on his contract -- plus a clup option for 2010. ... Dodgers GM Ned Colletti declined to comment on either possibility. ``It's just rumor,'' he said. ... Sabathia's $9 million salary for this year automatically bumped to $11 million when he won last year's Cy. Wilson is getting $6.5 million this year and $7.25 million next year. The option is for $8.4 million with a $600k buyout.

... due to space limitations, I wasn't able to get this into tomorrow's paper, and I wanted to make sure I got it in somewhere ... Andre Ethier had a single, double and home run today for the second time in three games, and he has now homered in three consecutive games. This guy has really been on fire lately. He is 9 for 19 over his past five games, and he has four HRs in his past eight games. Seven of his past 10 hits have gone for extra bases. His HR today came off Giants lefty Jonathan Sanchez, significant because the LH-hitting Ethier came into the day batting .167 (10 for 60) against lefties for the year. He is now hitting .281 overall. ... Also, Jason Schmidt got knocked around in his rehab start at Las Vegas last night, but by all accounts, he pitched well and his velocity was good. He admitted to the Las Vegas Review-Journal that is still a little gun-shy about really letting it go for fear of re-injuring his shoulder. That's something he'll have to get over, but that's what rehab is for. ... Torre also said Andruw Jones and Nomar Garciaparra will sit out Sunday's game. He wants to be cautious with those guys, and that's understandable.

It wasn't pretty -- in fact, it was so no pretty that Joe Torre had a brief team meeting after the game to point out the need to clean up the sloppy play -- but it was effective. Dodgers won their fourth game in a row, their second-longest winning streak of the season. This game was a textbook example of the hitting approach Torre has been trying to instill. The Dodgers couldn't do much against Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez except make him work. They worked him over for 110 pitches over five innings, resulting in Bruce Bochy going to his bullpen in the sixth, and the Dodgers then unloaded on rookie reliever Oriris Matos for five runs in the decisive sixth inning, a rally that began when left fielder Fred Lewis dropped Nomar's fly ball. Dodgers go to 42-44. Snakes play tonight. ... Andruw Jones had the same game Jason Repko had the other night, going 0 for 5 with four strikeouts, suggesting nothing has changed since before he had his surgery -- he is now batting .159 and averaging a strikeout every 3.2 plate appearances. This is what he had to say about it: ``I felt good at the plate. They just made tough pitches on me. Tip your hat to them. There is nothing you can do. I'll just come out tomorrow and go at it again. (Sanchez) pitched really good, and this was the first time ... I have ever faced him.''

So I had the players right in my prediction, but I was wrong about Sweeney being DFA'd. Turns out, he has had a strained right hamstring for the past three or four weeks. Sweeney says it isn't the reason he is hitting .094. Torre says it is. At any rate, the Dodgers were able to activate Nomar and Andruw, both of whom are in the starting lineup, without losing a player from the organizational inventory.

Here's the lineup, but it's subject to change if Kent is scratched with the back thing

RF Kemp
LF Ethier
C Martin
2B Kent
CF Jones
SS Garciaparra
1B Loney
3B LaRoche
RH Lowe

Chad Billingsley was as good as he has ever been, going eight innings and giving up just two unearned runs. Jeff Kent left with a stiff back, but he should be OK for tomorrow, according to both Kent and Joe Torre. Saito got into mild trouble in the ninth, but got out of it. James Loney homered in his hometown. And the Dodgers take three out of four here from the same team that swept them in Los Angeles back in May. Dodgers improve to 41-44. Snakes are trailing the Brewers 5-0 late in the game, this on a day when Brandon Webb was pitching. Looks like the Dodgers might be within a half-game of the division lead by day's end. See my previous post abou the NL West stinkfest. Off to San Francisco.

Both players initiated the change in the wake of the Furcal development. Nomar was going to be activated Monday, anyway, so his return is only being pushed up by three days. But Andruw Jones wasn't supposed to be back until the start of the second half, TWO WEEKS from tomorrow. He was supposed to return to Los Angeles this weekend to rest, then resume his rehab for another eight days starting on Monday. As for whether club officials have any concerns about what this will mean for Nomar's left calf calf and Andruw's surgically repaired right knee, assistant GM Kim Ng said. ``We always have concerns. That is our job, to be concerned.'' ... By the way, Brad Penny will NOT start on Saturday. He had some command issues during his simulated game, so he's going to need another one. The tentative plan now is for him to be activated next week and make only one start before the break, probably start either Wednesday against the Braves or Thursday against the Marlins. Chan Ho Park will pitch Saturday night at San Francisco. Eric Stults, who is away in Indiana for the birth of his second child, will rejoin the club in time to pitch on Sunday against the Giants.

This is one stinkfest of a division, and as we awoke this morning, it was led by a team with a losing record. Yes, the D-backs are now 42-43, and they STILL have a 1 1/2-game lead on the rest of the division. The N.L. West as a whole is 39-46 against the NL East, 45-66 against the NL Central and a ghastly 27-54 (that's a .333 winning percentage) against A.L. teams. NL West teams are 75-75 against each other, but that's only because every game has a winner and a loser. If it wasn't for that basic and unbreakable mathematic principle that doesn't allow for anything other than a .500 record, the NL West would no doubt have as bad a record against itself as it has against the other divisions. ... How about this: in perusing each TEAM's record against the other divisions, the only winning records are the Giants against the East (9-7) and the Dodgers against the Central (16-14). The Pods are 8-8 against the East. Other than that, it's all losers, baby. The Snakes are 20-8 within the division, while no other club is better than 15-13 (Giants), and that is why Arizona continues to cling to a lead.

He will have a disc in his lower back partially removed in a procedure known as a mirco-discectomy (say that three times quickly). As stated earlier, he will miss at least eight more weeks, putting him on track for a possible return in last August. But frankly, at this point, it's tough to imagine him playing again this year -- not because I don't think he will, but just because it's so far down the road that it's hard to even think about right now. What all of this means, of course, is that Ned Colletti basically HAS to find another everyday SS, and don't think the other GMs around the league don't know that. That means they will have ALL the leverage in any trade talks with the Dodgers, which probably means the club has to give up at least one of its valued prospects -- unless, of course, Ned ultimately decides there isn't another SS out there worth doing that for, and the Dodgers go with a Nomar/Maza/Berroa combo for the rest of the year. Hey, it's working so far. They might be 40-44, but they also appeared on the verge of moving within 1 1/2 of the Snakes after the Brewers took a 4-3 lead in the top of the ninth.

Gotta bang out my game story, but I'll come back here when I'm done and fill you in on the rest.

I was as surprised as you undoubtedly are, but no one was more surprised that Kershaw himself. Joe Torre stressed, both to Clayton and to the media, that the move was more about needing a roster spot for Hiroki Kuroda, who is coming off the DL and starting tonight, than it was about the way Clayton has pitched. But as Clayton himself said, ``Any way you spin it, I'm getting sent down. They can say they didn't have enough room, but they (brought) me up when they didn't have enough room, because all those (pitchers) were healthy then.'' Haven't gotten a definitive explanation yet of why it's Jacksonville and not Las Vegas, but I'm sure it's because they don't want to subject the kid to the psychological perils of pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. ... Still nothing on Furcal, but Torre admitted he now has to take on the mindset that Furcal isn't coming back until he does. At this point, I'm not convinced he is coming back at all, but Torre was a bit more cautious. ``We have half a season (left),'' he said. ``I would like to think that is going to happen.''

And nothing for me to post on this blog. But I do hope to have something on the roster move within the hour and something on Furcal within the next couple of hours. So stay tuned.

This one could have been really, really bad after the boys blew a 6-1 lead on the same day they learned Furcal probably isn't coming back next week. As it turned out, it could be really, really good if they can use it as a springboard. Jeff Kent delivered off Wesley Wright in the 11th, Takashi Saito got it done in the bottom half, and that was that. Clayton Kershaw left in position to finally get his first big-league win, but it wasn't to be. But the important thing was that the Dodgers won, improving to 37-44, and moved within 2 1/2 of the Snakes. With or without Furcal, this thing is a long, long way from being over. And the news from Vegas wasn't all bad. Nomar went 2 for 3 and Andruw, who played CF tonight, went 3 for 3 against Salt Lake.

Not sure the extent of it, but we just learned he woke up this morning with more discomfort in his back. He was sent back to Los Angeles for an exam, which I guess will take place tomorrow. I'll have more when I know more.

His .331 OBP and his 81 strikeouts in 306 plate appearances wouldn't seem to make him a very likely candidate, but here is Torre's thinking: As important as it is for a leadoff man to reach base, it is equally important to the opposing pitcher to keep him OFF base. The last thing they want to do is walk the leadoff man. So Wandy Rodriguez figures to be throwing a lot of strikes, and that is when Kemp becomes dangerous. Most of his strikeouts seem to come on pitches out of the zone. And yes, Torre said he will make a point of pointing this out to Kemp before the game. Kemp said his only previous experience leading off came in the Arizona Fall League, where he played in 2005 and hit a walkoff homer to win the championship.

CF Kemp
LF Young
C Martin
2B Kent
1B Loney
3B LaRoche
RF Ethier
SS Maza
LH Kershaw

Nine players, including five from the Dodgers' Ogden affiliate, were ejected from last night's game at Idaho Falls in the top of the first inning after Idaho Falls Chukars (what exactly is a Chukar, anyway?) pitcher Paul Raglione hit Raptors leadoff man Devaris Strange-Gordon, setting off a wild, benches-clearing brawl ... and this is ROOKIE ball, with most of the players having just started their professional careers and many of them products of last month's amateur draft. You can see the video by going to youtube.com and typing in RAPTORS BRAWL, but the video doesn't show what led up to the incident. It only shows Raglione moving toward the first-base line, where Gordon appears to be jawing at him as Idaho Falls catcher Juan Graterol tries to restrain him. Raglione then shoves Gordon, and the benches empty. Three if the five Raptors players ejected were Gordon, Kyle Russell and Brian Ruggiano, the Dodgers' fourth-, third- and 23rd-round picks in this year's draft. The others were Travis Vetters and Lyndon Poole. DeJon Watson, the Dodgers' assistant GM and player development boss, said he doesn't expect any suspensions to be handed down from the league office -- which, if it's like the league office of most minor leagues, probably consists of a desk, a phone and a fax machine in some guy's basement.

Here's DeJon's comment:
``We addressed it with (the team) last night. Our manager, Mike Brumley, addressed it with the players on the bus on the way home, and he had even talked to them the night before about respecting the game and playing it the right way. We felt like this was initiated by (the Idaho Falls club). Our guys try not to get into fights, but they are going to protect themselves, and we're not going to let somebody run through us. This was more out of self defense than trying to initiate anything. I wasn't there, so I can't really state how it all got that far along. But our kids respect the game, play the game the right way and go about their business the right way. It's just unfortunate to have something like this happen this early in the season at at that level.''

The Pioneer League season doesn't begin until mid-June, just after the draft. In general, it is where players drafted out of college are first assigned, whereas high school draftees usually are sent to the Gulf Coast League. Idaho Falls is a Kansas City Royals affiliate.

Elsewhere in the Dodgers' system, Rafael Furcal, Nomar Garciaparra and Andruw Jones all played last night for Triple-A Las Vegas against Salt Lake, the first game for each of their rehabs. Furcal played four innings at SS and went 1 for 3, Nomar played four innings at 3B and went 0 for 2 and Andruw played the whole game at DH, going 1 for 3 with a solo homer. All three will play again tonight.

Oh, and Brad Penny threw his sim game an hour or so ago and looked fine.