Chad Billingsley continues to prove each start why he's one of the top pitchers in the National League.
Bills went the distance last night, throwing a complete game shutout to lift the Dodgers over the San Francisco Giants, 2-0. That's now 5 wins in 6 games during the homestand, which is about to get very interesting with Brandon Webb and the Arizona Diamondbacks coming to town.
Back to this game, and the Dodgers struck in the 1st inning. Matt Kemp was back in the leadoff role with Juan Pierre getting the day off against a lefty (Andruw Jones was in the lineup, but once again played like he had the day off) and walked. He then stole 2nd on Casey Blake's strikeout, and Russell Martin singled him home for the lead.
The 3rd inning was the only other scoring, once again started by a walk to Kemp, this time with 1 down. Blake also walked for runners on 1st and 2nd. Martin hit another RBI single to plate Kemp, followed by a double by Jeff Kent to score Blake. A sac-fly RBI by James Loney ended the scoring with the Dodgers up, 4-0.
A 4 run cushion, the Giants as the opponent, and Billingsley dealing on the mound were more than enough to take this game. With the exception of maybe Bengie Molina, there's absolutely nobody in the lineup that even scares me in the littlest bit. They are really bad. I'm glad the Dodgers get to play them again to close the season, because the division will probably come down to those last few days.
The first hit for the Giants didn't come until the 5th, when Molina singled to center. That was immediately erased on a double play grounder from Aaron Rowand. In all, Bills did not face more than 4 hitters in any inning.
The best play was at the end, when Jose Castillo doubled with 2 down. Randy Winn singled to left, and the shutout appeared to be in trouble. Andre Ethier gunned a perfect throw to Martin, who just got the tag on Castillo to end the game. That's the way to end a game.
Playing the Nationals and Giants was fun, but now it's time to get back to business. It's a great pitching matchup tonight of Derek Lowe against Webb. Webb is obviously a perennial Cy Young favorite, but Lowe has really turned his season around and been fantastic as well. The Dodgers are lucky in that they miss Dan Haren, but the DBacks miss Billingsley as well. My guess is that it'll be a 2-2 split when it's all said and done, but getting 3 would be sweet.
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