For the second straight night, the Cardinals scored early and often against the Dodgers. The result on this night was a Cardinals' victory, 8-4. The Dodgers have dropped both games since the All-Star break by a 15-5 margin.
The result could have been different had the Dodgers capitalized on some baserunners in the first. Rafael Furcal singled leading off. Matt Kemp struck out and Andre Ethier lined to third. Manny Ramirez only had one at-bat (more on that in a bit), and walked. Casey Blake had a big chance to get something going, but he feebly popped up for the third out.
Before Chad Billingsley threw even one pitch, Manny already was coming out of the game with a tight calf. That mean Xavier Paul would come in, which was a good thing, except that he was now the cleanup hitter. That's not exactly what Joe Torre had in mind when making out the lineup card before this game.
Billingsley was following Clayton Kershaw's subpar performance, and the Dodgers sure could've used a big start from him. To be blunt, it just didn't happen. The Cardinals got three runs in the first and put the pressure on from the start.
Colby Rasmus singled with one down, and Albert Pujols grounded him to third. Matt Holliday drew a walk with two down. Needing to make a big pitch, Billingsley couldn't do it, as Randy Winn ripped a two-run triple for a 2-0 lead. Yadier Molina hit an RBI single to get a 3-0 lead.
The next inning, the Cardinals tacked on another run. Skip Schumaker singled leading off, and was sacrificed to second by Jaime Garcia. After a flyout, the Cardinals again came through with two outs, getting an RBI single from Felipe Lopez for a 4-0 lead.
The Dodgers tried to wake up in the third by getting a couple of runs. Kemp and Ethier hit consecutive singles with one out. Paul then flew out in Manny's spot. Blake delivered this time with an RBI single, which was soon followed by James Loney's RBI single, making it 4-2.
With a bit of new life, Billingsley gave one run right back. The bases were loaded on singles by Pujols, Holliday, and Winn. The only run that came out of it was from Molina's RBI fielder's choice for the 5-2 advantage.
The fourth saw the Dodgers threaten, but come up empty. Jamie Carroll singled to start. Billingsley made his bad night worse by failing to advance Carroll to second, striking out instead in a very poor at-bat. Raffy singled, but Kemp and Ethier could not reach on new pitcher Kyle McClellan.
Three more runs would come across the next couple of innings for the Cards. In the fourth, Tyler Greene scored on a double play ball from Rasmus. The next inning, Molina connected on a two-run shot, scoring Holliday as well, and it was 8-2.
Just whom did Molina hit the homer off of? That's right, George Sherrill. Once again Sherrill was given a chance to put up a scoreless inning, and once again he failed miserably. With a current 7.17 ERA, I cannot wait until he's either claimed by another team, released, or sent to the minors once his waiver time expires. He's unfathomably bad.
The Dodgers made a late push to try and get back into this one, but it was ultimately too little, too late. In the eighth, the bases were loaded with one out on Loney's single, Carroll's walk, and Garret Anderson's single (yes, he actually got a hit). Raffy drew a walk on a full count to force in one run. Kemp got another on a sac-fly RBI, and it was 8-4.
Ethier had a chance to make this game close, but grounded out against Dennys Reyes. Ethier ended up 1-for-5 to lower his average a bit to .324.
Ryan Franklin gave up a ground rule double to Paul leading off the ninth, but retired the next three in order. It was a non-save situation with a four-run lead.
Watching this game, the one thing that struck me as the major difference between these two teams right now is energy. The Cardinals are playing like they have something to prove, the Dodgers look lifeless. The Cards got some great defensive plays and big two-out hitting. On the flip side, the Dodgers just haven't done much of anything clutch.
It's only two games, but the Dodgers have to be a bit concerned about how lousy they've looked thus far. Manny's hurt again, two of their main starters got hit around, and they left 12 men on base tonight. They need to pick up their intensity this weekend if they want to avoid getting swept in four games.
It'll be Hiroki Kuroda getting the start on Saturday, and he's been terrible his last three starts. Plus he's facing Adam Wainwright, who has 13 wins. Winning won't be easy, but the Dodgers have to start somewhere, so getting one here would be a big start.
No comments:
Post a Comment