Early and Wild

Lots to chew on from the first three innings here at the Ravine.

First of all, Philly starter Jamie Moyer made sure to finish his night before the early-bird specials ended. The Dodgers knocked him out after just 1-1/3, and by then, Moyer had already allowed six hits and six runs. Moyer gave up hits to the first three Los Angeles batters of the night, and Blake DeWitt made sure the inning was a costly one with a bases-loaded triple with two outs. Los Angeles finished the first ahead 5-0. Then, Rafael Furcal led off the second with a homer to give Los Angeles a 6-1 lead.

Oh, and both dugouts have emptied after pitchers Clay Condrey and Hiroki Kuroda exchanged high inside pitches. When Kuroda neared guillotined Shane Victorino in the third, the Philadelphia center fielder turned to the mound and made a long series of gestures toward his head, as if to say, You only throw this high when you mean trouble!

And so, when Victorino dribbled out on a grounder to first, Victorino was face to face with Kuroda once more. And as they jawed, both dugouts emptied. Then the bullpens. Umps and coaches succeeded in keeping the teams from rubbing together -- it was more just a fractious red-blue staredown -- but certainly good for entertainment. Manny Ramirez was particularly upset, and at one point it seemed like he wanted to leap at whatever Philly he could find. Alas, he was cloaked by about four or five teammates and coaches, and his efforts were thus thwarted.