Ronnie Belliard News

THE DIFFERENCE between winning and losing at the upper echelon of sport is so small as to be almost immeasurable.

The Cardinals took three shots to the gut Thursday. The first was literal, when Matt Holliday misplayed James Loney's two-out line drive against reliever Ryan Franklin, the ball bouncing off the left fielder's mid-section and allowing the tying run to reach second base.

For Washington Nationals fans, for years - many, many years - to come, the closest they may see their team get to playoff Baseball is by proxy, when their former Nationals players wind up in the postseason with other teams.

Orlando Hudson finally will get a chance to play in his first postseason game. But the Dodgers second baseman will have to do it coming off the bench today when Los Angeles faces St.

With a 59-103 record, things were ugly again for the Nationals this year. But within baseball's worst record, there were bright spots -- and areas in which a large share of the blame wound up.

The Dodgers' magic number for clinching the NL West is down to zero - finally. After a season-worst five-game losing streak, they came through with one game left in the regular season and beat the stubborn Colorado Rockies 5-0 on Saturday night with a five-run seventh triggered by RBI singles from pinch-hitters Ronnie Belliard and Mark Loretta and ...

It's good to be a Dodger these days. Take Ronnie Belliard , who'd been hitting .246 as an expendable part for the lowly Washington Nationals , then found himself traded to Los Angeles on Aug.

Photo Wire Los Angeles Dodgers' Rafael Furcal, left, Manny Ramirez, center, and Ronnie Belliard watch a 11-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates from the dugout during a baseball game in Pittsburgh Monday, Sept.

Outfielder Manny Ramirez was out of the Dodgers' lineup Monday because of a sore left hamstring, the same problem that forced third baseman Casey Blake to return early to Los Angeles to be treated by a team doctor.

Reporting from Washington D.C. - Casey Blake is out of the lineup tonight for the second consecutive game because of tightness in his left hamstring.

You can't accuse Ronnie Belliard of having any dirty laundry to air. When the Dodgers' newly-acquired veteran infielder arrived at his locker in the visitors' clubhouse on Tuesday, he found several clean shirts hanging in their pristine plastic dry cleaning bags.

As if hoping self-evidence would sell his point, Ronnie Belliard, while talking on Wednesday afternoon, pointed to his left, then his right. The locker right next to Belliard's belonged to Jim Thome. The locker two down belonged to Manny Ram?rez. In the visiting manager's office, Joe Torre was meeting with his coaching staff.

'It's unbelievable,' Belliard said. 'Unbelievable. Seeing guys that are going to be in the Hall of Fame soon.'

Since landing in prosperity, traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 30, Belliard has met the demands of his surroundings -- and perhaps, he acknowledged, the surroundings have helped raise his game.

But it's becoming less clear exactly where he fits. Less than two weeks after saying Desmond's future is at shortstop - where he has played in the minors the past five years - interim manager Jim Riggleman was more circumspect when answering the question Tuesday.

In the flurry of acquisitions that Ned Colletti made before the Aug. 31 deadline for postseason eligibility, the least heralded could turn out to be the most important.

Considering that Ronnie Belliard knocked a first-inning grand slam Saturday that propelled the Dodgers to a 12-1 win over the Giants, it might seem like a no-brainer to put Belliard back in the lineup Sunday.

New Dodger Ronnie Belliard hit a grand-slam home run this afternoon against former Dodger Brad Penny -- and Matt Kemp, James Loney and Blake DeWitt added solo homers -- as the Dodgers routed the San Francisco Giants, 12-1, at Dodger Stadium.

Matt Kemp celebrates after giving the Dodgers a 2-1 lead with a two-run homer in the sixth inning.

For all the game stories and photos from Major League Baseball please see www.deseretnews.com/sports/mlb/ LOS ANGELES - Matt Kemp hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the sixth inning, Ronnie Belliard added a solo shot and Los Angeles beat Pittsburgh 3-1 on Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep of the Pirates.

Home runs from Manny Ramirez, James Loney and Ronnie Belliard supported Vicente Padilla's six effective innings on Monday as the Dodgers maintained their 3 1/2-game lead in the National Lead West with a 7-2 win over the D-backs. Belliard also doubled and singled in a game that included the third-inning ejection of Ramirez by home-plate umpire Doug ...

The Ronnie Belliard era is over in Washington. And is apparently just starting in LA , leaving second base open.