Clayton Kershaw did all he could, surrendering two runs in seven strong innings. But when you play for a team that hits like a bunch of minor leaguers, that's probably not enough.
Sure enough, on Tuesday night, it wasn't.
The Padres got a big start from Mat Latos to claim a victory, 2-1. Before this series started, the Padres were completely lost with a 10-game losing streak. That's all been erased the last two games the second the Dodgers came to town.
After striking out two in the first inning, Kershaw ran into some trouble in the second. Adrian Gonzalez led off with a single. Miguel Tejada followed with one of his own to put two on. Chase Headley struck out, but Nick Hundley's single loaded the bases. Aaron Cunningham gave the Padres a 1-0 lead on a sac-fly before Latos struck out to end the inning.
With the top of the order now back up, the Padres pushed another run across the board. Chris Denorfia singled leading off and went to second on David Eckstein's sacrifice. Gonzalez came up an out later and stroked an RBI double for the 2-0 lead.
Through five innings, the Dodgers could manage only a single by Casey Blake. The "big" bats of Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, and James Loney couldn't do anything. Surprised? You shouldn't be.
Finally something positive happened in the sixth. With two outs, Scott Podsednik doubled. Rafael Furcal hit an RBI single to cut the deficit to 2-1. Raffy stole second to get in scoring position, but Loney grounded out. Once again, don't be surprised.
Latos came out in the eighth, which must have felt like Christmas morning for the Dodgers. Mike Adams relieved and gave up a double to Jamey Carroll right away. Jay Gibbons pinch-hit for Kershaw and lined out to center on a great play by Denorfia.
Out went Adams and in came Heath Bell to try for the five-out save. He did, as Podsednik stuck out before Raffy walked. Loney had a chance to come through again. What did that mean? It meant that he failed again with a strikeout. For the umpteenth time... don't be surprised.
Kenley Jansen did a good job in getting through the eighth in order with two strikeouts. He gave the Dodgers a chance for a comeback, but Bell easily closed the door for his 39th save.
Like I said before, Kershaw was a stud, going seven innings for five hits, two runs, one walk, and six strikeouts. His record is 11-10, but that's not nearly a reflection of how well he's done this season. He also has a 2.99 ERA, a 1.23 WHIP, and 197 strikeouts in 183 1/3 innings. He's done all he could to lead the Dodgers to the top.
Problem is, he just gets little to no support. In this game it was five hits, one walk, and one run. They can't claim they didn't have their best lineup out there, because none of the regulars were resting. It was just another embarrassing effort from an offense that continues to sink to new lows.
People have pounded on Kemp all year long (myself very much included), but let's not let Ethier off the hook either. Since the All-Star break, he's hitting a pathetic .239 with 52 strikeouts. After all of his heroics last year, maybe he put too much pressure on himself to keep it up. Whatever the reason, he hasn't come close.
I'm just glad the Dodgers have brought up some prospects to give a shot to. It's time to let guys like Trent Oeltjen, Russell Mitchell, and Chin-lung Hu get in the game. Why not? They've shown they can do it at the Triple-A level, and with the Dodgers' playoff chances dead and gone, let the young boys play.
The least the Dodgers can do is try and avoid the sweep on Wednesday. Chad Billingsley will give it his best effort. Just like Kershaw, he'll need much more from the offense if that's to happen.
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