Games 131-132: Dodgers vs Cincinnati Reds 6:5, 6:5 (16 innings)

Yeah, if you missed these two games on television or radio (or internet, which is where I feed off) and just scanned the morning paper for scores, you could shrug off two 6:5 games in a row. But how different from one another these two were! You could almost feel the tension of a season success on the line, especially in the yesterday's game, that carried over good couple of minutes past midnight. Or past nine a.m. my time - since I enjoyed the extra extra innings with a cup of coffee on my desk at work (I will skip the part where I drove to the office during the thirteenth and the fourteenth innings).

Anyway, here's what I managed to catch during this pushback series so far:

(1) When Brett Tomko came on to pitch in the eight innings of the first Cincy game, I sighed seeing how cocky he was. You could almost tell by the look of his face how much he "settled into the relief role" and "was coming in to get outs" blah blah blah. A few pitches later we saw Kenny Lofton dancing feet going quickly to the wall in center in a vain attempt to snatch the home run ball. More modesty, Brett, and you could can't go wrong...

(2) On days where Rafael Furcal sits in favor of Julio Lugo (unlike day one and two of this series) the Dodgers could line up four (almost) .300 hitters in a row: Lofton-Lugo-Garciaparra-Ethier (who did bat cleanup before) and would not even get to the theoretically most fearsome hitters: Kent and Drew. Did I hear "wow"?

(3) I'm so glad Derek Lowe got the win last night on the back end of the array of Dodger pitchers (Hendrickson, Sele, Hamulack, Saito, Dessens, Lowe). There is also a noticeable positive change in the mental make-up of Tim Hamulack. Unlike in the beginning of the season where he still might have felt intimidated by the hitters, he went right after the Red batters last night. A good sign, given the boos Tim was getting even at Chavez Ravine.

(4) Greg Maddux closes out the series against Cincy. He won four straight against the Reds and there's no reason the streak should not continue.

The pushback series

This current home series against the Cincinnati Reds can be referred to as the pushback series. The Dodgers are trying (and successfully, so far) to push the Reds back in the Wild Card chase. Whoever is going to finish second in the National League West standings will benefit from whatever the Dodgers can produce against the Reds this week.

While I don't obviously think that LA will ever need these wins to clinch the Wild Card ('cause we're gonna win the pennant, baby!), it sure feels good to make some more room between the NL West teams and Cincy. Especially, if we could sweep the Reds tonight, plain and simple :).

Game 130: Dodgers @ Arizona Diamondbacks 6:3

We're sorry but we're missed this game report, and have to resort to one from the usatoday.com:

PHOENIX (AP) - The Los Angeles Dodgers' brief funk is over, and they're headed home with a two-game lead in the NL West.

Wilson Betemit hit a two-run homer and Rafael Furcal tripled in two more to help the Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-3 on Sunday. After being swept in San Diego, the Dodgers regrouped to take the last two in a three game series in Phoenix. With San Diego's 6-3 loss at Colorado, Los Angeles pulled two games ahead of the second-place Padres in the division.

''We're fine,'' Furcal said. ''We forget about what happened in San Diego.

Now we're two ahead and it's a pretty good series for us.''

The Diamondbacks, losers of six of seven, fell five games back and stayed 3 1/2 behind Cincinnati in the wild-card race. Chad Billingsley struck out one and walked one.

''I think early on when this kid joined the ballclub, he was in a little bit more of

a strikeout mode than he is now,'' Dodgers manager Grady Little said.

''He knows that he's got a good ballclub behind him, that they'll make the plays.''

Billingsley said he's just being himself.

''How I'm pitching now is how I've always pitched in my career.

I'm getting settled in real good and believing in myself and trusting

in myself,'' he said. ''This is really how I throw. I wasn't trusting myself

when I first got up. I was learning and giving the hitter too much credit.''

Takashi Saito came on with runners on first and second with one out in the ninth. He gave up a two-out, RBI double to Eric Byrnes, allowing the tying run to come to the plate, before striking out Orlando Hudson for his 16th save in 18 chances.

Now that's interesting

I'm trying to follow our young guns quite closely, but it seems I might have missed this in the thick of the chase. Again the credit goes to the invaluable input from Jon Weisman:

I have watched every one of Chad Billingsley's starts this year. Up until his last start, he relied on a fastball and a hard overhand curveball that dropped downward. In his last start, perhaps one third of his pitches were sliders - a pitch that I have not seen him throw all season. He abandoned the overhand curve except for two or three pitches, which he had thrown about one third of the time before this.

While I have seen many pitchers introduce a new pitch at the start of the year (Ryan's changeup, for example), and others throw a new pitch a few times in a game (in the middle of the season), I have never seen a pitcher switch so quickly to a new pitch and use it so frequently in the middle of the season.

Since I don't see a lot of games besides Dodgers, Angels, and ESPN games, I am eager to know if others have seen pitchers introduce new pitches in the middle of the season and throw them frequently.

My only question is this: perhaps Chad *did* have a command of this new pitch (slider), but declined to use it and he did not have as much confidence in it as in the other two (fastball and curveball)? Did he use the slider in the minors?

Matt, know anything I don't, do you? ;)

Technically, it's a good moment

To designate a long-time fan favorite Gio(vanni) Carrara for assignment. I mean, I have juts read somewhere that Gio allowed at least one earned run in seven (was it?) out of his eight last outings. Thefore, DFA'ing him now with such poor recent stats and his age means there might be fewer takers off waivers and he actually might make it through to the Las Vegas 51's.

Now, one thing that I do not understand is bringing someone like Tim Hamulack up at this time of the year. I know the Kuo-as-starter experiment is not to be tampered with, but why the Ham-boy? And Joe Beimel's arm and shoulder strained due to 44 pitches in one game a couple of days ago is surely not the reason, either - if it had been, Beimel would have been DLed and bringing Hamulack back would have made more sense.

I'd rather the Dodger management brought back up my favorite Vegas pitcher - the intimidating Franquelis Osoria. At least we'd have the Osoria Watch back on again :).

Photo above: Gio Carrara [www.mlb.com/images]

Game 129: Dodgers @ Arizona Diamondbacks 4:3

This is how a game is supposed to be won.

Jeff Kent homered to lead off the ninth inning and the Dodgers snapped a four-game losing streak by beating the the Diamondbacks 4-3 Saturday night. Kent's towering shot to left on a 3-2 pitch put the Dodgers back on top after Arizona had rallied from a 3-1 deficit to tie it. Jonathan Broxton improved to 3-0 by throwing one pitch, a line out by Johnny Estrada to end the eighth, earning the victory. Takashi Saito, coming off his second blown save of the season the night before, pitched a scoreless ninth for his 15th save.

Los Angeles remained one game ahead of second-place San Diego in the NL West. Arizona fell four games back with its fifth loss in six games.

Dodgers starter Derek Lowe lasted only three and two-thirds innings before leaving with a bruised left thumb. Lowe, winner of four of his last five starts, was struck in the left hand by Chad Tracy's line drive. X-rays were negative. Lowe allowed a run on five hits, three of them infield singles. Nomar Garciaparra hit a two-out single past diving first baseman Tony Clark, bringing in two runs in the third.

The Dodgers added a run in the fourth when Andre Ethier doubled off the Arizona bullpen fence in left, then scored from third when shortstop Craig Counsell fielded Lowe's grounder for what should have been a routine inning-ending out. But Counsell chose to toss it to second for the force-out, and Hudson didn't get to the bag on time.

Some thoughts:

1) Hopefully this win changes the direction the Dodgers seemed to have been heading. They needed a win, and got the win, to remain in sole possession of first place.

2) It appears as if Lowe's injury isn't too bad, but it's scary just the same. Hopefully he doesn't miss any starts.

Game 128: Dodgers @ Arizona Diamondbacks 7:9, 15 innings

If we are going to lose, we should do it in nine innings, not fifteen. Not only do we get the loss, but we wear out our bullpen on these marathon nights. After five hours and six minutes of playing the greatest game on earth, the Dodgers finally got the game over with. Unfortunately, the outcome wasn't favorable.

The Dodgers lost their fourth straight, but maintained a one-game lead in the NL West over the San Diego Padres. Arizona snapped a four-game skid and is only three back.

J.D. Drew hit a pair of homers to drive in three runs, then singled in the go-ahead run with two outs in the eleventh inning to put the Dodgers up 7-6. He narrowly missed a third home run with a shot to the left field wall in the 14th. But the Diamondbacks tied it with their third unearned run of the game in their half of the 11th as Los Angeles closer Takashi Saito blew a save for only the second time 16 tries.

Rafael Furcal led off the Dodgers' eleventh with a single, then stole second -- his 31st stolen base of the season. He scored when Drew singled to right. Saito walked Conor Jackson to start Arizona's eleventh. First baseman Nomar Garciaparra couldn't handle third baseman Wilson Betemit's throw on Stephen Drew's sacrifice bunt for an error. Jackson went to third on the play, then scored on Carlos Quentin's sacrifice fly to tie it at 7-7.

"That was a great game out there tonight," Dodgers manager
Grady Little said. "We made a couple of mistakes defensively,
but we came out of the gates swinging. It was just one
of those nights where we needed to score a few more
than we did."

No, Grady. Seven runs should be enough to win a game. The onus of this game goes to the pitching. For the first time in a while, the offense did their job.

Arizona loaded the bases with one out in the thirteenth and fourteenth, but couldn't score.

J.D. Drew's homers, both with two outs, helped the Dodgers take a 6-3 lead after four innings, but the Diamondbacks rallied to tie it with single runs in the fifth, sixth and eighth to deny Greg Maddux his 330th career victory. Maddux, who got a no decision, is a miserable 1-9 lifetime against Arizona. He allowed four runs, two earned, on 10 hits in five innings. He said he had no idea why he struggles so much against the Diamondbacks.

"I guess they just match up good against me, I don't know,"

he said, "but I didn't pitch very good tonight."

Luis Gonzalez, who didn't whine, piss or moan this game, doubled twice for Arizona to give him 540 for his career, tied for 23rd with Joe Medwick and Dave Winfield on the career list.

Drew hit a solo homer in the first and a two-run shot in the third, both off Claudio Vargas, for his eleventh career multi-homer game and second this season, both at Chase Field. Russell Martin, 1-for-21 on the road trip up to that point, also homered for the Dodgers.

Random observations:

1) Maddux failed to strike out a batter in his shortest outing since June 4 against St. Louis. Hopefully this got his bad outing out of his system so he can focus on his winning ways.

2) Drew, upon hitting his fourteenth home run of the season, is showing signs of life. Was this his break out game? Maybe the Drew we all expect to do big things is finally ready to live up to his expectations.

3) The Dodgers are just 1-7 in extra-inning games this season. They really need to learn how to win in extra innings.

The stopgap is Greg Maddux

The Dodgers never wanted Greg Maddux more to be a stopgap than tomorrow night. His task is two-fold:

1) Take game one from the Diamondbacks and hereby stop the three-game losing streak;

2) Show other, younger Dodger starters what it takes to reverse bad vibes before it's too late.

Is it possible to keep one's fingers crossed asleep? I'm gonna try that this night (European time).

Game 127: Dodgers @ San Diego Padres 2:7

It was a tough night for the Dodgers. Not only did they lose for the fifth time in seven games, but they let the Padres creep back into the National League West race. Hell, for that matter, they let the hated gnats crawl back into the race.

To add insult to injury, Grady Little and starter Brad Penny were ejected during a lengthy argument with plate umpire Rick Reed in the fifth inning, and right fielder Julio Lugo was tossed in the fourth for slamming down his helmet after being called out on a close play.

I can somewhat understand Penny getting ejected, but Little and Lugo? That is just ridiculous!

The Padres have swept two straight series against the Dodgers and improved to 11-3 this season, including 11 wins in their last 12 games. The teams will meet for a final time this year in a four-game series at Dodger Stadium on Sept. 15-18. The Padres swept the Dodgers in Los Angeles on July 24-26. The Dodgers need to rebound and sweep the Padres in the next series.

With the Padres leading 4-2 in the fifth, Adrian Gonzalez walked on a 3-2 pitch to give San Diego runners on first and second with none out. Little came out to the mound to confer with Penny, who began exchanging words with Reed. Little came off the mound and spoke with Reed, then returned to the mound.

Little went back to the dugout and San Diego manager Bruce Bochy came out to get an explanation from Reed. The four umpires huddled for a few minutes before Reed walked toward the Dodgers' dugout to speak with Little.

Reed then proceeded to ejected Little, then went to the mound and handed the ball to Penny. The right-hander told Reed:

"If you called that f*****g a strike, that never
would have F*****g happened."

Penny was tossed, and had to be pulled away by first base coach Mariano Duncan and bench coach Dave Jauss.

Penny (13-7) walked the bases loaded with two outs in the first and allowed three runs, the first two on Blum's single to right field on a hanging curveball. When the inning ended, he walked up to Reed and could be heard saying: "I want the corners. That's all I'm asking."

In the Dodgers' fourth, Padres third baseman Bellhorn bobbled Lugo's grounder and then bounced the throw in the dirt before Gonzalez, the first baseman, scooped it up for the out.

Lugo slammed down his helmet and, once he realized that first base umpire Chris Guccione had ejected him, he and Duncan began to argue. Little ran out to join them before Duncan led Lugo off the field. Lugo was replaced by Jason Repko.

What the hell was up with the umpires and their short fuses tonight? I have NEVER heard of someone getting ejected without warning for throwing their helmet down. Even as an umpire, who has gone to clinics by MLB umpire Eddie Montague, I have never seen such a thing.

Wilson Betemit homered leading off the third, his 14th, and rookie sensation Andre Ethier hit an RBI triple in the fourth.

A bit of randomness:

1) Chan Ho Park, ex-Dodger and current Padre had surgery today to stop intestinal bleeding. My prayers are with him and his family.

2) Penny is 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in three starts against San Diego this year. The Padres definitely seem to have Penny's number this year.

3) With all the ejections and tempers flaring tonight, do you think it will help motivate the team, or be counter productive?

Game 126: Dodgers @ San Diego Padres 0:1

This was by far Mark Hendrickson's best pitched game as a Dodger. He probably won't come close to matching this performance again. He gave up just one run, but that unfortunately was one run too many. Padres ace, Jake Peavy shut down the Dodgers offense.

The Dodgers lead in the National League West shrunk to just two games.

The Padres have won ten of their last eleven games against the Dodgers. By winning the first two of the three-game series, the Padres ended the Dodgers' string of seven straight series victories. That Dodgers' run began after they were swept by the Padres at Dodger Stadium July 24-26.

"The matchup of these two clubs has not been good,"
Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "We have a few
games to see if we can get it turned around."

Los Angeles has lost four of six games following a 17-1 stretch.

Julio Lugo singled with two outs in the ninth, his third hit, to give the Dodgers runners on first and second, before Olmedo Saenz grounded into a forceout.

Piazza snapped the longest hitless streak of his career, 0-for-26, when his hard single with two outs in the sixth inning bounced off shortstop Rafael Furcal's glove and rolled onto the outfield grass, allowing rookie Josh Barfield to score. Barfield hit a leadoff double that landed on the left-field line, and he advanced on Mike Cameron's fly ball.

The Dodgers' best chance to score came in the fifth, when Lugo bounced a leadoff double over the fence in left-center. He stole third with two outs, but Peavy got Furcal to fly out to center.
After Jeff Kent drew a leadoff walk in the seventh, San Diego got a remarkable play when second baseman Barfield booted Andre Ethier's grounder right to shortstop Manny Alexander, who fell down corralling the ball but got his right foot on the bag for the force.

Hendrickson fell to 1-6 while giving up one run and five hits in six innings. He struck out four and walked one.

Some thoughts:

1) Wednesday's game is pretty much a must win. We need to salvage a game in this series.

2) With as streaky as the Dodgers have been playing, they really need to get their bats going and get back to their winning ways. We need a stellar performance by Brad Penny tonight.

Game 125: Dodgers @ San Diego Padres 2:4

We were supposed to face ailing Chan Ho Park, but instead we had to face rookie Tim Stauffer.
Several hours after getting a phone call telling him to head to San Diego, he arrived at Petco Park and found out he was going to start. He didn't even know his opponent until he saw all the fans wearing Dodgers shirts.

The right-hander held the Dodgers to two runs and three hits. He got the decision thanks to a leadoff triple into the gap in right-center leading off the sixth against Elmer Dessens and scored the go-ahead run on a groundout to shortstop.

The Dodgers lost for the fourth time in just 23 games.

Most Dodgers had never faced Stauffer.

"It's something that always scares you to death when you see
that happen," Little said. "Tonight, it proved true."

Stauffer retired his first 10 batters before allowing Kenny Lofton's single to center in the fourth and walking J.D. Drew with two outs. The runners advanced on Mike Piazza's passed ball and scored on Jeff Kent's single, which landed just in front of center fielder Mike Cameron.

Chad Billingsley allowed two runs and six hits in five innings, struck out five and walked one.
Kent went two-for-four with two runs batted in. Rookies Andre Ethier and Russell Martin each went one-for-three.

Some thoughts:

1) Why was Billingsley taken out? Granted he had thrown 96 pitches, but he looked like he could go one more.

2) Why was Dessens put in? Where was Jonathan Broxton?

Big day for our Ravings blog

As of yesterday we are proud to announce the syndication of this blog with the www.dodgerdugout.com. While we are not moving anywhere and will continue to provide provocative posts as often as we can, right now you can also follow us from the "blogs" section of the Dodger Dugout!


It's good to be a part of a larger Dodger family! :)

Game 124: Dodgers @ San Francisco Giants 5:2

The Dodgers were cruising up until the time Jeff Kent thought he'd make it a little less of a snoozer.

(1) Even with the prolonged (by not one, but two Kent's errors) ninth inning, the game took just 2 hours 15 mins. Mostly thanks to a wonderful display of pitching effectiveness by Derek Lowe. The trouble he got in in the ninth was not quite his fault.

(2) While I'm at it: how about Lowe's *hitting*?! Two-for-four with a double and an RBI to complement his eight plus almost flawless innings? And to think that the guy is originally coming from the American League...where they are forbidden to bat ;).

(3) Since I've devoted a separate post here to the sweetest slider I've seen recently (Saito's), there come to mind probably only Liriano and Papelbon's fastballs that could challenge for the sweetest thing award.

(4) How good would it be to take yet another series from divisional foes (which consecutive one would it be?) - San Diego Padres. The drawback is we'd have to do that with the bottom of our rotation as Chad Billingsley is going tonight and Mark Hendrickson tomorrow.

The grip?

Is this how Saito grips the baseball for this out-pitch: the nasty slider?

Any idea?

Is there a sweeter pitch?

Just an off-hand mostly rhetorical question:

Is there a sweeter pitch in the majors than Takashi Saito's slider to both right- and left-handed batters? Yesterday, all four he Giants batters (including BB, though he ultimately walked) were so genuinely fooled by it.

The funny thing: they knew what was coming (Feliz, Alfonzo) and they still chased it out of the strike-zone ;).

Way to go, Saito!

Games 122-123: Dodgers @ San Francisco Giants 3:7, 14:7

Let go right at it:

(1) I don't get the 'six innings from a starting pitcher' philosophy that we're seeing more and more often from Grady. While it's obvious that Brad Penny's pitch count in the last couple of outings has been high enough to pull him, why does Grady pull a pitcher like Greg Maddux out at about six innings, too? In the last two Maddux's games (including the second one of this current Giants series) , Greg threw about eighty pitches only and was still taken out of the game at about the sixth inning. Is there a Maddux endurance precaution in place that I might not be aware of?

(2) Was it really necessary to send James Loney down again, this time since Elmer Dessens was coming off the DL? I mean - to make room for Dessens? C'mon! Make it pitcher for pitcher and send Gio Carrara to Vegas. I know he's been steady for us, but comparing to Loney, he's on the career downward slope and past his prime. Why o why?

(3) I'm taking official bets on who finishes the season with a higher BA on the team: Nomar Garciaparra or Andre Ethier?

(4) How good did it feel to go ten up on the Giants in the *second* inning yesterday? :) And on a side note, as I did not see the game: why did Barry Bonds have to leave the game?

Rick Honeycutt speaks out

Guys over at Dodger Blue Notes have a real cracker of an interview with the Dodger pitching coach, Rick Honeycutt. If you're interested in what goes on behind the scenes, on the mound during the pitching coach visit and would like to get a grip on where specific Dodger pitchers are in the second part of August, this read is a must.

Way to go, guys!

Remembering Odalis...

So, our main foe has been in Kansas City for some time now. On a bad team, in his own words, where he's supposed to be a star pitcher. Let's see:

Since August 1 where he debuted in the AL, Odalis has started four games (twice against the White Sox, and once against the Twins and the Indians), has a 0-1 record to show for it, with a combined ERA of 5.32. He has pitched altogether 22 innings, giving up 19 hits, 13 ERs, with 8 walks and 17 punch-outs. He also allowed 5 HRs.

A paragon of mediocrity, I should say. Even on the Royals...

Marky Mark to be LEFT out?

Grady's been listening to what the blogosphere been preaching since the acquisition of Mark Hendrickson. Put HIM as the lefty long reliever in the pen and bring Aaron Sele back. So what, we might not have a lefty starter?! Last time we did: it was a lose-lose coin-flip between Odalis Perez and Marky Mark.

So now, Little is tinkering with the rotation and pitching days and days off to one way or another, perhaps subconsciously leave Hendrickson out:

"Little said his thoughts have more to do with using some pitchers
on less than the typical four days of rest, or in some cases,
more than four days of rest."

Good. I've had enough of 78 mph *fast*balls.

Games 120-121: Dodgers vs Florida Marlins 4:0, 4:15

If you ever wanted to see this Dodger season in a nutshell, please watch these two games in a row. You will get almost every little thing that epitomizes the 2006 in LA. The ebbs and tides, the sinusoidal wave of emotions, the excitement and the frustration, the almost-perfection that comes about almost too easily and the struggle of "a bad hair day", when nothing goes right.

There are some obvious questions after the Florida series, though:

(1) What is the new role of Aaron Sele? Is he coming out of the bullpen in win-tie situations (as in the middle game)? Is he a mop-up long reliever (as in the final game)? Should he replace Mark Hendrickson in the rotation? If so, where does Hendrickson end up, since his only asset seems to be his left-handedness?

(2) Why o why is Nomar taking first pitch fastballs? I know that has been the case throughout most, if not all, his career, but can't he be taught to let the first two pitches go with his bat on his shoulder? After all, he would have seen two pitches from the pitcher and should be better off judging the stuff that's been coming at him. Also, with control resembling the recent breed of the Marlin pitchers, it's not entirely impossible he would not have been 2-and-0 and had a much better chance of doing something with a fastball for a strike...

(3) Don't look now, but Chad Billingsley's ERA has dropped to paltry 3.16 after his seven-innings nine-strikeouts effort two days ago. Will he finish the season at 3.50 ERA or less?

(4) Who gets annoyed by the way Julio Lugo gets shuffled from one in/out/field to another? I do. It's not because I like Lugo to play at one position primarily, but every time out he seems to replace a player I would much rather see in a lineup now (Betemit, Repko, Furcal). Perhaps, I don't like Julio, that's why...

(5) The series against the Giants starts tomorrow night. We're throwing Penny, Maddux and Lowe, right. Taking two out of three seems a must then.

Game 119: Dodgers vs Florida Marlins 4:2

In a game like this, tonight's series opener against the other major Latino-community team, the Florida Marlins, it almost feels unfair that the Dodgers get so many lucky breaks both on offense and defence. This game could have easily gone the other way, and justifiably so.

If you take away a couple of Dodger bloop hits (past the fifth inning), a couple of groundball double plays by Derek Lowe and at least two misfortunate plays for Dontrelle Willis, the game was even closer than the final score indicates. Then again, why would we want to take anything away from these streaking Dodgers? :). For now I will just enjoy the breakthrough early-to-mid August and take something like borderline Gio Carrara pitch to end the seventh for granted ;).

A couple of observations, back in the huddle:

(1) When is the right time for the veterans to step it up a notch? Nomar Garciaparra did hit the game-breaking home run tonight, but how about Jeff Kent and JD Drew having the same breakout series? I mean, c'mon guys, it's not like there's fifty more games to play. Ehmmm, ok, there's forty-three... Get going!

(2) See how patient and opportunistic these "recent" Dodgers are? They got like six base on balls tonight and then used their happy feet to get over into the scoring positions. Who is the slowest Dodger on the basepaths apart from Olmedo Saenz and Kent? I haven't noticed, to be honest... One thing for sure - the Monday evening version of the Marlin defense did not help find any flows in the LA baserunning.

(3) It was anticlimatic that Saenz struck out with the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of what I believe was the sixth inning. The stadium was rolling and with the score 2-1 Dodgers at the time, I'm sorry it was not meant for him (by Willis' fastball) to come through once again and bust the game open a bit earlier.

(4) Raffy Furcal has now hit safely in 18 of his last 19 games. Better late than never, huh? ;)

Game 118: Dodgers vs. San Francisco Giants 1:0 (10 innings)

Wow! What a game! These are the types of games I like. The close, nail-biting pitching duels! I like it even more when the Dodgers are involved and are the victors.

Russell Martin stepped it up to lead the 10th inning by hitting a walk off homer. The Dodgers beat the lowly Giants. Greg Maddux was superb. He threw just 68 pitches in eight innings. It was truly a showdown of starters as Jason Schmidt matched Maddux by putting up zeroes for eight innings as well. I always love it when the Giants bullpen comes into the game. They suck, and have a knack for giving up runs.

Takashi Saito earned the win, improving to 5-2 on the year after intentionally walking Barry "Steroid Boy" Bonds with one out and nobody on in the top of the 10th, then retired Moises Alou and Shea Hillenbrandt.

The NL West-leading Dodgers have won 15 of 16 games. The three-game sweep was their first against the Giants at Dodger Stadium since September 1989 and it kept their lead over San Diego at 1 1/2 games.

The Giants have dropped 16 of 19 and 13 of 14 on the road. They are a season-worst nine games under .500, and have slipped 7 1/2 games off the pace.

Maddux was at his absolute best, throwing just 68 pitches (50 strikes) and retiring his last 22 batters after giving up singles to two of his first three batters. He did not walk a batter. Maddux's string of outs began with Steroid Boys' vicious liner back to the box, which Maddux snared and turned into a double play with Ray Durham unable to get back to first.

This was the first matchup between a pitcher with 300 or more wins and a cheating batter with 700 or more home runs.

Some thoughts:

1) I understand his age and all, but why in the world take out Maddux? He hadn't allowed a base-runner since the first inning! And if you bring in a PH for him, why not keep the PH in afterward? I'm sure James Loney could have taken Julio Lugo's spot.

Diaz will back'em up in Vegas

It's really been a merry-go-round for the Dodger catchers this year (last paragraph). And now Einar Diaz joins the party. Welcome aboard, Einar:

The Dodgers have gone through a flock (gaggle? herd? swarm?)
of catchers this season. Starting he season with Pat Borders
(retired), Dioner Navarro (traded), Sandy Alomar (traded), they
added Russell Martin, Toby Hall and now they have signed
journeyman Einar Diaz from Triple-A Buffalo in the Cleveland
organization. He was assigned to Triple-A Las Vegas,
where he joins Edwin Bellorin and Eric Langill.

Game 117: Dodgers vs. San Francisco Giants 6:5

Brad Penny suceeded in his quest to become the National League's first 13-game winner, winning his third straight game while allowing four runs (3 earned) and seven hits over six innings. Penny didn't walk a batter for the second straight outing. He struck out seven.

Rookie James Loney had a stellar game, tripling, doubling and scoring twice for the NL West-leading Dodgers, who have won 14 of 15. The last-place Giants are 6 1/2 games behind Los Angeles after falling a season-worst seven games under .500.

The Giants closed to 6-5 in the seventh with doubles by pinch-hitter Todd Linden and Omar Vizquel against Giovanni Carrera, but lefty Joe Beimel retired Steroid Boy on an inning-ending grounder with runners at the corners. The play was made by shortstop Rafael Furcal with the Dodgers playing a three-man shift on the right side of the infield.

Jonathan Broxton pitched a perfect eighth inning and Takashi Saito worked the ninth for his 13th save in 14 attempts. Steven Finlet flied out to the warning track for the second straight time with a runner on base, and then Saito retired Vizquel on a groundout to first base to end it.

San Francisco has dropped 15 of 18 after a season-high five-game winning streak, and won just one of its last 12 on the road.

Ya gotta love it!

Betemit snapped a 4-4 tie in the fifth with his 13th home run and fourth since joining the Dodgers on July 28 in a trade with Atlanta. The drive into the right-field pavilion came on a 3-1 pitch -- Cain's last one of the game.

The Dodgers regained the lead when Loney led off with a double, advanced on Penny's sacrifice bunt and scored on a single by Furcal, who is hitting .365 with runners in scoring position. But the Giants pulled even again in the fifth, thanks to some typical hustle by the 40-year-old Finley. Finley hit a two-out grounder to second baseman Julio Lugo, who bobbled the ball for an instant. That's all it took for Finley to beat the throw and stick Lugo with an error. He stole second and scored on a single by Vizquel that extended his hitting streak to 11 games.

The Dodgers grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first on Lugo's RBI double into the left-field corner and J.D. Drew's run-scoring single. They made it 3-0 in the second when Loney tripled and scored on a popup by Penny that second baseman Durham lost in the sun.

Some thoughts:

1) Every team in the NL West has now spent at least 20 days in first place, and no fewer than 22 days in last place. I sure hope this trend doesn't continue. I hope the Giants keep on losing and the Dodgers keep on winning.

2) Dodgers rookie-of-the-year candidate Andre Ethier extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a single his first time up. When he reaches enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title, he will be one of only three rookies to win the batting title. Assuming he holds on.

Game 116: Dodgers vs. San Francisco Giants 3:2

After such a poor showing right after the all-star break, the Dodgers seemed to be heading downhill. It was nice to hear Brett Tomko with such positive words.

"We went through a very trying stretch. And to bounce back
the way we have, that's great," Tomko said Friday night after
he pitched a perfect eighth inning in Los Angeles' 3-2 victory
over the the arch rival San Francisco Giants.
We could easily have given up and coasted when we were
six or seven games back. But we knew that wasn't going
to happen. There are too many guys here who wouldn't
let that happen."

The Dodgers have gained nine and a half games in the past two weeks. Pretty impressive if you ask me.

"We like the way things are going right now,"
Los Angeles manager Grady Little said.

Mark Hendrickson looked better than perhaps any of his other starts as a Dodger, pitching seven strong innings and Julio Lugo provided the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth to carry the Dodgers past the rival Giants, who have lost three straight and 14 of 17. Jeff Kent appeard to be on the right track after a stint on the disabled list, hitting a solo homer for the Dodgers.

Steroid Boy went 1-for-1, walked three times and singled home the Giants' second run. I still don't understand the walking of such a washed out has been. If we really want to give him first base, why not just plunk him? It saves three pitches on the pitchers pitch count.

Andre Ethier hit safely in his fifteenth consecutive game.

Hendrickson gave up two runs and scattered 10 hits in seven innings. He walked four and struck out three. Tomko worked the eighth and Jonathan Broxton pitched the ninth for his second save in four chances.

The Dodgers took a 2-1 lead on Kent's 11th home run, leading off the fourth inning against Noah Lowry. Hendrickson walked Bonds to load the bases in the third after getting ahead of him 0-2. Durham followed with a single that drove in Randy Winn and tied it at 1. Durham also singled after Hendrickson walked Bonds with two outs in the seventh, but Ethier threw Durham out at second trying to stretch his hit into a double.

Nomar Garciaparra's sacrifice fly put the Dodgers up 1-0 in the first inning.

Some thoughts:

1) Living in the Bay Area, I decided to watch the Giant's channel. It was some of the most asinine, unprofessional announcing I have ever seen. I have no idea which one, but one of the announcers kept scribbling with his white pen over Tommy Lasorda everytime they showed him.

Game 115: Dodgers vs. Colorado Rockies 4:3

This was an important game for the Dodgers. As streaky as they have been, it was important to bounce right back.

Kenny Lofton continues to surprise many. It seems that everytime there is talk of taking him out of the linep, he comes through in the clutch, reminding everyone of the veteran he is. Lofton singled home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning, moving the Dodgers into first place in the NL West, defeating the Rockies 4-3 Thursday night.

"He's been around long enough to know how to play the game
and he's been on teams that have won, so it's nice to have him,"
Dodgers reliever Brett Tomko said. "He's usually the guy
who gets traded for the stretch run. He knows what
he needs to do to help the team, whatever it is."

The Dodgers, whose 11-game winning streak ended with a 3-1 loss Wednesday night, are a half-game ahead of San Diego and Arizona. This is the first time the Dodgers have had sole possession of first place since June 26. They were as many as seven and a half games off the pace on July 26 after losing 13 of 14 games following the All-Star break.

Jose Mesa gave up a one-out walk to pinch-hitter Julio Lugo and a single to Rafael Furcal before lofted sliced a pitch into left field to win the game. Dodgers rookie-of-the-year contender Andre Ethier seemed to have clinched the Dodger's victory with a tiebreaking solo homer in the eighth inning.

Unfortunately, a bad play in the outfield and an error charged to Jeff Kent erased the lead in the top of the tenth, forcing the Dodgers to come back in the bottom half of the inning.

"We had that inning drawn up as soon as the inning started,"
Hurdle said. "We were get let Corpas pitch to (Jeff) Kent
and have King come in to face Ethier. Ethier hadn't hit
a home run all year off a left-hander, and King hadn't
given up one to a lefty all year. Obviously, it didn't work
-- and it didn't work in the ninth, either."

Goes to show the lefty verses lefty philosophy isn't all its made up to be.

For the second time in this four-game series, a Rockies pitcher was ejected after Hurdle removed him from the game. King, who was upset about a previous pitch to Wilson Betemit, held both arms out to the side (before and after Huddle made the pitching change) and was tossed by plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt. On Monday night, Sam Holbrook ejected Josh Fogg under the same circumstances.

Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley allowed a run and three hits over five innings, struck out three and escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third. All of his six walks came during a span of 10 batters, but none of those baserunners scored. Billingsley, with as much promise as he does have, obviously still needs to work on lowering his walks. He also needs to work on first pitch strikes.

The Dodgers took a 2-1 lead in the fifth on Nomar Garciaparra's sacrifice fly, but Colorado tied it in the sixth against reliever Aaron Sele with a two-out RBI double. Garciaparra, who came in 4-for-20 lifetime against Colorado starter Jason Jennings, singled his first two times up. But in the seventh, he flied out to end the inning after a pair of two-out walks.

Furcal led off the Dodgers' first with a triple and scored on Lofton's groundout. The Rockies tied it in the second when Matt Holliday led off with a drive that struck the right-field pole.

A bit of randomness:

Without cheating, who can name the eight players on the Dodgers' 25-man roster that played for the Dodgers last season?

Something to wake up to

Andre Either 0-for-3 at the time (while trying to keep alive his NL-longest, currently, hitting streak), comes up to the plate in the bottom of the eight innings against Ray King of the Colorado Rockies. King was just brought in for the sake of the matchups: lefty against lefty.

First pitch, ka-BOOOM, home run, and the streak is alive.

I don't care that the Rockies came right back on the triple by Helton and subsequent Kent's throwing error to tie the whole thing up (top of the ninth, two out as I write this).

The Ethier hit was definitely something worth waking up to :) (six o'clock A.M. in my parts of the world). Sweet.

Game 114: Dodgers vs. Colorado Rockies 1:3

Well, the streak had to come to an end sooner or later. In a way, it may be better that the streak ended at eleven. The last team to have an eight game losing streak and a twelve game win streak in the same season was the Chicago Cubs. With this cursed history, we all know how that went. The Rockies' victory was only their third in 12 games against the Dodgers this season, so Colorado manager Clint Hurdle said it was special in several ways.

"For us, the Dodgers are a team our organization needs to
beat and play better against," he said. "It was a
significant step for our ballclub to beat a good pitcher
in a big ballgame. "They're as hot as they can be,

and for us to do it late was good for us."

Hawpe was pleased to come up with the key hit and said he always enjoys playing the Dodgers, streak or no streak.

"The Dodgers are a fun team for me and the rest of the team to
play against because they're a quality team
and they're real competitive," Hawpe said.

Dodgers manager Grady Little took the defeat in stride.

"There is no doubt in my mind we will be out there tomorrow

to start a new streak," he said.

Dodgers starter Derek Lowe fell to 9-8 on the season. He gave up three runs and six hits in 8 2-3 innings. He struck out six and walked none. The loss cost the Dodgers a chance to take over first place in the NL West. San Diego lost 4-3 to the New York Mets, but maintained a half-game lead.

With Jeff Francis holding the Dodgers' offense in check, Lowe tied the score at 1 with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the fifth inning. Francis cut down a runner at the plate in the fourth, throwing out Julio Lugo as he attempted to steal home.

Some thoughts:

1) Why was Lowe taken out? After such a great game, it should have been his game to finish. Granted he had thrown over 100 pitches, but just one out away. And if not Lowe, why put Saito in? Saito is used to the closers role and it is a whole different game to a closer in a different role.

2) It appears that even a newly activated from the DL Nomar Garciaparra is still considered a threat at the plate. He was walked twice, once intentionally.

Not so fast

I don't always enjoy the musings of Bill Plaschke but his most recent piece on Greg Maddux's first home game as a Dodger caught my eye. Especially the poetic beginning. I'll take a liberty of quoting the first couple of paragraphs here, for your pleasure. Just make sure, you read the whole thing:

Third pitch, a hit.

Fourth pitch, another hit.

One minute into his first Dodger Stadium journey as
a Los Angeles Dodger pitcher Tuesday, Greg Maddux
was lost in the Rockies, two guys on base, blank stare
on his face, and you could feel a ripple across the Ravine.

Here he comes. The guy with the thinning record
and wrinkled ERA. Cy Old.

Five days after a debut as the Maddux everyone revered
-- six no-hit innings in Cincinnati -- he was on the verge of
being the Maddux everyone feared.

Then he shrugged and showed why he is baseball’s
greatest pitcher whose entire arsenal can be
described in three words.

Not so fast.

And then Plaschke goes on to describe everything else so great about Maddux in his first outing at Chavez Ravine. Really well put article.

Game 113: Dodgers vs. Colorado Rockies 4:2

Izzy who?

That seems to be the general consensus of Dodger faithful these days. And no disrespect is meant towards him when I say this, but if Greg Maddux keeps this up, it was a very small price to pay. He may not have gotten the win, but it was his second quality start in as many chances after waving his no trade clause to come play for the storied Los Angeles Dodgers. Nevertheless, Maddux played a major role in the Dodgers' 11th straight victory.

Maddux pitched six solid innings in his home debut for the Dodgers, as they rallied past the Colorado Rockies 4-2 Tuesday night. "He was good, gave us everything we needed," manager Grady Little said after the Dodgers pushed a winning streak to 11 games for the first time since 1993.

Unfortunately, Maddux did not get a decision after allowing two runs and seven hits, but the Dodgers pulled within a half-game of first-place San Diego in the NL West. Two weeks ago to the day the Dodgers found themselves staring down at a seven and a half game deficit behind San Diego after a 10-3 loss to the Padres. Talk about a turnaround!

The Dodgers got homers from Rafael Furcal and Wilson Betemit before pinch-hitter Olmedo Saenz singled home the go-ahead run in the seventh.

The winning streak is the Dodgers' longest since May 1993. The club record is 15 in a row, set way back in 1924.

Brett Tomko showed that he can still pitch-- in one inning durations when he pitched a scoreless seventh for the win, improving to 7-6 on the year. Takashi Saito worked a perfect ninth for his twelth save in as many chances this year.

The Dodgers took a 3-2 lead in the seventh on Betemit's leadoff homer against Byung-Hyun Kim and Saenz's run-scoring single.

"Saenz has been very steady for us," Little said.
"He gets the big hits at the right times this year."

Saenz is 12-for-41 (.293) as a pinch-hitter this season, with 12 RBIs and two homers.

"It's hard to find a guy that can do it, and Saenz has
really grabbed hold of that," Hurdle said. "He's
a professional hitter who's very good at what he does."

Does Mr. Hurdle realize he is a Rockie and not a Dodger? All the praises could have fooled many.

Betemit, acquired from Atlanta on July 28 for pitcher Danys Baez and Willy Aybar, hit his 12th homer of the year to draw the Dodgers even at two. The home run was his third since the trade.
Andre Ethier gave the Dodgers an insurance run with an RBI single off my favorite non-Dodger, non-Paulie player in the pros, Jose Mesa in the eighth.

Saenz, batting for Tomko, drove in the go-ahead run against Ramon Ramirez, who had just replaced Kim. Russell Martin singled to chase Kim out of the game, then stole second and scored on Saenz's hit.

Why aren't we...

...getting almost any comments on the blog? I inteded to pose this question to you - only later did I realize that it might be difficult for you to answer since most of you seem to ignore the comments section :).

I will give it a try, anyway - care to let us know why no comments? Are we that bad, or that good? Or yourselves - so indifferent? ;)

Game 112: Dodgers vs. Colorado Rockies 7:2

Welcome back Jeff Kent! Upon returning from the disabled list, Jeff Kent returned with two big hits. He also had a new feature to him -- a first baseman's mitt.

Kent homered, doubled and drove in three runs Monday night, as the Los Angeles Dodgers extended their winning streak to ten games with a 7-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies. The four-time All-Star second baseman also made ten putouts in his first start at first base since last September.

"I was hoping he'd be rusty. He's not," Rockies manager
Clint Hurdle said. "He was going to come off the DL
sooner or later, and he's got some good history
against us. There's a handful of guys like that.
It's like a rock in your shoe or a burr in your saddle.
We can't seem to shake him."

Brad Penny improved to 12-5 on the year, after pitching eight strong innings for the Dodgers and allowed five hits. The only downside to his performance was the fact that he gave up to solo shots. The All-Star right-hander struck out four, walked none and helped himself with an RBI double.

"I was throwing a lot of changeups and breaking balls
early in the count," Penny said. "They were hitting the ball decent,
but right at people. And that's always huge for me. Fortunately,
I got a lot of early outs tonight and a lot of great defense behind me."

Penny continued his dominance over Colorado. He is 4-0 with a 0.99 ERA in four starts against the Rockies this season, and 9-2 in 14 career starts with a 2.16 ERA. That is the lowest by any pitcher against Colorado.

"Obviously, Penny has more than had his way with us.
He's dominated us," Hurdle said. "The problem tonight was
his first-pitch strikes. He was shaving corners away. Late
in the count, he was shaving corners in with his breaking ball.
He was just on top of his game."

Penny retired his first 11 batters and held a 4-0 lead before giving up a homerun. Another homer in the eighth cut the Dodgers' lead to 5-2, but J.D. Drew responded with a two-run double in the bottom half.

"We're doing everything good right now," manager
Grady Little said. "The pitchers have been consistent,
both the starters and relievers, and we've been getting some
good, timely hitting. We've got a different team right now
than we had a month ago. There's some different faces
out there and they've made a big difference in this ballclub."

The Dodgers' winning streak, which is five games shy of the franchise record set in 1924, began one game after Penny initiated a heated confrontation with center fielder Kenny Lofton.

Not to restart the debate, but maybe Penny's outburst resonated with the team.

"I think all of us had doubts at that time, but we went through it
and we learned from it," Little said. "They learned it's not the end
of the world. You're going to go through a lot of good times
and a lot of bad ones. It was just a matter of everyone doing
their job the best they could and seeing what they could do
to make a difference, and it's paying off.
Now we'll just continue to go forward."

Rockies pitcher, Josh Fogg allowed five runs, eight hits and four walks in four in a third innings. The right-hander was removed by Hurdle after giving up a bases-loaded RBI single by Julio Lugo that made the score 5-1. After crossing the foul line, Fogg crossed the line with plate umpire Sam Holbrook and was ejected after complaining too strongly about his call on a previous pitch.

Lofton, who was 3-for-5 with two stolen bases, tripled in the first inning and scored on Kent's two-out double. The Dodgers made it 2-0 in the second when Russell Martin singled and came home on Penny's double into the left-field corner.

Kent, who missed 18 games because of a strained muscle on his left side, drove in two more in the third with his 10th homer.

"He's not the most vocal guy, but he leads by the way he plays,"
Martin said. "He's a tough player and a tough competitor,
and you just kind of feed off that. And with him back in the lineup,
he's going to help us out a whole lot with his bat.
You could just see that he's locked in. Every swing he took
tonight was perfectly balanced and he was taking good hacks."

Three of the first seven Colorado batters were robbed of hits on diving plays by three different infielders. Kent smothered Brett Hawpe's smash up the line in the third and ran to the bag for the out.

"His defense was great," Jason Repko said. "I just think it's great
that he could come out here and just right away be willing to go
there and help the team wherever it's needed."

Some thoughts:

1) Andre Ethier went one for two, raising his average to .350 on the year. Is it too early to seriously be considering a shot at Rookie of the Year of Ethier?

2) Ricky Ledee seems to have finished his time in Los Angeles. He took his last at bat on Monday, as the Dodgers have put him on waivers and the New York Mets have claimed him.

They are teaching themselves to win!

It's official, Andre Either has my attention. In the recent Tony Jackson's column he takes charge, explaining how much any team needs to teach and re-teach itself how to get onto the winning ways back again:

"We had to teach ourselves
how to win again. I think
sometimes, you can forget
what it takes to win.
When you start losing like
we were, you start to really
fight yourselves, and you
have to force the issue
of getting a victory."

This coming from a 24-year old? Respect.

Game 109-111: Dodgers @ Florida Marlins 6:2, 10:2, 7:3

Again, I'm sorry for combining posts with game reports, but I'm recently running pretty low on time resources... On the other hand, I have probably not done too many three-game sets into one post, so I hope you will excuse me.

My overall observations from the Florida series:

(1) I do agree it's a great time to be up in the spirit since the Dodgers have now won nine straight. However, if we take into equation the 1-win-oout-of-the-previous-twelve-games slump, things no longer seem so rosy, do they? In general, we end up something like 10-12 post-ASG, which while being sensible in the weak NL West, certainly is not staggering. Don't get me wrong: I'd rather we'd be winning to overcome the losing streak than the other way round, but still the realist in me says it's nothing fancy being 10-12 overall ;).

(2) Since I was not able to watch any of the Florida games, due to MLB.tv package failure (being worked on as we speak), please let somebody knowledgeable tell us how is James Loney's plate discipline these days? From the reports I've read, he seems much better prepared to handle the major league pitching than he used to in April...

(3) Gio Carrara striking out five Marlins in two innings in the middle game? That's news to me. But heck, I might even forget my calling for Franquelis Osoria to be plucked back in the Dodger bullpen if Gio has some more outings like these :).

(4) Even after the slugfest in the three game series against Florida, I'm still waiting for our two new offensive acquisitions (Wilson Betemit and Julio Lugo) to have a power outburst in the same game. Perhaps at home at Chavez Ravine against the Colorado Rockies?

(5) I hope (and e-mailed him accordingly) Blue Man Matt can/will take over the game reports for the upcoming Colorado and San Francisco series. Expect plenty of good stuff when he's on.

Game 108: Dodgers @ Cincinnati Reds 3:0

That's the now famous first Dodger game by Greg Maddux. A no-hitter through six innings with a rain delay. Wow.

Since so much has been already written about this game, let me give you another spin. I believe it might be (as we look upon this season from more perspective) a pivotal game in the Dodger starting pitchers' understanding of the protection someone like Maddux provides.

Neither Penny nor Lowe did have that protection in the starting five before. On the contrary, they were supposed to provide it, as veteran pitchers, to the rest of the starters. They were heavily counted on as pitchers who would win ballgames or at least keep the team in a game for as long as they could. If they faltered, there was little hope the bottom of the starting five could provide any consistent wins (regardless of a good stretch from Aaron Sele at the beginning of the season).

Now Penny and Lowe have someone who could stand in for them on rainy days, so to say. While I do not think Maddux will be anywhere close to as perfect as he was in his debut, I believe he's going to give the Dodgers a chance to win on most nights. Thus taking some of the pressure off our vets.

At the same time, now the Dodgers have both Rick Honeycutt (official pitching coach) and Greg Maddux (future HoF-mer) to help the young arms. Hopefully, beyond this year only.

Yes, he will...

Cesar Izturis, that is. Be missed.

I'm glad that Sarah D. Morris shares my sentiments towards the great Dodger shortstop. The following are some of her thoughts on Cesar:

"To me, Izturis at 26 is in the same class as [Ozzie] Smith at 26.
Although Izturis doesn't have much experience, a little over three
Major League seasons, he has shown an ability to be a better
defensive shortstop than Smith."


"Izturis has an incredible range and gets to the balls that nearly all other
shortstops don't. He has lightning-quick reflexes and soft hands that
cradle ground balls. Despite having Tommy John surgery to correct
an arthritic elbow condition, Izturis has a strong, accurate arm."

Now, his abilities are going to benefit the Chicago Cubs...

What would you like on the menu?

I admit I'm having trouble with regularity over the summer. Especially, when Blue Man Matt chips in less frequently with his tidbits (we usually split game reports between the two of us).

The hot and humid summer, yes even over here in Eastern Europe, has been gradually catching up with me.

Anyway, here's where I need you help - what would you like me to focus on mostly:

a) game reports - but the blog would become dull with them mostly;
b) comments on day-to-day Dodger season;
c) short notes with a spin on Dodger thereabouts;
d) our comments on what others are bloggin' about;
e) keep up everything and mix it up the way we did to date?

Also, which would you prefer:

e) several short notes per day; or
f) one-two longer notes every (other) day?

Your responses in the comments section on the above (and anything else regarding this blogging enterprise of ours) will be highly appreciated! Please let us know how we could help you enjoy reading this space for days to come.

Games 106-107: Dodgers @ Cincinnati Reds 10:4, 5:3

If beating a leading candidate for the NL Wild Card at least two out of three times (if not sweeping them altogether) is any indication of sudden better chemistry in the recently much-maligned Dodger Clubhouse World, I'm glad to take it and run away with it. As they say, the best way to forget about a slump is to get on a winning streak. Especially away from home. Especially making up ground to NL West leaders *and* NL Wild Car race at the same time.

I still have my reservations about whether Wilson Betemit is for real and can keep up his recent godd plate discipline. I still don't like having Julio "trouble at home" Lugo as our second baseman, but as long as the team keeps winning, I might as well tab them as positive breakthrough influence that the Dodgers might have needed. And that without even seeing a single change-up from Greg Maddux (to be seen later this evening in southern Ohio).

Anyway, here are my thoughts after the first two games:

(1) Wilson Betemit is surely wearing the exact shirt Dannys Baez used to wear! Not only is the number (10) the same, but it's the very same item: Betemit looked as if his body muscles were to protrude right out of the fabric. Funny :)

(2) Neither Nomah, nor Russell are leading MVP candidates on this team. Andre Ethier is. Full-stop.

(3) Did you notice that Takashi Saito is yet to blow a save this year? He's perfect 10-for-10 in SV/SVO and has only just replaced Baez as team leader in saves. Is this good (winning by a large margin) or bad (not nearly winning as frequently as expected) for the Dodgers to have their closer have only 10 saves on August 3?

(4) I hope Maddux and Aaron Milton put on a show and pitcher's duel tonight. With the outcome of the sweep for the Dodgers :).

Greg will make us "legitimate"

Dusty Baker is some champ, isn't he? This is what he had to say about Greg Maddux being acquired by the Dodgers:

"Greg's probably the finest pro I've been around
in years and years," said Cubs manager and
former Dodger Dusty Baker. "He's a man. He comes to play, he comes to pitch, he comes to help. I was hoping [a trade] wouldn't happen. It appears it was inevitable. We got a fine player in Izturis.

"I'm happy for [Greg]. He's closer to home. He's got
a legitimate chance to go to the playoffs."

I like the last sentence. I hope Greg gets over the recent pitching hump and gets us to the playoffs in the fall. We're what, five games out and going up in the standings.

The only way is up, since we're last in NL West ;)

Games 104-105 Dodgers vs Washington Nationals 7:5, 4:3

Yes, the Dodgers did manage to complete the sweep of the Nationals. Yes, I'm glad Alfonso Soriano took off with the rest of the Nats just after the third game was completed. Yes again - I do hope that the new look Dodgers will continue to amaze just as they did long two months ago in May.

On the other hand, I must admit the 2006 Dodgers have come a very long way from:

Cruz - Lofton - Drew
Mueller - Furcal - Kent - Loney
Lowe - Penny - Perez - Sele - Seo
Navarro - Alomar

to:

Ethier - Repko (Kemp) - Drew
Betemit - Furcal - Lugo - Garciaparra
Lowe-Penny-Maddux-Sele-Hendrickson (Billingsley)
Martin - Hall

I have have a little trouble adjusting, that's all. And when in the process you lose your fav Dodger (see below), things start looking dizzy.

At the same time, I willing to give the NEW Dodgers some benefit of the doubt. I will get used to them, one day :). Ok, I've vented. Now onto the game notes:

(1) Now that we obtained Greg Maddux as a bona-fide starter, we have the top of the rotation set (Lowe, Penny, Maddux). There are four candidates for the back two spot: Sele, Hendrickson, Billingsley and Elmer Dessens. Who do you think should take them? And, even more importantly, since we already have a starter-converted-tp-long-reliever Brett Tomko in the bullpen, what happens to the other two pitchers? Should they carry 12?

(2) Joe Beimel has been hittable almost every time out lately (as evidenced by his 0.2 IP, 2 hits, 1 ER, 2 BB for 3.74 ERA line in the second Nats game). Is it time to demote him and bring LHP Hong-Chi Kuo back again?

(3) Is it me or were the Dodgers making much better contact during the Washington series? Even when they made outs, they made the visitors earn them.

(4) I need ONE good reason for Grady playing Lofton over Jason Repko lately. Just one.

(5) Sure Wilson Betemit can't keep his Dodger pace up, but going 5-for-9 with a homer and two RBI will not gone unnoticed here.

Fare thee well, Cesar...

Thanks a million for all the wonderful memories for all these years. You really are special! Good luck wherever baseball takes you...

This devastation will take a while

My favourite Dodger player Cesar Izturis was traded away yesterday. I know we did get Greg Maddux in the process, but it still hurts...

It will take a day or two before I come back to regular blogging with the wrap up of the Washington series and the start of the Cincinnati one. In the meantime you can check out what others, namely Jon Weisman are writing about the Izturis trade.