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| Dodgers Bop Braves With Three in Ninth
Story URL: http://dodgers.scout.com/2/733015.html | |
| Tot Holmes LADugout.com | Feb 28, 2008 |
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Baseball may not be a metaphor for life, as some think, but it can be very poetic at times and the Dodgers opening spring game in their final season at Dodgertown was exactly that -- poetic. With a Brooklyn native managing the team for he first time (Joe Torre), his team managed to put two men on third base at the same time -- shades of Babe Herman -- killing a second inning rally. Then 31-year-old rookie first baseman John Lindsey, in his first spring training with the Dodgers and who has little chance of making the team, doubled in the last of the night to drive in a three runs to turn a 4-2 Braves lead into a 5-4 Dodger victory after committing an error in the top of the inning that cost a run. Los Angeles squandered a number of scoring chances during the game, leaving 10 on base. They were 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base. The Dodgers jumped into a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Andrew Jones walked and James Loney and Matt Kemp singled to load the bases. Mark Sweeney slashed a ground single to left field to drive in Jones and Loney moved to third. Matt Kemp roared into third base right after him and was tagged out when he and Loney ended up on the same base. Juan Pierre bounced out to end the inning. Torre pointed out "Matt was just running with his head down. He's aggressive and he's young. That will get better. He has good presence in the outfield, the wind doesn't bother him. He just needs to look around. It isn't a chronic problem. Russell Martin singled in the third and attempted to steal second but the Atlanta right fielder caught the ball and nailed him returning to first. In the sixth, Jones walked again and Jason Repko ran for him. On a single to right by Loney, he was thrown out at third. "Martin was stealing and didn't pick up the ball and Repko tried to go from first to third with one out. Other than that I was very pleased with the game," Torre said. "Everyone is on their own in spring training, that way we get a feel of how they are thinking. "I think we are going to have to find a way to manufacture runs and the best way to do that is to be aggressive on the bases. This is the best time for me to get to know the players...we are going to have to made decisions from those observations." The first five Dodger pitchers of the day held Atlanta to first inning single off Jason Johnson, the only pitcher of the day to go two innings. Tom Martin was torched for a pair of runs in the seventh on three hits and Eric Hull threw a scoreless eighth. The Dodgers had tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the eighth after singles by Andre Ethier and Repko. Andy Laroche walked to load the bases and pinch-hitter Terry Tiffee coaxed a walk to tie the score. Brian Shackelford took over in the ninth and Lindsey's error was followed by two-run homer to give Atlanta a 4-2 lead. "Shack had a little trouble with his command but he got two outs after the home run and that is important," Torre said. "We threw a lot of strikes today and stayed ahead of the hitters very well. Jason Johnson looked very good. All the pitchers were very aggressive." He praised Delwyn Young who took over at second base for Jeff Kent. "He made some good plays. He needs to be able to do a lot of things, he is out of options. We'll take a lot at him at third base also. The team travels to Orlando today to play the Braves in the final meeting ever between the two teams in the spring Score by innings Braves 000 000 202-4 Dodgers 010 000 003-5 ab r h bi ave Pierre lf 3 0 0 0 .000 Hu ss 1 0 1 0 1.000 Furcal ss 3 0 1 0 .333 Martin p 0 0 0 0 .000 Ardoin c 1 0 0 0 .000 Griffin ph 0 1 0 0 .000 Martin c 3 0 1 0 .333 Koplove p 0 0 0 0 .000 Martin p 0 0 0 0 .000 Paul ph-rf 1 0 0 0 .000 Kent 2b 2 0 0 0 .000 Myers p 0 0 0 0 .000 Falkenborg p 0 0 0 0 .000 Ethier rf 2 1 1 1 .500 Jones cf 1 1 0 0 .000 Repko pr-cf 1 0 1 0 1.000 Loney 1b 3 0 2 0 .667 Lindsey 1b 2 0 1 3 .500 Garciaparra 3b 2 0 1 0 .500 LaRoche pr-3b 1 0 1 0 1.000 Kemp rf 3 0 2 0 1.000 Hull p 1 0 0 0 .000 Tiffee ph 0 0 0 0 .000 Shackelford p 0 0 0 0 .000 Johnson p 0 0 0 0 .000 Sweeney ph 1 0 1 1 1.000 Sturtze p 0 0 0 0 .000 Young ph 2 0 0 0 .000 Totals 31 5 12 4 Braves 33 4 5 2 Error- Lindsey (1). 2B- Kemp (1), Lindsey (1). 3B- Furcal (1). S- Paul. CS-Hu. LOB- Dodgers 10, Braves 3. in h r-er bb so era Johnson 2.0 1 0-0 0 0 0.00 Sturtze 1.0 0 0-0 0 0 0.00 Myers 1.0 0 0-0 0 0 0.00 Falkenborg 1.0 0 0-0 0 0 0.00 Koplove 1.0 0 0-0 0 2 0.00 Martin 1.0 3 2-2 1 0 18.00 Hull 1.0 0 0-0 0 1 0.00 Shackelford (w) 1.0 1 2-1 0 0 9.00Dodger Blue Notes-- Chad Billingsley, scratched from the opening game by a tightness in his groin, threw a simulated game and pitching coach Rick Honeycutt declared him good to go. ...Minor leaguer Greg Miller told The Dugout he was "Very Fine". ...Faced with a sellout of the Coliseum against Boston March 29, the Dodgers have made another 25,000 tickets available, boosting the total to 115,000 and becoming the biggest crowd to ever watch a baseball game. Many of the additional tickets will be standing-room only, with people allowed to stand behind the right field fence and tickets will be sold on the peristyle. The proceeds of the game will benefit ThinkCure, the Dodgers fundraising charity for cancer research. 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