Dodgers Hope To Avenge Losses against Angels

This weekend, the Dodgers will face one of only two teams to beat them in a home series this year when they face the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in a three-game set at Anaheim Stadium. The two clubs last met May 22-24 at Dodger Stadium where the Angels beat LA 3-1, lost 5-4, and captured the deciding contest, 10-7. The Dodgers’ Chad Billingsley (9-3) will pitch against Joe Saunders (7-4) in Friday’s opener, brothers Jeff (3-1) and Jared (7-2) Weaver are expected to face each other for the first time on Saturday, and Clayton Kershaw (3-5) is slated to challenge John Lackey (2-2) on Sunday. San Francisco beat the Dodgers two games out of three May 8-10 at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers come into this series having taken two of three from the A’s at Dodger Stadium. On Thursday, in the deciding match-up, LA won, 3-2, despite not having access to closer Jonathan Broxton (sore toe) for the second straight game. Ramon Troncoso, who yielded a three-run homer to Jason Giambi and solo shot to Bobby Crosby in the eighth inning of the opener, made amends Thursday by inducing the only batter he faced to hit into a game-ending double play. Orlando Hudson homered in this contest and pinch hitter Mark Loretta singled in the winning run in the seventh. Despite allowing one run and five hits in six innings, Randy Wolf again failed to get the win when the A’s scored once in the seventh to tie the score at 2-2. Despite starting a team-leading 15 games and tossing a team-leading 93 innings, Wolf’s record remains 3-2. He has 10 no decisions, a 3.29 ERA, and has left a game six times with the lead.

“It reminds you that wins and losses are out of the pitcher’s control,” Loretta said on Dodgers.com. Wolf was just happy his team finished on the winning end “We somehow find a way to have more runs than they do at the end of the game,” he said on the Dodger website. “I wouldn’t say we’re dominating, but we play a good team game. Team wins are the most important thing. We don’t need to do it by a lot.”

And Wolf’s effort did not go unnoticed by his manager. “To me, the one big star has to be Wolf,” Joe Torre said on Dodgers.com. “He didn’t have good command on all, but he pieced it together, he battled. He was determined. Because of his experience, he didn’t panic. A lot of pitchers would say, ‘It’s not my day’ and throw up their hands and get them next time.”

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Dodger Chatter: Broxton is expectedbackfor this weekend’s series with the Angels.Thursday’s triumph was Torre’s 2,195 th managerial victory, breaking a tie with Sparky Anderson and moving the Dodger skipper into fifth place behind Connie Mack (3,731), John McGraw (2,763), Tony LaRussa (2,497), and Bobby Cox (2,357). The Dodgers lead the league with 16 one-run victories. It’s been said real good teams win the close ones. LA has won 10 of Wolf’s 15 starts and seven of the last eight. Loretta had gone 14 straight at bats without a hit until his winning single against the A’s. Catcher Russell Martin announced he will donate $600,000 over the next 10 years to the ONE DROP Foundation, an organization whose purpose is to make sure clean water is accessible to all. Since returning from the disabled list, Hiroki Kuroda, the loser Wednesday, is 0-3. After beating the A’s, 5-4, in 10 innings Tuesday, the Dodgers upped their record in extra-inning games to 6-1.

By: Bob Trostler
Los Angeles Dodgers Correspondent

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