All of that momentum the Dodgers gained by taking 2 of 3 from the Giants and Padres has quickly faded away.
The Arizona Diamondbacks completed a 3-game sweep at home against the Dodgers this afternoon, 4-3. The Dodgers had leads of 1-0 and 3-2, but could not hold onto them. 3 of the DBack's 4 runs scored were with 2 outs.
Hiroki Kuroda gets charged with the loss, but it's hard to pin the blame on him when his final line was 5.2 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. 9 hits is too many, but a horrible throwing error by James Loney in the 4th made those numbers look worse. For the most part, I thought he was pretty good.
Nope, the real blame (and I'll bet you'll never guess where I'm going with this!) is placed squarely on the shoulders of the hitters. Yet again, they fail to push runs across the plate. 15 more men left on base. Yup, that would be 35 RUNNERS LEFT ON BASE THE LAST 2 GAMES. That's just plain pathetic. The 3-4-5 hitters of Andre Ethier, Jeff Kent, and James Loney left 9 total. Great, clutch hitting, boys.
Andruw Jones was mercifully given the day off today, and Juan"ting to be traded" Pierre started in his place. Hey, at least Pierre was 2-3, including getting the 1st run of the day on a double. I'll give credit where credit is due - at least he finally got a hit. Maybe there really are snowball fights in hell after all! Then there's Jones, who pinch-hit and got single! Wow! Amazing!...
... Of course he came crashing back to Earth when he struck out to end the game. Bet you never saw that one coming! Have I mentioned how awful he's been this year? Well, he has been.
Look, I know I'm being pretty over-the-top here, but I can't help and keep thinking that this is the "same old Dodgers" every game. Their pitching is good, but the hitting is just pitiful. They have to scratch and claw for EVERY RUN, yet other teams take a could of hacks and they score with ease. I can't blame Joe Torre for trying new lineups, but at some point, the hitters just have to step up and produce. They sure as hell aren't right now.
They now have to come home to face San Diego, and unfortunately that means Jake Peavy, Chris Young, and Greg Maddux. They won't beat Peavy unless he gets food poisoning, resulting in nausea and severe stomach cramps (and he'll probably still only give up 2 runs in 8 innings). They beat Young last week thanks to Derek Lowe, so hopefully that will happen again. Maddux could be the man to beat... but Esteban Loaiza starts that day, so no dice.
At least they get to play the Pirates soon.
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