Nomar Garciaparra

PITTSBURGH -- Waking up Thursday morning with his left knee feeling better than expected, Nomar Garciaparra decided to skip his scheduled visit to Jim Bradley, the Pittsburgh Steelers' orthopedic surgeon. "I don't want to waste his time," said Garciaparra, who re-sprained the medial collateral ligament in his left knee on Wednesday night.

SAN DIEGO -- Nomar Garciaparra never has played a game at shortstop for the Dodgers, and yet it is jarring to associate him with any other position. The debates raged for years over the best shortstop in the major leagues: Garciaparra or Derek Jeter, or Miguel Tejada, or Alex Rodriguez? In his three years with the Dodgers, he has played first base and third base.

One of the most reliable bullpens in baseball restored order Sunday, two days after a rough inning in which Dodgers relievers momentarily imploded. The Dodgers bullpen again flashed the form it has shown for most of the season during a 2-1, 11-inning comeback victory over the Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium. Rudy Seanez, Joe Beimel, Jonathan Broxton and Chad Billingsley gave up one run in five innings, with Broxton and Billingsley combining for three scoreless innings.

That barely broken-in first baseman's mitt tucked in the corner of Jeff Kent's locker? He probably won't need it after all. Plans for the Dodgers' slugger to be activated from the disabled list this weekend were put on hold because he felt discomfort in his left oblique muscle after taking batting practice the last three days. "It's a dull pull," he said. "I still feel it when I tie my shoes, put on my underwear or lift my suitcase."

Back in Los Angeles from a minor league rehabilitation assignment, Nomar Garciaparra is set to be activated in time for a five-game trip that begins Friday in Atlanta. "You have steps throughout the whole process to get back and I've taken every step," Garciaparra said. "Now, it's go out there and play." Garciaparra played three games in Sacramento with triple-A Las Vegas, the first and third of them as the starting third baseman.

Nomar Garciaparra found a unique way to celebrate his 29th birthday: with three home runs in one game. Garciaparra connected three times--giving him a record-tying five home runs in two games--and had eight runs batted in to lead the Boston Red Sox over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 22-4, Tuesday in the opener of a day-night doubleheader at Boston. The Devil Rays salvaged the day by rallying for five runs in the ninth inning and a 5-4 second-game victory.

When Dodgers pitcher Mark Hendrickson played baseball and basketball at Washington State, the snakebit Cougars became so adept at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory a new verb was coined to describe it. "To Coug" basically meant losing a game you should have won. On Wednesday, however, his Dodgers may have inspired a new term. Call it the "Reverse Coug," or winning a game you should have lost.

Brad Penny is in, Nomar Garciaparra is on the bubble. Penny, whose 9-2 start is the best of his career, was named to the National League All-Star team Sunday. The right-hander with an earned-run average of 2.94 was the lone Dodger picked for the July 11 game at Pittsburgh. But Garciaparra, whose .361 batting average is second in the National League, still has a shot to make it via a special Internet fan vote that runs through Thursday.

Asked about the play of Matt Kemp in center field in the absence of Andruw Jones, Manager Joe Torre started his response by saying, "Well, he's not Andruw Jones." But Torre said he was encouraged by the way Kemp is learning the position. Kemp, who started his 11th game at center Wednesday, robbed Ken Griffey Jr. of extra bases the previous night in the Dodgers' 4-1 victory when he crashed into the wall to make a catch.

Ned Colletti ran into CC Sabathia in the hallway here, and this is what Sabathia said: I want to be a Dodger. This, remember, is what Manny Ramirez said the last time anyone with the Dodgers saw him: "I want to see who is the highest bidder. " And this is what Frank McCourt has often said: He wants players who want to be Dodgers, and he wants the Dodgers to weave themselves into the fabric of the community. So McCourt ought to back up his words with a contract offer, one that would make Sabathia the highest-paid player in franchise history.