April 2008 Archives

Rafael Furcal had his second career five-hit game, his first for the Dodgers, and the boys pounded out 15 hits and scored more runs TONIGHT than they did on their previous five-game road trip. Blake DeWitt had four RBI for the Dodgers, including a three-run triple to cap a five-run eighth, the second consecutive inning in which the Dodgers batted around. Chad Billingsley had a breakout game. He ran into his usual fifth-inning trouble, but this time, he hung tough and got out of it and wound up giving the Dodgers seven strong innings in which he held the Fish to three hits and saved the bullpen from another long night of work. Hong-Chih Kuo finished up with two shaky but scoreless innings, and the Dodgers moved above .500 (14-13) for the first time since April 7, when they were 4-3. Snakes came back to beat the Astros, so the boys stay 5 1/2 back in second.

He threw off flat ground, then sat around for 30 minutes, and it didn't tighten up on him, which Torre says was a really good sign. But Brox won't be available tonight. ... The lineup is the same on back-to-back nights for the first time this year, but it WILL change tomorrow because Sweeney is playing 1B and Joe says Bennett might catch, too.

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

... unless you're a reporter looking for a story, because so far, there is nothing going on with the Dodgers. Apparently, I was given some bad information, because it is TOMORROW that Juan Castro becomes a free agent, not today. Other than that, what I reported in today's paper was accurate -- if the Dodgers sign him, they want him to go to Vegas for 10 days, while the Padres are offering to put him straight into the majors. The Dodgers might change their tune if they find out they risk losing him to their neighbors. ... Nothing new on Broxton so far, but I'm sure there will be, so keep checking back. ... Good to see that the comments are working again, so feel free to post your thoughts -- often.

Jeff Kent came through with a two-out RBI single in the ninth to win it, but the story, as it has been throughout this four-game winning streak, was the bullpen. This time, it was Scott Proctor, Joe Beimel and Takashi Saito combining for four shutout innings. This after Derek Lowe, with the help of an error by James Loney that led to three unearned runs, allowed a 5-1 lead to slip away. The Dodgers' pen has now allowed one earned run in 21 innings over the past five games. And the best part was, Saito finally looked like Saito for perhaps the first time all year, the result of a slight mechanical tweak after he blew his last save opportunity on Friday night. ... Broxton says he'll see go through some strengthening exercises tomorrow and, ``If I pass all those, I'll toss a little bit and see how I feel.'' I'm guessing they'll keep him out at least one more day just to make sure, but he won't be out long. ... Dodgers get back to .500 at 13-13. Snakes are down four runs in the fourth inning, so this could be a chance to gain a game in the standings.

It's a strain of the right latissimus dorsi, and he is day to day ... NOT going on the DL, but it's also not clear how long he is going to be out

Saw him being driven away by Rick Lembo, one of the Dodgers' assistant trainers, as I was getting out of my car in the parking lot. They just kept driving, right out of the parking lot and, apparently, to a local clinic so Brox could have an MRI done on his latissimus dorsi (I have no idea if I'm spelling that correctly, but in the interest of speed, I'm not going to take the time to check). That's the side muscle underneath the arm pit. This doesn't SOUND serious, just the result of some recent soreness he has, but he isn't available tonight. I'll update when I know more. ... Tonight's lineup is fairly basic. Sweeney will play 1B on Thursday in the series finale.

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

Expecting lots of rain for tonight's game. It's pretty gray right now, 3 1/2 hours before the game. Jason Schmidt just finished his sim game, everything SEEMED OK from up here, but we won't know for sure until we go down and find out. Marlins are taking BP right now. Luis Gonzalez just took some grounders at first base, and although he also did that in spring training, the Marlins beat guys tell me this was the first time they have seen him do it since then. I'll check back when I know something more.

I just arrived here about an hour ago after a very long day of flying. Doesn't appear to be any significant news, although I did receive word via email from Dodgers PR staffer Mark Rogoff that Yhency Brazoban was, indeed, promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas, a move we knew was coming soon. ... I notice some major differences in posting on the blog since I last posted yesterday, so I'm guessing they did some work on it today. I'm not sure if that means you can post your comments now or what, but I'm crossing my fingers and holding my breath in hopes that it does mean exactly that. ... Staying in Coral Gables on this trip, just for something different, and I was able to get a decent rate at the Westin down here. Was already late at night when I got in, but it looks like a really neat area. I guess this is where the University of Miami is, although I saw no evidence of its presence when I arrived. This is actually south of the Miami airport, so it was quite a haul from the Fort Lauderdale airport, where I landed, and it's going to seem like an even longer haul when I head back for that crack-of-dawn flight out of here on Friday morning, but that's OK. I believe this is the first time I have actually come into Miami since Super Bowl XXXIII (Jan. 1999), when I was a backup on the Broncos beat at the Rocky Mountain News. It's way different from Lauderdale, I know that. ... I'll check in tomorrow from whatever they're calling that stadium now. It won't be nearly as full as it was that night, when the Broncos pounded the Falcons in what turned out to be the last game of John Elway's career. Nighty-night.

Loney singled through the right side with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 10th, and that was that. The Dodgers had their first series sweep of the season, as well as their first three-game winning streak, and they are actually on a little bit of a hot streak now, having won five of their past seven. They'll travel tomorrow, the start a three-gamer with the Marlins on Tuesday night at Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Dolphin/whateverthehecktheyarecallingitthesedays Stadium. ... Loaiza blew a 2-0 lead in the fifth and was gone, but really, he gave the Dodgers everything they could have asked for considering they have shuffled him in and out of the rotation all season. The bullpen came up huge, especially Cory Wade, who retired six of seven in his third big-league appearance. Broxton pitched out of a huge jam after he walked the leadoff man in the eighth and Hu committed what could have been a costly throwing error, and Saito and Beimel got into and out of trouble in the eighth and ninth, as well. ... Dodgers go to 12-13 and now have a comfortable 1 1/2-game lead over the third-place Giants, but they still trail the Snakes by six. ... I'll try to post tomorrow, but it takes pretty much a full day to get from here to Fort Lauderdale, so I might not. And thanks to Doug Padilla for covering the series for me. I was ready for a weekend off, and even though I was at all three games working on this blog and a few other things, it was refreshing not to have to worry about deadlines and the like. Have a good Sunday evening, everyone.

SS Furcal
LF Ethier
RF Kemp
C Martin
1B Loney
CF Jones
3B DeWitt
2B Hu
RH Loaiza

Everything sounds good, but he isn't going to be on the field today. Other than that, nothing new so far, and no lineup so far. Dodgers looking to complete their first three-game sweep of the season, but the Rockies have their ace going in Jeff Francis. ... Was leaving the ballpark last night, and when I got to Top of the Park, there was a spectacular view of the big fire up in the Angeles National Forest. I stood and watched it for a while, and it really gave you a sense of how big it was. Hope there wasn't too much damage. The sky is still a little hazy off in that direction, and I'm guessing it's smoke from the fire rather than smog because it seems to be clear everywhere else. Other than that, it's a beautiful day at the yard, going to be in the 90s. Perfect day for a ballgame.

They are still awaiting some test results on Kerwin Danley, but apparently he is going to be released from the hospital tonight. Not sure if that means he'll be on the field tomorrow -- I'm going to guess not -- but this is really good news considering how bad it looked on the field a few hours ago. Thanks to Josh Rawitch, the Dodgers' PR chief, for the update.

Good news on Kerwin Danley, the home plate umpire who was immobilized and carted off in an ambulance in the fourth inning when Russell Martin apparently got crossed up on a pitch from Brad Penny and missed the ball, resulting in it hitting Danley in the jaw. He was taken to a local hospital for a precautionary examination, and the fact the word ``precautionary'' was used is a really good sign. That's probably as much of an update as we're going to get. Danley is a Los Angeles native and attended Dorsey High School. ... The boys exploded for 10 runs in the first inning, sending 13 batters to the plate. The amazing thing is, Rockies starter Mark Redman STAYED IN THE GAME, wound up pitching six innings and didn't give up another run. That saved Clint Hurdle from having to wreck his bullpen, and Jose Capellan, called up earlier today from Colorado Springs, ate up the final two innings. ... Dodgers got a sac fly and a grand slam, all in the first inning, from Matt Kemp, who had never hit a grand slam and who came into this game 1 for 17 in his career with the bases loaded. After that first inning, when the Dodgers led 10-2, the game pretty much devolved into a fast-paced series of one-two-three innings, and the Dodgers only other run scored on a pinch-hit single by Delwyn Young in the seventh. Brad Penny, who went seven strong innings for the Dodgers, was the only Dodgers player who had two hits in the game. ... Dodgers go to 11-13 and have a chance to complete their first three-game sweep of the season starting tomorrow. They actually gained a game in the standings because San Diego beat Arizona. Dodgers now in second place alone, six behind the Snakes.

Was talking to Ned and Rick Monday by the water coolers when DeWitt came over to get a drink. Ned said, ``I told you you'd be back.'' Blake just laughed. Said he spent one night in the hotel in Las Vegas after arriving at 3 p.m. on Friday, then played in the game that night (he went 1 for 2 with a double, three walks and three runs in a 12-11 win over Portland), after which all the players gathered in the lounge to watch the rest of the Dodgers game on TV. When Nomar got hurt, Lo Bundy, the 51s' manager, told Blake, ``You better stick around for a while,'' or at least that's what Blake said. Anyway, the inevitable call finally came, and here he is, back in the majors after a two-day absence.

Here's tonight's lineup

SS Furcal
LF Pierre
RF Kemp
2B Kent
C Martin
1B Loney
CF Jones
3B DeWitt
RH Penny

Juan Pierre is taking bunting practice on the field, with Rob Flippo pitching tohim. Chin-lung Hu is down there too, standing between the mound and first base and using his bat to try to stop the balls JP is hitting so no one will have to walk very far to pick them all up later. ... Now Hu is getting into the cage himself, also to bunt. ... No news so far, but I'm guessing it's DeWitt back up and Nomar to the DL, based on what it sounded like last night. Padilla covering again tonight.

Juan Pierre is taking bunting practice on the field, with Rob Flippo pitching tohim. Chin-lung Hu is down there too, standing between the mound and first base and using his bat to try to stop the balls JP is hitting so no one will have to walk very far to pick them all up later. ... Now Hu is getting into the cage himself, also to bunt. ... No news so far, but I'm guessing it's DeWitt back up and Nomar to the DL, based on what it sounded like last night. Padilla covering again tonight.

The winning run scored on Russell Martin's sac fly, plating Matt Kemp in the bottom of the 13th at 12:19 a.m. But the real hero for the Dodgers tonight was Chan Ho Park, who got over the fact he was passed over again for the fifth starter's spot and turned in three shutout innings at a point when the slightest mistake could have led to disaster. He stranded two runners in scoring position during that time and fielded his position well, logging four assists. ... Andruw left the game with a bruise and tightness in his left calf, Nomar left with a strained left calf. Nomar's injury sounds serious, which probably means Blake DeWitt is on his way back to the majors. He doesn't have to stay in the minors the minimum 10 days if Nomar goes on the DL. ... Martin went 4 for 4 with two walks and was on base every time he came to the plate except for the last one, when he endd the game with that sac fly. ... Dodgers go to 10-13 and pull even with the Rox for third place, seven behind the Snakes. Giants are 6 1/2 back.

He gets the nod over Chan Ho Park. Kuo goes back to the bullpen. ... Meanwhile, the club has released veteran reliever Mike Myers, who agreed earlier this month to go to Triple-A Las Vegas until the Dodgers needed. I guess the fact they called up Cory Wade from Double-A on Thursday came across to Myers as a message that the club would never need him, so he requested his release. The Dodgers have a full 40-man roster that doesn't have a whole lot of guys on it that club officials want to risk losing through waivers, and that's probably why Myers didn't get the call. There simply wasn't a way to get him onto the 40-man. ... Padilla is covering the game tonight. I'll be working ahead on other stuff, but I'll also be blogging.

Pierre is playing, Kemp isn't.

Furcal, SS
Jones, CF
Garciaparra, 3B
Kent, 2B
Loney, 1B
Martin, C
Ethier, RF
Pierre, LF
Kuroda, P

It was a two-game split, but when one of those teams leads the division by six games and the other is seven games back, the effect is that the rich get richer. Every D-backs win gives the rest of the division one less day to catch them over the next five-plus months. Billingsley got a tad testy -- or as close as the mild-mannered Billingsley ever gets to being testy -- when I asked him after the game about the similarities between his fifth-innings struggles in each of his past two starts. In fairness, he DID strike out a career-high 12 tonight, shattering his previous high of nine. He actually pointed out that unlike Saturday against Atlanta, he had actually run into trouble BEFORE the fifth inning tonight. Maybe so, but the effect on the outcome of the game was the same. Saturday, he led 1-0 before giving up four in the fifth. Tonight, it was 3-3 before he gave up two in the fifth, but that was too much for the Dodgers to overcome. Not that it was all Billingsley's fault. The Dodgers went 2 for 8 w/RISP and stranded seven runners, five of them in scoring position. They also failed to score after loading the bags with one out in the sixth, largely because Matt Kemp struck out on a breaking pitch that broke about a foot off the plate. It also would have been interesting to see what would have happened if James Loney HADN'T curiously tried to tag and take second on Andre Ethier's sac fly in the fourth, which plated Jeff Kent with the tying run. Not only did Loney almost get thrown out for the final out of the inning BEFORE Kent crossed the plate, which would have negated the run, but even by barely sliding in safely, Loney left first base open so No. 8 hitter Matt Kemp was walked intentionally to bring Billingsley to the plate. Chad grounded out to end the inning. ... Dodgers fall to 9-13 and back into third place, seven behind the Snakes. Rockies in for three starting tomorrow night.

Blake DeWitt was eventually going back, and there was no way around. But he took it like a pro, even engaging a group of us hacks for a few good quotes on his way out the door. When we were done with him, we headed out of the clubhouse and ran into Cory Wade on his way in, and he engaged us for a few quotes, too. Said he had no clue this was coming. He was only added to the 40-man this winter, and his best hope for 2008 was a remote chance at a September callup. Well, it ain't September yet, and he is in the majors. This guy is a strike-throwing machine, and he can go multiple innings at a clip, so he was the perfect guy to cap off what is now a seven-man bullpen. He had six appearances at Jacksonville. The most recent on, on Monday night at Montgomery, lasted just one-third of an inning. Of the other five, the SHORTEST one was two innings, and the longest was four. ... Still no decision on a Sunday starter, but I'm guessing it'll be Chan Ho Park.

Andruw still second, of course

Furcal 6
Jones 8
Garciaparra 5
Kent 4
Loney 3
Martin 2
Ethier 7
Kemp 9
Billingsley 1

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.

Sounds like it's going to happen soon, possibly later this week. But it hasn't happened yet. Meanwhile, Yhency proved to be human last night in Jacksonville's win over Montgomery -- he actually gave up a hit, just his second of the season in nine appearances. He has now struck out 11 batters in 8 2/3 innings and has yet to give up a run, either earned or unearned. He is unlikely to continue to dominate on that level in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, but he clearly has overcome his injury issues, and Torre said he has even lost a few pounds since the start of spring training.

SS Furcal
CF Jones
LF Ethier
3B Nomar
C Martin
1B Loney
RF Kemp
2B Hu
RH Lowe

Kent gets the night off. Torre said that way back when he first started managing 30 years ago and he wanted to get a slumping hitter going, he would bat him leadoff. He then said he wasn't willing to take Furcal OUT of the leadoff spot, so he batted Andruw second instead of first. Someone pointed out a surprising stat during Torre's pregame session today, that Andruw is second in the league in pitches per plate appearance. Torre pointed out that in this case, that isn't a good thing because Andruw is taking a lot of pitches that are being called strikes. ... Yhency Brazoban is being promoted to Triple-A because club officials want to get a look at him there before calling him up, but Torre hinted that the club isn't going to stick with an 11-man pitching staff for too long, so that could mean Brazo gets the call in the next few days. ... Joe also said he is leaning toward moving Kuo back to the bullpen to relieve the workload on Proctor and Beimel because Kuo, unlike Park and Loaiza, can enter a game after a quick warmup in the pen.

Actually, they were made public in a release sent out by the mayor's office that one of my colleagues back at the Daily News was kind enough to forward to me. This is the copied-and-pasted paragraph I took directly from that release, with further comment from your humble correspondent below:

The $500 million renovation and modernization plans include building a new entrance beyond center field, a new plaza inside the stadium gates, a "Top of the Park" outdoor deck area, a modern promenade, restaurants and new Dodger history museum.

This entry way in center field is something Frank has been talking about since he took over the team. I remember him describing it to me in great detail in his office one day early in the 2004 season. It sounds to me like it's going to be very similar to what they have at Turner Field in Atlanta, if you have ever been there to see it, a big cluster of restaurants and stuff beyond center field. Although in this case, it might not be as prominently visible from inside the ballpark as it is at the Ted. The rest of it all sounds like stuff that won't dramatically change the look of the park.

And thus ends a five-game road trip on which the Dodgers went 1-4 and scored one run in each of the four losses, going 2 for 29 with RISP in those four games (they went 5 for 12 in the win). Not a lot of momentum to take into this monumental two-game set with the Snakes, especially with Haren pitching tomorrow night, but the Dodgers are going to have to beat good pitching sometime. ... By the way, I didn't get into tomorrow's paper that Andy LaRoche will, as expected, begin his rehab assignment at Double-A Jacksonville at Montgomery tomorrow. He'll DH in that game, then play 3B for the first time on Thursday night at Huntsville. Torre reiterated before the game that Andy will likely need the full 20 days because he didn't have much of a spring training. ... You're also going to read a Juan Castro update in tomorrow's paper, and my initial gut instinct is that the Dodgers are eventually going end up with this guy, whether it's through a trade or waiting until the Reds release him and then signing him. Again, he's no Babe Ruth, but he is a great glove man and he'll be a great addition to this clubhouse. ... Dodgers fall to 8-12, their worst start since they also went 8-12 in 1996. They made the playoffs that year as a wild card.

Whatever it is, Andruw said his entire body has been feeling a bit achy lately. That's why, when Torre asked him if he wanted to sit tonight, Andruw didn't exactly argue about it. Torre called a little flu bug, but he also said his wife's relatives, who live here in Cincinnati, have told him on this trip that the allergy season here has been particularly severe this year. At any rate, and whatever the reason, Andruw and his .159 average are sitting tonight.

You might not like Juan Pierre. But right now, you have to like this lineup better than one that has Jones in it.

Furcal 6
Martin 2
Garciaparra 5
Kent 4
Ethier 9
Kemp 8
Loney 3
Pierre 7
Kuo 1

It has now been almost two weeks since I was warned in advance about this possible glitch, and I apologize profusely to all of you. I'm still being told this is allegedly going to be fixed in the very near future, so I appreciate your continued patience, but I also understand that patience isn't infinite. This is a great blog because of YOU, and it isn't a great blog when there is no input from YOU. In the meantime, I'll keep posting my thoughts and hope that is enough to keep you coming back. ... For those who were wondering, and who might not have found this blog yet when I explained it last year, this little scheduling quirk the Dodgers and every other National League team are going through this week, is called ``squeeze week.'' It's a necessary evil for making the schedule actually fit into a 27-week template. Each team must play 54 series during the year (three games times 54 equals 162, even though some series are four games and others are two). But it is the All-Star break that screws it all up. Each week has two windows for series, mid-week and weekend. Sometimes the two overlap, with some series going Mon-Thurs, some going Thurs-Sun and occasionally one going Fri-Mon. What the All-Star break does is wipe out one of those mid-week windows, so to make up for that, each team has to cram TWO series into the four-day window of Mon-Thurs once a year, and this is that week. When I was covering the Reds, a Midwestern team that was no more than an hour or so flight from most N.L. cities, they seemed to always get the whole thing at home, just as they are this year with the Dodgers and Astros coming in. Now that I am covering a West Coast team that has a lot of long trips, ironically, the Dodgers NEVER got the entire four games at home, and it usually involves weird, sleep-deprivation kind of travel. One year, it was at Milwaukee/at San Diego, Last year, it was at Arizona/at Colorado. This year, it's at Cincinnati/home, but that home series is a big one for the Dodgers, two games with Arizona that are as close to must-win as games get in late April, and the Dodgers get to play them after a crosscountry flight while the Diamondbacks come in fresh off a two-game series at home with the Giants and a 45-minute jaunt to Los Angeles. Yeah, that seems fair.

The boys busted out offensively -- and (gasp!) even went 5 for 12 w/RISP -- but what got lost in their 15-hit performance tonight was that Brad Penny gave them another solid outing. It wasn't terribly efficient -- he threw 114 pitches in just six innings -- but it was good enough, and he is now 5-0 with a 1.91 ERA in Great American Ball Park since it opened in 2003. (I have just never gotten over the fact that the Reds insist on making ballpark two words). That is the fifth-best ERA by any pitcher who has made at least three starts here. ... Dodgers to go 8-11, but still too early in the evening to know how it will affect the standings because the Giants and Snakes are playing now. Pods and Rox both lost.

For starters, here it is

SS Furcal
C Martin
3B Nomar
2B Kent
LF Ethier
RF Kemp
1B Loney
CF Jones
RH Penny

Joe said he considered Andruw second and Martin eighth, but figured this would give Martin a better chance. ``He is grinding the (heck) out of the bat, and I want to see if we can help him on the timing part of it,'' Torre said. Other than that, Joe wanted experienced guys in the middle of the order and a left-right-left stagger after that. He considered going with JP in left because he has swung the bat well lately, but, ``I figured in this cozy ballpark, the other three guys might reach the seats. That's how technical that was.'' ... Also, Jason Schmidt threw a 50-pitch side session and will throw one more on the homestand, then perhaps throw a couple of simulated games on the next trip. That would put him on target to begin a rehab assignment in early May, and Torre said that assignment will likely go the full 30 days. So the earliest Schmidt would return would be early June.

Within minutes of my arrival in the Cincinnati press box today, the Reds announced that they had designated for assignment their longtime backup shortstop, Juan Castro, to clear a roster spot. The club has 10 days to trade, release or outright him, but there could be some interest on the Dodgers' part. Castro, you may recall, spent nine years in the Dodgers organization, the last five of them constantly shuttling back and forth between Los Angeles and Triple-A Albuquerque. He would NOT be a cure for what ails this offense -- he entered the season with a .231 career average and is 0 for 10 in 2008. But he is a gifted utility infielder, a veteran who can play all four position, he is a GREAT guy in the clubhouse, and he would allow the Dodgers to ship Chin-lung Hu back to the minors where he could get regular playing time instead of having him waste away in the majors the way he is now. Of course, this is all pure speculation on my part, When a player is designated, ANYTHING can happen. Even if the Dodgers are interested, there might be 15 other teams interested as well, and for now, the Reds hold all the cards.

On the flight down here from LAX on Thursday, I tried to watch a movie called Walk Hard: the Dewey Cox Story. Before falling asleep about halfway through, I caught an exchange between John C. Reilly's Dewey Cox charater and the character's wife, which I seem to recall was in the movie's trailer, in which the wife said, ``It's not that I don't believe in you Dewey. I just know you're going to fail.'' Right now, that pretty much sums up the feeling you get whenever a Dodgers player -- any Dodgers player -- steps into the batter's box with a runner in scoring position. The boys went 1 for 22 w/RISP in this three-game whitewash at the hands of the once-mighty Braves, scoring a run in each game. ONE FOR TWENTY-TWO. It was 0 for 10 today, with four strikeouts. There was the usual mantra in the clubhouse about it being early, about it being a long season. But right now, this team is a long, long way from being good. ... Dodgers fall to 7-11, and for the record, they were NEVER four games under .500 at any point last season. They also fell into the division basement. Hey, only 144 games to go.

Pierre is playing, the suddenly slugging Jones is in the cleanup spot, Kent, Kemp and Nomar are sitting.

Furcal 6
Pierre 7
Loney 3
Jones 8
Ethier 9
Martin 2
DeWitt 5
Hu 4
Kuroda 1

By the way, one word I haven't heard mentioned since we hit town on Thursday is ``tornado,'' but there is still plenty of evidence around downtown after that big one hit last month. The window of my room, on the 43rd floor of the Westin, looks directly across at the GP building and the Equitable building, two of the tallest structures in the Atlanta skyline, and both of them have dozens of boarded up windows, especially on the upper floors. I'm wondering if anyone was actually on those floors when those windows blew out, and what that must have been like. ... Just a thought, but I think the question has to be asked whether Nomar needed a longer rehab assignment. He is 1 for 10 (zero for his past nine) at the plate, and yesterday, he made three fielding gaffes (only one was an error, but one of the non-errors cost the Dodgers two runs). After the game, Torre said Nomar was ``still getting his legs under him.'' When I pressed him and asked if that suggested he should have had a longer rehab -- because, really, when you come off the DL to play in games that actually count, your legs should be under you by then, IMHO -- Torre seemed to push it off on Nomar, saying that with veteran players, you have to trust them to tell you when they're ready.

There will be plenty of negative assessment in the coverage in tomorrow's paper, so I'll stick with the only good news here ... Andruw Jones finally has his first home run in a Dodgers uniform. He hit it with two outs in the second inning, on a changeup from Chuck James. He now has 167 career HRs at the Ted, second only to Chipper Jones, who now has 175. ... Tough day for Chad Billingsley, who managed to strike out nine of the first 18 batters he faced before the wheels came off in the fifth. This from Torre, which didn't make the paper tomorrow: ``In a lot of these games this year, we have put a lot of pressure on our pitchers because we haven't scored runs on a regular basis.'' Ya think? ... Dodgers fall to 7-10 and are now just a half-game up on the cellar-dwelling Giants in the NL West. See ya tomorrow

The move was made minutes before the start of batting practice. Torre said it was partly about Russ' recent offensive performance and partly about the need to create playing time for Gary Bennett.
Asked about the move as he walked down the tunnel from the clubhouse to the dugout for batting practice, Martin said, ``I guess I'm getting a day off.''
Torre later admitted that Martin was upset when given the news
``(Martin) wasn't happy, and I didn't expect him to be,'' Torre said. ``When I talked to him the first time in spring training, trying to find some formula for resting him, he didn't want to have the conversation about it. It's definitely all feel now. If you want him in August and September, I think it's important we (rest him).''
Martin is off to a rough start offensively, batting .196, and although Torre says he saw improvement on the homestand, he also says he saw Russ backslide on Friday night, when he went 0 for 3 with a walk and made an ill-advised attempt to steal second in the fourth inning, only to get thrown out easily.
The Dodgers trailed 2-0 at the time, with Andruw Jones at the plate and one out.
When someone asked Torre after that game what Russ was thinking, he said, ``That's what I asked him. He just got a bad start. He was trying to make something happen.''

Same as last night, except Kemp/Ethier are flipped. By the way, a lot of you have been emailing me to make me aware of the commenting issues, and I have forwarded every one of those emails to the tech boys back at the office. I'm not sure when this will be resolved, but I am fully confident that it's coming. At any rate, I appreciate your patience. I have stated here many times that a blog is only as good as the reader comments it elicits, and the whole point of a blog is to be interactive. Hopefully, this won't be an issue much longer.

Furcal 6
Ethier 7
Kemp 9
Kent 4
Loney 3
Martin 2
Jones 8
Garciaparra 5
Billingsley 1

The ballpark gates aren't open yet, but the out-of-town scoreboard in right field is displaying the number 2,996, which is John Smoltz's career strikeout total. Not sure why. There is no one in the ballpark to see it (other than a few of use early-arriving scribes), and Smoltz isn't even pitching in this series. ... Going to be a hot one here, but nothing like it would be if this were, say, July. And the 4 o'clock start local time will help, as well. It's technically a day game (anything that starts before 5), but by the time it's over, the lights will be on and the sun will be setting. ... I'll check back in when (if) I have some news.

Nothing went right for the boys, who just seemed flat from the start -- well, maybe not from the start, but after they blew a bases-loaded, one out situation in the first inning. Jeff Bennett shut them out for 4 2/3 innings, and four Braves relievers limited them to three hits the rest of the way. Dodgers went 1 for 8 w/RISP. Jeff Kent was a busy man, with six assists and two putouts, but it was the one assist he couldn't make in the second inning -- Mark Teixeira led off with a one-hopper that scooted past Kent for an error -- that opened the door for two unearned runs in the inning. Not that Derek Lowe was an innocent victim. He clearly got frustrated in the fifth inning and tried to overthrow. The result was that he walked the first two batters in the inning. Chipper Jones then did what Chipper Jones always seems to do these days, shooting Lowe's first pitch into the left-centerfield stands, giving the Braves a 5-0 lead. Jones would later homer again, giving him four in two days, and his league-leading average now stands at .455. ... Tom Glavine went on the DL for the first time in his 22-year career tonight, so he will NOT oppose Chad Billingsley this afternoon as scheduled. Instead, it will be Chuck James, whose name for some reason has always sounded to me like it would be better suited to a jazz musician than a big-league pitcher. Can't you just hear it? ``You're listening to the smooooooth sounds of Chuck James.'' ... Furcal and Andruw were both OK after their centerfield collision, and D-Lowe was fine after being hit in the right foot by that comebacker. Dodgers, however, are NOT fine. They fall to 7-9 and five back of the Snakes in the NL West. They also fall into fourth place because the Rockies, who apparently weren't all that tired after taking 22 innings to win last night, managed to cruise to a win at Houston. ... Hasta manana

... for Andruw Jones when he came to the plate for the first time to lead off the second inning here in the ballpark where he became a star over the past 11 seasons. But they cheered really loudly after he struck out on three pitches ... By the way, here's a LaRoche update:

Dodgers third baseman Andy LaRoche appears on track to return in early to mid-May.
LaRoche will leave Sunday for Vero Beach, Fla., and a two-day stint in extended spring training. He said the tentative plan is for him to test his surgically repaired right thumb by getting about 18 at-bats in two loosely structured games there, then begin a minor-league rehabilitation assignment at Double-A Jacksonville, probably on Wednesday. He is slated to begin playing third base on his second day there.
Rehab assignments for position players are limited to 20 days, suggesting LaRoche will return no later than sometime on a six-game trip to Milwaukee and Anaheim beginning May 13.

Oh, and they added about three rows of premium seating directly behind home plate on the field level, dramatically cutting down on the foul ground here. I'm told Turner Field now has the shortest distance in the N.L. between home plate and the backstop. The old backstop was flush with the front of the dugouts, but the new seats jut forward from the dugouts. ... Oh (again), and Don Mattingly is here for his first scheduled in-season visit. He'll be with the club through the Cincinnati series, just observing the hitters and offering his input. He threw some BP before the game tonight.

Torre told Hong-Chih Kuo today that he will get the ball on Tuesday night at Cincinnati. He also told Loaiza that he will stay in the bullpen but that he probably will come in behind Kuo that night. Kuo will be allotted 90-95 pitches, and Torre is hoping he can make that go longer than he did on Tuesday night against Pittsburgh, whne he only got through four innings on 75 pitches after struggling in the first then dominating over the next three. Joe said he is doing this for two reasons. First, he likes having a lefty in the rotation. Second, because of Kuo's history of injuries, they have to be really, really careful about warming him up if he is in the pen, and in fact almost can't warm him up unless they KNOW they're bringing him in. By having him in the rotation, that isn't an issue.

Joe going pretty standard against Jeff Bennett

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

So I leave LAX at 12:45 p.m., get to Atlanta at 7:50 p.m. (three hour time change), wait for my checked bag, pick up the rental car, drive to the hotel, check in, take about 15-20 minutes getting to my room because it's on the 43rd floor and the Westin Peachtree Plaza is full of teenagers from all over the country in for some national robot-building contest and the elevator stops on almost every floor, drop my bags in my room, spend another 15 minutes trying to get back to the lobby, spend the next hour or so traversing downtown Atlanta in search of the diner where I am supposed to meet Dylan Hernandez and Diamond Leung for dinner, finally give up, call Dylan and Diamond and tell them to go ahead without me, run into Jaime Jarrin and Pepe Yniguez on a downtown street corner and spend about five minutes talking with them, run into Ken Gurnick on another downtown street corner, discuss the state of the Dodgers with Kenny for approx. 15 minutes, wander into a place called the Metro Cafe which is open 24 hours but has karaoke every night, enjoy a delicious bacon cheeseburger and fries, pay my tab, stop on the way out to listen to some dude absolutely butcher one of the greatest songs of all time (Journey's Don't Stop Believin'), walk back to my hotel, call my daughter from the lobby (bad cell reception on the 43rd floor), talk to her for approx. 30 minutes, call one of my best friends with whom I have been playing phone tag for the past 24 hours, talk to her for approx. 15 minutes, hang up and suddenly realize that ... IT'S ONE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING (of course, that's only 10 p.m. L.A. time). ... At this point, I return to my room (at this late hour, I am enjoying precious solitude on the elevator while all the whiz kids are no doubt resting their brains for another big day of robot-building) and remember that I haven't posted anything on this blog all day. ... So here you go. That's about all I have for you. I'll check in tomorrow (later today, actually) when I get over to the Ted.

This time, the boys were able to sustain their offensive explosion for a second night in a row, and tomorrow's off-day/travel day almost comes at a bad time given how hot their offense suddenly is. They went 5 for 13 w/RISP. Rafael Furcal went 4 for 4 with a HR and was on base five times. Nomar's return was a success, as he went 1 for 2 with two walks and scored a run. Penny pitched well, giving up only an unearned run over 5 2/3, and the bullpen combined to give up one hit -- a harmless, two-out double in the ninth by Brian Bixler off Takashi Saito -- over the final 3 1/3. Dodgers go to 7-8 and remain in third place, four behind the Snakes. ... Gotta run. They're playing Go Dodgers Go, so I have to leave the press box and find a soundproof room.

This one wasn't hard to see coming. Ramon Troncoso has struggled in each of his past two outings, and he hadn't pitched since Friday night. The Dodgers have three long relievers right now in Esteban Loaiza, Hong-Chih Kuo and Chan Ho Park (even though one of them has to fill the fifth starter's role each time through), so they're OK going with 11 pitchers right now. DeWitt probably will still get enough playing time to justify his staying in the majors without hurting his development. ... Another tough break for Ramon Martinez, a really good guy who appears to be nearing the end of his career. His injury turns out to be the same one LaRoche has, and Ramon had the same surgery today that LaRoche had back in March. That's an eight to 10 week rehab, beginning now. He batted .259 in eight games at Las Vegas this year.

Mega-kudos to Doug Padilla, who was covering the game last night while I worked on other stuff. He was the only one, as far as I can tell, who reported in today's paper that Nomar might be activated in time for tonight's game, which he has been. There really was no reason not to, given that he wasn't going to play in another rehab game. The corresponding move will be announced after batting practice, which will end in about 15 minutes. ... The Inland Empire 66ers, who played an early game today (11 a.m.), are here en masse, watching batting practice from behind the rope in front of the backstop, and no doubt all of them are dreaming of a day down the road when, they hope, someone will be standing behind that rope watching THEM take batting practice. ... You can hear yours truly on tonight's radio pregame show. Just taped it with Charley a few minutes ago.

About 30 minutes after the game -- and after most of the media had been in and out of Torre's office and then in and out of the clubhouse -- Dodgers PR assistant Mark Rogoff came into the press box and asked, ``Did anyone accidentally pick up an iPhone off Joe Torre's desk?'' No one answered, of course, and the first thought running through my mind was, ``Great, some shady person in our midst stole Joe's iPhone, and now he is never going to let us in his office again, and now he is going to have us herded into some interview room after the game every night, and that's going to be a huge pain in the derriere because while I have no idea where that room will be, I'm SURE it won't be near the clubhouse the way his office is.'' Well, about five minutes later, Rogoff comes back up and announced that Joe had found the phone on the floor of his office. So everything is fine. ... The plan for Nomar to play another game for Vegas at Salt Lake tomorrow has been scrapped because that is actually a night game. So apparently, he'll just work out with the big club tomorrow, then fly with the big club to Atlanta on Thursday and be activated in time for Friday night's game. And although I have been hinting that DeWitt is going back to the minors when Nomar comes off the DL, it now looks like they are at least considering keeping him and cutting back to 11 pitchers temporarily. That would almost certainly mean Ramon Troncoso is the odd man out. But nothing is decided yet, so we'll see.

This is the first game this year that I haven't covered, so I lingered in the press box when it ended and discovered, much to my horror, that they are ACTUALLY PLAYING that awful Go Dodgers Go song in the stadium, immediately after Randy Newman's I Love L.A. ... Anyway, the boys went 6 for 10 with RISP tonight, and they were 6 for 7 at one point. This is the second time in the past four games that they scored 11 runs. The last time they did it was Saturday, and the didn't score any the next day. ... Kuo gave the Dodgers three good innings after one bad one that could have been much worse. It was that first inning when he drove his pitch count up, walking three consecutive batters with two outs to force in a run, but after that, he pitched pretty well. He struck out the next five in a row and only allowed one more baserunner. Esteban Loaiza took care of the final five innings and got the win because Kuo hadn't gone the requisite five. ... The even better news is that two of the slumping Dodgers, Andruw Jones and Russell Martin, broke out. Jones went 2 for 3 with a walk and scored two runs. Martin homered in the eighth. Oh, and Jeff Kent homered in the fifth, a three-run shot that tied him with somebody for somewhere on the all-time list, but I didn't write it down and the postgame notes aren't out yet. ... All the tentative plans for Nomar and LaRoche have become pretty much definite. Nomar goes to Salt Lake today to play another game with Vegas, then will meet the team in Atlanta. LaRoche will go with the team to Atlanta, then fly to Vero. He might stay in Atlanta and work out with the team through the series, though. Torre wasn't sure. ... Dodgers improve to 6-8, and although they are still four behind the Snakes, they did get out of the cellar, leapfrogging the Giants and Rockies to take over third.

He's down in front of the dugout throwing with Stan Conte, still not really letting it go, but the ball looks like it has a little something on it. This guy is getting really close to being ready to go to extended spring, so I'm guessing that tentative plan to take him to Atlanta and then fly him to Vero (or Orlando or Melbourne or wherever) from there. ... Pirates had an early workout. Nothing else really going on so far. Doug Padilla covering the game tonight while I work on the off-day story so I don't have to actually do anything on the off-day except fly to Atlanta, but I'll be blogging throughout the evening tonight anyway.

Saito doesn't blow many, but he blew this one. Should have known something was up when an under-the-weather Adam LaRoche came off the bench and hit Saito's first pitch up the middle for a single, putting runners on first and second with two outs and setting the table for Nate McLouth's game-winning bomb. ... Nomar went 3 for 3 with a walk tonight for Vegas. ... Dodgers (5-8), who have lost three in a row and six of seven, fell into last place in the N.L. West because the Giants beat the Snakes. This team appears to be reeling. I realize there are 149 games left, but this needs to turn around QUICKLY.

... is My Hero by Foo Fighters, I was just told by one of the Japanese reporters. I realize good music is in the ear of the beholder, but that is a GREAT song, and it was used in the climactic scene of what I believe is one of the 100 or so greatest movies ever made, Varsity Blues, which was out back in 1999. Starred Jon Voight, James Van Der Beek and two of my all-time favorites, Ali Larter and Amy Smart. ... ADAM LaRoche is out of the lineup for the Buccos tonight because he is sick, or at least that's what ANDY LaRoche told us early this afternoon. Adam was walking around behind the batting cage eating some Cup-a-Soup while the rest of the Pirates took BP, so it was clear he wasn't feeling well. Doug Mientkiewicz is playing 1B in his place.