Coors Field too much for Kershaw

Clayton Kershaw got what he wanted, and that was a return to the Big Leagues and a spot in the starting rotation. What he probably absolutely did not want is that return to come in Colorado.

Either way you slice it, that's the hand he was dealt, and he handled it miserably last night. After spotting the Rockies a 5-0 lead after 3 innings, he was gone, and the Rocks went on for an easy win, 10-1. The Diamondbacks won, so that pushes the Dodgers a game back in the West.

Like I said, Kershaw had a very poor outing. He seems like the type of pitcher that will break off a couple of good pitches in an at-bat, and then throw a nice fat one over the middle that gets hammered. Granted, Coors Field is tough, but Ubaldo Jimenez handled it just fine. I don't care where he would have pitched last night - the results would have been the same.

Even thought he gave up only 1 run through the first 2 innings, it could have been worse. The Rockies stranded Jeff Baker on 2nd with 1 down in the 1st. In the 2nd, with runners on the corners and 2 down, Jeff Kent and Nomar Garciaparra turned a fantastic double play to avoid any more trouble. Then the wheels came off the bus the next inning.

As for the bats, they pretty much looked lost the whole night. I didn't like their approach at all. It seemed like they wanted to hack away at the first ball near the strike zone, and ended up grounding out over and over. To only get 4 hits and take 2 walks in Coors is pretty sad. That was a night to forget.

I'll give Jimenez plenty of credit - he was really good. The announcers were talking before the game about how he's been good lately, and I can now see why. His stuff was nasty, especially the slider. He could have had a complete game shutout, but Matt Kemp led off the 9th with a bomb to center to finally break the ice. That was the lone highlight of the night for the Dodgers.

It's an afternoon start today, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a quirky lineup. My guess is that Jeff Kent and Andruw Jones will get the day off (Jones should get everyday off), and possibly Nomar, though he did rest on Monday. Danny Ardoin may get the call behind the plate, which would shift Russell Martin to 3rd.

Hiroki Kuroda gets the ball today, and he was terrible his last start. On the flip side, he was brilliant before that. Hopefully the team won't pack it in and look forward to their day off tomorrow before jetting off to Washington on Friday.