For those who missed it, here’s a summary of what happened:

1. Derek Lowe had his first 1-2-3 inning of the night in the 5th, grounding out Rollins-Utley-Howard. He was at 74 pitches.
2. Torre, perhaps trying to learn from what happened in Game 1 of the series, takes Lowe out and replaces him with Kershaw. Kershaw doesn’t get some calls he probably should on low pitches, walks the first two batters.
3. Of everybody in the entire Dodgers bullpen, Torre brings in Chan-Ho Park to clean up the mess. A sacrifice bunt and wild pitch later, the tying run scores.
4. Either because of the all important matchups, or the sudden realization that Chan-Ho Park is kind of not good at all, Joe Bleimel comes in to finish the 6th inning. For those of you keeping count, that is three pitchers in one inning.
5. Hong-Chih Kuo comes out for the 7th inning, absolutely mows the Phillies down. In the bottom of the 7th, Kuo bats for himself with two runners on, so it’s obvious he’s going to come back in for the 8th too.
6. Kuo gives up a weak hit to the lead batter (Ryan Howard), Torre freaks and pulls him. Okay it makes sense for Kuo to be on a short leash, because his arm might fall off at any time. Who is warming up in the bullpen? Corey Wade, who pitched two innings the previous night, and Jonathan Broxton.
7. In comes Corey Wade who pops up Burrell, but then gives up a screaming linedrive to Shane Victorino that clears the wall. He gets lucky with a lineout, but gives up another hit (this time to Carlos Ruiz). Maybe having the tired guy come in wasn’t really the right idea, Joe.
8. Broxton comes in, facing Matt Stairs who hits a homerun so huge it is unbelievable. No, really, watch.
9. Dodgers are now down 7-5 instead of up 5-3, and lose game 4 of the 2008 NLCS.

It’s really interesting to watch this from the point of view of someone who has experienced the trauma, but doesn’t really care about the outcome of the game. You still get that sense of horror, but it’s a passing thing.

It’s truly a piece of work, it seems like someone made a Joe Torre parody blog…but it’s a 100% MLB backed work. Consider me subscribed, perhaps he will share his bullpen strategies with us!

You’re seriously going to give Andruw the second most plate appearances of anyone on the team, Joe? Geeze, at least it’s only for one night.

The Yankees rotation, bullpen and lineup are pretty set but if I had to guess who else is coming along for the ride I’d say:

Position Players

• Shelley Duncan – 1B/DH/OF (He has been really mashing it, there’s no way he doesn’t make the team.)
• Wilson Betemit – Infielder extraordinaire (This was pretty much set in stone.)
• mysterious other infielder, maybe Chris Woodward?

Pitchers

• Jeff Karstens – Long Relief (It’s needed, even though he is sometimes not very good at all he does have good stuff and has been doing okay.)
• Sean Henn – Obligatory Left-Handed Guy (He’s like Karstens, except left-handed.)
• Bill Traber – Obligatory Left-Handed Guy (Henn can’t stop sucking, probably will not make the club.)
• Russ Ohlendorf – Right Handed Middle Relief (Ohlendorf has really good stuff, and is who the team is looking to take the place of Joba once he moves back into the rotation after the season starts.)

Shelley could even be in the Opening Day lineup the way he’s been mashing if Matsui starts out on the DL. Honestly, I would rather see this happen and give Matsui the chance to recover completely than to rush him and watch it affect his hitting like it did last year.

In other, much more important news Bobby Murcer is okay. I am looking forward to seeing him at the last Old Timer’s Day at Yankee Stadium and cannot wait to see who his hitting coach is this year.

And here is the hilarious Joe Torre quote of the day, courtesy of the LA Times:

There is a team that Dodgers Manager Joe Torre frequently references when talking about what he wants to see from his own: the Angels.

“Very distracting,” Torre called their style.

Torre would know. During his 12-year stint managing the New York Yankees, the Angels were the only American League team to post a winning record against them, beating them in 61 of 116 regular-season games. He remembers the kind of pressure put on Yankees pitchers when Chone Figgins or Howie Kendrick would gallop from first to third on a single.

What Torre hopes is that the Dodgers can torment their opponents the same way.

At least hit-and-runs are more appropriate with the team he’s got now than the one he used to have.

Joe Torre declared Nomar Garciaparra the favorite to start at third base over Andy LaRoche. “Being the veteran guy, he has the inside track in being the starting third baseman,” Torre said.

On the bright side (for Dodgers fans), Juan Pierre is not penciled in as a starter.