Torre's tweaks give Dodgers lineup a boost, but it's not enough in Game 4 of NLCS
THE NUMBERS don't add up.
The Dodgers scored no runs against Phillies starters in Games 2 and 3 of the National League Championship Series. That's 15 innings, and nada.
This, from a team that shared the National League batting average lead at .270, led the league with a .346 on-base percentage and ranked fourth in runs scored, playing in a much more pitcher-friendly park than the three teams that scored more.
They entered last night hitting .234 in the series with a .277 on-base percentage. And, not coincidentally, they trailed the best-of-seven series, 2-1.
They didn't exactly explode last night, either. They managed four runs off seven hits, but lost, 5-4, on the Phillies' rally in the bottom of the ninth.
Dodgers manager Joe Torre last night used his fourth different lineup in as many games. Matt Kemp, who often hits second against righthanders, hit there again, as he did in Game 2 against Pedro Martinez. Third baseman Casey Blake, entering the game 1-for-11 with three strikeouts, dropped to eighth; he hit fifth twice, then sixth.
Rafael Furcal, 1-for-11 with one walk, remained atop the order. Manny Ramirez, 3-for-12 with three strikeouts and a homer, sat at fourth.
The lineup might matter less than its collective mindset.
"We've been taking good swings," insisted James Loney, 3-for-10 with a homer entering last night. "I think, throughout the lineup, we might have been missing our pitch a few times."
Loney acknowledged that players often miss their pitch when they try too hard. That had to end, he said.
"I think, just try not to overdo it," he said. "Not going up there and thinking you have to get the big hit. Sometimes, you can get caught up in the hype."
Numbers aside, sleepy bats are nothing new for the Dodgers. They tend to awaken violently.
They scored one run in the losing first two games after the All-Star break, then won five straight. They scored three runs in three games in St. Louis in late July, then scored at least five runs in five of the next six games, including a 17-run effort against Milwaukee.
"We've seen this before," Torre said. "You know, we don't score runs, and then, all of a sudden, boom, things turn around for us."
Of course, when things turned around, they weren't playing the same team possibly seven times in a row.
Dodges
Joe Torre reiterated that nothing was physically wrong with Game 3 starter Hiroki Kuroda, who came off a 3-week layoff following a neck injury and lasted only four outs, giving up six runs. Kuroda reported to work healthy yesterday and could be used later in the series as a starter or out of the bullpen . . . Chad Billingsley, the All-Star righthanded starter who pitched himself out of the playoff rotation with his poor second-half performance, pitched 3 1/3 innings in garbage time in the Game 3 blowout, his first postseason outing in six games. He gave up two runs, but he impressed Torre enough to warrant consideration for further use later in the series . . . Game 2 star Vicente Padilla will start Game 5, while Clayton Kershaw, the battered starter of Game 1, will go to the bullpen. *
