Three guesses at the magic number

The Good:

• The First Inning: I quote, from Yahoo's play by play- "M. Kemp walked; R. Martin ground-rule double to left, M. Kemp to third; M. Ramirez doubled to center, R. Martin and M. Kemp scored; A. Ethier walked; N. Garciaparra homered to deep center, M. Ramirez and A. Ethier scored; C. Blake singled to center; B. DeWitt singled to right, C. Blake to third; A. Berroa popped out to shallow center; C. Billingsley sacrificed to pitcher, C. Blake scored, B. DeWitt to second; M. Kemp grounded out to second."   That's six runs on five hits and two walks.  The first seven guys reached base off poor rookie left-hander Matt LeBlanc.  Joe Torre wasn't kidding when he said the guys needed a day off to recharge the batteries. Needless to say, the fellas looked awfully loose.  "Six runs in the first inning will do that," Torre laughed.
• Anyone Who Picked Up a Bat and Carried it to Home Plate, More or Less: Nomar had the aforementioned three run bomb in the first, and Manny the two run double.  Blake DeWitt had a three run bomb of his own in the fifth.  Casey Blake?  Two hits, two RBIs.  Two hits each for Russell Martin and Matt Kemp, two RBIs for Chad Billingsley, and so on and so forth.  The Dodgers did exactly what playoff hungry teams should to guys like LeBlanc and reliever Charlie Haeger, namely beat the snot out of them. At least Haeger, who allowed three runs in two innings (which, shockingly enough, lowered his ERA to a robust 19.64) picked up his first big league hit in the fourth.  That's a souvenir. 
• James McDonald, Ramon Troncoso, Scott Elbert: The trio of relievers combined for three shutout innings, and most importantly, didn't give Torre any reason to make one of the bullpens big guns take off his warmup jacket.

The Bad:

• 10-1 win, dropping the Magic Number to three (on the odd chance you missed the song up top).  Nobody likes a nit picker. 

The Statistically Good But Inelegant:

• Chad Billingsley:  Staked to a six run lead against a weak lineup, Billingsley ran up a big pitch count in the early going.  In the second, he allowed three hits and a walk as the Padres scored their only run, and it could have been more had San Diego's Chase Headley not run into an out at second.  In the the third, it was a double and a walk.  In the fourth, two more singles.  Another hit in the fifth, and again in the sixth.  Overall, Billingsley allowed nine hits and two walks in his six innings of work, throwing 104 pitches.  As is his style, the final line helped lower his ERA, but fans reading the tea leaves might wonder if he's getting a little tired. "No, sometimes he just becomes too much of a technician," Torre said.  "If there's something he had to work on from the time before as far as his rhythm, he just thinks about it too much out there... He tries to fix what he didn't like about the time before.  But the last couple innings he was fine."

Hopefully the Blue can wrap things up before Billingsley's next scheduled start (as that would be Sunday, if they haven't expect the Dodger Nation to be in a full blown panic) so he can toss a couple innings and get some rest. 

The Secret Weapon:

• Angel Berroa's Dodger Themed Remote Control Helicopter:  It seemed to hover with optimism in the clubhouse before the game.  Very inspiring. 

The TriviaTastic:

• With his two RBIs Tuesday night, Manny became only the second player in baseball history to have 50 or more RBIs in the same season playing in two different leagues.  Carlos Beltran would be the other. 

Audio:

• Blake DeWitt: Download blake_dewitt_9.23.mp3
• Joe Torre: Download joe_torre_9.23.mp3

More Great YouTube's On Tonight's Magic Number:

• Blind Melon's Version.
• De La Soul's. 

For more on the number three, consult your local public library. 

BK