Locked in a tight race in the NL West, the Dodgers came into this 4 game series in Philadelphia needing to at least take a couple. After dropping the first 2 games by a combined score of 17-3, maybe getting just 1 is more realistic.
It was pretty much over the second Pat Burrell lined a 3-run shot off the left field pole in the 1st off of Clayton Kershaw, and the Phillies easily won, 9-2. Arizona is in action later tonight, so for now it's a 2.5 games deficit in the West.
All I heard about coming into this series was how the Phillies were having a hard time scoring runs. Geez, you wouldn't know by watching these 2 games. The only thing they're having trouble with is who gets to be the hitting star, because right now they all are. I'd say the Dodgers' pitching is just what they needed to get back on track.
There's really not a whole lot to say other than it was another pathetic effort all around. Kershaw had a bad 1st inning, a good 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, and then ran into trouble in the 5th. Of course, Matt Kemp didn't exactly make life easy on him.
With the Phillies up 3-2, Jimmy Rollins singled and Chase Utley walked. Pat Burrell lifted a fly ball to center that Kemp totally lost in the sun, and it dropped behind him to score Rollins. A double by Ryan Howard scored 2, and just like that it was 6-2. And just like that, the game was essentially over.
True, Kershaw's final line wasn't too hot: 4 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. But in my mind, once again it was the Dodgers inability to post runs on the board. As a result, the starting pitcher has to be flawless, and it all fell apart in the middle of the game, just like last night. Manny or no Manny, the rest of the order needs to get it going.
The only highlight was a long home run from Russell Martin to cut the game to 3-2, and that would be it. As I said about yesterday's game, the offense has pretty much been in the toilet this week, and today just added to it. There's a lot of places to point, but when the team only gets 5 hits and has 7 K's, it's all of their fault.
There's 2 games left in Philly, and if want to save some face, they really need to play much better. Hiroki Kuroda gets the start on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball. From what I can recall, they've been on SNB twice this season, and lost both: June 1 at New York Mets 6-1 in a game I went to, and June 8 vs. Cubs 3-1. On a nationally televised game, it would be nice from them to show the world that they are a true contender.
2 comments:
Nice to finally get some wins against the Dodgers! =]
Some close games last series. These are huge series for both the Phillies and Dodgers.
Ya, I had a feeling that the Phillies would be ready for this series after last week. It hasn't even been close so far...
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