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Atlanta Braves defeat LA Dodgers 4-3. It looks like the two closers Joe Torre had in mind to replace Jonathan Broxton temporarily didn’t quite work out. After Chad Billingsley’s seven-innings of one-run ball, Torre had Hong-Chih Kuo come in for a two-inning save. The eighth inning was no problem for Kuo in his usual spot as he retired the side in order, but the ninth inning was a disaster. Singles to Alex Gonzalez and Brian McCann and a walk to Brooks Conrad loaded the bases, and Torre put in Octavio Dotel. A bases loaded walk to David Ross to cut the Dodger lead to 3-2 and then the cherry on top: the milkman Melky Cabrera singled to left field for the walk-off win. For those keeping score, no decision for Billinglsey, loss to Kuo and a blown save to Dotel. The loss puts the Dodgers 11 games behind the San Diego Padres in the NL West and seven games behind the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants for the wild card with eight weeks left in the season.
NOTABLE NOTES
Dodgers sign first-round pick. After allegations of the Dodgers trying to save money by drafting an unsignable pick in the first round, the Dodgers have come to terms with high school standout Zach Lee minutes before the 9 pm PDT deadline. Lee was recruited by LSU as a quarterback for their football team had already began camp for the Bayou Bengals. According to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, Lee received a $5.25 million bonus spread over five years. A standout right handed pitcher, Lee fell into the Dodgers’ laps at 28th overall because other teams were afraid Lee preferred to be a quarterback making him unsignable. Even Logan White, the Dodgers’ assistant general manager overseeing the amateur and international scouting, admitted during the last homestand that, “if we don’t sign him it’s not because we can’t afford him.”
“It’s going be a tough decision that comes down to the wire.” White is nothing but honest, no?
Hard Luck Stafon. Tennessee Titans and former USC Trojans running back Stafon Johnson sustained a dislocated ankle, broken fibula and a high ankle sprain in the fourth quarter of a preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle on Saturday. The injury was sustained as he was hit by safety Kam Chancellor, and Johnson had surgery on Monday and is expected to be out for eight to 12 weeks.
Johnson signed with the Titans as an undrafted free agent during the offseason after suffering a life-threatening injury from a 275-pound barbell falling on his throat while with the Trojans last season in his senior year. He carried the ball three times for 23 yards for the Titans in their first preseason game as he was battling as a long-shot to back up 2,000-yard rusher Chris Johnson.
Among the moving scenes was seeing Johnson’s former head coach at USC and current Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll rush over to give Johnson some comforting words as he was being tended to on the field and Johnson in tears as he was being carted off the field.
Clippers’ Jerseys Unveiled. The Clippers with the help of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan unveiled their new uniforms featuring some minor changes.
TONIGHT’S ACTION
LA Angels (60-59) at Boston Red Sox (67-52). Jered Weaver (11-7, 2.87 ERA) vs. Clay Buchholz (13-5, 2.49 ERA). 4:10 pm FSWest, AM 830 KLAA.
Colorado Rockies (61-56) at LA Dodgers (60-59). Jhoulys Chacin (5-8, 4.04 ERA) vs. Clayton Kershaw (10-7, 3.17 ERA). 7:10 pm KCAL9, AM 790 KABC.
