"Early in the season, there was some struggling there. Now we're at 400-500 at-bats. We need more on-base percentage. That's the bottom line. That's pure numbers.

"To get runs, we have to get more runners on. We need more of an on-base percentage from this man.

"It's not really something he's probably looking forward to or has done much in his life. I'm not doing this. I'm writing it down. The numbers dictate.

"What I buy is the bottom line. There's a lot of numbers to judge by.<<

http://tinyurl.com/2yjxqm

I don't think he needs to go that far. Drop him in the batting order, bench him, maybe even DFA. But euthanasia?

The Dodgers must be on the road in Alaska.

With Martin struggling is this really the time to put him in the two hole?

Has Gonzo ever sat two games in a row this season?

Is there any possible reason in this heat why Martin is catching a night/day game?

With Betemit traded, shouldn't La Roche be on the roster so we don't have to see Ramon Martinez actually play?

I can only hope he is refering to himself and Ned, regarding other scapegoats.

The team would have been so much better if Loney had started the season with the Dodgers and starting at first and with Kemp starting in CF. Nomar should have been working out at third base in spring training.

Question 1: Check out my seven-day link above. He's struggling less than anyone except Ethier.

Question 2: I feel like he did once, but I'd have to check.

Question 3: To calm Tomko down?

Question 4: I think LaRoche is achy-hurt.

Struggling is struggling, whether it's relative to anyone else on the team or not, I think.

The movable object vs the resistable force.

Anyone who cares about batting order, I would think, would want Martin batting ahead of Pierre, rain or shine.

Per Rotowire...

I am still hopefull. But if Lowe can't go, we are in for more rough sailing.

bases juiced & NO OUTS, with Kent at the plate.

Aaaahhhhhh.

Still.... yay!

See! I told you so!

Hope that wasn't it for the rest of the week.

Yes, Saenz in the #3 is a one-game thing, but do you have to do it the day after the team get shut out three straight games?

Darn, that lead was short-lived.

Kent wouldn't have been a bad #3 hitter today.

At least that's my read of the posts about the KT.

Downside: Pierre moves back to leadoff. (hehe)

This guy might have been a prospect in 2001, but if you look at his numbers now (5.95 K/9, 3.77 BB/9, 1.03 HR/9 at age 25 in AAA in 2006) and I wouldn't even want the guy if he produced those numbers in the bigs.

Tomko.

Sigh.

"Arrrrghhhhh!"

Dodgers are three sac flies away from the major league record for one game!

You can look at it that way also, but you rarely see Pierre hitting the ball to the warning track let alone the opposite field!

How Gameday describes Saenz's out. You don't see "lines out softly" often. "Gently" would have also been funny.

Remember when the Reds used to have too many outfielders?

All I know is he doesn't belong in the #3 slot, maybe not even #4 slot, if high-OBP is a requirement to be in the top of the lineup.

Whats with Monday scaring me with this talk of Martin favoring his ankle?

Still, you can try to string together high OBPs. I would've been a little happier with this.

Player OBP
Furcal .344
Martin .366
Kent .379
Kemp .346
Saenz .298
Young .286
Pierre .315
Martinez .238
Tomko .048

YAY for the run/s

Charlie Steiner, however, is stuck in the blazing, sticky heat of Cincinnati.

The whole team wants out of Cincinnati. They are looking ahead to the cool breezes of St. Louis.

Because if you do, that means the team keeps sending you out for a beating. Which really serves no purpose.

Since beating Jaime Moyer on July 16th, the Dodgers are 0-6 against LH starters (Glavine (who they beat up but lost the game) Oliver Perez, Jeff Francis, Noah Lowry, Barry Zito and Doug Davis).

Man, he's struggling.

Take some notes, the rest of you Dodgers.

why is that good if its the one you don't want?

Kemp looks like absolutely dog doodoo at the plate today. Out in front, weak swings. Yuck.

That sentence makes so much more sense with it's proper subject.

"We need more on-base percentage at the top," Little said. "It's a pure numbers thing there. To get people to score runs, you have to get people on. We need a little more on-base percentage from this man [Pierre]. Look at [Cincinnati's] lineup. They have a first baseman, Scott Hatteberg, leading off. You wonder what's the reason? Just look at the stat sheet. He has a .400 on-base percentage or better."

Sounds kinda like That Oakland Thing, especially with Hatteberg.

Today is the 11th consecutive game where the opposing starter has thrown a Quality Start against the Dodgers. The Dodger starters have now 5 Quality Starts in that same period of time.

Furcal + Martin + Saenz = 1.008 OBP
Furcal + Pierre + Martin = 1.025 OBP

Like Jon said, Pierre's performance is not a surprise to most people here. This is what we expected and, in an ideal world, would want Dodgers management to consider before signing someone to a LT deal.

So my Timmermann challenge for the day is:
When was the last time the Dodgers started two non-pitchers batting under .200 this late in the season? I don't know the answer, I'm just curious.

It's a cunning plan.

Maybe they can win this.

We'll take our RBI sac flies, and we'll like it.

The Brooklyn record is probably the same.

Probably?

I still think you're overthinking, though.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SFN/SFN200608190.shtml

They scored a lot in that game.

They won 3-2!

But the 1980 Expos had four runs score all on sac flies.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN198005280.shtml
And they lost 8-4.

Paging Mr. Beimel?

Ah ha, now I see

Team LOB make the box score add up.

This is the National League. We need pinch-hitters here.