What an opportunity the Dodgers just left on the table.
This past weekend could have easily been a 3 game sweep of the San Francisco Giants, and first place in the NL West. Instead, both Jonathan Broxton and Hong-Chih Kuo came up empty in the closer's role, as the San Francisco Giants won on Sunday, 5-4. The DBacks won (Danny Haren was starting, so not much drama there), and the lead for them is 1.5 games.
It may as well have been a rewind of Saturday night, except that this didn't take extra innings. Late lead by a run - blown save - Giants feel somewhat relevant again. The scary part is that the Dodgers close the season with 3 in San Francisco, and you know these last 2 games will be in their heads. I guess those games won't be that easy afterall.
Chad Billingsley gave up a rare run in the 1st inning on Randy Winn's double to go down by 1. In the 3rd, the Dodgers got on the board when Jeff Kent grounded out to score Andre Ethier, who had just tripled.
Both teams traded runs in the 4th and 5th. The Giants got 2 in the 4th on another hit by Randy Winn, this time a 2-run single. Bills got the first 2 hitters out easily, then uncharacteristically gave up 4 straight singles. The Dodgers got 1 back in the 5th when Matt Kemp tripled and score on Ethier's single.
The game appeared to be in hand in the 7th when Manny Ramirez came through yet again, hitting a 2-run double to score Kemp and Ethier for the 4-3 lead. Needing a day off, Broxton sat and Kuo came in. From what I can recall, this is the first time Kuo has gone for a save, so it is a different mindset. Right away, he gave up 2 singles. Casey Blake had an error to load the bases. A fielder's choice and a single later, the game was lost.
While Kuo's line will say that the 2 runs were unearned, but the truth is that the 2 hits he gave up to start the inning spelled doom. Yes, Blake's error hurt, but that's not why they lost. Broxton needed a day off after going 3 straight days, so the options in the 'pen were limited. I'm still surprised Kuo didn't come through, but even he can have a bad day. It happens, but it sucks that it happened against the Giants and in a very winnable game.
Bills finished with 6 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. His ERA is 3.07, which is still outstanding. 12 men reaching base in 6 innings is too high for him. I think he's lucky to only give up 3 runs. Matt Cain didn't get the win, as he gave up 4 runs in 7 innings. The Dodgers still found a way to hit him around, it just wasn't enough in the end.
Coming up now is a 4 game homestand against the Philadelphia Phillies. Joe Torre says Broxton will be available tonight. Derek Lowe gets the ball tonight. He got Pujolsted his last game, giving up a granny to him in getting pounded. It's the start of 10 straight at home, with Milwaukee and Colorado to follow. Their last homestand produced a 7-3 result, but that was against the Nationals, Giants, and Diamondbacks. This time the competition will be stiffer.
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