Chad Billingsley's next start TBA

Dodgers Manager Joe Torre told KABC’s Charley Steiner without reservation that nothing’s physically wrong with Chad Billingsley, but said the pitcher's next starting date has not been locked in.

“We have a day off Thursday; we have a day off Monday,” Torre said. “We have to see how Wolfie [Randy Wolf] comes out of tomorrow night. We have to see how [Clayton] Kershaw is. I’m happy to say, we have a lot of decisions to make, and hopefully we have a full contingent to make them with.”

Torre hinted that he thinks Billingsley is pressing.

“It’s just a matter of having Bills go out there and feel comfortable enough to get a good result,” Torre said. “I think right now, I’m not worried about the intensity part. He may be a little amped right now, because yesterday I thought he overthrew to a point where he was missing his location, and when that happens you normally have to pay the price.

“Physically, he’s fine. You know, we all want the answer. I think the only thing we can say is, we have to continue to find a way to get him much more comfortable out there.”

Although Torre mentioned Kershaw in the Billingsley conversation, he indicated that the young lefty is at least 10 days away from returning to game action.

“Hopefully by the end of this homestand, he’ll have a simulated game under his belt. If that’s the case, the next plan will be a bullpen [session] or two, then a game. … If he has a simulated game this week, it’s probably going to be [another] week before he’s able to get out there for real.”

* * *

Pirates at Dodgers,
7:10 p.m.
Tonight's lineup

Rafael Furcal, SS Matt Kemp, CF Andre Ethier, RF Manny Ramirez, LF James Loney, 1B Casey Blake, 3B Russell Martin, C Orlando Hudson, 2B Jon Garland, P

Rockies at Giants, 7:15 p.m.

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Comments

[gagne55]

Torre reads Dodger Thoughts.

[bhsportsguy]

Just wondering since the AAA season ended, where is Eric Stults?

[Gen3Blue]

Good, it feels like the Dodgers are putting out their good line-up tonight. I thought we had a decent series with San Fran, but I've been uncomfortable with the notion of our "easy schedule". For various reasons these teams can be very dangerous, especially those in the Dodger's division.

[Eric Stephen]

Perhaps Stults is on "the list" in the hands of Josh Byrnes. :)

[underdog]

Wolverines!!!

[bhsportsguy]

Eric - Yeah, I thought about that. Just glad Elbert was already here.

[Gen3Blue]

Uh-oh. Some young unknown pitching for the Pirates. This could be a good game!

[Icaros]

Fanerman, I enjoyed the Philippines, but I also came home with a renewed appreciation for living and working in the US.

[Humma Kavula]

FYI:

I am finally living out my 20-year-old desire to put baby in the corner.

[yoshshmenge]

Humma - that is horrible but funny.

[yoshshmenge]

Humma - That is horrible, but funny.

[Humma Kavula]

yosh-- That's my stock in trade.

"Humma Kavula: Horrible, but funny, since 1974."

[DodgersGal]

u-dog, the Swayze news is sad, but expected. RIP Patrick.
Love the movie reference. One of my all time favs. ;-)

[Phenomenal Smith]

I believe there is going to be a Pancreatic Cancer Network (PAN CAN) fundraising walk in February somewhere in the South Bay. You can rub elbows with famous people.

Or me!

[Alex41592]

Marlins tie it up at 4 in St. Louis.

35 minutes from Rockies/Giants.

[Alex41592]

Nick Johnson hits a two run home run.

6-4 Marlins. St. Louis does not like Todd Wellemeyer. He had a 4-0 lead.

[Alex41592]

Cards come right back and tie it up.

[Phenomenal Smith]

Cardinal fans NEVER boo!

That is antithetical to their image.

[Icaros]

Cardinals fans are so perfect even their restroom stalls don't smell.

[Phenomenal Smith]

Actually all the stalls at Busch Stadium are scented with cinnamon. Also they have attendants in each bathroom who hand you a hot towel to wash you face.

[underdog]

The Bills may have choked this game away, after fumbling late, with a slim lead. Darn them. Also: Why does Tom Brady look like he's wearing goth lipstick? Either that or he's slowly losing oxygen.

[Icaros]

Well, I already hate football this season.

[underdog]

Also as part of this AFL throwback game (there will be several throughout the year -- just wait til the Broncos bring out their ugly AFL jerseys), the refs are wearing throwback red and white striped shirts, too. They look like old guys who work in an old timey ice cream parlor.

[Phenomenal Smith]

Texas is being shut out at home by Brett Tomko.

[Icaros]

I hear some NFC refs will be sporting Hot Dog On A Stick unis.

[underdog]

Complete with juice-squeezing pogo sticks I hope, Icaros.

[underdog]

Old friend Andrew LaRoche is batting 2nd. Cool.

[OhioVic]

Amazing loss by Buffalo after scoring to go up 11 with 5:30 to play.

[underdog]

Doesn't look like a big crowd, at least not too many in the bleachers. But still, I wonder if there will be many fights breaking out between Dodgers and Pirates fans.

[underdog]

Also, Garland isn't off to a very good start. But that's okay.

[Phenomenal Smith]

I talked to the Pirates fan before the game. He said it was cool.

[underdog]

Ump is also kind of squeezy, frankly.

[Craig88USC]

I just located that Pirate fan in the stands all decked out. Brave soul.

[underdog]

Hah, PS.

Meanwhile, I believe Eric Stephen and trainwreck will be having split focus, er, foci, tonight.

[Craig88USC]

Jon G. gets out of the jam!

[Phenomenal Smith]

That strikeout keeps us from having to reenact scenes from "The Slender Thread."

I was going to play the Steven Hill role.

[underdog]

Ahhh... he gets out of it.

Btw, back to the actor's death today, I thought this tweet from actor James Urbaniak was pretty funny and hopefully not too tasteless:

RIP Patrick Sway--IMA LET YOU FINISH BUT BEYONCE MADE ONE OF THE BEST VIDEOS OF ALL TIME!!

[Icaros]

Whew...for a second there, Garland was in danger of losing his spot on the playoff roster to Chad Billingsley.

[desecrator09]

Cant believe the Bills blew that game....

[Craig88USC]

What a killer lineup tonight. Let the track meet begin ...

[desecrator09]

lol Icaros. That would be sayin something about Garland too if that happened....

[regfairfield]

I think one of my friends beat him on that theme.

"Yo Patrick Swayze, I know you just died and all and imma let you finish but Michael Jackson's death was the best of this year."

[TA]

The Dodgers will sweep the Pirates and Giants. Their next loss will come in Washington when Billingsley starts. Take it to the bank.

[Craig88USC]

The Raf is warming up for the Fall.

[Bluebleeder]

it sure would be nice to get a healthy lead on the rox...

[Gen3Blue]

Shame on me-- I already fell asleep for a minute here on the east coast.
Garland must have been OK--now lets get the youngster McCuteon or whoever.
Yeah----go Furcal!

[desecrator09]

Wow, did you here that lineup for the Giants for the weekend? Thats almost ufair lol

[Craig88USC]

Bisonator!

[Jack Dawkins]

This first inning may drag on 45 minutes at this rate.

[underdog]

Well he tweeted it more than an hour ago, so maybe it was a close call as to who came up with it first.

Off topic but speaking of twitter, early reviews from TV critics tweeting about Jay Leno's new show are... not kind, let's just say.

Okay, let's go 'Dre.

[underdog]

I think Vin is confused if he thinks Tim Linecum might pitch Friday against the Dodgers. On 3 days rest?

[OhioVic]

I do think we're going to start seeing Furcal running a lot more

[underdog]

There are too many McCutchens in this game.

[Jack Dawkins]

Ha...sounds like Manny changed his walkup music to El Rey.

[Craig88USC]

El Maniaco bangs a base hit ...

1-0

... here we go!

[Alex41592]

Great relay. They get one though.

[underdog]

Posted by: TA | September 14, 2009 at 07:30 PM

Are you giving odds on that bet? (I think they lose one to the Giants, and Billingsley will win the following week.)

[desecrator09]

Awwww, that was a nice tag though...

[D Wreck]

missed tag...

[underdog]

Great play to get the Bison. Oh well. A run is nice and stuff.

[JB 8]

Wow. Cant believe they got Kemp on that one. I was calling 2-0 outloud before the ball even got to the wall.

[Craig88USC]

If it were the playoffs -

Matty would have been safe!

(and the catcher would have been out ... cold)

[D Wreck]

never mind, i rewound it. from the back of kemp view it looked like it was missed at first.

[Gen3Blue]

Without a perfect play, the Bison scores, so that was the right way to go. Now we have a lead for Garland to protect, and I think he can do it--he has the experience.

[OhioVic]

I see the Dodgers activated Mota. He must have recovered from that ingrown toenail.
Without surgery even.

[Icaros]

HGH works great on ingrown toenails.

[Craig88USC]

EZ 1-2-3 for Garlo

[Alex41592]

The Giants have the bases loaded and nobody out in the 2nd inning.

[Phenomenal Smith]

Using steroids is only bad if you're a good player. If you're a bad player, you can cheat all you want.

[regfairfield]

Over under on how long it takes "Kanye interrupts your tweet" to be co-opted by unfunny people and run into the ground: 2 days.

[Blue Velvet Jones]

It's a bad week to be nicknamed "Bills"...

[Alex41592]

Rowand singles to score two.

2-0 Giants Bot 2.

[KoufaxFan]

"Nobody puts Baby in a corner." -Johnny Castle

R.I.P. Patrick Swayze

[Craig88USC]

Blake in shake mode ...

[desecrator09]

I still cant believe the Bills choked that one away. I mean, you REALLY had to screw up that game for the Pats to win it if your the Bills. I give credit to Brady though for that beautiful drive to the endzone he did. I hate any Boston team with a vengeance though lol

[Icaros]

Duane Kuiper's histrionics suggest the Giants have just won Game 7 of the World Series.

[Alex41592]

Russ looks like he's gained at least 20 pounds since April.

[Alex41592]

Velez sac fly.

3-0 Giants.

[Craig88USC]

Pick one ... and crush it, JMART

[Craig88USC]

... wrong direction.

[underdog]

I recommend not watching that game, Icaros, to avoid self-torture. (Did he say "The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! Oh, I mean, the Giants score two! The Giants score two!")

I'm fine with SF winning today, helps the Dodgers, and then the two teams can split their next two and the Dodgers can again pummel the Giants next weekend and they're toast anyway.

[Jon Weisman]

Give up trying to come up with the earliest example:

@franklinavenue MTV VMA ratings are in, and it looks liHOLD UP KAYNE HERE. MTV I'M REALLY HAPPY FOR YOU BUT "MAD MEN" IS ONE OF THE BEST SHOWS OF ALL TIMES
about 6 hours ago from TweetDeck

[Craig88USC]

The O-Dog - Best #8 hitter in the NL!

[WBB]

It's almost midnight in Buenos Aires, and I have to work tomorrow, so I'm just gonna assume this lead holds up.

[gagne55]

*Russ looks like he's gained at least 20 pounds since April.*

I remember Martin being quoted a few weeks ago that he had lost weight coming into the season. But since he struggled he decided to put it back on. Or something like that.

[Alex41592]

Find a way to lift the ball Garland.

[Craig88USC]

C'mon RAFFY

Make it 3 - zip

[Jack Dawkins]

I feel like Vin the other night askign "what happened to my world?" I have absolutely zero interest in being tweeted. I want my minor celebrites to hibernate back in the interior pages of the tabloids where they belong.

[Gen3Blue]

Good, Furcal making them throw a lot of pitches. But I really can't remember leaving all these men on base. If they got men to third with one out, or men on first and second with no out, runs were scored by the sixty's teams.

[Craig88USC]

Keep throwin' strikes, Jon.

[Alex41592]

Molina HR.

4-0 Giants Bot 3.

[underdog]

Seems a bit harsh, des.

[underdog]

RT @jackdawkins You kids stay off my cricket pitch!

;-)

[Alex41592]

Really, we're going to go through this again? Relax.

[Alex41592]

Good pitch to get Jones. Right where Martin wanted the ball.

[Alex41592]

O-Dog!

[Jon Weisman]

Nice, Orlando~!

[underdog]

Lovely web-gem by the O-Dog!

[Craig88USC]

That would be sayin something about Garland too if that happened....

Posted by: desecrator09 | September 14, 2009 at 07:28 PM

--short memory, des? That was only 30 minutes ago and u now forgot that Jon was pitching? ;)

Whew! DP!

[desecrator09]

Why my comment get deleted? Just cuz my opinion of Garland is different than everyone elses? Thats so lame.