The Tigers scored early and late to defeat the Dodgers 6-2 and avoid being swept in Dodger Stadium. With another victory by the Padres, the Dodgers are now a game back in the NL West.
Hiroki Kuroda made the start, and he immediately found himself in trouble. Johnny Damon laced a double to the wall in center to begin the game. After a sacrifice bunt by Ramon Santiago moved Damon to third, Magglio Ordonez's RBI single made it 1-0.
Next came an absolutely mammoth home run by Miguel Cabrera. It wasn't like he got a lot of air under it, but he just smoked it way out to left to score two and go up 3-0.
The Dodgers have actually been vulnerable in the first inning recently, and today was no different. But, with Manny Ramirez resting, in addition to Rafael Furcal and Andre Ethier being out again, scoring runs would be hard to come by on this afternoon.
It took until the fifth for the Dodgers to cash in with runners on. Blake DeWitt singled off the leg of pitcher Rick Porcello. Poor Porcello got hit three times today by liners, but sucked it up and had an effective game. Jamey Carroll singled next, and DeWitt went to third on Ordonez's bobble in right.
Kuroda laid down a bunt to advance Carroll to second for two outs. Xavier Paul got the Dodgers' only big hit of the day with a two-run single, slashing the lead to 3-2.
The sixth brought another threat from the Dodgers. With two outs, Garrett Anderson, DeWitt, and Carroll all singled to load the bases. With Kuroda's spot up, Joe Torre wasted no time in dialing Manny's number. The crowd was going crazy, as Manny has been magical in these spots.
Not this time. A weak bouncer to third on the first pitch ended the inning.
Ronald Belisario would like to forget about this game, as he gave up a few hits. It started in the eighth when Ordonez homered to left, getting the lead up to 4-2. The Dodgers put a couple on in the bottom of the frame, but Ronnie Belliard pinch-hit and promptly grounded into an inning-ending double play.
The ninth brought a couple more runs for the Tigers off of Belisario and George Sherrill. Belisario let a couple runners reach while only getting one out, and Adam Everett and Damon drove in both runs when Sherrill came in.
Jose Valverde came on and got Russell Martin to hit into a double play to end the game.
The Dodgers collected 11 hits, but were victimized by not getting the big hits they've grown accustomed to. They had spots for it to happen, like Manny and Belliard's pinch-hitting appearances, but it just wasn't meant to be today.
Kuroda was pretty lousy to start the game, but ended up with a decent line of six innings, six hits, three runs, one walk, and five strikeouts. It was good to see him battle back as the game went on.
As for Belisario, his ERA now stands at 6.28. But, perhaps he should get a pass because he's appeared in seven straight games before today without giving up a run. I still think he's one of the better setup men in the game, so I'm not worried.
Even with the loss today, the homestand has to be considered a success. Actually, the Dodgers could have lost by 10 today and I would still say it was successful. They went 5-2, and have won 12 of 14, and 14 of 17. It's safe to say the month of May has been friendly.
The Dodgers will now use a travel day on Monday before starting a three-game set with the Cubs. It's always fun to watch the Dodgers play in Wrigley, especially when half the team is in the stands brawling with the fans. Clayton Kershaw gets the start, and let's hope Chad Kreuter is brought in to be the catcher.
No comments:
Post a Comment