The start of Monday night's game could not have gone any worse for Jason Schmidt. Not only was he throwing batting practice-like fastballs, but his defense let him down as well.
As bad as things looked in the beginning, it quickly turned around. The bats woke up, Schmidt made better pitches, and the defense was solid. Most importantly, the Dodgers were facing Micah Owings.
All of that added up to a 7-5 win. It's the second day in a row the Dodgers have come back from a three-run deficit to get a win.
The first inning took forever for both teams, as seven runs were scored. Willy Taveras lead off for the Reds and ripped a triple that somehow bounced off the top of the outfield wall and back onto the field. Jerry Hairston Jr. doubled him home for the quick lead.
From there, it was a combination of bad pitches and bad defense. Russell Martin threw away a ball trying to gun down a runner at second. Manny Ramirez could not catch up to a foul ball that bounced right in front of him. Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp both watched an easy fly ball ball in front of them. In all, it was a 3-0 advantage for the Reds.
The lead was not safe for the Reds, as Rafael Furcal lead off and pushed a bunt over third base for a double. Russell Martin singled for two on. Manny Ramirez struck out, and Owings must have gotten a little more comfortable. But, Ethier doubled home a run, Casey Blake doubled home two, and James Loney had an RBI single. Through all of that, it was the Dodgers up 4-3 after one.
The Dodgers used the longball to get the rest of their runs. Manny's next at-bat was productive, as he ripped a two-run shot in the second. Ethier clubbed a solo shot in fifth.
James McDonald came on in the sixth and got through his first six batters. He ran into a bit of trouble in the eighth with a walk and single to start. Ramon Troncoso came on, but an error by Juan Castro gave the Reds some life. Troncoso got a double play ball the next batter that only scored one run, and a strikeout ended the inning with the Dodgers still up, 7-5.
Jonathan Broxton came on for the third straight day, but didn't slow down at all. A pop-up, strikeout, and fly out gave him his 23rd save.
Schmidt looked pretty lousy in the first inning, though his defense made it worse. From there, he pitched four scoreless innings. In all, he pitched five innings, five hits, three runs, three walks, and two strikeouts. I think the Dodgers will happily take those numbers. I don't think he hit 90 MPH all night, or even came close, but if he locates well, he can get batters out.
With the Giants slipping a bit lately, the Rockies have now taken over second place, eight games back. The Dodgers will look to extend the lead even more when Randy Wolf gets the call tonight.
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