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.
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.
posted by Harry | 12:22 PM
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