No run support for Stults

Eric Stults gave up 2 home runs in the 1st inning to the Florida Marlins, and that was more than enough to beat the Dodgers, 3-1. The Dodgers only collected 1 run on 5 hits against a guy making his first career start.

I suppose the game could have ended right after the 1st when Jeremy Hermida hit a 2-run bomb and Jorge Cantu a solo shot, but they humored the crowd by playing the rest of the game anyway. Take away the 1st, and Stults had another strong outing. 1st inning: 2 hits (both home runs), 1 walk, 1 hit by pitch, 2 strikeouts. 2nd-5th innings: 4 hits, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts. It ended up being a quality start when it was all said and done.

Still, people who didn't see the game will just look at the boxscore and probably think Stults wasn't very good. The truth is that for the millionth time this season, the Dodgers' offense did jack squat and hung another L on their starting pitcher, deserved or not. Who knows how good Chris Volstad will turn out to be, but I would think the Dodgers could have done a little better than 5 hits and 1 walk. Kind of pathetic that they didn't.

I'm not sure where to start with the blame because everybody was lousy, but let's take a look at Matt Kemp. He's constantly the talk of trade rumors, yet it never seems serious. He's a freak athlete, but kind of a blockhead at the same time. For the past 11 games (or every game in July), he's hit leadoff with Juan Pierre and Rafael Furcal out with injuries. He's only collected a .255 AVG and .340 OBP, and more alarmingly, 20 K's in 47 AB's. Doesn't seem like it's working out.

Then there's Andruw Jones, who somehow continues to disgrace himself more and more each game. He K'd his first AB, singled in his 2nd... then got caught stealing. In the 7th, he had a big opportunity to get the offense going with a runner on 1st... and he promptly grounded into an inning-ending double play. At a .172 AVG, it's unfathomable just how bad he really is. This is starting look like one of the worst free agent signings of all time. It's quickly going up in the history of bad Dodger moves with the Delino Deshields for Pedro Martinez deal.

Give Russell Martin credit for trying to get something going, as he singled up the middle in the 9th to get the only run and chase Volstad with 2 outs. Jeff Kent then flew out against closer Kevin Gregg to lower his AVG to .254, another huge disappointment in a long list of them this year.

The best the Dodgers can do now is get 1 game under .500 before the All-Star break, and they will look to start the process today with Hiroki Kuroda taking the mound. He was nearly perfect in his last outing against the Braves, so they need another big start from him.