Broxton snatches defeat from the jaws of victory

Chad Billingsley pitched his guts out, but in true Dodger-like fashion, they found a new way to lose. This time, it was Jonathan Broxton getting absolutely smoked in the 8th trying to protect a 2-0 lead as the New York Mets scored 3 and went on to win, 3-2. If it's not one thing going wrong for the Dodgers, it's the other.

This is quickly turning into the road trip from hell. They played 3 close games against the Chicago Cubs, but lost all of them. Brad Penny was rocked on Thursday in New York, now Broxton can't do his job today. Maybe they're lucky to be at 1-5. I've got to face reality at some point - without Rafael Furcal in the lineup, they are a decent team, but not a very good one. They've proved it this week. They simply do not have the type of offense that can pull games out.

Billingsley certainly wasn't flawless, despite his good line: 7 IP, 4 H, O ER, 3 BB, 4 K. Those of you that didn't watch the game probably think I'm being way too hard on him, but those that did know what I mean. To his credit, he got some huge outs when he needed them. He walked the first 2 guys in the 4th, but retired the next 3. He worked around a Blake DeWitt error and walk in the 5th to escape trouble. And he got Jose Reyes to pop up in foul territory to 3rd and Endy Chavez to fly to left with runners on the corners to end the 7th.

In the end, though, all that mattered was how poorly Broxton performed. Wow, he looks great one day, then horrible the next. That's now his 4th blown lead in his last 10 appearances. His ERA stands at 4.94, which is way too high. That'll eventually go down, but it's also an indication that he's not ready to be a closer like so many people want him to be. He's still learning.

As for the offense... hell, I could beat it into the ground of how bad they were again, but what's the point? They've got to just hope that Furcal comes back somewhat soon and that youngsters like Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, and James Loney start to pick it up. If that stuff doesn't happen, they'll continue to be an average, but beatable team. And that's reality.

Despite another huge letdown of a loss, I'm still excited to be in Shea Stadium tomorrow for the last Dodgers-Mets game ever in Shea. I'll be sure to post some pics from that game early next week. It's a great pitching duel between Hiroki Kuroda and Johan Santana. Who knows, maybe the Dodgers can shock the world and actually hit Santana around. I'll be saying that to myself over and over on the 3 1/2 hour bus ride from Binghamton.