My pregame report didn't save, meaning the whole thing is erased.  And since I wouldn't finish rewriting it until probably the fourth inning (which really screws with the whole "pre" element), I'm just gonna give you guys the lineups and provide a new thread.  Sorry about that.  It's more than a little aggravating, to say the least.

-- AK

Tonight's lineups

Rockies:
Kazuo Matsui - 2B
Troy Tulowitzki - SS
Matt Holliday - LF
Todd Helton - 1B
Garrett Atkins - 3B
Brad Hawpe - RF
Ryan Spillbourghs - CF
Yorvit Torrealba - C
Franklin Morales - P

Dodgers
Pierre - CF
Young - LF
Kemp - RF
Loney - 1B
Martin - C
LaRoche - 3B
Valdez - 2B
Hu - SS
Loaiza - P

Clever, huh?

Last night, after dissecting what he felt was a poor performance on the mound in '07, Derek Lowe spoke to the assembled media about the season in general, what went wrong down the stretch -- perhaps you've heard there's been some turmoil -- and, most importantly, how it can't happen next year.  And while normally Lowe is about as grounded and serious as your average fourth-grader, he was very frank Wednesday night.  Many of his comments echo things he said earlier in the week but are worth reading again. 

Click below the jump for the quoteage. 

-- BK

Not the god-awful Keanu-Hackman flick, mind you.  That's a memory that should be buried and repressed at all costs.  We're talking the Replacements, one of the most influential bands of the '80s.  What they represented was an alternative to the music found on mainstream radio.  And during last night's 2-0 loss to the Rockies, the Dodgers fielded what some might consider an alternative to mainstream lineups, featuring names like Valdez, Moeller, Hu and Young (the latter two getting some shout outs from their fearless leader).  The folks would recognize Derek Lowe, who continued his bad run of "timing is everything."   Seven runs, two runs allowed and very little to show for it.  Unfortunately for the sinker specialist, Wednesday's box score represents a distinct "same as it ever was" feeling.  After the game, Lowe refused to feel sorry for himself or point fingers, just express hope for a better and brighter 2008. 

An alternative to bitching, if you will.

Given that Derek Lowe has spent much of the season getting all the support of a MoveOn.org rep at an NRA rally, there was something almost comforting about L.A.'s 2-0 loss to Colorado on Wednesday night.  Sure, it's disappointing to see the Blue drop their ninth game in 10 tries, but don't focus on that.  Instead, think of the harmony and balance that comes from completing the circle.  From going out as you came in.  From ...

... OK, I give up.  Lowe, who has watched his ERA get all swoll (as our friend Tropp likes to say) during a rough second half, capped off his season with a solid start.  Seven innings, two runs, five hits, seven punchouts.  And, as the title of the post implies and the score confirms, he got no run support from his mates, who left eight on base and (obviously) were shut out with RISP.  Like I said, it's oddly comforting.  Or like a baseball version of the Stockholm Syndrome.  Either way, it's a tidy microcosm of the season (or at least a healthy portion of it).

We've officially reached the point in the season where covering the games feels like being a seventh-grader at the middle-school mixer.  Everyone stands awkwardly, not sure what to say (all the good questions have been used up at this point), and the conversation is forced.  And that's just in the dugout, talking to Grady.  In the clubhouse, it's all crickets and tumbleweeds.  I don't know if they have cameras in there, but if ever there was a good time to rifle through a guy's wallet, that would have been it.  There weren't enough guys in uniform to bust you.  There was a little more loitering at the end of media availability, but at least initially we outnumbered the guys in uniform. 

It'll pick up on Sunday during the Annual Media/Player Indian Leg Wrestling Tournament.  That's always an event.  I know I've been training.* 

I was actually going to write something in response to Bill Plaschke's column this morning about Matt Kemp and the prospects that he might end up moving in a deal.  Good thing Molly Knight, a friend of ours from ESPN and a native and proud Angelino, was sufficiently outraged to do it first, freeing up the rest of my morning (ha ha).  BK

Earlier today this newspaper ran a column from Bill Plaschke that all but blamed Matt Kemp for the Dodgers' free-fall into fourth place, and suggested that club officials will consider trading him for a veteran in the offseason.  Why?  Because the amiable Jeff Kent told some reporters that during this, the sunset of his career, some of the young players don't understand how to be professional or how to manufacture runs, and alluded to his belief that they don't know how to respect veterans like him.

By defending themselves in the media after Kent's barbed comments, rookies James Loney and Kemp unwittingly cast themselves as targets in the media's assault on youth.  For reasons unknown to Dodger fans everywhere, certain veteran newspaper reporters snuggled up to the curmudgeonly Kent with boxes of Kleenex and abandoned puppies, and sharpened their pens to eviscerate the very young players whose performances have kept the team out of last place. 

The Dodger youth movement hasn't gotten old; Luis Gonzalez (40), Nomar Garciaparra (34, brittle) and Kent (39) have.

Five games and counting, to be exact.  Last night's 9-7 loss to the Rockies took what was already a minuscule shot of making the postseason and did a slamdance all over it.   The Blue actually managed to put together some runs to help their cause, six of them coming courtesy of home runs by James Loney, Chin Lung-Hu and Delwyn Young.  Unfortunately, from starter Brad Penny to final contestant Roberto Hernandez, the hurlers didn't hold up their end of the deal.  A disappointing finish (and box score) to a season falling short of April expectations.  Whether you think (as Grady Little does) that the key hurdle was Raffy Furcal's spring training ankle injury or (as Russell Martin) one wicked bad July skid, similar to last night's game, there's no doubt that the air's been let out of some rather lofty sails.

And the next five games, of course.  I mean, they're already on the schedule, tickets have been sold and fleece blankets ordered, so they might as well get played as planned.  But tonight's 9-7 loss to the Rockies ensured that there wouldn't be more than a quintet of contests left for the Dodgers in 2007.  Tonight's elimination defeat saw Brad Penny labor through five innings of ineffective work, Mark Hendrickson pick up the loss throwing some equally ineffective relief for Penny, Roberto Hernandez ice the loss with more of the same and a trio of jacks from James Loney, Chin-Lung Hu and first-timer Delwyn Young go to waste.  In some ways, the box score represented a microcosm for the entire Dodger season.  As Joe Beimel said after the game, "It seems like we never really put it together."

No, you get out of town, because it's true. 

Not surprisingly, said squabbles were a topic Grady Little was asked about plenty before today's game.  At the risk of stating the abundantly obvious, I've listened to Little speak a lot over the last couple seasons.  Typically, he's pretty laid back, often even on the heels of a couple losses.  Not that the poor outcomes don't faze him.  He's just tends to maintain a pretty even keel (publicly, if nothing else).  And during those times when a losing streak visibly eats at him, he tends to come off more "frustrated" than "on edge."  But today's pre-game was among the few times Grady's mood has ever struck me as "tense."  The observation could be nothing more than me playing armchair shrink, but I got the sense that the Hatfield-McCoy atmosphere has worn on him, in large part because he's truly disappointed to see such reactions surface. 

But the Dodgers can at least ruin Colorado's chances of getting in, which is what they're setting out to do with this three game homestand.  We know the festivities will kick off with Brad Penny battling Ubalda Jiminez, although the middle infield covering big righty's back remains in question.  Raffy Furcal, Ramon Martinez and Tony Abreu are nursing various ailments, which could mean extra playing time for the question-laden Andy LaRoche.  Truth be told, folks are looking for answers when it comes to a lot of the players in LaRoche's age bracket.  And since you'll be seeing many a young face come 2008, there's a good chance the powers that be will use this last week to get a look at them.  That's about the extent of the entertainment these Dodgers can provide right now (possible cat fight aside), all things being realistic.  It ain't over until it's over, but the Dodgers are currently residing in "Over Adjacent."