It's nice to know at least SOMEBODY in the Dodgers' lineup looks like he wants to win.
Jeff Kent hit 2 home runs, but as usual, it wasn't enough to get a W, as the Chicago Cubs scored a run in the 9th off of Takashi Saito to claim a 5-4 victory. That makes 9 losses in the last 11 games for the lifeless, punchless Dodgers.
If there's a silver lining, it's that the Cubs were up 4-0 in the 5th, but the Dodgers battled back to even the score. It all started when Chin-lung Hu tripled to score Blake DeWitt. Yes, I did just say that. Mark Sweeney then pinch-hit for Chad Billingsley and singled home Hu. Yes, I did just say that too. Not exactly the 2 guys I would pick to spark a rally considering they're about 4-278 this year.
The 6th brought the Dodgers even closer as Kent hit his 1st homer of the night to cut the lead to 4-3. The 8th is when Kent hit his 2nd one, this time off of Bob Howry. It would have been nice to have actual runners on base when this happened, but let's not get carried away here! That would be a whole other miracle story if that were to happen.
Billingsley wasn't at his sharpest like he has been lately, going 5 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 8 K. The strikeouts were still there, but his control overall wasn't. It's pretty much the problem that has plagued him his whole, brief career. Cory Wade and Scott Proctor combined for 3 innings and were great. Wade has a 1.45 ERA, so his spot seems to be safe. I saw him in person during the Sunday Night game against the Mets, and he blew them away. He's a solid weapon.
The same cannot be said right now of Takashi Saito. He has a 2.19 ERA, which looks good, but it just hasn't been as dominating as he's been in the past. You get the feeling that the wheels are about to fall off of the bus. I hope not because I still like him, but I don't know anymore. He's gotta figure it out for them to win.
Last night, though, he struggled. Ryan Theriot started things off with a leadoff double in the 9th. Derek Lee struck out, but Aramis Ramirez was beaned on a close play. Kosuke Fukudome hit a grounder that was placed perfectly through the right side to score the winning run.
The Dodgers had James Loney lead off with a double, then load the bases, but couldn't score. Matt Kemp went down swinging to end the game. A typical end to a typical weak Dodger effort.
Hiroki Kuroda takes the mound tonight, fresh off his pounding against the Mets. He's better than what he showed on Sunday, so he needs a big outing tonight. It's not like the offense will give him a lift, so pitching a perfect game would be nice. Of course the score would be 0-0 before the Cubs eventually win in the 10th.
Just call me Mr. Positive!
No comments:
Post a Comment