One more versatile infielder who can play a little outfield (or if you prefer, outfielder who plays some infield), and Ned Colletti gets a free latte. The Dodgers picked up lefty hitting infielder-outfielder Marlon Anderson from the Nationals in exchange for 20-year-old righty Jhonny Nunez.

Anderson has a solid record as a pinch-hitter over the course of his career- though not so much this year — and will add a lefty bat to the bench, something the Dodgers were hoping to do. How good a lefty bat? Eh. But he won't hurt anything, and it's not like superstars often switch ZIP codes at this time of year. Very much no harm, no foul...though honestly I'd just as soon see some of those ABs go to James Loney once he's back. We'll see how Little 'n' Co. use Anderson.

—BK

Dodgers GM Ned Colletti spoke on a variety of subjects before Tuesday's game, from September call ups to tonight's "playoff eligible" trade deadline to the changing state of free agency to why AK should stop wearing those insanely tight cycling shorts to the park every night.* Here's a sample.

*One of these topics may not have come up. Because we're not bossy at Blue Notes, I'll let you decide which.

—BK

On what's caused the parity throughout the league (if you haven't noticed, everyone short of the 51's are still in contention for the NL Wild Card):

"It could be a lot of different things. It could be the effects of revenue sharing. Some of the teams that in the past may have struggled to keep their own players when they got to be arbitration eligible or free agents and had to trade them off (no longer necessarily have to). I think that's probably some of it, that teams have an opportunity to keep their better young players for a longer period of time. Other than that, I don't know. I know that every team in this division's capable of running off a winning streak and capable of getting beat a bunch. I think we all have. In this division, I think it's so close that teams beat up on each other all the time, so you end up with the kind of balance you're talking about, with a bunch of teams around .500"

In another sign that things are going well in Dodgerland, I was just sent my application for postseason credentials. Yeah, nothing has been buttoned up yet (including whether or not A.K. and I will actually get approved. These things are a media madhouse and the press box at Dodger Stadium is baseball's equivalent of a studio apartment.). But it beats the alternative, which is having absolutely no reason to send out the application out.

They're not doing this in Kansas City, I can assure you.

—BK

At this point most fans are aiming higher, but it's still good to know that under no circumstances will the Blue lose more games this season than last. We'll start there, but the numbers get even more fun. Wednesday's 7-3 win over the Reds (Why do they have to leave town?), equaled their victory total from last year, gave the Dodgers a series and season sweep over the Cincinnati, plus ran their record in August to 21-7. That's more wins than they've had on one page of the calendar since the moving trucks left Brooklyn. The Blue maintained their three game lead over San Diego (magic number, 27!), and have everyone feeling so good, managers are giving gifts to T.J. Simers (dogs and cats living together!), who can't find anything to complain about. Can peace in the Middle East be far behind?

That would the win total for this evening. Not the Dodgers' running '06 tally, of course. Tonight's 7-2 series sweeping victory over the Reds, fine a triumph as it was, only takes them to 71 (and 21 for August, tying the best monthly close out since waving goodbye to Brooklyn). 330 does, however, represent the wins racked during the Hall of Fame career of one Greg Maddux, now 10th on the all-time "W" list. And while a 7 IP/2 ER outing is nothing out of the ordinary for the man with more control than a world class puppeteer, upon factoring in everything else Maddux brought to the table, his performance was fitting of a milestone event. Two RBIs (one off a perfectly executed squeeze bunt to score Wilson Betemit). Sparkling defense, including a sprinting cover of first base after Nomar made a heck of a run-saving play himself. To say the least, Maddux provided the kitchen sink while taking his place in history. As Russell Martin put it, "He's got the whole package."

If at some point you lost track of time during last night's 16 inning game, don't feel too bad. So did Grady Little. Talking before today's contest, Little chuckled that he actually thought Ramon Martinez hit the walk off heard 'round Elysian in the 15th inning. Only this morning after surfing the net did he realize that the homer was a sweet 16 gift. "When they get to that point, you're not really looking at a clock," shrugged Little. Clocks, however, did get punched, and by just about every player on the roster last night. In particular, the yeoman efforts of Derek Lowe were quickly discussed, along with the irony of him drawing a walk when his injured hand prevented him from being able to take a swing. The biggest gift since little Miguel (front row, far right) scrunched his way to a free ride in "The Bad News Bears." "It worked," laughed Little. As it turns out, Lowe may not have had the energy to take cuts with the bat in the first place. You can blame the junk food industry for that. "He was actually pretty funny," smiled Little. "After his three innings, I looked at him on the bench, he looked kind of like he looks in a game he starts and he's got about 110 pitches. He explained to me that he had been eating cookies before early in the game." Damn the evils of sugar! All's well that ends well, but who knows if such dangers can be flirted with again. Thus, I asked Little if he would implement a cookie ban in an effort to be better prepared for unexpected circumstances. The good folks at Keebler need not lose any sleep. "After the way he pitched last night, we might bring some more cookies in," said Little.

Hold on. Quick check to see if last night's game is actually over.... OK, here we go!

Ramon Martinez just can't catch a break these days. The guy barely ever gets to play, doesn't get much attention from the media (despite bearing a resemblance to legendary skateboarder Bob Burnquist and having affinity for playing Sudoku puzzles before games), and when he gets his shining moment, a 16th inning walk off bomb — the first game-ending homer of his career — that gave the Dodgers a huge 6-5 win over Cincinnati, it comes four hours and 54 minutes after the game had started, long after most people had left the Ravine and viewers at home had fallen asleep. You can make a case for this dinger being more dramatic than Russell Martin's blast to end "Maddux vs. Schmidt" back on the 13th (16 innings trumps 10, right?), but that game took about an hour and was on national TV. To end with a moment of glory for a rookie! Just another case of a vet not getting his due.

I was going to write a vivid, flowery, exquisitely detailed recreation of tonight's epic, 16 inning, four hour, 54 minute, 6-5 win against the Reds. But I just don't have the strength. None. Nada. Zip. Seriously, this baby was long enough to sap the energy out of Jack Black after a meth binge with a Pixie Stix chaser. How the hell Ramon Martinez even mustered up the hoo-ha to jack that walk off a homer is beyond me. Although I don't blame the guy for going first pitch on Ryan Franklin. I imagine he'd entirely lost the patience necessary to work a count by then. Kudos to my new hero Ramon for following his instincts.

I'll say this much. Mark Hendricksen, who got the hook after a mere four innings, owes Martinez a steak dinner. Actually, Hendricksen also owes the six subsequent pitchers who kept the Blue in this affair a steak dinner. And screw it, Mark Hendricksen owes me a steak dinner! Why? Because it's freakin' 12:20 and I'm typing at my PC while staring at a (presumably bitter) grounds crew cleaning up the field. I got nothing against the lanky lefty, mind you. He's been perfectly nice whenever I've talked with him. Seems like nothing short of a decent human being. I'll go out on a limb and declare him a stand-up guy. But I'm sorry. Dude simply owes me. I'll be awaiting my invite to Morton's, Mark. And I'm bringing a date. And we're ordering appetizers and cocktails. And a to-go meal.

The jumbotron just showed that end credits bit from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" where he looks at the audience and says, "You're still here? It's over. Go home." I think I'll take my cue from Matthew Broderick. Night, y'all.

More to come later this morning...

—AK

But if you chose instead to get your financial house in order and make a run at this lil' beauty, I can't say I'd blame you. Moving along...

I know the cliché is you take every game one at a time, avoiding the temptation to get ahead of things. In this case, however, I think it's OK to tell you that as of right now, Grady Little expects Derek Lowe's injured hand to heal sufficiently for him to pitch on Friday. "I think he's gonna give it a shot," Little said.

Aaron Sele would take the ball if Lowe can't, but Little doesn't feel he needs to baby the guy between now and Friday night. "We'll do our best, but Sele hasn't worked a lot of innings lately, and he should be able to work a few innings for us today or tomorrow and still be able to do that on short notice Friday if we need him," Little said.

Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus checks in on the lot of high school pitchers taken in the '06 draft. Right now, Clayton Kershaw looks like the cream of the crop (five walks against 54 strikeouts is a tidy little number), and while Bryan Morris isn't exactly setting the world on fire, he's not getting totally shelled, either. Get those hit numbers down, kid.

—BK

High School Pitchers

Pick, Player, Team            LVL   ERA   IP    H   BB   SO   EXP
-----------------------------------------------------------------
7. Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers    R   1.95  37.0  28    5   54    +
12. Kasey Kiker, Rangers      SS   4.15  43.1  35   32   41
16. Jeremy Jeffress, Brewers   R   5.68  31.2  28   24   33    -
18. Kyle Drabek, Phillies      R   7.71  23.1  33   11   14    -
22. Colton Willems, Nationals  R   3.38  16    23    3    8    -
26. Bryan Morris, Dodgers      R   4.76  56.2  61   34   74

This group is the only disappointment so far, but there are two mitigating factors. First off, Clayton Kershaw, according to those who have seen him, has enough potential to makes up for any failures otherwise. Secondly, the rest of these guys are power arms (finesse high school pitchers don't go in the first round) with the ability to turn things around.

As you can see by the numbers, Kershaw has been outstanding by any measurement, and the stuff matches the performance. Kiker gets the same mulligan Sapp gets for pitching in the Northwest League — other than the walks, he's held his own against players mostly two to three years older than he is. If you remove Kershaw from the equation, the one thing the group has in common is control problems, except for Willems who has also given up many hits with few strikeouts in a small sample.

Few walks and few strikeouts are a much less attractive indicator than a high total of both, although it is a small sample and he was shut down with shoulder fatigue. I include Morris here because while he was drafted out of a junior college, he's just 19, so he's closer to a high school pick than a college one. His statistical profile is more unique and more difficult to assess as he's allowed a high number of baserunners while striking out nearly 12 per nine innings.

Just when it looked like the Dodgers would open their series against Cincinnati with a cakewalk, the Reds decided to make life difficult. In the end, L.A. got their 6-5 win, but it took a lot of work to get there. Brad Penny was laboring from the start, dancing in and out of trouble like a live-action Frogger game. Five walks and 104 pitches through only five innings. Perhaps he should have been throwing some of these? Yet somehow Penny managed to keep crossing the street and reach the lily pad without getting squished (three double plays turned by the Dodgers D didn't hurt).

Russell Martin and Jason Repko provided the O from the bottom of the lineup, but after a big-time Cincinnati comeback in the eighth, Jonathan Broxton was called in to nail down the win. His five-out save was enough to raise some statistical eyebrows (like the eyebrows raised when Pam Anderson was put on the Jumbotron...). Combine the Dodgers win with San Diego's loss to Arizona, and the Dodgers again lead the NL West by three games. (Magic Number, 29!)

The Dodgers celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Beatles' 1966 concert at Chavez Ravine during their 6-5 win over the Reds Monday night, but picking up the W was no easy task Because of some loose mound work from the get-go.

Despite his efforts to Act Naturally, Brad Penny needed plenty of Help! to reach The End of his five innings without looking like the Fool on the Hill. Any way you slice it, when he ran up 105 pitches through five innings, you knew it would be a quick Hello Goodbye for the Dodgers All-Star. Penny had the Reds on a Magical Mystery Tour of the basepaths. Cincinnati runners were Here, There, and Everywhere in the early going, but if You've Got Trouble, the double play will make a pitcher Glad All Over. Penny managed to get three of them, enough to keep the damage to a minimum.

FYI, 40 years ago tonight, the Beatles played a gig at Dodger Stadium. In honor of that night, they'll be playing Beatles music during breaks in the action, etc. If you can't pick up on that stuff during the broadcast, try to hum something from Help! or Sgt. Pepper between innings and you'll have a more authentic, at-the-game experience.

The good news is Penny is almost done with his warmup tosses, and hasn't freaked out yet. Like I said after his last blow up, I understood why he was so pissed that time, and the umps didn't do much to diffuse the situation. But I'm kicking around the idea of how much fun it would be if the Dodgers had a Ron Artest type. Sure, they had one in Milton Bradley, and we all know how that turned out, but every once in a while, it's kind of fun to have a loose cannon around.

Leadoff walk to Ryan Freel. Not an encouraging start.

Make no mistake, the Dodgers are a patriotic bunch. After the U.S. made the final out in the sixth to win the Little League World Series, a huge cheer went up in the players training room (out of a reporters eye line, within his ear line, so to speak). Takashi Saito returned to the clubhouse, pretending to wipe away tears, but seemed more or less OK. I was concerned initially because ESPN showed a shot of all the kids on the Japanese team scooping up dirt from the infield. Considering how hard-ass some little league coaches are these days, it wouldn't have surprised me if they were being punished ("Because you lost, we're not leaving this field until every ounce of dirt has been cleaned up!"). Turns out, they were just taking home a memento or two. Whew!

The Dodgers are a relatively chipper bunch these days. They left town in first place and came home in first place. Repeat that a couple more times, and we'll all be around this October.

There was some confusion in the national outlets (and at Blue Notes Central) as to the Dodgers starter. It's Brad Penny, not Mark Hendrickson. 

—BK

Unless you find preseason football incredibly riveting, you probably have a little spare time tonight for the semipatented Blue Notes live blog. It's a 7:10 start at the Ravine. Be there, or be square.

—BK

A half game. That's all the Dodgers lost off their divison lead over their nine-game NL West lovefest, despite a 4-5 record and dropping all three in San Diego. Put that up against the five games the Dodgers lost during the Great Skid of '06, and it pretty much proves one thing — you have to be a special kind of crappy to fall out of contention in this division, which should help keep things tight. L.A.'s 6-3 win in Arizona on Sunday bumped their lead over the second-place Friars to two games, held the Giants back at 3.5, and likely gave "stick a fork in 'em" status, at least concerning the division — to the now-five-out D-Backs.

A three-game sweep at the hands of the Padres had many members of the Blue Nation ready to blow the proverbial Doomsday Whistle. But after a 6-3 win Sunday afternoon gave L.A. the rubber match of their weekend set against the Snakes, things are looking a little rosier. Chad Billingsley, who has been lights out from a statistical perspective throughout the second half, tamed the pitch count beast that has plagued him since joining the cool kids up in the majors. For the second time in three outings, Bills finished the seventh. It was especially important on Sunday, with the Dodgers pan fried like an egg at your local Denny's. Too much more of this, and Bills will be siphoning off ROY votes from Andre Ethier.

More on the game tomorrow.

—BK

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.

Sorry for the delay. Some issues surfaced creating an unavoidably late post time. Although really, isn't a little fitting for the news of last night's 9-7 loss to the D-Backs to come behind schedule, considering the game itself took it's sweet time to end? It took 15 innings for Orlando Hudson to finally put the game on ice with a walk-off jack. One expects the Dodgers have spent the equivalent 5 hours, six minutes (and then some) stewing in the visions of what might have been. Wasted opportunities, such as the multi-homer effort by J.D. Drew. Russell Martin's shot went by way of the scrap heap as well. Takashi Saito's blown save (Jonathon Broxton also had one of this own) was largely the result of a bad exchange between Wilson Betemit and Nomar Garciaparra. Thus, it's only fitting that Aaron Sele would worm his way out of 13th and 14th inning jams, just to see the "L" next to his name in the box score.

Yes it's frustrating to lose in 15 innings to a division rival.  Of course it sucks to squander a four RBI, two homer day from J.D. Drew (such offensive outbursts being a relatively rare occurrence these days).  Obviously it hurts for L.A. to have missed an opportunity to extend their lead over San Diego to two games.  All of those things basically blow.

But hey, at least you're not dealing with a band of thug raccoons.   

BK

Unless you've got one of them masochist fetishes (and if you do, no worries. We don't judge here at Blue Notes), getting swept in S.D. doesn't prompt a plethora of smiles. What it does prompt, however, is pressure. And as the season enters meat and potatoes time, we'll be observing how various Dodgers react to a competitive NL West race ("competitive" being a relative term, of course). While a strong argument can be made that Brad Penny's blow up was egged on by the powers that be, the hurler's temper gives some fans pause about his ability to stay composed when it truly counts. Perhaps he could take a cue from a couple newbies. Jonathon Broxton's barely of drinking age, but the rook has remained cooler than a guy pitching with a six beer buzz (a prep  method we don't recommend, by the way). Takashi Saito may prompt quote fingers when you call him a rookie, but he's nonetheless had to make adjustments since joining the Dodgers, shifts that haven't fazed him. If it's weird for Penny to emulate less experienced teammates, He could always turn to the resident "wise owl," Greg Maddux. The guy's "been there, done that" with about any situation known to man. He'll also be the one counted to help shift the tide tonight against Arizona. Seeing him get the best of Claudio Vargas in typically unflappable might serve as inspiration for the fiery Penny. And if Penny's not into imitating fellow hurlers, period, perhaps he could follow the examples of Grady Little and Ned Colletti. When the Dodgers went on their 13 of 14 losing tear, friction could have easily surfaced between the duo, potentially destroying Colletti's plans for 2006. Instead, the situation united them.

This is the kind of stuff that makes baseball fun to talk about.  Or at least fun for my dad, who loves the ins and outs of the rulebook.  From a San Diego perspective, for sure, but still interesting.  Obviously it's not exactly the same situation, but what happened on Wednesday reminds me a little of when Billy Martin sat on the knowledge of George Brett's illegal use of pine tar for however long it took to become useful... then provided us with one of baseball's all time great highlights when Brett completely wigged out.

BK

I'm assuming, after all, the Dodgers aren't walking to Arizona for their three game set against the D-Backs. 

The bad news is they're coming off a sweep at the hands of the Padres, which pulled San Diego to within a game of L.A.  The good news?  The skid didn't bring Arizona back into the race.  The Diamondbacks were themselves swept by the Giants, and will be riding a four game losing streak when the weekend series opens Friday.  So like Samuel L. Jackson, the Dodgers are in a potentially perilous situation, pitted against a reptilian enemy. (I don't think I'm giving all that much of Snakes on a Plane away by telling you the "plot" involves much slithery peril).  Like Samuel L. Jackson, they'll need cunning, bravery, and anti-venom to get out of it.  How gratuitous violence and nudity fit in, we can only guess.  One thing's for sure- having committed the sin of letting one team back into the NL West race, the Dodgers certainly don't want to let in a second. 

A quick peek at the series:

Well, if you're gonna lose, you might as well go down in a five-alarm blaze of flames. And that's just the way the Dodgers did it while getting whupped 7-2 by the Padres. Whether legitimately angry about the game's course of events or simply mad that San Diego is apparently their daddy (as evidenced by getting broomed), it didn't take long for the contest to feature raised danders.

From the outset, Dodger starter Brad Penny took exception to umpire Rick Reed's definition of "strike zone," which he felt put him in a position to allow three quick runs. Penny let said dissatisfaction be known, which didn't get relations off to a roaring start.

But apparently, even dissatisfaction with one's own shortcomings weren't allowed to be expressed, as Julio Lugo learned the hard way. Angry at himself for failing to knock in a two-out run, Lugo tossed his helmet. First base umpire Chris Guccione tossed Lugo. Bummer, and not just because Grady Little prefers Lugo in the thick of things. Soon thereafter, Little made one too many trips to the mound in the same inning to check on Penny. The umps started out cool with it but Pads manager Bruce Bochy protested and it was ruled Penny needed to go. Cue Little and Penny's ejection, with Jeff Kent theoretically having pushed his luck as well. Needless to say, the outcome of events didn't lead to a Takashi Saito sighting. It also didn't lead to a happy box score.

I'm not gonna rehash the finer points of this evening's 7-2 loss, because why make you good people relive that fiasco? But the heave-ho bonanza aspect of the game got me thinking: As long as the Dodgers were getting booted left and right, which player would you have liked to see join the early shower brigade? There are a lot of Dodgers that would be interesting candidates for a variety of reasons.

If the Dodgers and Padres were cartoon characters, it's safe to say San Diego would be the Road Runner and L.A. Wile E. Coyote. Why? Because one always wins and the other always loses, further evidenced by last night's 1-0 loss to the Padres. Whenever facing the Blue these days, everything seems to be coming up "Pads." Even while toiling through a down season, Jake Peavy's track record suggests he'll be on his game and lights out. But it is rather ironic that the performance would come on a night where Mark Hendrickson, struggling to make an impact as a Dodger, would look like an ace himself. The lanky one kept the Pads entirely in check for almost six innings until a familiar face came along to shake things up. Hendrickson's outing may not have been enough to impress everyone, but it certainly kept his team in the game. Unfortunately, you don't get a win in the box score for being really close.

Because I'm thinking most of you won't want to miss the bidding on this J.D. Drew signature bat, in "perfect MINT condition." Now I'm not naturally inclined to pick on guys, but if you read the full posting, there are just too many things in it that will allow you all to hop in your motor cars and take the expressway to CapOnDrewVille...starting with the "perfect MINT condition" thing. I don't ever want it said we don't take care of our audience here at Blue Notes. Better you lash out at J.D. Drew than your wives, husbands and children.

—BK

Ever have one of those days at work when it feels like everyone is on a completely different page? Well, that day at the cubicle wasn't a whole lot different than last night's 4-2 loss to San Diego to kick off the series.

For starters, the memo on the bulletin board had clearly that the Pads would be starting out with Chan Ho Park on the hill. But at the last minute (one imagines a painful 60 seconds from Park's perspective), some character named Tim Stauffer ends up flying in from Portland to throw pitches. And Stauffer (who somehow has a Yahoo! photo after one 2006 big league appearance though Chad Billingsley still doesn't) pulled off one heck of a switcheroo, retiring the first 10 (presumably surprised) Dodgers he faced.

And speaking of surprises, the Dodgers were dealt a few unpleasant ones. For starters, Russell Martin mixed up his own sign thrown to starter Chad Billingsley. The result was a passed ball and a run scored for San Diego. Another example of employees not in harmony with their environment? J.D. Drew's misplay of a Todd Walker fly ball. Cue another run scored. With enough elements running out of whack, it's actually a wonder the box score shows this tight a result.

The Giants are dead. And much to the satisfaction of Dodger fans, they died a fairly Blue death. Next up? The Dodgers open a three-game set in San Diego on Monday night, before moving on to Arizona for the final three games of the roadie. So here's the first question: If the Dodgers take two of three from the Pads, they'll leave even-more-Southern California with a five-game cushion on the Friars, with 35 games remaining for each team.

Should that happen, can we — at least as far as the division is concerned — add another NL West team to the death toll? Can we stick a fork in San Diego too? If L.A. went 18-17 over those final 35, the Padres would have to go 23-12 to force a tie. Does anyone really think San Diego has that in them?

I'm telling you, the Dodgers have entered that tense place where the math says they should get in, but the threat of screwing up and blowing it is still very real...which would be worse than never having had a chance to begin with. But Dodger fans don't think like that, right? You guys don't sit around waiting for the apocalypse like Red Sox faithful, do you? (By the way, who can blame them?) Forget merely being content with the division, the Dodgers could be the second seed in the NL! Home field advantage! Which leads to the second question: Do you spend more time dreaming about the big things that could await the Blue in the postseason or pacing the living room during games because you're afraid they'll botch the whole deal?

—BK

These days, a Dodger win seems like nothing particularly out of the ordinary. But for the last inning of yesterday afternoon's 5-2 win against the beloved San Francisco Giants, it looked like L.A. would wind up scrapping for their "W." And that felt kinda strange, considering the contest's first eight innings.

The Dodgers were already up 2-0 by the time the first ended, thanks to J.D. Drew's two-run jack. And the next RBI came courtesy of an even stranger source (Let's be honest, Drew's been mired in something of dry spell.): Derek Lowe. Lowe's not exactly a menace with the wood, but the man was clearly just having "one of those games." But then the bottom of the ninth rolled around, along with something of a scare. After allowing his mostly cutter-free shutout bid to end, Derek Lowe suddenly found himself in a no-out, bases-loaded jam, thanks to a fielding glitch.

Jeff Kent can be a little edgy under the best of circumstances. One can only speculate his mood after allowing a routine grounder to slowly roll through his legs. With the bags full, Grady Little switched on the Takashi signal. And the man who's made Eric Gagne's absence bearable (and can serve to inspire all players new to America) proceeded earn one serious save in the box score.

What makes you happier about the 5-2 win in San Francisco? The fact that Derek Lowe seems to be locked in for the stretch drive, or that the Giants can start making tee times and vacation plans?

Just curious.

—BK

It's fair to say Greg Maddux was due a little run support, and he didn't have to wait very long to get it in Saturday night's 14-7 win over the Giants. L.A. was all over San Francisco's Brad Hennessey like the crunchy, colorful candy shell of an M&M, chasing him in the second after he'd already surrendered seven runs. The dynamic duo of Rafael Furcal and Kenny Lofton played key roles in a three-run first and seven-run second that spotted Maddux 10 runs before he'd taken a full trip through the Giants lineup. Sweet! That it wasn't his sharpest night was a moot point. Even a dull Maddux can hold onto a 10-run lead, and in the process he tied Steve Carlton (Lefty!) for 10th on the all-time wins list at 329 as the Dodgers maintained a three-game lead in the NL West.

Even when he's off his game, Maddux still commands respect from opponents and teammates, who are all sucking up his aura with a big ol' straw. His effect on the team has been profound, writes Bill Plaschke, and watching him scuffle is as interesting as watching him dominate.

So yeah, I asked this about a week ago and forgot to post the answer:

"Since 1901, against what franchise do the Dodgers have the highest winning percentage? Minimum 650 games played."

The answer? Philadelphia with 1,854 total games and a 1036-808 record, good for a .562 winning percentage.

Kudos to Dodgerdog, who posted the answer first. Although at this point, the excitement of the initial question may have passed.

—BK

Normally, a two-game losing streak (if you even bother using the word "streak") is no cause for concern. Then again, nothing about the last month for the Dodgers has been normal...so we'll forgive fans if Friday night's 7-3 loss in San Francisco generated an unusual level of jitters. On the one hand, the Giants were hot, coming home, and had their ace on the mound. And after last Sunday, didn't Jason Schmidt deserve a little run support? So that is the game the Dodgers should have lost, right? No need to be nervous, right? The head says yes, but the heart, considering the ugly performance of L.A.'s ace, the tightening standings, and the Dodgers less-than-stellar road record (Did we mention 60% of their remaining games are away from the Ravine?), says no.

For a healthy portion of the season, first year Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt has been the subject of some blog abuse. If the staff is throwing well, he's fine. If they're not, he's not. But what exactly does he do? Strange as it seems, the duties of hitting and pitching coaches aren't common knowledge to all fans. So we caught up with Honeycutt and talked about his basic responsibilities, the development of the staff, and other issues. —BK

Brian Kamenetzky: Not everyone may understand the role of the pitching coach. What exactly do you do for the pitching staff?

Rick Honeycutt: For the pitching staff, my basic duties are probably more with the starting pitchers. I spend a lot more time with them. Going over game plans for every night. I spend a lot of time with them in the video room, either going over the advance scouting report, or looking at other teams. How they go against certain guys. Certain guys, you always handle better than others. So players that certain pitchers struggle with, you try to go back and find some games where someone has some better success in. Maybe we'll pitch him different. You're looking for something else: "This hasn't been successful, so let's see if we can come up with something else." That probably is 75% of it. There are side sessions, and all that too. So probably 75-80% of my time is pretty much with them.

The relief pitchers, I really turn them over and depend a lot on (bullpen coach) Dan Warthen, because he's with them. He sees them more than I. If there's something that I see after I watch the previous night's game, if they're getting into a pattern or struggling with a certain pitch, than we talk about it and talk with (the player) the next day and maybe start looking at them and what they're doing. But (the relief pitcher's) relationship is a lot different with him than with me. I check with (Warthen) to make sure how they feel so I can relay that with Grady, the night's when somebody's available and not available. But really most of the time that I spend is with the advance reports, with film, and with starters.

Tommy Lasorda is eating again, and the town has taken notice. But now that the Dodgers have built up a three-game lead in the NL West, it's time to protect it. Which means the their nine-game roadie that begins tonight in San Francisco is serious business. A bullpen that has been reconstructed more often than Joan Rivers will play a big role. So will a crowded outfield — a little too crowded to squeeze in much time for Jason Repko.

Wilson Betemit may be happy to play every day, but if he doesn't start another 14-1 run tonight, he'll have some tough questions to answer. The one loss isn't freaking anyone out, but two?

More fun bits about Greg Maddux's sick 68-pitch outing Sunday evening, and an update on former Dodger Charlie Hough, who was about a billion years old when he finally retired. Makes you wonder if Maddux can go another few years, right?

UPDATE: Coming off a big sweep of the Pads, the Giants are heating up and hope they can use this series to spring back into the race.

Tonight's game: Jason Schmidt (9-7, 3.00) will look for the run support he didn't get from his teammates last weekend at the Ravine. He'll be up against Brad Penny (13-5, 3.48), currently tied for the NL lead in wins. Penny allowed three earned (four overall) and struck out seven over six innings in L.A.'s 6-5 win over the Giants last Saturday. Should be a good one.

Sorry for the delay, folks.  Technical difficulties.

It wasn't as glamorous as the twelve game win streak, but the modest-but-still-impressive six game wave the Dodgers were riding came to an end courtesy of the Marlins in Wednesday afternoon's 15-4 pasting.  Depending on how you want to look at it, Florida was either lifted by Miguel Cabrera's two homers former Dodger Cody Ross' healthy RBI per inning pace, or done in by soft pitching from, well, everyone in a Dodger uniform who stepped on the mound, or both.  Granted, the relief corps was only meeting the low standard set by starter Mark Hendrickson, but a little pick me up would have been nice.   Either way, the Dodgers, who didn't freak out while experiencing historical (in a baseball sense) success, won't freak out because of a single loss, either.  Guys were trying not become emotionally attached to the streak anyway.  One thing that might cause panic, at least among fans?  A lack of Dodger power production. 

Looks like Ned Colletti will have to troll the majors for another good luck charm, as Wilson Betemit's magical run is officially over, stopped at 14-0.  I guess it was bound to happen at some point, although my laissez-faire, the-Dodgers-can't-win-all-40+-of-Betemit's-starts attitude might be a factor as well.  What did George W. call it?  The soft bigotry of low expectations?  Gosh darn it, why can't they win every game Betemit starts? 

One reason, at least as it applies to today's 15-4 loss to Florida, would be pitching.  Starting pitching, relief pitching, pitching in general.  Wednesday's unpleasant tone was established early by starter Mark Hendrickson.  He retired Hanley Ramirez to open the game- one down, twenty-six to go- before things got a little shaky.  A walk to Dan Uggla (Swedish for owl!) another to Josh Willingham, and a third to Wes Helms made Cody Ross' double to deep left especially profitable for the Fish.  Helms came around on a Miguel Olivo single, and the Blue were down 4-0 before most fans had even touched their beers.  Hendrickson allowed another run in the third before Grady Little sent him to an early shower, which, as we established before the game, he could actually take. 

If the Dodgers weren't playing well, last night's clubhouse plumbing emergency- no running water- would represent an easy-as-pie setup for a joke.  Something about wins drying up, or the team's pipes being clogged, or playing as stanky as they smelled without a postgame shower.  But considering the Dodgers are in a stretch better than any the team has seen since the days of horse and buggy induced traffic accidents, there's not as much material.  So I'll just let you know the problem has been solved, though the root causes remain a mystery.  "That's a little out of my area, but we went home to take a shower," he said.  It's not like the guy was tempted to roll up his sleeves and grab a wrench.  "That's not even my area in our house in the winter.  That's an automatic phone call."

One thing that can be controlled?  What's on the tv.  When I walked in, one screen had Fox News, the other "The View."   Andre Ethier took charge and swapped the channels out, flipping to MTV and a replay of this year's "Real World- Key West" finale.  He said it's been a pretty good season.  I wouldn't know.  I stopped paying close attention after the Hawaii cast, and still look back very fondly at Seattle and the salad days of San Francisco ("If Puck lives in this house, Pedro doesn't live in this house."). 

According to proverbs (and Nickelodeon's casting agents), a child shall lead them. In the case of last night's 4-0 win over the Marlins, the youngest member of the Dodgers was indeed large and in charge. Rookie Chad Billingsley (who at 22 years, 18 days old is Jonathon Broxton's junior by 1 month, 13 days and probably calls James Loney "Gramps," considering the guy was 103 days old when the hurler was born) had a career night on the mound. Having been prone towards muting his effectiveness with bouts of tentativeness during past starts, Billingsley made a point of going agro with every pitch. He tallied a career high 9 strikeouts, the highest K total for a Blue rook since the wide-eyed glory days of Kaz Ishii. And after pitching his 7th scoreless inning, Billingsley kicked back and watched his squad go nutty in the bottom of that same inning. Marlins fans probably wanted  to  kill the Messenger, given that Kenny allowed 4 runs and the Dodgers lineup to bat around. Thus, the 17th victory in the last 18 contests. Before the Dodgers got all win-happy, the itch to collect box scores from 1899 made ya kinda... weird. Now it makes you a Dodgers-Superbas super fan.

Never let it be said that Grady Little can't effectively give instructions. Before tonight's 4-0 filleting of the Fish (only a professional writer could have come up with one, people!) Little said he was seeking "improvement" from rookie starter Chad Billingsley, whose last outing was more trouble-laden than Mel Gibson after his 17th tequila popper. So what did Bills do upon taking the mound? You guessed it. Improve.

In fact, he cranked things up a notch, moving past mere "improvement" and straight into "damn near dominating" territory. The lad's 7 innings featured only 1 walk and a honkin' 9 K's, the most by a Dodgers rookie since Kaz Ishii back in 2002. Billingsley's 8th strike out was particularly symbolic of the night. It not only set a (soon broken) career high, but kept Bills from loading the bases and avoiding some of the jams he'd faced in Colorado. The feat also reflected his motto coming into tonight's game. "Just pound the zone," smiled Billingsley. "With all my curve ball, my change up, my slider, my cutter, I'm just gonna pound the zone with it and be aggressive with it." Bills has acknowledged many times his tendency to "pick around the zone" when ahead of batters. Tonight he went right at them. "It's just trusting my stuff," affirmed Billingsley of the head-on attack. "I really wasn't trying to get guys to chase too much."

A lot has been made about Chad Billingsley's future as a starter coming into tonight's game. After struggling to stay out of trouble last Thursday against the Rockies, another tough outing could (theoretically, if nothing else) lead to a good ol' fashioned rotation switcheroo. Thus, this evening  could be considered a proving ground of sorts. Grady Little kept his criteria simple when asked what he was looking for from Bills. "Improvement. He's coming off a game where he walked a few more people than he'd really like to. He was able to pitch out some situations, but he can't expect he can always be that fortunate. He's got to try to minimize that damage before it happens." Little was presumably speaking about damage to the game as opposed to Billingsley's psyche, because that appears to be a non-issue. The young 'un didn't look particularly nervous before the game, calmly watching the Yanks-O's game and sitting with his feet propped on neighbor Jason Repko's chair.

Speaking of pitching and improvement, Little praised the entire staff for picking up the pace during this recent surge of nearly unstoppable play. Especially the cats on the hill at the end of a game. While the rotation, as a whole, has trended towards pitching further into games, "We're still having to get a lot of people up in the bullpen day in and day out... There's been some awfully good pitching going on." Little also gave props to the starting staff's work ethic.

If anyone under 50 tells you they remember what it was like the last time the Dodgers won 15 of 16, punch 'em in the mouth, because that person is a filthy liar.  And we don't like filthy liars on Blue Notes.  Not one bit.  Monday night's 4-2 win over the Marlins tied a franchise record that dates back to August of 1953, when the team was in Brooklyn, folks had flat top haircuts, and everyone wore a tie everywhere they went.  But styles change.  In last night's record tying win, the Dodgers were led by floppy maned righty Derek Lowe's seven strong innings, along with the more conservatively coiffed Nomar Garciaparra and his two run, sixth inning jack, good for two of his three RBI on the day.  Neither was wearing a tie. 

It wasn't the most fundamental of games the Blue have played recently- the box score shows three errors- but Lowe managed to pitch around the mistakes before they turned into Florida runs.  For a while, it looked like Dontrelle Willis might get the best of Lowe, especially after he slugged RBI triple in the third, but the Dodgers chipped away at the Florida lefty.   

And not the evil kind that helped launch Jennifer Aniston's career, either.  I'm thinking more "magically delicious."*  For just as Lucky the Leprechaun can transform dull, ordinary marshmallows into an ever changing array of more interesting, whimsical marshmallows, Betemit turns any game in which he plays into a Dodgers victory.  Best of all, it doesn't seem to matter if he goes yard and drives in three, or 0-4 with three strikeouts and a nearly disastrous error, as he did in L.A.'s 4-2 win over the Marlins on Monday night.  At this point, he could probably bring a case of Corona and a bucket of limes out to third and step to a plate with a wiffle bat and the Dodgers would still cruise. 

Magic Wilson aside, the Dodgers were the beneficiaries of Derek Lowe's third consecutive strong performance.  Seven innings, four hits, one earned, two walks, two Ks.  Lowe was able to work around some shaky defense, as well.  He cleaned up Rafael Furcal's mess in the sixth on a double play from Florida first baseman Mike Jacobs, then picked up Wilson Betemit in the seventh on consecutive groundouts from Alfredo Amezega and Dontrelle Willis- who in what can only be interpreted as a scathing indictment of Florida's bullpen, was not lifted for a pinch hitter with two outs, men on second and third, down by three runs.  Even in mid-May, when the Dodgers pen was less stable than a house of sticks in an earthquake zone, that non-move wouldn't have happened. 

Lowe, who has a history of picking it up late in the year, seems to be slipping into his postseason skin.  "I know this isn't playoff baseball, but for me being a Dodger, this is as close as I've come to playing meaningful games this late in the season," he said.  "I've always enjoyed it.  This is why you work so hard, and this is why you come to an organization that gives you a chance to make the playoff push."  He's obviously happy to be pitching better, but "from this point on, line scores, who got big hits, who didn't, it's irrelevant.  We're at the point where are all that matters."

But it's official.  Jayson Werth is going to miss the rest of the year.  You can safely drop him from your fantasy league team.  I'm not a doctor, so I'm not going to pretend that I understand the ins and outs of the surgery he underwent, but the following are words I heard while being given the explanation:

-repaired tear (involved some sort of sewing, I'd imagine)
-split tear of ulnar and triquetral ligament (that's like, "The knee bone's connected to the thigh bone," right?"
-scar tissue (that I get)
-cast for six weeks (check), then rehab (check), ready for spring training (presumably 2007, but I didn't ask and they weren't that specific). 

To help you out, here's a handy link filled with interesting pictures of and information about wrists.  The good news is the team seems to be adjusting to their new reality with aplomb.  When asked for an update on Werth during the pregame media shebang, Little smiled and said, "Who?"  He was kidding, but didn't have any information to report.  Guess they've moved on. 

We can get deeper into this discussion as the pennant race gets into the stretch run (according to the folks at www.coolstandings.com, things look promising), but I want to throw this question out to you guys. Obviously it takes more than one guy to get into the playoffs, and the Dodgers will need contributions from everyone to get in. That said, is there one guy that sticks out in your mind as a player who has to come through for the Blue to make some noise?

I've been thinking about it for a week or so, and the name I keep coming back to is tonight's starter, Derek Lowe. Brad Penny, a few post-break hiccups aside, has been steadily good. Greg Maddux has breathed new life into the staff, Chad Billingsley has started to put things together, and Mark Hendrickson has...remained very tall and left-handed. But to me, Lowe is the guy who can make the Dodgers starting staff into one that's as good as the contenders in the NL have to offer, if not better (and in some cases, far better). If he throws well down the stretch, it will be hard for the Dodgers not to make the playoffs. If he doesn't, they could have issues (NL West factor aside).

Like I said, we can break this stuff down more as September rolls around, but who do you see as the key?

—BK

Because at this point, I'd say my prediction about how Maddux would perform as a Dodger was pretty spot on. (One part, at least.)

—BK

Eight innings, 68 pitches, 50 strikes. 22 consecutive batters retired. No runs. It was as if Greg Maddux hopped in a time machine and brought us all back to the days when pitchers ruled the Earth (an era squeezed in roughly between dinosaurs and the Clinton Administration) in L.A.'s 1-0, 10-inning win over the Giants Sunday night. Toss in the effort of San Francisco's Jason Schmidt — eight IP, five hits, nine strikeouts against one walk — and the whole affair was so old school they might as well have been wearing baggy, woolen uniforms. At two hours, 27 minutes, we're talking about a game so short it barely had to be edited to fit the two-hour window set aside for the game's rebroadcast. That's just sick...just like Maddux's 0.90 ERA as a Dodger.

It was another classic game in a classic rivalry, but as good as Schmidt was, Maddux was the star, dominating Giants hitters after a shaky first inning until he was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the eighth in an effort to generate some offense.

Given that the Dodgers have risen from the dead like characters in a George Romero film, it's hard to say with certainly that a win Sunday night over the (hated!) Giants will guarantee the dirt-and-shovel treatment for San Francisco and their division title aspirations. But it would polish off a three-game sweep and drop the G-men nine games under .500 and 7.5 out of first with only 45 games remaining. Even in the NL West, that's a lot to overcome.

Writing of the Giants. Just one more reason to get excited about tonight's matchup between Greg Maddux and Jason Schmidt, being broadcast nationally on the magic picture box by some outfit called "ESPN." I think they're out of Connecticut, and hear they have their own line of phones. Maybe a commercial or two about that would juice sales.