Thursday Game Notes — Dodgers vs. Phillies
Not much time before the first pitch, but it's been a busy day for the Blue. Here's the rundown:
Jeff Kent's bum left wrist has landed him on the DL, retroactive to May 28. The fancy hospital pictures revealed nothing worse than a sprain, but at this point the inflammation is keeping him from doing anything constructive from a baseball standpoint. He tried to work through it. Didn't happen. So Kent will shut it down completely for a few days and go from there. He doesn't anticipate being out of action beyond his prescribed 15-day stint. "There's no big tear, there's no fracture of the bone," he said.
Willy Aybar and Ramon Martinez will take turns filling Kent's spot at second base, though tonight Martinez is not available after fouling a ball off his foot in yesterday's loss to the Braves. The hope was that Martinez would be ready for today and was originally penciled into the starting lineup, but was a late scratch.
Taking Kent's place on the roster? None other than Joel Guzman. He won't be here by game time, but some time soon we'll get a look at one of the farm system's big jewels in a Dodger uniform. At this point, we're not actually sure if the Dodgers even have any more minor league players, prime prospects or otherwise, playing in the bushes. They're all up here.
Grady Little has been down this road, oh, a few million times this season, and doesn't expect Kent's injury to set the team back too far. "Our depth has paid off for us this season, and it will continue to pay off," Little said. Still, "it's disappointing when one of your best players can't play. But we'll just sit tight and wait until he's ready."
The good news is Eric Gagne is healthy and has served his suspension. If there's a need for a little "Game Over" tonight, he'll be ready. "I finally feel free throwing the ball," Gagne said. There will be no working his way back into the closer role. He's not planning on breaking in slowly or working himself back into that spot. Little is happy to have him back ("He's pretty good and we think we can use him," Little joked), but won't push him. "We're not going to abuse him at all. We'll let each outing dictate when he pitches again."
Little praised Baez, Saito and Broxton, pointing out that there's no need to push Gagne to extremes.
Tonight's Matchup: Derek Lowe (3-3, 2.90) vs. Gavin "Pink" Floyd. Not sure if that's really his nickname, but after "Dazed and Confused," how could it not be? Floyd will be looking to improve on his April 7 outing against the Dodgers, when he gave up six hits and five runs (three earned) in only 2.2 innings. Yeeps. Lowe, on the other hand, has given up three earned only twice this season. Advantage, Dodgers.
LINEUPS
Dodgers
Furcal - SS
Kemp - CF
Garciaparra - 1B
Drew - RF
Saenz - 3B
Aybar - 2B
Ethier - LF
Martin - C
Lowe - P
Phillies
Rollins - SS
Utley - 2B
Abreu - RF
Burrell - LF
Howard - 1B
Rowand - CF
Bell - 3B
Lieberthal - C
Floyd - P
—BK
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The Kids are coming up big. Kemp homers. Man that kid is big. They say he plays like Kirk Gibson. They weren't lying when they said that the farm club is rich.
GO DODGERS!
mike
Posted by: Michael Teniente | June 01, 2006 at 08:04 PM