Dodgers give the kids a look, but not a long one

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Go kids go …

At least for another day.

At this point in their lost season, ideally the Dodgers would like to be giving long looks at their late call-ups.

Yet 12 of their last 18 games come against teams actually still in this thing called a stretch drive -- San Francisco (three), Colorado (six), San Diego (three) -- and Joe Torre said Sunday he would play his regulars every day in the coming significant games. Significant for the other teams, anyway.

So except for six games against Arizona, Sunday was the last game where the Isotopes element of the Dodgers will get a serious look the rest of the month.

His Sunday lineup included shortstop Chin-Lung Hu, third baseman Russell Mitchell, center-fielder Trent Oeltjen and left-fielder Jay Gibbons. And in a nod to the retiring Brad Ausmus, Torre started him at catcher in the city where he spent the majority of his career.

None of the younger players getting a look, however, are exactly screaming to be on the roster for 2011. Gibbons, 33, is the best bet in the left-handed pinch-hitter role. The guys who have any shot of making a future difference have already had call-ups during the season.

And in an odd, somewhat belated admission that the season has gotten away, Torre told reporters in Houston prior to Sunday’s game:

‘It’s strange not being in the race. It didn’t happen suddenly. You sort of saw where we were headed. We haven’t been able to do anything you’d get excited about.’

-- Steve Dilbeck