Jon's making up for lost time today!

Cardinals win on a game-ending grand slam by Aaron Miles off of Old Friend Brian Corey.

Good stuff Joh

My buddy in StL just sent me a text saying "Aaron Miles will not be denied", now it makes some sense.

Btw, thanks for keeping tabs on this. Be nice if other journalists did their homework, too.

It also reminds me of a favorite Built to Spill song:
"The plan keeps coming up again
The plan means nothing stays the same
But the plan won't accomplish anything
If it's not implemented
Like it's always been
And it makes me think of everyone
And the cause of this is evident
But the remedy cannot be found
Cause it's so well hidden
This history lesson doesn't make any sense."

Sad season for the Padres.

Andruw's line works figuratively as well as literally.

Darn you Bison. Making that kidcaster look smart. Another opp wasted.

0 Repeating a phrase from the last thread, "that was all Nomar." I can't see how Kent did anything wrong on the rundown play.

Germany beat Puerto Rico today for the final Olympic spot, meaning Chris Kaman gets to make his Olympic debut for his country.

This team is painful to watch.

The Padres deserve all the misery that they can get.

I dislike the Padres more the Giants. I'm edgy that way.

10
Germany will be Plaschke's least favorite basketball team in the Olympics. They might as well have put Sasha Cohen on the team.

FanGraphs WE: 12%
Simulator WE: 12.65%
vr, Xei

I'm still sad about Abby Wambach's broken leg, speaking of the Olympics.

I was kinda hoping somebody would break this down.

Thanks, Jon.

Awesome play by Martin. Not that it will matter.

11 - Except when they're not, you mean? Like Friday's fun comeback, or anytime they win.

Jones' season is the exact inverse of an MVP season. We are privileged to be watching the worst season by a player in the history of baseball.

19 To be fair, it's only in the top 150 worst full seasons in the tens of thousands of qualified seasons logged by major league players.

So he's got that going for him...Which is nice.

9 - you can blame it all on Nomar if you want - I won't argue. But by the end of the play, I would note that he had no one to throw to.

20. When you take salary into context, I bet it's in the top two or three... atleast.
vr, Xei

I never get tired of those deadpan MLBTV "Keep watching" ads they run between innings. Victor Martinez's monotone delivery alone is worth the price of a subscription.

No worries. Pablo Ozuna and Mark Sweeney will save the day.

23 runs so far this series. Gonna be difficult to hit the over/under of 26.2 the way Webb is pitching, and Lowe has settled down. vr, Xei

That was a bizarre carom out there for Kemp to deal with.

If I'm McCourt, I release Jones and fire Colletti, replace him with Logan White and Kim Ng.

22 Yeah, for sure with the salary.

I'm sorry to be this guy, but a performance that craters this terribly has to have something to do with PED's.

Or his body is falling apart at a rate unseen since the Iron Horse.

0 Mattingly can't get the plan through to the PVLs?

Arizona fans now chant "Beat LA" too? What'd we ever do to you? Plus, I think SF and Boston own the rights to that chant in baseball and basketball, respectively. (Ah, I guess Suns fans probably chant it, too.)

So does Logan White take Jones' spot on the roster?

Ugly stat:

BA vs. Lowe, no one on base: .211
BA vs. Lowe, RISP: .347

28
Doesn't anyone think that Jones' problems are mainly between his ears?

Young helped Lowe out there.

33 - I'm not sure, but I don't think it's getting fixed either way.

33 If you mean psychological and not too much wax, then yes, I think that.

It's more a question of where Jones doesn't have problems. It's not like there's only one thing going wrong here.

Maybe his PED of choice was Adderall.

36
His iPod headphones do resemble mine, but I think the Dodgers need to hire Mr. Burns' hypnotist.

Well that was interesting... the umpire's protective cup just saved us a run.

Insanity (n): 1.repeating a failed action repeatedly, ie, beating one's head against a brick wall, starting Andruw Jones in center field.

39 - You will give one hundred and ten percent.
Andruw: That's impossible. No one can give more than one hundred percent. By definition that is the most anyone can give.

Oh well, the Dodgers were "squozen," probably as karmic punishment for releasing Luis Maza today.

43 - maybe they can reverse it by DFA'ing Sweeney

Jones polluted CF. Whatever he's got, it's spreading.

The All-Star break got my positive outlook for the Dodgers in high gear with Martin's great performance in the All-Star game contributing to the euphoria.
Great pitching on this Dodgers team.
Great Pitchiing on this Dodgers team.
Catcher - Martin - great
1B - Loney - good, young and learning
2B - Kent - best days are behind him and he knows it
3B - DeWitt - nice little defender
SS - Nomar - Good offense, spotty defense and how long can he last?
LF - Ethier - nice player both with the bat and on defense.
CF - Jones - very poor offense and now on defense too.
RF - Kemp - good, young and learning

The pending return of Sweeney and Pierre makes me cringe.

Summary - Great Pitching.

33 Maybe it's a psychosomatic symptom of getting off the stuff.

We can both be right!

Wow, it really does take three hits.

I'll take another BB from Blake here..

Hey three contacts today and one hit! Improvement!

Osr. A hit, a very palpable hit.

I smell a bad moment coming later in this inning where Pablo Ozuna pinch hits instead of Andy LaRoche.

Fortunately this isn't Sweeney

42 Maybe he's been taking that nerve tonic that Ken Griffey Jr. tried.

51
Act V, Scene II, Line 214 for those not concording at home.

An RBI on what could've been a DP. But I guess we'll take it.

Damn, Pee Wee roped that one, too. Bad luck.

--

"You! Look at what you've done. My starting pitcher thinks he's a chicken."

--

"I've decided to bring in a few ringers, professional baseballers. We'll give them token jobs at the plant and have them play on our softball team. Honus Wagner, Cap Anson, Mordecai "Three-Finger" Brown..."

Since when is Paublo Ozuna a Dodger?

If the vets had seen just ten extra pitches, Webb would be out of there.

Former Dodger prospect Ryan Ketchner is pitching against the Jacksonville Suns today.

59
If McCovey had only hit it 5 feet higher!

At this point, how huge was the Friday game?

58 - Since a couple of DT posts ago:
https://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/1060281.html

(Also on MLB.com for more details.)

55

Does this mean that Joe Torre is now to inadvertently drink from the poisoned cup in celebration?

The Dark Knight is the highest grossing weekend ever at 155.34 million.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25768665/

mlbtraderumors speculating on possible dodger acquisitions - Beltre, Blake, Blalock.

61 You mock me.

65
They never adjust those totals for inflation do they?

67
It was an homage!

Sounds like there's an open bar in the KABC booth. They're getting giddy.

Bless this ump for being consistently inconsistent.

68 Yeah, otherwise "Wings" would be number one.

71 A foolish consistency, etc.

Argh, Kemp. Didn't you read Jon's post on your Blackberry?

Ethier's AB's are such a treat to watch.

If he just had a little more power he'd be perfect.

And if McCovey had just hit it five feet higher....

S'long Webb. Finally.

Webb wobbly is still better than anything the D'Backs have in the pen.

Wait. No, Melvin's leaving him in there. Huh.

Webb appears to be losing command...

And yet I felt the whole time that it would be a DP.

Crap. I guess Melvin's a genius.

C'mon, Kent, just wait for a fat pitch or lay off.

Nice to see Kent busting his butt to get down the line.
(rolls eyes)

Ugh.

80 That's really classy.

80 I didn't know arteries were susceptible to corrosion.

85 ditto.

AETW...always expect the worst, I just figure its the only way I can deal with this team right now...this game has been so frustrating its unbelievable

Isn't Sunday usually Kent's day off? Maybe they should've continued that trend today.

80 When I'm saying it's a bit much, it's a bit much.

And Kemp, for all his foibles, still sees more pitches per plate appearance than Kent or Garciaparra.

At least Juan Pierre is not frustrating us.

If only Jeff Kent had hit a home run there.

Troncoso is dealing.
He has some good stuff.

92 five feet higher?

Dang Angel fans and their happiness.

At least one positive from today: Ramon Troncoso continues to look light years better than he did his first time with the club. He's making me say, "Yhency who?" very quickly, looks like a keeper.

91 and the pregame on 790 made me cringe when I heard more reports of Juan "running around, calling a meeting with Joe, and being ahead of schedule" and how "the dodgers have got to be excited to have him atop the lineup again"

That sucks. He strikes out, but reaches base safely and Martin takes the ball to the throat. That's about as bad as a K can be for LA.

At least Troncoso can pull off the Darren Dreifort trick.

Mark Grace: "If a catcher gets hit in the throat, is it cool for the runner to run on him on the next batter?"
Sutton: "Absolutely."

Or not.

.250/.310/.441/.751 Kent in 4 hole
.306/.377/.484/.861 Kemp at leadoff

Pick on something that needs to be picked on.

100 So? They're right.

102 - But, but... the trash can!

104 Early nominee for LOL line of the week.

Every once in a while Nomar reminds you why he was such a great hitter. That was really nice.

This Nomar's a keeper!

103 Sure, I just didn't know why they were talking about it. Bring back the kidcaster!

It's good to know that it's just because Haren and Webb are so good. Nothing more than that.

Jones has a good chance to redeem himself here.

loney and especially nomar have been very good at the plate this series....searching for positives

Hah hah. Jones is the tying run at the plate.

Tee hee.

Sigh. I'm not sure I can watch this.

Didn't Lyon walk 'druw last night?

Lyon wasn't exactly nails yesterday.

These last two games are like the same game. Arizona scores in the first inning, is shut down from there. But the Dodgers can't get any runs until Lyon comes in but then it's too late.

Given that it's Andruw Jones, is it still correct to say that the tying run is at the plate?

We need LaRoche to pinch hit for either Jones or DeWitt. But then I guess we wouldn't have a real hitter to PH for the pitcher.

109 To save himself from the violent splintered bat death that otherwise awaits him.

112 Yes.

I'm not sure I can watch this.

Like we don't know the outcome already?

Lyon made 28 pitches last night.

I deleted 80 on the grounds of human decency.

112 Yep. On a 3-2 pitch. A steady diet of fastballs.

Whew!

I think Jones beat the throw.

Jones screws up in reverse.

Hey, Jones has a RBI!

120 - Sorry for referring to it at all, then.

Thanks, Drew, says 'Druw.

123 Ignore please. The throw beat him.

J.D. Drew's little brother is a screw up.

119 - And this is three straight games.
BoMel is banking tomorrow night's game against the Cubs isn't close.

Jones did look safe, didn't he?

Grace is right, he took the wrong pitch in that at bat, too - a fat, flat fastball he just watched. Then had a good swing but on a tough pitch in on the hands.

Both DeWitt and LaRoche will be up in a big situation.

Man, Brandon Lyons is making Blake DeWitt look like the second coming of Babe Ruth.

Ignore me, too - saw the replay.

Okay, c'mon Solution.

An unproductive out.

The Solution qualifies as irony, yes? Or just sarcasm?

I need a ruling from the committee.

Now is the time Andy.

130 Perhaps he didn't have the green light on 2-0?

I sure wouldn't give it to him.

yeees!! LaRoche!!

Yes!
Good for Andy!

Yessiree.

Back to the bench with you.

LaRoche is better than DeWitt.

135 - Both? Though I'd hate to open a can of worms yet again.

Andy can go a long way here to proving this obvious point we're all making.

Nice opposite field swing!

And it all comes down to Kemp again.

AND HE DOES!

Tee hee.

Nice cut by LaRoche

free andy

Blake Who?

BISON GO GO BISON

140 Hah hah.

Okay, c'mon Bison!

Oh, man. Pablo Ozuna getting picked would be hilarious.

And the Pablo Ozuna Era begins.

Telegram for Mister Kemp! Telegram for Mister Kemp!
TAKE A PITCH STOP
THEN TAKE LYON DEEP STOP END

Yes, the topic has been tilled to death but just taking an anti-sabermetric look, just by looking at the swings of the two players... well, like I said, the subject has been previously discussed.

Who the heck is Ozuna?

I like Ozuna...nice pick up by Dodgers

That's hilarious. Ozuna comes in as a PR and the DBacks guys had no idea who he was for couple of minutes.

Here's where Kemp should BELT ONE!

Kemp did tell Slimers he wanted to make up for yesterday.

hit a deep fly, a longball if you will

Lousy, lousy call.

This has been quite the series regardless.

blast one deep, ring up a fourbagger

The difference between 2-1 and 1-2...Come on, blue.

July:

DeWitt: .512 OPS (pathetic for a starter)
LaRoche:.592 OPS (would improve greatly with more ABs)

Pick me out a winner, Bobby.

166 - "Get a hit, Crash."
"Shut up."

Wow, way to hang in on that breaking ball.

YEAH!

I heart Matt Kemp.

YES! OH MY GOD! YES!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BISOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!!

Matt Kemp just became a Dodger.

YEAH! YEAH! THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' ABOUT!

That decision worked out well.

What happened?

Oh my, was that [ever] exciting!

Oh dang! What a great job by Kent!

175 - But he'll never a be a true Yankee.
Sad, really.

Great AB by Bison

BISON!!!!!!

And bringing in the speedier Ozuna to PR looks like a great move, eh?

Hell yeah!

Double wishbone suspension!

WOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THE BISON RUN SCORING DOUBLE!!!

KEMP! Nice way to bounce back for yesterday's 9th inning at bat.

WOOOOOOOOOOO

I shall now retract my AETW statement...for now : )

Matt Kemp just went into the "getting it" file.

Kemp critics really need to fight no more forever.

Just go away.

M Bison rules all!

Sweet, sweet redemption!!

Yeah, let's trade him.

{/sarcasm}

180 D'oh. Kemp! I'm so excited I can't type straight.

That was my favorite at bat of the year.

Hee. Did some people just discover how to boldface their text here? ;-)

Not quite a longball, but works for me!

Hit parade.

YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!

YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Andre Ethier just went into the "getting it" file.

Those darn kids!!

OH MY GOD!!

I LOVE THE DODGERS!!!!
I LOVE THE DODGERS!!!!
I LOVE THE DODGERS!!!!
I LOVE THE DODGERS!!!!

DODGER FANS ON CLOUD NINE!

195 - Me too. By far.

OMG!!!!!

LaRoche, Kemp, and Ethier. Guess the kids are allright.

Ethier!

195 Yeah, it was awesome. Especially fouling off the offspeed pitch.

It was gorgeous.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. MR. CONSISTENT STRIKES AGAIN.

Note to Bob Melvin:

You need a new pitcher.

196 - It's all in the asterisks.

We don't suck! We don't suck! (today)

wow!

ETHIER FTW!!!!!!!!!!!

Let's get another

Doubles and triples are way better than singles.

Best inning of the year for me, oh yes indeed.

And the funereal voice of Darren Sutton is the cherry on top of the chocolate sprinkles atop the cake.

Boy, Lyon's been throwing some fat pitches.

Lyon gets the Jason Isringhausen treatment.

Unbelievable these kids!

Frank just put the latest trade for him to review into the shredder.

Out in the Dodgers bullpen, Broxton was awakened from his daydreaming of the postgame spread and is now warming up.

LaRoche, Kemp and Ethier come through in the clutch.

But the worst hitters on the team (DeWitt and Andruw) show absolutely nothing.

Thanks, Joe and Ned.

211 Yeah, Lyon has looked awful this series.

212 Hee. Yes, I realized that already, was just wondering.

This is so sweet...

I'm worried about Bill Plaschke. What will he write about now?

I basically followed this game through everyones comments and it is amazing how quickly moods can change.

Living in Phoenix, I can tell you with authority that almost no one here truly believes in Lyon as a closer. Valverde is missed, and badly.

Martin would love to complete the four at-bat cycle right now.

can we just enjoy this comeback without talking of or worrying about a Kemp trade?

On KABC:
"In like a Lyon, out like a lamb."
"The Autumnal Equinox."

Actually, that'd be the vernal equinox, as the saying refers to March. I do not hold with that sort of sloppiness.

What a great series. Wish these games had been played at Dodger Stadium.

222 And don't forget the rally was started by the resurgent Nomar.

225 He'll make something up. Isn't that what he usually does?

Hit. Parade.

Rinse. Repeat.

Hey, singles are good too.

I love baseball and the Golden God.

YES! Martin with the insurance!

Loving this. Absolutely loving this. It's a great game, baseball. Winning baseball games is even more fun.

229
That was a LaRoche trade that was shredded, thank you very much.

226
http://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?gameid=280720129

We have batted around...and loving it.

And Martin screws it up by singling instead of homering! Selfish jerk!

(I kid, I kid.)

This rocks.

Insurrence run.

You know what would be awesome? If this game weren't blacked out in New York. That's what would be awesome.

Yes! a insurance run!

Nomar's power this weekend has been impressive. Probably the most balls he's hit on the button since the 1st half of 2006.

This is the best game since 9/18/06.

Come on, Bull.

Let's shut this down lickety-split.

239 - Ah. Well others before you there were commenting on such. I say we wait a few days before worrying about trades. ;-)

241 Wasn't that a bad Mel Brooks movie?

229 I can't do anything without worrying about a Kemp trade.

Looks like people will be harping all day on the fact that the three outs were by Kent, Jones, and DeWitt.

244 - Aw. No MLBTV?

The highlights will be fun.

Now we get to hear Mark Grace's Broxton mancrush in action.

So far I like these Dodgers compared to the first half Dodgers.

Woo!

244 I feel your pain, Molly. Blacked out in Honolulu too.

225

They get it.

They get it now.

They listened.

And listening worked.

The young guns didn't strike out.

They struck back.

The Dodgers?

They might just be back.

Just got back from my own baseball game in time to see this awesome comeback. Come on Bull, finish 'er up!

I had a bluebleederesque game on the mound today: 9 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 13 K's, 0 ER

Aint over yet...

Alright lets get three outs and bounce.

I think, after Kemp's at bat, LaRoche's hit gave me the most pleasure in that inning.

i just remembered pierre is coming back soon : (

Oh well i can't let it damper the game of the season so far, lets hope we can pull this one out

251 Everybody was screaming about LaRoche and Kemp, not harping on the outs.

The only people that haven't figured it out just happen to run the team.

256 What kind of competition were you facing?

255
Yup, this was all Joe Torre's doing.

you guys gotta agree with me that that at-bat my Kemp WAS MONEY!!

Whoosh!

Big Brox! K

All run scoring hits from the ninth are now on Gameday.

1 DOWN!

I haz a fastball.

I temporarily forgot how to type.

The Dodgers could come to Arizona and get two wins and they would come from Cory Wade and Ramon Troncoso.

I should check the last time two Dodger pitchers recorded their first major league win in the same series.

The (obvious) difference between these two teams is the bullpens, bar none. And if the Dodgers do hang on here, that's the exclamation point on that. Even without Saito, the Dodgers have more 'pen depth than Arizona.

262 It's an adult league, but I'm playing in the easiest division this year since I haven't played in 9 years. It's nice to not have the pressure of the more competitive leagues, but the defense behind me is brutal - I think they made 7 errors today on easy plays.

Wow, I turned this game off in disgust after Kent's grounding into a DP to end the eighth... I am ever so glad that I checked back when I did.

Broxton got the motion going.

268 - When'd Brock become a Lolcatz?

The AZ announcers are still whining about the 9th inning DP ball botched by Stephen Drew and how that cost their beloved Webb his 14th win. They keep saying "What a shame." I love it.

Throw it down the pipe man!

275 somebody gave him a cheezburger.

276 This is the perfect reward for having to listen to these two idiots for the past three days.

275 I had to beat Linkmeister to the punch.

Tracy's been so hot walking him isn't the worst thing in the world. (Though now the tying run is up.)

275 - Broxton: "I eatz a cheezburger."

The Lolcatz thing is older than the internet.

Where was that pitch?!

Looks like the last time two Dodger pitchers won their first major league game in the same series was back on June 2 and June 4, 1995 when Hideo Nomo and Felix Rodriguez each picked up wins against the Mets at home.

277 Throw it down the pipe young man! - Bill Walton

Fine, I'll go back to making fun of everybody and comparing things to the Civil War.

Go outside the box one time...Now I know how Chris Gaines feels.

I wonder, if the Dbacks lose, if Sutton will need that kidcaster to come talk to him, maybe buy him a consoling ice cream cone.

280 I do LOLcatz?

C'mon, Broxton!

one more! one more!

287 - No, no, Ize like. Peer prsur maks Brok sad.

One more strike Brox!

272

Welcome to the world of sunday league baseball OK94.

but you know what, my short stop & 2nd baseman are really good compared to other teams...

I swear Peter Gammons has a shrine dedicated to Dustin Pedroia that he prays to everyday.

Argh.

lucky for that insurance run...

The Snakes ain't dead yet.

Settle down.

2 outs Brox, come one!!

Bah humbug.

Man, my nerves don't need this kinda nonsense.

I need a drink.

YES!

Oh Nos!

We win!

WOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

Ice cream all around!

GO TO SECOND! YES! YES! YES!

Yes! great come from behind win from the Dodgers!

Berroa with the last out

WE WIN!

Pick any number of plays for play of the game.

what a heartbreaker for the Snakes

Ooooo. Berroa almost gave me a heart attack with that little Fred Astaire step-to. But...

W00t!

Wow. That was a fun game, especially the last inning.
Of course, tomorrow I'll be rooting for the Rox.

Back into a first place tie.

AZ gets the Cubs for three.
Dodgers get...?

The NL West is a tie.
The NL East has three teams within a 1/2 game with the top two tied.
The NL Central leader is ahead by 2.
The NL Wild Card leader is ahead by 1.

293 I think I'm going to move up to the more competitive league next year as long as my arm holds up. I'm not expecting the guys behind me to be gold glovers, but just making the routine plays would be nice. Two runs scored today after the right fielder couldn't catch a routine fly ball. Plus, one of the guys who scored got on base after an error from the third baseman.

A few things go differently and we walk out of Phoenix 4 games back. Instead, we head to the Rocky Mountains tied for first. I love baseball and especially today.

Phew!

S'alright, I knew we had it in the bag from the first pitch of the game.

What a great series this has turned out to be. Nothing is sweeter than the quivering pain in Sutton's voice.

315 See 313

306

The oreo cookie soft serve "31 below" at baskin robbins is bad ass!

Wow. Great win. Huge.

Now the Dbacks have to play the Cubs.
The Dodgers will have a tough series in Denver, no doubt (right Woden?) but this is much better than being two out.

315 The Rockies at home

BTW, that was Ozuna at second not Berroa.

Forgive me, oh Great Dodger, for I gave up hope. Squeeee!!!

324 Oops, I mean in Colorado

Best inning of the year.

Brock, this is for you btw:
http://tinyurl.com/yt6lcw

323 The Rockies are definitely on the up-tick at the moment. They seem to have figured out what those wooden things that they carry to the plate are for, anyhow.
It should be a good series.

Also, we can all root for the Cubbies for the next few days.

323 After the way the Rockies finished last year, I still feel like they're on the edge of contention. A sweep, and it's pretty much a two team race. Get swept and suddenly a three team battle.

All three games with the team winning by one! I can't wait for the next dbacks/Dodgers series!

317

best advice anyone ever game me is RUN RUN RUN if you want your arm to hold up.

among other exercises I do.

Sorry if it's been said already, but The D-Back announcers were lame in applauding Drew for attempting the inside-the-park-HR. Then at the end they were harping on the SS miscue for costing them the game. I'm not sure that would've been a dp. In any case, we won; it was especially great to see that rally after the announcers said the D-backs are gonna put this one to bed right before the Dodgers took the last out.

325 - Was it? The announcers said Berroa, but the box score also says Berroa played 2nd there. You sure? Well, anyway, it doesn't matter.

I like Ozuna's speed already!

See y'all later.

Best part of the Cubs-Snakes series is it'll be a home series for Chicago. Lots and lots of Midwesterners here.

334 Good point on the inside-the-parker, but the flubbed grounder would have been the easiest DP in the world. He was a step or two away from second base.

I really hop KG16 comes back. We didn't agree on...er...anything, but it makes me a sad panda when people leave DT over silly arguments. Especially ball and strike calls in a July game.

Darn you, Jason Taylor. I want Dodger highlights on SportsCenter!

Wow, what an outing by Troncoso. I must admit I had a rather pleasant evening reading since I could only get Gameday anyway. With Webb pitching I stopped following after Lowe loaded the bases with no outs. I would not call this pessimistic-- at the worst it was realistic. If I could have watched the game I might have persevered longer. Anyways, I am pleased and astonished!

Highlights! SportsCenter! Right now!

336 That seems to apply in almost any ballpark!

What was the lowest the WE got down to today? I remember Xei posting something like 12.5% in mid-game, but it must have been worse than that entering the ninth.

Wow, what a great win!

Dodger relievers in this series:
15 innings pitched, 9 hits, 2 earned runs, 4 walks, 15 strikeouts = 2 wins and 2 saves

Tremendous

So I guess Troncoso gets the W or what.

Both the Dodgers and Giants were involved in games with 11 total runs.

If this game causes the D-bax to make a panic trade for Huston Street, all the better.

From a possible 4 games out, to tied in the standings is a big swing.

With Ned probably GM'ing as if his job depended on it, I expect the Dodgers to make a major trade within 10 days. These two wins this weekend really kept the team in it.

342 It really is astonishing how popular the Cubs are in Phoenix, though. Much moreso than elsewhere. It's been a Cubs town for years, partly because the Cubs were training in Mesa long before the DBacks existed.

Here's a question for you. My father-in-law and I are having a scoring disagreement. Here it is-

A batter hits the ball to left and decides to go for two. If he's thrown out, does he still get credit for a single, despite getting thrown out trying to stretch it?
Thanks!

335 - Gameday said it was Berroa. But if it was Berroa, then why did Ned get Ozuna if he can't play second?

335 - Excuse me. Yes, it was Berroa. I didn't check the box. Thanks.

333 I was afraid I had really messed up my elbow after an outing about a month ago where I threw probably 120 pitches. When I tried warming up for the next game there was a sharp pain, but it felt fine today. I've been running more lately, maybe that's what helped me out today.

349 Yup, goes as a single

341
They rather show two female race car drivers arguing.

349 - Yes, a single.

343--Considering the Dodgers usually win only 3-4 games per year when entering the 9th inning behind, I'd say the Win Expectancy was rather low.

Maybe today's hit can get LaRoche in the lineup permanently.

I liked it when Joe Torre's "feelings" were the implicit reason for the bad lineups. Now that he's flat-out said it, it somehow makes it worse.

I don't know why...It just does. Feelings are stupid.

350/351 - So I checked and Ozuna wears #14 for the Dodgers and rewatching it that's who was playing 2nd on that play. So it was indeed Ozuna, the box score and the DBacks announcers were both wrong (the latter less surprisingly so) and you were right. Makes sense, otherwise, yeah, why put him in there to run and then waste another player to play defense.

Anyway, I'm still on cloud nine, though I couldn't watch the Sportscenter highlights because my Tivo is too busy recording Mad Men and can't be disturbed.

354 Normally I don't mind that.

I thought it was Berroa at second because the guy stepping on second base had "Berroa" on the back of his uniform.

Berroa probably went in instead of Ozuna because Torre didn't want a guy who hadn't played in the field for a while to play defense.

The Dodgers face Kip Wells, Ubaldo Jimenez and Glendon Rusch in Denver. We counter with Eric Stults, Jason Johnson and Hiroki Kuroda.

The D'Backs face Chicago's Rich Harden, Jason Marquis and Ted Lilly. They counter with Randy Johnson, Micah Owings and Doug Davis.

348 - Plus, Arizona is the retirement destination of choice for Iowans - and Iowa is a Cubs state*.
http://www.iowacafe.com/
* - Sure, there are slices of Twins, Cardinals and Royals territory, but having lived in Des Moines it's predominantly Cubs.

360 - Whaa? Okay, I need to see a new optometrist. But I thought it was #14, which is Ozuna? Alright then... I give up!

361 - Some mediocre pitching matchups in our series. Predict a high scoring affair, which means... a lot of 3-2 games.

This Berroa/Ozuna confusion is like something out of Southland Tales.

Andy LaRoche literally saved our season today;)

My grandfather was born and raised in Iowa City, but he was a Cardinals fan. Cards and Packers. I'm pretty sure everybody else rooted for the Cubs and Bears.

You really ought to give Iowa a try, provided you are contrary.

Was Berroa playing SS and Ozuna 2nd?

363
Check the socks. Berroa wears high socks. Ozuna doesn't.

Berroa wears 13. There are three box scores showing Berroa playing second. And Vin said it was Berroa also.

Of course, it could have been Bobby Richardson.

368
Nope, Ojeda grounded out to Nomar at short.

361 Sounds good to me. The D's are awful when facing Ace type pitching( most NL West teams seem to have two of these) but they keep getting better vs. poor or mediocre pitching. If they keep these young players they will probably improve across the board.

367 - I gave Iowa a try. Didn't agree with me - it's an AL Central state and I'm an NL West guy - but I did meet my wife there.

370 - Speaking of Nomar at short, his defense is proving adequate for the job. Keep him there.

I gave Iowa a try. Didn't agree with me - it's an AL Central state and I'm an NL West guy - but I did meet my wife there

And now she doesn't agree with you...

372
We can stand touchin' noses
For a week at a time
And never see eye-to-eye.
But we'll give you our shirt
And a back to go with it
If your crops should happen to die.

Iowa, in my limited travels there, is very nice.

375 - Oh, there's nothing wrong with Iowa. Very decent people.
But for a young man in his late 20s, it was deathly dull.

374
The site of Fedor playing cards before the fight was one of the funniest things I have seen.

*sight

Via Tony Jackson, July 9th Sun-Times article on CWS clubhouse reaction to Ozuna's being DFA'd.

http://tinyurl.com/69lr2y

369 - You sure it wasn't Alfredo Griffin?

376 Having dated a girl who left Iowa, I can only say that it must be liberating to leave it.

It certainly was for her.

380
I've got a positive ID of Alfredo Griffin at Angels Stadium at the time.

NPUT

377
I didn't see that last night, but I've seen him do that before when he was with PRIDE. Pretty hilarious.

343. The lowest WE was 2.8% today. Right after Kent hit into a double play.
vr, Xei

By the way, does 'NPUT' mean the discussion's over? At any rate, then here's a probably unheard voice reminding everyone that it was DeWitt's amazing play in the 9th inning of Friday's game that prevented the D-Backs from scoring, obviating the need for any extra innings and hence the rally and victory. Give the guy a break: he is contributing. Also, someone in some recent post, perhaps this one, told another poster that 'if he (or she?) had been following the Dodgers the last two years, they'd 'know' the 3rd baseman's job was LaRoche's. Actually, I've been following the Dodgers for 54 years and can probably name 90% of the third basemen. The job was not LaRoche's: eventually, it might have been LaRoche's. But as recently as Spring Training he was battling Garciaparra for the position when both got hurt. There are no guarantees in this game.