Extra! Extra! (7.30)
It's odd these days to see the words "winning," "streak," and "Dodgers" within screaming distance of each other, but that's the case after yesterday's 7-5 win over the Nationals marked consecutive wins.
Starter Derek Lowe's "W" tally bumped itself up to eight, but the outing wasn't as smooth as the end results might infer. The righty's been struggling for quite some time and this outing actually featured plenty of the same. Lowe surrendered four runs (and just as many stolen bases) in the opening two innings, a mess that required 85 pitches to create.
But Lowe eventually centered himself and blanked the Nats through the fifth, becoming more a victim of the sun's heat than the heat of Washington's bats. A glass equally half-full and empty for Lowe, but a win's a win. In the meantime, the dude catching Lowe's pitches had a nice day at the office. Russell Martin knocked in a quartet of RBIs, including the one that permanently put the squad over. He and good bud Andre Ethier (another RBI man) presumably had fun reading the box score, although the names destined to enter it for the remainder of '06 is up in the air for the next 24 hours. With any luck, one of the people sticking around or entering the mix will be a leader.
Today's game: Can the Dodgers make it three? Ask Mark Hendrickson, who's still in need of a win in Dodger Blue. He'll be up against Ramon Ortiz, whose most recent win was off a worse outing than his previous three losses.
Should the Dodgers find themselves in the postseason, here's a list of pitchers they could theoretically find themselves staring down.
A rather enthused look at the Perez-Dessens deal. Could other deals be coming? Perhaps.
Fans will obviously be stoked if the Dodgers win the NL West. But if they don't, at least someone's getting something out of it.
With Wilson Betemit now on board, there's a good chance you're gonna see Cesar Izturis moving to second base. It's his second (no pun intended) position change this season, but Izzy's a good sport. Better than Betemit's former teammates.
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waiting anxiously for that trade today.
waits
waits
waits
hope everyone is having a great weekend. go 2 game winning streak! let's make it 3. 4. 5. 6. 7!
Posted by: wasabi | July 30, 2006 at 10:45 AM
With all the talk of the Dodgers looking for veteran pitching help and Maddux's name being thrown around, has there been any word of Colletti talking to Philly about either Lidle or Lieber? I'm not so sure about Lidle, but Lieber is a pretty savvy veteran guy with a few more outings left in him. Since the Phillies seem to want to dump his salary, he might come a little cheaper than our good friend Mike's brother.
Posted by: Makoto Ueno | July 30, 2006 at 10:49 AM
Loney might stick around for the road trip? Could that mean... *gasp* Cruz Jr. or Ledee will be gone?
Posted by: Makoto Ueno | July 30, 2006 at 11:00 AM
I can't believe it.
Atlanta really is leading off Willy Del Jesus in his first game in a Braves uniform!
Posted by: Makoto Ueno | July 30, 2006 at 11:17 AM
Surprisingly, Aybar is 3 for 4 with 2 runs and 2 RBI while leading off for Atlanta, and error free for 6 innings at 3B.
At the rate that that game is going, we'll probably see Baez out of the Braves' 'pen here soon, too. If Baez puts up some zeros, those two definitely deserve A-hole of the moment honors.
Posted by: Makoto Ueno | July 30, 2006 at 12:41 PM
Men on 1st and 3rd, no outs for Baez's Atlanta debut.
Posted by: Makoto Ueno | July 30, 2006 at 01:06 PM
Baez works out of his own mess, 0.00 ERA as a Brave.
Aybar and Baez, definitely A-holes of the moment.
Posted by: Makoto Ueno | July 30, 2006 at 01:12 PM
Furcal leads off a double. Lofton doesn't bunt him over to third, but rather hits a harmless fly ball. Without power, Dodgers should produce runs....oh...i forgot....Drew is still and the third hole and he doesn't make contact so Lofton moving the runner wouldn't have matter
Posted by: Tom | July 30, 2006 at 01:27 PM
Final tally on Aybar: 4 for 6, but got caught stealing on a Giles strikeout to end the game. Let's see what Betemit can do.
Posted by: Makoto Ueno | July 30, 2006 at 01:44 PM