Miss Cleo: Grady Little in a wig?
We could examine the whole "nobody's ever seen the Dodger Skip and the psychic madam in the same place at the same time" theory, but for the sake of time, let's simplify matters by just giving Grady Little's foresight a little credit. It necessarily doesn't take a genius to figure out that an 8-1 win over divisional rival Arizona would come in handy, but Little recognized the importance and monkeyed with the rotation to get his ace into the mix. The result was Brad Penny keeping a slew of D-Back hitters up against it, reducing them to eight inning's worth of one run/four hit marshmallow. Penny's 10th win of the season also featured the Big Okie coming through with the stick. Penny's double to kick off the sixth inning- courtesy of some serious huff puffing 'round the bags- sparked a four run rally, the beginning of the end for Snake hurler Micah Owings' otherwise strong performance. Penny's swing was purty enough to bring out Gonzo's green side, but it's easier being green than blue, the shade of Jeff Kent's left toe after coming in contact with a fouled pitch. In any event, the Dodgers are seeing red (jerseys) and rather up close, courtesy of a winning box score that put them within half a game of the Snakes in the NL West race.
The chance to overtake them durn snakes begins with the battle of Billingsley v. Gonzalez (FYI. Pitching matchups always sound cooler when presented like court cases.). Bills' second start of the season will allow him to toss a few more pitches than last week's heavily monitored outing. Edgar Gonzalez is more of a "waiting until Randy gets back" stop gap fella than true starter.
It wasn't Grady Little's first or even fifth choice, but having decided the team's reached "desperate measures" time, he's okayed the moving of Nomar Garciaparra to third base. As the photos show, the decision brings a smile to Nomar's face. He's on board with the call and will pray for a healthy oblique. The move isn't as much about upgrading the hot corner as giving new first baseman James Loney the opportunity to play each day.
Russell Martin's like a wise old owl. An "untouchable" wise old owl with All-Star potential, but your basic wise old owl nonetheless.
Were rain, sleet or snow actually a factor in So-Cal, they still wouldn't keep Ken Gurnick from his mail-related duties.
