Thanks to the success of late additions Jon Garland and
Vicente Padilla, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre is caught in a pickle.
When the Dodgers secure a playoff berth and their second straight National
League West title, and that will happen very soon, Torre must construct a
winning rotation for the playoffs. Torre has been in this position before with
all the aces he had as manager of the New York Yankees, so deciding on who
will take center stage in the postseason should be a piece of cake.
Torre has solid starters in veteran Randy Wolf, youngsters Hiroki Kuroda,
Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley, and aforementioned newcomers Garland and
Padilla. But Wolf is safe for now with his ability to hit all corners of the
plate and change speeds on every pitch.
"Wolfie more than anybody [needs to be kept on cycle] because he's more of a
touch guy as opposed to more of a power-type pitcher," Torre said on LA's
site. "I don't mind giving Kuroda the extra day, but with Wolf, you want him
to stay sharp with his command and everybody else just has to fall in line."
Wolf is 6-0 with a 2.71 earned run average in his last nine starts, with the
Dodgers going 8-1 in that span. Padilla is 3-0 with a 3.62 ERA in six starts
with the Dodgers (92-61), while Garland is also 3-0 with a 2.33 earned run
average in four LA starts. Kershaw hasn't won since July 18, while Kuroda is
5-1 with a 3.12 ERA in his last 11 games (10 starts). Billingsley, who
probably has an edge on being the fourth starter, is 0-4 with a 5.71 ERA over
the past seven trips to the hill, six of which have been starts.
Los Angeles has the best record in the NL, with Philadelphia second at 89-63.
ROCKIES: The National League Wild Card-leading Colorado Rockies went from
Seiko to Rolex in a matter of weeks, but have stumbled a bit in their quest
for a second playoff berth in three seasons.
Colorado (86-67) is 3 1/2 games ahead of Atlanta for the final postseason spot
in the National League and has lost two straight and seven of 11 since an
eight-game winning streak. The upcoming schedule seems pretty daunting with
St. Louis, Milwaukee and Los Angeles on the docket, with the Cardinals still
searching for a win to clinch the NL Central for the first time since 2006.
They will visit Colorado for three games at Coors Field starting with Friday
night's series opener.
Colorado has a magic number of seven to clinch a postseason spot.
"Everybody asks us if we feel pressure. We really don't, because we're in the
lead right now," Rockies starter Aaron Cook said on the team's official Web
site. "Everybody else is trying to catch us. We've just got to keep going out
there and playing well."
Cook is slated to take the hill this evening in his first appearance since
August 21 against San Francisco. He is only 1-4 in eight career games (7
starts) against the Cardinals, but beat them back on June 6 this season with
eight innings of one-run ball.
GIANTS: 'Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping, into the future.'
This excerpt from Steve Miller's 'Fly like an Eagle' pretty much sums up San
Francisco's chances of reaching the postseason for the first time since the
2003 campaign. The Giants (82-71) are tied with Florida at four games behind
Colorado for the NL Wild Card lead with nine to play, and have lost five of
their last eight games.
San Francisco had a great opportunity to cut into the lead after the Rockies
lost to San Diego Thursday night, but a late implosion by closer Brian Wilson
kept the club four games off the pace. After Brad Penny threw eight sparkling
innings of one-run ball, Wilson gave up a two-run shot to Jeff Baker in the
ninth inning to suffer his seventh blown save.
"We had the right guy there," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of having Wilson
on the hill. "I'll never have a problem with the job he's done. We wouldn't be
here without him."
Wilson and the Giants can only hope the hit by Baker doesn't seal their fate.
After this four-game set versus the Cubs, the Giants, who need help from
around the National League, will also welcome NL West-rival Arizona to town
for three games. They will close out the regular season with a three-game set
at division-foe San Diego.
PADRES: The San Diego Padres currently have the longest winning streak in the
NL West division at two straight games. Unfortunately, that run will not end a
two-year playoff drought for the ballclub.
Bud Black's ballclub has been collecting the wins as of late with two in a row
and five of six. The Padres (71-83) are trying not to finish last in the NL
West for a second consecutive season and are 4 1/2 games ahead of the
basement-dwelling Arizona Diamondbacks in the standings. The two also-rans in
the division will kick off a three-game series Friday at Chase Field.
Streaking Friars starter Kevin Correia will take the hill tonight and is
3-0 with a 2.41 earned run average in his last five starts. Correia beat
Pittsburgh his last time out in Sunday's 4-0 win, as he delivered seven
shutout innings and gave up six hits with five K's.
"I threw a lot of strikes," Correia told the team's site. "I went deep in some
counts early, which got my pitch count up and I was just happy to get some
quick outs after that and be able to stay in the game a long time."
Correia (11-10, 4.08) has stepped up in a big way after injuries to the
rotation and the trade of Jake Peavy. He has set career highs for wins (11),
innings (183), strikeouts (131) and starts (31) in 2009. The right-hander
hasn't fared so well against the D-Backs, however, going 1-2 in four matchups
against them this season. He is 1-5 with a 4.25 ERA in 17 career games (8
starts) versus Arizona.
In other pitching news for San Diego, closer Heath Bell became the third Padre
to record 40 or more saves in a season. He joined Trevor Hoffman and Mark
Davis.
DIAMONDBACKS: There have been a handful of bright spots for the Arizona
Diamondbacks this season, but not enough to help the organization from missing
the playoffs for a second straight year and sixth time in seven seasons.
Despite owning the single-season strikeout record with 208, breaking his own
mark of 204 set in 2008, D-Backs third baseman Mark Reynolds has enjoyed a
productive campaign with career highs in hits (145), home runs (43) and runs
batted in (100). His .266 batting average is the best since he hit .279 two
years ago.
Reynolds set a goal of 30 homers and 100 RBI before the season, and hit that
mark this week.
"That was one of my goals at the beginning of the season and I finally reached
it," Reynolds said. "It's kind of like the monkey off my back; now I can just
go out there and have fun."
Too bad all that fun won't carry the team into the playoffs, but a strong
foundation under interim skipper A.J. Hinch has been set. Hinch is 54-70 after
taking over for Bob Melvin, who went 12-17 after 29 games.
Besides the season-ending injury to ace Brandon Webb, Arizona outfielder Chris
Young is batting only .206 with 13 homers and 38 RBI this season. Young had 22
homers and a career-best 85 runs batted in the previous year, while clubbing a
career-high 32 home runs in 2007.
Meanwhile, Arizona (66-87) has an $8.5 million option on Webb for the 2010
campaign and will owe him $2 million if it decides not to exercise the
option. Hinch better make sure the D-Backs pick up that option.
"If Brandon Webb is healthy, obviously he can help our club," Hinch said on
the club's site. "It would be a major boost for everything from morale to
belief in what we can become to just a will to win every time he's on the
mound. That's going to be a huge focus early in the offseason as to what's
going to happen with him."
©2009 Sports Network. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
