On one hand, it's hard to complain when a series of Dodger pitchers join forces to allow one run over 11 innings.  Unfortunately, the Dodgers weren't able to push ahead of the Padres during the "regulation plus two" portion of frames, which rendered the 12th inning a requirement as dictated by Major League Baseball's rules.  And that's when Brett Tomko, who's attracting his share of boos this season, entered and the game turned into a 3-1 loss.  Tomko immediately surrendered a lead-off single to Khalil Greene in omen-setting fashion, then watched Andre Ethier make a sliding trap of Jose Cruz Jr.'s bloop to left.  Greene made it home, and the hit was compounded by Tony Abreu's spacing out on Ethier's throw to nab Cruz at second.   That mental mistake was further compounded by a Geoff Blum double, scoring Cruz.   

Throw it all together with a fruitless bottom of the 12th and you've got a result that wasted some otherwise terrific pitching on both sides.  The "Brad Penny/Jake Peavy are going head to head" hoopla lived up to the hype, their seven innings apiece combined for 13 strikeouts and just two earned runs.  I believe that would qualify as "good pitching," as traditionally defined.  The Blue follow-up efforts by Joe Beimel, Jonathon Broxton, Takashi Saito and Chin-Hui Tsao all produced a string of goose eggs.  Plus, Saito managed to dodge back-to-back broken bats like he was starring in an action flick.  "Bruce Willis-esque" prowess is an intangible that doesn't show up in the box score, but we at Blue Notes believe they deserve their rightful props.

More to come later.

-AK

Or more accurately, dudes who get along, but go way, way, WAY back.  The pair who made MLB history yesterday as the first Taiwanese pitchers to throw in the same game have actually been playing together since their little league games in their homeland (where, incidentally, two Taiwanese pitchers in the same game isn't close to as big a deal).  Their travel teams often squared off and Tsao remembers Kuo as a (then) outfielder with a pretty mean stick and some good speed.  He also recalls Kuo's teams winning at every level, especially high school.  "His team was always the champion," shrugged Tsao. 

And he would know, since Kuo's squad beat his to snag a title.  Kuo was a pitcher by then and Tsao's final season saw the two pitted in a mound battle.  Guess who won that skirmish.  "He tried to hit a home run, too," laughed Tsao.  "He swung at every pitch."  And, according to Tsao, jumps at the opportunity to remind him who walked away with high school bling.  Hey, it's all good fun, right?  Kuo owned up to the ribbing and vividly remembers the childhood and teenage years spent battling Tsao, with only one discrepency in their stories.  He actually recalls Tsao as the better hitter.  But he did confirm Tsao's tale of him swinging at everything without me even bringing it up.

It's not a question of whether or not Hong-Chi Kuo has the proverbial "stuff."  He does.  But whether or not he can put all that stuff together in a complete and effective game remains a mystery, especially after yesterday's 7-6 loss to San Diego.  For three innings, the lefty kept the Pads at bay, striking out a trio of Papa batters and surrendering just a run.  Unfortunately, the 2-1 lead staked for Kuo turned into a fourth inning blood bath, highlighted by a three-run jack by Kevin Kouzmanoff.  By the time Kuo handed the ball to Grady Little, he put a few more on base, all of which eventually crossed home.  Damage done and really quite tough to repair.   Not that the Blue didn't give it their best.  An eighth run rally cut the Padres lead to a pair of runs and the Dodgers racked another in the final frame.  Unfortunately, Major League Baseball doesn't award bonus runs for hard work, so the box score remained a loser.

In the home half of the first Friday night, the Dodgers stole three bases, took a 1-0 lead and generally looked deeper into Padres starter Chris Young's head than John Cusack in John Malkovich's.  Had you turned off the game at that point, likely you'd have felt pretty confident about the final outcome.  After all, the numbers said the Blue would win 8-0 while stealing 24 bases.  I'm not looking it up, but will guess that would have set some sort of record.  But, alas, you'd have been wrong (... and frankly kind of dumb for making such wild assumptions after one inning).  That stuff all happened before Hong-Chih Kuo resumed his campaign to make all my early '07 hosannas look completely and totally misplaced.  Kuo showed cracks in the second (one hit, one walk, one run) and crumbled in the fourth (five hits, one walk, six more runs), giving San Diego just enough cushion to escape the Ravine with a 7-6 win over the Blue.   

Okay, maybe that's a little much, but without a doubt the trio of games the Blue will kick off tonight against San Diego constitute the most important set of the year.  Two teams in a virtual tie for first in a division where one loss can actually send a squad down to third.  The Dodgers are looking for a little payback after the Friars swept them early this month down in Gas Lamp Country.  Toss in a couple compelling pitching matchups (featuring Saturday's marquee quality Brad Penny vs. Jake Peavy tussle) and it's fair to say this is the sort of thing Abner Doubleday had in mind when he woke up one morning, poured himself some coffee and declared, "Screw this cricket B.S!  To hell with rounders!  We can do better!" 

Unfortunately, Marlon Anderson won't be around to soak it in.  The Dodgers, hurting for arms in the bullpen, activated Chin-Hui Tsao and designated the classy left-handed pinch hitting specialist for assignment.  "We've got a real need for another pitcher on the staff right now, and at this point in our season we were finding it a tough time to get Marlon enough at bats," Grady Little said.  "We needed to go to twelve pitchers, and to do it we had to take away a hitter.  It was a tough decision for us, because what Marlon Anderson did for us last fall during the month of September, you can't say enough about the job he did." 

The Dodgers just announced that Marlon Anderson has been designated for assignment, which coincides with the activation of Chin-Hui Tsao.  The latter is available for relief arm duty this evening (and not a minute too soon).

BK's at the park and he'll have more specific details, but we wanted to give y'all the heads up ASAP.  We both figure some team will pick up the Uber-Late '06 Season Addition, so this is hopefully an "all's well that ends well" thing.  Anderson is a seriously nice dude and BK and I have both enjoyed talking with him during his brief Dodger tenure.  Best of luck in the future.

-AK   

On paper, this weekend's series against the San Diego Padres has all the makings of blockbuster Friday-Sunday.  The two teams tied for the top spot in the National League's hottest and most competitive division.   A So Cal rivalry between two cities separated by miles of 405 traffic.  And if the hype over Jose Cruz Jr's chance to get some payback against the team that cut him last season wasn't enough, you've got Andre Ethier squaring off against the franchise now employing the dude L.A. swapped for him.

The final game of the pivotal Dodgers-Diamondback series could also have been presented in gimmicky fashion as "Randy Fest 2007!!!"  Oh, to lament a marketing opportunity missed!  Although it may have been for the best, because this 9-5 Dodger win didn't feature anything remotely resembling what one would label "Classic Big Unit."  The HOF Lefty got rocked early by some kidlings who aren't scurred, even if they grew up watching him hurl in his prime.  In particular Russell Martin- now praying for no hanging chads- was in the thick of it, getting things to a roaring start with a two-run homer in the opening frame.  If he hadn't been such a slacker with his blatant disinterest in getting a triple, he would have added "the cycle" to his resume.  James Loney was another youngster helping sit RJ via RBI production.  The box score reflects a winning result, but also a roll in general that helped  the Blue regain "top of the heap" status.   

The title sounds like a bad spy novel parody, but it nonetheless sums up the issue.  Derek Lowe took the personal "L" in the 2-0 loss to the D-Backs, but it's hard to ride the sinkerball specialist's performance too heavily.  His 6.2 innings yielded just two runs, one of which came when James Loney's throwing error allowed runners to advance for an eventual sacrifice.  The problem wasn't at the plate but Brandon Webb's effect on the Dodger dish (where Loney and Gonzo's mutual three hit nights led to a dry run reservoir) and the base paths (where a baker's dozen were left stranded).  You can break down and analyze the box until your mind and eyes bleed, but at the end of the day, that's still the score (literally and figuratively).

If Tony Abreu (among others) has a problem with losing his semi-starting gig to Nomar Garciaparra, he chose the proper method of protesting his worth.  No blasting Grady little through the media.  No trade demands.  No sit-ins with songs by Joan Baez playing in the background.  Instead, he shut his yap and hit a game-winner 10th inning homer to secure a 6-5 win over the D-Backs.  Subbing for Big Jon Broxton with two Blue batters already downed, Abreu found the perfect time to hit his first big league long ball.  Pretty clutch move for a youngster (although Abreu's preservation of the milestone required the help of a savvy veteran).  The second string hot corner man's heroics not only vaulted his squad to the top of their division, but helped cover for another fella wet behind the ears.  Chad Billingsley's second start quickly littered the box score with a decent chunk of runs and two Snake homers in as many innings.