Anytime the Dodgers get a win over the Cardinals, you have to stand and take notice. Tuesday was one of those nights.
Led by Chad Billingsley's six strong innings, the Dodgers chipped away to beat the Cards, 7-3. Both the Rockies and Giants also won, so lead in the NL West is 4 and 1/2 and 5 and 1/2, respectively. Those teams just won't go away.
After getting a really good start from Charlie Haeger the night before but unable to do anything against Chris Carpenter, Billingsley really needed a big outing, and he delivered. He hadn't pitched since August 7 because of a strained left hamstring, so it was a bit of an unknown how he'd do.
Thankfully for Dodger fans, he came through. In six innings, he gave up three hits, two runs, no walks, and one strikeout. His last pitch of the night was coaxing Albert Pujols into an inning-ending double play. Not a bad way to make an exit.
The Dodgers were the first team to strike, and it came in the third. Russell Martin doubled and Orlando Hudson singled for two on and one down. Bills "helped himself" (that's what is always said by announcers when a pitcher gets a hit) by hitting an RBI single. Rafael Fucal followed with one of his own, and it was 2-0.
The fifth is when the Dodgers struck for more. Andre Ethier tripled to lead off the inning, and he scored on Manny Ramirez's single to center. Casey Blake then singled, leading to James Loney's RBI single. O-Dog got a... you guessed it, an RBI single to round out the scoring at 5-0.
Billingsley was probably a Pujols hit away from being yanked in the sixth, because he already gave up two runs on a Skip Schumaker groundout and Brendan Ryan single. But, Pujols hit a hard grounder to Blake that led to a slick DP.
James McDonald pitched to two batters in the seventh, giving up a single to Ryan Ludwick. George Sherrill came on and gave up an RBI single to Khalil Greene to make it interesting at 5-3. But that's as close as it would get.
A pair of RBI doubles rounded out the scoring for the Dodgers. Martin scored Loney with one in the seventh, and Ethier scored Juan Pierre with the other in the eighth. Jonathan Broxton got a four-out save, his 26th.
The Dodgers have a chance today to build on their momentum by taking two of three from the Cards. A loss would mean the Dodgers have gone 2-5 against a team very likely heading for the playoffs. Plus, a win would show the Dodgers may be ready to get back to more winning ways.
Both teams will have a hard time putting runs together, as it's Clayton Kershaw against Adam Wainwright. Kershaw got roughed up in Arizona last start, and Wainwright hasn't had a bad start in seemingly forever. Let's hope the nasty Kershaw shows up tonight, not the wild one.
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