Three of the hottest players in August decided in unison to come back to earth on Tuesday night. Andre Ethier who was among the OPS leaders in August struck out his first 3 times up and finished with a weak fly ball to left field. Crowd favorite Manny Ramirez failed to bring in any base runners and finished with a simple single to centerfield, disappointing his dreadlocked legions. Kuo who had been death to left handed batters took a close game and turned it into a laugher for the Rockies when he allowed Ian Stewart to take him deep for a 3-Run home run.
That is the same Ian Stewart who is actually producing at the level we hoped of for LaRoche. Some have felt that Ian Stewart was over hyped based on his production in hitter friendly minor leagues but in his first extended stint for the Rockies he's doing just fine. Three weeks after becoming the regular 3rd baseman for the Pirates, .Andy LaRoche continues to look more like Andy Marte then the next great NL 3rd baseman. Another minor injury might be the culprit more then his talent but maybe he will be the answer to Andrew's question about which prospect who displayed this kind of power and patience, with solid contact skills failed at the major league level.
Russel Martin watched James Loney take a walk to load the bases and then proceeded to swing at the 1st pitch, and that was the last look the Dodgers had at this game. I'm not sure where his patience has gone, we have seen him take some walks this month, but we have also seen him swing at more bad balls then I can ever remember.
If Kuo and Broxton wear down we are screwed unless Penny can give us some life in the bullpen. Looking at the schedule after these last two games with the Rockies I'll be surprised if we come back off this road trip closer then 3 games. I was worried about this stretch of the schedule back in the spring, and now that it is about to start, I'm even more worried with Wade out, Kuo starting to resemble a human being, Broxton probably due to get used more then he can handle, and more innings for a middle relief core due to get manhandled. The Philly series could be ugly and by the time they get home they will be worn out.