Although flame-throwing Dodgers setup man Jonathan Broxton will take over as the club's primary closer while Takashi Saito recovers from an elbow sprain that is expected to sideline him for at least six weeks, Broxton won't be the only person filling in. Manager Joe Torre said before Friday night's second-half opener at Arizona that as many as four different pitchers could be used in save situations.
One of them is veteran Chan Ho Park, who is being moved from the starting rotation to the back end of the bullpen. This despite the fact Park is 1-0 with a 2.16 ERA in five starts.
"When I have started him, I have certainly liked the results," Torre said. "But I like him out of the bullpen. I want to have him available more times than once every five or six days (even though) he would rather start."
Broxton did get the ball for Friday night's game at Arizona, entering to begin the bottom of the 11th inning with a one-run lead. He responded by blowing away three consecutive Diamondbacks hitters, striking out the final two, to record his first save of the season.
Torre said he also would consider Hong-Chih Kuo or Joe Beimel in closing situations if an opposing club had an abundance of left-handed batters coming up in the inning.
DODGERS 8, DIAMONDBACKS 7 (11 innings): James Loney's home run off Doug Slaten in the top of the 11th capped the Dodgers' comeback Friday from an early three-run deficit. It was the last of a season-high four homers for the Dodgers, two of which were hit by Nomar Garciaparra, whose most recent two-homer game had come in 2002. Matt Kemp also homered, tying the game at 7-7 when he went deep off Leo Rosales with one out in the seventh.
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I live in a blackhole so to speak when it comes to MLB blackout rules. Not quite as bad as the 6 team blackout for Iowa, or the 6 team blackout in some parts of Vegas, or even not quite as bad as those in the panhandle of Texas being considered "home" territory for the Houston Astros, even thought they are more than 8 ho
What a top of the 9th, 4 runs (so far), Kemp and Ethier coming up clutch. Nomar leading it off with a double Loey follows with a single, Jones gets an RBI fielders choice (thanks to Drew for the boot). THey just pulled Lyons, with Ethier on 3rd after his go ahead triple.
Is Joe Beimel in Torre's dog house or did he have an injury that I wasn't aware of? The reason I ask is through the 1st 3 months he led the team in appearances and since the middle of June he hasn't pitched nearly as much.
By Wayne Lin. The All-Star game is finished and now the second half of the season starts off with formidable matchups, and players are being called up from Triple A in hopes to make a playoff run. The second half of the season promises to be a hot one with developing story lines in the AL and NL East...
