I have to admit, I was cursing the baseball gods, breaking stuff, and generally burning things in effigy after the 1-3 post-Manny start. I had lost all faith. I had foresworn the gospel. I was a baseball Judas.
But I have reformed. The Dodgers can play! They do some good little things to win. They play good defense, and the pitching has been remarkably adequate. Don't let the record fool you, the Phillies are a good team and taking 2 of 3 in Philly is huge. Beating Volstad in Florida is no small feat either, given that guy's stuff. And now they face Andrew Miller and Jon Koronka, not exactly the aces of the Marlins staff.
The Dodgers have magically transformed into a "Moneyball" style force that relies on getting guys on base. I have been critical of Joe Torre, and the bullpen (both handling and personnel) remains a mess, but the Pierre, Furcal, Hudson sequence in the lineup really puts a lot of pressure on opposing pitchers and I think it is working for this team. I don't know how long they can continue to prevail like this once Pierre (inevitably) reverts to the norm of his performance, but so far this style of ball has worked and we need to give credit where it is due.
