Nearly perfect night for Kuroda

Hiroki Kuroda was as close to perfection Monday night as one could be. Through 7 innings, he was unstoppable. Only a double by Mark Teixeira to start the 8th would stand in the way of him and history.

Still, a complete game, 1-hitter was about as good an outing as possible, as the Dodgers beat the Braves, 3-0. The win was not only that close to being historic, but put the Dodgers in a tie for 1st place in the NL West with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

All of the offense came in the 5th, as James Loney started things off with a walk from Jorge Campillo. Andruw Jones continued his consistent play by popping out to 2nd, only furthering his distinction of being a total waste of space. Nomar Garciaparra then stepped up and smashed a 2-run shot to left to grab the lead. Blake DeWitt singled to center, and Matt Kemp hit an RBI single to close the inning at 3-0.

With the comfort of having a lead, Kuroda stayed on fire. Undoubtedly, the best play was at the top of the 7th, when Gregor Blanco laid down a bunt to 3rd to start the inning. DeWitt charged and made a terrific barehanded throw that barely nailed him at 1st. It's questionable whether Blanco should have bunted to being with, as that would seem to be pretty cheap. But, the play was made anyway.

Credit Teixeira for getting a big hit with a 2-strike count to start the 8th. I knew looking at the lineup that if Kuroda could get through Teixeira and Brian McCann, the perfect game would very reachable. It was close, but just not meant to be.

Perhaps just as impressive as the first 7 innings was that after the perfect game was gone, Kuroda still pitched his heart out, retiring the next 6 hitters on 2 flyouts and 4 groundouts. He ended with 6 K's, and lowered his ERA from 3.73 to 3.39. Dominant from the first pitch.

It's pretty much an impossible act to follow, but Chad Billingsley is just the guy to try. He's been brilliant in his last 2 games, allowing no runs in 15 innings. He's opposed by Jair Jurrjens, another person with an ERA in the low 3's and 8 wins. It'll be a fun one to watch.