The Dodgers found themselves up against one of the most dominant pitchers in the history of baseball on Thursday night. He's an overpowering presence with stuff that is practically unhittable. Any team would be lucky just to crack the scoreboard against him.
Actually, it was Brian Burres of the Pirates, a guy who entered the game with 14 career wins and a 9.31 ERA this season.
It may as well have been Cy Young out there, as Burres and two other relievers completely shut the Dodgers down. Clayton Kershaw tried, but the Pirates took an early 2-0 all the way to the end for the win. The Pirates have now won three of four from the Dodgers already this year.
To say the Dodgers didn't provide the spark they needed would be an understatement. Their offense put together four measly hits (only one for extra bases) and four walks. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that with zero runs, they were all stranded.
The first inning could not possibly have gone any worse for Matt Kemp. Fresh off of some hefty criticism from Ned Colletti, Kemp let a single bounce all the way by him for a two-run "triple" for the game's only runs. I say "triple" only because it should have been an error, no doubt. For whatever reason, it wasn't.
It's not like the Dodgers never had any chances to score, because they did. In the third, Blake DeWitt singled and went to third on a Garrett "Matt Kemp" Jones error in right (yes, Jones let the ball bounce by him as well). Kershaw then took a walk for two on and one out.
Russell Martin then came up, and things were looking good. Then Kershaw got gunned out trying to get to second on a passed ball. So things were looking bad. Then Martin grounded out. So things were looking dead and gone.
In the fifth, Kemp and Andre Ethier hit back-to-back singles with one out, and Ethier went to second as Kemp advanced to third. Casey Blake struck out, but James Loney walked. With the bases loaded and two down, Jamey Carroll grounded out to end the inning.
The Dodgers again had runners in scoring position in the sixth. Walks to Ethier and Blake with one out gave them hope, but two groundouts put that threat to bed.
That's really all there is to say about this game. Kershaw's final line was 6 1/3 innings, three hits, two runs, four walks, and seven strikeouts. But, as has been his problem his entire brief career, he threw WAY too many pitches at 117. He opened the game with consecutive free passes, so the high pitch count isn't a surprise.
As for the offense, it was another case of coming up short in big situations. Remember how they were tops in the league with an average over .300? Ya, it's down to .273 now. It was unrealistic to expect them to hit over .300 like that, but they've still crashed and burned pretty hard lately.
With all due respect to the teams they're playing, it's the Dodgers who are their own worst enemy right now. Walks, baserunning blunders, bad defense, terrible hitting with men on - it's all gone wrong. And when it rains, it pours.
It's up to Chad Billingsley to get the Dodgers back on track tonight, as he's coming off his best start of the season in Washington. Of course, he took the loss 1-0. So, maybe it's not up to Bills, it's up to his offense to back him up.
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