--1B James Loney was out of the lineup for just the third time this season because he came in 1-for-20 lifetime against Barry Zito. Loney entered defensively in the top of the ninth, after Zito was long gone, and led off the bottom of the ninth with a single under the glove of second baseman Emmanuel Burriss. Loney's hit came off Brian Wilson, and he is now batting .318 (28-for-88) against right-handers this season compared to .174 (4-for-23) against lefties.
--RHP Hiroki Kuroda played long toss from about 120 feet on Friday. He is expected to throw off a mound Sunday, but there still is no minor-league rehabilitation assignment scheduled for him, and manager Joe Torre admitted that it probably is too optimistic to expect him to return by the end of this month. Kuroda has been on the 15-day disabled list since April 10 with a mild strain of his left oblique muscle. --RHP Jason Schmidt is expected to finally begin a minor-league rehabilitation assignment with high Class A Inland Empire on Tuesday. Schmidt has thrown up to 100 pitches in a single outing in extended spring training, but his minor-league rehab assignment has been postponed at least once. Schmidt still hasn't pitched in the majors since undergoing major shoulder surgery in June 2007.
--LHP Brent Leach finally made his major league debut Wednesday, four days after being recalled for the first time from Class AA Chattanooga. Leach came on to pitch the ninth inning Wednesday with a seven-run lead and retired the first two batters quickly before issuing a two-out walk to Willie Harris. Leach then finished with a flourish, striking out Cristian Guzman to end the game.
BY THE NUMBERS: 13 -- Consecutive home wins to begin the season for the Dodgers, breaking a major league record set by the 1911 Detroit Tigers.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "They call me double maniac now." -- Dodgers LF Manny Ramirez, after the April 28 win at San Francisco, a game in which he doubled in the fifth, seventh and ninth innings and scored after each of the latter two. Each of those runs came with the game tied and gave the Dodgers leads, the second one holding up for the club's only victory in the three-game series against the Giants.
