2 Dodgers Veterans Stuck on The Bench

CHICAGO, Oct. 3 -- Between them, Jeff Kent and Nomar Garciaparra have 4,163 hits, 603 home runs, 11 all-star game appearances and one MVP award. They have a combined 145 playoff at-bats. But so far this postseason, the two veteran Los Angeles infielders have scarcely stepped on the field; only Kent has appeared, and that was as a pinch hitter.

This means, for one thing, that the Dodgers have a formidable bench. But it also means their high-profile bench players must conform to a new -- and minimal -- role.

Truth is, the Dodgers have resurrected their season -- they hold a 2-0 lead in the division series against the Cubs -- with little help from Kent and Garciaparra.

Kent hit .280 with 23 home runs this year, but late-season knee troubles limited his availability as Los Angeles surged to claim the NL West. Garciaparra returned from the disabled list in mid-August, having recovered from a strained knee ligament, but since then he's hit just .247. The late September return of shortstop Rafael Furcal (back) further minimized Garciaparra's role.

As a postseason veteran himself, Dodgers Manager Joe Torre knows that Kent and Garciaparra are facing difficult situations. But he's handled both players with a matter-of-fact manner. Torre never went out of his way to speak with Garciaparra before the postseason, and he talked to Kent only to gauge the knee injury.

"[Kent] told me he felt he could play," Torre recalled, "and I told him what my plans were, to start [Blake] DeWitt at second. He wants to play, and he certainly understands and has understood the fact that whatever I want to do is certainly -- he respects that, let's put it that way."

Fukudome Sits Down

For much of the season, Chicago Manager Lou Piniella continued to start right fielder Kosuke Fukudome, even when his play didn't merit such patience. In the second half of the season, Fukudome batted .217 with a .314 on-base percentage. Piniella decided to use Fukudome as an outfield starter at the beginning of this series largely because of his defense.

But eight hitless at-bats later, Piniella's patience has worn out. In Thursday's game, Fukodome went 0 for 4; three of those at-bats ended with helpless strikeouts. And after the game, Piniella pledged to stick Fukudome on the bench.

"From now on I don't want to hear about Fukudome anymore as far as whether he's going to play or not," Piniella said. "I'm going to play [Mike] Fontenot or Reed Johnson or somebody else and that's the end of that story. The kid is struggling, and there's no sense sending him out there anymore."

Brewers Run-Shy

In their two losses at Philadelphia, Milwaukee totaled three runs and seven hits.

CC Sabathia's rough outing in Thursday's loss was a surprise, even though it was his fourth straight outing on three days' rest. But when it came time for his teammates to pick him up -- a situation that really hadn't come up since he arrived in Milwaukee in a July 7 trade with Cleveland -- they couldn't.

"You know what? We wouldn't be here without CC," catcher Jason Kendall said. "We wouldn't be here without our bullpen. Bottom line is we lost those games because we didn't hit. Everybody didn't hit."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.