Extra! Extra! (8.27)
Jeff Kent's been accused of being somewhat scowl-filled throughout his career. But if never grinning somehow equals more game-winning homers like the one in last night's 4-3 win over the D-Backs, the dude can remain surly for the rest of his days in blue. But the stylish homer was more than a tribute to the Tom Selleck's of the world. It provided relief for a team sweating a potential 5-game losing streak, Julio Lugo's agent, old grudges (although not from Brad Penny) possibly still brewing, and the condition of Derek Lowe's thumb. The digit distinguishing the sinker specialist from a monkey took a fourth inning whack from a Chad Tracy come backer. As it turns out, the ouchie won't likely amount to much more than soreness. But not knowing that at the time (and with the NL West remaining tight as ever) the blast prompting this box score was worth its weight in Jeff Kent frowns.
If you're already thinking ahead to the Cinci series, give Reds skipper Jerry Narron a call. Maybe he could get some Adam Dunn advice.
Today's game (and Russell Martin may very well be playing in it): Looking to avoid their second straight series loss, the Dodgers are hoping Chad Billingsley can get the best of Livan Herndandez. Billingsley hasn't been much of an innings eater during his rookie campaign, but the Dodgers are hoping his campaign on the mound is a lengthy one. Hernandez knows a thing or two about chomping up frames.
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This is what you hope to avoid, a high pressure game for a rookie starter in a pennant race... Today, Chad needs to go 7. This situation might actually FORCE him to throw strikes-maybe it's going to be a blessing in disguise? Big game. Heck, they all are from this point on....
Posted by: john | August 27, 2006 at 11:57 AM
Dodgers are clicking! Good game. Furcal is good.
mike
Posted by: Michael Teniente | August 27, 2006 at 04:39 PM
Hey #7, who are you, and what have you done with JD Drew?
Posted by: Makoto Ueno | August 27, 2006 at 04:56 PM
John asked for 7 innings from Chad. Got it. Zero walks. Way to go. An excellent win, and even crybaby Lugo got to play.
I understand somewhat Julio's angst. It is his walk year and he is not getting to play every day. He shouldn't worry. As we've mentioned before, GMs will pay.
Posted by: Dodgerdog | August 27, 2006 at 05:38 PM
Awesome job today - I was really worried after the 1st when we didn't cash in on Livon's struggles. I thought maybe it was going to be another day of missed opportunities, but they turned it around and really made it work. Let's hope they've got their feet under them now and we can roll into the post season!
Posted by: Jen | August 27, 2006 at 06:02 PM
In light of Kent's big blast last night and today's solid win, it's a shame that the Dodgers couldn't do much of anything right in game one.
I said before the road trip that a 3 game sweep at the hands of the Dodgers would have sufficiently demoralized SD and/or Arizona. Well, the Padres flipped the script on us, and I'm glad the Blue were able to bounce back, but I can't help but think that the Dodgers missed an opportunity to put away the pesky D-backs from the division race for good.
Posted by: Makoto Ueno | August 27, 2006 at 06:42 PM
Solid game from Billingsly and the crew when we needed it most. Well done CB! Back on track- lets keep it roling....
Hamulack is still scary, but maybe less so than Gio? Tough call.
I, for one, am really looking forward to seeing Loney, Kemp (who is beating the ball in AAA!), and Kuo back up on Friday for a little boost. I don’t think the other teams in the west will get that same luxury- a few extra players playing at a very high level in AAA who already have some experience in the bigs. If that’s how Coletti planned it all along, kudos.
Posted by: john | August 27, 2006 at 06:53 PM
Does anyone have a link for Furcal's bunt at San Francisco that turned into an error-induced homer? I checked youtube, and they don't have it. Neither did the dodgers site the day after the game.
Posted by: Steve M. | August 27, 2006 at 07:20 PM
It says a lot for this team to lose that 15 inning game and come back and win the next 2.
I think a bit of pressure could be good for Bills. If we go to the post season he'll probably get a game in.
He's developing into a heck of a pitcher!
1-13, 17-1, 4-9, what could be next? You can't say this Dodger team isn't interesting...
Never a dull moment.
Posted by: Andy B | August 27, 2006 at 08:52 PM
Very satisfying win. I confess to not having a lot of confidence in Bills given the circumstances, but he delivered an outstanding performance. He's a gamer for the long haul.
It'll be interesting to see how Penny does Monday.
Posted by: wmm | August 27, 2006 at 09:21 PM
sorry to point this out, but monkeys also have thumbs, though i don't know about sinkerballs.
Posted by: mike | August 27, 2006 at 11:49 PM