Dodger shortstop Rafael Furcal will undergo surgery to repair a bulging disc leaving his season (and his team's playoff chances) in doubt.  He is expected to miss two months at the minimum, but that means he would be returning in September which leaves precious few games left in the regular season.  Los Angeles started Thursday just 1.5 games behind Arizona, and in the West two good weeks could create a comfortable cushion in the standings.

 

Furcal was hitting .366 with a 1.045 OPS at the time of his injury.  His 34 runs still rank 5^th on the team despite playing in just 32 games.  Suffice it to say that his presence is missed at the top of the lineup.  With Juan Pierre also out, the Dodgers do not have a logical player to bat leadoff.  Matt Kemp has filled the role in the Houston series, but his strikeout rate makes it a tough sell.  Russel Martin and James Loney are the only regulars with OBPs over .340 so a radical idea could be playing Andy LaRoche (and his high OBP skills) in left field.  L.A. fans should dread the imminent return of Nomar Garciaparra who is rumored to be in the mix as the starting shortstop when he returns sometime in the next week.  Luis Maza and Angel Berroa have been poor at the plate, but they could not be worse there than Garciaparra would be defensively at this point in his career.  The pitching staff should revolt if Joe Torre plays Garciaparra at short.