Thursday, June 26, 2008

Stults comes up huge

Eric Stults was the man on Wednesday night, pitching a complete game, 4-hit shutout over the Chicago White Sox, 5-0. It was his first career complete game in only 9 Major League starts.

Stults' biggest threat came right at the start of the game, when Jermaine Dye and A.J. Pierzynski singled for runners on the corners with 2 outs. Nick Swisher then flied out to center, that took care of that. The Dodgers responded with 2 runs of their own when Juan Pierre singled to lead off, stole 2nd, went to 3rd on a wild throw, and scored on Andre Ethier's single. After another error let Jeff Kent reach and Ethier to go to 3rd, Russell Martin came through again with an RBI single and 2-run lead.

There really wasn't a whole lot of action other than the 4th, when the Dodgers posted a 3 spot. The inning again started on a single and stolen base, this time by James Loney. After Matt Kemp walked, Blake DeWitt busted out a 2-run double. Stults then hit a sac-fly RBI to push the game to 5-0, where it would stay.

Stutls certainly didn't overpower anyone, as he only had 3 K's, but his stuff was still great. His worst inning was the 1st where 2 men had singles, and he only gave up 2 more the rest of the way. Only 1 walk and no extra base hits allowed all game. Not bad for a guy that was pretty much forgotten about to start the year. Boy, does he sure seem like a better option than Brad Penny right now. Of course, he'll have to keep putting up blanks to stay in the rotation, because it's not like Penny will get demoted.

The offense did better than the night before, but that's not saying a whole lot. What they did do well is hit 2 doubles, a sac bunt, a sac fly, and steal 3 bases. They still left 4 men in scoring position with 2 outs, and surprise!... Pierre had 2 of them. Still, since they almost refuse to hit home runs, it's good to see their running game working.

Today's game will be in the afternoon, as the Dodgers send Clayton Kershaw to the mound, STILL looking for his 1st win of the year, minors or majors. The White Sox counter with John Danks, another guy with a good ERA. It sure would be nice to get this one today considering the Angels are coming to town next, and uh... let's just say the Dodgers are somewhat lost against them. So ya, a win today would be ideal.

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