No Kuo?

Greg Maddux got his 355th career win in the Dodgers 2-1 victory tonight over the Giants tonight, but the bigger story for Dodgers fans was the no-show by Hong-Chih Kuo.  Kuo warmed up briefly and then disappeared, which is a bad sign for his chances of making the playoffs.  Tonight was supposed to be a test for his tricep problem, and apparently things didn’t go well.  This means the Dodgers will probably go into the post season without their main lefty setup guy.  On the season, Kuo was 5-3 with a 2.14 ERA over 80 innings.  Those are numbers you hate to be missing when you need them most.

On the positive side, Rafael Furcal is looking better each time out, and I would be shocked if he didn’t start at short during the playoffs.  He went 2-for-4 tonight. Jeff Kent extended his hitting streak to 4 games since coming back, and apparently he really wants to play in the post-season because the arguement he is making in his favor is strong.

Kudos to Blake DeWitt for carrying the team offensively tonight, not exactly what you would expect to see from a rookie 2nd/3rd baseman hitting .265, especially when your starting left fielder is Manny Ramirez.  DeWitt went 3-for-4 with a home run, 2 RBIs, and a walk.

Pablo Ozuna got some playing time in the outfield tonight.  It looks like Joe Torre is testing him in the outfield in an attempt to circumvent using 5 outfielders in the playoffs.  This, along with Ozuna’s usefulness as a pinch runner and infield defensive replacement, looks like a move to free up a spot for Jeff Kent.  If this is the case, the bench is going to be pretty stacked with veteran pinch hitters.  You’ve got Jeff Kent 21st on the all-time doubles list, also with 377 career homers and 1518 career RBIs, Nomar Garciaparra .314 lifetime batting average, and Juan Pierre active stolen base leader. Not bad.  Of course none of that could have occured had the “backup guys” not stepped up when the starters got injured, or in Pierre’s case lost his platoon spot when they picked up Manny.  Pierre was platooning in left with Andre Ethier before Ethier won the starting job in right by hitting .301 with 20 homers.  Casey Blake was acquired to fill in for an injured Garciaparra at 3rd.  Blake is hitting .252 with 10 homers in 206 at-bats.  And our favorite, Blake DeWitt took over at 2nd, despite being a natural 3rd baseman, and had a great rookie year, hitting .266 with 52 RBIs in 364 at-bats.

And last but not least, Takashi Saito looks like a lock for the playoff closing position as he picked up his first save since coming off the DL by retiring the side in order in the 9th.