Nomar Garciaparra (above, center) went 3 for 5 and Brad Penny allowed no runs in 5 innings of work before leaving with back pain, as the Dodgers beat the Giants, 6-1, last night in San Francisco, a result that dropped the hosts into last place in the NL West.
More impressively, the Dodgers’ Bad Lieutenant (above) has been reading something a tad meatier than his usual bill of fare. From the San Francisco Chronicle’s John Shea.
“I read the book, the ‘Game of Shadows,’ ” Kent said. “… I read it cover to cover. Was it a page-turner? Considering it’s the only book I read cover to cover probably in the whole year, maybe so.”
After reading the book, written by The Chronicle’s Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, was Kent concerned about the integrity of the game?
“Yes,” he said. “But I was concerned with it prior to reading the book, too.”
Kent, a longtime advocate for a stiffer steroid testing, went on to commend Major League Baseball and the players’ union for improving the policy, though he said the “administration of the tests” still needs work.
Toward the end of a group interview, Kent said he’d take two more questions. He was asked if he ever suspected Bonds did steroids. His answer was, “One more question.” Kent did say Phillies pitcher Cory Lidle’s recent statements, questioning the legitimacy of Bonds’ record 73 homers in 2001, were “legitimate expressions to make.”