The Dodgers, behind the bat of Blake DeWitt and the pitching of Greg Maddux, take the second game in the three game weekend series.
Greg Maddux got the win, he's 8-13. Matt Cain took the loss, he's 8-14. Takashi Saito picked up his 18th save.
Greg Maddux pitched like the Greg Maddux of old. He needed only 47 pitches (38 of which were strikes) to go six innings. He gave up only one run on two hits over those six innings, while striking out two. Chad Billingsley came in to get a little work before the playoffs. He went two scoreless innings in relief. Takashi Saito pitched a perfect 9th, striking out one to get the save and close out the game.
Offensively, the story today was all Blake DeWitt. He went 3-4 with a walk, a homerun, two RBIs, and a run scored. There were a few other players to note: Rafael Furcal went 2-4, Andre Ethier went 1-2 with a walk, and Casey Blake went 1-3 with a walk and a run scored.
The Dodgers will try to win the rubber match of the series, and the last game of the regular season tomorrow. The game starts at 1:05 L.A. time.
Also: With the win, the Dodgers move back up to seven games over .500 (84-77)... Greg Maddux's win was the 355th in his career, putting him at 8th on the All-Time Wins list.
Opinion: While this game was meaningless, there were a few good things that came from it. Blake DeWitt showed he can contribute, Greg Maddux showed he might still be able to pitch, and Rafael Furcal showed he still remembers how to hit the ball. DeWitt hasn't been nearly as impressive since his hot month of May, but he's been hitting the ball better lately (hitting .297 in the month of September). Greg Maddux is either completely on his game, or totally off. He's had two excellent starts for us and four not-so-good starts. How he'll do in the playoff remains to be seen, though. 
Finally, Furcal collected his major league basehit since May 5th and had his first multi-hit game since May 3rd. A healthy Furcal will be a big plus in the playoffs... Ok, one more game to go, let's try and win tomorrow. 85 wins would be a nice way to end the season on a high note.
The Dodgers 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 take the rubber match of the series and have now won three series in a row.
Brian Falkenborg got the win, he's 1-1. Matt Cain took the loss, he's 5-7. Takashi Saito picked up his 16th save.
Eric Stults started the game and was shaky, giving up seven hits and two walks over four innings. He did, however, only allow two runs (one earned). Brian Falkenborg came in in the 5th inning to relieve Stults who got into some trouble and got out of the inning unscathed. Hong-Chih Kuo pitched two scoreless innings and Jonathan Broxton added a perfect 8th. Saito came in for the 9th and got into some trouble, giving up one run before setting down the Giants and closing the game.
The Dodger offense was pretty good throughout the game as well. James Loney collected three RBIs on two hits (both doubles) and Andre Ethier continued his hot hitting scoring two runs and knocking in one on three base hits. Collectively, the Dodgers had 10 base hits on the day.
The Dodgers will head home to take on the Braves tomorrow, and congratulations to Russell Martin, who was named to his second All-Star game.
Greg Maddux got the win, he's 8-13. Matt Cain took the loss, he's 8-14. Takashi Saito picked up his 18th save.
Offensively, the story today was all Blake DeWitt. He went 3-4 with a walk, a homerun, two RBIs, and a run scored. There were a few other players to note: Rafael Furcal went 2-4, Andre Ethier went 1-2 with a walk, and Casey Blake went 1-3 with a walk and a run scored.
Finally, Furcal collected his major league basehit since May 5th and had his first multi-hit game since May 3rd. A healthy Furcal will be a big plus in the playoffs... Ok, one more game to go, let's try and win tomorrow. 85 wins would be a nice way to end the season on a high note.
