Jeff Weaver was given a spot start a couple of days before the All-Star break. Coming into the game, he had a 3.32 ERA, and has definitely given a nice lift when needed.
Saturday night was not one of those nights.
Weaver didn't have much control from the beginning, and was pretty much smacked around at will. He didn't get out of the fourth inning, and the Brewers got the win, 6-3. Combine that with another win by the Giants, and the lead in the NL West is down to six games.
Just as Chad Billingsley experienced the night before, Weaver gave up a couple of runs in the first inning. Craig Counsell tripled with one down. Ryan Braun then hit a hard grounder to short, and Rafael Furcal fired it home in an attempt to get Counsell in a rundown. But, the throw was low and skipped by Russell Martin, scoring an unearned run.
Prince Fielder then singled to right to score another, and Weaver was quickly in an early hole. The Dodgers' bats got things going in a big way the night before, but that wouldn't be the case tonight.
The Brewers tacked on two more in the fourth, when Weaver was run. Frank Catalanotto homered to lead off, which is a bit embarrassing. Anyway, J.J. Hardy tripled, and scored on an RBI single by pitcher Mike Burns. Again, embarrassing. Two of the least likely guys doing damage.
Down 4-0, the Dodgers used the longball to get back into it. With two outs, Matt Kemp was on first with a single. Rafael Furcal then smacked a two-run shot to slice the deficit in half. Andre Ethier followed with one of his own, and it was now 4-3.
That's as close as the Dodgers would get, as the Brewers added two more off of Brent Leach and Guillermo Mota on a two-run double by Hardy in the eighth. Trevor Hoffman got three straight groundouts to end the game, avenging his blown save on Friday.
As shaky as Weaver was, the bats only had one good inning, so it's not like they really backed him up much. They got eight hits, but didn't take a walk all night. The Brewers bullpen shut them down for the last four innings, which was a big difference for them.
The first half of the MLB season will end after Sunday's game, as the Dodgers will own the best record regardless of the outcome. Clayton Kershaw will take the mound. His last five games have been awesome, lowering his ERA from 4.18 to 3.27. He'll look to keep the ball rolling.
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