Saturday, September 18, 2010

Torre's farewell tour begins with a loss

The Dodgers put up five runs on Friday night, the second time this entire month they've reached that number. They actually gave their fans somewhat of a reason to be excited while watching the game.

Of course they gave up seven, so they lost anyway.

The offense left 11 on base, Hiroki Kuroda never really got on track, and Jonathan Broxton was his usual pathetic self. Even with some good performances at the plate, it all added up to a loss against the Rockies, 7-5. Colorado remains 1 1/2 games behind the Giants in the NL West, and 2 1/2 behind the Braves in the Wild Card.

The buzz at Dodger Stadium was obviously Joe Torre's decision to not return for the 2011 season, paving the way for Don Mattingly to take over. It's unknown if Torre will ever manage again, but regardless, his Dodger career is now down to 14 games, with eight at home.

The Rockies didn't take long to strike, and it started on an bobble by Rafael Furcal, allowing Eric Young to reach leading off the game. The error would prove costly, as Young stole second, then scored with two outs on a long two-run shot by Troy Tulowitzki to make it 2-0.

In a strange sight, the Dodgers actually battled back. In the second, Jay Gibbons singled to start. Casey Blake grounded out, but Gibbons reached second. Matt Kemp laced an RBI triple down the right field line to cut it to 2-1. A.J. Ellis had a big night, and his RBI single tied it at 2-2.

Kuroda was victimized by singles in the fourth. Carlos Gonzalez singled leading off, and advanced to third an out later on Todd Helton's single. What followed were three straight RBI singles by Melvin Mora, Seth Smith, and Miguel Olivo, making it 5-2. Overall, the Rockies hit five singles in the inning.

The bottom of the fourth brought one run back for the Dodgers. Kemp singled with one out, and actually stole a base. Cleanly. Wow! A wild pitch sent him to third, and Ellis again came through with an RBI single to go down 5-3.

The Dodgers added another run in the fifth. Ryan Theriot hasn't done much of anything in... well, forever. But he led off the inning by getting beaned. Way to take one for the team. Andre Ethier drew a walk to put a couple runners on. James Loney grounded out, but both runners moved up. Gibbons hit an RBI groundout to make it 5-4.

Unfortunately for the Dodgers, that's as close as it would get. Kuroda left after six and Broxton came in. This wasn't a save situation, so Broxton should have been more comfortable, right?

Wrong.

Broxton was awful, walking three (one intentionally) and giving up two hits in getting only two outs. Consecutive RBI singles by Helton and Mora with two outs brought in George Sherrill as Broxton was showered with boos. Sherrill got Jay Payton flying out to end the inning.

On a side note, I remember when Payton was supposed to be the next big star of the league. I used to watch him for the Mets' Double-A team in Binghamton. Basically, I forgot all about him. So it's good to see him still around, even if it is with the Rockies.

The offense didn't go quietly, but they still blew way too many opportunities to score. In the seventh, Ethier walked, and Loney and Gibbons singled to load the bases with one down. Matt Belisle came in to strikeout Blake and get Kemp grounding out.

Nothing happened in the eighth, but the Dodgers still tried to make some noise in the ninth. Huston Street came on for the save, and Ethier singled with one down. After Loney struck out, Gibbons singled, and Blake followed with an RBI single for a 7-5 score. Kemp struck out to end the game.

I wouldn't say Kuroda pitched that poorly, as only one of his seven hits surrendered went for extra-bases (Tulo's homer). But, he just couldn't make the big pitches to get off the field. He ended with six innings, seven hits, five runs (three earned), one walk, and seven strikeouts.

Broxton sucked, but I could just cut and paste that line from every other game, so I'll skip over him. The rest of the 'pen did a good job. Sherrill got out of the seventh, and Ronald Belisario and Ramon Troncoso each pitched a scoreless inning.

The bottom of the Dodgers' order of Kemp and Ellis combined to go 5-for-9 with two runs, three RBIs, two doubles, a triple, and a stolen base. Gibbons had three hits. Ethier reached all five times thanks to a single and five walks. So it's not like they didn't put runners on.

The difference came down to hitting with two outs. The Rockies got four RBIs, the Dodgers had one. That was the game right there. If you can't deliver when the pressure is on, you won't win. That's why the Rockies continue to win down the stretch.

Hopefully the Dodgers can give Torre some wins on the way out, but I wouldn't hold my breath. They still have eight games left against contending teams in the Rockies and Padres. So far, this whole "spoiler" thing has flopped.

John Ely will get another start today against Jhoulys Chacin. The strange thing is that I don't know if it's even on TV. It's listed at 4:10 ET, which made me think it's a FOX game. But in looking at the preview, that game's not listed. My guess is that it was once a FOX game, but has since been switched to something better. In any case, if you can find the game somewhere, have fun watching it.

2 comments:

Patty O said...

If Torre goes anywhere else, it sounds like it'd have to be the perfect fit. I could see him going to the Mets at some point. He'd be back in New York, the travel wouldn't be as tough, and the Mets aren't completely awful.

That said, it sounds like he's retiring for good. Too bad because he was a great manager.

Unknown said...

It's hard to say, but I'm not convinced he's done for good. He seems like he's willing to go elsewhere if the opportunity is right. I don't think the Mets though. Not sure why, I just can't see it.