As far as moral victories go, we'll take it.

For the Dodgers, moral victories are not worth much.

Even in their transitory state, they are in a very winnable division and they are still one of the cornerstone franchises in baseball, Frank Mc Court mis-adventures aside.

That being said, going up to Milwaukee and taking one out of three wasn't bad at all. they played tough in all three games, and were in position to win all three. They pitched well, they hit the ball well, and at leat in one case were victimized by a brutal call.

''Really, we came in and could have got swept - but we could have swept them just as easily,'' coach Don Mattingly said.

You can say that it is something the Pittsburgh Pirates or Oakland A's would say, two bad teams who happened to play competitively on the road, but the Dodgers, not so much. But to a team that won 9 out of it's first 10, the naysayers (including the skeptic in my gut) said well........they beat up on two bad teams. True enough, though wins are wins last time I heard, and bad teams often play spoiler to good teams's playoff hopes.

This was the Brewers........granted the Cecil Fielder-less Brewers, but still a more than viable playoff contender in a stronger division than the Dodgers. in Game 1 they overcame a great start by Yovani Gallardo, beat up Francisco Rodriguez, only for Javy Guerra to blow a save, his only one this year.

You saw another strong start by Chad Billingsley, who overcame some early trouble and you saw Andre Ethier hit a homer and double, the homer a two-runner that chased KRod. These are two guys who need to perform this season for the Dodgers to have a shot.

Thursday saw Chris Capuano match up with Zack Greinke on two quality starts, only to see Nyjer Morgan score on a bad call when he tagged up on Ryan Braun's foul ball. Mattingly said after the game  ''I had the luxury of seeing the replay.... we should still be playing.'' he went on to call it "another argument for instant replay"

Facing a sweep, they followed up with Matt Kemp and Ethier getting two hits apiece (including a Kemp homer) to win 4-3. Among the highlights were two great defensive plays by newly acquired utility guy Jerry Hairston, throwing out Alex Gonzales from 3rd on an off-balance throw in the 8th, then in the 9th charging a bunt and throwing out Travis Ishikawa> I was personally sad they let Jamey Carroll go, but Hairston seems like a younger, more athletic version of Carroll.

So moral victories do not mean much, but playing a good Brewers team to a standstill on the road, shows this Dodgers team has some steel.

Kemp remains unbelievable with 7 homeruns in 13 games, with 18 RBI's and hitting .45, you also have to like Ethier's 4 HR, 5 2B, 18 RBI and .300 average. Dee Gordon has 8 steals, but he does need to get on base more. a .192 AVG and a .263 OBP will not get it done.

Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw seem to be staarting off as a nice 1-2 punch, and it was nice to see Ted Lilly come back and pitch well. Guerra, despite blowing the recent save has been successful in all of his other save attmepts, and the rest of the bullpen has been looking good.

To be or not to be........extension for Ethier?

Nice start for the Dodgers.....

The holier-than-thous can say well....it's just the Pirates and Padres, two teams in perpetual rebuilding mode, but W's are W's, and you need all you can get when October rolls around.

We are also seeing another strong start from Andre Ethier. Can this be a contract-chasing big year for the guy who will be a free agent after the season, or is it a strong start by a guy who will break down physically and/or mentally by season's end?

The speculation is there because contract watchers are wondering if the Dodgers will give Ethier an extension this year. Should they or shouldn't they, and how much for how many years?

Put it this way.......I wouldn't want to be Ned Colletti or the guy on the Dodgers ownership (Stan Kasten?) who makes this decision. I wouldn't want to be Ethier either. It seems to me, unless one side gives away way more than they expect, this will not end well.

Ethier is in that free agent no man's land called age 30. Not old enough to be one of those thirtysomethings who live on the one-to-three year contracts, but not so young where you'll give him a Luis Pujols, Matt Kemp or Joey Votto-style long-term deal. Perhaps three to five years, twelve million or threabouts sounds sensible, but what does Ethier and his agent think?

Do they see him as the 2009 guy who played 160 games, hit 31 HR, had 106 RBI's and hit .272/.361/.508/.869, or a guy whose slugging percentage has declined each year since 2008, and hit only 11 HR last year? he was playing hurt much of the second half of last season, and played in less than 140 games the last two seasons?

Let's put it in persepective here- most teams would love to have a guy who will play in 135 games, hit 20+ homers and have a .370 OBP. But do you want to break the bank for him in hopes he'll have a couple of 2009-style years? It all comes down to what Ethier and his agent sees himself as, and of course, what the Dodgers brain trust see also.

It's hard to know what the new Dodger brass thinks, but it seems to me that they would sooner or later want to lock up Clayton Kershaw to a long-term deal, and perhaps in the off-season lock up another top-tier free agent pitcher (there are a few good ones- Cole Hamels, Matt Cain and Zack greinke come to mind...), so there probably isn't money to sign extra-long term a guy whose job will be to protect Kemp in the order.

Here's my hope- a three or four year deal worth 12-15 million (ha ha like I'm writing the checks here!), for a guy who is great protection for Kemp and when healthy an all-star caliber player in his own right. It all comes down to, what Ethier sees himself as, and what the new Dodger ownership see him as also.

My guess is, though, Ethier will want more years and money (which someone may very well pay him in the offseason), and the Dodger management will not see it that way, and things will not end well with those two.

We shall see....

It's going to be the pitching this year

Wins are wins- whether they are over the Phillies or the Padres, wins are wins.

No, the Padres so not inspire much fear this year. When Edinson Volquez is your Opening Day starter, you don't exactly have stars in your eyes. But the Dodgers will take them. Until Magic and his merry men establish their foothold, the Dodgers have to do the best they can with basically a Frank McCourt team, and three out four ain't bad.

Matt Kemp looks to be living up to his near-MVP hype with a couple of bombs and a .412 average over the weekend, and Andre Ethier seems to have brought his power stroke, with two doubles, a triple and a homer over the weekend. You also have to like Chad Billingsley's start on Friday, he looked like the pre-Kershaw would-be ace that Dodger fans have been hoping for years, which Billingsley has teased, but never totally come through on.

You have to worry about the rest of the pitching, though. Neither Chris Capauano or Aaron Harang looked very good in their first starts, both against a hardly awe-inspiring Padre lineup. Ted Lilly is hurt, and while Clayton Kershaw is looking like an ace, we're not sold on Billingsley yet, and Harang and Capauano didn't exactly leave great first impressions, it means the Dodgers starting pitching is a big question mark.

Yes, I give Ned Colletti, his scouts and the generous pitchers park that is Dodger stadium the benefit of the doubt- it is a long season- but both guys have miles and injury histories, so we'll see. It will take top-grade pitching for the Dodgers to have a chance to be relevant this year, and we're not just talking Kershaw. Billingsley needs to look like that guy we saw on Friday, while Harang and Capauano need to look better than they did this weekend for the Dodgers to have a chance.

Kershaw brings the lunch pail

I've overdosed on the NBA.

Andrew Bynum acting stupid. Stan Van Gundy and Dwight Howard go back and forth. Le Bron James complaining about how bad his life is.

Thank God for Opening Day. Thank God for the Dodgers. Thank God McCourt is gone.

Nice to see Clayton Kershaw battle the flu and still figure out a way to dominate the Padres.

Nice to see Matt Kemp hitting a two-run homerun.

While they had their rocky moments, it was nice to see the bullpen hold it together.

Opening Day is great.