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Guess who popped up with the Padres Tuesday? If you guessed Brett Tomko you would be right.
Talk about tit for tat, the Padres acquired Tomko when he cleared waivers after being released by the Dodgers. If you remember, the Dodgers did the same when the bowling ball that is David Wells was released by the Padres. Collective dumpster diving much?
Tomko, who had gotten the most boos at Dodger Stadium second to Barry Bonds, was a complete nightmare this season for the Dodgers. He went 2-11 with a 5.80 ERA. The times he did pitch well the offense gave him no runs. Then there were times when he was just plain horrible.
Having said that, I know there will be at least one game this month where he will completely dominate the Dodgers. Earlier this season former catcher and current Tampa Bay Devil Ray Dioner Navarro hit his first homer of the season against the Dodgers. There is no reason why I don’t see the same thing happening in Tomko’s case.
To more uplifting news the Dodgers are surprising me. I knew they had a good chance of winning this game, but usually that means they find ways of losing those games.
Despite early base running blunders by resident blunder Matt Kemp, they came roaring back in the fifth inning with two strikes and the game tied when Brad Penny decided to take the offense in his own hands. He hit a double that hit the left field line and ended up scoring on Juan Pierre’s single. The Dodgers would go on to a 6-2 victory earning Penny his 15th win.
The most important part of that fifth inning was the two-out scoring the Dodgers managed. Every good team has the ability to make the opposition crumble in two-out situations. The question is whether the Dodgers can continue this production. If they can, then they have a shot to smell October.
Of course I realize that by bringing this up, the Dodgers will go cold for the next week and find themselves all but eliminated from postseason contention. It's the Dodger way, right?
By the way, it's a welcoming sight to see the minor league call ups now. Let's say hi to catcher Chad Moeller, infielders Chin-Lung Hu, Andy LaRoche, Wilson Valdez and Tony Abreu, outfielder Delwyn Young and pitchers Jonathan Meloan, Eric Hull and Eric Stults. From what I hear Tony Abreu will speak sometime today or tomorrow about his mysterious abdominal injury that forced him to miss play when he was sent back down to Las Vegas.
Tomorrow's matchup features Eric Stults on the mound for the Blue Crew and Ted Lilly for the Cubs. Lilly hasn't been sharp in his last four starts with a 0-2 record and a 6.55 ERA. If the Dodgers can continue their offensive output they should have no problem in taking game three of the series.
AP Photo by Brian Kersey
