The Dodgers and Reds were locked in a 2-2 battle going into the sixth when Joey Votto lifted a solo homer off of Clayton Kershaw. That turned out to be the difference as the Reds went on to win, 5-2.
Kershaw didn't start the day off right, as he gave up two in the first. Brandon Phillips loves to hit at Dodger Stadium, and he started things off with a single. After Miguel Cairo struck out, Votto and Jonny Gomes walked to load the bases. Chris Heisey struck out, but Ryan Hanigan's two-run single up the middle put the Reds in the lead.
Matt Kemp cut the deficit in half with a solo shot to center in the second. That's two straight days with a home run, which is refreshing to see. Granted, those are his only two hits, but he's made them count. Any sign of swinging better will be met with open arms.
From innings 3-5, Kershaw found his groove as he struck out six. The Dodgers tied the game up in the fifth. Casey Blake legged out an infield single with one out. You know the ball must have been going very slowly for that guy to beat it out. Jamey Carroll then singled for two on.
A.J. Ellis will be the odd man out when Rod Barajas arrives on Tuesday, so he was starting his last game for the foreseeable future. It's no surprise considering he's one of the worst hitters in baseball, but he actually got an RBI single up the middle to tie the game at 2-2. It's safe to say that can be considered a bonus.
With new life, that quickly faded away as Votto got just enough of one to put it over the left field fence in the sixth. It's too bad for Kershaw because he really did a nice job as the game progressed. He ended with seven innings for five hits, three runs, five walks, and 11 strikeouts. That's too many walks, though, and he paid for it in the first.
The Dodgers went down feebly the rest of the game. Ryan Theriot got an infield single in the sixth, and Ellis another single in the seventh. That's it. Francisco Cordero got three easy outs to shut the door.
The game was still close, however, entering the ninth. Joe Torre called on Jonathan Broxton, who did a good job in getting the save the night before. Once again, Broxton proved why he can't be trusted as the full-time closer anymore. He got a flyout to start, then loaded the bases on a walk to Paul Janish and singles to Jay Bruce and Phillips.
Scott Rolen pinch-hit and struck out on some heat. In stepped Votto, and he was quickly down 0-2 on swings. He then fouled off four pitches before loading the count. Could Broxton make one more big pitch? Nope. Votto singled for two runs.
Broxton did show some good heat, especially in the at-bat to Rolen. But like I said, he just doesn't have the ability to make that one more big pitch to get out of an inning. He used to, but not this year. He's young enough where he has plenty of time to figure it out, but Torre should not use him in close games like this. The results prove he fails more often than not.
Even if Broxton got the job done, it still would have been a loss thanks to another poor offensive showing. They hit four home runs and a double the night before, but could muster only one homer and no other extra-base hits today. That's just the way they are now, even with Manny Ramirez back, though he rested today. Men will reach base, but with such a lousy power-hitting team, they stand little chance of scoring.
The Dodgers will hit the road now for three in Milwaukee before going to Colorado for three more. If Manny follows his pattern of resting during the day, then he should play in four of those games. Let's see if he can get going. Hiroki Kuroda pitches on Tuesday.
No comments:
Post a Comment