Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Dodgers breeze by Pirates

The Dodgers looked at their schedule to end the season and most likely circled the 4 games they had in Pittsburgh. No matter if they were in first or close to getting there, those 4 games were just what they need. For one night, they didn't disappoint.

Barely breaking a sweat at any point, Hiroki Kuroda pitched 7 strong innings for his first road win in 2 months as the Dodgers won, 8-2. It was pretty much a shutout, save for a 2-run homer by old friend Andy LaRoche with 2 down in the 9th. Still, it was a pretty sweet night. It would have been even sweeter had the Arizona Diamondbacks not won, so the lead in the NL West remains at 4.5 games.

Sometimes these types of games are a cause for concern, only because anything but a win would be a huge letdown. You never know if teams like the Pirates can embrace the "spoiler" role of disrupting the playoff plans of some teams. Sure didn't seem that way, though.

The Dodgers had the bases loaded in the 2nd with 1 down, but Kuroda grounded into a double play. The Dodgers of earlier in the year may not have put any pressure on the opposition after something like that happened, but not these guys. Russell Martin walked and Juan Pierre singled to start the 3rd, and they came around on Manny Ramirez's double. Manny eventually scored on a bad throw down to 2nd trying to catch James Loney stealing for the 3-0 lead.

Man, you may as well have ended the night there, because the Pirates just helplessly flailed away, all in an attempt to pretty much get the game over with as quickly as possible. More runs were scored on James Loney's 2-run single and sac-fly, and Blake DeWitt's sac-fly as well.

But without a doubt, the best run came from the bat of Pierre, who hit his first home run in... oh... about 12 years by hitting one out to right. Nice touch by the Dodgers' dugout of giving him the silent treatment when he first went back in. When you're winning, everything is fun, as evidenced by that display.

Big run support or not, Kuroda brought his best stuff by finishing with 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2K. Even with playing a crappy Pirates team, that's some good stuff. It was also great to see Takashi Saito pitch in his first game since July 12. He K'd 2 in a scoreless inning, which is naturally a great sign.

The Dodgers have to be feeling great about taking at least 3 games in this series with Derek Lowe due on the mound today and Chad Billingsley tomorrow. Lowe's on a 3 game winning streak, giving up only 1 ER in his last 19.1 IP. Wow. Even his last loss was really good, giving up 2 runs in 8 innings against Washington. He's been lights out to say the least.

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