The Dodgers played Wednesday night like they had stock in Turner Broadcasting, because they sure made the Braves look like a growth industry in dropping the third and final game of their Peach State jaunt 9-3.  Had he lasted longer, the six hits Brett Tomko (5-3) coughed up wouldn't have seemed so nasty.  You might have even described them as "scattered".  Unfortunately, they were accompanied by seven runs (five earned) and two walks crammed into only three innings. The third inning, two out, run scoring balk while facing the opposing pitcher didn't help, either.  Tomko's ugly line raised his ERA to a disturbingly Brett Tomko-like 4.38.    The problem, as it often is with Atlanta, was with those pesky Jones boys (no relation).  Chipper and Andrew were a combined 5-7.  That's pretty good.  Tack on six runs scored, five RBI and two homers and it gets really impressive.

The signing of Roger Clemens by the Astros today got me thinking.  First, about how sick I was of the whole saga.* Second, this is almost like a magic fantasy deal for the Astros. Bring back a Hall of Famer, give up nothing (but money), plug him in and go. 

So with that in mind, here's today's question. The magic baseball genie is granting you one wish. You can bring back one Dodger. Any Dodger. And you don't need a prorated $22 million to do it. Head back to Brooklyn if you want, or take a guy who wore the Blue last season (considering the '05 results, that may not be such a good idea, but hey, it's your choice). Raise the dead, dip old timers in the Fountain of Youth, magically lift a player from another team's roster. You decide. Who will it be?

*The image of one history's greatest pitchers window shopping to try and win/carpetbag to another World Series was incredibly disheartening. While I think it was ridiculous it took this long for Clemens to figure out if he wanted to play, that he went back to Houston at least makes it tolerable. Had he gone to New York I'd have thrown up on my keyboard. The other issues — how much he's getting paid, how much the game has changed to allow a player no matter how great to essentially rent himself out for half a season, etc., are all points for a different debate).

While Ned Colletti's acquisition of guys like K.Lo, Nomar, and Furcal has obviously paid dividends, sometimes it seems like he could have just cherry-picked youngsters and "has beens" from A to AAA and come up big this season.

Take last night's 8-3 win over the Braves. You got "past his prime and twice released in 2005" Aaron Sele on the hill. Yeah, his 6 IP, 3 ER performance couldn't earn a decision, but if that's the worst he'll pitch this season (and thus far, it is), the Dodgers will take him over a "name" any day of the week.

And speaking of names, Andre Ethier's was less famous than Milton Bradley's when he came over from the A's in that trade. Unless you think Bradley's injured and sub-.250 status is more inspiring than it sounds, it's safe to speculate Ethier is a bigger part of baseball discussions at the moment. After following up his fourth inning two-run jack with the eighth inning go-ahead RBI, Ethier did his part to remain in the baseball community's collective consciousness. And if you look up and down the box score, names like Aybar, Kemp, Martin and Saito reiterate the notion that Yankee-style big-name collecting isn't the only way to skin a cat.

I could spend all day on this site and still feel like I didn't waste enough time. Man, I wish I thought of it first. Anyhoo, some Dodger related material floating around YouTube.com...

• PTI debates Lasorda vs. Lewis
• Dodgers history as only Don Henley can make poignant
• The Dodgers playing in Taiwan (not to be confused with the Bad News Bears playing in Japan).

If a Dodger fan opened up a sports page and simply glanced at a box score, he'd naturally think that the 12-5 win over the Braves must have been all peaches and cream.

Well, not really. Sure, it was fun to see Ramon Martinez make the most out of a rare start. While the odds of him replacing Jeff Kent even after the incumbent returns to health are slim, going 3-4 with 5 RBI's certainly confirmed Grady Little's opinion that the guy can more than fill in when needed.

Speaking of filling in, recent AA call-up Matt Kemp fared a lot better yesterday than in his Sunday D.C. debut. First big league hit and stolen base, all in one shot. That'll come in handy when he's old and trying to recall his career highlights. Unfortunately, the seemingly easy win did come with some drama, courtesy of Brad Penny's exit stage left.

Spotted an 8-1 lead, Penny suddenly went from smoking to sputtering in the top of the fifth, giving up six straight hits and four runs. Grady Little decided he'd seen enough and pulled his hurler before he qualified for the win. Cue hissy fit. Time spent watching the game (and the win) didn't entire cool off the big righty, an issue Little and pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said they'd address in-house. Hopefully, they can kill two birds with one stone and talk with Penny while he gets some treatment for his shoulder, which was killing him during the game (and likely the cause of his sudden collapse).

It's way easier to enjoy a T-bone knowing that your Blue did some damage on the Braves. Some 12-5 damage, to be exact. After throwing some meat on the grill and cracking open a cold one, it would be appropriate to crank up a little Ramones on the stereo in honor of the afternoon's hero, Ramon Martinez. Sure, he's technically "the Ramon" and there's no "e" at the end. But after putting up five ribbies by himself, he created enough noise and presence to equal that of Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee and Tommy (or Marky, depending on your preference in loud drummers). All that was missing was the long hair and leather jacket (both of which would have been horribly uncomfortable in Atlanta's May heat). Actually, Brad Penny might argue that his presence on the mound was also missing, since he was none too thrilled upon being removed after 4.1 innings (and keeping with the punk theme, his spirited dugout tantrum would have made Sid Vicious proud). Penny's probably cooled down by now, especially after the win. But if he happens to show up at your shindig, I wouldn't mention the outing if he's holding a shish kebab skewer. Those babies could do some damage if stabbed in your eye.

More to come later.

—AK

It's only fitting that we pay tribute to our fallen soldiers today, because Sunday in Washington, the boys from L.A. got killed in battle. In falling 10-4 to the Nationals, the Dodgers lost their first series in what feels like about 30 years (though it's only been since May 4).

Grady Little was pretty blunt about the fact that Jae Seo's start put the team behind the eight-ball pretty early. Unless you consider a six-run deficit after three innings no biggie, it's hard to accuse the skip of throwing his man under the bus. Given that Seo's been all over the place lately, Sunday's collapse was enough to threaten his spot in the rotation (with fellow doghouse member Odalis Perez the likeliest candidate to take his spot). And as anybody who's been within earshot of O-Dog will tell you, he'd take that pen parole in a heartbeat.

The Dodgers did their best to escape the hole Seo dug them, rallying for three runs in the sixth and presenting a bases loaded situation in a one-run eighth inning (Russell Martin unfortunately answered the call with a ground out). As one would imagine, not the prettiest of box scores.

It was bound to happen. The Dodgers finally lost a series, dropping the final game of a three-game set in Washington 10-4 Sunday afternoon. Like Friday, the pitching was the problem, as Dodgers starter Jae Seo (2-3) pitched like a man desperately wanting a shower, giving up six runs on seven hits and three walks in only 2 2/3 innings. No cheapies, either. The Nats beat the hell out of him. And it was one of Washington's rookies, Ryan Zimmerman, who dealt the big blow — a three-run shot in the third that put the Dodgers in a 4-0 hole. It would get worse for L.A., who were down 8-0 before an Olmedo Saenz monster three-run blast put them on the board. Down 9-4 in the eighth, L.A. tried to make some noise, but Marlon Byrd made a great diving catch on a Russell Martin liner to save at least two runs and end the inning. That, as they say, was that.

The pen wasn't exactly groovy either. Odalis Perez gave up four hits and two walks in only 2 1/3 innings (though in fairness, it is hard to pitch when covered in rust). Tim Hamulack and Jonathan Broxton were also touched up for runs. But of more concern is the lineup. Jeff Kent missed the game with his bad left wrist, and J.D. Drew was also held out with a bum shoulder. Kenny Lofton needed a break to rest his hammies — though he did enter the game in the eighth. That meant the major league debut of Matt Kemp, who had been knocking the cover off the ball at AA Jacksonville. Kemp struck out three times before finally breaking through with a single, but displayed an impressive arm in center.

More on the game to come.

—BK

You like small ball? Great pitching? Pickoffs? Timely bunting? If so, Saturday's 3-1 Dodger win over the Nationals at RFK was for you. Derek Lowe (3-3) was virtually untouchable for his first six innings (and barely touchable in his seventh), but Washington starter Shawn Hill was just as good. In the seventh, the game was all tied up at one. Fortunately for the Blue, in the eighth, Nats reliever Mike Stanton was in and Washington would soon be out. Rafael Furcal, who had three more hits to raise his average to .266, led off with a single. Kenny Lofton followed with a perfectly placed bunt that put runners on first and second, chased Stanton, and left Gary Majewski to face Nomar, who brought Furcal home with what seems like his seven billionth clutch hit of the year. Not that he wants the attention. It was enough to make a winner of Lowe, despite the typically skimpy run support...and good luck charm Russell Martin, who was back in the lineup after a day off. Other features of the box score? How about two scoreless innings from Danys Baez and Takashi Saito?

With this afternoon's 3-1 win over the Nationals, the Dodgers kept Friday's loss from turning into a two-game streak. At the same time, they now have one game to build on. The last time the team went streaking (as in winning games, not running around indecently), they managed to go a lucky seven before finally bowing out. Think this is the start of another rally? How many games' worth? Or do you picture a letdown coming again tomorrow (Nomar Garciaparra's mind is on an upcoming Memorial Day BBQ, the Kent injury leaves more than himself hurting, etc.) and perhaps even on Monday in Atlanta, but they'll get it going for four games' worth before finally tripping up with an "L"? What see you in the future?

When will the next streak start and how many games will it last? If you need a copy of the schedule to help out your soothsaying, look no further than here.

My prediction? A win tomorrow. Followed by a loss for game one in Atlanta. The Dodgers then proceed to win the last two in Atlanta, followed by the first two at home against Philly. Four game win streak. Not too shabby indeed.

—AK

The Dodgers once again ran into some strong pitching Saturday at RFK, but they had enough of their own to stay in the game and eventually find a way to win.  Derek Lowe (3-3), whose run support this year has been weaker than watered down Starbucks, wasn't blessed with much today, either.  But his seven strong innings, allowing only one run on five hits and a walk, was enough to take the 3-1 win.  Lowe also struck out three and lowered his ERA to 2.90.  The Dodgers finally chased Nats starter Shawn Hill- who threw seven good innings of his own in his first big league appearance since 2004- then touched up Mike Stanton (1-5) and Gary Majewski in the eighth.  Shockingly enough, the big blow was dealt by Nomar Garciaparra.   His RBI single plated Rafael Furcal, and a Damian Jackson error gave the Dodgers an insurance tally in the ninth.  Solid relief work from Danys Baez and Takashi Saito (S,2) sealed the deal for L.A.

The bad news?  Jeff Kent had to leave the game in the second with a sprained left wrist, which he dinged while swinging... at a pitch, that is.  He'll most likely miss Sunday, and hopefully won't be out for long after that.  J.D. Drew also missed the game with a bad shoulder, which meant Grady Little played with a very short bench Saturday afternoon.  Hopefully this isn't a return to the bad old days (you know, like three weeks ago) when it seemed like Dodgers were landing on the DL faster than Paris Hilton on the pages of supermarket tabloids. 

More news as it becomes available.  Keep those blue fingers crossed for now.

BK

Technically, you actually can win them all.  You're just not going to.  Because even when a team is going good, they'll occasionally lay a collective egg.  Such was the case Friday night for the Dodgers in their 10-4 loss to Washington at RFK.  The good news for L.A.- who in building a seven game win streak had played ludicrously good team ball- is that last night they continued to stick together, getting little offense and less pitching.  Brett Tomko struggled with his location all night, throwing 101 pitches in only 4.1 innings.  The bullpen, outside of Odalis Perez (yeah, you read that right), wasn't much better.  Lance Carter and Tim Hamulack's continued struggles ensured the Dodgers wouldn't be able to climb back into the game.  Was it because good luck charm Russell Martin was given a day off?   (If he's that charmed, Blue Notes plans on boosting the ol' income by taking him to Hollywood Park as our special Celebrity Horse Picker.)  On the other end, Nats starter Livan Hernandez was disposing of Dodgers hitters with uncanny efficiency through the first six innings before a hiccup in the seventh led to three L.A. runs.  By then, the damage was done.  A check of the box score shows the middle of the Dodger lineup- Garciaparra, Drew, Kent- finally had a slow day, going a collective 1-12 with no RBI. 

I hate Dodger Dogs. Hate them.

Now before you scream "blasphemy" and scribble "Kill that bastard A.K." on signs for a protest march outside the Ravine, hear me out. I don't like hot dogs of any kind. Point blank. Period. I got sick off one when I was about 2 or 3 and they haven't worked for me since. The hot dog's extended family is basically acceptable chow. I'll eat just about any kind of sausage. Bratwurst, knockwurst, Polish, etc. I'll go exotic (I once bought alligator sausage at the Fairfax farmer's market — tasted like chicken) or slum it (the occasional Jimmy Dean link). But hot dogs are another story. I don't know if it's a difference in the meat (if the substances comprising a hot dog can even be classified as such), texture (sausages have a little more substance) or just a pure mental block caused by a bad childhood experience. But whatever the reason, you can't get me to eat them.

Thursday was a nice little day off, but Friday means back to bidness for the Dodgers, who are in our nation's fine capital today for a three-game series against the Washington Nationals. For the record, the team took a plane to D.C., but given the practice they've had so far this season, they're more than qualified to have walked there. Come to think of it, sprinting probably wouldn't have been out of the question, but you probably wanna expend your energy on the field, as opposed to the commute. Of course, with so many rookies kicking booty in the spotlight at the moment, a forced cross-country run would have been the ultimate in humbling hazing. Especially for this Andre Ethier character, who's now sending mini-mart employees into tizzies upon the sight of him. The success of the team's young pups in The Show, to say nothing of the dudes who'll get the call soon enough, is exactly why Ned Colletti's not losing sleep over Luke Hochevar's hold out. Big basket. Room for a lotta eggs.

Some cool details about baseball's techie side.

The Daily News' Steve Dilbeck is rooting hard for Barry to hit 715.

As many of y'all have enthusiastically noted, starter Aaron Sele has been pretty much en fuego since getting the call back into the bigs. 3-0 with an ERA under a deuce? Yeah, I think that would qualify as somewhat toasty warm.

He began on somewhat of a trial basis, filling in out of necessity when the struggling Odalis Perez took a bereavement leave to tend to his sick mother. Perez may have eventually lost his spot in the rotation either way, but Sele's performances made it a done deal.

Here's what Sele had to say Wednesday night after his scoreless seven innings and a 7-1 win. Most of these questions came from the general media throng, with only the ones marked "AK" coming from yours truly.

On Sele's penchant for early season success throughout his career:

"I don't know. I don't change anything at the start of the season or the end of the season. Just try to work into a zone, let the defense work behind you. And when guys are playing good, when you get ground balls, you keep them on their toes, they play great defense for you.”

There are good home stands, great home stands, and first ballot inductees into the Home Stand Hall of Fame home stands. After their 7-1 win Wednesday night against the Rockies capped off a perfect 6-0 stint at the Ravine in which the Dodgers outscored their opponents 52-10, it's clear this home stand was an HOFer.

Not surprisingly, the center of attention after the game was starter Aaron Sele, whose seven shutout innings continued his remarkable run from the nonroster invitee scrap heap to (hopefully long term) success. Since replacing Odalis Perez in the starting rotation, Sele, traditionally good early in seasons, has surrendered a grand total of five earned runs in four starts. The veteran righty was probably just trying to keep pace with the rest of L.A.'s starters, who haven't given up an earned run in their last 28 IP. Perez, who has been banished to the hinterlands of Dodgerdom, understands Sele is pitching well and says he's trying to stay patient.

Offensively, Rafael Furcal and Jeff Kent paced a hit parade that produced all seven Dodger runs with two outs. The box score also shows another big game at the plate from Nomar, and a key contribution from Russell Martin.

The stock market may be down, but the broom market is booming in Los Angeles. The Dodgers capped off their second consecutive series sweep with a 7-1 win over Colorado Wednesday night at the House that Ron Cey Didn't Build But Played Very Well In. Continuing the trend they've been riding the last couple weeks, the Blue had their choice between relying on excellent starting pitching and a productive offense. And, as has been the trend, they decided to choose both. Aaron Sele (3-0) threw seven shutout innings, three Rockies hits and a single free pass the only blemishes on an otherwise perfect night that lowered his ERA to a (frankly kind of ridiculous) 1.69. Afterward, Sele looked about as hyped up as a guy waiting for a bus. He's been around long enough to know that good times come and good times go. "You just try to keep it start to start," Sele said. "Keep it basic, keep it simple. Let the defense work behind you."

Whatever works for you, Aaron.

Granted, if he's going to keep pitching well (and making himself the star of postgame interviews), it's not all going to be smooth sailing. Jose Cruz Jr. caught a glimpse of Sele on the clubhouse TV, and wasn't exactly impressed.

"You're on TV, homie. Get a new hairstyle," Cruz said.

"You didn't know I was that good looking on TV, did you?" Sele replied.

I couldn't come up with a snappy title for this pregame post. But then I thought, "It's a pretty freakin' happy May 24 in Dodgerland at the moment, so any Dodger fans reading this are probably feeling like they're celebrating a holiday, too." And there's no reason to be paranoid about the party ending, considering starter Aaron Sele's tear since joining the team.

Aside from the actual hurling itself, which manager Grady Little praised for both his command of the strike zone and fastball, Sele's appearances prompt optimism since he tends to get run support. Little was asked if there's any correlation between a pitcher's performance and the runs that typically follow him, a question I've actually wondered myself. Why do some pitchers always seem to get spotted 9 runs while other guys practically have to put a gun to their batsmens' heads to get some love? As it turns out, the whole thing isn't just one big popularity contest. Little said that it mostly has to do with the pitcher you're matched up against. Depending on how the schedule shakes out, some guys get a consistently lucky draw while others inevitably find themselves against an ace or a guy having a career night. Fate, she is oft a bitch.

More reason to be happy. Brad Penny's visit to the back doc came out aces. Bad news would have been a particular bummer for Penny, since it's his 28th birthday today. And who would Jae Seo celebrate his 29th with if Penny was in a bad mood? It was only a precautionary visit, but you never know. They could have found some kind of slipped disc or learn that he was slowly evolving into a humpback (not sure what the exact medical term is). Penny will be making his next start as scheduled. For that matter, Little doesn't anticipate any changes in the rotation in the near future. Which prompted the usual question: Whither Odalis? For now, he's in the bullpen (and none too thrilled about it), but Little said Perez is keeping himself in shape and throwing. "One of these days, we're going to need him." The day can't come too soon, because the dude's looking a little sulky in the clubhouse lately.

But again, we're in happy thought mode. As is the case each day, Little was posed with the "who's gonna play where and get send up/sent down when everybody's healthy?" inquiry. "This is what I consider a great problem," smiled Little. He and his staff know they have some tough choices ahead, but "if the answers aren't made for us, then we'll make them."  Doesn't sound like a guy losing sleep to me.

FYI - Ethier being sat tonight in no way reflects punishment. Little just prefers the match up of Jose Cruz Jr. on Rockies starter Aaron Cook.

Tonight's Lineup
Rockies
Sullivan CF
Atkins 3B
Helton 1B
Holliday LF
Hawpe RF
Gonzalez 2B
Barmes SS
Ardoin C
Cook P

Dodgers
Furcal SS
Lofton CF
Garciaparra 1B
Drew RF
Kent 2B
Aybar 3B
Cruz LF
Martin C
Sele P

AK

Big six. Gotta love that.

The Dodgers took care of business Tuesday night at the Ravine, putting another thumping on the Rockies for their sixth win in a row and their 14th victory in their last 17 contests. The box score reveals stars aplenty in the 8-1 win. Start with Brad Penny (5-1), who threw five scoreless-but-long innings and lowered his ERA to 2.31 before a high pitch count (and mercifully, he says, not his back) forced him from the game. Still, he'll head today for a regularly scheduled appointment with ol' Doc Watkins, his back specialist, just to be safe. Then there was Kenny Lofton, who returned to the lineup Tuesday with three hits, two RBIs and two runs scored, raising his average to .304. Nomar and J.D. Drew each had two hits and an RBI. The 'pen was mighty, giving up only one run in four innings. And — broken record alert — the trio of Russell Martin, Willy Aybar, and Andre Ethier went a combined 5-11 with two runs and two RBIs.

That, folks, is balance, and Grady Little likes it.

Six games and counting. That's the streak the Dodgers have going as they made easy work of the Rockies in an 8-1 win. Brad Penny was a work horse, working both batters (five scoreless innings) and his own arm (the 104 pitch count explains a high success, low mound time night). Penny obviously would have liked to remain on the hill, but after tossing so many fouled off balls, the exit made sense even to a competitive athlete like him. More importantly, the flurry of tips didn't frustrate him ("Stuff like that is out of my control.") and his recent back problems didn't flare up again. Penny will be visiting back specialist Dr. Robert Watkins tomorrow, but this had been planned before tonight's game, anyway. Everything felt good and he experienced no tightness.

Grady Little praised the "good performances all over the field," and thought the pitching was excellent, "outside of the one ball that left the ball park." Sure, Garrett Atkins' blast probably wasn't what Tim Hamulack had in mind to start out the 6th. But on a night when Kenny Lofton alone accounted for 13 bases, it seems rather trivial. What doesn't feel like a trifle, however, is the actual amount of running K. Lo did, given that he just rested a bad hammy. Lofton's season will be a balancing act of balls out sprinting and rest, but a formula that Little won't tweak too much. "If we sway from our program, maybe he won't be able to give us that kind of production." Little also played devil's advocate when a reporter commented that the team was making winning look easy. "It's easy to lose games," insisted Little. Fortunately, that outcome is looking awfully tough at the moment for the Dodgers.

More to come tomorrow.

AK

The catchphrase from Swingers would also describe what's racing through Eric Gagne's mind at the moment. Dude is more than a little stoked to make the trip down to Sin City and throw for the 51's. He tossed about 21 or 22 pitches this afternoon and described the feeling as both "great" and "free." "Free" as in "mentally." "Free" as in "pain-free." Today's arsenal included fastballs, curveballs, sliders, change ups, the works. He even some side arm stuff, which Gagne said he hasn't done in a while. Any confidence issues before taking this next step are strictly non-existent. "There's no reason I would be on the mound with any negative thoughts in my head." He did admit, however, to being more than a little anxious. "It feels a long way away," he said, voice quite antsy. He's also pretty psyched that his heaters will be heading into Russell Martin's glove. The Canadians-in-arms have become pretty tight during Martin's big league stay, so throwing to his new bud should be a lot of fun. "It's something special. I don't think they've ever seen that before," remarked Gagne of the French-Canadian pitcher/catcher combo. There is one slightly creepy aspect of his (thus far) successful surgery. The nerve removed left him with no feeling in that patch of skin. As in, "stab a fork in that spot and he probably won't flinch" no feeling. He likened the lack of sensation to the effects of Novocaine after a dentist's visit. "It's always gonna be numb."

Another cat due to return reasonably soon is Cesar Izturis. Grady Little was predictably pleased at the notion, even if he may have to put on his thinking cap to find a spot for him. Asked where Izzy would play, Little guessed it would on "either side of second base," but mostly treated the matter with a "cross it when we find it" attitude. The idea of third base has been tossed around, especially with Bill Mueller illing. Little guessed that Izzy's never manned the hot corner before, but took comfort knowing that A-Rod was also a virgin third baseman before arriving in the Apple. A few errors aside this season, that's mostly worked out okay.

Today's Lineup
Rockies
Sullivan
Atkins
Helton
Holliday
Hawpe
Not Gonzo, but the other Luis Gonzalez
Barmes
Ojeda
Jennings

Dodgers
Furcal
Lofton
Garciaparra
Drew
Kent
Aybar
Ethier
Martin
Penny

Dodgers rookie catcher Russell Martin hasn't simply been lights out on the field since making his major league debut on May 5 (.291/1/9 in only 51 ABs, plus some high quality defensive work behind the dish). He's also been the functional equivalent of a lucky penny, rabbit's foot and leprechaun rolled into one. L.A. has gone on a 13-2 tear with Martin in the lineup, turning a sketchy April into a crazy good May. 

You have to love the skills he's flashed, but best of all is the kid's attitude. After last night's game, where two fantastic blocks of home prevented a pair of Colorado runners from scoring, Martin was reluctant to accept praise and quick to give it to his teammates.  Here are some of his postgame comments:

For the first time in MLB history, two Korean pitchers started opposite each other, and early Monday night it looked as if Byung-Hyun Kim would get the better of Jae Seo, his former high school classmate and WBC teammate. But in a welcome change of pace the Dodgers, who have trolled near the bottom of baseball's defensive food chain all season, used some stellar glovework to rescue their starter. Twice the Dodgers gunned down Colorado runners at home, aided by two great blocks of the plate by Super-Rookie Russell Martin, and Rafael Furcal ended the third by snagging a ball destined for center and starting a double play. Plenty of help, sure, but only after Furcal's gem Seo got rolling. Over his last four innings, he allowed only one hit — an infield single that was erased by a DP — and cruised to his second victory of the year.

On the offensive end, the box score shows a true team effort. No player had more than one hit, and five players delivered RBIs.

I went through the whole list- "Oh Seo Good" (too obvious), "Say It Is Seo" (semi-confusing Joe Jackson reference), "Say It Ain't Seo... Unless It's Jae Seo!" (less confusing but overly wordy Joe Jackson reference), "Seo, Did You Hear About the Dodgers Win?" (awful), "Seo-phisticated Pitching" (not the worst, but pretty bad), "He's Seo Fine" (vaguely homoerotic), and "Jae Says Seo" (doesn't really make sense).  I think that whole angle may be played out. 

The point is the guy pitched really well in the Dodgers 6-1 victory over Colorado Monday night.  Seo (2-2) overcame a rocky start that saw his defense giveth (a Willy Aybar error led to Colorado's only run) and taketh away (two Rockies runners were thrown out at home).  Rafael Furcal pitched in with the glove- a welcome sight given his defensive struggles- snagging a Brad Hawpe grounder up the middle to start a double play that helped Seo wriggle his way out of the 3rd.  After that, the righty was dominant.  Seo faced the minimum of twelve hitters (an infield single was erased by another DP) over his final four innings.  Overall he gave up only six hits, one run (unearned), and a lonely free pass in his seven frames.  It was good enough to take the Battle of Korea from Rockies starter Byung-Hyun Kim (2-2), and lower Seo's ERA from 5.31 to 4.50.  Not bad for a night's work. 

Strange thing happened today in Grady Little's pregame media pow wow.  Everyone ran out of stuff to talk about.  That's what happens when the home team has won 12 of their last 15, has remained relatively healthy (knock on wood) for a few days in a row, and is generally devoid of controversy- save of course for Odalis Perez who seems to be on a perma-time out in the Dodgers pen. 

But that doesn't mean there's no news at all.  First of all, don't freak out when you don't see Nomar's name in the lineup tonight.  He's stayed away from any injuries and mishaps, deer meat related or otherwise (yes, that was my Clint Barmes-Is-In-Town-Cheap-and-Lazy-Joke of the Night).  He's getting a scheduled day off.  Nothing to worry about there.  Olmedo Saenz will take his spot on the diamond (1B) and in the lineup (batting 3rd).  This keeps the rest of the lineup from getting shuffled, and Little hopes it'll get Saenz another AB.  As for Kenny Lofton, Little is sitting him down to get his hamstring, dinged up again in Sunday's game, more rest.   "You could see it.  As he rounded third when he scored in the first inning on Nomar's double, it wasn't what he calls "Kenny speed."   It was fast, but it wasn't "Kenny speed." 

Little expects Lofton will be able to play tomorrow, or certainly by Wednesday.

Gagne Update-  He'll throw BP again tomorrow.  "He's going to throw a BP session tomorrow, he'll throw Friday and then Monday, and then we'll go from there," Little said.   The Friday session will be in Las Vegas for the start of his rehab assignment.  The hope is he'll be back by the end of the upcoming road trip, but Little said that the team won't commit to a definite time frame until they see the positive results they're hoping for. 

Green Light- Only two players- Lofton and Rafael Furcal- have the green light to steal at any time.  Everyone else needs to see the sign.  Little does give players "the right to go" without seeing the steal signal, but if they're not named Furcal or Lofton and they take off on their own, "they'd better be safe." 

The Blue have been boosted big time this year by their impressive crop of rookies. Martin, Ethier and Broxton have all made serious contributions.* Willy Aybar, who only had 86 ABs last year, has hit the ball well since his return from Vegas, and James Loney looked like he could play a little while he was around too. The children, as the saying goes, are our future.  But we must live in the now, so here's some rook trivia. 

Who holds the Dodgers franchise rookie records for the following:

At Bats

Hits

Home Runs

Batting Average

RBIs

Wins

Games Pitched

Extra points go to those who not only name the player, but the year. Please, no wagering.

BK

*This doesn't include Takashi Saito, because I don't think 36-year-old guys with distinguished careers in Japan should be counted as rookies. But that's just me.

The Angels have owned the Freeway Series for the last few seasons. But at this point, it's fair to say the Dodgers have taken it back. The Blue abused the struggling Angels again on Sunday, their 7-0 win capping off a series sweep in which the Dodgers outscored the Halos 31-7. A check of the box score shows that while Andre Ethier's three-run blast was the big blow for the offense, the Dodgers needed two more runs. As Phil Jackson would say, Derek Lowe stymied and befuddled the Angels, allowing only three hits and three walks while striking out seven. Chalk it up to quality tosses and a quality game plan from pitching coach Rick Honeycutt. A steady diet of four seam fastballs busting in on the hands of Angels lefties gave Lowe (2-3) the win, and even better, he may have escaped the clubhouse without learning the results of yesterday's Pistons-Cavs Game 7. It was all enough to make Bill Plaschke wonder if this was the series that could propel the Dodgers to big things. 

Despite the fact it seems like half their roster is playing with the big club, it's been smooth sailing over in Vegas for the 51s. And it looks like they could pile up a few more wins, because (temporary) help is one the way in the form of Eric Gagne and Cesar Izturis. Even better for Vegas, the Dodgers may cherry-pick from AA Jacksonville for outfield depth, in the form of Matt Kemp.

Derek Lowe's got a lot to be happy about. His Pistons beat Team LeBron and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals. And his Dodgers pulled off a first-time-ever three-game brooming of the Angels with today's 7-0 win. Like Chauncey, Rip, Tayshaun and the Wallaces, Lowe made it pretty tough for the opposing team to score. Save the three hits he allowed, Lowe made it pretty hard for Anaheim to do anything, period. He even got his first hit of the season, although the achievement didn't particularly bowl him over. "Now it looks even worse when you're batting .030 or whatever." (For those using Lowe as a DH on their fantasy squad, he's actually batting .045.) I asked Lowe if he was trying to win one for his hoop boys and he shook his head. "You're pitching for this family here." Then he immediately hightailed it out of there to watch a replay of the game, the score still a mystery to him.

Andre Ethier was a stud again, homering for the second time in three games. He may be playing like a grizzled vet, but this whole "trip up the majors" scenario is still a little overwhelming. "You get a little bug eyed with some of the stuff going on around you," he admitted. One reporter suggested  Ethier could just picture it like playing in Vegas, only with with an extra deck. "A lot of extra decks," he laughed. But I wouldn't count on success going to his head. As was noted yesterday, his wife keeps him firmly planted on Earth. I asked if she would keep him in check again, even after another jack. "She probably won't even acknowledge it," grinned Ethier, especially since her mind would be preoccupied by the movie he promised they'd see tonight. But at least he gets to pick the flick.

And speaking of Ethier, when it comes to the recent call-ups, as The Who would say, "The Kids Are Alright." This hasn't gone unnoticed by Jeff Kent, who remarked that "Colletti's done a great job of keeping those kids instead of trading them off." Kent doesn't necessarily see himself as a rah-rah "leader" to these youngsters, but he's enjoyed sharing some knowledge with them. "I've tried passing on the mistakes I've made or successes I've had." How open are their ears? "They'll listen and they'll watch and learn," affirmed Kent, respect obviously on display. "Our kids aren't beyond taking advice and that's neat to see."

I also solved yesterday's mystery of the Sandy Alomar Jr. pregame sock tied around his melon. Turns out it wasn't quite the "warrior preparing to go into battle" thing I suspected. "I was sweating," he shrugged. "I don't have no hair to stop the sweat."

As one might imagine, he seemed a little surprised to field such a question. Get used to it, Sandy. The K Brothers dig a little deeper than your average reporter. Now that one head-scratcher is out of the way, I have another strange development to unravel. Apparently, the Dodgers have a stylist who drops by before every Sunday home game to cut players' hair, should they desire a trim. Now that I know where Jayson Werth got his brand spanking new faux-hawk, I just have one more question.

Why?

More to come later...

—AK

He doesn't want to know, assuming I'm not missing the hidden subtext of the sign taped to his locker reading, "Please do not tell me the score of the Pistons game." I know journalists are taught to read between the lines, but that message seems pretty straightforward.

Lowe (1-3, 3.45) today faces his biggest challenge of the season as he heads to the mound in the third and final game of this installment of the Freeway Series. No, it's not Vlad, or the meager run support he's received throughout the year. Lowe is TiVoing Game 7, tipping off at 12:30, and he'll attempt to get home without hearing a score. 

Should he succeed, Lowe will have pulled off perhaps the most amazing feat in sports history, considering that every teammate, coach and clubhouse boy will look at the note on his locker and see it as an invitation to do exactly the opposite of what it asks. Brett Tomko, who's father Jerry won an essay contest a bunch of years ago that gave the Cleveland Cavaliers their name (and even drew their logo, just for kicks), has every intention of filling him in on the day's hardwood events, and when asked if he thought the rest of Lowe's teammates would sell him out at every opportunity, manager Grady Little replied, "Oh yeah." So good luck, Derek. You'll need it.

The good news is we can talk about Lowe's Piston fever, because having insured their fifth straight series win and gone injury-free for a half-hour or so, it's a refreshingly quiet day in Dodgerville. The Blue have won 11 of 14, and are three games over .500 for the first time since June 14 of last year.

MARTIN WILL SIT...EVENTUALLY: Russell Martin has been in the lineup nearly every day, including this one, since being called up from Las Vegas. He's young, yeah, but all backstops need rest, and Little says he'll get it at some point, but he can't or won't say when. "He's human. As hard as he goes at his job every single day, he will need some days off," Little says. "Not as much as a player that's 35, 38 years old, but he's going to need some days for his body and his mind."

Little says you can generally see it "in a player's eyes and his body language" when he needs a day off. I talked a little with Martin this morning, and while I'm not an expert, it didn't seem to me like he had that look quite yet. Good thing too, because the Dodgers are 11-2 in his 13 starts. 

INJURY UPDATE:

Little went through the checklist of Dodger wounded. Here's the story.

Ricky Ledee, starting to swing a bat, but isn't running near full speed yet.

Dioner Navarro, pain in his wrist is still making it difficult for him to hit.

Bill Mueller, in Arizona rehabbing.

Cesar Izturis, still on schedule to head to Vero Beach and extended spring training on the 25th, and they expect him to head to Vegas on June 1. While they'll try to get him as many ABs as possible, obviously management will be paying close attention to how Izturis, who underwent Tommy John surgery, is throwing.

LINEUPS:

Dodgers—

Furcal - SS

Lofton - CF

Garciaparra - 1B

Drew - RF

Kent - 2B

Aybar - 3B

Ethier - LF

Martin - C

Lowe - P

Angels—

Figgins - RF

Cabrera - SS

Kennedy - 2B

Anderson - LF

McPherson - 3B

Quinlan - 1B

Napoli - C

Murphy - CF

Santana - P

—BK

Can the Dodgers make it a three-fer? Well, they've gotten 2/3 of the legwork done in sweeping Anaheim, having come up with an 8-4 win Saturday afternoon. Things started looking none so promising, with Brett Tomko in the hole early after giving up an HR to the always threatening Dallas McPherson. It also didn't help that Angels pitcher Kevin Gregg was tossing some pretty sweet stuff for five innings.

Note: We said five innings. As anyone who's ever read a box score knows, there are always more to follow.

As has been noted, this game wasn't just the Freeway Series (which may carry more importance than just a local rivalry, FYI). It was also the Aybar Bowl. The bottom of the sixth rolled around and Willy Aybar rolled up to the plate. Exit Kevin Gregg's bid for a W. Enter bragging rights for the Aybar brother in blue. From there, it was all Dodgers, all the time. J.D. Drew decided that as long as he was gonna get off his butt during an off-day, he'd make the most of this cameo. Drew's blast reflected the strength behind seventh inning entrant Joe Beimel's pitches, which held serve to give him the eventual "W."

Quick question. How does the Aybar family root in a situation like today's? Willy up and back in the Majors. Erick making his first big league start. Well, unless they're playing favorites and thinking blue, they likely walked away from the Dodgers' 8-4 victroy disappointed. But no matter which team has Sly and the Family Aybar's allegance, they had to have been excited about Willy's 3 run jack. Grady Little certainly made his pleasure known after the game, complimenting the kid's "good plate discipline." When it was noted that the pitch Aybar knocked out was close to the dirt, Little noted that the Angels "have a guy in right field that hits ball off the ground." (And damned if Vladdy isn't the most fun guy in baseball to watch hit). Little admitted that today's outing was probably Brett Tomko's most disappointing, but stressed how proud they've been of Tomko's strong efforts so far this season.

Thankfully, Tomko didn't have to dwell on the performance too much (he described the HR toss to Dallas McPherson as a "good pitch"), since reporters spent a decent chunk of time after the game asking him about Barry and 714. "It's about time," laughed Tomko, noting how the media assigned to shadow him 24/7 must be thrilled at the prospect of following him less. Tomko, who seemed to be doing a cell phone interview about Bonds after finishing up with the in-house reporters, was more keen on discussing the subject than the other Dodger ex-Barry teammates. As Jeff Kent told one reporter, "I have no thoughts about it." Kenny Lofton seemed to think being asked his opinion was something of a stretch. When reminded that he played with Barry a few years ago, he noted that he's "been a teammate of a whole lot of people who hit home runs today. Dodgers won. That's all I care about."

I imagine most of you agree with the aging speedster on that.

More on the game to come...

AK

It's a lazy Saturday afternoon, about 45 minutes before today's first pitch. As one would guess, the mood in the clubhouse was pretty upbeat after last night's 16-3 thrashing of the Halos. BMOC Andre Ethier, in particular, was all smiles, having gone 5-5 and yard. If you happen to see Mr. Ethier, be sure to tell him how great he did, because he didn't get such props at home. He joked about how his wife immediately put down the performance. "You've been on top before," began the typical ego check from the little lady. But no worries. Ethier "secretly enjoyed" the back to Earth moment and has plenty of opportunities to return such favors. His wife, a former all-around gymnast, currently coaches at ASU. Ethier will out of his way to find little things to critique in her athletes, which he sums up (tongue in cheek) as a reflection of their teacher.

As you may know, Willy Aybar's brother Erick plays for the Angels. Not only that, but he'll be in the starting lineup today at shortstop. But since blood is thicker than baseball, Willy ain't providing any tips to help Brett Tomko strike out his sibling. Tomko laughed with Brad Penny about the Aybar family secrecy. "Do I pitch him like you?" said Tomko, recreating the conversation with Willy. "I don't know. I think so." Tomko ain't mad at at his teammate, though. "If my brother was in the big leagues, I wouldn't tell anyone, either." Penny's immediate response? "#%*&, I would!"

Finally, the winner for the "Oddest Pre-Game Fashion Award" goes to Sandy Alomar, Jr., who was lounging in the clubhouse with a tube sock tied around his head. Just kinda kicking it, sock on the dome. With each end of the sock flopping down around his ears, it gave Alomar a look equal parts Rambo and Snoopy. I gotta ask him about that one at some point.

Today's Lineups

Dodgers
Furcal
Lofton
Garciaparra
Kent
Aybar
Ethier
Cruz
Martin
Tomko

Angels
Figgins
Kennedy
Guerrero
Rivera
McPherson
Quinlan
Aybar
Molina
Gregg

AK
 

Blue+red = Purple. Blue vs.red = A scary-ridiculous amount of hits en route to 16-3 Dodger pummeling of the Angels. From the 2nd inning on, the Dodgers were racking up runs and never looking back. Former Dodger Jeff Weaver remains quite unpopular with Dodgers fans after bailing across town for big dollars. Of course, after giving up 4 runs in just under 5 innings (all part of that honkin' 7.30 ERA), Angels fans don't like him either. Then again, Weaver was Koufax in his prime compared to Esteban Yan and J.C. Romero, whose "relief" efforts created one nutty 6th inning for the Dodgers. Those 9 runs listed in the box score? Not a typo. It ain't easy singling out a Dodger Slugger du jour from a crew that hot, but Andre Ethier might get the honors. 5 hits, a jack and 3 ribbies. He sure doesn't look like a guy who began the season in the minors. If the Dodgers keep up this kind of lunacy, they can afford to risk the results of Lance Carter in the bullpen. But since a double digit run average can't be banked on, the Blue would just as soon have Eric Gagne in uni. The 21 pitches thrown by "Game Over" before the game felt luckier than a winning Black Jack hand.

Guess Darin Erstad's little pep talk didn't quite do the trick. 

Things started out swimmingly for the Angels, who led 2-0 after the top half of the first thanks to a Vlad Guerrero bomb to center.  It would get uglier.  Substantially uglier.  Bride of Frankenstein uglier.  Of course, ugly for the Halos looked Charlize Theron gorgeous for the home team.  It all started innocently enough, as the Dodgers joined the leaguewide trend of kicking Jeff Weaver's (1-7) butt, battering the Angels starter for 11 hits and single runs in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th before Mike Scioscia yanked him in favor of Esteban Yan (Esteban Yan?  You think Grady Little has bullpen issues?  That guy is more flammable than your local Mobil station.).  Oddly enough, Weaver didn't get much love from his former home fans on the way out.  Go figure. 

But bad as things were for Weaver, comparatively speaking he got off easy, because in the sixth the Dodgers went absolutely goony bird on the Angels.  Nine runs on nine hits, a walk, and one of those funky deals where a guy strikes out but reaches first on a wild pitch.  Not a single homer, too, which is pretty impressive.  Basically, if it wasn't for Jose Cruz Jr., who popped up and struck out for two of the three Dodger outs in the inning, the Blue might still be batting.  The nine hit explosion was the highest single inning output for the Dodgers since May 20, 1990.   Damn.   Not content to rest on their laurels, the Dodgers kept pouring it on, notching a single tally in the 7th and two in the 8th, good enough for a 16-3 win.  The 25 hits were the most since the Dodgers packed up the U-Hauls and moved out from Brooklyn, and the team hadn't scored this much in a game since 2003. Aaron Sele (2-0) is officially forbidden to complain about run support until about 2017. 

The offensive honor roll Friday night was longer than the line outside The Standard on a Saturday night.  Furcal- 3 hits, 2 runs, 3 RBI.  Nomar- 3 hits, 2 runs.  Drew- 2 hits, 2 walks, 2 runs scored.  Kent- 2 hits, 2 runs, 2 RBI.  Martin- 3 hits, 3 RBI (and a nice peg of Chone Figgins waaaaaay back in the 1st inning).  But the winner of tonight's "I Want To Be The Most Picked Up Player In Fantasy Baseball" contest was Andre Ethier.  5-5, 4 runs, 3 RBI.  Dude was unstoppable.   

And considering the Angels may not score 16 runs during the rest of May, this was a game even Grady Little could feel comfortable going with the 'pen.   

So Game 1 of the Freeway Series goes emphatically to the Men in Blue.  Hopefully they didn't use up a weekend's worth of offense in one game.  More on tonight, tomorrow.

BK

It's Los Angeles vs. Los Angeles.  Sort of. 

Wherever you come down on this whole Angels name change thing (personally, I vote for "silly but generally harmless"), interleague play, the DH, the steroids investigation, Social Security reform, or Coke Blak (personally, I vote for "disconcerting") the interleague matchup between the Dodgers and Angels is becoming quite a happening.   Or at least as much as a wholly inorganic, love-child-of-Bud-Selig-and-his-marketing-department sort of rivalry can be.  True rivalries take years and tears to build up, but that doesn't mean this weekend can't be fun.   And just to kick things off, the Dodgers went ahead and made a roster move. 

Lance Carter is back.  Put your heart medication down, this actually may be a good thing.  In his relatively brief stint with Vegas, Carter was 1-1 with a 1.08 ERA over 8.1 innings for the 51s.  In this case, the hope is that what happens in Vegas doesn't actually stay in Vegas.   As always, when someone comes up, someone else must head down.  In this case, it's Franquelis Osoria, who hadn't pitched since May 10 and had struggled mightily all month. 

Even better, Eric Gagne threw 20 1/2 pitches to Russell Martin, Andre Ethier, Jose Cruz Jr., and Willy Aybar (the last being a screw around toss to fellow Canadian Martin, accounting for the 1/2) and reported no pain.  Grady Little was relieved to see him throw without incident, and spoke in glowing terms afterwards.  "He threw the ball very well out there, and he had a big smile on his face throughout the session, so what that's telling us is that he had no pain.  All indications we had out there (were that) he felt good.  And the quality of his pitches looked good, too."

Little says Gagne will throw again on Monday before heading out to toss some innings in the minors.  They won't push him, but Little gave the impression that Gagne looked better than he anticipated.  "From what I saw out there today, I'm starting to be kind of curious as why it might be two weeks before he's ready to pitch, to tell you the truth.  I was very impressed."  Said Gagne, "My arm feels 100%, but I still have to tune up a little bit."  Needless to say, he's itching to get back out on the field. 

Dodgers fans won't have to wait until he can throw back-to-back days before seeing Gagne wearing the Blue.  Little figures he can use Baez and Saito when necessary until Gagne can handle that kind of load.  But he has no plans to ease him back into the closer role, either.  When he's back, he's back. 

BK and I took a trip down to Anaheim yesterday afternoon for a little insight as to the Angels' mindset heading into round one of the battle for L.A.-centric bragging rights. Both teams got off to fairly slow starts, but as we speak, the Dodgers are certainly more on track than their O.C. counterparts. But the Angels sport more recent playoff success, so when it comes to establishing SoCal footing, both could do a little damage with some success this weekend. Here's a little chatter from a few folks wearing red.

Orlando Cabrera, SS

Andrew Kamenetzky: How much fun is the whole "L.A. vs. L.A." thing for you guys?

Orlando Cabrera: Nobody here is really into that. I don't see the rivalry.

(Asked if that had to do with the NL-AL thing and the physical distance between the teams, Cabrera agreed.)

AK: What's been your impression of the Dodgers so far, from what you've seen?

OC: I haven't (really) seen them. They only show Garciaparra getting hits. That's all I know about them. I know Odalis Perez isn't still in the rotation. They won four straight, right?

AK: Yeah, they've been playing well lately. Is this a series that you think both teams will use to try to gain or maintain some momentum? 

OC: Yeah, it would be a good thing. You could look at it that way. It's a team that we're only going to face three more times. They're not in our division. Just go out there and play good baseball against them and get a win. Other than that, I think it's another game that we need to win.

AK: Is there anyone on the Dodgers whose game you really admire?

OC: Well, I always tell Garciaparra I like him. His hitting. He's healthy. There's a lot of things that he can do with a bat that's not even going to impress me, because I know what he can do. He stays healthy, he'll put up the numbers.

The season obviously didn't begin on the strongest of notes and there have certainly been a few car crash moments. But despite the rough patches, the Dodgers are only two games out of first place. So who can blame them for feeling reasonably saucy at the moment? And speaking of confidence, rookie catcher Russell Martin is brimming over with the stuff. His personal stats are more than solid and more importantly, the team's 9-2 when he mans the dish. Grady Little's logic dictates that even after Dioner Navarro's wrist stops hurting, fans won't be hearing the last from Martin. You may not hear much of anything from Nomar Garciaparra, but as long as the crack of his bat remains loud and clear, there's no need to hear the dude yap at all.

Can't make it to the Ravine on Saturday or Sunday? Then just turn on the ol' picture box, even if you're too poor to afford basic low-rent cable. Fox has got your back. At least for now.

Make sure to leave LHP Greg Miller some congratulations on his voice mail. Unfortunately, we can't give out his number, so it's up to you to do the legwork and track the guy down.

It's L.A. vs. L.A this weekend, kids! And the whole thing's kind of "Freaky Friday" for tonight's starting pitchers. Aaron Sele, now pitching well in blue, slips hardware on his finger courtesy of his days with the Halos. And Jeff Weaver, whose best So Cal days were apparently in a 323 area code, is hoping a day against his old mates will snap him out of the deepest funk this side of George Clinton.

(Photo: David Zalubowski / AP)

The Dodgers would have gotten today off either way, but after a 3-2 win in Colorado on Wednesday afternoon, they actually deserve a little R&R. Brad Penny's back was sore, but this was medical, not strain from carrying the team and getting no bat support (which would make a grouchy guy with a bad back). Penny's amigos took their time, letting 6IP, 1ER, 7K look like it might lead to his 5th decision. But once the 7th rolled around, Olmedo Saenz and Nomar Garciaparra decided to knock in a few clutch RBI's, just for (stuff) and giggles. It might feel like another day at the office for Nomar since his groin healed up, but the Dodgers ain't taking his production for granted. Kinda like a successful bullpen outing, which was (mostly) the case when Penny eventually sat. Jonathon Broxton? Good stuff. Joe Beimel?  Not so much. Which might have led to Takashi Saito these days, except he was more stuffed than a Thanksgiving turkey. Cue the not-so-lights-out lately Danys Baez, who pitched 1 2/3 exactly like Ned Colletti pictured when he brought the guy over from Tampa. He'll put this box score in the ol' scrap book.

(Photo: Brian Bahr / Getty Images)

As I sit on the couch watching Jonothan Broxton cruise through a scoreless 7th, two big thoughts are taking up most of the free space in my brain.  First, it's pretty cool to be watching a ballgame on a Wednesday afternoon and in no way shape or form be blowing off work.  Second, after today's game a quarter of the season will already be completed.  That seems quick