Faced with a slim two-game lead in the NL West, the Dodgers came out swinging on Friday night. Hiroki Kuroda pitched eight brilliant innings, and the offense got into a groove as they took a win over the Giants, 10-3.
Then there's the story of the Rockies. Down 1-0 practically all game in San Diego, Heath Bell was on to try and seal the deal in the ninth. And wouldn't you know it... he imploded. A bases clearing double with two outs and two strikes by Yorvit Torrealba lead them to a 4-1 win.
All in all, the NL West lead remains at two. But, if the Giants keep losing, it might not really matter, as they're now 7 and 1/2 back.
The Dodgers struck in the first off of Matt Cain, who they've surprisingly had a lot of good games against. Andre Ethier singled with one out. Manny Ramirez was caught looking for strike three on a nasty slider, but Matt Kemp singled. A two-run double to deep right by James Loney made it 2-1.
In the second, Bengie Molia singled and Juan Uribe doubled to open. An RBI groundout by Nate Schierholtz made it 2-1, and it was looking like anyone's ballgame.
But, Kuroda made sure that wasn't going to happen. After Uribe's double, Kuroda amazingly retired the next 19 hitters in a row. A triple by John Bowker in the eighth broke the streak. On the night, he finished with eight innings pitched, three hits, two runs, no walks, and five strikeouts.
Making only his second start since being hit in the head from a liner in Arizona, he showed what kind of a weapon he can be in the postseason. He won both his starts last year against the Cubs and Phillies, if you recall, so he's definitely capable of throwing big games.
The game was still a close one until the sixth. It all started with two outs when Loney hit a single. Casey Blake then stepped up and cranked a hanging breaking ball to deep left for his 17th of the year, making it 4-1. This was Blake's first game since September 4 because of a sore hamstring.
With Kuroda dealing, the offense took off as well. Five more runs were scored in the seventh, emphatically putting this game out of reach. Manny and Blake hit RBI singles, Loney a sac-fly RBI, and Russell Martin a two-run double, increasing the lead to 9-1.
Kemp added an RBI single to score Juan Pierre to score the Dodgers' 10th run of the night.
I'm sure the Dodgers could have felt a whole lot better about this win had the Rockies not pulled their comeback just minutes after the game was over. But give the Rocks plenty of credit - they are playing some fantastic baseball right now.
While the Dodgers have battled consistency issues, especially on offense, it's not like they've just handed over the division. The Rockies just don't lose. It's that plain and simple. More than likely, both teams will get into the playoffs, so now it's a race to see which team can get home field for at least the first round.
With a big win already under their belts, the Dodgers will look to get at least one over the weekend. It starts on Saturday night with Vicente Padilla taking the hill. He's been a great pickup thus far, as he's earned his spot in the rotation. With Randy Wolf and Clayton Kershaw missing starts with injuries, Padilla's start is even more important.
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