Dodgers Diaries

When managers have been fired for leaving Pedro Martinez in the game for too long (See Little, Grady or Gump, Forrest), it’s hard to second guess Charlie Manuel, a guy with a World Series ring to show for his baseball acumen, for removing the crafty righthander after seven dominating innings in Friday afternoon’s game. Martinez had thrown just 87 pitches, hadn’t walked a batter and hadn’t really given up a hard-hit ball. Neither of the two base hits he permitted were blistered and even the outs were quiet, especially Manny Ramirez’s two infield popups and a strikeout.

Manuel also had hoped that pinch-hitting for Martinez in the top of the eighth would give his bullpen something more than a 1-0 lead to protect. Alas, Ben Francisco hit into an inning-ending double play that made that strategy moot.

But I can’t blame Manuel for pulling Pedro in that situation. Chan Ho Park had shut down the Dodgers a night earlier, and the bottom of the order was coming up. Casey Blake’s hit to lead off the eighth could easily have been called an error, as could Ronnie Belliard’s bunt past the mound. If Chase Utley turns the double play on Russell Martin’s groundout, one run might have scored, but not two; they might still be playing now but for that miscue.

What I can blame Manuel for is the path he wore down between the mound and the first base visitors’ dugout that inning, bringing in five pitchers — FIVE —to get three outs. Having two situational lefties in the pen is a manager’s dream, but a fan’s nightmare. Five times the game was interrupted for endless commercial breaks while another Phillie pitcher spurted a tiny bit more gasoline on the smoldering situation.

Multi-pitcher innings are killing the rhythm of the game in my opinion. How about a rule limiting the total number of trips to the mound in any one inning to two? The first six innings of the game were played crisply and beautifully; the last inning took over an hour, most of it spent watching men in red uniforms take a walk from the bullpen to the mound.

Then again, the best part of the day was watching another man, Andre Ethier, walk 90 feet from home to first, driving in the game-winning run. Ethier battled J.A. Happ back from 1-2 to work out a bases-loaded walk that forced in Martin. It wasn’t much, but it was enough. The less said about Manny’s feeble first-pitch pop-up on the ensuing at-bat the better.

The Dodgers go to Philadelphia just like they headed to St. Louis, confident after stealing a game from the jaws of defeat. It’s not a 2-0 lead, and it wasn’t a completely humbling loss like the one the Cardinals suffered a week ago. But it’s a whole lot better than the alternative.

And Vicente Padilla! What a gem. You could see the physical pain it caused him to come out of that game with no chance for a victory. But after yet another seven-inning performance, allowing just the solo homer to Ryan Howard, he’s the Dodgers’ top playoff pitcher.

--- JOHN ROSENTHAL.