The normally reliable defense of the Dodgers made a couple of miscues on Wednesday night. Even against the lowly Nationals, they were enough for a loss.
The Nationals scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth off of James McDonald, and the Dodgers dropped the middle game, 5-4. The Rockies also lost, so the lead is five games still in the NL West.
The game started off promisingly enough, as the Dodgers looked like they picked up right where they left off the night before. Rafael Furcal singled and stole second on a close pickoff play. A couple of groundouts by Ronnie Belliard and Andre Ethier later, and it was 1-0.
In the fourth, the Dodgers got another run across. An infield single by Belliard and two walks to Ethier and James Loney loaded the bases with two down. Russell Martin came through with an RBI single, but Ethier was thrown out trying to sneak another one across. It was 2-0, but that missed opportunity would come back to haunt them.
Belliard again had a productive at-bat with a double to start the sixth. Loney's RBI single would plate him, and it was 3-0. At this point, the Dodgers were simply cruising behind Chad Billingsley.
As for Billingsley, and he really needed a good outing. He got that to start with, as he cruised through the first five innings without giving up a hit. But as has been the case for many of his starts, a great beginning did not turn into a positive ending.
The sixth inning came, and Mike Morse walked to lead off. Following a couple of outs, Adam Dunn drew a walk. Despite not allowing a hit yet, it didn't matter, as Ryan Zimmerman hit a three-run homer. One bad pitch made the game tied at three. Unbelievable.
From there the Dodgers were let down by their defense and lack of a big hit. Orlando Hudson and Belliard walked in the seventh, but no runs. Manny Ramirez walked and Loney singled in the eighth, but Martin lined into a double play to end it.
George Sherrill came on to start the bottom of the eighth, and uncharacteristically gave up a run. Although, he didn't get much help, as Dunn's fly ball landed between a confused Matt Kemp and Ramirez. With two on, Elijah Dukes grounded into what appeared to be a surefire double play, but Hudson's throw to first was wide, and Christian Guzman scored to make it 4-3.
After experiencing some shoddy defense, which is a rarity to their credit, the Dodgers were both happy and frustrated to tie the game in the ninth. O-Dog singled to lead off, but hurt his left wrist as he tumbled into Dunn on the play. He left for Jason Repko. Jim Thome pinch-hit and got a single for runners on the corners.
Raffy walked to load the bases, and it looked like a big inning was about to happen. Well... it didn't. Belliard hit a grounder to Guzman, who promptly threw it wide of home to tie the game at four.
With Ethier, Manny, and Kemp due up, things were definitely looking good. Unfortunately, a strikeout, groundout, and line out meant no more runs. It was pretty shocking, actually, that none of them could come through. But it happens.
McDonald tried to hold the score even, but his breaking stuff was lousy. That meant he had to rely heavily on his fastball, and once the Nats figured that out, he was done. A sac-fly RBI by Pete Orr ended the game.
In all, it was a pretty weird game. The Dodgers went from a lock to win, to blowing the lead in one swing, to getting it back, but not scoring enough with a big chance, which led to the loss. Got all of that?
Vicente Padilla will start the final game before heading off to Pittsburgh. He got a little roughed up in last start against the Giants, so he'll look to rebound.
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