Last night's extra innings affair was both exciting and frustrating. My main frustration was the wekness of the lineup in extra innings, which was so lacking in punch that the opposition was able to intentionally walk Kent and Garciaparra to get to the pitcher with a man on third. Drew would have had a much better shot at a sac fly than Ramon Martinez, which would have resulted in Grady Little using Baez (which he didn't) in the bottom of the 14th. Oh well. I can live with it. Much more painful was Navarro's "ole" style of catching. I guess he just thought he had the ball. And, of course, the batter was walked, so the run might have scored anyway. No sour grapes, time to move on.
Tonight we get Odalis going against sophomore Wandy Rodriguez. Once again, the team is looking to get back to .500 baseball.
At first glance, it looks like Little was full of crap when he said that the team wasn't going to be tired after last night: Furcal, Lofton and Kent--the team's 1, 2, and 4 hitters--are sitting. But maybe he's just trying to improve the offense: Martinez and Robles have been more productive than the Mendoza Brothers, Rafael and Jeff, and Repko has pretty much earned the right to start against lefties. I'm a little surprised that Saenz isn't in at third base, actually.
The Pitching Matchup:
Odalis Perez (LHP, Dodgers) vs. Wandy Rodriguez (LHP, Astros)
For your Los Angeles Dodgers:
Repko, CF
Cruz, LF
Drew, RF
Garciaparra, 1B
Mueller, 3B
Martinez, SS
Navarro, C
Robles, 2B
Perez, P
For the Houston Astros:
Biggio, 2B
Tavares, CF
Berkman, 1B
Ensberg, 3B
Wilson, LF
Lane, RF
Burke, SS
Ausmus, C
Rodriguez, P