Another game, and another early hole that the Dodgers could not dig out of. For the 2nd game in a row, the Arizona Diamondbacks scored in the 1st inning (4 in Game 1, 3 in Game 2). Even with a few runs scored at the end, it was way too little, way too late, as the Dodgers fell, 10-5.
Chad Billingsley got the start, and did pretty much nothing right. His final line was 2.1 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 2 HBP. Yuck. Out of his 70 pitches, only 32 were strikes. Again, yuck. After retiring the first 2 batters, it was all downhill from there. Bad location and getting behind of nearly every hitter spelled doom for him.
Now, one can make the case that he should be given a mulligan since his first start was disrupted by rain last week against the Giants. I can understand that to a point, but even with that said, he was still pretty awful last night. His next start will come at home against either the Padres or Pirates, 2 teams that don't exactly hit the cover off of the ball. Hopefully he'll get back on track.
The offense, yet again, was a big disappointment. The only time they did anything was when they were down 5-0 and 9-2. Yes, the pitching was bad, but it's not like the hitting ever did anything to show that they could get back into the game. It's starting to really get annoying.
True, they did score 5 runs, but do you want to guess how many people they left on base? 20! TWENTY RUNNERS LEFT ON BASE. That's completely embarrassing in every way possible. The only starter who did not leave anyone on was Matt Kemp, who went 3-5 hitting in the #2 hole. At least SOMEONE did well.
And how did Andruw Jones do? 0-3 with a walk and K. Brilliant. He's now down to .103 on the year. Like I said yesterday, it's looking more and more like last year's numbers were the real deal and not a fluke. It's not like he doesn't have chances to hit anybody in. There were 20 men left on base for crying out loud! The DBacks hit a 3-run shot in the 1st inning with 2 out. Why can't the Dodgers ever do that?
Needless to say, it was another bad loss, but they are still 4-4. If there's something positive to take away from this, it's that DBacks starter Doug Davis pitched very well in his last start before getting surgery for thyroid cancer. No matter which team you might root for, you have to root for him. Good luck, Doug. Hope to see you back soon. Just take it easy on the Dodgers next time.
The Dodgers will try to salvage the series in an afternoon game today, and Hiroki Kuroda will try to get some momentum back. He pitched great last time, and they really need another effort like that again. Because, you know, it's not like they'll hit a home run or anything to get a nice lead. Not gonna happen!
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