Aided by the unusually hot-hitting offense, Derek Lowe pitched another fantastic game as the Dodgers got the win over the Cincinnati Reds, 6-1. It's their 2nd win in a row after dropping 5 before that.
After enduring a rough stretch in early May in which he was bombed every start, Lowe has really turned things around lately. So in other words, Good Lowe has returned. The great thing about this start was that he was pitching on only 4 days rest, thanks to Hiroki Kuroda getting sent back to LA for tests on his ailing shoulder. The results was an 85 pitch night in which he finished at 5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. Like Billingsley the night before, it's the huge start the Dodgers absolutely needed.
Bronson Arroyo was the Reds' starter, and boy, has he bottomed out. It seemed like not too long ago where he was pitching like an All-Star, now he has an ERA in the 5's. Maybe too many innings has finally caught up to him. Anyway, Juan Pierre led off the game with a single, went to 2nd on a hit-and-run, went to 3rd on a fielder's choice, then scored on a wild pitch. That's a Pierre-like run, and they'll gladly take it.
The next run came in the 2nd when Matt Kemp started the inning with a single up the middle. He stole 2nd, though to be fair, the Reds' catcher David Ross didn't do himself any favors by double clutching the throw, then the ball was dropped anyway at 2nd, and Kemp still would have been out if not for that. Oh well, the Dodgers deserve some sort of break. Andre Ethier's single brought him home, and it was 2-0.
Edwin Encarnacion homered in the bottom of the 2nd to cut the lead to 2-1. After that, it was James Loney time. He started in the 4th with a solo shot, his 6th of the year and first since, well... forever (ok, May 21). In the 6th, Blake DeWitt lead off with a double, but the next 2 hitters struck out. Loney picked him up with an RBI double for a 4-1 lead.
Pierre closed out the scoring in the 7th with a huge triple to score Ethier and Angel Berroa to go up 6-1. Pierre had a good night, with 2 hits and 2 RBI and a run scored. Loney did the same, and Ethier had 3 hits. Overall, there were 9 hits, but 5 of them were for extra bases.
As good as Lowe was, Hong-Chih Kuo continued his amazing transformation to the bullpen by blanking the Reds over 2.2 IP. He ran into a bit of trouble when he entered in the 6th, giving up a single and double with 1 down, but put down Adam Dunn swinging and Encarnacion grounding out. On the night, he had 4 K's, giving him 47 in 40.1 IP. That's really good.
The Dodgers have taken the first 2 in this series, so why not get greedy and go for it all? That's exactly what they'll aim to do tomorrow afternoon. Eric Stults will make his first start of the season, filling in for the injured Brad Penny. Winning won't be easy, as the Reds will send in Aaron Harang, who is their staff ace. He's only 3-9 this year, but a 4.10 ERA suggests that he hasn't gotten much help. He pitched really well against the Red Sox in his last start, so he's much better than his record would indicate. It'll be an interesting game.
No comments:
Post a Comment