The Dodgers added to their bullpen today, finalizing a deal with reliever Guillermo Mota, a former Dodger who was traded away in 2004.
Meanwhile, Andruw Jones will be reportedly released tomorrow.
The Mota move is currently a "Meh" for me, with the possibility of becoming "Good", while the Jones move is currently a "Good" for me, with the possibility of becoming an "AHHHH!". Let me explain.
One the Mota side, he has the potential to be good. Mota was, at one point, a fantastic set-up man for the Dodgers. That was 2003 and the first half of 2004. However, since then, not so much. He only posted a below 4.00 ERA once, 18 games for the New York Mets in 2006. In any case, his contract will only be for one year, at a guaranteed $2.35 million (with a possible $300,000 in incentives), so he comes relatively cheap. Might as well give it a shot, he could be helpful. Again, "Meh" with the possibility of "Good".
One the Andruw Jones side, I'm glad he's gone. He won't be able to take up a roster spot, which makes me happy and makes this move "Good". However, we are now going to be paying him for another several years, which makes me sad. That also means, now that he's gone from our team, he has the chance to sign with another team and come back to haunt us. Which means, knowing our history with similar situations, he will. Which leaves this move, "Good" with the possibility of becoming an "AHHHH!".
EDIT: Oh yeah, totally forgot. Happy trails to Derek Lowe who signed a four year deal with the Atlanta Braves, further adding to the drama of the Dodgers/Braves matchups next season, what with the Rafael Furcal drama and everything.
2ND EDIT: Pablo Ozuna signed a minor league contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. Happy Trails!
Ok, now that position players are done, we'll move onto pitchers, starters first, then relievers.
Player: Derek Lowe
2008 Stats: 14-11, 3.24 ERA, 147 Ks (34 starts)
2008 Analysis: After a slow start to the season, Derek Lowe really kicked it into gear and started pitching like a man who was going to be a free agent in the offseason.
I detailed some of his more impressive stats in this post, but simply put, Lowe had an excellent year.
2009 Outlook: Lowe is currently a free agent, and it doesn't look like he'll be returning to the Dodgers for 2009. The Mets are making a strong push for him at the moment.
The Dodgers have yet to make him an offer other than arbitration, and Lowe hasn't done much to show he wants to be back. In fact, several times during the season, Lowe dropped quotes indicating that he wouldn't resign with the Dodgers and that he'd be looking to return to the East Coast and/or an AL team.
I'm sure Lowe will get a nice multi-year contract with some other non-Dodger team, and we... well, we'll get a draft pick for that, so that's ok.
Ok, the other awards are out of the way, it's time for the big one. The Dodger MVP. Here are your nominees:
Andre Ethier
-For a man who's starting job was in question coming into the season, and who had difficulty getting consistent playing time until halfway through the season, he finished the year with some fantastic numbers. .305 average, 20 homeruns, 77 RBIs, not too mention some solid defensive play. Plus, he was hot when it counted, down the stretch.
Derek Lowe
-I already laid out Lowe's stats in the Cy Young award post, and noted there as well, the Derek Lowe might have a better shot at the MVP award... and I wasn't lying. For all the interest around Manny during the last couple months of the season, Derek Lowe was quietly the anchor of the pitching staff. He wasn't as sexy to talk about, but almost as important.
Manny Ramírez
-Manny had a great year, in the span of two months. In just 53 games for the Dodgers, Manny batted .396, had 17 homeruns, and drove in 53 RBIs. He was vital in the Dodgers' drive toward the playoffs. I could talk on and on about how good he was with the bat, but anyone who watched the Dodgers the last two months of the season knows how important Manny was to this team.
Chad Billingsley
-Again, his stats were presented in the Cy Young post, and on top of those good stats, he was the "J's Dodger Blog 2008 Cy Young Winner." Big plus.
James Loney
-Loney, despite having a somewhat slow year (at least for what many were hoping for from Loney) still managed to bat .289 with 13 homeruns and lead the Dodgers with 90 RBIs. Sure, it seems like a somewhat quiet 90 RBIs, but 90 RBIs is nothing to scoff at. Impressive for a kid in just his 3rd season with not a lot of power.
...and the 2008 Dodger MVP is...
Manny Ramírez.
Yes, Derek Lowe was fantastic down the stretch. Andre Ethier and Chad Billingsley had excellent breakout years. James Loney led the team with RBIs.
But let's face facts. In 2008, there wasn't one player who meant more to the team than Manny. He gave the team the much needed spark when they were just average around the trade deadline. He single handedly won games with his bat. Most of all, he made the players around him better, and he pushed us to the playoffs. There was no real competition.
Without a doubt, Manny Ramírez is the "J's Dodger Blog 2008 MVP."
The nominees for the 2008 Dodger Cy Young Award are:
Derek Lowe
-After a mediocre start (an above 4.00 ERA for most of June), Derek Lowe really kicked it into high gear. In his last 10 starts, he went 6-1 with a complete game and a 1.27 ERA. He finished the season 14-11 with a 3.24 ERA in 34 starts.
Chad Billingsley
-Excellent throughout the year, Billingsley really blossomed into the player Dodger fans have been hoping to see. He went 16-10 with a 3.14 and 201 strikeouts and he collected the first complete game shutout of his career. His ERA was good for 7th in the league, his 16 wins tied him for 7th, and 201 strikeouts placed him 5th.
Hong-Chih Kuo
-Well, on top of all the good stuff I've mentioned he's done this season in the previous awards I've given out, he's also the winner of the "J's Dodger Blog 2008 Reliever of the Year."
...and the 2008 Dodger Cy Young winner is...
Chad Billingsley
Hong-Chih Kuo was good, but nowhere near as good as the two starters on the list. Yes, this was mostly a two-horse race.
And while Derek Lowe might actually be a better candidate for MVP considering how well he pitched down the stretch, if you consider the Cy Young Award to be the award given to the best pitcher, then Chad Billingsley definitely wins, as he bested Lowe in both wins, ERA, and strikeouts.
So, for his statistical dominance of the pitching staff, Chad Billingsley wins the "J's Dodger Blog 2008 Cy Young Award."
The Phillies have a late comeback to beat the Dodgers in Game 4 of this series.
Ryan Madson got the win, he's 1-0 in the NLCS. Cory Wade took the loss, he's 0-1 in the NLCS. Brad Lidge picked up his 3rd save in the NLCS.
Derek Lowe gave up two runs over five innings pitching on short rest. He did seem to be getting better as the game went on, but was pulled before the 6th. The Dodger bullpen, which has been spotless in the first three games this series, then proceeded to give up five runs in four innings of work. Cory Wade and Jonathan Broxton each surrender two-run homeruns in the 8th, Wade's to tie the game, Broxton to allow the Phillies the lead.
Offensively, the Dodgers weren't bad. They collected a total of 11 hits and eight walks in the game, but their hitting couldn't overcome the deficit the pitching allowed. Rafael Furcal went 1-2 with two walks and two runs. 
Manny Ramírez went 2-2 with three walks, and an RBI. James Loney went 2-5 with a walk, a double, and an RBI and Casey Blake went 2-5 with a solo homerun. Finally, Juan Pierre went 2-3 with a double and a run scored.
With the loss, the Dodgers fall to a 3-1 deficit. Game 5 is Wednesday at 5:22 L.A. time.
Opinion: Well, it was a hell of a run, huh? I know, it's not over yet, but it's a long road back. Might as well win on Wednesday and see where it goes, but even with the win Wednesday, we head back to Philadelphia, where we are 0-6... 
This kind of loss is painful. I literally was feeling a little sick during and after the 8th inning. It's gutwrenching. If they have the lead for the duration of the game, and we can't comeback, fine. But when the bullpen blows the lead, twice in the same inning, it's really like getting punched in the gut twice. It's awful. It's heartbreaking. I guess what I'm saying is, the Phillies just about ended our season tonight in worst way possible, Los Angeles is on fire, and I have a mid-term tomorrow that I'm not ready for. I am not doing good people...
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 Dodgers use the long-ball to beat the Cubs and go up 1-0 in the series.
Derek Lowe got the win, he's 1-0 in the NLDS. Ryan Dempster took the loss, he's 0-1 in the NLDS.
Derek Lowe went six innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out six. He had an uncharacteristically high pitch count, but still got a quality start out of his outing. Cory Wade, Jonathan Broxton, and Greg Maddux each pitched a scoreless inning in relief to keep the Cubs to two runs.
The Dodger offense started slow, but heated up. After not scoring in the first four innings, including leaving the bases loaded at the end of the 3rd inning. A similar situation seemed to be rearing it's head in the 5th. 
The bases were loaded with two outs when James Loney stepped to the plate. He quickly fell in the hole with two strikes on him, before drawing a few more pitches, then stroking a grand slam homerun into the left-center bleachers to put the Dodgers up 4-2. They wouldn't look back from there. Manny Ramírez hit a solo homerun in the 7th (Manny went 2-4 with a walk, a homerun, an RBI, and two runs scored), Casey Blake singled in Blake DeWitt in the 8th (DeWitt went 2-4 with a double and a run scored), and Russell Martin added a solo homerun in the 9th. Every player in the starting lineup reached base at least once.
The Dodgers get the all important win in the first game of the series. Game 2 in the series starts tomorrow at 6:37 (?) L.A. time.
Opinion: Wow, seriously good win for the Dodgers. They really sent a message that they are a serious contender. 
They came into an opponent's stadium, filled with loud hungry fans, facing a pitcher who's been excellent at home all season, and they pulled out a strong victory. Also, most importantly, this was the win they needed. To win the series, they needed at least one win on the road, and now they've got it. Not that they should leave it all to winning the home games, but they got the road win. Now, just to be safe, let's get another one tomorrow...
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 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 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 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 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 take the rubber match of the weekend series to win the series and extend their winning streak to two games.
Derek Lowe got the win, he's 11-11. Brandon Webb took the loss, he's 19-6.
Derek Lowe pitched six scoreless innings, giving up just four hits and a walk while striking out two. Scott Elbert gave up a solo homerun in an inning of work, but struck out the side. Cory Wade struck out one while pitching a scoreless 8th inning. Jonathan Broxton struck out the side in the 9th.
Offensively, the Dodgers plated eight runs on 12 hits and seven walks. James Loney went 3-5. Andre Ethier went 2-5, with a double, a homerun, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Casey Blake went 1-4, with a homerun, three RBIs, and a run scored. Overall, three different Dodgers knocked in runs, and five players scored at least one run.
With the win, the Dodgers move to 2.5 games back of the Diamondbacks in the NL West race. The Dodgers start a three game series at home versus the San Diego Padres tomorrow at 5:10 L.A. time.
Also: With the win, the Dodgers get back to three games under .500 (67-70)... With James Loney's three hits in the game, he extended his hitting streak to 11 games... 
Andre Ethier's homerun was his 18th, good for first place on the Dodgers.
Opinion: Really good to see the Dodgers pick up two victories against the Diamondbacks' two best pitchers. The hitting might be starting to come around. The Dodgers scored 14 runs in the last two games (both wins). During their eight game losing streak, they scored a total of 15 runs. This is good, but we have to keep it up. The matchup for this week's series against the Padres looks good. We won't face Jake Peavy, so that's always a plus. We should be able to win at least two of the three games. That said, we sometimes have issues winning games we should win. Let's hope for the best.
The Dodgers lose the first game in the three game series to the Nationals, and have now lost five in a row.
Collin Balester got the win, he's 3-6. Derek Lowe took the loss, he's 10-11. Joel Hanrahan picked up his 5th save.
Derek Lowe didn't deserve his loss today. He went eight innings, giving up just two runs on six hits and a walk, while striking out six and getting 13 groundball outs. He pitched the "Losing Away Pitcher's Complete Game," meaning if the away team is losing, the away team's pitchers will only pitch eight innings total. Well, Lowe pitched all eight innings, hence... I think you get it.
The hitting was again the issue, though not as bad as yesterday's game. Still, we had 13 hitters reach base today (seven hits, four walks, and two hit batsmen), and we were we only able to collect one run. That run, by the way, came on a fluke-y force play. Matt Kemp hit a grounder to 3rd with the bases loaded. The force out was recorded at 3rd, so Nomar Garciaparra, who was on 3rd and had broken for home could not be forced out at the plate. He then proceeded to sneak home behind the catcher's back and score the Dodgers' only run. 
Manny Ramírez had three hits including a double (going 3-4), James Loney had a hit and a walk (going 1-3), and Casey Blake went 1-2 with a walk and was hit by a pitch.
The Diamondbacks lost again today, so the Dodgers will remain three games back in the NL West race. The Dodgers will try to end this losing streak tomorrow at 4:10 L.A. time.
Also: With the loss, the Dodgers fall to two games under .500 (65-67).
Opinion: The thing I kept telling myself through that Phillies series was: "At least we play bad teams the rest of the year." Now, here is where my mistake was. I forgot that if we don't start hitting, there's no guarantee we will even win a series the rest of the year. Another 22 runners left on base today. That brings the three day total to 74 runners left on base the last three games (22+27+25). And we've scored a grand total of three runs over that span. How long can this continue? I can start to feel the season slipping away. This is getting to be eerily reminiscent of last year. The team just stopped playing. It just stopped winning. The Washington Nationals are the worst, I'll repeat... THE WORST TEAM IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL. They are one of the worst hitting teams in the majors, their pitching is in the bottom 10 of all of baseball, and they have record that's worse than any other team in the league. There is no way around it. They are the worst team in all of baseball! And they just beat us. They outplayed us. The Phillies you can maybe understand. They are a playoff contender in the hunt. The Nationals have nothing to play for. And quite frankly, they only scored two runs. Two runs! That's a score that's practically asking to be beat. But we couldn't do it. 
Another 22 runners left stranded. I mean, at some point, it just becomes comedic. ...although at that point, that means you've given up and there's nothing left to do but laugh...
You know who's got to be frustrated with all this? Maybe more than us? The Diamondbacks. They've now lost their second game in a row to the San Diego Padres, who are the 2nd worst team in the majors. I mean, we are slumping bad, but for them, they keep looking back at this team that has been on their tails for the whole year, and we've now lost seven of our last eight games, and they've only picked up three games on us ...and that third game was Saturday. We've been giving them quite a chance to get some daylight between us and them and they are blowing it. And I guess that's my silver lining. That's pretty much the only good thing I've taken from the last several days. I mean, not that it means much. If the season ends today, they still make the playoffs and we don't. But I guess it's good to know that at least we aren't the only ones who are sucking. Misery does love company...
The Dodgers get some good pitching to avoid the sweep of the Rockies.
Derek Lowe got the win, he's 10-10. Jorge De La Rosa took the loss, he's 6-7. Jonathan Broxton picked up his 10th save.
Derek Lowe went 6 and 1/3 innings, giving up just one run on four hits and two walks, while striking out seven. It was an odd game for Lowe, who threw 107 pitches by the time he was pulled in the 7th, and only had six groundouts in the game. Hong-Chih Kuo came in and pitched a scoreless 1 and 2/3 innings striking out two and Jonathan Broxton gave up a double, but struck out the side in the 9th for the save.
The Dodger offense found themselves scoring only three runs again. They've scored three runs in their last three consecutive games and have done it four times in their last five games. They are 1-3 in those four games. Manny Ramírez went 1-2 with a walk, a stolen base, and a run scored. Matt Kemp went 1-4 with a double and a run scored. Andre Ethier went 1-4 with a RBI. 
James Loney had the best day for the Dodgers. He went 2-3, with a homerun, two RBIs, and a run scored.
The Diamondbacks won today, completing their sweep of the San Diego Padres, so the Dodgers will remain two games back in the NL West. The Dodgers now travel to Philadelphia to begin a four game series, starting tomorrow at 4:05 L.A. time.
Also: James Loney's two RBIs give him 70 on the year, good for first place on the Dodgers... Today was a day of "10"s: James Loney hit his 10th homerun, Derek Lowe got his 10th win, Hong-Chih Kuo picked up his 10th hold, and Jonathan Broxton picked up his 10th save.
Opinion: Hard to say this game was a must win with over a month left in the season, but going into Philadelphia after suffering a sweep at the hands of the Rockies at home would have been tough... The last two days, I've complained that we've gotten way too many hits to only score three runs on. Well, today, the Dodgers collected just the right amount of hits to score three runs on (five). We are going to need to do better than that... It was good to see the bullpen come through today after struggling the last three games... Speaking of 10s, we are beginning a 10 game road trip tomorrow in Philadelphia. This is a team that knows how to hit (especially in their park), knows how to pitch, and has an excellent bullpen. Plus, they probably aren't too happy after we swept them in four games last week. We are really going to need to be on our game. Arizona will be taking on the Florida Marlins, who aren't playing as well as they were earlier this year, but still might be able to help us out. We'll find out...
The Dodgers rallied late to tie the score, but give up the lead in extra innings and are unable to come back a second time.
Salomón Torres got the win, he's 6-3. Jonathan Broxton took the loss, he's 3-4. David Riske picked up his 2nd save.
Derek Lowe made a quality start for the Dodgers. He went seven innings, giving up just one run on eight hits, while striking out three and collecting 13 groundballs. The issue for the Dodgers, however, turned out to be the bullpen. Hong-Chih Kuo gave up a two-run homerun in the 8th inning to give the Brewers a 3-2 lead, and after the Dodgers tied the score in the 9th inning, Jonathan Broxton gave up a run in the 10th. In between the two, though, Chan Ho Park pitched a perfect 9th, striking out two.
Not too much offensively (though there were some forces working against them, more on that in a little) for the Dodgers. Matt Kemp went 2-5 with a double and a run scored. Andre Ethier went 2-4, with a walk, a homerun, 2 RBIs, and 2 runs scored. Manny Ramírez went 1-3, with a walk and a RBI, but struck out with runners on 1st and 2nd in the 10th to end the game. Other than that, a few scattered hits and walks, but not amounting to much.
Arizona won today, so with the Dodger loss, they'll fall to one game back in the NL West race. The rubber match is at 1:10 L.A. time tomorrow.
Also: Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier both had outfield assists today, both nailing runners at 2nd... Eric Gagne, in his return to Dodger Stadium as a Brewer, pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
Opinion: Tough loss for the Dodgers, especially with the Arizona win, so we fall back into a place we've been a lot recently, one game back. I feel like we are living and dying by our bullpen this last week and a half. Since they blew two games last weekend against the Giants, they've been excellent during the week. They've kept us in games and kept the other teams scoreless. Now, however, we reach the weekend, and find ourselves losing due to the bullpen again. Though that's not the main problem. The bullpen's failure aside, we almost seemed destined to lose this game. 
The Brewers made a slew of amazing defensive plays to take away hits from Dodgers, including Gabe Kapler, Milwaukee's left fielder, climbing into the stands down the left field line and taking away a homerun from Russell Martin. That run, of course, would have provided the extra run the Dodgers needed to avoid going into extra innings. Then, there was the 10th inning baserunning blunder. Andre Ethier, with Matt Kemp on 1st, hit a ball that missed leaving the park by less than a foot out in center field. It looked as though it might be caught (and with out luck on the night, I'm surprised it wasn't), so Matt Kemp headed back to 1st to tag up. The ball, however, was just missed and bounced off the wall. Kemp at the time though, was standing on first, and so was only able to advance to 2nd before the ball could be brought back in. David Riske was able to record the next two outs, and the Dodgers were shut down. It was an unfortunate loss, on a day when not much seemed to go our way. The true test will be tomorrow, when we'll see if the Dodgers can bounce back from such a tough game.
The Dodgers outslugged the Phillies to take the first game in this four game set and move back to .500.
Derek Lowe got the win, he's 9-10. Kyle Kendrick took the loss, he's 10-6. Jonathan Broxton picked up his 8th save.
Derek Lowe bounced back from his last start to pitch a solid game today. He went 6 and 1/3 innings giving up three runs on five hits and a walk while collecting 13 groundball outs. The bullpen struggled afterwards. Chan Ho Park came in and gave up a run (as well as a base hit that allowed an inherited runner to score that was credited to Lowe). Jonathan Broxton came in to finish the 8th, then struggled through the 9th. He gave up two runs on a walk and three hits before finally shutting the door on the Phillies and closing the game.
The Dodger offense exploded for seven runs against Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick, including six runs in the 3rd. That inning included a two run double from Manny Ramírez, a two run single from James Loney, and a two run homerun from Casey Blake, his third as a Dodger. Overall on the day, Matt Kemp went 3-4 with a walk, a stolen base, and two runs scored. Jeff Kent went 3-3 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored. Manny went 2-3 with two walks, two RBIs, and a runs scored. James Loney went 3-4 with three RBIs. In total, the Dodgers collected 16 hits and seven walks on the day.
The Diamondbacks were inactive today, so with the win the Dodgers pick up a half-game on them. They are now one game back in the NL West. They'll try to take the second game in the series tomorrow at 7:10 L.A. time.
Also: James Loney's three RBIs gave him 67 on the season, good for first place on the Dodgers... Of the seven walks the Dodgers received today, four were intentional walks... On top of the 16 hits and seven walks, Jeff Kent was also hit by a pitch.
Opinion: While the Dodgers had a good offense day, having 24 batters reach base, and scoring eight runs, there was some down side. In total, the Dodgers left 23 players on base. Nomar Garciaparra is due to come of the DL tomorrow, and just in time, as eight of those 23 left on base were from Ángel Berroa. Another issue today was the bullpen. It gave up three runs in 2 and 2/3 innings, while also allowing an inherited runner to score. This is not a good sign considering their struggles the past few days. The question is raised: has the bullpen been overworked or are they just going through a bad streak? We'll have to monitor that over the next several days.
So some stuff happened while I was gone. Here's a quick breakdown.
On Thursday, 20-year-old rookie Clayton Kershaw did what 35-year-old veteran Derek Lowe couldn't, shut down the St. Louis Cardinals.
Brad Penny made a good return Friday and the Dodgers showed some power to win the first game in the series against the San Francisco Giants.
Then we lost the next two games when our bullpen blew the lead late in the game, and while we should have swept the Giants, we ended up losing two out of three. And while we should have been in first place in the NL West by 1/2 a game, we now sit 1.5 games behind the Diamondbacks.
While in Arizona, I did manage to put some bad voodoo on the Diamondbacks. Orlando Hudson is going to be out for the rest of the year with a wrist injury. I was even watching that on Arizona's Fox Sports channel when it happened. Apparently, however, I wasn't in Phoenix long enough, as they picked up Adam Dunn today for stretch run. This is getting interesting.
The Dodgers will start a four game series with the Philadelphia Phillies at 7:10 L.A. time.
Quick recap here because I'm leaving town, which might not be a bad thing, because last time I did, the Dodgers went on a four game win streak.
Anyway, here's the recap:
Derek Lowe pitched an awful game, giving up eight runs on 13 hits in 3 and 1/3 innings. The Dodger bullpen did considerably better.
The Dodgers offense tried to bail out Lowe but couldn't. Manny Ramírez hit another homerun and got two hits but it didn't matter much as the game was out of reach by the 4th inning.
The Dodgers fall under .500 again, but the Diamondbacks also lost, so they will still remain only 2.5 games in front in the NL West.
I'll be heading to Phoenix, and hopefully put some bad voodoo on the Diamondbacks. I'll be coming back Sunday and probably won't blog again until Monday.
See you then... hopefully we'll be playing better...
The Dodgers were shut down for the most part by Brandon Webb and fall in the first game of this four game set.
Brandon Webb got the win, he's 15-4. Derek Lowe took the loss, he's 8-9. Brandon Lyon picked up his 23rd save.
Derek Lowe pitched a good enough game. He went 6 and 1/3 innings, giving up just two runs on seven hits while striking out seven. He also collected nine groundball outs. 
Hong-Chih Kuo struck out two over a scoreless inning and 2/3. Cory Wade struck out one in a perfect 9th.
The Dodgers managed to collect only seven hits on the day. Juan Pierre went 2-3 with a run scored. Russell Martin went 1-4 and had the only RBI on the day. The rest of the hits were scattered about between several other players.
The Dodgers fall back to .500 while the Diamondbacks are now four games over. They've taken a two game lead on the Dodgers now in the NL West. The Dodgers will try to take a game back tomorrow at 7:40 L.A. time.
Also: Matt Kemp went 1-4 to extend his hitting streak to 18 games... Perhaps I was wrong about this one: Mark Sweeney now has two hits in his last two at-bats, raising his average to .119
Opinion: Today was the last day of the old Dodgers, Manny Ramírez should be in L.A. tomorrow in time for the game to save us all! Seriously though, this isn't a litmus test for the season: the Dodgers have never hit well against Brandon Webb (9-3 career lifetime against us with a 2.65 ERA in 15 starts). Tomorrow will be an interesting game. Will Manny adjust to the National League right away? I guess we'll find out. Meanwhile, Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News speculates that Delwyn Young could be Designated For Assignment to open a roster spot for Manny. God, I hope not. He also said it's a possibility Sweeney could be DFA'd. I'd like to think that would be the logical move, but then again, there haven't been too many logical moves this year to set a precedent (ie. playing certain people in center field for so long holding on to hope they'll pull our of their season long slump, starting Juan Pierre in left field constantly [which coincidentally, I wouldn't be surprised to see continue], or creating a gaping hole in our infield for next season), so why start now?
The Mota move is currently a "Meh" for me, with the possibility of becoming "Good", while the Jones move is currently a "Good" for me, with the possibility of becoming an "AHHHH!". Let me explain.
One the Andruw Jones side, I'm glad he's gone. He won't be able to take up a roster spot, which makes me happy and makes this move "Good". However, we are now going to be paying him for another several years, which makes me sad. That also means, now that he's gone from our team, he has the chance to sign with another team and come back to haunt us. Which means, knowing our history with similar situations, he will. Which leaves this move, "Good" with the possibility of becoming an "AHHHH!".
