Thursday, March 12, 2009

Manny scratched, but Dodgers beat Korea anyway

Today was supposed to be the day Manny Ramirez made his long-awaited Spring Training debut for the Dodgers. Slotted in the #3 spot and at DH, all eyes were on Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona. Kind of like when Manny was first offered that 2-year, $45 million deal with an opt-out clause after the first year.

And just like when he said no to that offer initially, Manny sat out today with a tight left hamstring.

No big deal, as he said he'll likely be back in action on Friday against the Rangers. I would think it would again be in the DH slot.

As for the game, it was more like a regular season game with Team Korea in town for a WBC Round 2 tuneup. Randy Wolf loaded the bases in the 1st but escaped, and ended up K'ing 4 in 3.1 IP. Hong-Chih Kuo got in on the action by facing 4 batters, allowing a single and hitting one batter. Ramon Troncoso gave up the 2 runs in an inning, while Shawn Estes also worked out of a bases juiced jam to pitch 2 scoreless frames.

All in all, the Dodgers pulled away from a 2-all game on a 2-run single by Chin-lung Hu in the 8th to win, 4-2. They're now at 7-6 this spring with plenty more to come.

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