Dodger Odds & Ends

Throw strikes: I am getting sick and tired of watching these guys come in and start hitters off with ball one. The Dodgers walked 23 batters in the series, which gives you a sense of what I mean. Jonathan Broxton, who has pumped strikes all year, threw first pitch balls to four of the seven guys he faced on Sunday. Will Ohman threw ball one to his one hitter, who tripled, and Ronald Belisario threw first pitch strikes to only four of the eight batters he faced. I am only going to use Sunday as an example because I don't have the patience to go through Friday and Saturday without getting angry.

I love watching Clayton Kershaw pitch, especially when he is throwing more strikes. I am not asking for him to be a strike thrower like Greg Maddux, but just a little more consistency would be nice, and he did that on Sunday. He hit a rough patch in the third and fourth, but for the game he was great, throwing first-pitch strikes to 17 of the 24 batters he faced.

Owning the Rockies: The Dodgers are getting fat against the Colorado Rockies. They are 8-1 against them this year, outscoring them 77-42 in the process. They are 11-2 against them dating back to August 21 of last season. It's safe to say the Rockies are playing a big role in the Dodgers ruling the West and having the best record in baseball.

Someone go deep!: Does anyone remember the last time a Dodger went deep? It was Jamie Hoffman off Matt Palmer on Sunday. Before that? It came on Tuesday, May 19. Casey Blake is the last regular to hit a home run, doing so against John Maine in a 5-3 win over the Mets. The Dodgers are still scoring runs, but with just two dingers since Juan Castro went deep in Florida in the series finale on May 17.

Schmidt is worthless: What a bum. He's been shut down because of soreness in his horrible, awful, worthless pitching shoulder. Are they sure it isn't in his head? (That's a joke about being hit in the head) Schmidt is the worst thing that's happened to this organization since Darren Dreifort. At least Andruw Jones' deal was two years, is pro-rated and has some of it (very little, but hey, it's some) being picked up by another team.

Kuroda makes another rehab start: On Wednesday, Hiroki Kuroda pitched for Inland Empire and did not pitch well. He gave up seven runs (five earned) in five innings. We'll see if they decide whether he needs another rehab start. If not, expect him to pitch at home against the Phillies. I feel bad for Chris Withrow, who pitched the final five innings of this 10-inning affair against Modesto, striking out 10, and giving up one run, but the 66ers stopped scoring after Kuroda left.