Game 56: Dodgers vs. Philadelphia Phillies 8:2

Brad Penny proved why is the ace of the Dodger's staff. After being staked to a huge lead early for the second consecutive start, he didn't give Grady Little any choice but to keep him in long enough to notch his sixth victory of the season.

Penny allowed just one hit over six scoreless innings, and it seemed as if his blowup with Little was behind both of them.

"It's over with," Penny said. "We already talked,
so it's over with and we'll move on."

Penny is off to his best start since 2001, when he went 7-1 in his first eight decisions, to only finish with a 10-10 record. We can only hope that the rest of the season is as good as the first third has been.

Brief notes:

Matt Kemp homered for the third consecutive game.

"I guess I showed I can hit all three pitches," a beaming Kemp said.
"I'm still kind of on Cloud 9 right now. I'm feeling good,
I'm seeing the ball well, getting some good pitches to hit,
and they're going out of the ballpark right now. I'm glad I'm helping
my team win. I'm surprised I'm up here, but I'm glad,
and I'm just trying to stay here."

The Dodgers lead the National league in batting average, runs, hits and on base percentage. Not bad for five rookies and two "injury-prone" players.

Nomar Garciaparra went three-for-five, bringing his batting average to .369 on the year.

The Dodgers have one 12 of their last 16 and remain a game and a half back in the division, behind the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Some thoughts:

1) For as bad of a reputation as Little had in regards to pitcher maangement, he seems to be doing pretty well. However, I have mixed feelings about his decision on Eric Gagne and not allowing him to pitch in back-to-back games for the time being. I like that Little isn't taking chances, but at the same time, if Little or Ned Colletti have any doubt, I would rather see Gagne remain on the DL for a couple more weeks and work in Las Vegas. Any thoughts?

2) Why is Odalis Perez being allowed back in the rotation? He has shown no worthiness since his demotion, so it makes absolutely no sense, in my opinion. What is everybody else's opinion?

3) I like Jae Seo. However, I think demoting him to the bullpen was the wrong move. He should have been asked to take a Las Vegas assignment. He showed a lot of promise during the World Baseball Classic but has yet to live up to that. I don't think a stint in the bullpen will benefit him much.