The Dodgers found themselves locked in a tight game for the first 5 innings of Wednesday's night game against the Nationals. With both Clayton Kershaw and Daniel Cabrera doing their best to avoid messy situations, it was a battle to see which team would blink first.
Fortunately for the Dodgers, the Nationals' pitching lived up to their reputation - pathetic.
A bunch of walks and hits were strung together, and 7 runs later, the Dodgers were able to cruise to a 10-3 win. Now they stand alone in the record books as having the most home wins to start a season in Major League history at 13... and hopefully counting.
Kershaw started and immediately had to work out of a jam in the 1st. Christian Guzman and Ryan Zimmerman singled, and Elijah Dukes walked with 2 down. "Stone Cold Steve" Austin Kearns couldn't come through with a K to end it.
The Dodgers loaded the bases themselves in the bottom of the 1st on a bunt single by Rafael Furcal, a double (again) by Orlando Hudson, and a walk to Manny Ramirez. Andre Ethier grounded into a DP, but still got a run home. After James Loney struck out, it was a pretty big opportunity lost.
The Nationals were able to knot it up at 1 in the 3rd thanks to a Ryan Zimmerman sac-fly RBI. A bases loaded walk with 2 down to Ethier in the 5th gave the Dodgers the edge again, 2-1.
The 6th is when the Dodgers went off. Russell Martin started it all with a single. With 1 down, consecutive walks to Casey Blake and the pinch-hitting Mark Loretta again gave the Dodgers a big chance to score. This time, they more than cashed in. Raffy singled to plate 1, and O-Dog drew a walk to force in another. Manny scored 2 with a double to make it 6-1. Ethier was given the free pass to load 'em up again, and Loney hit a 2-run single. The scoring ended on a fielder's choice RBI by Martin, who lead off the inning. In all, 4 walks, 4 hits, and 7 runs to make it 9-1.
Kershaw came through with his 2nd straight great start, going 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K. 3 starts ago his ERA was 7.29, now it's 4.91. He hasn't given up a homer in his last 2 as well, and combined with not giving away too many free passes, he's now figured it all out. Just hope it stays that way.
A couple of minor notes about the bullpen. James McDonald relieved and pitched a scoreless inning. That was his first appearance since not even getting out of the 2nd inning against the Padres on April 30. Brent Leach made his first Big League appearance, not allowing a hit in an inning. Good to see those 2 come out and pitch well.
Let's see if the momentum keeps up as Randy Wolf takes the mound. He hasn't even earned a decision since a win over the Diamondbacks on Easter Sunday, April 12. He's pretty much the #2 guy behind Chad Billingsley now, so he'll look for another solid start.
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