Blue Meanies

Meanwhile, on the offensive end, the Dodgers were inflicting plenty of Misery on Reds starter Chris Michalak, who had No Reply for the Dodger bats, giving up four ERs and seven hits in four innings.

Yesterday, Russell Martin had a hit and run scored but no homers, and I Want to Tell You that today in the bottom half of the second, he made up for it with a two-run jack hit Long Long Long to give L.A. the early lead. But because it was unfair to make the rookie catcher Carry That Weight alone, Dodgers vets Nomar Garciaparra and Jeff Kent came through with back-to-back ground-rule doubles, making it 3-0 Blue. Andre Ethier's single brought Kent home, a welcome sight Any Time at All.

When Jason Repko singled home two in the sixth, it seemed Cincinnati would need Lady Madonna to administer last rites. Joe Beimel had cruised through the Reds half of the sixth, and Elmer Dessens made each Cincinnati batter he faced in the seventh look like a Little Child. Cincinnati had Nothin' Shakin' at all. Unfortunately, things got a little Helter Skelter in the eighth, and the Dodgers soon found themselves Fixing a Hole. Ken Griffey Jr. followed an Edwin Encarnacion single with a ground rule double. After coaxing a weak fly ball out of Rich Aurilia, Todd Hollandsworth brought his Boys home with a two run single. Exit Dessens, enter Brett Tomko, exit baseball as Brandon Phillips, the first batter Tomko faced, took him over the wall in center. 6-5 Dodgers. Tomko then looked like a real Nowhere Man after walking David Ross and Adam Dunn. Enter Jonathan Broxton, with only one out. Across the Universe, Dodger fans were looking for anything to Slow Down the Reds rally, while Cincinnati fans were Crying Waiting Hoping to complete the comeback. But Broxton got the Blue out of the jam, first by getting Freel to ground into a fielder's choice before Some Other Guy (I think it was Scott Hatteberg) struck out.

I Should Have Known Better than to think the game was over at that point. With Takashi Saito unavailable (having pitched three days in a row, the Dodgers closer had to Let It Be and stay in the pen), Broxton was needed to pitch the ninth as well. A Hard Day's Night got a little tougher when Brox walked Griffey and allowed a single to Hollandsworth. Every Paperback Writer in the press box was ready to pen an unhappy ending for the Dodgers, who seemed Sure to Fall. Listen (Do You Want to Know a Secret?), I was worried, too...but Broxton blew Phillips away on three pitches, proving he is Nobody's Child. It was just A Day In the Life of L.A.'s future closer.

So the Blue took The Long and Winding Road to victory, but it had fans singing Words of Love as they danced the Hippy Hippy Shake to some Rock and Roll Music like it was their Birthday. Yer Blues just had that special Something, that's for sure.

More on the game tomorrow, Dig It? Good Night!

—BK