Extra! Extra! (6.26)
Everywhere you went yesterday, were you constantly hearing the faint sound of a broom bristling against the floor? Well, that's probably because a whole lotta sweeping was going down this weekend. And it all came to a head Sunday afternoon after the Dodgers took down Pittsburgh 7-4.
Had they actually traveled to Chavez Ravine on a sinking pirate ship, the Bucs couldn't be any more downtrodden at the moment. Bad for them (and former Dodger skip Jim Tracy). Great for L.A., who got themselves plenty hot before heading on this upcoming roadie. Unfortunately, Brad Penny got a little too hot, which turned his pitching anything but. The silly bad humidity got to the righty from the outset, draining Penny's stamina and resulting in an early exit. But with the blue bats going nutty, including wood swung by a de-slumped J.D. Drew, Penny's mediocre outing was plenty covered. As the box score shows, plenty of multi-hit games. Should the guns remain so loaded, the Dodger starters can get as hot, cold, lukewarm or whatever temperature of any given particular game.
Can't say for sure whether or not Russell Martin is wicked, but he's certainly getting no rest.
He'd rather be playing short than manning the hot corner, but at least Cesar Izturis has already shown off some his defensive prowess while learning on the job.
There are a lot of challenges involved with playing a good team like the Twins on the road. This would be one. Coping with the pressure of interleague play? Not so much of a challenge.
First base coach Mariano Duncan and Ozzie Guillen: Not on the same page right now.
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AK/BK, did you guys win any awards the other night? I hope you guys did.
Nice sweep for the Dodgers. There’s nothing like beating up on the weak teams to get some steam behind the train. Yes, the Bucs stink. But look at this way (glass half full, as always, HAHA!), what would you be saying if we lost 2 of 3?
I think Lowe’s performance is going to affect the team (still) positively in more ways than one. For now, the Dodgers pitchers are doing their best “anything you can do I can do better” impersonation. Nice to see Sele and Tomko have solid outings, and nice to see the pen come in an hold the lead, say Seo, HAHA! That’s what aces are supposed to do; stop the bleeding and put forth a performance than inspires the rest of the team.
Russell had a nice series. Even when he grounds out he bats in some runs. Kenny better watch out; Russell can run. They’ll be talking about “there’s Kenny speed, then there is Martin speed”, HAHA!!
I saw a nice stat that backed up what I have been saying all along; everyone in the NL is stinking it up right because the AL is beating up on them. The NL’s record is 64-103 in inter-league play. That is the reason why we haven’t lost much ground in the standing even though we have been playing horribly. Still, losing magnified our pitching woes, and it is something that we need to address sooner than later, especially if we are serious about contending for a pennant.
AK/BK, the live blog is UNDEFEATED! The same thing happened with the Lakers blog (we won something like 8 straight live blog sessions). Even if you tone the live blog down, I think we should have one anytime the Dodgers are struggling. We’re 1 for 1 so far!!!
Here’s something funny from the “Dodger Report” in the LA Times:
“These days Choi is playing at Pawtucket, the Boston Red Sox's triple-A affiliate, and is batting .214 with eight home runs.
He has walked a lot, boosting his on-base percentage to .346.”
That’s just sooooo funny to me, HAHA!!!
Posted by: Lolo | June 26, 2006 at 08:59 AM
What is the word on Martin's speed, anyway? Everytime I see him run the basepaths, he's sprinting, and looks like his feet are on fire. It's hard to tell if he's really speedy or not, because short, squat guys like him tend to always look fast when they run hard.
Martin, Ethier, Saito, Kemp, are my picks, in order, of Dodgers (and possibly NL) ROY. Martin can't seem to do anything wrong, and Ethier just quietly racks up his stats to the top of the rookie list. Saito, though spectacular so far, isn't going to get the money stats that reliever needs to be recognized. The prolific offense and sieve-like bullpen just aren't going to get him too many save opportunities, and he's not a really overpowering strikeout pitcher. Though Kemp is probably the most talented rookie, I don't think he's going to keep up his early June performance, and he's probably going to spend a couple of months after the All-Star break in the minors, when (or if) Repko and/or Ledee come off the DL. He'll most likely come back in September, wow everybody, and be a lock for a starting position next season.
Posted by: Makoto Ueno | June 26, 2006 at 12:04 PM
I think only 2 teams in the NL have an ERA less than 4.00, so pitching is at a premium this year.
If they can keep scoring 7-8 runs a game, we're in fat city!(LOL)
Posted by: Andy B | June 26, 2006 at 12:40 PM
Makoto-
Martin won't set any land-speed records, but he runs very well for a catcher. Kemp will no doubt level off, and I agree with you, there's a good chance he'll get sent down when Repko comes back and there aren't enough ABs to make sure he plays every day.
It's easy to forget how few ABs he's had in the minors. The most important thing right now if for him to get as many opportunities to hit as possible. It's not worth keeping him up to play three times a week.
BK
Posted by: Brian Kamenetzky | June 26, 2006 at 12:43 PM
BK, thanks for the lowdown on Martin. The first time I saw him play in person was during LA's first trip to Denver this season. Martin ran out an infield single (actually he went head first) with two outs in the 7th to start a the game winning rally for the Dodgers, and it doesn't look like he's slowed down one bit. It's amazing to see what a little bit of effort and motivation can do.
What about Cleveland as a possible trade partner for bullpen help? The Times reported on Sunday that Wickman and Mota were on the list of expendables for the Indians. Either one of them can be a valuable setup arm.
Posted by: Makoto Ueno | June 26, 2006 at 02:36 PM
Yeah, Russ is workin pretty hard this season (since his MLB debut on May 5, 2006 there have only been 4 games in which he hasn't started), and he's doin a darn good job, too!! He's finally gotten' a few stolen bases on his record, WOO! Not bad for a 5'10" 210+ lb guy, ey? (LOL look I can be Canadian too!) Not to mention how amusing it is when he takes a low ball to the ol' babymaker LOL(sad, but OH so amusing!!)
Hopefully Coletti will decide to keep him around for a while, cuz I definitely enjoy watchin that boy squat behind the plate!!
(Wow! That one had "21 year old girl" written all over it, huh??)
Posted by: Ms. M | June 26, 2006 at 03:23 PM
"I definitely enjoy watchin that boy squat behind the plate!!"
Whoa!!! And they say men are the ones with dirty thoughts!! (I love watching women's tennis for the sport; no really, I DO) HAHA!!
"Not to mention how amusing it is when he takes a low ball to the ol' babymaker."
Now that is just plain wrong, even if it straight from Anchorman (punch you in the ovaries, you dirty [Pittsburgh] pirate H**ker), HAHA!!
Posted by: LoLo | June 26, 2006 at 05:56 PM