--RHP James McDonald is headed back to the bullpen following his first major league start, a disaster on Friday night in which he imploded in the third inning and either walked or hit four consecutive batters and threw his next pitch into the turf about 20 feet in front of home plate. Dodgers manager Joe Torre said the move isn't about McDonald's performance but instead is about the club's need for an extra arm in the bullpen. The Dodgers won't need a fifth starter again until Sunday, and Torre said McDonald probably will start that game, but it will be more of a bullpen day because the next day is an off day, and McDonald won't pitch deep into the game.
--LHP Eric Stults will remain in the rotation, at least for now. Stults was recalled from Class AAA Albuquerque on Friday, when Hiroki Kuroda went onto the 15-day disabled list, and started on Saturday night against Arizona and got the win. Stults will make his next start on Thursday against San Francisco, but he might be heading back to the minors when Kuroda returns, something club officials hope will happen early next week. BY THE NUMBERS: 23 1/3 -- Innings pitched by the Dodgers' bullpen on the club's season-opening, seven-game trip to San Diego and Arizona, a stretch during which not one Dodgers starter survived past the sixth inning until Randy Wolf went seven-plus on Sunday. The primary culprit was early-inning pitch counts and walks, especially by the young trio of Chad Billingsley, Clayton Kershaw and James McDonald at the back end. They combined to walk 11 batters in 13 1/3 innings.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Our offense was always going to come around. It just took a little while. We still have a long way to go. Mr. (Joe) Torre has seen this type of thing before, because he has been around this game a long time, since before I was born. Since before my parents were born, in fact, because my parents are only 49 and 51." -- 2B Orlando Hudson after the team's struggling lineup finally broke out for 11 runs on Saturday night at Arizona.
