Two rare events occurred at Dodger Stadium on Monday night for Hiroki Kuroda. The first was that he took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Phillies.
The second? After 45 at-bats of nothing but failure, Kuroda finally got a hit. It was a single off of Roy Halladay, no less.
Things got quite interesting for Kuroda and the Dodgers, as he was five outs away from getting his first career no-hitter. Unfortunately, former Dodger Shane Victorino hit a sharp single into right to end it. Kuroda and Hong-Chih Kuo went on for a combined one-hitter as the Dodgers got the win, 3-0.
The Dodgers pretty much limped into this game, having suffered two straight losses in Colorado, and watching Manny Ramirez leave through the back door, never to be heard from again. Oh ya, they had to face Halladay too.
But, the Dodgers got on the board with runs in the first couple of innings. In the first, Ryan Theriot drew a walk with one out. Andre Ethier singled, but Matt Kemp struck out. James Loney came through with two outs with an RBI single and a 1-0 lead.
Casey Blake and Jamey Carroll singled to start the second. Rod Barajas grounded into a double play, but Blake was still able to score to grab at 2-0 lead.
With Kuroda rolling, Barajas led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run, his third as a Dodger. It was a nice treat for him, as he is a native of California and had plenty of friends and family watching his first start in L.A.
Once the Dodgers got up 3-0, the attention fully shifted towards Kuroda's no-hit bid. The seventh inning was a tough test, as Chase Utley, Placido Polanco, and Ryan Howard were due up. Kuroda mowed through them on a flyout, lineout, and pop-up.
After getting through the heart of the order, a no-hitter was now a distinct possibility. Plus, Kuroda's pitch count was only in the upper 80's. To start the eighth, Jayson Werth drew a walk. Raul Ibanez grounded into a fielder's choice, as Werth's hard slide broke up a double play.
Up came Victorino, who left no doubt with a single to right. Kuroda stayed on to strike out Carlos Ruiz before exiting for Kuo. Kuo faced pinch-hitter Mike Sweeney, who grounded out on one pitch.
Kuo stayed on to get the Phillies in order in the ninth for his seventh save.
Kuroda was the true star of the night, as he did everything he could to nearly give the Dodgers their first no-hitter since Hideo Nomo got the Rockies in Coors Field on September 17, 1996. It was close, but the Phillies had just enough good hitters to prevent that from happening.
The Dodgers haven't exactly had that many big moments this season, so it was great to see such excitement in the stadium again, even if it was only for one night. With their postseason hopes pretty much slim and none, I'm glad the fans, both live and at home, had a reason to stand up and cheer.
So now the question can be asked: Where will the Dodgers go from here? Their post-Manny era has started off beautifully, with a big win against a good team. Maybe the team can relax, forget about Manny drama, and just play ball? It sure looked like that was the case tonight. Beating Halladay is never easy, and they did it without the guy that's given them many big hits the last two seasons.
In looking at the remaining schedule, the Dodgers have 11 games left at home. That's a good thing since they're 40-27 there. The downside is that they have 16 games left on the road, where they clearly don't play as well. So any thoughts of going on a late run appear to be against the odds.
All the Dodgers can do for now is concentrate on winning this series and the next one against the Giants. In the very least, they can get some momentum for next season, and see which players are worth bringing back. Plus, they can give their fans a reason to care by playing inspired baseball, much like they did tonight.
Carlos Monasterios has a really tough act to follow, but he will try his best to do so on Tuesday. The Phillies will counter with Kyle Kendrick.
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