Greg Maddux had 2 goals coming into tonight's game in San Francisco: pitch efficiently enough to earn his way onto the postseason roster and move past Roger Clemens into sole possession of 8th place on the all time wins list.
He exited a winner in both categories.
Needing a big start to prove that the Mad Dog still has plenty to contribute, Maddux went 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K. His only blemish was a solo homer in the 4th by Randy Winn. Other than that, he was a ground ball machine, with 10 of his 15 outs coming on the ground. Granted, he was playing the Giants, who are pathetic, but it was still a great start exactly when he needed one.
The Dodgers played this one similar to the last couple of games, with the main guys starting and then coming out towards the middle of the game. It was a little different in that guys like Casey Blake, Matt Kemp, and Russell Martin stayed in the whole game, but it was mostly the B-team. I would comment on if the Giants played their main guys or not, but I honestly have no idea. Their roster is full of guys that I've never even heard of. Wow, what a pitiful season for them.
The scoring wasn't much, but just enough to win. Blake DeWitt hit a solo shot off of Matt Cain in the 3rd to go up 1-0. Winn's homer in the next inning tied it at 1. DeWitt came through again with an RBI single in the 7th to score Blake (uh, that's the other Blake, as in Casey Blake, for those of you confused like me). And that would be it.
Chad Billingsley pitched the 7th and 8th, giving up no runs on 2 hits. He's in line to start Game 2 of the Division Series, so getting some work in was the goal. It was good to see Takashi Saito come on and get his first save since July 9 by retiring the side in order. I figured he'd get a shot tonight at it more because Jonathan Broxton would get a rest after pitching the night before. Will he be the closer in the postseason? I still lean towards no, but we will see.
An interesting moment came in the 8th when some clown named Billy Sadler struck out Blake (not DeWitt, Casey Blake... ah man I'm confused again). Sadler pumped his fist as if he just clinched a playoff spot, which really pissed off Matt Kemp as the 2 were crossing paths. Apparently this Sadler idiot forgot that his team is a joke, and acting like he just won the World Series in that spot is stupid. The benches emptied, but nothing happened. The Dodgers have bigger fish to fry.
The regular season finale is Sunday, and Hiroki Kuroda gets the call. He just received some good news in that he will be starting Game 3 of the playoffs, so this is a bit of a warmup for him. He goes against Tim Lincecum, who's still eyeing the NL Cy Young award, so he has plenty to pitch for. It should be fun to see who Joe Torre lets manage the team, as he's done in the past with the Yankees.
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