The start of last night's game with the Nationals sure seemed to be an end to the bad mood surrounding Chavez Ravine. A 6-run 1st inning, including a grand slam, will cure any and all ills.
Then the bad day got even worse - the Nationals came all the way back and won, 11-9. The loss ends the Dodgers' home win streak at an MLB-record 13 straight games to open the season.
It was pretty much a case of the worst possible timing on Earth. A staggering 6-0 lead heading into the 6th wasn't enough to hold off the team with the worst record in baseball. The bullpen that has been fantastic lately completely imploded. Surrendering 11 runs in 4 innings isn't exactly the best way to make fans forget about their already horrible day.
First, the good part of the game, and it was all in the 1st inning. After Rafael Furcal struck out to start it off, Orlando Hudson walked. The new #3 hitter Andre Ethier singled to send O-Dog to 3rd. James Loney singled to score Hudson, and it was 1-0. A walk to Russell Martin loaded the bases and set the stage for Matt Kemp.
And boy did Kemp deliver with a grand slam to right center, his 2nd granny this season. A triple by Casey Blake and a sac-fly RBI by Randy Wolf made it 6-0, and all was well in the world again.
Neither team could do much of anything until the 6th, when Josh Willingham homered, giving Wolf his only run of the night. Overall, Wolf finished at 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. He once again got a no-decision thanks to the shoddy bullpen work, so that's 5 straight starts without getting a decision of any kind. With a 3.59 ERA, he deserves more than just 1 win.
The meltdown started in the 7th with Ramon Troncoso, who saw his string of scoreless innings come to a halt. He gave up 3 singles and an RBI groundout to Christian Guzman to make it 6-2. Will Ohman came on with 2 outs to get the lefty Adam Dunn out, but that didn't happen as Dunn hit a double to score 2 and make it 6-4. Just like that, it was a new game.
Still, the Dodgers had the lead, but that went right down the toilet thanks to a horrendous 7th inning. The trio of Cory Wade, Brent Leach, and Guillermo Mota pretty much did nothing right. Doubles by Austin Kearns and Nick Johnson plated 2 apiece, and Adam Dunn and Elijah Dukes each had RBI singles. All of that added up to a 10-6 advantage for the Nats. Some meaningless runs were scored after, but the game was over.
Any baseball fan that reads about this game will automatically think, "They're going to suck without Manny now." Well, the bullpen did last night, but they've been great lately. They were bound to have a bad outing at some point. The offense put up 9 runs without Manny, and they've won without him a couple of times earlier this year when he sat. And Randy Wolf again pitched a good game.
I'm putting the positive spin on this because I really do believe the Dodgers will be able to play good ball without Manny there until July. I'm not foolish enough to think the offense will be as good. The reason Manny was brought back was to provide consistent pop in the middle of that order. But if guys like Kemp, Ethier, Loney, and Martin can continue their progress, I know they can win ballgames.
The Dodgers will now welcome in another NL West rival tonight, the Giants. Back in April the Dodgers swept 3 from them to start their home streak, and the Giants took 2 of 3 in San Francisco at the end of the month. The ace Chad Billingsley and his spotless 5-0 record takes the mound against Barry Zito.
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