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The reeling Dodgers had a couple of things go right today. First, they scored — five times. That hadn't happened in a while. They got a home run, from Rafael Furcal in the 11th inning. Rookie Delwyn Young got the start in left and went 4 for 4. With the regular lineup's worst on-base hitter and weakest power guy, Juan Pierre, finally bumped down to the 7th spot, the 1-2-3 hitters went 5-for-14 with a walk and a couple of runs. And they won, so the Dodgers move four games back over .500 and could nudge into a tie for third place if Colorado loses. Meanwhile, the Angels have a better record than any team in the National League and lead their division by three games.
Still fun: Dodgers PR director Josh Rawitch travels a lot, of course, but he still gets a kick at taking in a stadium for the first time. He blogged before last night's game in Cincinnati: "Sitting in the dugout here at Great American Ball Park and expecting it to get even hotter tonight and tomorrow (and throughout the weekend)...the Reds did a really nice job on this ballpark when they built it. Somehow, I had never been here before this trip, so I'm fortunate enough to chalk up another stadium to the list. I think I'm somewhere around 25 now, including all the NL parks (and some defunct ones)."
* Dodgers acquire Mark Sweeney: They get the veteran pinch hitter from the Giants for someone to be named. He adds a lefty hitter off the bench, but who departs the roster? The kid who just went 4 for 4? Maybe Saenz? Jon Weisman has some thoughts on that.