Yeah, I didn't post for a week. Doesn't mean I wasn't paying attention.
Been updating my computer, working to get all my programs back and running, yadda yadda, so I didn't have time for posts.
But I'm here now, so let's do this.
This week, the Dodgers started and completed a 6 game East Coast road trip. And did pretty damn well.
They started out slow, losing the first game in Philadelphia to Chan Ho Park, of all people. They came back, however, to win the next two. They then went to Florida, where they split the first two games, but followed that up by winning the rubber game to take that series as well.
The Dodgers went 4-2 on the road trip. Oh, and by the way, they have the best record in baseball.
Round 6 of HOT, COLD, or ROOM TEMPERATURE? Already. Wow, time is flying by. Ok, here we go.
COLD:
- Rafael Furcal - .167 (4-24), 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 Runs, 2 Ks, 1 CS - As bad as Furcal has been this year, he's really hit a low this week. He's striking out, he's not drawing walks, and he got caught stealing. What happened to the Furcal of last year? He's got to turn it on at some point.
- Guillermo Mota - 21.60 ERA (4 ER in 1.2 innings, 1 game) - It seems like I'm picking on Mota. I mean, after all, he only had one bad outing this week (the 12-5 win at Florida, May 17th). But honestly, folks, this was just another bad outing in a series of bad outings. I mean, for God's sake. It's 12-1, 9th inning. All you have to do is get out of the inning so we can all go home. You get two outs. Alright, good start. 10 minutes later, you've somehow loaded the bases, given up a Grand Slam, and forced the manager to pull you. How can you mess up an inning so damn badly? Why is he still on this team?!
ROOM TEMPERATURE:
- Eric Milton - 4.50 ERA (2 ER in 4.0 innings), 2 hits, 4 walks, 3 Ks - So, Eric Milton made his first start in the majors since 2007, and how'd he do? Meh. He wasn't terrible, but he was by no stretch of the imagination, good. He was making way too many pitches, and for the kind of stuff he has, he was giving up way too many walks. He made 84 pitches (only 43 strikes) and was pulled before the 5th. But hey, at least he didn't give up a Grand Slam or something like that.
- Andre Ethier - .200 (4-20), 1 2B, 2 walks, 2 RBIs, 5 Ks, 1 SB - Ethier continues his luke-warmness. I feel like he's the Champ Kind to Manny's Ron Burgundy: "I need you. I'm a mess without you. I miss you so damn much. I miss being with you, I miss being near you. I miss your laugh. I miss your scent; I miss your musk. When this all gets sorted out, I think you and me should get an apartment together." Ok, maybe it's not that bad. But Ethier has been hurting, and whether that's Manny related or not, I'd like it to stop. You hear me, Ethier? Stop it.
HOT:
- Russell Martin - .333 (6-18), 1 2B, 1 RBI, 3 runs, 5 walks, 2 SBs - Nice Martin, a 2nd week of "HOT" in a row. All I can say is, keep it up. Oh, and maybe, let's notch a homerun or two.
- James Loney - .308 (8-26), 2 HRs, 6 RBIs, 1 walk, 4 runs - Well, it took long enough for Loney to get out of the homerless category. And once he did, he came back for more. Sure, they were both in Philly, but I won't hold that against him. A homer is a homer.
- Casey Blake - .368 (7-19), 2 2Bs, 2 HRs, 5 RBIs, 1 walk, 6 Ks - That's actually quite a few strike outs for just 19 at-bats, but still, extra base hits and RBIs are good stuff.
- Mark Loretta - .500 (4-8), 1 2B, 4 RBIs, 2 walks - I just wanted to give Mark Loretta some credit for what he's been doing this year. He's been a solid pinch hitter and spot start all year, and this week was really a good microcosm of that. I can't remember a year when we've had a bench of this quality, and he's a big part of that.
- Clayton Kershaw - 1-1 (2 games), 3.75 ERA (5 ER in 12.0 innings), 14 Ks, 8 walks - Yes, those stats look pretty pedestrian, but if you've watched Kershaw, you know he has pitched better than his stats indicate. He was pretty hitable in Philly (a 5-3 loss, May 12th), but was almost the opposite of that in Florida (a 12-5 win, May 17th). 7.0 innings of no-hit ball only to finally give up a hit in the 8th, collecting nine strikeouts along the way. He's been up and down this year, but this was definitely an up.
- Juan Pierre - .407 (11-27), 4 2Bs, 1 3B, 5 RBIs, 2 walks, 4-5 SBs, 7 runs - Juan Pierre is a man on fire! I mean, he's playing like a man who's trying to prove he can still be a starter somewhere and that when a certain outfielder returns in early July, another team should take a flier on him. Yeah, a little long winded, and kinda a cheap shot, but what are you gonna do? Pierre's been go, and I like it. So good, in fact, he's started a grassroots movement. Yep, Juan Pierre is in BeastMode, and that's a good thing for us.
Ok, hopefully I'll get in some more posts this week than last week. We'll see.
3 game series against the Mets in L.A. starts later today. See you then.
These are the relievers who made a couple starts during the season.
Player: Chan Ho Park
2008 Stats: 4-4, 3.40 ERA, 79 Ks (54 games, five starts)
2008 Analysis: Chan Ho Park really revived his career coming back to the Dodgers. After appearing in only one game in 2007 for the New York Mets, he signed a contract to come back to the Dodgers. And he was, for the most part, pretty impressive.
His 3.40 ERA is a bit deceiving as he had a sub-3.00 ERA for most of the year until a late season meltdown.
Oh, and he also won the "J's Dodger Blog 2008 Comeback Player of the Year" award.
It was a pretty good year for Chan Ho, so much so, that he decided he could ask for a starting pitcher role in 2009, which leads to...
2009 Outlook: Chan Ho signed with the Philadelphia Phillies earlier in the offseason because they said he'd have the possibility of becoming their 5th starter. I somewhat alluded to it in that post, but this might not be such a good idea for Chan Ho. Chan Ho left us in 2001 and in the seven seasons he spent away from us, he never had an ERA below 4.80. In fact, only pitching for San Diego in 24 games in 2006 did he have an ERA under 5.00. His worst years came in Texas, where the baseball fly out of the park.
So what did Chan Ho Park do when this offseason came around. He left the Dodgers and signed a contract with a team who plays in one of the smallest parks in the majors, where balls are constantly flying out of the yard.
I'm not condemning Chan Ho back to a career of failures, but I'm just saying his 2009 outlook doesn't look too good.
In an attempt to make my player profile of Terry Tiffee a moot point, the Philadelphia Phillies signed Tiffee to a minor league contract.
He's now the second Dodger to join the Phillies this offseason.
Here's to hoping he gets more than four at-bats for them.
Happy Trails!
Chan Ho Park has decided to leave the Dodgers for a second time, agreeing to a one year, $2.5 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. 
The contract has the possibilty of going up to $5 million with incentives.
We here at J's Dodger Blog wish Chan Ho Park luck in leaving the only team he's ever really had success with and establishing a new home in one of the most hitter friendly stadiums in the league.
Happy Trails!
There are six players up for Reliever of the Year:
Chan Ho Park
-4-4, two saves, 3.40 ERA in 54 games (95.1 innings).
Joe Beimel
-5-1, 2.02 ERA in 71 games (49 innings).
Hong-Chih Kuo
-5-3, one save, 2.14 ERA in 40 games (80 innings).
Cory Wade
-2-1, 2.27 ERA in 55 games (71.1 innings).
Jonathan Broxton
-3-5, 14 saves, 3.13 ERA in 70 games (69 innings).
Takashi Saito
-4-4, 18 saves, 2.49 ERA in 45 games (47 innings).
...and the Reliever of the Year is...
Hong-Chih Kuo
It came down to three players for me. Joe Beimel, even though he had a very impressive ERA, had some issues with letting inherited runners score. Cory Wade was a close second, but Hong-Chih Kuo had a better ERA in more innings.
On top of that all, Kuo was 5th on the team for strikeouts, trailing only four Dodgers starters, who of course, had more innings under their belts.
So, congratulations to Hong-Chih Kuo for winning the "J's Dodger Blog 2008 Reliever of the Year."
Now that all the awards have been given out in baseball, it's time for me to give out my rewards, so we'll take a quick break from Player Profiles to hand out some rewards. First up: Comeback Player of the Year.
Just three nominees for the Comeback Player of the year:
Ángel Berroa
-After playing only nine games in the majors in 2007 and being sent to the Kansas City Royals' AAA team, Berroa was picked up by the Dodgers midseason. He then proceeded to start 64 games at shortstop for the Dodgers. He hit his first homerun in two years and played solid defense down the stretch.
Chan Ho Park
-Playing on three different teams after leaving the Dodgers before the 2002 season (including playing only one game in the majors in 2007), and not having an ERA below 4.80 over that time, Chan Ho returned to the team that first signed him. He made 54 appearances in 2008 (including five spot starts) and went 4-4 with a 3.40 ERA.
Hong-Chih Kuo-Kuo made it into only eight games in 2007, posting a 7.42 ERA while struggling with injuries throughout the year. Always an injury threat, Kuo made it through most of the 2008 season, appearing in 42 games (including three spot starts) and went 5-3 with a 2.14 ERA.
...And the Comeback Player of the Year is...
Chan Ho Park.
Ángel Berroa was a solid enough replacement at short stop, but not incredibly impressive. Many always knew Hong-Chih Kuo was a good pitcher but just needed to stay healthy, and when he did that, he proved how good he could be. His comeback was not nearly as good as say...
Chan Ho Park, on the other hand, had a great year for someone who's career was looking in question coming into the season. Despite his dropoff near the end of the season, Chan Ho still had his lowest ERA since 2000. In fact, if not for a handful of bad games near the end of the season, Chan Ho had an ERA below 3.00 for most of the season. He played three different roles out of the bullpen (spot starter, short reliever, long reliever) and did it all well.
So with that, Chan Ho Park is the "J's Dodger Blog 2008 Comeback Player of the Year."
The Phillies come back to beat the Dodgers in the first game of this seven-game series.
Cole Hamels got the win, he's 1-0 in the NLCS. Derek Lowe took the loss, he's 0-1 in the NLCS. Brad Lidge picked up his 1st save in the NLCS.
Derek Lowe made two mistakes in the game. Two bad pitches that equaled three runs. He went 5.1 innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on six hits and a walk. Chan Ho Park got the final two outs in the inning. Greg Maddux and Hong-Chih Kuo each added a scoreless inning in relief.
The Dodgers weren't able to mount much offense against Phillies pitching. They scratched across two runs in the first four innings, but were shut down the rest of the way. Andre Ethier went 2-4 with a double and a run scored. 
Manny Ramírez went 2-4 with a double and an RBI. Other than that, there were a few other assorted hits and walks, but not much to speak of.
With the loss, the Dodgers fall to 0-1 in the series. They'll play game two tomorrow starting at 1:35 L.A. time.
Opinion: This was a tough loss, but foreseeable. Giving up the lead was tough, but if you had to look at the schedule for this series and pick a game that we would probably lose, this would be it. We've seen Cole Hamels three times (twice during the season, and now once in the playoffs). All three times, he's gone seven innings and given up just two runs. We definitely are going to need more than that to be the Phillies. Luckily, Hamels is easily the best starter for the Phillies. We should do better. Hopefully... One thing I did like though, is that in the 9th inning, against Brad Lidge, even though he retired the side, the Dodgers did hit the ball pretty hard. Even though Lidge was perfect in save opportunites during the season, that doesn't mean he can't be beat. We have to remember that, in case we end up in a situation like tonight again.
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 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 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, 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 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 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 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 shut down the Diamondbacks to take the first game in this three game weekend series and win their sixth game in a row.
Derek Lowe got the win, he's 12-11. Dan Haren took the loss, he's 14-8.
Derek Lowe pitched an excellent game. He went eight scoreless innings giving up just two hits and two walks over that span. He struck out four and collected 13 groundball outs. He was efficient, too. He did that all on 101 pitches. Chan Ho Park followed, pitching a perfect 9th inning, striking out two.
The Dodgers offense, led by Andre Ethier, tallied seven runs on the night. Ethier went 5-5. He had two doubles and a homerun, he scored a run, and drove in five RBIs. Russell Martin also had a major contibution. He went 1-3, with two walks, a stolen base, an RBI, and three runs scored. Combined, the Dodgers collected 10 hits, eight walks, and a hit-batter in the game.
With the win, the Dodgers move back to within .5 games of the Diamondbacks in the NL West race. They'll try to go for their seventh win in a row (as well as the division lead) tomorrow at 12:55 L.A. time.
Also: With the win, the Dodgers move to one game over .500 (71-70)... Andre Ethier's homerun gives him a team leading 20 on the season. Ethier's big night tonight followed a two hit game and a three hit game for him. Ethier is now 10 for his last 13, with two homeruns, a triple, three doubles, a walk, six runs scored, and five RBIs.
Opinion: Andre Ethier is really feeling it, huh? Good job by the Dodgers tonight, coming out and making a statement by taking down Dan Haren. The next two pitchers: Brandon Webb and Randy Johnson, will only be tougher, so tonight was an especially important win. We got some excellent pitching tonight. We got some excellent hitting tonight. We were excellent tonight... Let's keep this up, huh?
The Dodgers' struggles continue as they lose the first game in this weekend series, and their eighth game in a row.
Doug Davis got the win, he's 6-8. Hiroki Kuroda took the loss, he's 7-10.
Hiroki Kuroda went five innings, giving up four runs (two earned) on four base hits, a walk, and four strikeouts. Scott Elbert made his big league debut striking out two batters before giving up a walk and being pulled for Chan Ho Park. Park proceeded to get out of the inning before surrendering four runs (three earned) in the following inning. Two of those runs were driven in on hits given up by Joe Beimel, who relieved Park. Beimel finished the inning, though, without giving up any runs of his own. Jason Johnson gave up a run in his inning of work that followed.
The Dodgers struggled again to drive in runs. 15 runners got on base (12 hits and three walks) and the Dodgers ended up leaving 15 runners on base in the game. Manny Ramírez had a good game. He went 4-4, with a walk, two doubles, a stolen base, and two runs scored. 
Andre Ethier went 2-5, with a double, two stolen bases, and a run scored. Six other Dodgers also collected a hit.
With the loss, the Dodgers fall to 4.5 games behind the Diamondbacks in the NL West race. The second game of the series starts tomorrow at 5:10 L.A. time.
Also: James Loney did collect a RBI in the game, bringing him up to a team-leading 73 RBIs... Nomar Garciaparra committed two errors in the game, leading to three unearned runs... With the loss, the Dodgers fall to five games under .500 (65-70).
Opinion: It's not looking good, and it's getting uglier. We couldn't beat Doug Davis today. We are going to be facing two much better pitchers tomorrow and Sunday. We aren't hitting. And now, surprisingly, we've stopped pitching. In the last eight days, the Diamondbacks scored more than four runs only once. They scored nine today. We aren't even getting much defense. Three unearned runs today, coming off the game two days ago where the Dodger defense allowed two unearned runs. 
I mean, yeah, realistically, I wasn't expecting to sweep the Diamondbacks in this series, but I felt if there was one game we should win, it really should have been today... Five games under .500 is worse than we've been in a long time. Much like last year around this time, you can feel the season is starting to slip away. It's not a good feeling. It does make you wonder, though, if trading away all those prospects to get a certain few veterans to make a playoff push with a team that might not have been ready for that was such a good idea ...my bad, I said I wasn't going to think about the future. For now, I'll just worry about the present. Though it ain't looking to good.
The Dodgers go down in the second game of the series, and now find themselves in a six game losing streak.
Tim Redding got the win, he's 9-8. Greg Maddux took the loss, he's 6-11. Joel Hanrahan picked up his 6th save.
Greg Maddux went 5 and 1/3 innings, giving up four runs (two earned) on eight hits and a walk. Defense was more Maddux's undoing. An error Maddux committed led to two runs, and an error from Jeff Kent led to another. Chan Ho Park gave up a homerun in his one inning of work. Jonathan Broxton struck out the side (all swinging) in the 8th inning.
Offensively, Andre Ethier had a good game. He went 3-5 with two doubles and a homerun, scoring one run and driving in one. James Loney went 3-5 as well. He also had a double and a homerun, and also had one run scored and one RBI. Casey Blake went 2-3, with a walk, two RBIs, and a run scored. One of those two RBIs and the run scored came on a homerun.
The San Diego Padres completed their sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks, so the Dodgers will remain three games back in the NL West race. The Dodgers will try to avoid the sweep at the hands of the Nationals starting tomorrow at 4:10 L.A. time.
Also: With the loss, the Dodgers fall to three games under .500 (65-68)... Andre Ethier's homerun was his 17th, good for first on the team... James Loney also drove in his team leading 72nd run.
Opinion: The Dodgers left another 20 runners on base in today's game, though they did, amazingly, get a hit with runners in scoring position. The four runs they drove in today were the most amount of runs they've scored in a game in the last 10 days. Four runs are better than we've been playing, but still not enough. 
Then again, we only scored four runs today because we hit three solo homeruns, which we can't expect to do every night. I'm starting to wonder if at this point, it's gotten into the players' heads. They must know how bad they are hitting with runners in scoring position. I wouldn't be surprised if they go up to the plate with runners on, and with some added pressure to hit with runners on, they get pull-happy and end up hitting into some easy outs. I mean, really, a team can't be this bad at driving in runs. It has to be a mental thing right?... Again, the only silver lining I can find in all this is that Arizona is playing awful as well. They are now on three games over .500. The issue now, though, is that Colorado is approaching quickly. They are currently playing, but if they win today, they'll pull within two games of us for second, and within five games of first. This really shouldn't be a three team race (though it really shouldn't be a two team race)... In any case, playing this bad hurts. I'm starting to forget what winning feels like. We've only done it once in the past week and a half. If you really want a good example of how bad we are playing, here's tomorrow's preview again: "The Dodgers will try to avoid the sweep at the hands of the Nationals starting tomorrow at 4:10 L.A. time." This ain't good...
The Dodgers fail to score any runs and are unable to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Phillies.
Brett Myers got the win, he's 7-10. Chad Billingsley took the loss, he's 12-10.
Chad Billingsley made a "quality start." He went six innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and five walks, while striking out three. Chan Ho Park allowed two runs in the inning he worked. Tanyon Sturtze then pitched a scoreless 8th.
Offensively, the Dodgers had another difficult night at the plate. Not hit wise, though. Overall, they collected 13 hits and three walks. Matt Kemp went 3-4 with two doubles and a walk. Russell Martin went 3-4, Andre Ethier went 2-5, and Ángel Berroa went 2-5. The problem, though, was that not run was scored.
The Diamondbacks lost to the Padres, so the Dodgers are fortunate to remain only three games back in the NL West. They will start a three game series in Washington tomorrow at 4:10 L.A. time.
Also: With the loss today, the Dodgers fall under .500 (64-65).
Opinion: So... today was even worse than yesterday. Yesterday, they had 19 runners, but at least they managed to get two runs across the plate. 16 runners today, and not one run. Yesterday, they left 25 runners on base. Today: 27. I'm a little confused. Maybe it was acquiring Greg Maddux that brought on some bad voodoo or something, but apparently, somewhere between August 17th's 7-5 win over Milwaukee and August 19th's 3-8 loss to Colorado, we forgot how to drive in runs. 
We've played seven games since August 18th. Here are the run totals: 3,3,3,1,2,2,0. We are 1-6 over that span, and that is only because the Dodgers were able to hold the Rockies to one run on August 21st. We are going in the wrong direction at the wrong time of the season. I'm not ready to freak out and pull the plug on the season. We haven't been hitting this past week, but I'm pretty sure it's just a slump. The bats can come around. The pitching should stay solid. And I'm holding out hope, because we play only six games against a team over .500 the rest of the season, and that would be two series against Arizona. We can win in this last month and change. We can win the NL West, especially because as bad as we've been playing, Arizona isn't playing that much better (three losses in their last four games). We can get to the playoffs. We can do all that, we'd just better be playing stronger by the time we get there.
The Dodgers blew a 9th inning lead, then lost in extra innings to fall for their third straight game.
Chad Durbin got the win, he's 5-2. Joe Beimel took the loss, he's 4-1.
Hiroki Kuroda made a good start for the Dodgers. He went six innings, giving up just one run on two hits and two walks while striking out five. Chan Ho Park and Hong-Chih Kuo followed with a scoreless inning of relief each. Jonathan Broxton came in to pitch the 9th and struggled with command. He gave up the tying run to force the game into extra innings. Joe Beimel pitched a scoreless 10th inning, and started the 11th by allowing a runner on base. Jason Johnson came in to relieve Beimel, but walked a batter. He followed that by getting two outs, before giving up a walk-off three run homerun.
The Dodgers, despite collecting 13 hits and five walks, still managed to score only two runs. Jeff Kent went 3-5 with a RBI, Andre Ethier went 1-4 with two walks and two runs scored, and James Loney went 2-5 with a RBI. Those were three most noteworthy hitting performances in the game.
The Diamondbacks also lost their game, so no ground will be changed in the NL West race. The Dodgers will try to avoid the four game sweep in tomorrow's game, starting at 4:05 L.A. time.
Also: The Phillies used 20 different players in the game, the Dodgers used 18... With the loss, the Dodgers fall back to .500 (65-65).
Opinion: Just another bad game for the Dodgers. Where in the last two games, we struggled to get runners on base (yesterday, the Dodgers scored two runs with only five runners getting on base.), today we had 19 runners reach base (13 hits, five walks, and a HBP), yet the issue of scoring runs still remained. The Dodgers left 25 runners on base today. We had more than enough chances today to put the game away. We had bases loaded and no outs in the 1st inning and managed to score only one run. We had bases loaded and no outs again in the 10th inning, and didn't even manage a run. We just aren't hitting. When we first acquired Manny Ramírez we had an increase in offense. We started playing well. There was some life in the team. Yet, in this last week, that's all seemed to disappear. We've lost three in a row and five of our last six, and we now find ourselves playing .500 baseball again. In fact, since Manny has arrived, we are 11-11. I said it when we got Manny. It doesn't matter how good Manny is, he can't carry a team. The rest of the team has stopped hitting (or at least driving in runs). That isn't to say Manny is doing much better (he has only five hits in his last 20 at-bats and no RBIs since August 17th). Sorry, I'm wandering a little. The point is, we aren't scoring runs, it's as simple as that, and if we want to hold on to any hope of catching the Diamondbacks, we'd better start.
The Dodgers fall again to the Rockies to guarantee a series loss.
Taylor Buchholz got the win, he's 6-3. Jonathan Broxton took the loss, he's 3-5. Brian Fuentes picked up his 24th save.
Chad Billingsley made a good start, but threw far too many pitches. He went six innings, giving up two runs on five hits and four walks, while striking out six. He did this, however, on 114 pitches, only 68 of which were strikes. The bullpen did not fare much better. Chan Ho Park went two innings and gave up an unearned run, and Jonathan Broxton gave up the go-ahead run in the 9th.
The Dodger offense collected a handful of hits but failed, again, to collect enough runs from those hits. Jeff Kent went 2-4. Russell Martin went 2-4, as well, collecting a double and a run. Matt Kemp went 1-4 with the only Dodger RBI on the day.
The Diamondbacks beat the Padres again, and so the Dodgers will fall to two games back in the NL West. They'll try to avoid the sweep at the hands of the Rockies tomorrow at 12:10 L.A. time.
Also: Danny Ardoin, starting at catcher today, stole a base. It was only his second career stolen base. His last stolen base was over three years ago (June 7th, 2005)... Every position player in the starting lineup except Casey Blake collected a hit today... The Dodgers were not able to draw a walk in the game... The Dodgers had four errors in the game (from Martin playing at 3rd base, one from Blake playing at 1st, and one from Ardoin).
Opinion: Well, these have been two ugly losses against a team we need to, and should be beating. Again, like last night, we collected a bunch of hits, and hardly any runs. Two runs today came on an error. So, we really only had one run today on nine hits. If you don't count the three "gimme" runs the last two games, the Dodgers have collected only three real runs from 20 hits (six doubles) and two walks. And that's not good... Also, the bullpen again today looked a little shaky. Jonathan Broxton has given up a run in three of his last five outings. You start to question if Broxton should be our solution at closer, and then you realize we don't have any other real options. And that's also not good... 
I'm not so sure if this whole "Give Russell Martin the day off, play him at 3rd" thing is working out. Martin plays in a spot where he doesn't get to play often and looks uncomfortable, Blake is moved around, and the only person who really gets the day off is James Loney, who probably needs it least of all. How about, if we want to give Martin the day off, give him the day off... So, we find ourselves back at two games behind Arizona. We really need to stop doing this. If we want to get to the playoffs, we can't keep playing this cat and mouse game. It's like riding a roller coaster that never really goes over the peak. We get near the peak, or even settle on the peak, then we roll back down. Then we start climbing again, we get to the peak, sit there for a few games, and start rolling back again. Except, there's one problem. Other than being increasingly frustrating, the ride is going to be over in 36 games, and if we haven't gotten over that peak by then, well... Oh, and finally, good ole' Mark Sweeney was at it again. He came in to pinch hit in the 6th inning and grounded out. I gave him an ultimatum: get a 10th hit by your 75th at-bat. He couldn't do it. He's 9-75 (.120), and as such, will suffer the consequence of continuous mocking from a random no-name blogger. I have something more about Sweeney, but I'll save it for the next post, along with some other assorted thoughts about the recent trade. See you then...
