Last night's performance by the Padres was pretty much an exact replica of how the Dodgers looked for much of their road trip. That is, they offered little to no resistance in rolling over dead.
The Dodgers were up 7-0 by the end of the 4th, and Clayton Kershaw gave 7 great innings as the Dodgers won, 8-3. The Arizona Diamondbacks fell to the St. Louis Cardinals last night... but then had a late rally today to win, so the lead is 2 games in the NL West.
It's pretty much perfect timing that the Dodgers drew the Padres at this time of the year, because the Pads really stink. They've been lousy hitters all year long, but when they have some guy named Cha Seung Baek starting, you pretty much know their chances of winning are slim and none, and slim just took a hike! Ya, it's good to play the Pads.
Manny Ramirez (who else?) got things going in the 1st with a no-doubter to left to score 2. In the 3rd, Andre Ethier continued his stellar play by tripling down the left field line (not Brian Giles as the Yahoo recap says... idiots). A sac-fly by Manny gave them a 3-0 lead.
The 4th was when the door was slammed shut, starting with a solo homer from Blake DeWitt, his 6th and first since way back on May 29. Walks to Angel Berroa and Ethier, as well as Kershaw reaching on a fielder's choice loaded the bases with 2 down. James Loney came through with a 2-run single, and Russell Martin hit an RBI single for the 7 run lead.
Kershaw redeemed himself from 2 really bad outings to go 7 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. Ramon Troncoso couldn't get an out before giving up a run, but Joe Beimel went 2 innings of scoreless ball to end the game. It was good to see the relievers have a chance to rest, as they have tonight's game, a day off, then a big 3 game set with the Diamondbacks Friday-Sunday. They'll need all the strong arms they can get.
Hiroki Kuroda goes tonight, as he takes on some guy named Wade LeBlanc. I've never heard of him, but that's par for the course considering I've never heart of half of the Padres anymore. The DBacks got 2 runs each in the 7th and 9th to beat the Cardinals today, 4-3. Gotta love that Cards bullpen. Jackasses. So, a win keeps the Dodgers under 2 games back.
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