The sweet smell of first place*
The results of Ned Colletti's forays into big ticket free agency have been spotty, but one guy who has been justifying the (financial) love through most of the season has been righty Hiroki Kuroda, and never more so than in Monday night's 3-0 win over the Braves at the Ravine. Kuroda bamboozled- love that 
word- Atlanta all night, bending pitches like Uri Geller does spoons and breaking the collective spirits of Braves hitters like Uri Geller broke the spirits of the bespectacled ivory tower eggheads who tried to figure out how he bent spoons with his mind! (Okay, we've officially gone one Uri Geller simile too far.) But seriously, though, Kuroda was dominant, taking a perfect game into the eighth inning before Mark Teixeira laced a double to right to lead off the frame. That knock was the sum total of Atlanta's attack, the only runner Kuroda allowed all night. No wonder websites in his honor are being updated across the Internet!
(Question: Can Colletti be blamed for the lack of perfect game? Had he pulled the trigger on a Teixeira deal last season, he wouldn't have been in Atlanta's lineup to break it up. Just putting that out there...)
The box shows Kuroda needed only 91 pitches, 61 of which were strikes, to finish off the game. He used a combination of great location and movement on his fastball and slider and paired it with some very solid glove work (how about Blake DeWitt's play on a Gregor Blanco bunt attempt in the seventh!) to log his fifth win of the year, a number that should be higher based on the quality of his work this season.
Offensively, the Dodgers got everything they needed courtesy of a two-run jack from Nomar Garciaparra and an RBI single from Matt Kemp. Kudos to DeWitt as well for logging three of LA's five knocks. The win moved LA into a dead heat, dead being the operative word, with the Diamondbacks for first place in the NL West.
One pitcher who won't be with the Dodgers this season is CC Sabathia, traded by the Indians to the Brewers, not the Dodgers, in no small part because Frank McCourt vetoed a deal that would have brought the Cy Young winner and IF's Casey Blake and Jamey Carroll to LA, this according to Tony Jackson of the Daily News, citing sources. That sources guy is chatty, by the way. Dude's everywhere. While it doesn't mean the Dodgers are standing pat- rumors still abound that they're in the market for a shortstop- it does show a contrast between the two organizations, writes Bill Shakin of the Times. The Brewers know they won't likely keep Sabathia, but pulled the trigger anyway, in part because they'll get compensatory picks in next year's draft, and also because (oh by the way) they haven't seen the postseason since 1982.
Ken Gurnick has answers! Including one about Jack Wilson.
Everything revolving around Matt Kemp generally is described as a "work in progress." Such is the case with his time as a leadoff man, though it's fair to say he's been at least as productive in that spot as Juan Pierre.
Tonight's Game: Chad Billingsley takes the mound for the Blue against Jair Jurrjens- not Swedish for "owl"- at 7:10.
*We at Blue Notes would still like to see the team reach .500 before getting all festive...
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AK/BK:
I'll go you one better. Instead of blaming Ned for ruining Kuroda's perfect game by not acquiring Teixera, I'm going to find a way to lay the blame at Juan Pierre's feet, just to keep my consecutive days of blaming Juan Pierre streak intact.
:-)
Here goes:
If Pierre had been playing left field instead of Ethier, Teixera would have tried to take that pitch the other way, in hopes of dinking one in front of Juan, and then taking second on his nancy arm. He would have popped up, and the rest would be history.
Sorry, that's the best I can do. When a guy throws an imperfect game, you just sit back and enjoy the excellence.
As for shortstops, I don't really see a better option out there right now than Nomar for seven innings and Berroa as a defensive replacement. Nomar hits and Berroa fields as well as Jack Wilson does both. Unless there's another injury, I'd stand pat.
However, in the spirit of Nomandy Larochiaparra (Andar Garciaroche?), we do need a name for the two-headed monster now manning shortstop. Choose from the following:
Nomel Berroparra
Angmar Garciaparroa
Nomangel Beparra
Nmrngrl Grcprrbrr (in honor of Mrk Swny)
NoAngel Berra (my favorite)
Posted by: SaMo | July 08, 2008 at 10:59 AM
Thanks for the link love guys! It's nice to have a reason to update the site.
Back to my AJ theory... am I nuts, or does his presence help?
Posted by: benzojones | July 08, 2008 at 11:24 AM
AJ is our Varitek! Crappy numbers, lost at the plate, but he is big (no pun intended) in the teammate department.
He also holds down (again no pun intended) a solid centerfield.
I liked last nights line-up...Nomar, Jones, all of them. Let's roll with that some more and see what happens.
Geaux Blue!
Posted by: gus2327 | July 08, 2008 at 11:53 AM
FYI, James Randi has had Uri Geller's number since Geller first showed up, baffling the weak minded with parlor tricks.
Sort of like Kuroda baffled the Braves. See what I did there?
Posted by: Scott | July 08, 2008 at 12:01 PM
Benzo:
I think fatty does help the team. His defense is still excellent. He made that ninth-inning catch to deep center field look easy. Matt Kemp would have had a hard time with it. $18 million is a lot of money for Paul Blair, but the outfield is definitely better patrolled with Jones in center and Kemp in left than with Kemp in center and Pierre in left.
Posted by: SaMo | July 08, 2008 at 12:39 PM
SaMo - are you saying that the Dodgers are a better team with an outfield of Eithier- Jones- Kemp, than with Pierre- Kemp- Eithier?
Defensively, of course they are, but you'd really rather have Tubby Jones in the lineup over a healthy Pierre?
Does ANYONE here think Andruw helps the club more than Pierre would?
Madness.
Posted by: ALS | July 08, 2008 at 12:55 PM
ALS - The guys have a winning record with Jones in the Lineup... isn't that ALL that matters?
Posted by: benzojones | July 08, 2008 at 01:05 PM
ALS: If Andruw Jones could get his average over .200, he would be helping more than Pierre. Pierre is a professional "outmaker" who never walks, never gets an extra base hit, and has zero power. If he's not hitting .330, he's doing nothing to help you win offensively. Defensively, he can go and get the ball, but baserunners take so many liberties with his throwing arm that he's a pure negative.
Posted by: twerp1 | July 08, 2008 at 01:08 PM
ALS-
In my mind, it's a pretty close comparison, actually, or at least closer than it should be. Yes, they're better offensively with Pierre, but not because of Pierre's production, but only because Jones is still batting .160. In Pierre we're talking about a guy who has a sub .300 OBP in the leadoff spot. That's why Matt Kemp can strike out as much as he has leading off and still be productive, relatively speaking. It's not ideal, but the guy gets on base. For all of Joe Torre's talk about the quality of Pierre's ABs, he had three walks in June. Three. Kemp already has six in July.
While I've always advocated an Ethier-Jones-Kemp OF, I've defended Pierre as well, but the bottom line is his production in the leadoff spot has been bad. Not lagging or off, but straight up bad. Sub .300 OBPs for your table setter just isn't acceptable. It negates all the other positives he has, like stolen bases, etc. Add that to his minus arm in left, and you get the picture.
BK
Posted by: Brian Kamenetzky | July 08, 2008 at 01:17 PM
GUS2327! Totally agree with you! Loved the line up at mondays game. Istill have issues with jones, but better than pierre. And whats up with the trade rumors involving loney and kemp? Stupid, stupid, stupid. I swear, whenever the dodgers get any good players we want to get rid of them and acquire over-paid losers.
Posted by: stephanie | July 08, 2008 at 01:18 PM
I did see what seemed to be a more comfortable AJ at the plate last night, though the results were the same. What impressed me was his smoothness on defense. There was a fly ball to the gap in left center right after Texeira's double, that he glided to and then made a strong throw to third. No offense to either, but Pierre and Kemp would have had trouble getting to that ball with such ease.
Posted by: dalegribel | July 08, 2008 at 01:22 PM
I'll stop the AJ bashing as long as we keep winning with him in the lineup... i promise
Posted by: poppinfresh | July 08, 2008 at 02:12 PM