Player: Jason Johnson
2008 Stats: 1-2, 5.22 ERA (16 games, two starts)
2008 Analysis: Wow, Johnson actually pitched more innings than Loaiza in 2008. Interesting. I only have three memories of Johnson. One, he had a good start (that was July 29th against the Giants) and two and three, that he came twice in extra innings to end the game (not in our favor: August 5th against St. Louis and September 26th against the Giants ironically).
Oh, I also remember he has diabetes and a little pack attached to his belt. That's a nice story...
2009 Outlook: The Yankees picked up Johnson for the 2009 season, which is just fine by me. He seems like a nice guy (not that I'd know) and I'm sure he's a good role model for kids with diabetes, but he can't pitch well, which is unfortunate given his career choice.
So, I've been a little busy the last week, and as such, wasn't able to write about a couple of things that happened.
First, happy trails to Scott Proctor, who signed a one-year deal with the Florida Marlins. At least now he gets to avoid Joe Torre for a little while.
Second, happy trails to both Ángel Berroa and Jason Johnson. Though I don't believe anything has been made official yet, both are heading to the New York Yankees. Um... they will be missed? I don't have much else.
Finally, the Dodgers added a pitcher, by signing Claudio Vargas. He's ok... He recorded double digit wins in 2006 and 2007, but has never had a sub-4.00 ERA. I'm not thrilled about the acquisition, but I guess it couldn't hurt to have an extra pitcher around.
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 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' 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 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.
In a near redo of last nights game, the Phillies beat the Dodgers for the second game in a row.
Cole Hamels got the win, he's 11-8. Clayton Kershaw took the loss, he's 2-4.
Kershaw struggled. He went only four innings, giving up six runs on seven hits and two walks. It wasn't entirely his fault. Matt Kemp misplayed a fly ball during the Phillies three run 5th inning, but ultimately, Kershaw was the one who allowed two runners on up to that point, and gave up a double after the fact. Jason Johnson came in and pitched 1 and 1/3 innings, giving up three runs, although two of those runs were inherited runners that were allowed to score when Joe Beimel came in to relieve Johnson. Beimel went 1 and 2/3 innings, not giving up any runs of his own, and Ramon Troncoso pitched a scoreless 8th.
The Dodger offense struggled again. For the second day in a row, they were only able to collect five base hits in a game. 
They scored two runs today on those hits, when James Loney doubled and Russell Martin followed with a two run homerun. The other three hits were assorted singles, the last one coming from Clayton Kershaw with one out in the 5th inning. The only player to reach base after that point was Juan Pierre, who reached on a fielder's error in the 8th.
The Arizona Diamondbacks beat down the Florida Marlins, 7-1. With their win and the Dodger loss, the Dodgers will fall to three games back in the NL West. The Dodgers will try to end this two game losing streak tomorrow at 5:05 L.A. time.
Opinion: Let's chalk this one up to lack of sleep of the long flight, too? There's not been much to say about these last two games. We haven't hit. We haven't pitched. We are getting cold at a really bad time. The Diamondbacks, while they aren't lighting the world on fire with their play, continue to play with some consistency. We are now three games back. The last time we were this far back in the NL West race was the end of June. That was ok at that point. Three games over three months is hardly a lead. But the season's clock is slowly ticking down: 33 games left. I can only take solice in the fact that we play Arizona six more times this season, and that after this series with Philadelphia, we don't play a team over .500 the rest of the season (excluding the six against Arizona). Arizona, meanwhile, has to play St. Louis seven times in September. I'm not giving up hope, but please Dodgers, let's try to not fall any more games back. Please?
The Dodgers struggle with both offense and pitching and fall to the Rockies in the first game of this three game series.
Ubaldo Jiménez got the win, he's 9-11. Hiroki Kuroda took the loss, he's 7-9.
Hiroki Kuroda gave up four runs in the first three inning, before settling down and not allowing another run through the next three. His final line was six innings, four runs on six hits and a walk, and three strikeouts. The bullpen, however, was not as good. Jason Johnson came in and pitched a scoreless 7th, but gave Matt Holliday a hanging breaking ball to start the 8th which Holliday hit out. Hong-Chih Kuo came in, gave up two walks, and then a three-run homerun that, for all intents and purposes, ended the game.
The Dodger offense, despite collecting 11 hits and two walks over the game, were only able to cash in three runs. They even had five doubles on the day. Jeff Kent went 3-5 with one of those doubles and a RBI. 
Matt Kemp went 2-5, both of which were doubles, and added a RBI and a run. Casey Blake went 2-4, and both of his hits were doubles. He also scored a run.
The Diamondbacks won today, so with the loss, the Dodgers find themselves a game back in the NL West... again... Tomorrow's game starts at 7:10 L.A. time.
Also: Tanyon Sturtze came in to relieve Kuo in the 8th, making his Dodger debut. Despite giving up a double, he managed to settled down the Rockies and get out of the inning unscathed.
Opinion: I'm a little bit stunned as to how a team can collected eleven hits (five of which were extra base hits) and not be able to score more than three runs. And one of those runs was scored on a passed ball. So really, it took eleven hits to score two runs. I'm going to go ahead and say that today (hopefully) was an anomaly. We'll see... Speaking of issues though, our bullpen struggled again. Jason Johnson is someone I have trouble trusting on the mound in an important situation, so I'm not shocked to see him give up a homerun. Worse though was Hong-Chih Kuo's performance. He has looked pretty good most of the year but recently has started to show some of his mortality. Kuo's ERA has been pretty much below 2.00 since the beginning of June, hovering around 1.75-1.80. After today, his ERA has been raised to 2.26. This could be an issue of overuse, or just an unlucky streak, we'll find out soon enough... 
Finally, Mark Sweeney came in in the 6th inning with the tying run on 2nd base and a chance to be a hero. He grounded out to the second baseman on the first pitch he saw. That's what I call a "professional at-bat." He's now 9-74... but at least he got to meet Chazz Palminteri.
The Dodgers win in walk-off fashion to take the series from the Brewers and move back into a first place tie.
Joe Beimel got the win, he's 4-0. Carlos Villanueva took the loss, he's 4-6.
Clayton Kershaw made a good start for the Dodgers. He went six innings, giving up just one run on eight hits and a walk. Actually, he gave up the one run on just one hit, a solo homerun to Mike Cameron. He also struck out six batters. He issue, however, was pitch count. By the time he came out of the game after the 6th inning, he had made 96 pitches. Jason Johnson relieved Kershaw, and pitched a scoreless two innings. He got an out in the 9th before allowing a runner on base. Chan Ho Park came in, then gave up four unearned runs on a series of errors, singles, and a two-run homerun. Joe Beimel came in, threw one pitch, and got a groundout. He was the pitcher of record when the Dodgers won the game in the 9th.
A pretty good day for the Dodgers offensively. They collected 14 hits in the game. Matt Kemp went 2-5, with a homerun, a RBI, and two runs scored. Manny Ramírez went 2-4, with a homerun, three RBIs, and a run scored. 
The best offensive performance of the game went to Andre Ethier though. Ethier went 3-5, with a double, two homeruns (including a walk-off two run shot), three RBIs, and three runs scored.
The Diamondbacks lost, so with the win, the Dodgers moved back into a tie for first place in the NL West. They also moved back to four games over .500 at 64-60. Tomorrow is an off-day for the Dodgers. They'll start a three game series with the Rockies at home on Tuesday, starting at 7:10 L.A. time.
Also: Matt Kemp's homerun was a leadoff homerun, coming on the first pitch he saw... Matt Kemp's homerun was his 15th, which would be good for sole possession of first place on the team, if not for Andre Ethier's two homeruns. That brings Ethier's total to 15 as well and so they will share the title... Ethier's walk-off hit was his second walk-off hit this week (it was also the Dodgers' second walk-off homerun this week)... All three Dodger outfielders hit a homerun in the game.
Opinion: Another good win for the Dodgers, good to see them win two series against some of the better non-NL West teams... It's amazing to me that Andre Ethier can be leading, or at least in second place on the team for homeruns and still find himself in a platoon with Juan Pierre. Hopefully, this will end that platoon. Matt Kemp has more than enough speed at the top of the lineup that we don't need Juan Pierre solely for speed purposes... 
Is it just me, or is our bullpen taking weekends off? They blew two games last Saturday and Sunday, and did it again this week. Today, it wasn't nearly as bad. They allowed the Brewers to tie the game, but we luckily came out on top. This could end up an issue... Mark Sweeney came in to pinch hit in the 6th inning and struck out. He's now 9-73 (.123 batting average). To be fair, I will lay off him if he can get a tenth hit by his 75th at-bat. That seems like a nice round number. It is by no means a quality number, but it would be nice to at least seem him get double digit hits this year. To compare, Matt Kemp has 12 hits in the last week. Though, again, in fairness, Kemp's at-bats aren't as "professional" as Sweeney's...
The Dodgers rallied late to tie the game in the 9th, but lost it in extras, and fall back to .500.
Jaime García got the win, he's 1-1. Jason Johnson took the loss, he's 1-1.
Chad Billingsley started the game, but with two rain delays, he was taken out after the 5th inning. He gave up just one run on six hits, while striking out six. 
The Dodger bullpen, however, struggled. They gave up a run in the 6th inning, and two in the 7th. After that, Ramon Troncoso and Cory Wade provided a combined three scoreless innings, before Jason Johnson surrendered a two-run walk-off homerun in the bottom of the 11th.
The Dodgers failed to mount any offense through the first eight innings. They collected only four hits scattered over those eight innings, three of which were erased on double plays by the very next batter up following the hit. The Dodgers then proceeded to get a lead-off homerun in the 9th inning from Andruw Jones. They followed with another four hits, a walk, and a sac-fly in the inning to tie the game 4-4. Manny Ramírez went 2-3 with two walks and a run scored, Andre Ethier went 2-5 with a run scored, and Jeff Kent went 2-5 with an RBI in what were probably the Dodgers top three individual hitting performances of the game.
With the loss today, the Dodgers move back to .500, now at 56-56. The Arizona Diamondbacks won yesterday to move 1.5 games up on the Dodgers. They won again today, and with the Dodger loss, they'll push their lead to 2.5 games in the NL West. The Dodgers will take another shot at cutting into the lead tomorrow at 5:15 L.A. time.
Also: James Loney grounded into two of the three Dodger double plays today. That puts him at 20 this year, third place in the Major Leagues (the league leaders are tied at 22)... Mark Sweeney lined out to end the 9th, his average is now down to .114.
Opinion: The Dodgers showed almost no signs of life until the Andruw Jones homerun in the 9th. By the way, I hope this doesn't mean he's going to get a lot more starts. The pitch he hit (and not to take anything away from Jones) was an 89 MPH fastball, with pretty much no movement, belt high, and almost exactly over the center of the plate. So... make your own deductions... Here's mine: I'm pretty sure any one on the Dodgers could have put it in the bleachers. 
Well... let me reword that... any self respecting major leaguer could have put it in the bleachers... Mark Sweeney would have grounded out. Speaking of my favorite punching bag, for real, how many more at-bats does he get? Today was his 70th. I saw another thing today that I was worried about after the Manny trade. What incentive to teams have to pitch to him. He walked in his last two at-bats in the game, when it was on the line. Teams are not going to pitch to him. The issue is not if Manny will help us, but more, can we help ourselves? If James Loney and/or Jeff Kent don't start putting a little more fear into pitchers with some consistent hitting, then Manny isn't going to see a whole lot of pitches to hit the rest of the year.
The Dodgers outslugged the Diamondbacks to win the 4th game and split the series.
Cory Wade got the win, he's 2-1. Doug Davis took the loss, he's 4-6.
Jason Johnson struggled in his second start for the Dodgers. He couldn't make it through the 5th inning, going only 4 and 1/3 innings giving up three runs on five hits and two walks. The bullpen relieved him, going a combined 4 and 2/3 innings, giving up no runs over that span. 
Cory Wade pitched 1 and 2/3 innings in that span, giving up just two hits, while striking out one to get the win.
The Dodgers offense, meanwhile, collected 16 hits on the day, including five extra base hits. Manny Ramírez had another good day for the Dodgers, going 4-5 including a homerun and a double. He had three RBIs and two runs scored on the day. Matt Kemp also had a good day, going 3-5 with a homerun, two RBIs, and three runs scored. James Loney and Casey Blake collected two hits and a RBI each.
So the Dodgers split the series and get back within one game of the Diamondbacks in the NL West. They also moved back up to a game over .500 with the win. Tomorrow is a day off. The next Dodger game will be in St. Louis, starting at 5:15 L.A. time on Tuesday.
Also: Manny, with two singles, a double, and a homerun today, fell a triple short of the cycle... Matt Kemp's homerun was his 13th on the season, that leads the team... James Loney collected his 61st RBI on the season, that also leads the team (though Matt Kemp's two RBIs brought him to 60). Mark Sweeney pinch hit today, and grounded out to the pitcher, his average is at .116.
Opinion: Manny is really feeling it. He's 8-13 since coming over to the Dodgers with two homeruns and five RBIs. His eight hits and five RBIs in the last three games match Mark Sweeney's total for the entire year. Wow. Imagine that. If Mark Sweeney is providing professional at-bats and getting that kind of production, Manny's at-bats must be uber-professional. Manny has also matched Andruw Jones's homerun total. He still needs eight RBIs to catch Andruw.
The Dodgers shut down the Giants to take the second game of the series and move back into .500.
Jason Johnson got the win, he's 1-0. Matt Cain took the loss, he's 6-9. Jonathan Broxton picked up his 5th save.
Jason Johnson, who hadn't made a start in the majors in almost two years, pitched an excellent game against the Giants. He went six innings, gave up five hits and no runs, while striking out three and getting 11 groundballs. Chan Ho Park went 1 and 2/3 innings striking out two, and Broxton pitched 1 and 1/3 innings, striking out three to close out the game and pick up his 5th save in five chances.
Overall, the Dodgers managed to get nine hits in the game. Their big inning came in the 6th. Matt Kemp led off with a single, then stole 2nd. Andre Ethier advanced him to 3rd. Jeff Kent lined out. James Loney followed with a clutch 2-out RBI single to left to score Kemp. Casey Blake followed with a double, and in an odd play, Giants left fielder Fred Lewis deflected the ball into the stands to allow Loney to score. Those two runs would prove to be enough though.
The Diamondbacks also won today, so the Dodgers will remain one game back again. They'll take on the Giants tomorrow at 7:10 L.A. time in the rubber match of the series.
Also: Matt Kemp went 2-4 with a stolen base and a run scored, extending his hitting streak to 16 games... Jason Johnson's win tonight was his first win since May 28th, 2006... Though Giants catcher Bengie Molina is notoriously hard to steal on, the Dodgers stole four bases in five attempts in the game... The only extra-base hit in the game was Blake's double in the 6th... The only RBI in the game came from James Loney's single as the second run scored was unearned due to error by Fred Lewis... The 6-9 hitters in the Dodger lineup went a combined 1-13 with nine strikeouts, the only hit was Blake's.
The Dodgers, after having an offensive explosion yesterday, failed to mount any offense against the Rockies and lose the 2nd game in the series.
Ubaldo Jiménez got the win, he's 6-9. Clayton Kershaw took the loss, he's 0-3.
Clayton Kershaw was called back up to start today's game, and there's no better place for a 20-year old rookie making his first start in 20+ days than Coors Field. Kershaw made it only through three innings, giving up five runs on 10 hits and three walks. Jason Johnson came in and provided solid relief, going four innings and giving up just one run. Ramon Troncoso, though, pitched an 8th innings where he gave up four runs on six hits to allow the Rockies a total of 10 runs on the day.
The Dodger offense, meanwhile, was shut down for the most part by Jiménez. Jiménez went the full nine innings, giving up just one run (on a Matt Kemp 9th inning homerun to make the score 10-1) on four hits and two walks. Only two Dodgers reached base twice: Kemp on the homerun and walk, and Andy LaRoche on a single and a walk. The only other offensive output came on a Russell Martin pop-fly single and an 8th inning Nomar Garciaparra double. Overall, Jiménez got 18 Dodgers to groundout out, while striking out another four Dodgers on only 114 pitches. A bad offensive night for the Dodgers after a great one yesterday.
The Arizona Diamondbacks won their game today to move into sole possession of 1st place in the NL West. The Dodgers will try tomorrow at 12:05 L.A. time to win the rubber match of the three game series.
Also: As an update to yesterday's story, Eric Stults was sent back to Triple-A when Kershaw was called up for today's start... Matt Kemp's homerun, which was a monster shot over the wall in dead-set center field, was his 11th on the season, tying him for the team lead with Andre Ethier.
The Dodgers out-slugged the Diamondbacks in their first game back from the All-Star break to move back into a tie for first place.
Cory Wade picked up the win, he's 1-1. Doug Slaten took the loss, he's 0-3. Jonathan Broxton picked up his first save of the year.
Hiroki Kuroda had a bad start, going just two innings, giving up six runs (five earned) on a walk and eight hits. Jason Johnson, in his first game since being called up from Triple-A (and his first major league game since September 2006) to replace the injured Takashi Saito, went the next three innings giving up just one run. Six other pitchers (including Broxton in his first save situation since taking over for Saito)
out of the Dodger bullpen combined over the next six innings to hold the D-Backs to seven runs. Cory Wade got the first win of his career by pitching a scoreless 10th inning before the Dodgers took the lead in the 11th.
The Dodger offense flashed a little power in the game. They had four homeruns: two from Nomar Garciaparra (who had three hits and three RBIs in the game), a game-tying homerun from Matt Kemp in the 7th, and a go-ahead homerun from James Loney in the 11th. The Dodgers were also able to score five runs (four earned) against Dodger nemesis Doug Davis. Davis coming into the game was 4-2 in six career starts against the Dodgers, with a 1.33, but lasted only three innings today.
The Dodgers get back to within two games of .500, but more importantly, they brought the D-Backs down to two games under .500 and into a tie for first place. They've got two more games now to see where they can go from here.
2008 Analysis: Wow, Johnson actually pitched more innings than Loaiza in 2008. Interesting. I only have three memories of Johnson. One, he had a good start (that was July 29th against the Giants) and two and three, that he came twice in extra innings to end the game (not in our favor: August 5th against St. Louis and September 26th against the Giants ironically).
