When the Dodgers saw they would open the season in Pittsburgh, they probably thought they'd ease their way into a few wins.
Instead, the Pirates are making life very difficult to start.
A combination of way too many walks, way too many men left on base, and a key error in the 10th was enough for the Pirates to take this one in 10, 4-3. The Dodgers dropped to 0-2.
Clayton Kershaw got the start, and he was anything but sharp. It all started in the first, when Garrett Jones picked up right where he left off on Monday. With the first two men on, Jones launched a three-run shot to center to make it 3-0.
It took until the fifth for the Dodgers' offense to get going. It started with a solo shot to right off the bat of Russell Martin, making it 3-1. Rafael Furcal reached on an error by Andy LaRoche (who made two nice diving plays to rob Matt Kemp on the night), and stole second. An RBI double by Matt Kemp scored Raffy, and Andre Ethier's RBI single tied it at three.
From there, both teams seemingly walked 100 guys, but never paid for it. In fact, the teams combined for a whopping 18 walks, split nine apiece. Time and time again men would get the free pass, but it didn't seem to matter.
The biggest chance for the Dodgers came in the ninth. Jamey Carroll pinch-hit and doubled. He then went to third on a wild pitch from Octavio Dotel. The top of the order was due up, so you would think that with nobody out and the big bats coming up, something good would happen.
You would think wrong.
Raffy grounded out and Kemp struck out. Ethier walked, but Manny feebly grounded out.
The Pirates took it in the 10th, and it all started with an error on a routine grounder to Blake DeWitt. The knock on DeWitt has been his glove, and he showed it tonight. The bases were eventually loaded with one down, and Ronny Cedeno hit a clean single off of Ramon Ortiz for the win.
In addition to walking nine guys, the offense left 12 men on base. That now makes 22 in two games, which is obviously way too many. Hopefully that changes soon.
Kershaw had a rough first inning, but found ways to get out of trouble in the next few. On the night, he finished with 4 2/3 innings, five hits, three runs, six walks, and four strikeouts. Like he has many times in the past, he was his own worst enemy. He simply cannot give so many free passes. But also like I've said in the past, he's still very young, so we'll have to live with these growing pains.
George Sherrill was a positive, as he pitched a scoreless inning, striking out two. Ramon Troncoso is back with the team, and he put up a blank in the ninth. At least they did well.
It's too early to freak out about any of this, but the Dodgers would really look pretty bad if they were to lose on Thursday afternoon and suffer a sweep. I mean, the Pirates do look better, but they're still on the bottom end of the National League. The Dodgers need to get a win.
Chad Billingsley gets the call on Thursday, and we all know how much he struggled to end last season. But, here's a good opportunity to get back on track by getting his team their first win of the season.
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