Okay, now I want to talk about it

What is the deal with the beat writers blaming Broxton for the loss? What game were they watching? The Times, the Daily News, and the Press-Enterprise all center their stories on Broxton's failure to save the game.

I'm not saying Broxton is completely blameless. You give up a double and a single with the bases loaded and you shoulder some blame. But how did those bases get loaded?

1. Grounder to Kent that could have beeen scored an error
2. Error by Nomar
3. Tough-luck single to left (it hung up there, just not quite long enough)
4. Chopper to Nomar -- he refuses to toss to Broxton, who's right there, ready to tag the runner or step on the bag... and instead, tries to make the play himself and loses the race to the bag.

Then Gonzalez's double and Cameron's single and it was all over but the cryin'.

Only Tony Jackson in the Daily News properly covers the ninth inning, and I'm not sure he's right when he says that Broxton might have been late getting to the bag on that chopper. (Of course, Jackson does say "might," so he's covered himself.)

By my count, he should have been out of the inning already... I mean, bad luck happens and you have to roll with it, but at least, could the beat writers acknowledge that Garciaparra's play in the ninth was completely terrible?

Picking arbitrarily, here's how I assign blame in Thursday's loss:

Garciaparra: 70%. If he makes both routine plays, the Dodgers are fine.
Broxton: 20%. His fielders will, occasionally, let him down, and he has to make the best of the situation.
Kent: 10%. Make that play and get the inning started off right.

* * *

In brighter news, Matt Kemp has been recalled. The proper move, Grady Little, is to bench Pierre again and play Kemp in center field.

What I expect Grady to do, however, is to sit Andre Ethier, who hasn't hit all that well himself (though better than Pierre).

I'll wait and watch.