The Giants hold off the Dodgers to take the rubber match of the series and win the last game of the season.
Tim Lincecum got the win, he finishes the season 18-5. Chan Ho Park took the loss, he finishes the season 4-4. Brian Wilson picked up his 44th save of the season.
Hiroki Kuroda started for the Dodgers, and pitched five innings of scoreless ball. He gave up only two hits over that span and struck out three, cementing his place as "Game 3 Starter" in the playoffs. Clayton Kershaw pitched a shaky but scoreless inning out of the bullpen. The bullpen struggled though. Chan Ho Park gave up two runs in only 0.2 innings of work and Cory Wade gave up a run in his 0.1 inning of work.
The Dodgers weren't too impressive at the plate, though that's due to the large amount of players used in the game. 
Also due to the fact that Tim Lincecum gave up only one run over seven innings of work while striking out 13, probably well on his way to picking up a Cy Young award. For the Dodgers, Andre Ethier had the best game at the plate. He started and went 2-2 with a double and an RBI off Lincecum before leaving for a pinch runner. Juan Pierre went 1-4 scoring a run and stealing a base (his team leading 40th of the season). Other than that, there's not much to note.
The Dodgers will now travel home to get ready for the Chicago Cubs, their opponents in the first round of the playoffs. They'll play the first two games of the series in Chicago.
Also: With the loss, the Dodgers finish their season six games over .500 (84-78)
Opinion: Aw shucks, couldn't get that 85th win. Oh well, there's bigger fish to fry now. The Chicago Cubs will be our first round opponents in the playoffs. We were swept by the Cubs in a three game series in Chicago in late May, then split a four game series against the Cubs in Los Angeles in early June (for a 2-5 record against them). The important thing to note is that all seven games were played pre-Manny Ramírez, and the Dodgers lost by no more than two runs in each of those five losses. Well, we got a little bit more offense this go around. This match-up is going to be interesting...
The Dodgers, behind the bat of Blake DeWitt and the pitching of Greg Maddux, take the second game in the three game weekend series.
Greg Maddux got the win, he's 8-13. Matt Cain took the loss, he's 8-14. Takashi Saito picked up his 18th save.
Greg Maddux pitched like the Greg Maddux of old. He needed only 47 pitches (38 of which were strikes) to go six innings. He gave up only one run on two hits over those six innings, while striking out two. Chad Billingsley came in to get a little work before the playoffs. He went two scoreless innings in relief. Takashi Saito pitched a perfect 9th, striking out one to get the save and close out the game.
Offensively, the story today was all Blake DeWitt. He went 3-4 with a walk, a homerun, two RBIs, and a run scored. There were a few other players to note: Rafael Furcal went 2-4, Andre Ethier went 1-2 with a walk, and Casey Blake went 1-3 with a walk and a run scored.
The Dodgers will try to win the rubber match of the series, and the last game of the regular season tomorrow. The game starts at 1:05 L.A. time.
Also: With the win, the Dodgers move back up to seven games over .500 (84-77)... Greg Maddux's win was the 355th in his career, putting him at 8th on the All-Time Wins list.
Opinion: While this game was meaningless, there were a few good things that came from it. Blake DeWitt showed he can contribute, Greg Maddux showed he might still be able to pitch, and Rafael Furcal showed he still remembers how to hit the ball. DeWitt hasn't been nearly as impressive since his hot month of May, but he's been hitting the ball better lately (hitting .297 in the month of September). Greg Maddux is either completely on his game, or totally off. He's had two excellent starts for us and four not-so-good starts. How he'll do in the playoff remains to be seen, though. 
Finally, Furcal collected his major league basehit since May 5th and had his first multi-hit game since May 3rd. A healthy Furcal will be a big plus in the playoffs... Ok, one more game to go, let's try and win tomorrow. 85 wins would be a nice way to end the season on a high note.
The Dodgers fall in extra innings to lose their second game in a row.
Tyler Walker got the win, he's 5-8. Jason Johnson took the loss, he's 1-2.
Derek Lowe started for the Dodgers and went three scoreless innings. The start was short, of course, to not overwork him before the first game of the playoffs. The Dodgers used eight different pitchers throughout the game. James McDonald relieved Derek Lowe and pitched two scoreless innings. He's now pitched six scoreless innings over four games to begin his major league career. Chan Ho Park gave up two runs in 0.2 innings of relief. His ERA has risen almost a full point from 2.48 on August 24th to 3.23 today. Jonathan Broxton blew a save by giving up an unearned run in the 9th, and Jason Johnson got only two outs in the 10th before giving up the winning run.
The Dodgers used 27 players in the game today. 17 different players had at-bats in the game. There isn't too much that stands out offensively in the game. Manny Ramírez went 2-2 in his only two at-bats in the game. 
Jeff Kent went 1-3 with a homerun, two RBIs, and a run scored. James Loney went 1-4 with his only hit coming on a solo homerun in the 9th inning. Russell Martin had a pinch hit two-run homerun to give the Dodgers a 5-4 lead in the top of 9th, which they then proceed to give up in the bottom of the 9th.
The Dodgers will play the second game in this weekend series, starting tomorrow at 6:05 L.A. time.
Also: With the loss, the Dodgers fall back to six games over .500 (83-77)... James Loney's homerun gave him his team leading 90th RBI.
Opinion: Russell Martin giveth, Russell Martin taketh away. Thanks to Russell Martin's two-out top of the 9th inning homerun, the Dodgers were able to take a 5-4 lead. The Giants, thanks in part to Russell Martin's throwing error, were able to tie the game at 5-5... Whatever, this weekend is pretty much a throwaway weekend. I mean, it's kinda lame to go into the playoffs a 83-80 team, but I'm not sure anyone really cares... One last thing, so is Jason Johnson Joe Torre's "Abort" button. He's thinking: "Hey, we came into town early this morning, didn't get a lot of sleep, I gotta end this game. Hey, Honeycutt, get Johnson up in the pen. This thing is over by the 10th!" Johnson is 1-2 in the season, both losses were extra-inning away games. His first loss was an 11 inning game in St. Louis on August 5th. "I don't want to carry this game on by throwing a good pitcher out there to keep the game tied. I'm tired. Let's get some rest. Unleash Johnson on them!" Ok, I'm done. I'm tired. I'm pushing the Jason Johnson button on my night. I'll see you all tomorrow.
The Dodgers are out slugged by the Padres and fail to complete the three game sweep.
Jake Peavy got the win, he's 10-11. Eric Stults took the loss, he's 2-3. Trevor Hoffman picked up his 29th save.
The pitching was a bit shaky today. The Dodgers used five different pitchers and each gave up at least one run. Eric Stults started. He went 4.2 innings and gave up three runs. Takashi Saito and Jonathan Broxton pitched an inning each (the 8th and 9th respectively) and each gave up a run.
The Dodgers had a bit of an odd game offensively. 16 different players had at-bats. 
Chin-lung Hu went 2-3 with a stolen base, an RBI, and a run scored. Jason Repko went 1-1 and drew two walks. Andre Ethier went 1-2 with a walk and an RBI. Matt Kemp went 1-3 with a walk, a homerun, an RBI, and a run scored. Juan Pierre went 2-3 with an RBI. Finally, Blake DeWitt had an odd game. He went 0-1 and scored two runs without collecting a hit or walk. He came in as a pinch runner and was brought home, then later was hit by a pitch and came around to score again.
The important event today happened before the game. The Arizona Diamondbacks lost so the Dodgers clinched the NL West before today's game even started. The Dodgers will travel now to San Francisco to begin their last series of the season. The three game weekend series begins Friday at 7:35 L.A. time.
Also: With the loss, the Dodgers fall back to seven games over .500 (83-76).
Opinion: There's not much to say about this game, as will probably be the case for the next three games as well. 
The starting lineup was different, but it didn't really matter because the scrubs were all in by the 5th inning. We're just getting everyone out there and getting them some playing time. We are going to see a lot of playing time for Jason Repko and Chin-lung Hu this weekend, and that's fine because we have nothing to gain by winning the next three games, but the possibility of losing a starter to injury before the playoffs is horrifying. That said, it would be nice to go into the playoffs with at least 85 wins, not at the cost of losing someone, but just for some pride and a nice even number. The important thing, though, is that we are in the playoffs, and for now, I'll just celebrate that.
The Arizona Diamondbacks lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 12-3 earlier today to fall behind 4.5 games with only three games to go. 
This allows the Dodgers to clinch the National League West.
As such, Eric Stults will replace Greg Maddux today. The lineup is also being juggled around so Joe Torre can see who he'll want to put on the playoff roster. Rafael Furcal and Jeff Kent are batting 1st and 2nd respectively.
In any case, congratulations to the Dodgers on their first division win since 2004 and first playoff appearance since 2006.
The Dodgers explode for 12 runs to take the second game in the three game series.
Clayton Kershaw got the win, he's 5-5. Mike Ekstrom took the loss, he's 0-1.
Clayton Kershaw got into a little trouble and wasn't able to get too deep into the game. He went only 5.2 innings giving up three runs on six hits and two walks, though he did strike out seven over that span. Chan Ho Park came in to relieve and got out of the 6th inning, though he ended up giving a run in the following inning. Cory Wade added a scoreless inning in relief and Scott Proctor struck out the side in the 9th to close the door on the Padres.
Offensively, another big game for the Dodgers. Overall, they collected 12 runs on 17 hits, seven walks, and a hit-batter. 11 different players had hits in the game. Several players had excellent games at the plate. Matt Kemp went 3-6 with two RBIs. Russell Martin went 2-3 with a walk and two runs scored. 
Manny Ramírez went 2-4 with a walk, a homerun, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Andre Ethier went 2-4 with a walk, an RBI, and two runs scored. And finally, Nomar Garciaparra went 2-3 with a double, a homerun, two RBIs, and two runs scored.
The Arizona Diamondbacks lost today, so with the win, the Dodgers move up to four games up on them in the NL West race. The Dodgers will go for the sweep (and possibly a chance to clinch the NL West) tomorrow at 7:10 L.A. time.
Also: With the win, the Dodgers move to eight games over .500 (83-75)... With the win and the Diamondbacks' loss, the Dodger Magic Number is now down to 1... James Loney came into the game as a defensive replacement and went 1-2 with a double, two RBIs, and a run scored. Those two RBIs bring his team leading total to 89.
Opinion: Dodgers started out slow. They were scoreless for the first three innings, then exploded for 12 runs over the next six. And everyone was contributing, and that's really good to see. Now we have to look forward to tomorrow. The Cardinals did their part to help set us up for the NL West clincher tomorrow night by beating the Diamondbacks tonight. Thank you, St. Louis. Of course, they could help us even more by beating the Diamondbacks in tomorrow's afternoon game and allowing us to clinch before our game even starts. Then again, they probably did enough to get us within one. Our destiny is really in our own hands now. We could sweep the Padres tomorrow and clinch the NL West at home. That would be a great way to end our last home game of the year. Either way, it looks like we are probably going to the playoffs, and that makes me happy...
The Dodgers score 10 runs to beat the Padres in the first game of the three game series.
Chad Billingsley got the win, he's 16-10. Wade LeBlanc took the loss, he's 1-2.
Chad Billingsley seemed a little shaky. He went six innings and gave up only one run, however, he also gave up nine hits and two walks over that span. James McDonald, Ramon Troncoso, and Scott Elbert added a scoreless inning each.
Offensively, the Dodgers did much better than they did Sunday. Eight of the nine Dodgers in the starting lineup collected a hit, seven scored a run, and four had RBIs, even Chad Billingsley added a hit, a squeeze bunt, and two RBIs. They had a big 1st inning, in which they batted through the lineup and scored six runs in the process. The top three performers in the game were probably Russell Martin, Nomar Garciaparra, and Blake DeWitt. Russell Martin went 2-3 with a double, two walks, and a run scored, Nomar Garciaparra went 1-2 with a walk, a homerun, three RBIs, and a run scored, and 
Blake DeWitt went 2-3 with a walk, a homerun, three RBIs, and two runs scored.
The Arizona Diamondbacks lost today, so with the win, the Dodgers move back to a three game lead in the NL West. The Dodgers will try tomorrow for their second straight win, and a chance to knock another point off the Magic Number. The game starts at 7:10 L.A. time.
Also: With the win, the Dodgers move back up to seven games over .500 (82-75)... With the win and the Diamondbacks' loss, the Dodger Magic Number is now 3... With their 82nd win, the Dodgers guarantee themselves a winning season... Chad Billingsley's win is his 16th, good for first place on the Dodgers.
Opinion: This was a pretty good statement win. After looking a little lackluster in the weekend series, the Dodgers came out firing. I like it... In any case, now that my last prediction (the one about us clinching on Sunday) was obliterated, I'd like to make a new one. We have two more games against the Padres, the Diamondbacks have two more against the Cardinals. Our Magic Number is three. My prediction is simple: we clinch it at home on Thursday. Hopefully, the Cardinals will keep up their end by causing the Diamondbacks trouble in St. Louis. I'm fairly certain that if we keep playing like we did tonight, our end shouldn't be a problem. I guess we'll see. 3 and counting...
The Giants pitching holds down the Dodgers and they take the rubber match of the weekend series.
Sergio Romo got the win, he's 3-1. Takashi Saito took the loss, he's 4-4. Brian Wilson picked up his 40th save.
Derek Lowe started for the Dodgers and turned in a solid outing, as has been the norm the last two months for Lowe. 
He went seven scoreless innings, giving up just five hits and three walks while striking out seven. Cory Wade added two scoreless innings in relief, and Jonathan Broxton pitched a scoreless 10th inning to keep the Giants tied. Takashi Saito came in to start the 11th inning and gave up a run, due in part to a questionable call on a close play at 1st base. With a runner on 2nd, Eugenio Velez hit a slow grounder to short. The throw to 1st was close, and he was called safe. Replays, though, showed the throw beat him by half a step. Rich Aurilia, the next batter, then proceeded to collected a base hit and drive in the go-ahead run.
The Dodger offense did not fare too well. They got only nine runners on base the whole game (five hits and four walks) and left eight of them. One runner was thrown out trying to score at home. Andre Ethier went 2-5, collecting two of the Dodgers' five hits. Manny Ramírez drew three of the Dodgers' four walks. The Dodgers last 16 batters were retired in order.
The Arizona Diamondbacks won today, so with the Dodgers' loss, they pull back within 2.5 games in the NL West race. The Dodgers have an off-day tomorrow, then begin a three game series against the Padres at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday, starting at 7:10 L.A. time.
Also: With the loss, the Dodgers fall back to six games over .500 (81-75)... The Dodger Magic Number remains at 5 games.
Opinion: Bad series. The Diamondbacks have now picked up two games on us in the last week. We looked so good yesterday... what happened? I, again, look to the bottom of the order. Our 4-9 hitters (nine different players) today went a combined 2-25. That's not good, we need their contributions... The only solice I can take from this whole thing is that we will play our next three games against the third worst team at home, following a day off. The Diamondbacks will travel to St. Louis to play a four game series there. If we play our cards right, and St. Louis gives us just a little help, we could, hopefully, look to clinch the division by Thursday (our last home game of the year). Here's to hoping... Finally, so much for my prediction of clinching the division by today's game. Instead of having our Magic Number at 0, our Magic Number is 5. I was a bit off. Of course, I wasn't expecting Arizona to do so well, nor for us to do so badly. We have only two wins in our last five games. Definitely not the time for us to slow down...
The Dodgers, behind Manny Ramírez's bat, outslug the Giants to even up the series.
Takashi Saito got the win, he's 4-3. Tyler Walker took the loss, he's 4-8.
Hiroki Kuroda had a pretty short start. He went only four innings giving up three runs on eight hits and a walk. He did managed to strike out five over that period though. Chan Ho Park came in to relieve and didn't help much. He allowed an inherited runner to score (attributed to Kuroda) in giving up a hit and two walks. He wasn't able to record an out before being pulled for Joe Beimel. Beimel allowed two of his inherited runners to score (attributed to Park, whose final line was 0.0 innings and two earned runs) before retiring the side. Beimel followed that up by going another scoreless inning (his final line was 2.0 innings, no runs). Takashi Saito and Cory Wade each added a scoreless inning. Jonathan Broxton pitched the 9th and struggled a bit, giving up two runs before getting a strikeout to end the game.
The Dodgers collected nine hits and 11 walks in the game. Matt Kemp went 1-5 with a homerun, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Hiroki Kuroda actually had a pretty good day. He went 2-2 with a run scored. 
The biggest day at the plate came from Manny Ramírez, though. He went 3-4 with a walk, two homeruns, five RBIs, and two runs scored.
The Arizona Diamondbacks also won today, so the Dodger lead in the NL West will remain 3.5 games. The Dodgers will try to win the rubber match of the series tomorrow at 1:10 L.A. time.
Also: With the win, the Dodgers move back up to seven games over .500 (81-74)... The win today gives the Dodgers 81 on the season, which guarantees them, at least, a .500 season... Also with the win, the Dodger Magic Number is now 5... The Dodger game today lasted a little over four hours (4:03).
Opinion: So the game was a bit long and a bit messy, but a win is a win. Pitching was a bit shaky, and it has been the last several games. They've given up a combined 25 runs in the last four games (8,3,7,7). That's going to need to improve if and when we get to the playoffs. Other than that, good win tonight. Even better if we go out and take the series tomorrow...
The Dodgers beat up on Greg Maddux and hand the Dodgers a loss in the first game of this three game weekend series.
Barry Zito got the win, he's 10-16. Greg Maddux took the loss, he's 7-13.
Greg Maddux was pretty hittable in his five innings of work. He gave up seven runs on nine hits over that span. James McDonald made his second career appearance and pitched two scoreless innings, though he did give up two hits and a walk over that span. Ramon Troncoso and Jason Johnson added a scoreless inning each.
The Dodger offense couldn't manage much during the game. They collected only six hits and two walks, the only run coming off a Pablo Ozuna homerun in the 8th. Other than that, the only other offensive output came from the top three in the lineup. 
Matt Kemp went 2-4, Andre Ethier went 1-3 with a walk, and Manny Ramírez went 2-4 with a double. And that was pretty much it for the day.
The Arizona Diamondbacks also lost today, so even with the loss the Dodgers remain 3.5 games up on the Diamondbacks in the NL West. The Dodgers will try to even up the series against the Giants tomorrow at 7:10 L.A. time.
Also: With the loss, the Dodgers record falls back to six games over .500 (80-74)... Arizona's loss brings the Dodger Magic Number to 6... Pablo Ozuna's homerun was hit first in over two years (his last one was August 17th, 2006). This comes just four days after Juan Pierre hit his first homerun in about two years as well (his prior homerun came on September 18th, 2006).
Opinion: I get the feeling the Giants would like us to not get to the postseason. It doesn't help that we spotted them seven runs. I'm starting to wonder whether or not Greg Maddux is a solid option for the fifth starter down this final stretch. Maddux now has a 1-4 record with the Dodgers in six starts. Knowing Joe Torre, I wouldn't expect to see a change, but I am a bit uncomfortable with Maddux on the mound... 
Also, what's up with our offense? We could only manage four runs against the Pirates in 12 innings yesterday, and now we can only scratch across one run against Barry Zito (who had a 5.48 ERA coming into today)? I said it yesterday, but that excitement that seemed to be in the dugout seems to be absent. It's feeling a little lifeless these last few days. We gotta get that loving feeling back, if you know what I mean... First things first, can we get a little production out of our 4-9 hitters? A combination of nine different players in those spots went a combined 1-21, with a walk. The one hit was Pablo Ozuna's homerun. Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, and Manny can't be the only ones who are hitting on the team, otherwise... well... otherwise this happens. We play the Giants five more times this season, no more losses please...
The Dodgers win a game in extra innings to take the series from Pittsburgh.
Scott Proctor got the win, he's 2-0. Craig Hansen took the loss, he's 1-4. Jonathan Broxton picked up his 14th save.
Clayton Kershaw's start was short. He went five innings, giving up one run on two hits and two walks while striking out five. 
Unfortunately, it took him 86 pitches to do that, and only 44 of those pitches were strikes (about 56%). The bullpen managed to give up the lead twice in the following two innings, before shutting down the Pirates over the last five. This included 1.2 scoreless innings thrown by Chan Ho Park and a perfect 11th thrown by Scott Proctor. Jonathan Broxton was a little shaky, but ultimately shut down the Pirates in the 12th to close out the game.
The Dodger offense was a bit odd today. They scored four runs on six hits and 11 walks. No one Dodger had a particularly good game. 
The best two really only collected one hit each. Blake DeWitt went 1-4 with two walks and two RBIs. James Loney had the big RBI in the game. He only went 1-6, but the hit came with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the 12th to give the Dodgers the lead.
The Arizona Diamondbacks also won today, so the Dodgers remain 3.5 games in front in the NL West race. The Dodgers now come home to start a three game weekend series against the Giants. The first game starts tomorrow at 7:40 L.A. time.
Also: With the win (the Dodgers' 80th on the season), the Dodgers move back up to seven games over .500 (80-73)... With the win, the Dodger Magic Number is down to 7... James Loney's RBI was his team leading 87th.
Opinion: These last two games weren't so good. The Diamondbacks are heating up. They completed their four game sweep of the Giants (smashing my prediction from two days ago) and now are moving on to Colorado, who might or might not be a little harder. 
In any case, I'm glad we won today. A series split with the Pirates would have been disasterous at this point in the season. The offense seemed a litle dead today. We still got the win, but we seemed to be lacking the passion we've had the past couple weeks. We'd better get that back soon... Looks like Nomar Garciaparra's knee injury is not as bad as I had thought. He could be back in the lineup soon, but that doesn't mean I'm not worried. I just hope it can hold up. We'll see... 
One last note: Manny Ramírez and Andy LaRoche had the same number of RBIs in this series. I'm not saying that Andy would have made more of an impact in the last month and a half. Manny has been a tremendous influence on the team and we wouldn't be anywhere close to where we are now without him. All I'm doing is just merely pointing out an interesting statistic. Just something to chew on...
The Pirates beat down on Dodger pitching to take the third game in the series.
John Grabow got the win, he's 6-3. Scott Elbert took the loss, he's 0-1.
Dodger pitching was not good... Chad Billingsley had his worst start of the season. He went only 4.2 innings, giving up seven runs (six earned) on two walks and eight hits (two homeruns, including a grand slam). Joe Beimel came in and got out of the inning by striking out the next batter. Scott Proctor looked good, pitching the next 1.2, striking out three. A combination of three different pitchers (including Scott Elbert, who took the loss) then proceeded to give up eight runs before finally recording one out. James McDonald made his major league debut, and was impressive. He pitched a perfect 8th, striking out two.
What will be lost in what was an awful pitching performance, was that the Dodgers weren't bad offensively today. They collected eight runs on 19 hits and three walks. Russell Martin went 3-5 with a double and three RBIs. Matt Kemp went 4-5 with a run scored. Pablo Ozuna went 3-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Finally, Nomar Garciaparra went 2-3 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored before hurting his knee in the 5th inning and being forced to come out of the game.
The Diamondbacks are currently beating the Giants 7-3 after six innings. With the loss, the Dodgers' lead is currently three games. They'll try to go for the series win tomorrow, starting at 9:35 L.A. time.
Also: With the loss, the Dodgers fall back to six games over .500 (79-73).
Opinion: So... that was interesting... You know what the most amazing thing about this game was? The Pirates scored 14 (THAT'S RIGHT, 14!) of the 15 runs with two outs. Can we get a third out, please?!? I guess you can't expect those kind of numbers every night, but really, nobody could get a popout or something? Come on... The hitting, though the Dodgers did manage eight runs, still surprises me. Normally when you see 19 in the "Hit" column, you see more then eight in the "Run" column. Not that it matters, because, normally, when you 15 in the opponents' "Run" column, you just take the loss and move on... As a manager in professional baseball, you really ride a roller coaster of looking like a total genius to a clueless moron. Joe Torre chose to start Pablo Ozuna and Nomar Garciaparra, and they rewarded him (3-4 and 2-3 respectively). Then, Torre chose to put in Scott Proctor. He was dominating in his 1.2 innings. Then, with a lefty coming up, Torre chose to take out the hot Proctor and bring in lefty Scott Elbert to get the third out. At this point, the score was tied, 7-7. Eight runs and 10 batters later, that out was finally recorded... 
Look, I'll say this, I really like Nomar Garciaparra. I still remember his excellent year in 2006 when he was incredibly clutch for us. I really want him to be a part of this playoff team. That said, he looked really bad trying to stop after rounding 3rd base in the 5th inning. There have been no reports yet, but if I had to put money on it, I'd put a small amount on Nomar Garciaparra going on the DL. Nomar is going to be a free agent after this season. ...Nomar, I love you man, but if this knee injury is as serious as it probably is, it might be time to call it a day. I guess we'll see when the report on his leg comes out, but again, I guessing it's not pretty... Ok, that's enough for now, but really, what a weird day. Let it go and move on, it'll make you crazy if you think about it too much.
EDIT: The Giants tried but couldn't complete a comeback against the Diamondbacks, so with their win, the pull back within 3.5 games of the Dodgers in the NL West. I guess what I said yesterday about predictions might be right. But then again, my prediction about me making a prediction seems to be turning out right... so... 1-2???
The Dodgers beat down the Pirates for their second straight win.
Derek Lowe got the win, he's 14-11. Jeff Karstens took the loss, he's 2-6.
Derek Lowe tried to, and almost matched Hiroki Kuroda's performance from yesterday. He went seven innings, giving up just one run on five hits, while striking out three. Chan Ho Park pitched a scoreless 8th, and the bullpen gave up a run in the 9th before ultimately closing out the game.
Casey Blake had an excellent offensive game for the Dodgers. He went 3-5 with a homerun, a triple, two RBIs, and two runs scored. 
He fell just a double short of the cycle. Manny Ramírez had a good game as well. He went 3-5 with a double and an RBI. Blake DeWitt went 2-4 with a sac-fly, an RBI, and a run scored. Russell Martin had an interesting game. He went 1-3 with a walk, a stolen base, a sac-fly, an RBI, and a run scored.
The Arizona Diamondbacks are currently scoreless through the 1st inning, playing against San Francisco in Arizona. For now, the Dodger lead in the NL West is five games.
Also: With the win, the Dodgers move up to seven games over .500 (79-72)... With the win, the Dodger Magic Number is now 8.
Opinion: The Magic Number is starting to get awfully small... I like it. I'm glad the Dodgers are still taking care of business against the Pirates. Two games down, two to go. 
I don't want to get too ahead of myself, because I find that making predictions never seems to end too well. Chances are that you end up wrong, and if you, by chance, end up right, you often just look lucky. That said, I'd like to say that the Dodgers will clinch the division by Sunday. We have two more games against the Pirates, then three against the Giants back at Dodger Stadium. In all honesty, we should (read: should) win these next five. That brings the Magic Number to 3. Arizona plays San Francisco three more times, including tonight. Then they play Colorado, in Colorado over the weekend. I'm going to go ahead and make the prediction that they will lose three of those games. I'm thinking two in Colorado, and the Giants, behind Tim Lincecum on Thursday, should take care of them. Again, predictions never seem to work out, but hey, it doesn't hurt to hope... Los Angeles Dodgers: 2008 NL West Champions (Sunday, September 21st, 2008). I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty good to me.
EDIT: Diamondbacks beat the Giants, so back to a 4.5 game lead for the Dodgers and no ticks off the Magic Number... til tomorrow...
The Dodgers outslug the Pirates to take the first game in this four game series.
Hiroki Kuroda got the win, he's 9-10. Ross Ohlendorf took the loss, he's 0-2.
Hiroki Kuroda had an excellent start. He went seven innings, giving up only three hits and a walk, surrendering no runs while striking out two. Takashi Saito made his return and pitched a scoreless inning, striking out two. Brad Penny pitched the 9th and gave up a two-run homerun, but ultimately ended the inning to close out the game.
The Dodger offense was even better than the Dodger pitching. They scored eight runs on 12 hits and eight walks. Russell Martin went 1-3 with two walks and three runs scored. 
Juan Pierre went 3-5 with an RBI and three runs scored. He actually hit a homerun, his first in almost two years. Manny Ramírez went 3-4 with a double, two RBIs, and a run scored. James Loney went 2-4 and added three RBIs as well.
The Arizona Diamondbacks also won today, so the Dodger lead will remain 4.5 games in the NL West race. They'll try to pick up their second win in a row tomorrow at 4:05 L.A. time.
Also: With the win, the Dodgers move back up to six games over .500 (78-72)... With the win, the Dodger Magic Number is now 9... James Loney's three RBIs bring his team leading total up to 86.
Opinion: Good pitching (except Penny) and good hitting. When Juan Pierre hits a homerun, you know something is going on. Anyway, we definitely gotta beat the Pirates. One down, three to go.
The Dodgers failed to complete the sweep of the Rockies and see their winning streak snapped at four.
Manny Corpas got the win, he's 3-3. Hong-Chih Kuo took the loss, he's 5-3.
Greg Maddux had his best start as a Dodger this season. He went seven innings and surrendered no runs on only two hits while striking out three. And he did this all on 68 pitches. Cory Wade pitched two perfect, scoreless innings in relief. Hong-Chih Kuo came in and gave up the winning run. He got only one out while giving up a run on four hits.
The Dodger offense, meanwhile, struggled to score any runs against Rockies' pitching. They collected eight hits and a walk, but grounded into two double plays and had a run get caught stealing. The best offensive player for the second day in a row was Ángel Berroa, who went 2-4. Six other Dodgers collected one hit each, and Nomar Garciaparra collected the only walk. The Dodgers also failed to collect any extra-base hits or advance a runner past 2nd base.
As of this writing, the Arizona Diamondbacks are trailing 1-0 to the Cincinnati Reds after four innings. With the loss, the Dodgers' lead in the NL West is reduced to four games. The Dodgers will now travel to Pittsburgh to face the Pirates for a four game series starting Monday at 4:05 L.A. time.
Also: With the loss, the Dodgers fall back to five games over .500 (76-71).
Opinion: A pretty ugly offensive game for the Dodgers. I think it really shows how important a hot Andre Ethier is to our lineup. The offense looked like they were fighting an uphill battle all day. Stranded runners, rally-killing double plays. We were falling right into Aaron Cook's (starting pitcher for the Rockies) trap. He's a sinkerball pitcher, and go the Dodgers to roll-over into 17 groundball outs through eight innings. In any case, we still won the series, and as long as we keep doing that, we'll glide right into the playoffs.
EDIT: The Cincinnati Reds beat the Arizona Diamondbacks in extra innings for the second day in a row. Arizona remains 4.5 games back of the Dodgers in the NL West race, but the Dodger Magic Number is now 10.
The Dodgers take the second game of the series and win their fourth overall.
Clayton Kershaw got the win, he's 4-5. Jorge De La Rosa took the loss, he's 8-8.
Clayton Kershaw had a pretty good, albeit short start. He went six innings, giving up one run on four hits and two walks, while striking out seven. Chan Ho Park pitched two scoreless innings in relief, striking out four in the process. Jonathan Broxton retired the side in order in the 9th, striking out two.
A handful of different players contributed offensively. In fact, each player in the starting lineup reached base at-least once, including Kershaw. Russell Martin went 1-5, but had two RBIs. 
Casey Blake went 1-4, but his one hit was a solo homerun. Blake DeWitt went 0-1, but drew three walks and scored twice. Ángel Berroa probably had best game offensively. He went 2-3 with two doubles, a walk, an RBI, and a run scored.
The Arizona Diamondbacks as of this blog writing are up 2-1 against Cincinnati going into the 8th inning. With the win, the Dodgers move to four games up on the Diamondbacks. Should the Diamondbacks win, they'll lower the Dodgers' lead back to 3.5 games. If they lose, the Dodger lead will rise to 4.5 games. The Dodgers will try to go for the sweep tomorrow starting at 12:05 L.A. time.
Also: With the win, the Dodgers move to six games over .500 (77-71)... With the Dodger win, the Magic Number is now 12 games. Should the Diamondbacks lose later tonight, that number will be lowered to 11.
Opinion: I really like that we are going out there and handling our business. Yes, it's good to know what Arizona is doing. If they lose, that's better for us, sure. But the win itself is the most important thing. I mean, it's so simple. We just keep winning, and we don't need to worry about Arizona. It kinda helps, too, that we are playing only pretty bad teams, but I won't look a gift horse in the mouth, whatever that means...
EDIT: Cincinnati tied the score with Arizona to go to extra innings. They then got the go-ahead run in the top of 10th. They shut down Arizona in the bottom of the 10th to get the win. So with Arizona's loss, they fall to 4.5 game back of the Dodgers in the NL West race. That also lowers the Dodger Magic Number to 11.
The Dodgers beat the Rockies to take the first game in the weekend series and win their third game overall.
Chad Billingsley got the win, he's 15-10. Jeff Francis took the loss, he's 4-10.
Chad Billingsley went six innings giving up two runs on three walks and six hits, while striking out three. Pitch count was an issue, as by the time Billingsley was taken out of the game before the 7th inning, he had made 96 pitches. He did do a good job, though, of holding the Rockies to two runs. He gave up a run in each of the first two innings, but held the Rockies scoreless over the next four. Four pitchers from the Dodger bullpen pitched a combined three scoreless innings, giving up only one hit over that span. Cory Wade was among that group. He went 1.1 innings, striking out a batter. Scott Proctor pitched a perfect 9th, striking out one to close out the game.
The Dodger offense heated up in the last third of the game. They had scored only three runs through the first six innings. They then managed to score four runs in the last three. Seven different Dodgers reached base at least twice. Manny Ramírez went 2-5 with an RBI and a run scored. 
Nomar Garciaparra went 1-2 with a walk, a double, and two runs scored. Matt Kemp went 2-5 with a double, two RBIs, and a run scored. James Loney had a short and sweet game. He came in as a defensive replacement in the 7th innings. He then proceeded to go 2-2 with a double and three RBIs.
The Arizona Diamondbacks won as well today, so with the win, the Dodgers will hold on to the 3.5 game lead. The Dodgers will try to extend their win streak to four tomorrow, starting at 5:05 L.A. time.
Also: With the win, the Dodgers move to five games over .500 (76-71)... Also with the win, the Dodger Magic Number is lowered to 13... Chad Billingsley's win was his 15th, good for first place on the Dodgers... James Loney's three RBIs today brought his team leading total to 83.
Opinion: Good win for the Dodgers, especially from a pitching standpoint. When Chad Billingsley gave up two runs in the first two innings, I started thinking "Uh-oh." For some reason, however good our pitching is, the Rockies somehow seem to be good at hitting us, especially notorious Dodger killers: Matt Holliday and Brad Hawpe. Hawpe and Holliday both went 2-4, by the way. But we were able to shut the rest of the team down. The pitching held them to seven hits and three walks, and of course, most importantly: two runs. Props most of all to the bullpen. Three innings, one hit and no runs against a pretty good hitting team. Also, I have to give props to the hitting. After coming out kind of slow, only two runs through the first three innings, then getting a third go-ahead run in the 4th. More importantly, though, instead of letting the Rockies stay in the game and attempt some kind of late-inning comeback, they put the final nail in the coffin by scoring four runs in the final three innings. Anyway, good job on both end of the Dodgers today. Let's keep it up into tomorrow. Magic Number is 13 and shrinking...
The Dodgers take the rubber match of the series to extend their lead in the NL West to 3.5 games.
Derek Lowe got the win, he's 13-11. Shawn Estes took the loss, he's 2-2.
Derek Lowe was pitching a pretty good game before leaving in the 6th inning after being struck in the knee with a come-backer. Ultimately, he went 5.1 innings, giving up just one run on three hits and a walk, while striking out three. Brad Penny came off the DL before today's game. He came in to pitch some relief in the 7th inning, but gave up two hits and a walk before being pulled. Cory Wade allowed one runner to score on a sac-fly (charged to Penny) before getting a double play to end the inning. Wade pitched two scoreless innings total. Joe Beimel pitched a perfect 9th to end the game.
The Dodgers, led by Manny Ramírez, scored seven runs of Padres' pitching today. Manny went 2-5 with two two-run homeruns. He had four RBIs and two runs scored. Andre Ethier went 2-4 with a walk and two runs scored. Russell Martin went 1-4 with a walk, a stolen base, and an RBI. Blake DeWitt went 2-3 with a double, a walk, an RBI, and a run scored.
The Arizona Diamondbacks were swept by the San Francisco Giants earlier today, so with the win today, the Dodgers push their lead in the NL West to 3.5 games. 
The Dodgers have an off-day tomorrow as they travel to Colorado. They'll begin a three game weekend series there on Friday, starting at 6:05 L.A. time.
Also: With the win, the Dodgers move to four games over .500 (75-71)... With the Dodger win and the Diamondback loss, the Dodgers' Magic Number is lowered to 14... James Loney went 1-4 with a homerun today, but more importantly, that gave him his team leading 80th RBI on the season.
Opinion: After struggling to score a run in the first game of the series, the Dodgers came back to score 13 runs in the next two games. Continuing the theme from yesterday's game recap, 
Manny added four RBIs today. This gives both Manny and Andre Ethier 11 RBIs each in the last six games. This is also important because we are going into Colorado, where the games so often become slugfests. Pitching is important, but when we go into Colorado, we need to have our hitting win some games for us. We will have a small advantage going in, though. The Dodgers will travel tomorrow from San Diego to Colorado. A relatively short commute. They'll probably get into Colorado sometime early tomorrow, get to the hotel and get some rest before Friday's game. Colorado, on the other hand, has a night game tomorrow, in Atlanta. They are finishing up a three game series out there (where, by the way, they've lost their first two games). It seems like an advantage to me, but then again, can't take anything for granted. We just got to keep up this good play. 10 wins in our last 11 games, and the gap in the NL West race is getting bigger, while the season is getting shorter. We officially eliminated San Diego from the playoff chase this series. We won't be able to "officially" do that Colorado this weekend series, but with a good series, we can, for all intents and purposes, take them out of the hunt. And that's good enough for me...
The Dodgers come back late to take the second game in the three game series.
Joe Beimel got the win, he's 5-1. Heath Bell took the loss, he's 6-6.
Hiroki Kuroda had a quality start. He went six innings, giving up two runs on nine hits and two walks while striking out four. The Dodger bullpen pitched three scoreless innings in relief, giving up only two walks over that span. Joe Beimel pitched one of those innings to put him in position to get the win. Jonathan Broxton pitched a scoreless 9th to close out the game, though with a four run lead, he couldn't collect a save.
The Dodgers managed only one run through the seven first innings, coming on a Manny Ramírez solo homerun in the 6th. They then managed to score five runs in the last two innings. 
Andre Ethier went 2-4 with a walk, a double, a triple, four RBIs, and a run scored. Russell Martin went 1-3 with a double, two walks, and two runs scored. Manny went 1-3 with a homerun, a walk, a sac-fly, two RBIs, and a run scored.
The San Francisco Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks for the second game in a row (they fall back to 71-73), so with the win the Dodgers move to 2.5 games ahead of the Diamondbacks in the NL West race. The Dodgers will try to win the rubber match of the series tomorrow at 7:05 L.A. time.
Also: With the win, the Dodgers move back to three game over .500 (74-71)... With the Diamondback loss and the Dodger win, the Dodger Magic Number is now reduced to 16 games... Manny Ramírez's homerun was the 522nd of his career, moving him into 17th place on the All-Time list.
Opinion: What a two man wrecking crew Manny Ramírez and Andre Ethier have become: 18 RBIs combined for them over the last five games (seven for Ramírez, 11 for Ethier). Not that I would want to mess up the chemistry of a team that's gone nine for it's last 10, but I can't help but wonder if Ethier and Ramírez might be better served in the three and four spots, allowing another possible runner to get on before those two. In any case, we got the win, and that's the most important thing. Now let's win tomorrow's rubber match and the series. Colorado won't be easy this weekend, so any momentum we can get going into the series would be very helpful.
The Padres shut down the Dodgers to win the first game in this three game series and snap the Dodgers winning streak at eight.
Cha Seung Baek picked up the win, he's 5-9. Greg Maddux took the loss, he's 7-12.
Greg Maddux's start was a bit sub-par. He went six innings, giving up four runs on seven hits and two walks. He struck out four, but struggled all night getting called strikes on the corners and down low around the plate where he normally lives. The Dodger bullpen pitched two scoreless innings in relief to keep the Padres to four runs.
The Dodger offense, meanwhile, presented more problems today than the pitching. The Dodgers managed to get only seven runners on base today. Andre Ethier managed about half of that amount. He went 3-4, with two doubles. Matt Kemp and Casey Blake drew a walk each, and Blake DeWitt had a 5th inning single. DeWitt also reached on an error in the 3rd. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, two of those runners were eliminated by double plays, 
and the other five were left stranded. And that was the offensive output for the Dodgers.
The Arizona Diamondbacks lost as well tonight (they now fall to one game under .500 on the season: 70-71) so the Dodgers will retain their 1.5 game lead in the NL West. The Dodgers will to start up a new winning streak tomorrow at 7:05 L.A. time.
Also: With the loss, the Dodgers fall back to two games over .500 (73-71)... Coming into today, the Dodgers' magic number (ie. the combination of the number of Dodger win and/or Diamondback losses that will clinch us the NL West division) was 19. Though the Dodgers lost today, the Diamondback loss lowers that magic number to 18.
Opinion: I said about a week and a half ago that sometimes we have trouble winning games we should win. Now, that was before we swept the Padres last week. That said, the message still stands. We look at the schedule and say: "Wow, we play the awful Padres nine times in September." That doesn't mean: "Wow, we have nine extra wins to look forward to in September." We still have to come out and play. We still have to win these games. I'm not going to put too much into the loss. 
...Though, honestly, Cha Seung Baek? Guy had a 5.36 ERA coming into today. We ripped him for seven runs in 3.2 innings last week in L.A. So how did he shut us down for seven innings today? Chalk it up to being tired? Physically tired from traveling? "Emotionally tired" (???) as Jim Watson of FSN Prime Ticket just asked Joe Torre (literally, that happened on the TV as I was writing this). Yep, that's it Watson. We're emotionally tired from having such a great weekend, in which we swept our division rivals and moved into 1st place for the first time in months. No, no, that's probably it. We blew all our excitement and energy in the weekend series and had none left to take down Cha Seung Baek. Sheesh... In any case, the Diamondbacks bailed us out by continuing their bad play and their crusade to hand us the division. So, Dodgers, how about this: let's come out the next two days and beat down the Padres and win this series? No more of these losses to guys like Cha Seung Baek. It's not good for the collective Dodger soul...
Hiroki Kuroda started for the Dodgers, and pitched five innings of scoreless ball. He gave up only two hits over that span and struck out three, cementing his place as "Game 3 Starter" in the playoffs. Clayton Kershaw pitched a shaky but scoreless inning out of the bullpen. The bullpen struggled though. Chan Ho Park gave up two runs in only 0.2 innings of work and Cory Wade gave up a run in his 0.1 inning of work.
Also due to the fact that Tim Lincecum gave up only one run over seven innings of work while striking out 13, probably well on his way to picking up a Cy Young award. For the Dodgers, Andre Ethier had the best game at the plate. He started and went 2-2 with a double and an RBI off Lincecum before leaving for a pinch runner. Juan Pierre went 1-4 scoring a run and stealing a base (his team leading 40th of the season). Other than that, there's not much to note.
