Game 4: Dodgers @ Philadelphia Phillies 5:3
Well, fatigue got to me quicker than the Dodgers disposed of Gavin Floyd, the starting pitcher for the Phillies. I missed the whole game and had to watch it "off tape" in five minute increments that MLB.tv offers before a certain time the following day. Only then can you watch the whole archived game. Bothersome, but at least they did not cut it into two-minute episodes;).
Anyway, off to the game itself.
(1) You gotta love these lucky little infield hits, short bunts that become a reached-on-error, contact hits that get a fortunate bounce or are not scooped off the dirt by the opposing defense. One way or another, we find a way to get on base, which is always a good thing. Even the outs made by the Dodgers in the first three innings were productive ones, moving the guys over and/or giving them a chance to score. Is this an Eddie Murray influence? I'd love to read a piece on the specifics of Eddie's impact beyond what one could see on the telly.
(2) I agree with the decision to take Furcal out of the lineup because of this right shin contusion that resulted from making contact with Andruw Jones on Wednesday. With the Phillies struggling offensively, inserting a Philadelphia-native UI Ramon Martinez, sound defensively, made sense. Let Rafffy heal all the way. Good thing that Jeff Kent's "75% chance of being back in the lineup on Friday" prediction came true. Did not see any signs of after-effects of being hit by pitch the game before.
(3) Brett Tomko. I guess he did the job that was required of him. Did not let the Phillies get back in the game, avoided obvious mistakes, apart of the long ball in the fourth. Not bad for a guy pitching on his 33 birthday :).
(4) Hong-Chih Kuo and Danys Baez were as close to automatic as you can get. Apart from the double by Delucci with two outs, not even close to any major threat of the Phillies rally. We need more of these seven-through-ninth automatic closes.
(5) Saturday night it's game 2 of the series: Derek Lowe takes the mound vs Ryan Madsen. I expect Derek to put all the media spotlight from recent days behind him and pitch what I hope turns out to be (close to) a complete game win.
Anyway, off to the game itself.
(1) You gotta love these lucky little infield hits, short bunts that become a reached-on-error, contact hits that get a fortunate bounce or are not scooped off the dirt by the opposing defense. One way or another, we find a way to get on base, which is always a good thing. Even the outs made by the Dodgers in the first three innings were productive ones, moving the guys over and/or giving them a chance to score. Is this an Eddie Murray influence? I'd love to read a piece on the specifics of Eddie's impact beyond what one could see on the telly.
(2) I agree with the decision to take Furcal out of the lineup because of this right shin contusion that resulted from making contact with Andruw Jones on Wednesday. With the Phillies struggling offensively, inserting a Philadelphia-native UI Ramon Martinez, sound defensively, made sense. Let Rafffy heal all the way. Good thing that Jeff Kent's "75% chance of being back in the lineup on Friday" prediction came true. Did not see any signs of after-effects of being hit by pitch the game before.
(3) Brett Tomko. I guess he did the job that was required of him. Did not let the Phillies get back in the game, avoided obvious mistakes, apart of the long ball in the fourth. Not bad for a guy pitching on his 33 birthday :).
(4) Hong-Chih Kuo and Danys Baez were as close to automatic as you can get. Apart from the double by Delucci with two outs, not even close to any major threat of the Phillies rally. We need more of these seven-through-ninth automatic closes.
(5) Saturday night it's game 2 of the series: Derek Lowe takes the mound vs Ryan Madsen. I expect Derek to put all the media spotlight from recent days behind him and pitch what I hope turns out to be (close to) a complete game win.
posted by Harry | 10:42 PM
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