LaRoche's day at Dodgertown

In the fifth inning today, non-roster catcher Danny Ardoin cranked a pickoff throw down to third base. The throw hit LaRoche on the right thumb and skipped away, allowing the runner to score. The third out was made on the same play, and LaRoche left the game. He underwent an X-ray that revealed a bone fragment. A subsequent MRI revealed the torn ulnar collateral ligament. LaRoche will now have his thumb immobilized for three weeks while it reattaches before he can undergo rehabilitation. As luck would have it, LaRoche entered the game in the fourth inning as a pinch runner after Nomar Garciaparra was hit near his right wrist, barely missing the area where he underwent wrist surgery in 2001. It's a game of inches, and he was left with a contusion. "We're fortunate Nomar didn't have something worse happen to him," General Manager Ned Colletti said.