다저스, 피칭이 걱정이다(15-8)

Dodger Stadium seemed like a house of illusions Thursday.

The Dodgers ended the first month of their season with an 8-5 victory over the San Diego Padres to extend their lead in the National League West to 3 1/2 games and remain standing as the only team in the division with a record better than .500.
좋은 기억이 아니었던 휴스턴과 SF의 원정이 끝나고 '홈 스윗 홈'으로 복귀한 첫날 기분 좋은 스타트를 끊으며 4월에 15-8로 마감했습니다.

Meanwhile, the club's public relations department was spreading word of the opening of "Mannywood," the two sections in the left-field corner that were made special overnight with the issuing of a news release. And in what was either the latest attempt to brand nostalgia or an effort set a record for violent crimes per capita for a mail-delivery area, the club sent out another release announcing that the ballpark and its associated property would get its own 90090 postal code in June.
다저스 홍보부에서 새로이 만든 티셔츠를 판매하기 시작했는데, 가격은 모르겠습니다.

But the creation of imaginary places, the scoring of the go-ahead run on a defensive gaffe by the Padres and the blasting of consecutive home runs by Manny Ramirez and Orlando Hudson failed to conceal the problem that was on the collective mind of the Dodgers' baseball brain trust: pitching.

"We know we have that firepower that we have no game that we're out of," Manager Joe Torre said. "The fact of that matter is, if we can get any kind of pitching, we just feel we're in every game."

In the hours leading up to the start of the first pitch of a season-long 11-game homestand, management essentially conceded that the bullpen was in trouble. The number of pitchers on the 25-man roster was increased to 13, as Jeff Weaver was promoted from the minors and Cory Wade was activated from the disabled list.
일단 오늘이 로스터에 투수만 13명을 두는 다소 특이한 운영을 한 첫날이었지만, J-Mcd의 끊없는 부진을 다소나마 커버할 수 있었던 오늘이 아닐까 싶습니다. 위버가 초반 2이닝동안이 후반 2이닝에 비해 다소 불안했었지만, 스윙맨으로 좋은 역할을 해 주었습니다.
경기를 보는 내내 이 자리가 바로 올시즌 다저스의 키 포인트가 되는게 아닐까 하는 생각이 들었습니다.

"I don't know how long we'll go with 13 pitchers," Torre said. "It's ideal to have 12."
일단 토레도 12명이 이상적이라는 것을 알지만, 어쩔 수없지 않았나 싶네요. 그리고 이게 언제까지 지속될지...현재로는 로스터에 카스트로가 있는상황에서 드윗은 불필요하게 느껴지네요.

Torre declared the moves necessary, noting that he didn't want to overtax any single reliever, a concern that probably arose from the observation that ace Chad Billingsley and veteran Randy Wolf are the only members of the rotation who can be counted on to pitch deep into games.

Neither of them pitched on Tuesday and it showed.

The Dodgers got even less out of James McDonald than they did the previous night out of Eric Stults, as McDonald once again succumbed to problems with command that are said to be uncharacteristic for him.

McDonald lasted only 1 2/3 innings -- Stults pitched 2 2/3 in the final game of their nine-game trip -- and was charged with three runs, two hits and four walks.

Torre said he didn't know if the 24-year-old rookie would remain in the rotation.

"He's putting pressure on himself, which is different from the pressure of the game," Torre said.

Torre said it was important to get McDonald comfortable. A way to do that could be to send him to the minors and replace him with veterans Shawn Estes or Eric Milton, who are at triple-A Albuquerque.
토레도 역시나 맥도날드의 편안한 마음을 강조하는데, 제가 볼때는 엘버커키로 내려보내는것보다 이틀에 한번씩 멀티이닝을 소화시켜주는 방법이 좋을거 같습니다.
지금으로썬 엘버커키로 내려간다는것은 5일에 한번씩 쿠어스 필드에 서는것과 비슷하지 않을까 라는 생각을 해 봤습니다. 그건 작년 트리플 A팀인 라스베거스와는 차원이 다른 엘버커키이기 때문에 어떤 결정을 내릴지 궁금하네요.

With McDonald done for the night, Weaver was immediately called upon to start earning the prorated share of his $500,000 contract. He pitched well, tossing four scoreless innings to ensure that whatever damage inflicted by Ramirez and Co. would count for something.

Of Weaver's outing, Torre said, "That was important because he sort of restored order at that point."

The 7-0 start at home is the third best in Dodgers history behind 1946 (9-0) and 1947 (8-0). ... Manny Ramirez, self-proclaimed "double maniac," had his 514th, tying Edgar Martinez for 38th all-time. ... Mark Loretta's tying RBI pinch-hit single in the seventh inning on Thursday raised his average to .474 (9-for-19), and he's 7-for-10 pinch-hitting. ... Dodgers vice president/assistant general manager Kim Ng and Ann Meyers Drysdale, widow of Don Drysdale and general manager of the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, both received the 2009 Trailblazer Award at the Kids in Sports Circle of Excellence Awards luncheon today at the Grammy Museum at LA Live. ... Ng and longtime club photographer Jon SooHoo will be honored by the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California this Sunday at the organization's 34th annual gala dinner.
현재 다저스는 홈 7연승으로 시즌을 시작하고 있는데, 프렌차일스 3위에 해당되는 기록이라고 하는군요. 저기 8연승으로 시작한 1947년에는 월드시리즈에 진출했더군요.
매니가 계속해서 역사(?)를 쓰고 있군요.
오늘 다저스 공격의 하이라이트는 아무래도 작년까지 우리 모두를 짜증나게 했던 스위니가 아닌 로레타로 바꼈고, 그는 핀치히터로 등장해 7-10의 엄청난 성공률을 보장해주고 있습니다.
다저스의 포토 그래퍼인 Jon SooHoo가 누군지 궁금했는데, 다소나마 알겠네요...ㅎㅎ

P.S. 꾸준히 다저스의 피칭 스텝에 대한 걱정이 많은 요즘입니다만, mlbtraderumors에서 꾸준히 제기하고 있는 다저스-페드로 커넥션은 이제 그만나왔으면 하네요. 소시아처럼 우리도 내부에서 문제점을 추스릴 필요가 있어 보입니다. 일단 내일 커쇼부터....

내일 이오발디가 등판하는군요. 우리가 기대하는 모습은 언제 보여줄지...