Dodgers Diaries

When players execute and produce proficiently, they make managers look like geniuses. Don Mattingly gets my props for leaving Chad Billingsley in to finish Wednesday night’s 2-0 shutout of the Giants. But there would be equal numbers of people jumping all over him had Billingsley not gotten the last three outs. Maybe not as many as there might have been three weeks ago, when Broxton was a little more reliable. But enough for there to be an argument.

Mattingly was also aided by the fact that it became a 2-0 game, rather than 1-0. In that situation, the textbook move is to call on your closer. From the sight of Hong-Chih Kuo warming up in the pen rather than Broxton, I have to assume that Big Jon was unavailable, which is odd, since he only threw 1/3 of an inning Tuesday, whereas Kuo threw 1.2 innings. Luckily, Billz got three easy outs and the entire pen got a night off in preparation for the series against the Mets.

We can only hope Joe Torre learned something from watching his protégé: Leave the guys in when they’re going great. With the way the bullpen looks right now, the best option is probably a slightly tired Kuroda, Kershaw, Padilla or Billingsley.

Big win for the Dodgers at a time when they really needed one. It was also good to see Casey Blake using a bat for something other than grounding out weakly. If the Dodgers are going to do anything this fall, they’ll need contributions from him and everyone else on the roster.

-- JOHN ROSENTHAL