Player: Tanyon Sturtze
2008 Stats: 0-0, 0.00 ERA (3 games)
2008 Analysis: Tanyon Sturtze pitched 2.1 innings for us. Three games. Actually, to be honest, I remember him better as the pitching coach during the last game of the season when Nomar Garciaparra acted as manager for the day.
Sturtze is the guy who was signed by us, came up, pitched a little, then got Designated for Assignment, and instead of leaving, just asked to hang out with the team. And Joe Torre let him. So Sturtze was part reliver/part roadie for us in 2008.
2009 Outlook: Up until a few weeks ago, I would have guess retirement for Sturtze, but the Dodgers signed him to a minor league deal a few days ago. Why? I have no idea. All I can say is, I hope we don't end up using him. That being said, knowing Joe Torre, he'll be in our bullpen by July.
Dodger GM Ned Colletti completed two deals during the Winter GM Meetings, signing Casey Blake and Mark Loretta to contracts.
Remember what I said about Casey Blake in my player profile of him?
I'll remind you:
"The free agent market for 3rd basemen is not strong at all... I guess I wouldn't mind seeing Blake back for the 2009 season. Maybe..."
Yeah, that's how enthusiastic I was about it. Still though, it's good to have a third baseman. 
There's nothing exciting about Casey Blake. We know what he's done in the past, and what he's likely to do in the future. But at least he provides us a solution to the 3rd base problem. He should be a solid 3rd baseman for at least the next two years. The third year, who knows? The fourth option year? Probably not.
But at least, in the present, he's our 3rd baseman. I guess it'll be nice to have a solid player there, if only for a little while. It's not a great signing, but it's good enough.
As for Mark Loretta, I do really like this signing, with a small caveat. The contract is good, one year, small amount of money. That's fine.
My issue is usage. This is a good signing if Joe Torre let's the infield be. What I mean by that is, this signing turns sour for me if Torre shoves Loretta into a starting role, benching a younger player in the process.
Loretta can player 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and even a little shortstop. He's pretty good against left handed pitchers. That's perfect for us. He'll be a good backup infielder and possible spot starter here and there, maybe against a lefty.
That would make this signing perfect for me. I'm sad to see Nomar go, as Loretta is almost certainly taking his spot on the team, but Loretta is a suitable replacement, as long as he's used right.
Player: Nomar Garciaparra
2008 Stats: .264, eight homeruns, 28 RBIs
2008 Analysis: Oh Nomar, what are we to think of you? When you are consistently healthy, you can still hit, but therein lies the problem. Nomar made three trips to the DL this season.
The weird thing is that I can't quite figure out how to judge Nomar this year. He played half of April, none of May or June, almost all of July, the second half of August, and parts of September. He didn't play one season this year, he played three or four, so it's hard to really say how Nomar did.
I will say this though, he did flash signs of his offensive goodness in places during the season. He also played in three of the four infield positions throughout the season (including playing shortstop for the first time since 2005), moving around to help out the team, and that's definitely a big plus.
2009 Outlook: Nomar is currently a free agent. Of course I don't know what Nomar is thinking, but if I could take a guess, I would assume Nomar would like to be a starter somewhere. I would also assume Nomar would like to still play for the Dodgers. 
Well, we have a hole at 3rd base that needs to be filled, and it seems like a good fit to bring him back. ...but here's the thing. As much as I like Nomar, I can't trust him. I'm not willing to just resign Nomar and ink him in for 3rd base for the 2009 season because of his surprising ability to get hurt. He did make it into about 120 games in both 2006 and 2007 for us, but he hasn't played in more than that since 2003, so I'm a little bit scared of having a big hole at 3rd base for a good portion of the season.
I would, ideally, like to resign Nomar to be our mega-utility infielder. I'd like to keep him on the bench to pinch hit and spot start at 1st or 3rd, or maybe even a little shortstop and/or 2nd base, but I want, in no way, to end up relying on him. I want him to be part-part time player, part-coach, part-Dodger ambassador, but I don't want to put much more on him other than that. I've been disappointed too many times in the past, and I don't know if I can be hurt by him anymore (*tear*)...
The Dodgers strike for five runs in the first inning and never look back as they take the third game in this series.
Hiroki Kuroda got the win, he's 1-0 in the NLCS. Jamie Moyer took the loss, he's 0-1 in the NLCS.
Hiroki Kuroda made a quality start. He went six innings, holding the Phillies to two runs on five hits and a walk while striking out three. Cory Wade pitched two scoreless innings in relief and Jonathan Broxton pitched a scoreless 9th to close out the game.
Several Dodgers had good games at the plate. Rafael Furcal went 2-4 with a homerun, a walk, an RBI, and two runs scored. 
Manny Ramírez went 1-2 with two walks, an RBI, and two runs scored and Nomar Garciaparra went 2-3 with an RBI. Finally, Blake DeWitt went 1-3, the one hit coming in the 1st with the bases loaded. DeWitt collected three RBIs on the bases clearing triple to give the Dodgers a 5-0 lead early in the game.
With the win, the Phillies lead in the series is 2-1. Game 4 starts tomorrow at 5:22 L.A. time.
Opinion: Coming out strong in the 1st was a good statement. These three games are very important. We need to take care of our business at home, especially because of our troubles on the road... The other good news about today's game? Jamie Moyer looked particularly weak, and if the schedule for the Phillies remains the same, and if we push the series to a Game 7, Moyer will be the starter. That's pretty good news to me...
The Dodgers explode for 12 runs to take the second game in the three game series.
Clayton Kershaw got the win, he's 5-5. Mike Ekstrom took the loss, he's 0-1.
Clayton Kershaw got into a little trouble and wasn't able to get too deep into the game. He went only 5.2 innings giving up three runs on six hits and two walks, though he did strike out seven over that span. Chan Ho Park came in to relieve and got out of the 6th inning, though he ended up giving a run in the following inning. Cory Wade added a scoreless inning in relief and Scott Proctor struck out the side in the 9th to close the door on the Padres.
Offensively, another big game for the Dodgers. Overall, they collected 12 runs on 17 hits, seven walks, and a hit-batter. 11 different players had hits in the game. Several players had excellent games at the plate. Matt Kemp went 3-6 with two RBIs. Russell Martin went 2-3 with a walk and two runs scored. 
Manny Ramírez went 2-4 with a walk, a homerun, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Andre Ethier went 2-4 with a walk, an RBI, and two runs scored. And finally, Nomar Garciaparra went 2-3 with a double, a homerun, two RBIs, and two runs scored.
The Arizona Diamondbacks lost today, so with the win, the Dodgers move up to four games up on them in the NL West race. The Dodgers will go for the sweep (and possibly a chance to clinch the NL West) tomorrow at 7:10 L.A. time.
Also: With the win, the Dodgers move to eight games over .500 (83-75)... With the win and the Diamondbacks' loss, the Dodger Magic Number is now down to 1... James Loney came into the game as a defensive replacement and went 1-2 with a double, two RBIs, and a run scored. Those two RBIs bring his team leading total to 89.
Opinion: Dodgers started out slow. They were scoreless for the first three innings, then exploded for 12 runs over the next six. And everyone was contributing, and that's really good to see. Now we have to look forward to tomorrow. The Cardinals did their part to help set us up for the NL West clincher tomorrow night by beating the Diamondbacks tonight. Thank you, St. Louis. Of course, they could help us even more by beating the Diamondbacks in tomorrow's afternoon game and allowing us to clinch before our game even starts. Then again, they probably did enough to get us within one. Our destiny is really in our own hands now. We could sweep the Padres tomorrow and clinch the NL West at home. That would be a great way to end our last home game of the year. Either way, it looks like we are probably going to the playoffs, and that makes me happy...
The Dodgers score 10 runs to beat the Padres in the first game of the three game series.
Chad Billingsley got the win, he's 16-10. Wade LeBlanc took the loss, he's 1-2.
Chad Billingsley seemed a little shaky. He went six innings and gave up only one run, however, he also gave up nine hits and two walks over that span. James McDonald, Ramon Troncoso, and Scott Elbert added a scoreless inning each.
Offensively, the Dodgers did much better than they did Sunday. Eight of the nine Dodgers in the starting lineup collected a hit, seven scored a run, and four had RBIs, even Chad Billingsley added a hit, a squeeze bunt, and two RBIs. They had a big 1st inning, in which they batted through the lineup and scored six runs in the process. The top three performers in the game were probably Russell Martin, Nomar Garciaparra, and Blake DeWitt. Russell Martin went 2-3 with a double, two walks, and a run scored, Nomar Garciaparra went 1-2 with a walk, a homerun, three RBIs, and a run scored, and 
Blake DeWitt went 2-3 with a walk, a homerun, three RBIs, and two runs scored.
The Arizona Diamondbacks lost today, so with the win, the Dodgers move back to a three game lead in the NL West. The Dodgers will try tomorrow for their second straight win, and a chance to knock another point off the Magic Number. The game starts at 7:10 L.A. time.
Also: With the win, the Dodgers move back up to seven games over .500 (82-75)... With the win and the Diamondbacks' loss, the Dodger Magic Number is now 3... With their 82nd win, the Dodgers guarantee themselves a winning season... Chad Billingsley's win is his 16th, good for first place on the Dodgers.
Opinion: This was a pretty good statement win. After looking a little lackluster in the weekend series, the Dodgers came out firing. I like it... In any case, now that my last prediction (the one about us clinching on Sunday) was obliterated, I'd like to make a new one. We have two more games against the Padres, the Diamondbacks have two more against the Cardinals. Our Magic Number is three. My prediction is simple: we clinch it at home on Thursday. Hopefully, the Cardinals will keep up their end by causing the Diamondbacks trouble in St. Louis. I'm fairly certain that if we keep playing like we did tonight, our end shouldn't be a problem. I guess we'll see. 3 and counting...
The Dodgers win a game in extra innings to take the series from Pittsburgh.
Scott Proctor got the win, he's 2-0. Craig Hansen took the loss, he's 1-4. Jonathan Broxton picked up his 14th save.
Clayton Kershaw's start was short. He went five innings, giving up one run on two hits and two walks while striking out five. 
Unfortunately, it took him 86 pitches to do that, and only 44 of those pitches were strikes (about 56%). The bullpen managed to give up the lead twice in the following two innings, before shutting down the Pirates over the last five. This included 1.2 scoreless innings thrown by Chan Ho Park and a perfect 11th thrown by Scott Proctor. Jonathan Broxton was a little shaky, but ultimately shut down the Pirates in the 12th to close out the game.
The Dodger offense was a bit odd today. They scored four runs on six hits and 11 walks. No one Dodger had a particularly good game. 
The best two really only collected one hit each. Blake DeWitt went 1-4 with two walks and two RBIs. James Loney had the big RBI in the game. He only went 1-6, but the hit came with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the 12th to give the Dodgers the lead.
The Arizona Diamondbacks also won today, so the Dodgers remain 3.5 games in front in the NL West race. The Dodgers now come home to start a three game weekend series against the Giants. The first game starts tomorrow at 7:40 L.A. time.
Also: With the win (the Dodgers' 80th on the season), the Dodgers move back up to seven games over .500 (80-73)... With the win, the Dodger Magic Number is down to 7... James Loney's RBI was his team leading 87th.
Opinion: These last two games weren't so good. The Diamondbacks are heating up. They completed their four game sweep of the Giants (smashing my prediction from two days ago) and now are moving on to Colorado, who might or might not be a little harder. 
In any case, I'm glad we won today. A series split with the Pirates would have been disasterous at this point in the season. The offense seemed a litle dead today. We still got the win, but we seemed to be lacking the passion we've had the past couple weeks. We'd better get that back soon... Looks like Nomar Garciaparra's knee injury is not as bad as I had thought. He could be back in the lineup soon, but that doesn't mean I'm not worried. I just hope it can hold up. We'll see... 
One last note: Manny Ramírez and Andy LaRoche had the same number of RBIs in this series. I'm not saying that Andy would have made more of an impact in the last month and a half. Manny has been a tremendous influence on the team and we wouldn't be anywhere close to where we are now without him. All I'm doing is just merely pointing out an interesting statistic. Just something to chew on...
The Pirates beat down on Dodger pitching to take the third game in the series.
John Grabow got the win, he's 6-3. Scott Elbert took the loss, he's 0-1.
Dodger pitching was not good... Chad Billingsley had his worst start of the season. He went only 4.2 innings, giving up seven runs (six earned) on two walks and eight hits (two homeruns, including a grand slam). Joe Beimel came in and got out of the inning by striking out the next batter. Scott Proctor looked good, pitching the next 1.2, striking out three. A combination of three different pitchers (including Scott Elbert, who took the loss) then proceeded to give up eight runs before finally recording one out. James McDonald made his major league debut, and was impressive. He pitched a perfect 8th, striking out two.
What will be lost in what was an awful pitching performance, was that the Dodgers weren't bad offensively today. They collected eight runs on 19 hits and three walks. Russell Martin went 3-5 with a double and three RBIs. Matt Kemp went 4-5 with a run scored. Pablo Ozuna went 3-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Finally, Nomar Garciaparra went 2-3 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored before hurting his knee in the 5th inning and being forced to come out of the game.
The Diamondbacks are currently beating the Giants 7-3 after six innings. With the loss, the Dodgers' lead is currently three games. They'll try to go for the series win tomorrow, starting at 9:35 L.A. time.
Also: With the loss, the Dodgers fall back to six games over .500 (79-73).
Opinion: So... that was interesting... You know what the most amazing thing about this game was? The Pirates scored 14 (THAT'S RIGHT, 14!) of the 15 runs with two outs. Can we get a third out, please?!? I guess you can't expect those kind of numbers every night, but really, nobody could get a popout or something? Come on... The hitting, though the Dodgers did manage eight runs, still surprises me. Normally when you see 19 in the "Hit" column, you see more then eight in the "Run" column. Not that it matters, because, normally, when you 15 in the opponents' "Run" column, you just take the loss and move on... As a manager in professional baseball, you really ride a roller coaster of looking like a total genius to a clueless moron. Joe Torre chose to start Pablo Ozuna and Nomar Garciaparra, and they rewarded him (3-4 and 2-3 respectively). Then, Torre chose to put in Scott Proctor. He was dominating in his 1.2 innings. Then, with a lefty coming up, Torre chose to take out the hot Proctor and bring in lefty Scott Elbert to get the third out. At this point, the score was tied, 7-7. Eight runs and 10 batters later, that out was finally recorded... 
Look, I'll say this, I really like Nomar Garciaparra. I still remember his excellent year in 2006 when he was incredibly clutch for us. I really want him to be a part of this playoff team. That said, he looked really bad trying to stop after rounding 3rd base in the 5th inning. There have been no reports yet, but if I had to put money on it, I'd put a small amount on Nomar Garciaparra going on the DL. Nomar is going to be a free agent after this season. ...Nomar, I love you man, but if this knee injury is as serious as it probably is, it might be time to call it a day. I guess we'll see when the report on his leg comes out, but again, I guessing it's not pretty... Ok, that's enough for now, but really, what a weird day. Let it go and move on, it'll make you crazy if you think about it too much.
EDIT: The Giants tried but couldn't complete a comeback against the Diamondbacks, so with their win, the pull back within 3.5 games of the Dodgers in the NL West. I guess what I said yesterday about predictions might be right. But then again, my prediction about me making a prediction seems to be turning out right... so... 1-2???
The Dodgers beat the Rockies to take the first game in the weekend series and win their third game overall.
Chad Billingsley got the win, he's 15-10. Jeff Francis took the loss, he's 4-10.
Chad Billingsley went six innings giving up two runs on three walks and six hits, while striking out three. Pitch count was an issue, as by the time Billingsley was taken out of the game before the 7th inning, he had made 96 pitches. He did do a good job, though, of holding the Rockies to two runs. He gave up a run in each of the first two innings, but held the Rockies scoreless over the next four. Four pitchers from the Dodger bullpen pitched a combined three scoreless innings, giving up only one hit over that span. Cory Wade was among that group. He went 1.1 innings, striking out a batter. Scott Proctor pitched a perfect 9th, striking out one to close out the game.
The Dodger offense heated up in the last third of the game. They had scored only three runs through the first six innings. They then managed to score four runs in the last three. Seven different Dodgers reached base at least twice. Manny Ramírez went 2-5 with an RBI and a run scored. 
Nomar Garciaparra went 1-2 with a walk, a double, and two runs scored. Matt Kemp went 2-5 with a double, two RBIs, and a run scored. James Loney had a short and sweet game. He came in as a defensive replacement in the 7th innings. He then proceeded to go 2-2 with a double and three RBIs.
The Arizona Diamondbacks won as well today, so with the win, the Dodgers will hold on to the 3.5 game lead. The Dodgers will try to extend their win streak to four tomorrow, starting at 5:05 L.A. time.
Also: With the win, the Dodgers move to five games over .500 (76-71)... Also with the win, the Dodger Magic Number is lowered to 13... Chad Billingsley's win was his 15th, good for first place on the Dodgers... James Loney's three RBIs today brought his team leading total to 83.
Opinion: Good win for the Dodgers, especially from a pitching standpoint. When Chad Billingsley gave up two runs in the first two innings, I started thinking "Uh-oh." For some reason, however good our pitching is, the Rockies somehow seem to be good at hitting us, especially notorious Dodger killers: Matt Holliday and Brad Hawpe. Hawpe and Holliday both went 2-4, by the way. But we were able to shut the rest of the team down. The pitching held them to seven hits and three walks, and of course, most importantly: two runs. Props most of all to the bullpen. Three innings, one hit and no runs against a pretty good hitting team. Also, I have to give props to the hitting. After coming out kind of slow, only two runs through the first three innings, then getting a third go-ahead run in the 4th. More importantly, though, instead of letting the Rockies stay in the game and attempt some kind of late-inning comeback, they put the final nail in the coffin by scoring four runs in the final three innings. Anyway, good job on both end of the Dodgers today. Let's keep it up into tomorrow. Magic Number is 13 and shrinking...
The Dodgers' 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 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...
Ok, I was finally able to get my pictures onto the computer. These were pictures I took at Friday's game versus the Brewers. They are from a cameraphone, so the quality isn't great. I didn't think to bring a camera, but once I got to the seats, I knew I had to take some pictures. Here are some of the better ones I took:
The Dodger on-deck circle was about 10 feet away, so I was able to get some shots of players warming up. This is Matt Kemp:
Here's Manny warming up, right before delivering a base hit to drive in a run:
Here's Nomar, he got really close to the audience, he was right up by the fence:
I tried about seven times to take a picture of James Loney making contact with the ball, and this was as close as I got:
I tried taking a shot of Jonathan Broxton throwing a pitch, as well. I got a little closer:
Post-game on field celebration:
You know those seats you see behind the plate during the game. This is a picture from those seats:
Anyway, it was a pretty awesome experience. I'm pretty sure you need to know somebody to get those seats, but if you can find a way in, please do it. Oh, and the best part: free food! Boo-ya!
The Dodgers continue their hot play, and get some excellent pitching to complete the four game sweep.
Hiroki Kuroda got the win, he's 7-8. Brett Myers took the loss, he's 5-10. Hong-Chih Kuo picked up his 1st save.
Hiroki Kuroda made an excellent start. He went seven innings, giving up just one run on two hits and no walks, while striking out seven. And he did all that on just 79 pitches, 50 of which were strikes. Hong-Chih Kuo pitches two innings in relief, walking one batter, but allowing no hits while striking out two batters to close out the game and pick up the save.
No one Dodger had an incredibly impressive game. Matt Kemp went 1-4 with a solo homerun. James Loney went 1-3 with a triple, a walk, a stolen base, and a run scored. Russell Martin went 1-4, stole a base, and scored a run. Casey Blake went 1-3 with a RBI.
The Arizona Diamondbacks also won today, so the Dodgers will remain in a first place tie in the NL West. With the win, the Dodgers move to three games over .500 at 62-59. They will begin a three game weekend series with the Milwaukee Brewers tomorrow at 7:40 L.A. time.
Also: Matt Kemp's homerun was his team leading 14th... Hong-Chih Kuo's save was the first of his career... 
Nomar Garciaparra had an impressive inning defensively in the 3rd when he fielded all three well hit groundballs in the inning (one up the middle, one right at him, and one in the hole). He also had an RBI groundout in the bottom of 2nd prior to that inning... Both hits given up in the game to the Phillies were doubles... This series was the Dodgers' first four game sweep of the Phillies since 1962.
Opinion: Kind of sad that we could be in the midst of an eight game winning streak right now had the bullpen not blown those two games in San Francisco, but I can't be mad at them, as they've more than redeemed themselves in this series. In this series, they've given up only three runs (all in the first game of the series) over 15 and 2/3 innings collecting two wins and two saves over that span while striking out 17 batters... This series was a good statement on the Dodgers ability to play with the big boys. It will be interesting now to see if the Dodgers can carry some momentum over into the next series against the Brewers. Despite being second in their division, they have a better record than the Phillies and are arguably a stronger team... Mark Sweeney came in to pinch hit in the 7th and drew a walk. That's something...
The Dodgers completed their second comeback in as many games and take the third game in the series to assure a series win.
Jonathan Broxton got the win, he's 3-3. Clay Condrey took the loss, he's 3-3.
Brad Penny had a bad start for the Dodgers. He went just three innings, giving up six hits on six hits and two walks. All six runs came on two-run, two-out homeruns (two in the 1st, and one in the 2nd). The bullpen took over in the 4th and did much better. They allowed no runs on only one hit over the next six innings (though they did walk four guys and hit a batter). Jonathan Broxton pitched a perfect 9th, striking out two, and was the pitcher of record when the Dodgers won in the bottom of the 9th.
The Dodgers had a solid day offensively, collecting 12 hits and five walks. Jeff Kent went 4-5, scored a run, and had a big two-RBI double with two outs in the 8th inning. 
Andre Ethier went 2-5, with a RBI and two runs scored, hitting his 12th homerun on the year. Manny Ramírez also hit a homerun. It was a two run shot, his 5th as a Dodger (for the day, he went 1-3, with two walks, two RBIs, and a run). Russell Martin bounced back from his recent struggles, going 3-3, with a double, a walk, and a run scored. Nomar Garciaparra went 1-5, but the one hit was a big one. He hit a walk-off line drive homerun into the Dodger bullpen in left field to win the game for the Dodgers.
With the win, the Dodgers move to 61-59, two games over .500. The Arizona Diamondbacks lost today, so the Dodgers move into a first place tie in the NL West. They'll try to go for the four-game sweep of the Phillies tomorrow at 7:10 L.A. time.
Also: James Loney also collected a RBI today, moving his total up to a team-leading 68 on the year... Mark Sweeney came in to pinch hit in the 3rd inning and grounded out to 1st, lowering his average to .125.
Opinion: A good win for the Dodgers, who are starting to act like a team that wants to be in the postseason... Brad Penny worries me though. He was throwing some very hittable pitches to the Phillies. I do wonder if we'll be able to rely on him down the stretch. Though I'm not sure it really matters, because even if there are some better options, Joe Torre's reluctance to make a change won't allow it... Mark Sweeney made another out today, but thankfully it was in the 3rd inning, so there was no chance he could come up in an important situation later in the game. I really feel like I'm beating a pointless dead horse. Sweeney only needs to survive until September 1st when the rosters expand, and then he can make it the rest of the year easy. Torre knows that when the rosters expand they'll be less pressure on the bench and Sweeney himself. I'll be shocked if Sweeney isn't with us the rest of the year, and deep into the playoffs... The Dodgers have really made a strong statement this series against a top team in the NL East. It will be even stronger if they complete the sweep tomorrow, not that winning the series itself won't be a good statement. It's just that, I'm going to the game tomorrow, and I really want to see a win.
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.
The Dodgers shut down the Nationals for the second straight game and complete the three game sweep, getting their record back to .500 for the first time since May 30th.
Clayton Kershaw got the win, he's 1-3. Jason Bergmann took the loss, he's 1-8. Jonathan Broxton picked up his 4th save.
Clayton Kershaw made the best start of his young career, going six innings, giving up no runs on just four hits and a walk while striking out five. More importantly, he kept his pitch count low, and pitched a lot of strikes. When he was taken out of the game, he'd made only 86 pitches, 57 of which were strikes. Chan Ho Park and Hong-Chih Kuo pitched a scoreless inning each, and Broxton pitched a perfect 9th, striking out one. He's been 4-4 in save opportunities.
The Dodger offense was not too potent, but got the job done. Russell Martin went 2-3 with a walk and an RBI. The other run came from James Loney on a solo homerun in the 2nd inning.
While the Dodgers were busy sweeping the Nationals, the Arizona Diamondbacks were up in San Francisco, sweeping the Giants. The Dodgers came out of this weekend at the .500 mark, but remain a game back of the streaking Diamondbacks. Speaking of the Giants, they'll come to Dodger Stadium for a three game series starting Monday at 7:10 L.A. time.
Also: Matt Kemp had a walk, a stolen base, and two hits to extended his hitting streak to 14 games... Nomar Garciaparra left the game in the 6th inning with a knee issue (Here's to hoping he's ok, or at least there will be no knee-jerk trades for an average shortstop)... Mark Sweeney was activated from the 15-day DL in time for today's game. He came in to pinch hit in the 7th and struck out. He's now 6-65 this season (.092). Check #3 here.
The Dodgers got a combination of good hitting and excellent pitching and take the second game of the three game series.
Derek Lowe got the win, he's 8-8. Odalis Pérez took the loss, he's 3-8.
Lowe went eight innings, walking one and giving up just one hit while striking out four. More importantly, though, Lowe forced batters into 15 groundball outs. He made 107 pitches over the eight innings so he was replaced in the 9th. Joe Beimel started the 9th, got one out and gave up a hit.
Cory Wade replaced Beimel, got an out, gave up a walk, then struck out the next batter for the final out.
Every Dodger in the starting line-up, excluding Jeff Kent and Andruw Jones collected hits today. Matt Kemp had a two-run homerun in the 1st inning, and Nomar Garciaparra hit one in the 4th. Nomar also had a scoring fly-ball in the 1st, collecting two RBIs on the day. Even Derek Lowe had a good offensive game. He went 2-3, with two singles and an RBI. In his third at-bat, he drove a long fly ball to center that was caught at the warning track.
The Dodgers with the win today move back within one win of .500. The Arizona Diamondbacks also won today, so the Dodgers remain one game back in the NL West race. The Dodgers will try tomorrow to go for the sweep at 1:10 L.A. time.
Also: Matt Kemp's homerun gave him 12 on the year, good for first place on the team... Kemp's homerun also extended his hitting streak to 13 games... Casey Blake, in his first game as a Dodger, went 2-3 with a single and a double... Blake DeWitt was sent down to Triple-A to make room for Casey Blake, and in Triple-A, he will occasionally work at 2nd base, which is something I was hoping for.
The Dodgers got good pitching and just enough hitting to pull out a victory in the first game of this three game weekend series.
Chad Billingsley got the win, he's 10-9. John Lannan took the loss, he's 6-10. Jonathan Broxton picked up his 3rd save.
Billingsley gave up just two runs over 7 and 2/3 innings on five hits and three walks, while striking out four. He made just 106 pitches over that span. Broxton pitched 1 and 1/3 innings and retired all four batters he faced, one on a strikeout.
The Dodger offense collected just six hits, but got them when they counted. Nomar Garciaparra had a big two RBI single in the 6th inning to give the lead to the Dodgers. James Loney followed with an RBI groundout to make the score 3-1. The Nationals would tack on another in the 8th, but the three runs would prove to be enough.
With the win today, the Dodgers remain one game back of the Arizona Diamondbacks who also won today. They'll try for another win tomorrow at 7:10 L.A. time.
Also: Matt Kemp singled in the 6th inning to extend his hitting streak to 12 games... Chad Billingsley, with the win today, brought his season total to 10 wins, he is the first Dodger pitcher this year to have double digit wins... With today's win, the Dodgers reached the 50 win mark, they are still however, two games under .500 (50-52).
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: Tanyon Sturtze pitched 2.1 innings for us. Three games. Actually, to be honest, I remember him better as the pitching coach during the last game of the season when Nomar Garciaparra acted as manager for the day.
