Some serious ugliness settles around the McCourts' team

The Dodgers blew a 7-run lead tonight and lost to the Phillies, the loss delivered with ace closer Jonathan Broxton on the mound — again. On a bad day all around, the story is in the ledes:

Dylan Hernandez, LAT:

Manager Joe Torre wouldn't say that Jonathan Broxton was no longer the Dodgers' closer. But he also wouldn't say that he still was.

Times blogger Steve Dilbeck:

What a meltdown. What a completely miserable meltdown.

ESPN's Jon Weisman:

I don't have anything I feel compelled to say, but I feel compelled to say something. That's usually a recipe for some pretty poor writing, but on a night like tonight, who will really notice?

Not that anybody really expected the Dodgers to be good during the year of the divorce. But the worst news of the day might be that Matt Kemp's agent, the former Dodgers pitcher Dave Stewart, says the team's brightest young star might need to go play elsewhere. From Bill Plaschke's column tomorrow:

"I'm almost to the point — and maybe so are the Dodgers — where I'm thinking that this just isn't going to work," Stewart said. "The Dodgers have gaps on this team, and maybe they could fill them by trading Matt. It could be good for the team, and good for the player."

Stewart emphasized he would never formally ask for a trade, but he wonders if his client can be successful while fighting off what he claims are unfair barbs from within the organization, particularly veteran coaches Bob Schaefer and Larry Bowa, both of whom have been critical of the fundamental deficiencies in the budding star.

"It's very, very difficult to play under the circumstances that Kemp is playing under," Stewart said.

Wow. It just got a lot harder for the kid. Don't blame Rihanna.