Late magic in short supply as LA falls
Depleted lineup mounts charge, but lacks impact bat
By Ken Gurnick / MLB.com
LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers made runs at literally every available big bat
last winter, but the one that general manager Ned Colletti really had in his
sights passed on free agency and remained a Cub.
So as Aramis Ramirez was touring the bases Saturday on his 12th home run, the
Dodgers could only watch and wonder what might have been, while dealing with
the reality of what became a 4-2 loss to Chicago that could drop Los Angeles
into a tie for first place with San Diego.
Mark DeRosa followed Ramirez's home run with one of his own, the back-to-back
shots off Mark Hendrickson in the second inning followed two innings later by
another two-run rally, while the Dodgers could muster only two runs off
Carlos Zambrano.
Even though one of the Dodgers' runs came on the fifth home run from
part-time third baseman Wilson Betemit (an 0-2 pitch), the lack of an impact
bat like Ramirez was underscored by the lineup the Dodgers fielded Saturday.
Cleanup hitter Jeff Kent was already scheduled for a day off following a late
night game, and an hour before first pitch, shortstop Rafael Furcal was a
defection with a stiff right knee.
As a result, Russell Martin became the cleanup hitter, Tony Abreu batted
second (one hit, two strikeouts) in his third Major League game and Ramon
Martinez (0-for-3) started at shortstop. The starting nine boasted a total of
16 homers on the season, only four more combined than Ramirez has alone.
Of the Dodgers' 14 current position players, seven have no Major League
homers this year, and Nomar Garciaparra has only one after tying for the club
lead last year with 20. Garciaparra's home run drought has reached 136
at-bats.
He's still clutch enough to lace an RBI single past former teammate Cesar
Izturis during the Dodgers' eighth-inning rally, but there would be no
miracle comeback like the night before. Martin followed Garciaparra's single
with a walk to load the bases, but Will Ohman caught pinch-hitter Kent
looking at a called third strike on a breaking ball to end the inning.
A last-gasp ninth-inning bid against Chicago closer Ryan Dempster also fell
short as Olmedo Saenz, whose pinch-single started the eighth-inning rally,
ended the game with a double-play grounder. Juan Pierre and Andre Ethier had
two hits apiece for the Dodgers.
"We put ourselves in a position to come back, it just didn't happen," said
manager Grady Little.
Hendrickson pitched better than four runs in five innings looked. DeRosa's
home run barely made it into the right-field box seats.
"Those were probably pitches just a little bit up, outside, and they hit them
out," said Hendrickson. "I felt good. There were some hits that were
unfortunate and some hits that really hurt. It just wasn't meant to be today."
Hendrickson is winless with a 6.86 ERA over his last four starts, but he also
has the lowest run support in the Major Leagues going back to the start of
2006. When he left after five innings, the Dodgers were being shut out.
In the fourth inning, the Cubs fought off several sliders for soft singles,
and the inning was extended when Zambrano legged out a slow roller to
Martinez, the fill-in shortstop, a play that might have turned out
differently with Furcal's rifle arm.
"I know he runs well, he's a good athlete, so I had to hurry," said Martinez.
"I would have barehanded it, but I didn't want to take a chance."
Furcal said the club didn't want to take a chance with his right knee, which
tightened up in the later innings of Friday night's wild 9-8 comeback
victory. It's the same knee that was operated on early last year after he
signed a three-year, $39 million contract.
"The last three innings I started to feel it a little bit, and I sat down
after an inning and when I got up, I felt it and, 'Oh, what's going on?' " he
said. "I didn't feel 100 percent, I was limping and they didn't want to take
a chance it would be longer. I came to the park today and in my mind I want
to play. I think I'll be OK tomorrow. I took a lot of treatment today."
Kent is expected back Sunday, and he won't have to fight Martin to get back
the cleanup spot.
"I'll let Jeff handle it tomorrow," said Martin, who went 0-for-3 with two
strikeouts in his first game batting fourth.
Chad Billingsley followed Hendrickson with three scoreless innings, allowing
only one infield single with three strikeouts. Brett Tomko made his first
relief appearance since coming out of the rotation earlier in the week and
pitched a perfect ninth inning.
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紅紅的花開滿了木棉道~長長的街好像在燃燒
沈沈的夜徘徊在木棉道~輕輕的風吹過了樹梢
木棉道我怎能忘了~那是去年夏天的高潮~木棉道我怎能忘了~那是夢裡難忘的波濤
啊 愛情就像木棉道~季節過去就謝了
愛情就像那木棉道~蟬聲綿綿斷不了
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