Gary Bennett's season-long habit of lobbing the ball back to the pitcher on a high, slow arc might have come into play in a major way for the Dodgers Friday night. But if it did, neither Bennett nor manager Joe Torre were willing to admit it.

With a man on second and two outs in the fourth inning of a scoreless game, Hiroki Kuroda struck out the Angels' Erick Aybar on a pitch in the dirt. Aybar took off for first, and Bennett chased him for about two steps before stepping onto the infield grass and planting for a throw to first. Bennett then threw the ball over James Loney's head and down the right-field line, allowing Casey Kotchman to scamper home with the game's first run and Aybar to race all the way to third.

"I just made a bad throw," said Bennett, who always uses ...More