Game 7: Dodgers @ Pittsburgh Pirates 8:3

Funny how fine it was with me that the Pit TV cameras did NOT show the face of Jim Tracy all too often. Apart from not missing him too much, I'm one of these guys that take a longer time to get used to players/managers in not-so-familiar uniforms (you can file it under: Beltre, Adrian; current team: Seattle Mariners ;))

I managed to watch the game only since the bottom of the third inning, but if the Dodgers are gonna give so much early run support to virtually all starters, I might as well skip the opening frames altogether :).

(1) Call me "repkoed" for the day! What a terrific performance at the plate 2-for-5 (including a HR and a triple) with 4 RBI. At the same time, some spectacular defensive plays in the outfield! Just fabulous. At the moment Jason Repko not only looks way more comfortable at the plate than he did last year, but he's also very sound defensively. He wasn't out of position on any fly ball yesterday, and to be honest, he managed to chase out some of the fly balls that no-one would have held a grudge against him had he not. Did I say I wasn't particularly loooking forward to the return of Kenny Lofton to CF? There's my reason: right now, Repko is healthier, younger, more productive than Lofton-to-be, coming off the DL.

Repko is very cool-headed about his role on the ballclub (source):

"The way I feel at the plate, I think I can carry that
into coming off the bench," he said. "When Kenny is healthy,
he'll be playing, but he'll need a day off and I'll be ready
when they need me. I'll be more comfortable
knowing how to handle it and prepare myself."

(2) Since all of the outfielders are batting well (Cruz) or very well (Drew, Repko) I' m happy that Kenny is not back for another while.

(3) I'm steady with Franquelis Osoria. He did not have the best stuff last night, but he seems to have the psychological make-up to be very effective reliever for this ballclub. I like the way he went after hitters straight after he got into the game. I assume that his ERA is going down to lower than 5.00 by game 20 of this season (he's currently at 13.50 ERA) if he's being used regularly until Grady comes up with the regular bullpen set-up men for the seventh and eight innings.

(4) I have not seen too much of Odalis Perez, but judging by his stat line (5.1 IP, 6 H, 1 ERA) he must have been in control of what was happening.

(5) Tonight is game 2 @ the Pirates and I could not be more excited about seeing Jae Seo debut as starter for the Dodgers. He's got such a smooth and sweet delivery which is pure joy to watch. We could use some seven effective innings from him, that's for sure.