Tonight's lineup: Martin, Loney flipped
Loney has three hits in his past 18 ABs while Martin has five in his past 10. Or, it could just be that Torre realized he didn't want his two lefties hitting back to back.
Furcal 6
Hudson 4
Ramirez 7
Ethier 9
Martin 2
Loney 3
Kemp 8
Blake 5
Billingsley 1
Now if Torre would just flip Martin & Kemp, he'd be done.
Or it could be that in the previous two games Torre preferred back-to-back left-handed hitters against the right-handed starters, and didn't fear the only two lefties in the bullpen, the undistinguished Tim Byrdak and Wesley Wright. On the other hand, tonight's starting pitcher is Wandy Rodriguez, a lefthander.
As I've noted before, I too would prefer to see Martin and Kemp flip flopped, mostly because I would like to see Kemp's superior power and speed higher up in the order. Also, I believe over the long run that Martin can better handle hitting lower in the order. Let's not forget that as a rookie Martin spent a large part of the year hitting 8th, and handled it well. Martin still has a tendency to swing too hard, although he is for the most part a disciplined hitter. Hitting lower in the order, I believe, would make him even more disciplined. Just a guess.
You guys are right on.
1.)Furcal
2.)Hudson
3.)Manny
4.)Ethier
5.)Kemp
6.)Loney
7.)Martin
8.)Blake
This should be the everyday lineup IMO regardless of if were facing a righty or lefty.
I don't think there could be any other reason then the lefty righty thing, unless he feels that Russell will like the change of following a different batter and the same could be said for Loney and Kemp.