A tough loss but a good three games – Josh Rawitch
Who would’ve thought we’d score 23 runs and bang out more than 40 hits and drop two out of three games? Even though we lost the series to the Braves, most of the players and coaches downstairs seemed encouraged with the way the team is hitting and that’s WITHOUT Nomar and Kenny Lofton.
You never want to lose two games, but given that most people thought we wouldn’t even get the three games in without rainouts, you’ve got to look on the bright side. Jeff Kent’s injury seems minor – a bruise on his triceps and he thinks he’ll play Friday. Olmedo Saenz just had his back tighten up and Rafael Furcal got spiked. Gagne’s suspension is over now, so he’s available on Friday and we’ll be back to having Baez in the eighth inning followed by Eric in the ninth.
We leave tomorrow morning for Philadelphia, so you probably won’t hear from me until late in the day.
Enjoy the "off-day."
Inside the Dodgers 
If the team can continue to score like that it will be a great season. Furcal and the number two spot is the key to putting runs on the board. Drew and Kent should have a lot of RBIs this year.
Scoring that many runs is great, but it cannot be overlooked that there were also 24 runs given up over these three games. Fortunately, pitching issues will be corrected. Hopefully, callups and comebacks will yield much-needed power. Their .436 team slugging percentage is not looking well for them, especially with a .527 allowed slugging pct. Getting two hits per game more and losing a series is bad.
Flu or no flu, feeling great or not… the Dodgers starters need to put in the innings to allow for the bullpen to be set-up properly. With the money that’s being paid to Lowe and Perez, they need to realize their responsibility and to prepare for each game like it’s the last they’ll ever pitch… period. I know I would if I made that kind of jack! Just ask Brad Penny about the uncertainty of a pitching career. Here’s a guy who didn’t think he’d ever pitch the way he used to, and then went out and did something about it. His work ethic of late is impressive.
On the positive side, if the Dodgers can continue to score runs the way they did the past three days, we may not need to be so cautious of our starters giving up three or four runs. Now if the team can just catch a break and get healthy again… again?? Man, it’s tough to say that…
Not bad against a team that has won their divison 14 years in a row. All 3 games were one run games if memory serves me right. Neck and neck with the NL East Defending champs. I like our odds. Pitching does need work though.
“All I know about Perez is his name is Perez.” – Alomar Jr.
Sandy’s offense was fantastic, but would it hurt to THAT much to put in a catcher (Navarro) who knows the staff a little better. He handled Penny rather well, and Alomar didn’t seem to do too great with Lowe and Perez. I’m not blaming Alomar for all of the runs, but lets face the facts, Navarro knows these pitchers a little better than Alomar does. Hopefully Little decides to take the offensive hit (not sure how much of a hit it will be) and put in a guy who knows the pitching staff a little better. And when does Seo get moved back to SP? Hopefully soon, we could use his innnings. Just get to the sixth guys, Brazzy – Baez – Gagne.
I’ll also point out that the team SLG of .436 is with a team BA of .345. While I’d love to see that keep up, one must keep in mind that this is most unlikely. If the Dodgers slug at the same rate but them average drops to .275, then as a team the Dodgers will only slug .348. My constant chants of “3-Run-Homer” at the TV last night in the bottom of the 7th didn’t work. I wasn’t a Depodesta fan at all, but I know that numbers don’t lie, and that right now the numbers say “I can’t do it captain. We need more POWER!”
Grady is up to his old tricks. He seems to leave pitchers in the game too long when it is clear that they have lost their stuff. Perez should have been yanked before he gave up the five run lead
“Grady is up to his old tricks. He seems to leave pitchers in the game too long when it is clear that they have lost their stuff.”
Ya, God forbid Grady trusts our starting pitchers to be able to go more than 2 innings….
Well two out of three games the starting pitchers showed that they should not have been trusted. Lowe and Perez looked like they were throwing batting practice.
If I may recommend a great minor league Dodger website … ogden-raptors.com
— Wills for the Hall
Thank you for the tip, there might be someone on the Ogden Raptors that could go say four innings without exploding into flames like Lowe and Perez did. I am a homer but sooner or later reality takes over.