DODGERS PSYCHED OUT AGAIN PADRES GET THEIR NINTH WIN IN PAST 10 OVER L.A. SAN DIEGO 4, DODGERS 2.Byline: TONY JACKSON
Anthony (Antonio) Jackson, best known as Tony Jackson Staff Writer SAN DIEGO San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. -- The Dodgers can't blame this one on Lance Carter Lance Carter (born December 18, 1974 in Bradenton, Florida) is a relief pitcher for the Orix Buffaloes. He used to pitch in Major League Baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers (2006). , who was sent to Triple-A Las Vegas Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. almost three months ago and hasn't been heard from since. They can't blame it on Danys Baez, either, because they shipped him to Atlanta for Wilson Betemit Wilson Betemit, pronounced Bay-tah-mee [1], though many broadcasters mispronounce it Bet-uh-mit, (born November 2, 1981, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a 6' 3" switch-hitting Major League Baseball infielder for the New York Yankees. in a trade- deadline deal. But somewhere beneath the surface of what has become a maddening series of self-destructions against San Diego -- the latest installment being a 4-2 loss to the Padres in front of 33,244 on Monday night at Petco Park -- the Dodgers could still hear the haunting echoes of Carter and Baez, reminding them of that fateful, early-spring afternoon when this Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, rivalry turned so horrendously one-sided. It was Carter who was called upon to protect a five-run, ninth-inning lead in San Diego on April 30, when the Dodgers appeared on the verge On the Verge (or The Geography of Yearning) is a play written by Eric Overmyer. It makes extensive use of esoteric language and pop culture references from the late nineteenth century to 1955. of sweeping the first series of the season between the two clubs. It was Baez who was called upon to bail out an ineffective Carter when that comfortable lead turned razor-thin. And it was both of them who failed miserably, marking the beginning of a season-long stretch in which the Padres now have won nine of their past 10 meetings with the Dodgers and nine of 12 overall. And with this game unofficially kicking off the National League West's home stretch, that ridiculous domination is beginning to loom large in the Dodgers' collective psyche and stick firmly in their collective craw. Until something changes -- and something needs to change tonight -- the Padres unquestionably un·ques·tion·a·ble adj. Beyond question or doubt. See Synonyms at authentic. un·ques  tion·a·bil own the Dodgers. Even if they still trail them
by three games in the standings.
``They have played some good baseball against us,'' said Dodgers right fielder right fielder n. Baseball The player who defends right field. Noun 1. right fielder - the person who plays right field outfielder - (baseball) a person who plays in the outfield J.D. Drew, who lost a playable fly ball of the bat of Todd Walker Todd Arthur Walker (born May 25, 1973 in Bakersfield, California) is an infielder who recently played for the Oakland Athletics. He had previously played for the Minnesota Twins, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, and San Diego Padres. in the lights in the fifth inning that allowed Dave Roberts For other uses, see Dave Roberts (disambiguation). David Ray Roberts (born May 31, 1972 in Okinawa, Japan), is a Major League Baseball center fielder for the San Francisco Giants. to jog home from second with the tying run. ``But we still have six games against them. It's just a matter of doing the little things that we have been doing. It's unfortunate. If I come up with that play, (it) might have been a different situation. ``But they got the big hits. Now we need to come up with a few ourselves.'' In their past 10 matchups beginning with that Carter-Baez implosion implosion /im·plo·sion/ (im-plo´zhun) see flooding. im·plo·sion n. 1. -- which culminated with Tim Hamulack giving up the game in the 10th -- the Padres have outscored the Dodgers 65-35. If that was ever going to change, it figured to be this game, when scheduled starter Chan Ho Park suffered a recurrence of the intestinal bleeding that recently landed him on the disabled list and a frazzled Tim Stauffer had to scramble down the coast from Triple-A Portland on a moment's notice to make his first big-league appearance of 2006. He arrived at the ballpark exactly two hours before game time. ``I didn't even know who we were facing until I saw (fans wearing) Dodgers jerseys outside the stadium,'' Stauffer said. Even then, Stauffer couldn't have known how accommodating the free-swinging Dodgers would be. He retired the first 10 batters he faced and wound up stuffing the Dodgers on three hits over six innings with an amazing 66pitches. Padres relievers Alan Embree, Cla Meredith, Scott Linebrink and Trevor Hoffman, who breezed to his league-leading 32nd save, took care of the rest, and the first-place Dodgers (66-59) bussed back to the downtown Hyatt in the same, stunned silence they have so many times before this season. The loss went to Elmer Dessens (0-1), who gave up a triple to Mike Cameron, the first batter he faced since coming off the disabled list Friday, and a run-scoring groundout to the second one, Adrian Gonzalez. But most of the blame went to rookie Chad Billingsley, who returned to the scene of his major-league debut two months ago. He blew a 2-0 lead with his usual wildness and high pitch count after sailing through the first three innings. ``They started working counts,'' said Billingsley, who needed a staggering 95 pitches to get through five innings. ``They found ways to get on base. They hit some good pitches, and there isn't too much you can do about it. ``I thought I threw the ball pretty well, but I didn't get some pitches maybe called (strikes). I was still pounding the strike zone, but maybe just missing a little bit.'' A pivotal moment came when Little put on a hit-and-run with Billingsley, who was 1 for 19, at the plate in the fifth. He swung and missed, and Russell Martin was cut down stealing. tony.jackson@dailynews.com (818) 713-3675 CAPTION(S): 3 photos, box Photo: (1) Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley can't hold onto the ball as San Diego's Todd Walker scores on a wild pitch. (2) Tim Stauffer, making his first start of the season for the Padres, allowed only three hits. Denis Denis, king of Portugal: see Diniz. Poroy/Associated Press (3) HENDRICKSON Box: DODGERS at SAN DIEGO - Tony Jackson |
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