DODGERS CAN'T DEAL WITH LIMITED OPTIONS CUBS 2, DODGERS 1.Byline: Tony Jackson
Anthony (Antonio) Jackson, best known as Tony Jackson Staff Writer For eight innings Tuesday night, Chicago's Carlos Zambrano Carlos Alberto Zambrano (born June 1, 1981 Puerto Cabello, Venezuela) is a right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who has played for the Chicago Cubs since 2001. He is signed with the Cubs through the 2012 season. demonstrated why he is the real ace of a Cubs staff on which marquee names Kerry Wood Kerry Lee Wood (born June 16, 1977 in Irving, Texas) is an American baseball player. A right-handed pitcher, he plays professional baseball for the Chicago Cubs. Wood became a high school phenom while attending Irving Mac Arthur High School in Irving, Texas, for his first and Mark Prior have spent way too much time on the disabled list. For eight innings, Brad Penny Bradley Wayne Penny[1] (born May 24, 1978 in Blackwell, Oklahoma)[2] is a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers.[3] Early career showed why the Dodgers were willing to give up so much to acquire him at last year's trading deadline. And then, after Zambrano and Penny turned the game over to their bullpens, it dissolved into this for Dodgers manager Jim Tracy
The Dodgers, as they have all year, are carrying 12 pitchers, leaving them short a position player. The switch-hitting Milton Bradley  This article or section is written like a personal reflection or and may require .Please [ improve this article] by rewriting this article or section in an . has a torn ligament in his right ring finger, leaving him unavailable and irreplaceable unless and until he goes on the disabled list. And lefty-hitting infielder Oscar Robles Oscar M. Robles (b. April 9, 1976, in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico) has spent much of this decade as a third baseman for the Mexico City Red Devils (Diablos Rojos del México), and briefly as an infielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers from May 2005 through 2006. , one of the four remaining players on the bench, had been used. That left Tracy with catcher Jason Phillips Jason Phillips can refer to:
Dempster bats and throws right handed. He has a win-loss record of 56-59 and an earned run average of 4. . So Tracy took his chances with the lefty-hitting Rose, who flied out, and saved Saenz for last. Saenz grounded out to end the game, leaving the Dodgers with a 2-1 loss to the Cubs in front of 37,221 at Dodger Stadium, and leaving organizational insiders to ponder whether it might be time to go back to a more traditional 11-man pitching staff. That probably would mean severing ties with veteran Scott Erickson or Rule 5 pick D.J. Houlton. Or it could be as simple as optioning rookie Derek Thompson back to the minors, although he is scheduled to pitch Thursday night against Milwaukee. For now, general manager Paul DePodesta isn't thinking about what it would mean. Because, for now, DePodesta isn't thinking about going with 11 pitchers. ``Not at this stage,'' he said after the game. ``I don't think our pitching staff is capable of doing that. There are a couple of guys in our starting rotation that we can't expect to get six or seven innings out of each time. Until we can, I wouldn't be comfortable in the least going with 11. You would end up asking more of (pitchers) than they're capable of giving.'' So Tracy deals with what he has. And, as difficult as it might be for him, he doesn't complain about it. Not to the media, anyway. ``I'm not going to sit here and take shots at things like that,'' Tracy said. ``We had a left-handed batter (Rose) that we have heard is a very capable offensive player. We saw what he was capable of offensively by what he did in Triple-A (.298 average, 14 doubles, 24 RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in ). He's the right guy to have at the plate against Ryan Dempster.'' Well, he's certainly the right guy if there are no alternatives. The third-place Dodgers (26-25), 12-man pitching staff and all, fell a season-worst 6 1/2 games behind San Diego in the National League West and set themselves up for a possible three-game sweep at the hands of the Cubs. Offensively, the Dodgers have big problems, problems that go way beyond a ridiculously thin bench. But there is no getting around the fact that in the late innings of a tie game, Tracy has precious little in the way of chess pieces. Of course, what he does with what he has can be questioned at times, too. After Jayson Werth drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the ninth, Tracy ordered No. 3 hitter J.D. Drew to try to bunt Werth over. Drew tried twice and failed, then had to swing away. Then, after Antonio Perez was hit by a pitch to begin the bottom of the 10th, Tracy had Hee-Seop Choi - mired mire n. 1. An area of wet, soggy, muddy ground; a bog. 2. Deep slimy soil or mud. 3. A disadvantageous or difficult condition or situation: the mire of poverty. v. in an 0-for-22 slump but a power hitter nonetheless - to bunt Perez into scoring position for Rose and Saenz. ``You have to get to Olmedo Saenz,'' Tracy said. ``I'm not going home without the opportunity to get him to the plate. CAPTION(S): photo, 4 boxes Photo: Dodgers catcher Mike Rose, left, catches a popup in the third inning as third baseman Antonio Perez also gives chase during Tuesday's game. Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer Box: (1) DODGERS vs. CHICAGO CUBS - Tony Jackson (2) GAME RECAP (3) HOW THE RUNS SCORED (4) ALMANAC almanac, originally, a calendar with notations of astronomical and other data. Almanacs have been known in simple form almost since the invention of writing, for they served to record religious feasts, seasonal changes, and the like. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion