Orioles 4, Dodgers 4
The boys rallied with three in the ninth to tie, starting with a leadoff walk from Hu followed by a two-run homer by the X-man, Xavier Paul. Andy LaRoche followed with a single, took second on a passed ball and raced home when Andre Ethier dropped a two-out blooper into shallow left field. Dodgers left the winning run on third in the 10th when LaRoche struck out, but just before that, Paul drew an impressive eight-pitch walk that included fouling off two 3-2 pitches. Afterward, Joe Torre talked more about that than the home run. Chad Billingsley gave up a run on three hits over two innings, but Jason Johnson followed with two scoreless innings and has not pitched four scoreless innings for the spring. James Loney went 2 for 3 with a pair of doubles and now is hitting .500 (6 for 12) for the spring. Dodgers go to 1-3-1 in the Grapefruit League and play a day-night, road-home doubleheader tomorrow with the Nationals.
Tony Jackson has covered the Dodgers for the Daily News since 2004 and has covered Major League Baseball on a regular basis since 1995. He previously covered the Colorado Rockies and Cincinnati Reds. He is a native of Springdale, Ark., and a graduate of the University of Arkansas.
Comments
Loney is smokin'.
Jason Johnson. Repeat after me class, "Scott Erickson."
Posted by: El Lay Dave
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March 3, 2008 2:23 PM
Johnson pitched poorly but was saved by some good defense from Pierre (yes, I said it).
Posted by: Marcel | March 3, 2008 2:35 PM
Tony-can you ask Torre why he is batting his best hitter, Kemp, in the 8th spot in the batting order 3 times now in 5 ST games? It really doesn't make sense to me.
Posted by: rayg | March 4, 2008 5:25 AM
Because Matt Kemp doesn't need protection. Matt Kemp scoffs at the idea of protection. Matt Kemp would tell Don Corleone he COULD refuse the offer. Matt Kemp could drive in 165 runs from the 8th position.
I'm not worrying about ST lineups. Torre and Company are not going to watch Loney and Kemp all spring and think, "hey those guys are 7 and 8 place hitters."
Posted by: El Lay Dave
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March 4, 2008 10:28 AM