Quite a good game last night, as you can imagine. Brad was dominant and it was fun to watch, especially in his old stomping grounds. I spent most of the game looking up facts and info to pass along to the broadcasters and reporters, much of which wound up on the air and in this morning’s papers. He’s been getting requests from a ton of local media outlets in Miami and Los Angeles, as well as national shows like Baseball Tonight (last night) and the new Cold Pizza on ESPN, which is now called "First Take." He’ll be on that one Thursday morning before our day game.

What’s really ridiculous to think is that Sandy Koufax fanned 14 or more 12 times in his career. Wish I could’ve seen him pitch…

The Jeff Kent chat starts in about 10 minutes…below are some game notes, followed by the lineup.

HE’S A BIG FAN – Brad Penny’s 14 strikeouts last night were the most by a Dodger since Chan Ho Park fanned 14 on Aug. 29, 2000 at Milwaukee. Penny became the ninth Los Angeles Dodger pitcher to fan 14 or more in a game, joining Sandy Koufax (12 times), Hideo Nomo (3), Fernando Valenzuela (3), Don Drysdale (3), Park (1), Ramon Martinez (1), Orel Hershiser (1), Bill Singer (1) and Johnny Podres (1). Penny, whose 293 strikeouts at Dolphin Stadium rank fifth all-time, lowered his ERA to 1.39, the second-best mark in the Majors. Mark Hendrickson (1.30) does not yet qualify.

NEARLY PERFECT – Brad Penny retired the first 11 batters he faced last night and did not walk a batter in 7.0 innings. The last time a Dodger pitcher struck out 14 and walked zero was on Sept. 9, 1965 when Sandy Koufax pitched a perfect game against the Cubs at Dodger Stadium.    Source: Elias Sports Bureau

A HISTORIC NIGHT – Jeff Kent connected for his 348th career homer and 510th career double last night as he continues to climb Major League Baseball’s all-time charts. Kent tied Rickey Henderson for 39th on the all-time doubles list and George Foster for 75th place on the all-time home run list. Kent’s next double will tie him with Mark Grace for 37th place all-time and he is two homers shy of Chili Davis for 74th place.

QUITE A CLUB – There are only 22 players in Major League history with 300 homers and 500 doubles and five of them are here tonight. Tony Perez and Andre Dawson, both of whom carry the title of Special Assistant to the President for the Marlins, are in the exclusive club. Jeff Kent, Luis Gonzalez and Dodger hitting coach Eddie Murray each have 300/500 as well. There are only 15 members of the 350/500 club, with Kent (348 HR) and Gonzalez (335 HR) close to joining.

SALON DE LA FAMA – Two of the three Spanish-language Hall of Fame broadcasters are here this series. Jaime Jarrín was the Ford C. Frick Award winner in 1998 and Rafael “Felo” Ramirez was honored in that manner by the Hall of Fame in 2001. The first-Spanish language broadcaster to be enshrined in Cooperstown was Buck Canel, the Frick Award winner in 1985. Jarrín and Pepe Yñiguez call the action for all 162 games on ESPN Deportes Radio 1330 AM.

GET WELL SOON – The Dodgers would like to wish a speedy recovery to Dr. Frank Jobe, who underwent back surgery last month. Jobe, who many believe should be in the Hall of Fame, has helped revive the careers of numerous Dodgers with his groundbreaking Tommy John surgery, including Yhency Brazoban and Hong-Chih Kuo, among countless others. Page 43 of the 2007 Information Guide is dedicated to the medical pioneer.

DODGER INSIDER – The Dodgers would like to welcome Advisor, Latin America Scouting and Player Development, Ralph Avila, who is here for the series against the Marlins. Avila was featured throughout FSN Prime Ticket’s “Dodgers Insider – Campo Las Palmas,” which airs again on FSN Prime Ticket tomorrow at 12 p.m. and Thursday at 10 p.m. (this is what those of you who came to the Fox Lot saw that night).

Furcal, SS

Pierre, CF

Nomar, 1B

Kent, 2B

Gonzo, LF

Martin, C

Ethier, RF

LaRoche, 3B

Hendrickson, P

Furcal, SS

Pierre, CF

Nomar, 1B

Kent, 2B

Gonzo, LF

Martin, C

Ethier, RF

LaRoche, 3B

Penny, P

A couple days ago, a few players were talking about paranormal things in baseball and then I noticed them reading this website. Apparently, the hotel we’re staying at in Tampa Bay – the Renaissance Vinoy – gives us good reason to be a little paranoid. I mean, I’ve heard all about the woman in a red dress who sometimes walks around at the Top of the Park at Dodger Stadium and I know all about Adrian Beltre’s encounters with ghosts at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee, but have since learned that our trainer, Stan Johnston, was responsible for some of the noises.

Still, I think I’ll wait until after June 24 to read this book…

LaRoche is in the starting lineup on his first day in the bigs. So is Lieberthal, who obviously knows Wolf pretty well from their Philly days and has a good track record against today’s starter, Kyle Davies:

Furcal, SS

Pierre, CF

Garciaparra, 1B

Kent, 2B

Gonzalez, LF

LaRoche, 3B

Ethier, RF

Lieberthal, C

Wolf, P

Arriving in Atlanta today will be Andy LaRoche, who was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas. Marlon Anderson is going on the DL, as his elbow still isn’t right. More details and the lineup from the park in a while.

Lots going on in the sports world over the next eight hours or so…

Meanwhile, I’d hate to read the messages on these posts if the team wasn’t in first place by a game and a half! I’m glad to see everyone so fired up, but try to remember that their record is 17-12 and that they were facing John Smoltz last night…

But I know that’s just my positive outlook on things. Nonetheless, they’ll go at it again tonight trying to figure out how to jump start the offense. Here’s the lineup for the game against Tim Hudson:

Furcal, SS

Pierre, CF

Nomar, 1B

Kent, 2B

Gonzo, LF

Martin, C

Ethier, RF

Martinez, 3B

Lowe, P

One other thing to remember – it was only a year ago today when we had lost five in a row when Nomar donned the serape for Cinco de Mayo, Russell Martin made his big league debut and the Dodgers went on to win 16 of the next 19 games they played. The season has its ups and downs and this is just a quick downswing, right?

Here’s the post from a year ago today, where six people left comments and that was a lot back then. Glad to see you all are still coming back to talk about the Dodgers here every day.

Furcal, SS

Pierre, CF

Nomar, 1B

Gonzo, LF

Martin, C

Ethier, RF

Betemit, 3B

Martinez, 2B

Tomko, P

We arrived about an hour ago in Atlanta after a very productive flight. Not sure about you guys, but I get some of my best work done while in the air. We arrived at the hotel and saw a couple fans, including one wearing a Dodger jersey, so apparently they know we’ve gotten here safely.

Not too much to report today. Just your typical cross-country jaunt. I missed the first-place ice cream in the front office, which has been a tradition for years. Thanks for all the Saito music ideas. I’ll make sure your game entertainment department sees them, and don’t forget to vote for Russell’s walk-up music at the Fan Forum.

Until tomorrow…

We’ll have thousands of kids out here today as Field Trip Day. If you start coughing now, your boss might let you get out of work and head down here. The game starts in an hour.

Here’s the lineup:

Furcal, SS

Pierre, CF

Nomar, 1B

Kent, 2B

Martin, C

Betemit, 3B

Ethier, RF

Clark, LF

Hendrickson, P

Thanks to everyone for their concern about Vin Sculy last night. He should be back this evening, but had to tend to a personal issue and missed last night’s game. That was why Rick Monday was solo on radio and Charley and Steve handled TV, but we should be back to the normal home schedule going forward. Jerry Reuss will make his regular season debut alongside Rick during the upcoming trip to Atlanta and Florida.

Also, I noticed an interesting thing doing the notes this morning which somewhat shows that power isn’t the end-all, be-all of successful teams. Granted, we’re talking about a 26-game sample size, but did you know that this year, in games when the team hits a homer, they’re only 7-6 and when they don’t homer, they’re 8-5? That certainly is a little evidence that it comes down to pitching more than power, or at least that’s one way to look at it. After all, when the Dodgers allow three runs or less, they’re 10-1 and when they allow four or more, they’re 5-10.

Anyway, it’s a night off for Nomar tonight. Here’s the lineup and some game notes:

Furcal, SS

Pierre, CF

Anderson, 1B

Kent, 2B

Gonzo, LF

Martin, C

Ethier, RF

Betemit, 3B

Penny, P

LET’S PLAY FOUR – Russell Martin got a well-deserved day off last night after catching all 17 innings of Sunday’s marathon at San Diego. Martin also caught all 16.2 innings of last year’s 17-inning game against Oakland on June 17, going 3-for-8 to give him a combined .313 average (5-for-16) average over the 34 innings. In total for those two games, Martin caught 473 pitches, including 191 from Derek Lowe, who started both of the contests.

DEEP SIX – Since moving to Los Angeles, only three Dodgers have had six hits in a game and all three times it came in the month of May. Willie Davis (5/24/73), Paul Lo Duca (5/28/01) and Shawn Green (5/23/02) are the only L.A. Dodgers to accomplish the feat. Five Brooklyn Dodgers had a six-hit game, with Walter Gilbert (5/30/31) being the only one to pull it off in May. Among current Dodgers, only Nomar Garciaparra has a six-hit game and it came on June 21, 2003.

WELCOME BACK – The Dodgers would like to welcome back Kirk Gibson, who serves as Arizona’s bench coach. Gibson’s homer in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series was voted the Greatest Sports Moment in Los Angeles History. Also in uniform that night and tonight is Rick Honeycutt, who played for Oakland and now serves as the Dodgers’ pitching coach.

IN A PINCH – Outfielder/infielder Marlon Anderson collected his 64th career pinch hit last night, raising his lifetime average as a pinch-hitter to .291 (64-for-220). Anderson also has more pinch hits (54) than any other player in baseball since 2004. The Alabama native played the field for the first time this season, logging 2.0 innings last night at second base.

CONTACT COUNTS – As a team, the Dodgers have struck out just 134 times this season, the second-lowest total in the National League. The only team to fan less than Los Angeles is St. Louis, which has struck out 124 times but has also played two less games than the Dodgers. Leading the way in the contact department for the Dodgers are Nomar Garciaparra, Juan Pierre and Luis Gonzalez, who rank sixth, seventh and ninth in the NL, respectively, in the hardest to fan category.

LUCKY PENNY – Brad Penny is seeking to become the first Dodger starting pitcher to begin the season 4-0 since Kazuhisa Ishii went 6-0 with a 2.95 ERA in his first six starts in 2002. Penny’s 1.95 ERA is seventh best in the National League.

DON’T BE LATE – Tomorrow’s game is a special 12:10 p.m. start and is Disney School Field Trip Day at Dodger Stadium. Luis Gonzalez, Andre Ethier and several student volunteers will participate in the event, which will be held in right field from 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Some of the students will be demonstrating how bats made out of different compositions will cause different reactions. The bats will be used as giveaways for the kids and will be signed by Mickey Mouse.

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