So, remember everything good I talked about in yesterday's game?
That didn't happen in today's game (well, most of it didn't).
Our hitting wasn't really there. Other than a 4th inning, two run scoring rally, there wasn't much else to speak of, offense wise.
And the starting pitching wasn't really there. Randy Wolf gave up four earned runs in 5.1 innings.
On the bright side, the bullpen continued a second day of excellence. Ronald Belisario and Will Ohman had a scoreless inning each. Guillermo Mota allowed an inherited runner to score but didn't allow much further damage.
Overall, it was a really... meh... game. A loss. A lame loss.
A "We're two games into the season and the offense was asleep today" kinda game.
It's a marathon, not a sprint, right guys?
Two down, 160 to go. A 1-1 record.
We're off to a flying start...
That was pretty nice.
The Dodgers won their season opener yesterday beating the Padres 4-1 and showed a little bit of everything that should make us good this year.
James Loney went 3-4 with a couple RBIs, Matt Kemp smashed a solo homerun in 7th, and Hiroki Kuroda held the Padres to one run for 5.2 innings.
Pretty nice.
Add to that Rafael Furcal and Andre Ethier collecting two hits a piece, and the Dodger bullpen going 3.1 scoreless innings in relief.
Even better.
So, overall, not a bad start to the season.
Oh yeah, did I mention we beat Jake Peavy?
That does make it that much sweeter.
The Dodgers are out slugged by the Padres and fail to complete the three game sweep.
Jake Peavy got the win, he's 10-11. Eric Stults took the loss, he's 2-3. Trevor Hoffman picked up his 29th save.
The pitching was a bit shaky today. The Dodgers used five different pitchers and each gave up at least one run. Eric Stults started. He went 4.2 innings and gave up three runs. Takashi Saito and Jonathan Broxton pitched an inning each (the 8th and 9th respectively) and each gave up a run.
The Dodgers had a bit of an odd game offensively. 16 different players had at-bats. 
Chin-lung Hu went 2-3 with a stolen base, an RBI, and a run scored. Jason Repko went 1-1 and drew two walks. Andre Ethier went 1-2 with a walk and an RBI. Matt Kemp went 1-3 with a walk, a homerun, an RBI, and a run scored. Juan Pierre went 2-3 with an RBI. Finally, Blake DeWitt had an odd game. He went 0-1 and scored two runs without collecting a hit or walk. He came in as a pinch runner and was brought home, then later was hit by a pitch and came around to score again.
The important event today happened before the game. The Arizona Diamondbacks lost so the Dodgers clinched the NL West before today's game even started. The Dodgers will travel now to San Francisco to begin their last series of the season. The three game weekend series begins Friday at 7:35 L.A. time.
Also: With the loss, the Dodgers fall back to seven games over .500 (83-76).
Opinion: There's not much to say about this game, as will probably be the case for the next three games as well. 
The starting lineup was different, but it didn't really matter because the scrubs were all in by the 5th inning. We're just getting everyone out there and getting them some playing time. We are going to see a lot of playing time for Jason Repko and Chin-lung Hu this weekend, and that's fine because we have nothing to gain by winning the next three games, but the possibility of losing a starter to injury before the playoffs is horrifying. That said, it would be nice to go into the playoffs with at least 85 wins, not at the cost of losing someone, but just for some pride and a nice even number. The important thing, though, is that we are in the playoffs, and for now, I'll just celebrate that.
The Dodgers explode for 12 runs to take the second game in the three game series.
Clayton Kershaw got the win, he's 5-5. Mike Ekstrom took the loss, he's 0-1.
Clayton Kershaw got into a little trouble and wasn't able to get too deep into the game. He went only 5.2 innings giving up three runs on six hits and two walks, though he did strike out seven over that span. Chan Ho Park came in to relieve and got out of the 6th inning, though he ended up giving a run in the following inning. Cory Wade added a scoreless inning in relief and Scott Proctor struck out the side in the 9th to close the door on the Padres.
Offensively, another big game for the Dodgers. Overall, they collected 12 runs on 17 hits, seven walks, and a hit-batter. 11 different players had hits in the game. Several players had excellent games at the plate. Matt Kemp went 3-6 with two RBIs. Russell Martin went 2-3 with a walk and two runs scored. 
Manny Ramírez went 2-4 with a walk, a homerun, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Andre Ethier went 2-4 with a walk, an RBI, and two runs scored. And finally, Nomar Garciaparra went 2-3 with a double, a homerun, two RBIs, and two runs scored.
The Arizona Diamondbacks lost today, so with the win, the Dodgers move up to four games up on them in the NL West race. The Dodgers will go for the sweep (and possibly a chance to clinch the NL West) tomorrow at 7:10 L.A. time.
Also: With the win, the Dodgers move to eight games over .500 (83-75)... With the win and the Diamondbacks' loss, the Dodger Magic Number is now down to 1... James Loney came into the game as a defensive replacement and went 1-2 with a double, two RBIs, and a run scored. Those two RBIs bring his team leading total to 89.
Opinion: Dodgers started out slow. They were scoreless for the first three innings, then exploded for 12 runs over the next six. And everyone was contributing, and that's really good to see. Now we have to look forward to tomorrow. The Cardinals did their part to help set us up for the NL West clincher tomorrow night by beating the Diamondbacks tonight. Thank you, St. Louis. Of course, they could help us even more by beating the Diamondbacks in tomorrow's afternoon game and allowing us to clinch before our game even starts. Then again, they probably did enough to get us within one. Our destiny is really in our own hands now. We could sweep the Padres tomorrow and clinch the NL West at home. That would be a great way to end our last home game of the year. Either way, it looks like we are probably going to the playoffs, and that makes me happy...
The Dodgers score 10 runs to beat the Padres in the first game of the three game series.
Chad Billingsley got the win, he's 16-10. Wade LeBlanc took the loss, he's 1-2.
Chad Billingsley seemed a little shaky. He went six innings and gave up only one run, however, he also gave up nine hits and two walks over that span. James McDonald, Ramon Troncoso, and Scott Elbert added a scoreless inning each.
Offensively, the Dodgers did much better than they did Sunday. Eight of the nine Dodgers in the starting lineup collected a hit, seven scored a run, and four had RBIs, even Chad Billingsley added a hit, a squeeze bunt, and two RBIs. They had a big 1st inning, in which they batted through the lineup and scored six runs in the process. The top three performers in the game were probably Russell Martin, Nomar Garciaparra, and Blake DeWitt. Russell Martin went 2-3 with a double, two walks, and a run scored, Nomar Garciaparra went 1-2 with a walk, a homerun, three RBIs, and a run scored, and 
Blake DeWitt went 2-3 with a walk, a homerun, three RBIs, and two runs scored.
The Arizona Diamondbacks lost today, so with the win, the Dodgers move back to a three game lead in the NL West. The Dodgers will try tomorrow for their second straight win, and a chance to knock another point off the Magic Number. The game starts at 7:10 L.A. time.
Also: With the win, the Dodgers move back up to seven games over .500 (82-75)... With the win and the Diamondbacks' loss, the Dodger Magic Number is now 3... With their 82nd win, the Dodgers guarantee themselves a winning season... Chad Billingsley's win is his 16th, good for first place on the Dodgers.
Opinion: This was a pretty good statement win. After looking a little lackluster in the weekend series, the Dodgers came out firing. I like it... In any case, now that my last prediction (the one about us clinching on Sunday) was obliterated, I'd like to make a new one. We have two more games against the Padres, the Diamondbacks have two more against the Cardinals. Our Magic Number is three. My prediction is simple: we clinch it at home on Thursday. Hopefully, the Cardinals will keep up their end by causing the Diamondbacks trouble in St. Louis. I'm fairly certain that if we keep playing like we did tonight, our end shouldn't be a problem. I guess we'll see. 3 and counting...
The Dodgers take the rubber match of the series to extend their lead in the NL West to 3.5 games.
Derek Lowe got the win, he's 13-11. Shawn Estes took the loss, he's 2-2.
Derek Lowe was pitching a pretty good game before leaving in the 6th inning after being struck in the knee with a come-backer. Ultimately, he went 5.1 innings, giving up just one run on three hits and a walk, while striking out three. Brad Penny came off the DL before today's game. He came in to pitch some relief in the 7th inning, but gave up two hits and a walk before being pulled. Cory Wade allowed one runner to score on a sac-fly (charged to Penny) before getting a double play to end the inning. Wade pitched two scoreless innings total. Joe Beimel pitched a perfect 9th to end the game.
The Dodgers, led by Manny Ramírez, scored seven runs of Padres' pitching today. Manny went 2-5 with two two-run homeruns. He had four RBIs and two runs scored. Andre Ethier went 2-4 with a walk and two runs scored. Russell Martin went 1-4 with a walk, a stolen base, and an RBI. Blake DeWitt went 2-3 with a double, a walk, an RBI, and a run scored.
The Arizona Diamondbacks were swept by the San Francisco Giants earlier today, so with the win today, the Dodgers push their lead in the NL West to 3.5 games. 
The Dodgers have an off-day tomorrow as they travel to Colorado. They'll begin a three game weekend series there on Friday, starting at 6:05 L.A. time.
Also: With the win, the Dodgers move to four games over .500 (75-71)... With the Dodger win and the Diamondback loss, the Dodgers' Magic Number is lowered to 14... James Loney went 1-4 with a homerun today, but more importantly, that gave him his team leading 80th RBI on the season.
Opinion: After struggling to score a run in the first game of the series, the Dodgers came back to score 13 runs in the next two games. Continuing the theme from yesterday's game recap, 
Manny added four RBIs today. This gives both Manny and Andre Ethier 11 RBIs each in the last six games. This is also important because we are going into Colorado, where the games so often become slugfests. Pitching is important, but when we go into Colorado, we need to have our hitting win some games for us. We will have a small advantage going in, though. The Dodgers will travel tomorrow from San Diego to Colorado. A relatively short commute. They'll probably get into Colorado sometime early tomorrow, get to the hotel and get some rest before Friday's game. Colorado, on the other hand, has a night game tomorrow, in Atlanta. They are finishing up a three game series out there (where, by the way, they've lost their first two games). It seems like an advantage to me, but then again, can't take anything for granted. We just got to keep up this good play. 10 wins in our last 11 games, and the gap in the NL West race is getting bigger, while the season is getting shorter. We officially eliminated San Diego from the playoff chase this series. We won't be able to "officially" do that Colorado this weekend series, but with a good series, we can, for all intents and purposes, take them out of the hunt. And that's good enough for me...
The Dodgers come back late to take the second game in the three game series.
Joe Beimel got the win, he's 5-1. Heath Bell took the loss, he's 6-6.
Hiroki Kuroda had a quality start. He went six innings, giving up two runs on nine hits and two walks while striking out four. The Dodger bullpen pitched three scoreless innings in relief, giving up only two walks over that span. Joe Beimel pitched one of those innings to put him in position to get the win. Jonathan Broxton pitched a scoreless 9th to close out the game, though with a four run lead, he couldn't collect a save.
The Dodgers managed only one run through the seven first innings, coming on a Manny Ramírez solo homerun in the 6th. They then managed to score five runs in the last two innings. 
Andre Ethier went 2-4 with a walk, a double, a triple, four RBIs, and a run scored. Russell Martin went 1-3 with a double, two walks, and two runs scored. Manny went 1-3 with a homerun, a walk, a sac-fly, two RBIs, and a run scored.
The San Francisco Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks for the second game in a row (they fall back to 71-73), so with the win the Dodgers move to 2.5 games ahead of the Diamondbacks in the NL West race. The Dodgers will try to win the rubber match of the series tomorrow at 7:05 L.A. time.
Also: With the win, the Dodgers move back to three game over .500 (74-71)... With the Diamondback loss and the Dodger win, the Dodger Magic Number is now reduced to 16 games... Manny Ramírez's homerun was the 522nd of his career, moving him into 17th place on the All-Time list.
Opinion: What a two man wrecking crew Manny Ramírez and Andre Ethier have become: 18 RBIs combined for them over the last five games (seven for Ramírez, 11 for Ethier). Not that I would want to mess up the chemistry of a team that's gone nine for it's last 10, but I can't help but wonder if Ethier and Ramírez might be better served in the three and four spots, allowing another possible runner to get on before those two. In any case, we got the win, and that's the most important thing. Now let's win tomorrow's rubber match and the series. Colorado won't be easy this weekend, so any momentum we can get going into the series would be very helpful.
The Padres shut down the Dodgers to win the first game in this three game series and snap the Dodgers winning streak at eight.
Cha Seung Baek picked up the win, he's 5-9. Greg Maddux took the loss, he's 7-12.
Greg Maddux's start was a bit sub-par. He went six innings, giving up four runs on seven hits and two walks. He struck out four, but struggled all night getting called strikes on the corners and down low around the plate where he normally lives. The Dodger bullpen pitched two scoreless innings in relief to keep the Padres to four runs.
The Dodger offense, meanwhile, presented more problems today than the pitching. The Dodgers managed to get only seven runners on base today. Andre Ethier managed about half of that amount. He went 3-4, with two doubles. Matt Kemp and Casey Blake drew a walk each, and Blake DeWitt had a 5th inning single. DeWitt also reached on an error in the 3rd. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, two of those runners were eliminated by double plays, 
and the other five were left stranded. And that was the offensive output for the Dodgers.
The Arizona Diamondbacks lost as well tonight (they now fall to one game under .500 on the season: 70-71) so the Dodgers will retain their 1.5 game lead in the NL West. The Dodgers will to start up a new winning streak tomorrow at 7:05 L.A. time.
Also: With the loss, the Dodgers fall back to two games over .500 (73-71)... Coming into today, the Dodgers' magic number (ie. the combination of the number of Dodger win and/or Diamondback losses that will clinch us the NL West division) was 19. Though the Dodgers lost today, the Diamondback loss lowers that magic number to 18.
Opinion: I said about a week and a half ago that sometimes we have trouble winning games we should win. Now, that was before we swept the Padres last week. That said, the message still stands. We look at the schedule and say: "Wow, we play the awful Padres nine times in September." That doesn't mean: "Wow, we have nine extra wins to look forward to in September." We still have to come out and play. We still have to win these games. I'm not going to put too much into the loss. 
...Though, honestly, Cha Seung Baek? Guy had a 5.36 ERA coming into today. We ripped him for seven runs in 3.2 innings last week in L.A. So how did he shut us down for seven innings today? Chalk it up to being tired? Physically tired from traveling? "Emotionally tired" (???) as Jim Watson of FSN Prime Ticket just asked Joe Torre (literally, that happened on the TV as I was writing this). Yep, that's it Watson. We're emotionally tired from having such a great weekend, in which we swept our division rivals and moved into 1st place for the first time in months. No, no, that's probably it. We blew all our excitement and energy in the weekend series and had none left to take down Cha Seung Baek. Sheesh... In any case, the Diamondbacks bailed us out by continuing their bad play and their crusade to hand us the division. So, Dodgers, how about this: let's come out the next two days and beat down the Padres and win this series? No more of these losses to guys like Cha Seung Baek. It's not good for the collective Dodger soul...
The Dodgers complete the three game sweep of the Padres and have now won five in a row.
Hiroki Kuroda got the win, he's 8-10. Wade LeBlanc took the loss, he's 0-1. Jonathan Broxton picked up his 12th save.
Hiroki Kuroda had a shaky start. He went 5.1 innings, giving up four runs on 10 hits and a walk, while striking out four. The Dodger bullpen did considerably better. They went a combined 3.2 scoreless innings. That included Cory Wade, who pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, and Jonathan Broxton, who retired the side in order in the 9th for the save.
The Dodgers had a pretty good day offensively. Russell Martin went 1-3, with a walk, a stolen base, and an RBI. Andre Ethier went 2-4, with a double and a run scored. Casey Blake went 2-4, with a homerun, two RBIs, and a run scored. Blake DeWitt went 1-4, with two RBIs and a run scored (coming on a two-run homerun in the 4th inning).
Finally, Ángel Berroa went 2-4, with a double, a homerun, an RBI, and two runs scored.
The Arizona Diamondbacks also won today, so they will remain 1.5 games in front of the Dodgers in the NL West. Both teams have the day off tomorrow before beginning a three games series against each other Friday. The first game starts at 7:05 L.A. time.
Also: With the win, their 70th on the season, the Dodgers move back to .500 (70-70)... The Dodgers have hit six homeruns in the last two games (three in each)... Ángel Berroa's homerun was his first since September 25th, 2006... James Loney went 0-4 to snap his hitting streak at 13 games.
Opinion: We are really a roller coaster of a team. How can it be the same team that goes six for seven against two very good out of division teams, then go one for our next 11, then follow that up with a five game winning streak? I mean, seriously. That's bi-polar... That's good execution. We needed to come out and win this series and we did just that. We had hitting and we had pitching for the most part. Hopefully, this sweep will give us a little momentum going into the weekend...
The Dodgers continue their recent streak of good playing, winning their fourth game in a row and second series in a row.
Clayton Kershaw got the win, he's 3-5. Cha Seung Baek took the loss, he's 4-9.
Clayton Kershaw pitched a better game than his final line shows. He went seven innings, giving up three runs, on three hits and three walks, while striking out six. He actually had only given up one run going into the 8th inning, but walked two batters to start the 8th before being pulled. Ramon Troncoso gave up two hits and three runs, two of which were attributed to Kershaw, one to Troncoso. Joe Beimel came in and pitched two scoreless innings to close out the game.
The Dodgers had a good game offensively, led by Andre Ethier. He went 3-4, falling a double short of the cycle. He singled in the 1st, tripled in the 3rd, and homered in the 6th. He also drew a walk, collected an RBI, and scored four runs in the game. Manny Ramírez went 1-3, with a homerun, a sac-fly, three RBIs, and a run scored. James Loney went 2-4 with two RBIs. Blake DeWitt went 2-2, with two walks, and an RBI and a run scored (coming on a solo homerun).
The Diamondbacks lost to the Cardinals, so with the win, the Dodgers move to within 1.5 games of the NL West lead. They Dodgers will try to sweep the Padres in game three tomorrow, starting at 7:10 L.A. time.
Also: With the win, the Dodgers move back to within one game of .500 (69-70)... James Loney's two hits extended his hitting streak to 13 games. He has also gotten multiple hits in his last four straight games... Loney's two RBIs in the game gives him a team leading 76 on the season... Andre Ethier's homerun was his team leading 19th for the year.
Opinion: Another good win to keep the win streak going. Not too much to say about the game. I'm a little worried about Ramon Troncoso. He has streaks where he pitches excellent. In fact, from July 28th to August 27th, Troncoso made 10 appearances, going a combined 12 and 1/3 innings and giving up only one run. Since then, he's made two appearances and given up four runs (and two to Clayton Kershaw). Luckily, we probably won't have to rely on him in important situations. I'm just saying, I'm not sure whether or not he should be in any long term plans in the bullpen. Speaking of long team plans, how about Andre Ethier? He's really coming into his own. I really hope to see him in our long term plans in either left or right field. Anyway, that's all, let's get that sweep tomorrow and head into the Arizona series with some serious momentum.
The Dodgers beat the Padres to take the first game of the three game series and extend their winning streak to three games.
Greg Maddux got the win, he's 7-11. Chris Young took the loss, he's 4-5. Jonathan Broxton picked up his 11th save.
Greg Maddux had a good start, though he didn't go too deep into the game. He went 5 and 2/3 innings, giving up two runs on six hits while striking out four. Hong-Chih Kuo pitched two scoreless innings in relief, striking out three. Jonathan Broxton gave up a hit in the 9th, but struck out two batters to close out the game.
The Dodgers didn't score too many runs, but they were able to plate five. Five different Dodgers had an RBI each (four different Dodgers scored a run). Andre Ethier went 1-2 with two walks, a stolen base, and a run scored. Manny Ramírez went 1-2 with a walk, a sac-fly, and an RBI. James Loney went 2-4 with an RBI. Casey Blake also went 2-4, with a homerun, a stolen base, an RBI, and two runs scored.
The Arizona Diamondbacks came back to beat the St. Louis Cardinals, so with the win, the Dodgers keep pace. They'll remain 2.5 games back in the NL West race. The Dodgers will try to carry on their winning streak tomorrow at 7:10 L.A. time.
Also: The win today brings the Dodgers back to two games under .500 (68-70)... Greg Maddux's win today gives him 354 wins for his career. That ties him with Roger Clemens for eighth place on the all-time wins list... James Loney's RBI today brings his team-leading total to 74 on the year... Loney's two hits today extended his hitting streak to 12 games.
Opinion: Good job today in keeping that momentum from the last two games of the Arizona series. So often do I feel like we have momentum going into a series only to have the series blow up in our face (see Colorado series two weeks ago). I don't want to put too much stock into the game. The Padres are an awful team. They don't have much hitting, and beyond Jake Peavy, they don't have much pitching. Still, a win is a win, and we face the Padres eight more times before the end of the year. Things will be a lot easier for us if we can handle them.
Well, that happened.
Jake Peavy got the win, he's 5-3. Hiroki Kuroda gets the loss, he's 3-6.
As per usual, Jake Peavy dominated the Dodgers. He went six innings, gave up only 3 hits, and struck out four on 72 pitches (He's now 12-1 against us in his career). And when you can't score runs, you need to rely on pitching... which the Dodgers didn't get today. Hiroki Kuroda, coming off his best start of the season, has one of his worst starts. He went only 2 and 1/3 innings, gave up two homeruns, and six runs overall (including five in the first inning).
Offensively there wasn't much to speak of. James Loney got two of the Dodgers' five hits, and the only extra base hit, a double of Peavy to start the fifth. Three outs later, however, he was left stranded on second. There were a few other scattered hits here and there. I do wonder though, why Joe Torre chose to play Luis Maza at 2nd Base instead of Andy LaRoche, who's been playing there for the last few weeks in AAA. Not to say LaRoche would have saved the Dodgers in today's game, but he might have done better than Maza. He did pinch hit in the game and gave a Jake Peavy pitch a pretty good ride to the center field warning track.
Not much to write home about. The Dodgers will now pack their bags and head to Detroit for a weekend series. The Tigers have won five of their last ten games.
The Lakers try to tie their series at 2 tonight at the Staples Center. Let's try to go 1-1 today L.A. teams...
EDIT: L.A. Teams: 0-2 on the day. The second loss was a lot harder to take...
The Dodgers after showing some offense last night, take the loss tonight after failing to put more than one run on the board.
Randy Wolf pitching against his old team picked up the win bringing his record to 5-4. Chad Billingsley loses, his record is now 4-7. Trevor Hoffman gets the save, it is his 15th on the season.
Billingsley had a below average start today. He gave up four runs over seven innings and only struck out three batters, which is the lowest amount of strike outs in any of his starts this year. He struggled in the first three innings, giving up a run in each of them, including solo homers from Edgar Gonzalez and Khalil Greene. He settled down after the third before giving up another somewhat flukey run in the 7th. Chad will have to bounce in his next start in Cincinnati after giving up four runs in his last two starts.
The offense, meanwhile, offered not much run support for Billingsley. Matt Kemp after knocking in three runs yesterday went 0-4 today with three strikeouts. 
Russell Martin, after going 3-5 with 3 RBIs yesterday, went 1-4 today. Save for a one-out double off Trevor Hoffman in the 9th inning from Russell Martin, the Dodgers 3-4-5 hitters went a combined 1-12 today with four strikeouts. The one bright spot in the Dodger line-up today came from Andy LaRoche. In his first game back in the majors, LaRoche went 1-2, with a walk and a homerun. He hit the first pitch he saw in the fourth inning from Randy Wolf over the left field bleachers for his first hit of the season. Welcome back to the majors, Andy.
Tomorrow, the Dodgers get to take on old foe Jake Peavy in the rubber match of this three game series. Hiroki Kuroda will make his first start since pitching a complete game shutout against the hard hitting Chicago Cubs. Tomorrow might be something of a pitching duel...
So the Dodgers pull out a win in the first game of a three game series in San Diego.
Scott Proctor picked up the win, his record goes to 1-0. Justin Hampson takes the loss, he's now 0-1.
Clayton Kershaw had another good start but his first major league win continues to allude him. He went 5 and 1/3 innings and struck out five, but walked four batters. 
Kershaw seems to have the same issue that Chad Billingsley had when he first came up: getting his pitch counts too high and too quickly and sketchy control issues. Billingsley however, has worked on these issues. He's getting deeper into games and serving up less walks. If Kershaw can make similar adjustments, he and Billingsley will be a powerful 1-2 punch at the top of the pitching rotation for years to come.
The offense, meanwhile, struggled against Greg Maddux before busting out against the Padre bullpen. They were able to cash in on a few situations with runners on and in scoring position which is a positive sign considering their failure to do so in recent games over the last few weeks. This team is not going to be a home-run team, they will need to play small ball efficiently and cash in with a big inning to get the win (ie. the four run 7th inning that gave the Dodgers the lead).
In some bad news, Rafael Furcal's back doesn't look like it's going to heal as soon as originally thought.
From Dodgers.com:
A disappointed Rafael Furcal had his return date pushed back again by doctors and is expected to be out another three weeks with lingering lower back pain.
That's bad news for an offense that's been having its struggles. Meanwhile, Nomar Garciaparra's calf is healing, and it looks at though he's going to begin a minor league assignment soon playing at shortstop. Does he still have the range and speed to play at that position? I guess we'll find out soon enough. If he can though (and can stay healthy), he can be an excellent utility infielder.
Chad Billingsley takes on former Dodger Randy Wolf tomorrow at 7:05 L.A. time.
Oh, and the Lakers won tonight against the Boston Celtics making the series 2-1 in the Celtics favor. They gotta take the next to at home to any chance at the series.
That didn't happen in today's game (well, most of it didn't).
