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A Topsy-Turvy Second-Half Opener
2004-07-16 09:19
With three more All-Star Break days off, Adrian Beltre and Milton Bradley can't make the start. A revving-up Jayson Werth is called out for leaving third base too early on a sacrifice fly against Randy Johnson. With the Dodgers down, 3-0, a gimpy Beltre is walked semi-intentionally so that Shawn Green can come up with the bases loaded, showing that opponents have decided whom to fear. Green, down in the count 1-2, hits a towering, lead-changing grand slam. The last eight Arizona outs come on strikeouts by the Dodger bullpen, with Vin Scully calling it "the dardnest thing he had ever seen" in pitching, Sandy Koufax presumbably aside. And this: Following Green's grand slam, which gave the Dodgers a lead important to preserve for psychological as well as pennantal reasons, Guillermo Mota did not appear in an obvious Guillermo Mota situation. Speculation unanswered by the morning papers: Did Mota need rest for health reasons? Was Dreifort being given a confidence boost? Does this signal that Dreifort is being groomed to replace Mota because of an imminent trade (though none was completed Thursday)? Or is it, as Eric Enders suggested in the comments, a disciplinary matter, or simply mundane visa problems? * * * "General manager J.P. Ricciardi may want to deal Delgado to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Shawn Green or this year's version of Luke Prokopec, whomever that might be," Elliot wrote. The Dodgers have won 9 out of 10 games, and Randy Johnson is in their rear-view mirror, perhaps forever.
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