Two for two.  That would be two straight Dodger pitchers forced to leave a start early, that is.  Thursday night it was Brad Penny and an abdominal cramp that ended his night in the seventh.  At least this time the Blue won the game, 5-4 over Colorado.  And there was some good news for the staff.  Takashi Saito picked up his 26th save... which means he pitched, something he hadn't done since July 18th.  And Penny lasted long enough to get his 13th win, tied for tops in the bigs.  Two hits, including a homer, for Rafael Furcal, while Juan Pierre chipped in with a pair of knocks, a run, and a stolen base.  But until everyone learns more about the state of Penny's midsection (and Derek Lowe's leg, for that matter) it'll be fun times in Nervousville for Dodger Fans. 

More on the game tomorrow.

BK

It's no secret that the insertion of James Loney into the everyday lineup has juiced the Dodger O.  It's also paid dividends on the defensive side as well, since the kid can pick it at first.  Really, you have to look pretty hard to find fault with his play.  No wonder Loney seems welded to every rumor floating around ahead of the trade deadline.  (Of course, you could say the same about most of the hot prospects currently featured on the big club or in the minors.)  Not that you can blame opposing GMs for salivating over the 23 year old Texas native.  With a swing that works to all fields, he looks set to hit over .300- maybe well over- for a long, long time.  I had a chance to speak with him during the last homestand. 

BK   

Which do you prefer first?  Okay, we'll start with the bad news.  The Dodgers fell 2-1 to the Astros last night.  Carlos Lee's 7th inning solo shot broke the game's all-squared at one status, creating a slim deficit that were the Dodgers couldn't overtake.  Crummy box score, yada yada.  But see, here's the bad news.  Starter Derek Lowe had to make an early exit during the contest, not because he was getting shelled, but due to a groin strain that left him unable to throw.   When's the sinker ball specialist due to return, you ask?  Hey, your guess is as good as anyone's, because it's currently an "MRI and see how it goes" kinda thing.  The only thing that's known for sure is that Lowe first messed up the groin warming up for his relief stint last Sunday.  They're hoping for a best case scenario for any time missed by Lowe.  As opposed to, say, the bad news they just received regarding Hong-Chih Kuo, who couldn't deal with the pain of an elbow chip any longer.  That meant time under the knife for the lefty, which means time spent away from the field.  Potentially, the rest of 2007. 

Yesterday, the Blue heartbreak was delivered in grand slam fashion by Craig Biggio.  Tonight, the long ball again came back to haunt the Dodgers, but it was Carlos Lee running the bases by his lonesome to create a 2-1 loss.  His 7th inning jack off D.J. Houlton was the third home run of the game, which happened to be the only mechanism this match saw when it came to offense generated.  For that matter, each was a solo shot.  Eric Munson in the third.  Jeff Kent in the seventh.  Lee in that frame's bottom half.  And in another uncanny instance of symmetry, both teams tallied just six hits.  Throw in one walk and pair of double plays converted per side and there's a lot of similarities throughout.  Unfortunately, the box score contains one major difference.  We'll trust that you're smart enough to figure it out on your own.

-AK

One of them 6's riding solo, however, simply marks an inning from Hell for the Dodgers, one that left them on the soiled end of a 7-4 finish against Houston.  Heading into that fateful frame, things were looking decidedly "up" for the Blue.   Spot starter Mark Hendrickson limited the 'Stros to one run and the second inning kicked off with Jeff Kent's long ball and ended with three runs in the Dodgers' pocket.  But then came the back breaker, when the Lanky Lefty put two on without recording an out and Rudy Seanez, struggling of late, came in to clean up the mess.   And by clean up, we mean "make considerably worse."  After allowing Morgan Ensberg to double in the runners Hendrickson put on base, Seanez stuffed the bases for Craig Biggio, who'd already created an emotional atmosphere before the first pitch was even tossed.  Cue even more emotion.  Biggio went all "granny" on Seanez, furthering concerns that age and heavy work might be catching up with the wily journeyman.   The notion that Seanez might need some rest is particularly problematic, considering able bodied subs aren't exactly growing on trees at the moment.  Figure out how to survive this rough patch, you figure out how to create a solid box score.

Give Craig Biggio credit.  The man has a flair for the dramatic.  On the day he announced he'd retire at season's end, Biggio launched a sixth inning grand slam off Rudy Seanez, part of a six run blow up that gave Houston a 7-4 win over the Dodgers Tuesday night at Minute Maid.  The wheels came off this one pretty fast.  Starter Mark Hendrickson was clean through five, but in the sixth- there it is again- Lance Berkman led off with a single, followed by a Carlos Lee double.  Exit lefty, enter righty... exit lead.  Fair to say it wasn't Rudy's night, at least not in an inspirational, film-a-Notre-Dame-movie sort of way.  Two hits, two walks, four runs.  Plus the two inherited runners he allowed to score.  But at least he gave Biggio one of those great, career defining moments.  Better him than Barry next week. 

More on the game tomorrow.

BK

With 17 hits, including a homer and five doubles, the L.A. attack was robust enough that most pitchers would have felt plenty of support.  But what made Monday's 10-2 win in Houston so sweet for L.A. came from a guy who went 0-5.  Chad Billingsley came up Godzilla big, going the distance for his first career complete game and helping take a little heat off a bullpen more worn down than that rock hammer Andy Dufresne used to escape from Shawshank Prison.  Even better?  He only needed 109 pitches to do it (as opposed to 113 through five), mixing in killer offspeed stuff to go with his patented heat.  Billingsley might have liked to get his shutout- lost in the ninth on a two-out Luke Scott homer- but in the end, nine innings of work was reward enough.  So check the box score to catch up on a big night for the the Dodger O- four hits for Jeff Kent, three for Nomar, three RBIs for Gonzo, a three run jack for James Loney, etc.  This space, this morning, is reserved for good mound news.   

I'll be honest- the most important thing about Monday night's 10-2 win over the Astros wasn't the win.  Sure, it's nice, if you had presented to me a hypothetical in which the Dodgers lose 1-0 but Chad Billingsley throws a complete game or the Dodgers win 10-8 but Bills goes four, I'd have taken the former and junked the game.  That's how much the bullpen needed a night off.  That Billingsley went the distance and the Dodgers won?  Break out the pinatas and party hats, because that's grounds for a serious celebration throughout the Dodger Nation.  Hell, while your at it, do an extra jig or two for Jeff Kent's four hit, two RBI night, or Nomar's three hit explosion (might I remind you, this game was on the road!).  And since I have Billingsley and James Loney, he of the essentially meaningless three run homer in the top of the ninth, on my fantasy team, I'm going to go ahead and call this quite possibly the best win of the season.  It's certainly up there, that's for sure.

More on the game tomorrow. 

BK

The Mets are right up there with the Dodgers in the race for the best record in the National League, so they probably don't need any extra help winning games.  But in Sunday's 5-4, 10-inning loss to New York, the Blue gave it to them anyway, putting to rest any notions that L.A. isn't filled with friendly and generous individuals.  (After all, they made a hero out of a guy with three Major League ABs since 2005.  That's neighborly.)  Matt Kemp, who dropped a shallow pop-up in the ninth to allow Anderson Hernandez to score the tying run, will get his fair share of the blame, but really it was a group effort.  Substitute closer Jonathan Broxton helped move Hernandez along with an untimely wild pitch (one Russell Martin perhaps should have snagged).  Other relievers, including Roberto Hernandez and D.J. Houlton, had struggles of their own in relief of a solid Eric Stults.  But with a gassed bullpen missing -- seriously, desperately missing -- Takashi Saito, shakiness has become the name of the game.  At least the box score shows another homer for Nomar, his second in three games.  Maybe the power is returning?

Whenever somebody's dressed to the nines, it means they're pulling out all the stops in pursuit of a fashion win.  Along those lines, the pursuit of a baseball win means pulling out all the stops until the nines are completed.  And unfortunately, the final frame saw the Dodgers come apart at the seams and surrender their one-run lead.  The inning got off to a bad start for Big Jon Broxton, subbing in at closer for a still-illin' Takashi Saito.  He kicked things off by allowing a Carlos Delgado single, then put himself in serious jeopardy when his wild pitch sent a pinch-running Anderson Hernandez to second base.  The jeopardy was made even serious-er upon Anderson reaching third on Paul Lo Duca's ground out.  Things  reached serious-est status when Shawn Green launched one into shallow right field, Matt Kemp misread the flight path and dropped the ball, allowing Hernandez to score.  One inning later, Chip Ambres' poked one of D.J. Houlton's pitches past Raffy Furcal and brought home Lastings Milledge. A 5-4 loss to the Mets is never any fun, but it's rarely delivered in tougher-luck form than this one.