Manny Ramirez arrived in Dodger blue (and wearing #99?) and looked ready to make a sudden impact. Unfortunately for him, he didn't come through on his chance to do so in the 9th.
The Dodgers were once again in a close, low-scoring game against the Arizona Diamondbacks last night. And once again... they DBacks were the ones that did just enough to eek out the victory, 2-1. With the loss, the Dodgers are now 3 games in back of first place at 54-55.
The game will obviously be remembered for Manny's debut, but it was the pitching duel between future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson and phenom Clayton Kershaw that was the real story. The older guy went 6 innings and 1 run (unearned); the younger guy went 6 innings and no runs. For Kershaw, it's 2 really good starts in a row, as he's lowered his ERA from 5.18 to 4.02.
There was nothing doing in the first 5 innings, as each pitcher was plowing through the other team, ala Brandon Webb and Derek Lowe from the night before. And just like that game, the Dodgers struck for the 1st run. They got plenty of help in doing so, as Juan Pierre reached on Orlando Hudson's error. He then stole 2nd when Tony Clark threw the pickoff throw to 2nd into the outfield. Matt Kemp doubled to left, and it was 1-0.
With Kershaw done after 6 innings and 89 pitches, Chan Ho Park relieved. Hong-Chih Kuo went the night before, so Park was the obvious choice. He got greeted very rudely by Clark, who homered to dead center to tie the game. It got worse when Chris Snyder then singled. Joe Biemel eventually came in and gave up a double to Stephen Drew to score Snyder, and it was now 2-1.
The Dodgers had their chances, starting in the 8th when Andre Ethier drew a leadoff walk. But, the next 3 hitters couldn't reach. The 9th is when things got really interesting when Russell Martin starting things with a single. Up next... Manny Ramirez. He could have instantly been an LA hero with a homer.
Ah... it didn't quite work out that way, as he grounded into a DP. Jeff Kent popped out, and suddenly the DBacks have taken the first 2 games.
Who knows how the end of the year will turn out, but these were 2 games in which the Dodgers had the lead, but couldn't hold on. And for the umpteenth time, it was their inability to put runs on the board that bit them in the end. Same old song and dance.
Manny ended up 2-4, both on singles. Casey Blake was 0-4, Kent was 0-4, Andruw Jones 0-3 with 2 K's... you get the point. Like I said when Manny was traded, it's up to the rest of the team to do their jobs, and not just rely on Manny to do everything. Not exactly the best start to that last night.
Nonetheless, they have 2 games left to turn things around, and it starts tonight when Hiroki Kuroda looks to reverse some bad recent history. He was awful last start against the Giants, but they need a quality start from him. Supposedly, Manny will show up with a haircut, so that's worth watching alone!
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