You probably won't believe it, but Mike Venafro is getting the job done, if the job is retiring left-handed batters.

A somewhat ridiculed junkyard pickup by Dodger general manager Paul DePodesta, Venafro has faced 16 left-handed batters with the Dodgers and allowed only two walks and a single. By comparison, former Dodger lefty specialist Tom Martin allowed left-handed batters to on-base .417 and slug .534 against him this year before he was traded to Atlanta. Scott Stewart, another late acquisition who got written up in the Times today, has been even worse than Martin.

Venafro only made three appearances with the Dodgers in August, and they weren't good ones. But with the decline of the Dodger starting pitching in September, Venafro has been used in 10 games this month - and allowed five baserunners and zero runs in 5 1/3 innings. (I also believe, though I wasn't able to confirm, that the only inherited runner that Venafro has allowed to score this month came as a result of Alex Cora's error on Barry Bonds' grounder Sunday.)

When you consider that DePodesta eliminated about $2 million in salary commitments to Martin by replacing him, you have to say that the move to acquire Venafro has been a clear victory.

I don't know what this portends for the future, but for the present, you might not need to cringe when Venafro comes in and faces left-handed batters.