Dodgers swept in Boston

Manny Ramirez did his part. Hiroki Kuroda did too.

The rest? Not so much.

For the second straight interleague series, the Dodgers were swept in three games. The Red Sox scored only twice against Hiroki Kuroda, but it held up as they won, 2-0. The Padres won again, so their lead in the NL West is up to two games.

Clay Buchholtz started for the Red Sox, and he has been their best starter this year. Early on, though, the Dodgers put some pressure on him. Andre Ethier drew a walk with one out in the first. Manny singled up the middle for two on. James Loney battled and also walked to load the bases.

With one out, the Dodgers needed to at least get someone home. But, it didn't happen. Garret Anderson struck out and Casey Blake bounced feebly back to the pitcher. Three runners on and no runs.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the Dodgers' defense just handed the Sox a run in the first. Dustin Pedroia bounced one to Blake, and he botched it for a "single" (should've easily been an error, but hey, they were in Boston). Pedroia then stole second, Russell Martin threw the ball away, and Pedroia kept running when nobody covered third because of the shift on for David Ortiz.

If you're keeping track, Pedroia was basically handed three bases. Ortiz was put on intentionally, and Kevin Youkilis's RBI single made it 1-0. Kuroda wiggled out of trouble soon after to keep the score as is.

The Dodgers again put runners on in the second, but again got nothing out of it. With one out, Blake DeWitt singled and Jamey Carroll was beaned. Matt Kemp hit leadoff (more on that later) and lined into a double play. To his defense, he did put good wood on it, but had no luck.

In the third, the Sox got their other run, which would turn out to be the last scoring of the day. Marco Scutaro and Pedroia singled to start. A sac-fly RBI by Ortiz made it 2-0.

From the second inning on, the Dodgers looked helpless at the plate. They only got two more hits and generally looked like they didn't belong on the same field as a good American League team like the Sox.

The only other scoring opportunity was in the seventh. Anderson hit a ground rule double leading off. Two straight flyouts came next, with the latter allowing Anderson to tag to third. DeWitt was then beaned to put runners on the corners. In came Daniel Bard, who got Carroll to ground into a fielder's choice.

Kuroda had a great effort, not that he got any support from the bats or gloves. He finished with seven innings for six hits, two runs, one walk, and nine strikeouts. His off-speed stuff was really effective. He definitely settled into a groove as the game went on.

George Sherrill came on to start the eighth and immediately gave up a triple to Pedroia. The Dodgers were lucky he was stranded there. I continue to be amazed at just how bad Sherrill is right now.

Like I said before, Manny did his part. He was 2-for-3 with a walk. The rest of the lineup was just downright pathetic. Anderson and DeWitt were the only other ones with a hit. They left seven on and hit into two double plays.

I'm not one to question and/or criticize the great Joe Torre, mostly because... well, he's Joe Torre. But hitting Kemp in the leadoff spot has been a flop. I have no clue why a guy who's such a free swinger would hit first. He's now 2-for-13 for a .154 AVG leading off. Yes, it's not a big sample size, but good enough to show that he should never hit there again.

Not that Kemp's alone, because there's others that haven't pulled their weight as well. Ethier continues his freefall with another 0-fer (0-for-3 last night). Russell Martin was 0-for-4 and is hitting .253.

Kemp, Ethier, and Martin are the Dodgers' core and future. If they can't do better than that, you can forget about getting further in the postseason. Heck, you can forget about the playoffs, which is much harder to make than people realize. The Dodgers can't be a team where Manny is going to have to do everything to win. He's done much better lately, but he can no longer carry a team on his own.

Obviously, Rafael Furcal's absence has been felt, and everybody looks forward to his return from the awful news of his father passing away. Once he's back, the offense automatically gets a jumpstart. Until then, they need their other players to worry about base hits and not home runs and being a hero.

The Dodgers have a chance to reverse their recent poor play with another week of interleague play against tough AL teams. First up is three in Anaheim and then three back home against the Yankees. Those two teams have a combined record of 82-59.

We still have plenty of time left in the season, but in my mind, this is a very important week for the Dodgers. They simply cannot roll over and play dead like they have so far in interleague play. It's time to step up and show that they can be a threat against anyone.

The Dodgers will happily take an off day to try and regroup on Monday. Tuesday they'll play the Angels, as Clayton Kershaw takes the mound against Ervin Santana.