Extra! Extra! (5.13)
Willie Mays and Barry Bonds were the supposed to be the headliners last night at AT&T Park, but it was the Dodgers who stole the show, climbing back to .500 and leaving their rivals as the sole occupants of last place in the NL West. The Dodgers shut down Barry Bonds and everyone else in the Giants lineup, while the box score reveals strong games for Nomar Garciaparra and Kenny Lofton (among others). Jeff Kent took an "ohfer" after hitting homers in three consecutive games. Perhaps his mind was still on his recent choice of reading material.
But because it is apparently written mandated in the Constitution that the Dodgers can't go twenty minutes without an injury, last night's win came at a cost. Starter Brad Penny (3-1, 2.66) was lifted after five innings because of back spasms. Penny thinks he'll make his next start, but pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said they'll have to wait and see. The news was worse for Bill Mueller, who after fighting through pain in his right knee for a while was placed on the 15 day DL... but may very well need surgery that could keep him out for 4-6 weeks. Willy Aybar will get a crack at third in his absence, and Oscar Robles is again a Dodger after being recalled from Las Vegas.
In better news, Eric Gagne mixed in some changeups to the fastballs he'd been throwing, and is pleased with the results. He may pitch in a simulated game on Tuesday. Also contained in that report is a Luke Hochevar update. No movement there.
This afternoon in San Francisco, Aaron Sele (1-0, 1.35) will make his second National League start against Noah Lowry (1-0, 2.08).
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Despite all these injuries we are still hovering around .500. That’s a good sign. I like the replacement options we have available and how Grady is using them. Nice to see some stability in the pen!! Hopefully that continues.
WTF is up with that 45-minute delay for May’s cake-cutting ceremony. That was complete garbage (yeah, yeah, it ticks me off even more because it is the Giants).
Did you all hear how peeved Penny was at having to use specially marked baseballs for yesterday’s game. I’m assuming these baseballs were marked “just in case” Bonds was to break Ruth’s record. Like I stated in my post yesterday, these are the things that help glorify Bonds at home. No way this garbage happens on the road, which is why I still hope and pray that he ties/breaks the record on the road. (Actually, I hope and pray he breaks both knees while his body collapses from being unable to sustain the massive weight of his head, but that would be wishing harm on somebody, and that is just WRONG, hahaha)
Posted by: LoLo | May 13, 2006 at 09:09 AM
Man, I really like this Fucal, Lofton top of the order line up. These Ethier and Aybar kids are great platoon players, for now. It gives us a good mix of vets and rooks. With these 2 kids I like the idea of giving Lofton some time off and Mueller getting time to heal, it allows Aybar and Ethier to get some experience in.
mike
Posted by: Michael C. Teniente | May 13, 2006 at 02:57 PM
Incrediable! That bullpen, WOW!
mike
Posted by: Michael C. Teniente | May 13, 2006 at 04:57 PM
(Forgive me for being ignorant...but I'm trying to get into baseball since the Lakers aren't playing ;-)
How's the farm system of the Dodgers? With all the injuries, it becomes more important.
Posted by: Faith | May 13, 2006 at 05:05 PM
LOL!
Faith,
:-)
mike
Posted by: Michael C. Teniente | May 13, 2006 at 05:56 PM