Jeff Kent

Jeff Kent hit a two-run homer off Matt Morris with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning Friday night, giving the Houston Astros a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Kent's second homer of the season ruined a splendid pitching performance by Morris (0-1), who retired 17 of 18 batters before Lance Berkman's two-out infield single in the ninth.

Houston Astro second baseman Jeff Kent was suspended for two games and fined Tuesday as a result of his argument with umpire Matt Hollowell during a game against the Chicago Cubs on July 26. Kent appealed the penalty and was in Houston's lineup for Tuesday night's game against the New York Mets. A date for a hearing has not been set. The suspension, imposed by Major League Baseball vice president Bob Watson, will not take effect until the appeal is heard.

The most startling hit Barry Bonds delivered Tuesday night was in the dugout, against his San Francisco Giant teammate, Jeff Kent. Bonds shoved Kent in the chest during a scrape that spiced up the San Diego Padres' 10-7 victory over the feuding Giants at San Diego. Bonds hit his 592nd career homer in the third inning, right after the dustup, and Kent hit a homer in the sixth. The dispute appeared to begin with Kent talking to third baseman David Bell.

The Dodgers win the posting on a South Korean pitcher for over $25.7 million who has never sniffed at a major-league game? They're in on pair from Japan, closer Kyuji Fujikawa and highly-coveted 18-year-old prospect Shohei Otani ? Signed Cuban defector Yasiel Puig for $42 million? Took on a quarter of a billion in new salary … in August? They're looking at Torii Hunter , Kevin Youkilis , Zach Greinke , Anibal Sanchez, Hiroki Kuroda and LeBron James?

RUBBY DE LA ROSA, 23, starting pitcher Final 2012 stats: Pitched in just two-thirds of an inning. Contract status: Under Boston Red Sox control. The good: He made it back to the majors one year after having Tommy John surgery, even if his brief appearance later smacked of a showcase preceding his participation in the blockbuster trade with the Red Sox. Did not yet return to his previous 100 mph form, but did hit 96. The bad: Well, he's gone. That's the rub. He was probably the key player leaving the Dodgers of the five they sent to the Red Sox. What's next: Very likely a spot in the Boston rotation.

He hit the third pitch he saw for a home run. Then Jeff Kent stopped looking, seeing only four pitches the rest of the game, making three quick outs that wasted three impatient runners. What happened in the Angel Stadium visiting clubhouse after his Dodgers' desultory 6-2 loss to the Angels should have then been no surprise. I asked Kent about his hitting approach. He came out swinging.

You know fantasy baseball has gotten out of hand when a big league player asks a teammate to hit Jeff Kent with a pitch because it would help his fantasy team. This actually happened ... more than a dozen years ago. Former pitcher Tom Candiotti recently confessed to Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle about the sorry plot he concocted in the early 1990s. "It's '92 or '93," said Candiotti, now a radio-TV analyst for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Displaying quick-strike ability after weeks of near idleness in the free-agent market, the Dodgers on Thursday signed infielder Jeff Kent, a four-time All-Star, to a two-year contract worth $17 million before most baseball executives had even checked into their hotel rooms for the winter meetings. The suddenness of the signing enabled Kent to surprise his parents, who took seats in the front row for the news conference at the Anaheim Marriott without knowing the reason their son was at the dais.

It is a day off, but the lights are on, the cramped Dodgers clubhouse filled with players, reporters, destiny, sweep, Manny, Manny, Manny. In one corner, Derek Lowe is preaching about pressure. In another, Matt Kemp is explaining excitement. In yet another, Casey Blake is smiling about winning. I approach the fourth corner. It is the Hall of Fame corner. It is the honesty corner. For four years, during every big Dodgers moment, it has been the busiest corner. I approach it alone.

The Dodgers suffered another loss Tuesday night, and the game hadn't even started. Second baseman Jeff Kent went on the disabled list for the second time in seven weeks, this time because of a strained muscle in his side that has bothered him since shortly before the All-Star break. Nine innings later, though, the outlook wasn't nearly as bleak.