Leave it to the Dodgers to hit 3 home runs and still only score 4 runs. The result, not surprisingly at all, was another loss to the Washington Nationals, 5-4. The Arizona Diamondbacks also lost, as both teams seem like they don't give a damn to win the division, so it's still 3 games back in the NL West.
The Dodgers somewhat broke out of their slump with 2 homers in the 2nd. James Loney led off with one, and Casey Blake hit one out with 2 down. Of course, there should have been men on base, but Nomar Garciaparra grounded into his 763rd double play of the season right before that. Man, I am really sick of seeing his name in the lineup. Just play somebody else!
The Nationals chipped away and then took the lead the next few innings. Jesus Flores had an RBI single in the 2nd, Lasting Milledge had an RBI fielder's choice in the 3rd, Ronnie Belliard had an RBI single also in the 3rd, and Emilio Bonifacio scored on Jeff Kent's error in the 4th. Another great, clutch play by Kent. In all, it was 4 runs for a 4-2 lead.
Andre Ethier tried his best to get the Dodgers back into the game with a homer in the 5th. But, you guessed it... it was a solo shot. That's because when they actually do hit homers, nobody else can get on base. When they don't hit homers, everyone gets on base. That's how life has been the last couple of weeks.
Ryan Zimmerman launched a solo shot to get the lead for the Nats back up to 5-3. The Dodgers certainly had their chances to either tie or get the lead back in the 8th. Blake came through with a single to score Manny Ramirez to make it 5-4. The bases were then loaded with 2 down... and here we go again for the Dodgers. Matt Kemp was given the opportunity to come through, and naturally flew out to left. Game, set, and match.
Greg Maddux was certainly better than his first outing in blue, going 5.1 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K. 2 of his runs were unearned, but a throwing error by Maddux himself was to blame, so it's not like the guys behind him let him down. Good Lord, if Maddux, a perennial Gold Glove winner, starts making errors, then you know things are going sour.
The Dodgers will try to avoid an embarrassing sweep today at the hands of the Nats by giving the ball to Clayton Kershaw. His last start was awful in Philadelphia, but overall, he's had a pretty good year. You know the deal though... it all depends on if the offense wants to show up.
No comments:
Post a Comment