Alright, I'm back on a working computer. Still, I'm going to be skipping the Dodgers Retrospective this week for a few reasons.
One, it was a half week. Two, it was a terrible half week. Three, a big topic I was going to discuss was Broxton anyway, so this post makes the Retrospective moot.
Jumping right into it, let's recap: Broxton blew a game yesterday. In turn, the Dodger fanbase reacted in a calm demeanor, showing their full support for a good young player.
Oh wait. (Credit, obviously, to Memories of Kevin Malone)
Ok, so, Dodger fans freaked out. And I can't blame fans for being angry. The Dodgers were trying to avoid a four game sweep while San Diego continues to win and separate themselves from the pack. This was a tough game to lose.
But here's where we begin to have a problem.
We need to be able to distinguish between being upset and misinformed complaining.
Be mad that we lost the game. Again, tough game to lose. Be upset with Broxton for the game. He was wild and ineffective. It happens and you are allowed to be upset about it.
That's fine. But. But...
Don't start spewing nonsense about replacing Broxton. Stop it. Seriously. You look foolish because really, it's nonsense.
In some form or another, here's what always seems to happen whenever I have a discussion in which I end up defending Broxton against a detractor.
Person: "Broxton sucks."
Me: "Broxton is one of the better closers in the game."
Person: "Broxton blows too many big games."
Me: "Everyone blows games. Everyone gives up runs, that's why there's such thing as ERA."
Person: "I don't like Broxton. He's not a major league closer."
And here's where misinformed complainers always get caught:
Me: "Ok, who would you replace him with?"
Now, the person is always caught with this question because there is no good answer to this question.
I mean, that doesn't stop the other person from going: "I don't know!" or "It's not my job, I don't get paid to figure that stuff out!" which are both versions of "There is no good answer to that question!"
But, ok, fine, you haven't had the time to research and make the calls into other GMs, so you don't have a list of candidates. If you want to play this game though, misinformed complainers, you should know this: all but one pitcher in baseball with 10 or more save opportunities this year has blown a game.
(Long tangent: the one pitcher is John Axford of the Milwaukee Brewers ... don't you dare pretend to tell me you know who that is. Axford is 11 for 11 in save opportunities, but then you should probably also know this: because of the flawed way saves are kept, Axford's 11 for 11 doesn't explain the fact that in five of those opportunities, Axford surrendered an earned run. He's been lucky enough to have his leads be larger than one run at the time and avoid the blown save. Oh, and by the way, Axford has given up the go ahead run while the game was tied on three separate occasions this year, so by no means is Axford the perfect closer.)
Point is, there isn't going to be a pitcher you can replace Broxton with who will satisfy you. Even the great Mariano Rivera, who I will happily admit is a superior pitcher to Broxton has blown two games this year.
These calls for Broxton's head are misinformed. You people are hoping that Ned Colletti will magically pull a pitcher out of his hat that throws a 102 fastball, a 93 slider, and a 79 curveball that drops a foot off the table at the last second. This pitcher has a 0.00 ERA, never blows a save, and can pitch 3 out of 4 days or not for a week but will remain sharp either way. That's a great thing to hope for, but this pitcher only exists in MLB 2k10 (and I know this because he's the closer on my Create-A-Team).
Here's where I'm guessing this problem stems from:
1. Unrealistic expectations.
Since Eric Gagne took over closing duties in 2002, Dodger fans haven't really know what it's like to not have a lights out closer. He dominated from 2002-2004 unlike any closer in history, at one point saving an unbelievable 84 games in 84 save opportunities. The whole "Game Over" era not only gave regular fans an unrealistic expectation of what to expect from a closer, but I suspect it brought on board many casual fans as well, who at that point only had "Game Over" Gagne as their image of what a closer should be.
2005 was a transitional year. Gagne was injured and Yhency Brazoban ended up leading the team in saves with 21, while holding down a 5.33 ERA. It was easy enough to dismiss the year as a throw away year.
But then 2006 comes around. Takashi Saito comes out of the blue to become one of the top closers in baseball over the next two seasons.
Broxton shares closer's duties with Saito in 2008, before fully taking over the job in 2009.
Now, what I'm suggesting is, from 2002-2007, with the exception of 2005, the Dodgers have had an extraordinary run of lights out closers. And, worse for Broxton, from two different closers.
Many Dodgers fans have come to expect that you can just replace one lights out closer with another like it's something that's easy to do, or that's been happening forever, for that matter. Gagne was here, he was great, he went away and got replaced with Saito, who was also great. Saito is gone, and has been replaced with Broxton. Why is Broxton not as great as Gagne was from 02-04 or Saito from 06-07?
We were supremely lucky to have such high quality closers for several years. That's not to say Broxton isn't high quality, but he will never convert 84 straight save opportunities in a row (I doubt anyone ever will), nor will Broxton probably ever post a 1.40 ERA (with a 0.72 WHIP) over an entire season like Saito did in 2007. Broxton might be able to have a similar season, but is not likely to have these types of numbers over the span of several seasons. It's not that seasons like that are unheard of, but to expect them from the same pitcher every year is ludicrous unless that pitcher is Mariano Rivera (a Hall of Famer).
The other part of this blame Broxton problem is this:
2. Emotionally charged losses
The blown game is probably the hardest game to lose other than maybe having Ken Griffey Jr. rob the game winning homerun in the 12th inning during the last game of the season, knocking you out of the playoffs ala "Little Big League". But, I digress.
Blown save losses are the most emotionally charged losses because you go from happiness to anger in the span of an inning.
If the starting pitcher gives up three runs in the 2nd inning, and those three runs turn out to be the difference in the game, there isn't much uproar. If the closer does it in the 9th, the fans have no time to think, they just blow a gasket.
Everyone remembers that Broxton blew the big game in the NLCS last year. No one seems to remember the save he converted in the 2-1 victory in that same series.
Conversely, everyone remembers that Vicente Padilla had an amazing start against the Phillies in the NLCS (that same 2-1 game, coincidentally) but no one seems to remember that when the Dodgers needed him to show up to avoid elimination in Game 5, he gave up 6 runs in three innings.
This isn't meant to bag on Padilla, who I must admit has been excellent since returning from the DL and deserves some acknowledgment from this blog at some point in the near future. No, this is simply meant to point out that people have a completely unbalanced, much more severe reaction to a later inning loss than a game lost in the first few innings.
So, what's the solution?
Here it is, for all of you misinformed complainers out there.
1. First, realize that Broxton is not as bad as you believe him to be. If I can't interest you in looking up his sabermetric stats like his xFIP, at least just know this: Broxton has made his way into 40 games this season and has only really negatively affected two (maybe a few others but if we are only considering games in which Broxton's actions have led to a direct loss, then two).
2. Realize there are not a lot of better options than Broxton this year, and that most of those better options are on teams that won't be giving them up anytime soon. You think the Pittsburgh Pirates or the Baltimore Orioles have the solution to your problem? Because they don't. Maybe the Yankees do, maybe the Braves do, but guess what? They are leading their divisions. They have no reason at all to send their closer to you.
3. And this is the important one. Take a deep breath.
It's a game. It's one game. It sucks to lose it and it's easy to overreact.
So don't. Calm down. Understand that games get blown, closers give up runs, and sometimes wins become losses.
I can assure you, this isn't the only time this has ever happened, nor will it be the last.
And I can assure you, you replace Jonathan Broxton with any other closer in the league and the previous statement isn't any less true.
Because the "perfect" closer you are looking for pitches for the J-City Demons and I've got no reason to send him your way.
Player: Takashi Saito
2008 Stats: 4-4, 2.49 ERA, 18 saves (45 games)
2008 Analysis: Saito was pretty good for the first part of the season, though watching him, you could see he'd lost a little something. He wasn't as lights out as he had been in the past, and his fastball looked like had lost something. But he continued on, picking up 17 saves in 20 opportunities.
But then he tweaked something. He went on the DL on July 18th and was out until pretty much the end of the season. He came back in late September and didn't look much better. He got knocked around a couple times in his six games off the DL. Still, he led the team in saves.
2009 Outlook: Saito signed with the Boston Red Sox earlier in the offseason, and apparently feels he still can contribute to a team. I'm going to miss him, and I wish him luck, but honestly, I don't know if he's got much left in the tank.
Player: Jonathan Broxton
2008 Stats: 3-5, 14 saves, 3.13 ERA, 88 Ks (70 games)
2008 Analysis: Broxton started the year as setup man for Takashi Saito and moved into the closer role when Saito went down with an injury.
...And he was not bad. After July 18th, when Saito went down, until the end of the season, Broxton was 1-3 with a 2.76 ERA and was 14-17 in save opportunities, which again, was not bad.
2009 Outlook: The Dodgers have been shopping around for a closer a little bit this offseason, but I don't think they are seriously strongly persuing one. As such, barring any unforseen signings, Broxton will be the Dodger closer in 2009.
So, a couple more odds and ends for the Dodgers these past few days.
Happy trails to Takashi Saito, who signed a contract with the Boston Red Sox for one year and an option. Saito was a good closer, with one of the nastiest sliders I've ever seen, so it is a bit sad to see him go. At the same time, he might not be able to pitch anymore, which would make the blow a little easier to take. I honestly do hope that he can still pitch, because I like the guy, and I would like to see him succeed again.
Secondly, the Dodgers added another pitcher in Shawn Estes. I'm not too excited about this one. Estes was a name that when you saw him coming up for a start against us, you thought to yourself: "Well, that's at least one win guaranteed in the series." He's going to make $550,000, and could earn up to $1 million in incentives if he pitches up to 30 starts. Side note: if Shawn Estes makes 30 starts for us next year, we are going to be in some serious trouble.
On a light side note: Estes now joins Steve Finley and Matt Herges in the "I've Played For Every Team In The NL West Club."
The chose to cut loose five players at the non-tender deadline, not offering contracts to shortstop Ángel Berroa and pitchers Takashi Saito, Scott Proctor, Yhency Brazoban, and Mario Alvarez.
This doesn't mean the end of these players in Dodger Blue, as they now become free agents and can still be resigned. They can, however, also be signed by other teams.
There are six players up for Reliever of the Year:
Chan Ho Park
-4-4, two saves, 3.40 ERA in 54 games (95.1 innings).
Joe Beimel
-5-1, 2.02 ERA in 71 games (49 innings).
Hong-Chih Kuo
-5-3, one save, 2.14 ERA in 40 games (80 innings).
Cory Wade
-2-1, 2.27 ERA in 55 games (71.1 innings).
Jonathan Broxton
-3-5, 14 saves, 3.13 ERA in 70 games (69 innings).
Takashi Saito
-4-4, 18 saves, 2.49 ERA in 45 games (47 innings).
...and the Reliever of the Year is...
Hong-Chih Kuo
It came down to three players for me. Joe Beimel, even though he had a very impressive ERA, had some issues with letting inherited runners score. Cory Wade was a close second, but Hong-Chih Kuo had a better ERA in more innings.
On top of that all, Kuo was 5th on the team for strikeouts, trailing only four Dodgers starters, who of course, had more innings under their belts.
So, congratulations to Hong-Chih Kuo for winning the "J's Dodger Blog 2008 Reliever of the Year."
The Dodgers, thanks in part to some Cubs errors, beat the Cubs to take the second game of the series.
Chad Billingsley got the win, he's 1-0 in the NLDS. Carlos Zambrano took the loss, he's 0-1 in the NLDS.
Chad Billingsley gave up only one run over 6.2 innings. He gave up only five hits and a walk over that span, while striking out seven. Cory Wade followed with 1.1 scoreless innings. Takashi Saito came in to start the 9th and gave up two runs without recording an out. Jonathan Broxton had to come in to relieve Saito and retired the side, collecting two strikeouts.
Several Dodgers had good games at the plate. Seven of the nine Dodgers in the starting lineup reached base by hit or walk. Rafael Furcal went 3-6 with two RBIs and two runs scored. 
Manny Ramírez went 2-4 with a walk, a homerun, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Russel Martin went 1-5 with a double and three RBIs. Finally, Casey Blake went 2-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
With the win, the Dodgers go up 2-0 in the series. They'll try for a sweep and a trip to the NLCS on Saturday, at Dodger Stadium. The game starts at 7:05 L.A. time.
Opinion: I was really only hoping for at least a win in this first two games. We got two. We've really flashed the offense: 17 runs in two games. We've also had some pretty good pitching, holding the potent Cubs offense to five runs. We've now won twice as many playoff games as our total since 1988. I say we go for triple. I'm heading to the game Saturday, my first playoff game ever. Hopefully, I'll get to see a clinch. Let's keep our fingers crossed...
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 are out slugged by the Padres and fail to complete the three game sweep.
Jake Peavy got the win, he's 10-11. Eric Stults took the loss, he's 2-3. Trevor Hoffman picked up his 29th save.
The pitching was a bit shaky today. The Dodgers used five different pitchers and each gave up at least one run. Eric Stults started. He went 4.2 innings and gave up three runs. Takashi Saito and Jonathan Broxton pitched an inning each (the 8th and 9th respectively) and each gave up a run.
The Dodgers had a bit of an odd game offensively. 16 different players had at-bats. 
Chin-lung Hu went 2-3 with a stolen base, an RBI, and a run scored. Jason Repko went 1-1 and drew two walks. Andre Ethier went 1-2 with a walk and an RBI. Matt Kemp went 1-3 with a walk, a homerun, an RBI, and a run scored. Juan Pierre went 2-3 with an RBI. Finally, Blake DeWitt had an odd game. He went 0-1 and scored two runs without collecting a hit or walk. He came in as a pinch runner and was brought home, then later was hit by a pitch and came around to score again.
The important event today happened before the game. The Arizona Diamondbacks lost so the Dodgers clinched the NL West before today's game even started. The Dodgers will travel now to San Francisco to begin their last series of the season. The three game weekend series begins Friday at 7:35 L.A. time.
Also: With the loss, the Dodgers fall back to seven games over .500 (83-76).
Opinion: There's not much to say about this game, as will probably be the case for the next three games as well. 
The starting lineup was different, but it didn't really matter because the scrubs were all in by the 5th inning. We're just getting everyone out there and getting them some playing time. We are going to see a lot of playing time for Jason Repko and Chin-lung Hu this weekend, and that's fine because we have nothing to gain by winning the next three games, but the possibility of losing a starter to injury before the playoffs is horrifying. That said, it would be nice to go into the playoffs with at least 85 wins, not at the cost of losing someone, but just for some pride and a nice even number. The important thing, though, is that we are in the playoffs, and for now, I'll just celebrate that.
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, behind Manny Ramírez's bat, outslug the Giants to even up the series.
Takashi Saito got the win, he's 4-3. Tyler Walker took the loss, he's 4-8.
Hiroki Kuroda had a pretty short start. He went only four innings giving up three runs on eight hits and a walk. He did managed to strike out five over that period though. Chan Ho Park came in to relieve and didn't help much. He allowed an inherited runner to score (attributed to Kuroda) in giving up a hit and two walks. He wasn't able to record an out before being pulled for Joe Beimel. Beimel allowed two of his inherited runners to score (attributed to Park, whose final line was 0.0 innings and two earned runs) before retiring the side. Beimel followed that up by going another scoreless inning (his final line was 2.0 innings, no runs). Takashi Saito and Cory Wade each added a scoreless inning. Jonathan Broxton pitched the 9th and struggled a bit, giving up two runs before getting a strikeout to end the game.
The Dodgers collected nine hits and 11 walks in the game. Matt Kemp went 1-5 with a homerun, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Hiroki Kuroda actually had a pretty good day. He went 2-2 with a run scored. 
The biggest day at the plate came from Manny Ramírez, though. He went 3-4 with a walk, two homeruns, five RBIs, and two runs scored.
The Arizona Diamondbacks also won today, so the Dodger lead in the NL West will remain 3.5 games. The Dodgers will try to win the rubber match of the series tomorrow at 1:10 L.A. time.
Also: With the win, the Dodgers move back up to seven games over .500 (81-74)... The win today gives the Dodgers 81 on the season, which guarantees them, at least, a .500 season... Also with the win, the Dodger Magic Number is now 5... The Dodger game today lasted a little over four hours (4:03).
Opinion: So the game was a bit long and a bit messy, but a win is a win. Pitching was a bit shaky, and it has been the last several games. They've given up a combined 25 runs in the last four games (8,3,7,7). That's going to need to improve if and when we get to the playoffs. Other than that, good win tonight. Even better if we go out and take the series tomorrow...
The Dodgers outslug the Pirates to take the first game in this four game series.
Hiroki Kuroda got the win, he's 9-10. Ross Ohlendorf took the loss, he's 0-2.
Hiroki Kuroda had an excellent start. He went seven innings, giving up only three hits and a walk, surrendering no runs while striking out two. Takashi Saito made his return and pitched a scoreless inning, striking out two. Brad Penny pitched the 9th and gave up a two-run homerun, but ultimately ended the inning to close out the game.
The Dodger offense was even better than the Dodger pitching. They scored eight runs on 12 hits and eight walks. Russell Martin went 1-3 with two walks and three runs scored. 
Juan Pierre went 3-5 with an RBI and three runs scored. He actually hit a homerun, his first in almost two years. Manny Ramírez went 3-4 with a double, two RBIs, and a run scored. James Loney went 2-4 and added three RBIs as well.
The Arizona Diamondbacks also won today, so the Dodger lead will remain 4.5 games in the NL West race. They'll try to pick up their second win in a row tomorrow at 4:05 L.A. time.
Also: With the win, the Dodgers move back up to six games over .500 (78-72)... With the win, the Dodger Magic Number is now 9... James Loney's three RBIs bring his team leading total up to 86.
Opinion: Good pitching (except Penny) and good hitting. When Juan Pierre hits a homerun, you know something is going on. Anyway, we definitely gotta beat the Pirates. One down, three to go.
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.
Entertaining game, the American League won, so no homefield advantage for the Dodgers if they get to the World Series.
The only Dodger All-Star, Russell Martin, played a pretty good game.
He went 1-3, had a sac-bunt, and made a couple of really good defensive plays.
Now, after a long All-Star game, he needs to get home and rest up. The season re-starts on Friday.
Also: In not good news, Takashi Saito will be out six weeks with a strained ligament in his right elbow. Jonathan Broxton will be the replacement closer, at least for now.
The Dodgers get their second excellent pitching performance of the series to get the win and take two out of three from the Braves.
Derek Lowe got the win, he's 7-8. Tim Hudson took the loss, he's 9-7. Takashi Saito picked up his 17th save.
Lowe was on his game today, he was working fast and getting ground balls (16 to be exact) and was perfect through six innings. Ultimately, he went 7 and 2/3 innings, giving up just one run (a hanging sinker that Jeff Francoeur hit out)
and striking out four. Jonathan Broxton finished up the 8th, and Saito pitched a perfect 9th to close out the game.
Offensively, the Dodgers did just enough to get the win today. Matt Kemp hit a homerun in the 6th inning of Hudson, and Andruw Jones had a big RBI single in the 7th to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. He now has three hits in his last seven at-bats.
The Dodgers, with the win today, have now won four straight series. They'll take on the Marlins who they swept in Florida a couple months ago.
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.
Did that really just happen? The Dodgers get 1-0 win while being no-hit by the Angels.
Chad Billingsley got the win, he's 7-7. Jered Weaver took the loss, he's 7-8. Takashi Saito picked up his 12th save.
Lost in the historic night was the Dodgers got a well pitched game by Billingsley as the Dodgers shut down the Angels for the second night in a row. Billingsley pitched seven strong innings, striking out seven, giving up just three hits and three walks. Jonathan Broxton and Takashi Saito also pitched a scoreless inning each to shut down the Angels.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers offense was completely shut down. They managed just three walks and a hit-by-pitch between the combination of Angels pitchers Jered Weaver and Jose Arredondo. And yet, they won. 
In the 5th inning, Matt Kemp reached first on a Weaver error, he then stole second and advanced to third on an error by Angels catcher Jeff Mathis. Blake DeWitt then hit a sac-fly to right field to cash in Kemp. And that was it. One run on no hits for the Dodgers but it would stand throughout the game.
This was just the 5th time since 1900 that a team was no-hit and went on to win the game, and the first time since 1992. Also, lost in this win will be the fact that Andre Ethier turned in two excellent plays in the outfield to help keep the Angels scoreless and Luis Maza made a great diving stop in the 9th to take away a hit...
But who cares, the Dodgers make history tonight. It was an exciting game to watch, I hope you got to catch a piece of it. The Dodgers will go for the sweep tomorrow against the Angels at 1:10 L.A. time.
Chan Ho Park made an excellent start for the Dodgers and the offense had some good hitting to get the win, tying the season series with the Angels at 2-2.
Chan Ho Park got the win, he's 3-2. Joe Saunders took the loss, he's 11-4.
Park went six strong innings, giving up just four hits while striking out seven. He also did not walk anyone. In fact, the Dodgers had good command throughout the game: they issued no walks over the whole nine innings. The bullpen shut down the Angels the rest of the way. Brian Falkenborg pitched a perfect 7th, Jonathan Broxton struck out all three batters he faced in the 8th, and Takashi Saito did the same in the 9th.
The Dodgers were able to score in more than one way in the game. Russell Martin destroyed a Joe Saunders pitch in the first inning to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. The Dodgers strung together a few hits to add two more runs in the 5th inning to make the lead 
3-0. Then, Andre Ethier hit a big three-run homerun halfway up the right field bleachers in the 7th to give the Dodgers their 6-0 lead.
With the win yesterday against lefty Joe Saunders, the Dodgers get their first win in a game started by a left handed pitcher since May 14th when the Dodgers won 6-4 over the Brewers in a game started by Manny Parra, although the win came against the Brewer bullpen in the 9th. The last time the Dodgers actually gave the left handed starter the loss was May 3rd when beat Jorge De La Rosa and the Colorado Rockies 12-7.
Overall, this was a good win for the Dodgers. They'll try to keep some momentum as they take on Jered Weaver in game two of the series at 7:10 L.A. time. Weaver, in three career starts against us is 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA.
The Dodgers get an offensive outburst in the first inning, scoring four runs of Paul Byrd and are able to hold up the lead for the win, avoiding the sweep.
Chad Billingsley got the win, he's 6-7. Paul Byrd was hit with the loss, he's 3-8. Takashi Saito picked up his 11th save.
Billingsley struggled to get through five innings, but he made it through, giving up only three runs while striking out four. The bullpen combined to pitch four scoreless innings to shut down the Indians the rest of the way.
The Dodgers scored all four of their runs in the first inning. Juan Pierre led off with a single. Matt Kemp followed with a ground-rule double. James Loney doubled after that to bring in Pierre and Kemp. Russell Martin followed with a homerun halfway up the bleachers in left to make the score 4-0.
The Dodgers were shut down for much of the rest of the game, collected a few assorted base hits, but the four runs were enough to hold up for the win.
There was also an important defensive play. In the top of the 5th inning, with the Dodgers leading 4-3 and Jhonny Peralta on first base, David Dellucci hit a double down the right field line. Andre Ethier cut off the ball and fired it in, the relay came home to Martin and he tagged out Peralta coming to the plate, keeping the lead for the Dodgers. Overall, it was a tough win for the Dodgers, but a win nonetheless. They'll face the Chicago White Sox for a three game series starting Tuesday.
The Indians scored two runs off Takashi Saito in the 10th inning to take the lead after the Dodgers plated two runs in the 8th and 9th inning each to tie the game.
Joe Borowski got the win, he's 1-2. Takashi Saito took the loss, he's 3-3. Masa Kobayashi collected the save, his 4th.
Clayton Kershaw pitched a sub-par game, and while he struck out five, he walked three and gave up four hits, including a two run homerun to Kelly Shoppach, and gave up four runs overall. The bullpen pitched four shutout innings after that, before Saito gave up two runs on an RBI double to Jhonny Peralta.
The Dodgers on offense meanwhile, were suffciently shut down by Cliff Lee until the 8th inning. They were then able to string together some hits to score two runs. They followed that up by scoring two more runs in the 9th inning of Indian closer Joe Borowski. Offensively, Jeff Kent had the best game for the Dodgers. He collected three hits in five at-bats and knocked in two of the four Dodger runs.
It doesn't get any easier for the Dodgers. They'll face another tough lefty, C.C. Sabathia, in Saturday's game.
