To say Wilson Betemit is off to a slow start offensively is like saying the Lakers are in a little trouble in their playoff series or that Don Imus has had some trouble at the office- a fairly massive understatement.  To put things in perspective, Randy Wolf, Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, and Jason Schmidt all have better BAs than Betemit's .122.  In only 41 ABs, Betemit has struck out 11 times, good for second on the team.   If he had ten hits in his next ten trips to the plate, Betemit still would be under .300.  For now, Grady Little will stick with him, but that begs the question:

For how long should they let him work through his problems before making a change?

Randy Wolf had struggled with first innings (and pitches 1-30, for that matter) in his first five starts as a Dodger. He also went into Wednesday night's game with a serious track record of success against Barry Bonds, holding him to 3-17 with nine Ks over his career.  So when they faced off with two men on and nobody out in the Giants' half of the first with San Francisco already up a run, something had to give.  Unfortunately for the Dodgers, it was the whole "Randy Wolf owns Barry Bonds" thing. Bonds jacked his seventh homer of the year to give the Giants a 4-0 lead, goosing them to an eventual 6-4 win over the Blue.  So much for trying to be aggressive. It was L.A.'s third straight loss and San Francisco's seventh straight win, and put the Giants a scant game behind the Dodgers in the West (especially significant if the season were 25 or so games long). That the Bonds blow wasn't even the most frustrating for Wolf says a lot, too.    

*Unfortunately for Dodgers fans, not really...

Just because nearly 44,000 fans chant something in unison doesn't make it true, as Barry Bonds proved (much to the collective chagrin of Dodgers fans) in San Francisco's 6-4 win over the Dodgers Wednesday night.  In a serious blow to the power of group will, Bonds was a factor in four of San Francisco's six runs in their 6-4 win over the suddenly cold Blue.  The most serious was a three run jack to dead center off L.A. starter Randy Wolf, who was to say the least, not razor sharp in the top half of the first.  Four consecutive hits, capped off by Bonds' homer of the season.  That gave the Giants a 4-0 lead that the Dodgers couldn't completely overcome.  Sure, they teased, tying the game up in the fourth when Ramon Martinez doubled in Russell Martin, and Rafael Furcal brought Martinez around on a single.  But a Pedro Feliz dinger in the sixth gave San Francisco the lead, and a Bonds single led to a Giant (Get it?  Giant?) insurance run in the eighth.  Wolf (five earned in six IP) took the loss, the third in a row for L.A.

At least Wolf got a little revenge on Bonds, striking him out for his 1,000th career K.  Wolf actually struck him out twice, leaving Bonds a mere 4-20 career against him.  Unfortunately, that fourth hit was a doozy. 

More to come.  NOW ADDED BELOW THE JUMP.

BK

Tonight's fun fact: Both of Wednesday night's starters (San Francisco's Noah Lowry and Randy Wolf for the Blue) played ball on the sun soaked fields of Pepperdine up in Malibu, a place that looks so freakin' beautiful from the PCH that you wonder how anyone there actually makes it to class.  I'll venture to say this isn't something that happens all that often, even for the Waves, who despite playing in a small conference (WCC) have a decent baseball heritage.  So Pepperdine alums, puff out your chests and walk proudly, because tonight is your night!  Incidentally, the fourth guy who strikes out against Wolf tonight will have the honor of being the lefty's 1,000th.  Not quite Al Downing territory in terms of finding the footage replayed over and over again, but since nobody likes to strike out, I'm sure every Giant will be looking to avoid the honor.

Another stat to absorb and then not know what to do with: On this date in '95, Dodger reliever Rudy Seanez recorded his first save in the bigs.  I'm sure you remember where you were.  Anyway, on to actual news... 

Sometimes when you avoid the Howitzer, the cap guns get you.  Such was the case in Tuesday night's 5-3 loss to the Giants at the Ravine.   The Blue held Barry Bonds to 0-2 with a pair of walks, but were victimized by Randy Winn and Dave Roberts, who had four hits, three RBIs, and a homer between them.  Toss in 7+ strong innings from Matt Morris, part of a red-hot Giants pitching staff, and it was enough to sink L.A.  That Morris was probably throwing soft enough for L.A. hitters to catch and throw back his offerings didn't really matter.  Still, the Dodgers had their chances.  But rallies in the eighth and ninth fizzled like a wet bottle rocket, and that was that.  The box score shows Derek Lowe didn't look pretty in his seven frames (nine hits, three walks), but he pitched well enough to keep the Dodgers in the game (and should get props for his willingness to take time for some kids on a day he was pitching). 

Okay, that might be somewhat exaggerated.  But Little did spend his off day riding the bike Juan Pierre gave him in exchange for the skipper's old #9.  From about 11 am- 4pm, Little, with his wife Debi holding his waist, tooled around Sunset and Mulholland checking out Los Angeles (including a stop at Carney's for a hot dog).  They both enjoyed The Strip, but Mulholland's geography wasn't quite Debi's taste.  "That took some of the enjoyment out of it, a couple of those curves," laughed Little, who clearly got a kick out of his better half's fearful reaction, which wasn't much better on the freeway, either.  "She wasn't really fond of that."  Truth be told, the L.A. freeway vibe was even a little hair raising for the guy holding the handlebars.  And that hair was no more upright than when the pair started heading home to Pasadena during rush hour.  "You know where the 134 and the 210 come together?  There's about 8 lanes of cars in 6 lanes?  It got exciting there, too." 

For those of you wondering, there's nothing in Little's contract prohibiting him from getting on a steel horse.

It's time for some straight up rivalry action- even if Jeff Kent's over it- down at the ol' Ravine.  The Giants of San Francisco are in town for a three day stint.  And with them travels the always beloved Barry Bonds, who should expect his standard one-finger salute while chasing Henry Aaron.  Perhaps the former reality TV show star should take congeniality lessons from one Luis Gonzalez, who's always been good at making friends.  Derek Lowe will look to bounce back after a horrible outing against Colorado, although his competition in Matt Morris is no slouch.  And should Lowe cause batters to drop like the sinker he throws, the boys closing out his efforts got it under control of late.  Unless, of course, you remain unimpressed by Takashi's Saito's conversion rate of 100%.

Give the Dodgers this much.  When the #2 Blue decides to let defense kill any shot at a win, they get their money's worth.  Or maybe they were hungover.  But witness Sunday's 7-5 loss to the Pirates.  A first inning throwing error by Russell Martin set the tone for the Dodger sloppiness in the field.  Juan Pierre dropping a ball that was apparently blinded from sight by fierce cloud cover made it clear this wasn't just a fluke.  And there must have been a mistake our two with reliever Chad Billingsley's approach on the mound, since one assumes his game plan wasn't to surrender a pair of runs in just a third of a frame.  In any event, Brett Tomko probably decided he made a mistake even bothering to take the mound.  While his 8 hits and 3 earned runs in 6 innings isn't exactly the stuff of ESPN Classics box scores, the "help" he was given didn't make things easier.  Even a blind man can see that.

And thus, we're gonna be a little occupied today, meaning we won't be doing any posts and I can't promise the comments will be getting updated.  We're hoopefully getting a little help from the folks at the Times, but it's the weekend, so who knows?  We'll be back to normal after the weekend.  Thankfully, the series is against Pittsburgh, so how much help from BK and I could they possibly need?

Go Blue,

AK

When Mark Hendrickson arrived in L.A. last season via a Devil Ray swap, he went from much-needed lefty starter to banished, if solid, middle reliever.  But if this season's start is any indicator, dude's on a mission to reclaim his good name (and rotation membership).  Filling in for an injured Jason Schmidt, Hendrickson's first start of the season amounted to an 8-1 win over the Colorado Rockies.  Exhausted, but maintaining a new focus harnessed though work with a professional mind molder, Hendrickson made the most of his 5.2 innings on the hill.  He also got by with a little help from his friends, particularly Joe Beimel, who's also juicing the box scores as a result of making adjustments.