With manager Joe Torre wanting to give him a night off but not wanting to take his bat out of the lineup, Russell Martin made his first career start at third base Friday night after moving there in the late innings of two previous games without having a ball hit his way.
Playing his original minor-league position, Martin looked like a natural. He made three outstanding plays, two of them on tough grounders and one on a hard line drive to start a double play. One of those grounders was a nasty one-hopper from Colorado's Willy Taveras that Martin turned into the final out of the second inning, saving two runs at a point when the Rockies had runners on second and third. Martin's ability to play third gives Torre flexibility with his lineup, with the Dodgers carrying only two catchers.
"I think it's an option for us," Torre said. "It's a way we can give him some time off, even though we weren't able to do that (Friday night) because he had to go behind the plate."
Martin moved back to his original position in the sixth inning after Torre sent Mark Sweeney to pinch hit for Gary Bennett.
DODGERS 11, ROCKIES 6: Although they were pretty much dominated by Jeff Francis for five innings Friday, the Dodgers worked him for 100 pitches by the sixth to force him out of the game, then unloaded on the Rockies' bullpen, scoring seven in the sixth and four in the eighth. The Dodgers have won seven in a row, their longest winning streak since they won their final seven games of the 2006 season to capture the National League wild card.
