Dodgers News

" In an age in which even the slightest criticism of a major-league ballplayer has to be delivered with ego-massaging tact, someone had the unenviable task when the Dodgers reported to spring training this year of delivering a delicate message to Yhency Brazoban, one he perhaps should have already gotten from whatever bathroom scales or mirrors he had in his house back in the Dominican Republic. That message was to lose some weight. And to his credit, Brazoban took it to heart instead of taking offense, recognizing it as advice meant to help his career. At that point, Brazoban felt lucky to even have a career. "

"Shortstop Rafael Furcal, who has missed the Dodgers' last five games because of lower back pain, was placed on the 15-day disabled list Monday. The move is retroactive to May 6, meaning the earliest Furcal can be activated is May 21 for the final game of a three-game series at Dodger Stadium against Cincinnati."

"Not in a chatty mood anyway, Andre Ethier really didn't want to talk about his return to the starting lineup Sunday. Ever since Juan Pierre went on an offensive hot streak during the last road trip, Ethier has been the one forced to miss stretches of playing time. And his reserve role has come even though center fielder Andruw Jones continues to struggle. Sunday's start was just the third for Ethier since May 2. He played in right field while Matt Kemp moved to center. So he was asked if it was nice to get back in the lineup. "I have no opinion," Ethier said. Is it obviously better than not being in the lineup? "No opinion," he repeated. "

"Jonathan Broxton imploded in an eighth inning that proved decisive in the Dodgers' 8-5 loss on Sunday to the Houston Astros, turning a two-run lead into a four-run deficit. Broxton, who was charged with six runs and six hits, pitched only one-third of an inning. With Takashi Saito unavailable for the third consecutive game because of illness, Broxton was once again the designated closer for the day. "

"Dodgers starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda no-hit the Astros for 6 2/3 innings Sunday. After giving up a single and a hit, though, he was pulled. He lost the decision when the Astros scored six runs in the eighth inning to rally for an 8-5 victory."

"As Shawn Chacon iced his right arm Sunday afternoon, he wondered if he were destined to suffer a tough defeat despite a strong outing. The Astros righthander had pitched well, but Hiroki Kuroda of the Los Angeles Dodgers was untouchable for 6 2/3 innings. One inning after Hunter Pence broke up Kuroda's no-hit bid in the seventh, however, the Astros took Chacon out of the decision with a six-run rally to complete an 8-5 come-from-behind victory at Dodger Stadium."

"Is it possible Jones has lost it? Temporarily? Maybe forever? He hasn't been the only veteran to face that question this season. David Ortiz (who started the season 3-for-44) and Jason Giambi (hitting .150 through Sunday) are other noted sluggers ostensibly still in prime production years who had Aprils to forget. Then there's pitcher Barry Zito, in the second year of a seven-year, $126 million contract with the San Francisco Giants. He lost his first six starts, surrendering 41 hits and 15 walks in 28? innings. He has been sent to the bullpen, his velocity is down, his ERA up to 7.53. How does anyone know if a player will bounce back?"

"The week ahead Dodgers vs. Angels: This is one of the favorite weeks of the year for Angels fans, since the Dodgers traditionally get whipped in their annual weekend visit to Anaheim. The Angels are 21-10 against the Dodgers in Anaheim since interleague play started in 1997, including a sweep last year in which the Angels outscored the Dodgers, 19-4. And talk about not-so-teary nostalgia: When the teams opened the Freeway Series in Anaheim last year, the designated hitters were Olmedo Saenz for the Dodgers and Shea Hillenbrand for the Angels."

"Chan Ho Park turned in two of the finest seasons of his career with Chad Kreuter as his personal catcher. So, with Park with the Dodgers and pitching well again, it is little wonder that Kreuter played a role. The Dodgers did not promise Park a spot on their roster, just an invitation to spring training. In the weeks before he left for training camp, Park worked out at USC, where Kreuter is the baseball coach. "I'm excited he's back with the Dodgers," Kreuter said. "If he never would have left the Dodgers in the first place, we could have had a whole different Chan Ho.""

"It was the shot heard 'round L.A., the hometown fans taking a shot at the hometown center fielder. The San Diego Padres cut Jim Edmonds on Friday, and the reaction among Dodgers fans on air and online was as prompt as it was predictable: If the Padres can get rid of their crummy center fielder, why can't we? This was not the welcome the Dodgers envisioned for Andruw Jones. They needed home runs, and Jones hits 25 in a bad year. They coveted a defensive presence in center field, and Jones has won a Gold Glove 10 years running. They had millions of dollars to spare -- thank you, fans! -- and so they lavished upon him the highest annual salary in franchise history. The cheers have yet to follow. The boos have been relentless."

"Since offering to go on a diet with Andruw Jones and getting nowhere with him, I've lost 14 pounds, so I checked in with the Tubbo on Saturday night to see how he was doing on his own. "Have you lost anything?" "I don't care," he said. I shook my head in disbelief, and he said, "I don't care what you think." "Do you care what anyone thinks?" "I don't care," Jones said. Saturday night the fans in Dodger Stadium booed Jones' name when the starting lineup was announced. "Don't you care that the fans in Dodger Stadium have turned on you?" "No," he said. "That's their problem.""

"You can complain all you want about the Dodgers offense, and rightfully so. But there won't be much to play for this summer until the starting five gets used to going more than five. The Dodgers' starting pitchers have thrown the fewest innings of any major league team this season, an enormous problem for a club that fancies itself a contender. Chad Billingsley took his turn Saturday, briefly. Chris Sampson did the Dodgers in, scattering three hits over seven innings and leading the Houston Astros to a 5-0 victory over the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium."

"Brad Penny had every reason to be in a sour mood Thursday. The day before, the Dodgers starter had been shelled by the New York Mets. Ten runs and 10 hits in 4& 2/3 innings. His location was off, his luck was non-existent. The only silver lining was Thursday was an off day for the Dodgers and he didn't have to go back to the park at all. A couple of months ago, Penny had committed to host a half-day fishing trip with 40 disadvantaged kids out of the Long Beach harbor. Not exactly an easy day, or an easy drive from his house in Calabasas. So much for the off day. Penny had every reason to be in a sour mood. Except that Penny loves fishing. Anytime, any place, anywhere. "

"When Rafael Furcal slammed his helmet to the turf after taking swings during batting practice, manager Joe Torre knew his shortstop would be out another day. Furcal was given every opportunity to get his sore lower back stretched out to play Saturday, but instead missed his fourth consecutive game. He probably won't be back until Tuesday, when the Dodgers start a three-game series at Milwaukee. "He's frustrated," Torre said. "It's the running aspect that bothers him more than anything else. That's a big part of his game. "

"The Dodgers completed their one-week transformation, displaying more ineptness just one weekend after breezing through the schedule. They were dispatched early Saturday and never mounted much resistance in a 5-0 defeat to the Houston Astros, the Dodgers' third consecutive defeat in which the offense was in a slumber. Could this really be the same team that won its 10th game in 11 tries with a victory Tuesday?"

"By the time Chris Sampson took the Dodger Stadium mound Saturday night, his Astros teammates already had handed him three runs worth of cushion. An inning later, his offense had given him two more runs to work with against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sampson did not need that much support on a night he threw seven scoreless innings as the Astros beat the Dodgers 5-0 before a crowd of 45,212."

"Like the paparazzi catching some starlet as she roams the Hollywood shopping meccas in baggy sweats and no makeup, two different teams have caught the Dodgers without Rafael Furcal this week. The result has been a picture that is anything but glamorous, and a possible glimpse into the club's future that is nothing short of scary. While Furcal missed his third consecutive game with lower-back tightness, the Dodgers flailed their way to their first two-game losing streak in almost three weeks, falling 7-1 to the surging Houston Astros in front of 52,658 on Friday night at Dodger Stadium. "

"Dodgers shortstop Rafael Furcal took batting practice before Friday night's game with Houston and reported improvement in his lower back. Still, Furcal was out of the lineup for the third game in a row."

"The Dodgers didn't experience much of a drop-off early in the 2005 season when Yhency Brazoban filled in for injured closer Eric Gagne and converted 21 of 25 save opportunities. Then Brazoban pretty much fell off the Dodgers' radar the next two seasons as injuries limited the right-hander to five games in 2006 and four games in 2007. Now he's back and eager to attempt to regain the form that briefly made him a rookie of the year candidate three years ago..."

"In their last 20 outings combined, the top four Dodgers starters have pitched seven innings on only three occasions. Lowe has not reached the seventh inning in his last five starts, and he was done after only 5 1/3 innings Friday as the Dodgers lost to the Houston Astros, 7-1, at Dodger Stadium."

"A chorus awaited Brian Moehler as he walked up the visitors' dugout for batting practice Friday at Dodger Stadium. "Brad! Brad!" his teammates chanted as the Astros' righthander passed by unaware he was being taunted... When he turned to acknowledge his teammates, they pointed up to the scoreboard that declared "Brad" Moehler was starting for the Astros. Moehler looked up at the board and smiled. Then, he re-introduced himself to the Los Angeles Dodgers with five scoreless innings and a 7-1 victory Friday night before a crowd of 52,658."

"Therein lies the inherent problem with the Torre way to play baseball, a highly effective but highly methodical approach that often produces plodding, American League-style games lasting 32 hours. But if it drives the folks in the commissioner's office crazy, it might do the same to opposing pitchers. Which is why Dodgers players have gradually and increasingly bought into the Torre way this season, one reason why the club has won nine of its past 11 games as it opens a three-game series against the Houston Astros tonight at Dodger Stadium."

"The evidence of Matt Kemp's evolution goes beyond the numbers. Kemp has batted .400 over a 12-game hitting streak that he will take into the Dodgers' series opener against the Houston Astros tonight at Dodger Stadium, but hitting coach Mike Easler isn't as impressed with what he has done as he is with how he has done it. "

"Charles Steinberg is a romantic and a pragmatist, a dazzled fan who swept storerooms and compiled statistics for the Baltimore Orioles but earned a degree in dentistry in case the whole baseball thing didn't work out. Steinberg, the Dodgers' new executive vice president for marketing, gets misty about baseball's ability to unite families, but he's unmarried and childless in his 40s. In orchestrating how games are presented and trying to make fans share his love of baseball, Steinberg listens to "the 10-year-old kid that is eternal inside of me." "

"A cloudy sky was only a small reason why it was so dreary at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday. In a rare weekday afternoon start, the Dodgers appeared to still have sleep in their eyes as they were clobbered 12-1 by the New York Mets. And the game didn't even seem to be as close as the lopsided score would indicate. "

"Esteban Loaiza was placed on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday because of tightness and spasms in his right shoulder -- a move that could create an opportunity for top pitching prospect Clayton Kershaw to make his major league debut in Anaheim on May 17. First, the Dodgers are expected to call up Yhency Brazoban from triple-A Las Vegas for the start of a three-game series Friday against the Houston Astros."

"The Dodgers' heavily taxed bullpen logged another 4 1/3 innings Wednesday in a 12-1 loss to the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium, as Brad Penny gave up a career-high 10 runs and was forced to exit early. Penny gave up five two-out runs in the fifth inning and was replaced by Scott Proctor."

"John Maine fell two outs shy of a complete game, but the Mets' victory over the Dodgers Wednesday was complete in virtually every other way. A day after stranding 13 baserunners and watching an early three-run lead erode - Willie Randolph suggested his team "gave away" that game - the Mets forged a split of a six-game trip to Arizona and L.A. by tagging two-time All-Star Brad Penny for a career-high 10 runs on the way to a 12-1 win."

"Where in the world did this come from? When exasperated Mets fans least expected it, the gang that couldn't buy a timely hit most of this season couldn't stop spraying them around Dodger Stadium in a 12-1 runaway here yesterday. "

"Instead of running into walls — in the field and at the plate — they simply ran over them. After Ryan Church came up empty crashing into the wall Tuesday night, leading to a game-winning inside-the-park home run by Blake DeWitt, and the rest of the Mets were equally futile at delivering big hits, there were no such problems Wednesday in a 12-1 victory against the Dodgers."

"Maybe next time, Blake DeWitt will know what to do. Maybe next time, the Dodgers' rookie third baseman won't have to be prodded by hitting coach Mike Easler to climb to the top step of the dugout and pump his fist to the roar of a fan base that has spent the past month or so gradually falling in love with him. But in the fifth inning of the surging Dodgers' latest victory, 5-1 over the New York Mets in front of 44,181 on Monday night at Dodger Stadium, DeWitt suddenly found himself in a strange situation he wasn't quite sure how to handle. "

"The burden of carrying the Dodgers' offense finally got to Rafael Furcal on Tuesday night. The veteran shortstop, who entered the day as the major-league leader in both hits and runs, was scratched from the starting lineup against the New York Mets because of tightness in his lower back. He initially felt it in the late innings the previous evening and again when he woke up in the morning. Furcal also missed the Dodgers' final 12 games last season with lower back tightness. "

"Once he finally got there, Kuo didn't figure to complain about being shuttled back and forth between the rotation and the bullpen, either. And his dutiful acceptance of one of baseball's least glamorous roles never came in more handy for the Dodgers than it did on Tuesday night, when they rode it to a 5-4 victory - their 10th in their past 11 games - over the New York Mets in front of 43,927 at Dodger Stadium."

"Figuring a place on the Dodgers' major league roster was waiting for him, Andy LaRoche rushed through his rehabilitation, completing what was expected to be a 10-week process in 7 1/2 weeks. But as of Tuesday, three days after his activation from the 15-day disabled list, he was still in triple-A Las Vegas. "I'm obviously not happy about it," LaRoche said by phone from Las Vegas. "But it's the decision they made. "They're winning. I don't blame them for anything. Hopefully, I can play my way back.""

"No attempt was made on the Dodgers' bench to conceal excitement this time, the players and coaches leaping out of their seats when Blake DeWitt touched home plate. DeWitt initially received the silent treatment from his jesting teammates upon hitting his first career home run the previous day, but he was immediately mobbed in the dugout for his blast Tuesday -- a fifth-inning, two-run, inside-the-park home run that reversed a one-run deficit and put the Dodgers on their way to a 5-4 victory over the New York Mets."

"Move over Pat Burrell, there's a new Met-killer in the National League. And his name is Blake DeWitt. Never heard of him? Well, most Mets probably didn't either before the start of this three-game series at Dodger Stadium. But they know who he is now. For the second straight night, DeWitt homered off Met pitching, with Tuesday night's round-tripper a game-deciding, inside-the-park, two-run homer that handed the Mets a 5-4 loss. "

"After blooming in the desert last weekend, the Mets' offense suddenly is MIA again. A pathetic hitting display Monday prompted most of the lineup to show up hours early for extra batting practice yesterday afternoon. But a lot of good that did the Mets last night in a 5-4 loss to the Dodgers. While rookie third baseman Blake DeWitt was electrifying the home crowd with a four-RBI night that included the Dodgers' first inside-the-park home run since 2003, the Mets couldn't stop wasting opportunities. "

"Starter Hiroki Kuroda looked as though he were offering up batting-practice fastballs. Other Dodgers bobbled ground balls, loafed in the outfield and wandered off the bases into outs. But when the Mets were unable to take the game and run away with it, a little-known rookie for Los Angeles did, and the Dodgers defeated the Mets, 5-4. "

"The Dodgers brought the good times back with them to Dodger Stadium on Monday night, continuing the roll they started here 11 days ago and toted along during a triumphant trip to Florida and Colorado. There was a standing ovation for Chad Billingsley and a curtain call for Blake DeWitt during a 5-1 victory over the New York Mets that provided equal-opportunity enjoyment for the Dodgers."

"Maybe next time, Blake DeWitt will know what to do. Maybe next time, the Dodgers' rookie third baseman won't have to be prodded by hitting coach Mike Easler to climb to the top step of the dugout and pump his fist to the roar of a fan base that has spent the past month or so gradually falling in love with him. But in the fifth inning of the surging Dodgers' latest victory, 5-1 over the New York Mets in front of 44,181 on Monday night at Dodger Stadium, DeWitt suddenly found himself in a strange situation he wasn't quite sure how to handle. "

"The Dodgers' opening-day left fielder has been out of the starting lineup for three of the last four games, but Andre Ethier wasn't about to raise a ruckus about it. "I am not in a position to say anything about it," Ethier said before the Dodgers played the New York Mets on Monday at Dodger Stadium. "Whatever they ask me to do, I'm going to do it." Ethier has been displaced by the hot-hitting Juan Pierre, who entered the game batting .563 this month with nine hits in his last 16 at-bats. Pierre has started five straight games, his longest stretch of consecutive starts this season."

"Torre, sizing up his options after the Dodgers hired him last November, took Alston's old office and gave his coaches the roomier location. He doesn't need a big office to feed his ego. He's sure of who he is and is gradually becoming more comfortable as he settles into his new surroundings. "Looking at the Dodgers' history and growing up with them in Brooklyn, I was just curious if managing could be fun again," he said. "It's been fun so far.""

"Dodgers right fielder Matt Kemp was named National League Player of the Week on Monday after batting .407 on the team's six-game trip to Florida and Colorado. But what stood out from Kemp's statistical accomplishments was the fact he also stole six bases, accounting for more than a quarter of his present career total of 23steals in a single week. "

" Oliver Perez may have been due for a gut check after Billy Wagner called him out last week, but neither had this in mind. Perez - who had recorded only five outs in his previous start, irking Wagner - took a line shot from Jeff Kent off the midsection in the first inning last night. The southpaw shook off that body blow after a visit from trainer Ray Ramirez, but ultimately took it on the chin as the Mets lost to Joe Torre's Dodgers, 5-1, at Dodger Stadium."

"Joe Torre still has the burning desire to win. But the first-year Dodgers skipper appreciates the contrast between L.A. and New York. "It's a little more laid back," Torre said before his team opened a three-game series against the Mets Monday night. "In saying that, it doesn't mean you don't have the hunger to win. I certainly would have a problem with that. Right now - and I say right now - baseball is in the sports section. That's a nice change." "

"Any time he misses managing in New York, Joe Torre only has to glance at his morning newspaper to come to his senses. How Torre's Dodgers are playing hasn't been on the front page of the L.A. Times once, and there are no tabloids in Southern California to jump on his every move. No wonder the former Yankees manager looked so relaxed yesterday as he held court in the Dodger Stadium home dugout before the opener of a three-game series with the Mets. "

"A change of scenery didn't make one bit of difference for Oliver Perez. The Mets' erratic left-hander followed up his dreadful start at Shea Stadium last Wednesday with another eyesore here last night, giving up three home runs in a 5-1 loss to the Dodgers. "

"Joe Torre is gone from New York, but he has a pretty good idea of what it will take for fans at Shea Stadium to stop raining boos on the Mets at the drop of a bat. Winning games in October should do."

"If Mets Manager Willie Randolph was eager to see what type of performance he would get from Oliver Pérez on Monday night, let’s say it wasn’t a good night for gut checks. Pérez, five days after being criticized by teammate Billy Wagner, turned in his third consecutive subpar start as the Dodgers hit three home runs off him in a 5-1 victory."

"Andruw Jones has scuffled so much that during the middle of last month, he had his eyes checked. The examination revealed nothing out of the ordinary, and Manager Joe Torre is convinced the problem with the center fielder at the plate isn't physical, but mental. "It's a slump," said Torre, who gave Jones the day off Sunday. "I don't think this is terminal. I don't think he's in denial or doesn't think he can do it. It's just frustrating as (heck) for him right now." "