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LOS ANGELES DODGERS CLIPSTHURSDAY, MARCH 20, Adrian plans to play opener despite sore backBy Ken GurnickSYDNEY -- Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez has lower back tightness he thinks was triggered by sightseeing, but it shouldn't keep him from starting Opening Night against the D-backs."I need to rest, get off my feet," said Gonzalez, who was removed from Thursday night's 4-2 exhibition win against Team Australia in the fourth inning. "I've done a lot of walking around the city. I'll be good [for Saturday night]. I'm positive I'll feel better tomorrow."Gonzalez said he felt discomfort in pregame stretching, but started the game hoping it would improve."It actually got tighter," he said. "I swung at a pitch in the second at-bat, and it didn't feel good. I finished the at-bat because I didn't want to take myself out of the game in the middle of the at-bat."Gonzalez reached for his back on that pitch before lining out sharply to right field. When the Dodgers took the field for the bottom of the inning, left fielder Scott Van Slyke had replaced Gonzalez at first base and Mike Baxter had taken over left field.Gonzalez said he had planned to play seven innings. Manager Don Mattingly said he "feels good" about Gonzalez's chances of being available for the Opening Series this weekend.Gonzalez was the iron man for the Dodgers last year, playing in a team-high 157 games and through a painful strained neck muscle.Puig leads comeback against Team AustraliaBy Ken GurnickSYDNEY -- A flop in the Cactus League this spring, the Yasiel Puig who dazzled America last summer revived the show Down Under on Thursday at the fabled Sydney Cricket Ground.The Dodgers' flamboyant right fielder slugged his first home run of the exhibition season and threw a runner out at the plate as the Dodgers edged Team Australia, 4-2, in their final tuneup for this weekend's Opening Series against the D-backs."I haven't hit one for a while, so it's great to get back out again," said Puig, who came into the game with a .122 batting average this spring."I did feel bad [about the poor spring numbers]. I have been preparing well, but it's not going as well as I'd hoped for. Spring Training, at the end of the day, doesn't matter. It's two months, and the season is long. Those at-bats are the ones that matter."Manager Don Mattingly seemed to agree, discounting Puig's batting-practice results as well."With him, batting practice means pretty much nothing," Mattingly said. "We know Yasiel can hit. The games before we left, he swung OK but didn't get hits."I see this as a year of transition for him. We've seen [pitchers] make adjustments and seen him handle the adjustments and make them back. He showed last year he can."Puig tied the game with a towering two-run shot to left field in the eighth inning off Matthew Williams, scoring A.J. Ellis, who had walked. It was only the second hit of the game for the Dodgers, the other coming from first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who left after his fourth-inning at-bat with lower back tightness.The Dodgers took the lead later in the eighth. Chone Figgins followed Puig's homer with a walk, took third when second baseman Logan Wade booted Mike Baxter's routine grounder and scored on catcher Ryan Battaglia's passed ball. Baxter scored on Juan Uribe's single.The Dodgers went with a lineup that might show up again Opening Night, although Mattingly wouldn't confirm that. It had Dee Gordon leading off at second base, Puig batting second and Scott Van Slyke in left field.Prospect Zach Lee, the starting pitcher for the Dodgers, allowed one run on three hits with six strikeouts in four innings. Fellow non-roster pitcher Red Patterson allowed one run on two hits with four strikeouts in three innings.Lee, most likely ticketed to Triple-A Albuquerque this year, said SCG felt like a typical baseball stadium and resulted in "just a normal game."Lee pitched out of a second-inning jam by getting Logan Wade to bounce out with runners on second and third and two outs, but Australia found the scoreboard in the third inning.With one out, former Boston prospect Mitch Dening was nicked by a pitch, Brad Harman doubled him to third and Red Sox farmhand Stafan Welch's sacrifice fly to deep right field scored Dening.Australia scored another run in the sixth inning on a leadoff walk to Harman, a wild pitch, a groundout and a two-out, broken-bat infield single by Mike Walker, who took second on Justin Turner's errant underhand flip to first.Tim Kennelly then singled to right field, but Puig easily threw out Walker at the plate to end the inning.Blue grit: For Mattingly, toughness breeds successBy Ken GurnickSYDNEY -- The Dodgers are rich and talented enough. But are they tough enough?Don Mattingly wanted to see more toughness from the club when he took over as manager three years ago. The Dodgers showed grit in 2013 in storming from worst to first over the final three months to win the division and beat the Braves in the National League Division Series, but they stumbled on the final hurdle and were eliminated by the Cardinals in the NL Championship Series.The 2014 season opens in Australia on Saturday (1 a.m. PT, 7 p.m. in Sydney) against the D-backs, who saw a meaner side of the Dodgers during last season's melee. Both clubs can make the case that the incident decided their seasons -- for better and worse.From the on-field confrontation to clinching the division and celebrating in the D-backs' pool, Los Angeles rubbed Arizona's nose in its success, and Kirk Gibson's team is on a mission of revenge."You look at baseball and you don't think of the game in terms of toughness," said Mattingly, who got a three-year extension in January. "People think of football, hockey -- in this country, rugby. Baseball is more about mental toughness, getting ready to play day in and day out, with travel and getting into town late and all kinds of things. It's not easy to do."So is this club tough enough to clear that final hurdle and get to the World Series?"We feel like we're tough," Mattingly said. "We were down 10 games in the division and ended up winning by 10 or 11. To me, we went through a lot. We're not afraid of the field."General manager Ned Colletti said that tough teams survive "crossroad" moments in a season, a game, an inning, an at-bat."You have to prepare, to focus and have the passion for it all to be at a competitively advantageous level," Colletti said. "I think we are tough enough. We had the makings of it last year. We developed toughness through adversity. We stayed the course through the first two months, we went 42-8 and got within two wins of the World Series without [Matt] Kemp, with Hanley [Ramirez] playing hurt and [Andre Ethier] not at full strength, yet we came that close. So I know we have it."The Dodgers also have a payroll that continues to climb, now approaching $250 million, but the expectations remain the same as the day Guggenheim Baseball Partners bought the team from Frank McCourt. Win a World Series. Then another.The pitching staff is loaded. Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Dan Haren (Ricky Nolasco's replacement) could form the best starting quartet the club has had. Depending on health and the time of the year, the fifth starter could be Josh Beckett, Paul Maholm or Chad Billingsley, all former All-Stars.The bullpen is even deeper. Kenley Jansen, Brian Wilson, Chris Perez (Ronald Belisario's replacement), J.P. Howell and Brandon League have all had 20-plus save seasons -- and Jose Dominguez might have a better arm than any of them. Paco Rodriguez was one of the toughest lefties until he got worn out late, and Chris Withrow began justifying his first-round status. Veteran Jamey Wright is the long man.The main spring project was figuring out second base after miscalculating the readiness of Cuban Alex Guerrero to step in for Mark Ellis. Guerrero needs more time, but Dee Gordon made the transition from shortstop, adding his game-changing speed to a lineup that has the potential to score. Justin Turner could be the platoon-mate.And although some observers count four outfielders for three positions, having four healthy outfielders has been hypothetical so far.Kemp hasn't been healthy since 2011, and he might be soon, but there are no guarantees. Carl Crawford missed a month last season, already is absent because of the imminent birth of his child and on Tuesday left a Minor League game because of the flu.Yasiel Puig remains the wild card -- literally. After introducing himself a year ago with a jaw-dropping .517 batting average, he hit .120 this spring and has caused concern on the field. He's hitting the cutoff man, which is a vast fundamental improvement, but his baserunning discipline remains an unknown because he hasn't been on base much.The most reliable of the four turns out to be Ethier, who seamlessly became a center fielder out of necessity last season, as well as an ironman.Adrian Gonzalez was the unsung MVP of the offense last season, and Ramirez could be primed for an MVP season himself, with free agency looming. But the talk of a contract extension has quieted; the Dodgers apparently want to see if Ramirez can stay healthier than he did last season.Juan Uribe is back, and the club is hoping he plays the way he did last season, when he needed a new contract, and not the way he did the two previous years after receiving one.A.J. Ellis and Tim Federowicz return behind the plate, where offense is considered secondary to their ability to get the most out of the pitchers.The bench was rebuilt after the team let Nick Punto and Skip Schumaker depart, with Jerry Hairston retiring. Chone Figgins (after a year exile) and Mike Baxter won their spots, joining Scott Van Slyke.Backup catcher decision looms before openerBy Ken GurnickSYDNEY -- The Dodgers have at least one tough roster decision to make before the first game of the Opening Series on Saturday -- backup catcher.Tim Federowicz made last year's Opening Day roster and spent four stints as No. 1 catcher A.J. Ellis' understudy when not shuttling to Triple-A Albuquerque. But at last year's July 31 Trade Deadline, the Dodgers acquired defensive specialist Drew Butera from the Twins.For roster purposes, the difference in the pair is this: Federowicz can be optioned to the Minor Leagues, but Butera is out of options and would need to clear waivers to remain in the organization. Keeping three catchers who play no other position is very unlikely.The likely move is to option Federowicz, keep Butera as the backup, and fill the last roster spot with Cuban rookie infielder Alex Guerrero. Of the three apparent extra position players on the trip (Miguel Rojas and Joc Pederson are the others), Guerrero is the only one already on the Major League roster.Adding either of the others would require the Dodgers to move somebody off the 40-man roster.The Dodgers will have some roster flexibility when they resume regular-season play in the U.S. March 30 in San Diego. Outfielder Carl Crawford can come off the paternity list, and the three exempt pitchers (Zack Greinke, Dan Haren and Brandon League) can be activated. Josh Beckett will likely be placed on the disabled list because of a bruised hand.Signs point to Gordon leading off, starting at secondBy Ken GurnickSYDNEY -- Don Mattingly hasn't officially announced his starting lineup for the first game of the Opening Series, but the one he put on the field for Thursday's exhibition game against Team Australia will probably be repeated when the Dodgers face the D-backs on Saturday night at the Sydney Cricket Ground.Dee Gordon led off and played second base, a job he apparently won with a more impressive transition from shortstop than Cuban signee Alex Guerrero. Right fielder Yasiel Puig batted second, even though Mattingly said early in spring he's intrigued by the idea of Puig leading off.The lineup also had Scott Van Slyke in left field, where he's filling in for Carl Crawford. Mattingly said Crawford's shoulder issue has cleared, he doesn't have the flu and he will return to Minor League games Thursday. Still no word on the anticipated birth of his child, which put him on the paternity list and off the flight here.Mattingly said he would manage the exhibition like a "regular game because we don't have enough replacements. Somebody has to play. I'd like to get Van Slyke the last couple innings at first base."Both teams were restricted to bringing only 30 players on the trip.Mattingly said he would use as few relievers as possible so his bullpen was fresh for the two games that count."We've had good bullpens, doing what we can to keep them sharp," he said. "I don't want to get to Saturday and Sunday and have guys that aren't available. Our hands are tied with the number of guys available."LA TIMESDodgers' Hyun-Jin Ryu, in Australia, encounters his changeup mentor By Dylan HernandezSYDNEY, Australia — Hyun-Jin Ryu has traveled not only to the other side of the world, but also back in time.On the Australian All-Star team the Dodgers will face Thursday night is 44-year-old Dae-Sung Koo, a fellow left-hander from whom Ryu learned his best pitch, the changeup.Here to pitch the second game of the Dodgers' two-game, season-opening series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Ryu saw Koo at the Sydney Cricket Ground earlier this week. When Ryu did, he made it a point to call Koo "sunbae," a Korean term used to show deference to a senior."It was very good to see him," Ryu said through an interpreter. "I think it's about three years since I've last seen him. He hasn't changed a bit."Ryu's career was rising and Koo's declining when they intersected in their native South Korea. Ryu was a 19-year-old rookie when he met a then-36-year-old Koo, a teammate on the Hanwha Eagles.Ryu had reasons to admire him. The previous year, Koo had pitched for the New York Mets. He was a former Olympian and Korean league most valuable player who had also spent four seasons playing pro ball in Japan.In Ryu, Koo saw a special talent."I noticed right away he had a great frame and good control of his pitches," Koo said through an interpreter.He also found Ryu to be persistent."When Ryu was a rookie, for the first month, he used to follow me around, asking me to teach him the changeup," Koo said. "So we started to play catch together."Koo laughed when recalling how quickly Ryu learned to throw the pitch."Within 30 minutes, his was almost as good as mine," Koo said.Asked if Koo was a particularly effective teacher, Ryu smiled and said, "I think I learned it really well and perfected it."Ryu was joking, but it's hard to dispute his version of the story. "He just has a great ability to learn and pick things up," Koo said.The results were immediate.Ryu had a record of 18-6 with a 2.23 earned-run average with the Eagles that season, earning the Korean Baseball Organization's most valuable player award.Koo thinks Ryu's physical features made him particularly well suited to throw the changeup. Ryu is 6 feet 2 and has wide shoulders, but Koo pointed out that he has relatively small hands."The changeup is the perfect pitch for his hand," Koo said. "He's able to grip it perfectly. For him, it's better than the slider or the curve. He has more control over it."Ryu is able to pinpoint not only the location, but also the speed."Because he has smaller hands, he can throw that slow changeup," Koo said. "If you have bigger hands, you can still throw a changeup but it would be a faster changeup."Over the last year, Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis has become familiar with Ryu's trademark pitch and what he can do with it."Ryu will throw a softer changeup at 77, then come back with a harder change at 83-84," Ellis said.Koo remained with the Eagles until 2010, when he moved to Australia to pitch for the Sydney Blue Sox. Ryu departed for the United States three years later.Ryu smiled as he reflected on their days as teammates.Koo and some of the team's other veteran players imparted lessons that Ryu hasn't forgotten."He had a huge influence on my career, not only that he taught me a pitch or two, but that he taught me a lot of different things as a mentor."Looking back, there are still two or three things that I was taught by him and some of the other veterans. Everything from how to stand on the mound, to how to carry myself, to the etiquette of the game, they really did teach me a lot."Adrian Gonzalez exits early, Yasiel Puig homers in win in Australia By Dylan HernandezSYDNEY, Australia -- Two days before opening day, Adrian Gonzalez had to be removed in the fourth inning of an exhibition game against an Australian league all-star team in a nearly empty stadium.Gonzalez said he should be ready to play in the regular-season opener Saturday against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Sydney Cricket Ground.“I’m all right,” he said. “I’ll be good.”Gonzalez said his back felt tight as he stretched before the Dodgers’ 4-2 victory over Team Australia.“I thought it would let go and loosen up,” he said. “But it got tighter.”Gonzalez grabbed his back after taking a swing in the fourth inning. He lined out to right field and exited the game.Gonzalez’s first-inning single was the only hit in the first seven innings for the Dodgers, who reversed a two-run deficit with a four-run eighth inning.The comeback started with a towering two-run home run by Yasiel Puig. The home run was the first of the year for Puig, who batted .122 in the Cactus League.“I’m content,” Puig said in Spanish. “I haven’t hit one in a while.”Puig admitted there were times he was frustrated by his spring performance.“I felt bad,” he said. “I prepared to do the best I could in spring training. But spring training is only two months. We have a long regular season that’s six months, 162 games. That’s what’s important.“My coaches and teammates have been telling me not to worry, that everything will turn out fine.”Puig also saved a run in the sixth inning, throwing out Mike Walker at the plate from right field on a single by Tim Kennelly.Zach Lee started the game for the Dodgers, limiting Team Australia to one run and three hits over four innings. He struck out six.Other than at pitcher, the Dodgers fielded what will likely be their opening-day lineup.Second baseman Dee Gordon led off and right fielder Puig batted second. Shortstop Hanley Ramirez hit third, followed, in order, by first baseman Gonzalez, center fielder Andre Ethier, third baseman Juan Uribe, left fielder Scott Van Slyke and catcher A.J. Ellis.Now Dodgers' Carl Crawford is out with the flu By Steve DilbeckThere’s no good time to get the flu, but if it has to happen there are better times.Carl Crawford tweaked his right shoulder at the plate Tuesday at Camelback Ranch and left the triple-A game against the Mariners after one at-bat. The Dodgers said the injury was minor, he was scheduled to have Wednesday off anyway and would return to action Thursday.But Wednesday he showed up to camp under the weather — not to be confused with Down Under — and was given antibiotics for the flu and sent home, according to . He’s now expected to be out at least a couple of days.Crawford remained in camp to wait for his fiancée to give birth while the Dodgers left to open the season in Australia.Crawford, 32, has been dogged by injury in recent years. He missed most of the 2012 season after surgeries to his left elbow and wrist. He returned last season and had an up-and-down season. He missed most of June with a strained hamstring, which was why the Dodgers called up Yasiel Puig.He had a nagging quadriceps injury early this spring, and despite looking forward to a full season of health, hit only .188 (six for 32) in the Cactus League, with one RBI and five runs scored.Indeed, of the Dodgers’ four star outfielders, only Andre Ethier (.324) hit this spring. Puig (.122, five for 41) struggled even worse than Crawford and Matt Kemp is still recovering from off-season foot surgery and didn't appear in a regular spring game.DAILY NEWSLight-bulb technology created for astronauts might help Dodgers avoid jet lag in SydneyBy JP HoornstraGLENDALE, Ariz. – What do baseball players and astronauts have in common?Odd dream jobs. Other than that, usually very little.This week is different. The Dodgers have been using technology developed for astronauts on the International Space Station to help adapt to a time zone 18 hours away. If the players seem slightly less tired than their opponents during the first two games of the season, science deserves partial credit.A set of two LED (light-emitting diode) light bulbs were given to players Saturday, the day before the team flew to Sydney, Australia. One light bulb tricks the brain into thinking you’re seeing daylight, the other into thinking it’s nighttime.“Scientists have found a new sensor in the eye that’s directly connected to the part of the brain that controls our body’s internal clock,” said Robert Soler of Lighting Science, the company behind the bulbs. “It is looking for daylight (think blue sky) frequencies to understand what time it is.”Soler said the human brain can be tricked only so much, that it won’t move the internal clock forward or backward by more than an hour or two. That’s why the Dodgers were given the bulbs a day before their flight: to get a head start on their new time zone by turning the daytime bulbs on during daytime in Sydney.It was quite a scene. At one point Sunday afternoon, pitcher Zach Lee sat by his locker in a well-lit clubhouse with a reading lamp glowing nearby. He wasn’t reading a book or doing a crossword, just letting his brain receive the light.“When it’s time to go back to L.A., we do the opposite,” Soler said. “Turn this light on before the sun rises, and trick your body clock to thinking it’s daytime.“This one is the tricky part,” he continued. “You can’t shift back more than two hours per day, or your clock will want to go the opposite way. For example, if a player sees a sunrise in Sydney, then sees a second sunrise in L.A. 18 hours later, his clock won’t know how to process an 18-hour day. It can, however, understand a 22-hour day. So we need to approach with a series of 22-hour days in order to get back.”The Dodgers’ brains should be less difficult to trick than the astronauts’. The technology that went into the light bulbs was originally developed for the ISS, where astronauts see 16 sunrises every 24 hours, Soler said.The light bulbs were installed in every player’s hotel room by the time the team arrived in Sydney. Still, performance on a baseball field isn’t a practical tool for measuring the success or failure of the light bulbs. There are too many outside variables.To provide more useful feedback, the Dodgers were given a set of nine Basis wristwatches. In addition to telling time, the $200 watches collect data about deep sleep, light sleep and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, as well as heart-rate activity, skin temperature and perspiration. Manager Don Mattingly is among the nine wearing the watch.“This will be the best way for us to find out if the players are acclimating correctly,” Soler said.Besides using the light bulbs and the watches, Dodgers head athletic trainer Stan Conte told players to not sleep for at least the first four hours of the flight into Sydney, and drink plenty of water before and after arriving.Dodgers pitcher Chris Withrow isn’t questioning the wisdom behind the technology.“I trust ’em,” Withrow said. “We can’t get there and not be prepared for the game. Our bodies have to be ready.”Will any of this work?“I don’t know,” Dodgers infielder Justin Turner said. “I’ll tell you when I get back.”Young Dodgers dig in to face Team?AustraliaBy Mark SaxonSYDNEY -- Three of the players from the Australian national team currently work as delivery drivers. The team's biggest hitting star, Trent Oeltjen, played 99 major league games for the Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks. Its best-known pitcher, Ryan Rowland-Smith, is a fringe left-handed reliever with a 4.57 lifetime ERA. But you never know what's going to happen when players are asked to wear their country's colors. The Dodgers play their first actual baseball game tonight (1 a.m. PT Thursday) against the Aussie national team at the Sydney Cricket Ground. This one, unlike the two games vs. Arizona this weekend, is an exhibition, of course. While pretty much every story involving the Dodgers here is cast as a "David vs. Goliath" tale, that's not quite accurate for this event. The Dodgers' two scheduled pitchers, Zach Lee and Red Patterson, have never pitched in the major leagues. For a guy like Patterson, a fringe prospect fighting hard for recognition, this exhibition game could help him gain a foothold in the Dodgers' plans. It could help Lee, a first-round draft pick, inch a little closer to the major leagues. "We’re in Australia. I get to throw against the national team. What more could you ask for?" Patterson said. Patterson, who turns 27 in two months, could be entering a make-or-break season. He was effective pitching in both relief and as a starter at Triple-A Albuquerque, going 7-4 with a 3.03 ERA at an extreme hitter's park. He had 109 strikeouts and 49 walks. But he doesn't have overwhelming raw ability, and the Dodgers have a strong core of pitchers who could move up from Double-A. Of course, there's only so much he can do. Patterson had a 0.93 ERA in 9 2/3 innings this spring and he already has been reassigned to the minor leagues. "I tried to do what I could to get on the radar, show everybody what I could do, and I feel like I accomplished that," Patterson said. "I'll just keep going."Dodgers painted as villain in?AustraliaBy Mark SaxonSYDNEY -- Before the Los Angeles Dodgers even boarded their plane for Australia, one player said he thought the fans Down Under would be rooting for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Zack Greinke set that tone when he said he couldn't think of "one reason to be excited" for the trip to Sydney. Zack Greinke probably didn't win over fans in Australia with his comments about not wanting to play there.Greinke's not even here, but the Dodgers are continuing -- against their wills -- to play the role of the villain. On Wednesday, the Daily Telegraph newspaper ran a headline that read, "Another Dodger hits at Australia." It linked to a Los Angeles Times article about Andre Ethier being upset about the outfield playing surface at the Sydney Cricket Ground, though Ethier was never quoted saying as much. The Dodgers media relations people scrambled to quash that story line by having Ethier do a series of interviews with Australian media members after Wednesday's workout. Didn't matter. The Dodgers continue to be viewed as Goliath here. In Thursday morning's Sydney Morning Herald, there is a rooting guide to the opening series. It said that if the Dodgers lived in Australia, they "would spend most of their time sipping lattes at Bondi. The payroll at the Dodgers is U.S. $245 million compared to $110 million for their rivals Arizona. If you like the idea of hanging with celebrities in Hollywood and strolling down Rodeo Drive, the Dodgers are your team." The article went on to say that Dodgers players would spend their offseasons on private jets visiting resorts while the Diamondbacks would "spend time catching up with family and friends enjoying sports on television." The Diamondbacks, of course, haven't done much to dissuade the public in Australia of these notions. They held a press conference before they boarded their charter in Phoenix to announce to the world, once again, how thrilled they were to be going to Australia. While the Dodgers sent a small contingent of backups and minor-leaguers to Bondi Beach for a clinic with little-leaguers Wednesday, the Diamondbacks' entire roster hit the beach nearby. The narrative is pretty well set in motion these days. The Dodgers only hope this is one of those rare movies where the bad guys win.Yasiel Puig puts arm, bat on display in?AustraliaBy Eric StephenYasiel Puig had by far his best game of the spring in Thursday's exhibition game against Team Australia, with a home run to left field and a strike from right field to highlight the Dodgers' 4-2 win in their final exhibition tune up before their opening series in Sydney.Up 2-0 in the sixth inning, Team Australia threatened to add another run on a single to right field by Tim Kennelly. Mike Walker tried to score from second base but was thrown out by about 10 feet by Puig (GIF thanks to Chad Moriyama):In the eighth inning, still down 2-0, the Dodgers relied on the only two starting position players still in the game to rally. A.J. Ellis walked to open the inning, but two strikeouts later the Dodgers were just four outs away from getting one-hit by a rag-tag group of mostly minor league Aussie pitchers.That's when Puig, hitting .122/.136/.195 in the spring entering Thursday and 5-for-44 to this point, launched a ball over the left field wall off Matthew Williams:Puig's first home run of the spring was the Dodgers' second hit of the game and, with two outs, tied the score at 2-2. Two walks, an error, a passed ball and a single later the Dodgers added two more runs for a 4-2 lead.Don Mattingly told reporters before the game that he wanted to get eight innings out of non-roster pitchers Zach Lee and Red Patterson, and he nearly got his wish. Lee was solid for four innings, allowing one run with six strikeouts, while Patterson struck out four in his three innings, also allowing a single run.Paco Rodriguez (one) and Chris Withrow (two) combined to strikeout the side in the eighth. Dodgers pitchers struck out 15 batters during the game.Rule 5 man Seth Rosin allowed the tying runs to reach base but pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the save. Six different Dodgers have recorded saves this exhibition season: Matt Magill with two and Sam Demel, Carlos Frias, Blake Smith, Tom Windle and Rosin one apiece.Up nextNext time, it counts for both the Dodgers and Diamondbacks on Saturday, early morning Los Angeles time. The Dodgers will have a day off Friday, then will send Clayton Kershaw to the mound for his fourth straight Opening Day start in the first game Saturday, facing Wade Miley for Arizona.Thursday particularsHome run: Yasiel Puig (1)WP - Red Patterson (1-1): 3 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 4 strikeoutsLP - Matthew Williams (0-1): ? IP, 1 hit, 4 runs (2 earned), 3 walks, 2 strikeoutsSv - Seth Rosin (1): 1 IP, 2 hits, 2 strikeoutsAdrian Gonzalez leaves exhibition with lower back?tightnessBy Eric StephenAdrian Gonzalez left? in the fourth inning of the Dodgers' exhibition with Team Australia on Thursday with tightness in his lower back, the team announced during the game.During his at-bat in the top of the fourth inning against Ryan Rowland-Smith, Gonzalez fouled off a 1-1 pitch than appeared to, ever so slightly, stretch his back or right side after the swing. Gonzalez lined out to right field on the next pitch, then was replaced at first base by Scott Van Slyke in the bottom of the inning.Van Slyke moved from left field, with Mike Baxter replacing him in the outfield.Every other starting position player for the Dodgers had at least three plate appearances. Gonzalez wanted to play seven innings, per David Vassegh of KLAC. Gonzalez was 1-for-2 in his two plate appearances, but he also had the team's only hit in the first seven innings.The Dodgers rallied for four runs in the eighth inning to take the lead.Gonzalez after the game said he was fine and expects to play in the two opening series games on Saturday and Sunday against the Diamondbacks.Gonzalez has averaged 159 games played per season for the last eight years, with a low of 156 games in 2006.USA TODAYNightengale: Lasorda a Dodger 'until the day I die'By Bob NightengalePHOENIX -- The Los Angeles Dodgers are 15 time zones away, but the club's heart and soul is left behind in the desert.Tommy Lasorda, baseball's greatest ambassador, wasn't shaking hands with dignitaries in Australia Wednesday, but shouting advice to players barely old enough to be his grandkids.For the first time in nearly 40 years, Lasorda says, he will miss the Dodgers' season opener Saturday against the Arizona Diamondbacks.And no, he doesn't plan to set his alarm at 1 a.m. PT to catch the game on TV.Lasorda, 86 and entering his 65th year in the Dodger organization, will learn the results when he picks up the newspaper at the same Fullerton, Calif. house he's resided in since 1963."I've taken enough 14-hour flights in my life,'' Lasorda, who has visited 28 countries, tells USA TODAY Sports, "I don't need another. If the Dodgers needed me to go, I would have gone."Hey, the last time I was there, things worked out pretty well."Lasorda led Team USA to a gold medal in the 2000 Olympics, perhaps the last medal his country will win in the sport."It was the greatest thrill of my life,'' Lasorda said, "and it's heartbreaking to me that it's no longer an Olympic sport. It's sad, really.''Driving his golf cart in the back fields of the Dodgers' minor-league complex Wednesday, that's about the only moment Lasorda seemed discouraged. It fades the moment he sees Charlie Hough, the 66-year-old knuckleballer, working with minor-league pitchers."Great to see you, Tommy,'' 'Hough says. "I'll talk to you later. I've got to get to work.''Lasorda yells at him."Charlie!'' he said. "You didn't say work. If you love it, it's not work! Come on, we need some life around here. I've heard more noise at a funeral.''Hough looks back, and shouts, 'OK, everyone, let's go practice to kill them Angels.'''GALLERY: Dodgers, D'backs take Australia14PhotosLasorda laughs. He actually used Hough as his greatest example of perseverance during a speech to 160 minor leaguers, recalling that Hough was nearly released five times. Once Lasorda taught him a knuckleball, Hough went onto have a 25-year career."We're playing the Florida Marlins in their first game in 1993, and we're facing Hough,'' Lasorda said. "I'm so proud of him that he's 45 years old and still pitching. But after saving his ass all of those years, he sticks it (to us)."I'm so damn mad, and I see my wife [Jo], and she's happy. She was rooting for him because he was her favorite player. I almost threw her out of the car.''Lasorda, who drives his cart around the fields for nearly two hours, is just getting started. He tells Pedro Guerrero stories. He stops and talks to virtually every minor-league coach and instructor. He calls out the names of minor leaguers. He invited 12 minor-league kids to dinner Wednesday night, after treating a few minor-league coaches Tuesday.And, yes, he's busting a whole lot of chops.CAMP CONFIDENTIAL: Dodgers have a crowd at second"Hey, where's my boy going to be this year?'' Lasorda yells to De Jon Watson, the Dodgers' vice president of player development.It takes a moment, but Watson realizes who he's talking about, and says, that Corey Seager, their top prospect, will open the season at Class A Rancho Cucamonga."Cucamonga!'' Lasorda screams. "Class A? Put him in Triple-A.''"I made Bobby Valentine my shortstop at Triple-A, and he never played a game of shortstop in his life. I remember [general manager Al] Campanis said, "You're going to get both of us fired.''Lasorda was never fired. He went onto become a Hall of Fame manager, leading the Dodgers to two World Series championships and four pennants, retiring after a heart attack during the 1996 season. He immediately became a vice president, and his only boss is owner Mark Walter."I'll never want to take off this uniform,'' Lasorda said. "I want to keep working for the Dodgers until the day I die. That's the truth."Tell me something, why would you give up something you love?''The Dodgers love him back, and the only employee that rivals Lasorda in popularity is Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully."He's got such an effect on everyone here,'' Watson says. "He picks everyone up. He tells them what it takes to be a big leaguer."And you know what, he's still a great teacher.''GAME PLAN: D'backs have done well against KershawDamon Mashore, the outfield and baserunning coordinator, is hitting sharp groundballs to his outfielders. Lasorda watched for 45 seconds, and stops the drill."Charge the ball like an infielder,'' he shouts. "I don't see you guys charging the ball! Watch the barrel of the bat! Charge it.' ''They listen, start charging the balls, and Mashore yells back: "Tommy, thank you! I've been trying to get them to do that for the last 10 minutes.''Lasorda drives by the pitching mounds, but instead of seeing anyone throwing pitches, they are looking at themselves in a mirror, studying their form."'What the hell you guys doing,'' he says. "Looking to see how good looking you are? Throw the ball. Throw the ball.''Lasorda shakes his head, he can't believe how the game has changed. There were no specialized instructors back when he played. No strength and conditioning coaches. No physical therapists."When a guy had a sore foot and needed a whirlpool,'' Lasorda said, "you put your foot in the toilet and flushed it. We had one trainer, and all he had was rubbing alcohol. After the sixth inning, he was drinking it.''Lasorda, now driving back to the clubhouse, is stopped several times for autographs. Mostly kids. None of them initially say, "Please,'' in their request. Lasorda refuses to sign until they do. When he reaches his destination, his cell phone goes off. The ring tone is Frank Sinatra, singing, My Way."My life has been so great,'' Lasorda said. "I've been blessed. Really, I couldn't ask for anything more.''Well, except for tiny little request."I'd love to see another World Series championship here,'' Lasorda says. "The fans are back now. They deserve a winner."That's not too much to ask, is it?'' ?SYDNEY MORNING HERALDWho should you support? The LA Dodgers or Arizona DiamondbacksBy Michael ChammasWhen it comes to finding a team to support this weekend, there are many variables to consider. Here's a look at what to expect.LOS ANGELES DODGERSIf they were a football team they would likely be: The Sydney Roosters or Collingwood Magpies. Nick Politis and Eddie McGuire eat your heart out - the Dodgers are owned by a group including basketball legend Magic Johnson. No demand is unreasonable. They are the new glamour club of the MLB, who if they lived in Australia, would spend most of their time sipping lattes at Bondi. The payroll at the Dodgers is US$245 million compared to $110 million for their rivals Arizona. If you like the idea of hanging with celebrities in Hollywood and strolling down Rodeo Drive, the Dodgers are your team.A night out in Sydney would involve: Yachting across the harbour before dinner at Icebergs. Adrian Gonzalez will then be cutting a rug on the dance floor in the VIP room at Marquee. If you are walking past The Darling hotel, you might find Hanley Ramirez doing the worm in the lobby on his way back up to his room.?Advertisement The music playing on the team bus would be: John Legend's 'All Of You' would get a good run, so too R'n'B and Hip Hop artists Usher, Jay Z and perhaps Kendrick Lamar. Expect to hear a bit of Latino music on your way to the ball park as well.?Their fans would spend the week: Patrolling TMZ's Twitter feed for the latest Hollywood gossip, taking selfies, producing movies, shopping, watching Entertainment Tonight and posting photos on Instagram at Santa Monica pier.Their players would spend the offseason: On private jets travelling the world jumping from one private resort to another, sitting courtside at Lakers games and hanging out with movie stars.ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS????If they were a football team they would likely be: Penrith Panthers or Fremantle Dockers. Out of sight and out of mind from the big city teams. The Diamondbacks haven't got a lot of money to spend but every once in while they are capable of going on impressive runs. They might not have the superstars but they have a team that always fights. While Arizona is desert land, both the Panthers and Eagles aren't too far away from barren land. if you like barracking for the underdog, Arizona is your team.A night out in Sydney would involve: A pub crawl through the Rocks, stopping off at?Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel, Australian Heritage Hotel and finishing off at The Argyle. Who needs dinner when there's 24 hour room service back at the hotel.The music playing on the team bus would be: Requires a far lower bass level wouldn't than what would be needed on the Dodgers' team bus. The country and western music will be blaring through the speakers, with Johnny Cash, John Denver and even Keith Urban getting a run. Definitely no Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus.Their fans would spend the week: With their feet up on the lounge, listening to talkback radio on the rocking chair, brewing their own beer, playing guitar and hoping the nearby Arizona State University students don't run amok.Their players would spend the offseason: Working on their golf swing and hanging out in the country club. They would spend time catching up with family and friends enjoying sports on television.DODGER INSIDERYasiel Puig turns spring struggles upside down Down?UnderBy Jon WeismanAppropriately, it didn’t get talked about all that much, but you could still catch some people muttering and snickering about Yasiel Puig’s homerless sub-.150 Spring Training batting average.The reprieve began early this morning – that is to say, late this evening in Australia – when Puig followed a laser assist from right field with a game-tying home run to lead the Dawn Dodgers of the 21st century to a 4-2 victory over Team Australia. “I did feel bad [about the poor spring numbers],” Puig told Ken Gurnick in his recap of the game. I have been preparing well, but it’s not going as well as I’d hoped for. Spring Training, at the end of the day, doesn’t matter. It’s two months, and the season is long. Those at-bats are the ones that matter.”Said Don Mattingly: “I see this as a year of transition for him. We’ve seen [pitchers] make adjustments and seen him handle the adjustments and make them back. He showed last year he can.”It’s a lesson not only for Spring Training, but for the start of the regular season. The results of this weekend’s games will hover in the atmosphere for more than a week until the Dodgers’ third regular season is played in San Diego; they won’t play their 10th official game until April 9, or 19 days after their first. That’s great news for someone who grabs headlines while hitting .400, but not so hot for someone who gets off to a slow start and needs playing time to whip it around.I bet more Dodger fans remember J.D. Drew went 0 for 24 to start his first year with the Dodgers than remember he had a .437 on-base percentage, .570 slugging and 1.007 OPS in the games thereafter. (I realize more people remember the season-ending hit-by pitch or the dreaded opt-out than either of those things.)Bottom line: Don’t get caught up in early, small-sample results. That includes me not getting too happy that Chone Figgins walked for the 10th time in exhibition play, a walk that later led to the Dodgers’ go-ahead run, or that Zach Lee and Red Patterson each allowed only one run in their outings (aided by Puig’s run-saving throw in the sixth) – or too sad that Los Angeles only managed one hit in its first seven innings against Team Australia, with Scott Van Slyke striking out three times.In other news:Adrian Gonzalez left the game early with lower back tightness. Gurnick reports that Gonzalez doesn’t expect that to be a factor for the Opening Series, but we’ll see how he feels in the next 48 hours. In my mind, the flight home might be the bigger hazard. Gonzalez played through neck issues at times last year.I’ve been wondering what the Dodgers will do with the option-less backup catcher Drew Butera. So is Gurnick.March 20 pregame: Practice wakeup?callBy Jon WeismanI don’t think anyone that’s on this trip to Australia will ever forget it, from the beach to the Cricket Grounds and sights in between.I don’t think I’ll forget it either, even though I’m in Los Angeles. I’m not complaining – I get to be in town for my littlest one’s sixth birthday Thursday and his birthday party Saturday – but I can’t say I don’t feel the twinge of jealousy as I see all the pictures and videos from the land far away.The Dodgers have certainly made things interesting, not only scheduling a 1 a.m. Pacific exhibition game the morning of Youngest Master Weisman’s birthday, but putting the regular season opener at the same time Saturday, where it will end just hours before a 9:30 a.m. birthday party for the little one.It’s a taxing existence, being a Dodger-watching dad, but I’ll take it. I’m ready for some baseball, sunlight or moonlight.Don’t run on Clayton?KershawBy Cary OsborneIf one would chart Clayton Kershaw’s numbers over the last seasons on line graphs, those graphs would come out looking pretty much the same — straight lines after straight lines. Kershaw has been so consistent over the last three seasons, in which statistics clearly show he has been baseball’s best pitcher (you can read about it in the April Dodger Insider magazine), that it’s a task to find deviations in the numbers. There are but a few.A very overlooked part of Kershaw’s brilliance is his ability to hold runners on. Over the last three seasons, he leads the big leagues with 27 pickoffs. Opponents have been timid on the basepaths — in 2011, teams tried to steal on him 23 times (they were successful 12 times). In 2012 the number dropped to 20 (they were successful eight times) and last season it took a dive to nine (they were successful five times).Straight-line example: According to Baseball-, baserunners had 282 opportunities (plate appearances through which a runner was on first or second base with the next base open) to steal on Kershaw in each of the last three seasons.? So last year, runners on base tested Kershaw just 3 percent of the time.Not that stolen base attempts of third base are very often, but it’s interesting to note that a runner hasn’t tried to steal third base on Kershaw since September 20, 2011 when San Francisco Giants outfielder Justin Christian was successful. ?The Giants tried to steal on Kershaw four times in the game, but were successful just once. ................
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