"It has become something of a ritual lately with the Dodgers, with every piece of good news tempered by some bad news... And so it went Wednesday, when right-hander Hiroki Kuroda came off the disabled list to throw seven shutout innings at the Houston Astros in a 4-1 win that moved the Dodgers to within 1 1/2 games of division-leading Arizona, the closest they've been to first place since early April. Only that became nothing more than the silver lining on the black cloud which began descending on the Dodgers in the third inning. That's when trainer Stan Conte gave Manager Joe Torre the bad news that sparkplug shortstop Rafael Furcal will undergo back surgery today. And with less than three months left in the season, there's no guarantee he'll play again this year."
Dodgers' Rafael Furcal could be out for the season - Los Angeles Times