The Freeway “Series” matchup with the Angels ended in the 10th with a 2-2 tie.
At the plate, Chin-lung Hu (playing second) recorded two hits and one RBI. Furcal added two more hits to drive his spring average up to a stellar .365. James Loney’s double in the eighth drove in the tying run. On a sour note, Juan Pierre’s lack of offensive production (going 0-5 with 6 left on base) does not improve his strive to earn the starting position at left field. His competition, Ethier, went 1-4 and made a spectacular leaping catch at the outfield wall as well as throwing out two runners, one being a potential tying run at the plate in the eighth inning.
Lowe started on the mound and looked decent, pitching three innings and giving up two runs off a Guerrero homer. We then got a taste of our bullpen, all of whom united to keep the Angels’ run total to two. The best news is that closer Saito pitched an inning, which gives hope that he will be near full strength and availability for Opening Day relief.
Even more problems linger in regards to the infield, though. Tony Abreu, who was likely to be the replacement at 3rd base, will be starting the season on the DL. This will likely result in the young Blake DeWitt manning third and probably Chin-lung Hu at second until Kent can fully recover.
The anticipated meeting on Thursday with Torre and the management to make roster moves only lead to the release of veteran left-hander Mike Meyers and the optioning of right-hander Yhency Brazoban to Double-A Jacksonville.
Next up: The Dodgers return to their home park to take on the Red Sox. Billingsley gets the nod and will be facing Bartolo Colon at the 7:40 PM start.
