FUTURE ON DISPLAY AT CHAVEZ RAVINE DODGER ROOKIES SHOW THEIR STUFF VS. PIRATES.Byline: Tony Jackson
Anthony (Antonio) Jackson, best known as Tony Jackson Staff Writer One hundred and fifty miles to the north of a pretty good pennant race, the Dodgers played the Pittsburgh Pirates This article is about the baseball team. For the National Hockey League team, see Pittsburgh Pirates (NHL). For the National Football League team (1933–1940), see Pittsburgh Steelers. on Monday night in the dreary finale to a weekend wraparound Wraparound A financing device that permits an existing loan to be refinanced and new money to be advanced at an interest rate between the rate charged on the old loan and the current market interest rate. series between a couple of also-rans. But hidden beneath all that late-September monotony was a glimpse into the Dodgers' future, a future that can't be any worse than their depressing present. If this keeps up, it might actually get better. Edwin Jackson Edwin Jackson (born September 9, 1983 in Neu-Ulm, Bavaria, West Germany) is a Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and currently plays for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. , once the organization's top pitching prospect, took a small step toward regaining that stature, allowing just one earned run earned run n. Baseball A run scored without the aid of an error, used in computing earned run averages. Noun 1. earned run - a run that was not scored as the result of an error by the other team in just more than five innings. Willy Aybar Willy Del Jesus Aybar (born March 9, 1983 in Bani, Dominican Republic), is an infielder in Major League Baseball under contract with the Atlanta Braves. He is the older brother of Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim shortstop, Erick Aybar. , who just might be the prototypical leadoff hitter In baseball, a leadoff hitter is a batter who bats first in the lineup. Strategy Leadoff hitters must possess certain traits to be successful: they must reach base at a proficient rate and be able to steal bases. this club has lacked for years, reached base in each of his first three plate appearances, including a critical double to begin a three-run rally in the third inning. The Dodgers took an 8-3 lead into the top of the eighth in front of 36,397. Whatever tension this joke of a National League West had left to offer was being felt down the coast, where division-leading San Diego and second-place San Francisco were embroiled em·broil tr.v. em·broiled, em·broil·ing, em·broils 1. To involve in argument, contention, or hostile actions: "Avoid . . . in a tight game the Giants ultimately won 3-2. At Dodger Stadium, where the home team had been eliminated two nights earlier, it was footloose foot·loose adj. Having no attachments or ties; free to do as one pleases. footloose Adjective free to go or do as one wishes Adj. 1. and fancy free. And all about the future. Jackson, whose only real hiccup hiccup or hiccough, involuntary spasmodic contraction of the diaphragm followed by a sharp intake of air, which is abruptly stopped by a sudden, involuntary closing of the glottis (opening between the vocal cords); the consequent blocking of air came when he walked three consecutive batters to force in a run in the third inning, and Aybar weren't the only rookies who shone for the Dodgers. Jason Repko, who came to spring training as an afterthought but has been in the big leagues for all but eight days this season, tripled in one run, scored another and made a beautiful running catch in center field. Franquelis Osoria relieved Jackson with a man on and one out in the sixth and retired the side on two ground balls. Finally, Hong-Chih Kuo relieved fellow rookie Steve Schmoll with runners on first and second and one out in the top of the seventh and got out of that jam, striking out Rob Mackowiak and getting Ryan Doumit to ground weakly to second to preserve the one-run lead. The veterans got into the act, too. Jose Cruz Jr. hit a towering home run off Pirates right-hander Kip Wells with one out in the fifth, the switch-hitting Cruz's sixth homer since joining the Dodgers and just his third this season from the left side of the plate. The blast gave Cruz a six-game hitting streak, during which he was batting .500 (12 for 24) after adding a double in the seventh inning. The Dodgers begin their final home series of the season tonight, a three-game set against Arizona. One Los Angeles victory will mathematically eliminate the Diamondbacks from the playoffs, which would be especially sweet for the Dodgers after they were swept in a three-game series in Phoenix last week. Jackson was far from dominating, but he was even farther from the inconsistency that saddled him with an 8.84 ERA after his five previous appearances in the big leagues this season. He walked four batters, the last of which earned him a seat on the bench with one out in the sixth, but he allowed just four hits. The Pirates got an unearned run in the second when Cruz, playing right field, bobbled a base hit by Nate McLouth, allowing Mackowiak to score all the way from first. That elicited more boos from the crowd, which had reacted angrily in the bottom of the first when the Dodgers loaded the bases with none out against Wells but failed to score. Tony Jackson,(818) 713-3675 tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo, 3 boxes Photo: L.A.'s Willy Aybar slides safely into second base on a steal attempt as Pirates second baseman Jack Wilson can't come up with the ball. John McCoy/Staff Photographer Box: (1) DODGERS vs. ARIZONA - Tony Jackson (2) DODGERS 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. (3) NL WILD CARD |
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