BY SCOTT LAUBERLOS ANGELES -- Brett Myers started it.
Intentional or not, Myers threw a pitch behind Manny Ramirez in the first inning of Game 2 on Friday at the Bank. None of the Dodgers pitchers saw fit to retaliate. The whole thing was a topic of conversation in the Dodgers' clubhouse here Saturday, and of all people, Japanese right-hander Hiroki Kuroda decided to do something about it tonight.
With two out and the bases empty, Kuroda threw a pitch over Shane Victorino's head in the third inning of Game 3, and Victorino didn't like it. He gestured at Kuroda. He motioned to the Dodgers' bench. If Kuroda was going to hit him, Victorino preferred it would be in the back or on the side. Anywhere but the head. After grounding out to end the inning, Victorino and Kuroda exchanged words (in their native tongues), and both benches and bullpens emptied. It got heated. Victorino and Ramirez needed to be restrained, and Larry Bowa and Davey Lopes pointed at each other.
Victorino declined to comment on the incident directly, but joked that he didn't understand what Kuroda was saying. "I should've brought So [Taguchi] out there to translate.
So, Brett, look at what you started.
"I didn't think the ball was even close to his head," Myers said of his pitch to Ramirez. "I definitely wasn't trying to hit him. It's an unwritten rule that you don't go out and try to hit somebody in the head. They did what they had to do. I was surprised they threw at [Victorino] instead of [Ryan] Howard or [Chase] Utley."
So, what do you think? Did Myers try to hit Manny? Did Kuroda try to hit Victorino?
***Quote of the night, with much-needed perspective on the Game 3 loss, came from reliever J.C. Romero: "Everybody knew coming out here wasn't going to be easy. Everybody knew it wasn't going to be four-up, four-down. It's a tough environment, but we're still on top. We're still in a good position."
More from Dodger Stadium before Game 4.
3 comments:
Kuroda was clearly throwing at Shane. After Shane yelled at him with the whole at my ribs not my head thing, Russell Martin went to the mound and you could see him mouth to Kuroda "You did the right thing, don't worry about it"
I wouldve liked to have seen Ruiz try to get under Mannys skin when he came up in the 4th or 5th after the benches cleared. You could clearly see him yapping at Ruiz and therein mightve been an opportunity to let his temper get the better of him.
Lost in all of this was Moyers' pitiful showing. You could tell that LA had an aggressive, first-pitch-swinging attitude coming into the box and after the third straight hit you mightve thought Jaimie wouldve changed his approach but evidently did not.
I think Myers was just trying to go up and in on Manny, and it"got away"from him. Kuroda didn't really want to put anyone on base so he threw basically over his head with no intention of hitting him. Now as far as Condrey's "chin music" on Martin anyone think that might have been for him not trying to get out of the way on Moyer's 0-2 74mph slider that hit him in the first inning. As far as Moyer's performance, it was more a result of a lineup who have hit him very well for a long time, especially Ramirez and Garciaparra.
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