Nomar Garciaparra looked pretty good last night, both with the bat and in the field. It even looked for a heartbeat or two that he was going to be the big hero. Alas, warning track fly balls are pretty common in Chavez Ravine at night. The real surprise is that he's not in the lineup this afternoon. Olmedo Saenz will start against the righ-handed Ortiz today, and Ricky Ledee and Jason Repko will spell Jose Cruz and Kenny Lofton as well.
Shawn Green seems to be flailing at the ball in this series, and Baseball Prospectus has him with the 12th-worst VORP in baseball so far this year. (If that last sentence made no sense to you, do yourself a favor and visit baseballprospectus.com and take the time to look around)
Also, for those who care, Adrian Beltre--who has cashed about $18 million in checks from the Mariners since he left the Dodgers--has the 5th worst VORP in the league. I was sad to see him go, but his contract rates disaster status so far. He's been dropped to seventh in the Mariner lineup.
The Pitching Matchup:
Russ Ortiz (RHP, Diamondbacks) vs. Brett Tomko(RHP, Dodgers)
For the Arizona Diamondbacks:
DeVannon, CF
Hudson, 2B
Tracy, 3B
Gonzalez, LF
Jackson, 1B
Green (Shawn), RF
Estrada, C
Easley, SS
Ortiz, P
For your Los Angeles Dodgers:
Furcal, SS
Repko, CF
Drew, RF
Kent, 2B
Saenz, 1B
Mueller, 3B
Ledee, LF
Navarro, C
Tomko, P