This is quickly turning into the homestand from Hell.
For the third straight day, the Dodgers were absolutely no match at all for the Cardinals, as they took this win, 9-2. On the three days combined, the Cards have outscored the lowly Dodgers 29-9. Yikes.
Going into this game, the Dodgers had to at least like their chances of turning their misfortune around. On the mound was Clayton Kershaw, who was coming off a great start against the Giants. This one, however, wasn't nearly as kind. He spend most of the night either missing the strike zone or watching foul ball after foul ball. He just didn't have his good stuff going.
After wiggling out of a bases loaded jam in the second, the Cardinals got a run in the third. The bases were again loaded on a single by Ryan Theriot and walks to Colby Rasmus and Matt Holliday. David Freese's sac-fly RBI made it 1-0.
An RBI double by Theriot in the second made it 2-0. The Dodgers got one back in the bottom of the frame. Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp, about the only reason to watch the Dodgers right now, hit singles to start it. Juan Uribe flew out, which is not a surprise at all, but Ethier went to third and soon scored on James Loney's RBI groundout on a great slide to avoid the tag at home.
From there the Cardinals took over and put the game away early. Kind of like the other two games. Don Mattingly left in a clearly laboring Kershaw to start the fifth, and Allen Craig made them both pay with a three-run homer to make it 5-1. It was not a good decision at all from Mattingly, who had Mike MacDougal warm in the bullpen. Live and learn, I guess.
A play that perfectly summed up how this series has gone came in the sixth. Tyler Greene was on second, and MacDougal wheeled around for a pickoff throw. Greene would've been toast, but the ball sailed into center, allowing him to come all the way around to score for the 6-1 lead.
The only other run scored by the Dodgers came in the eighth. And what a shock, it was Ethier and Kemp needing to do all the work. Casey Blake walked leading off, Ethier doubled, and Kemp's RBI single made it 7-2. If you're wondering what Uribe did with two on and none out, he popped up. Bet you didn't see that one coming!
While the pitching was terrible, I'm going to put plenty of blame on Uribe here. He was signed by the Dodgers not for his huge on-base ability, but for getting clutch hits. Well, we certainly haven't seen a lick of that yet. He went 0-for-4 to lower his average to a pathetic .143, left six men on base, has no homers, and only three RBIs. If he's going to continue hitting behind Kemp, he has got to get the job done, end of story.
Kershaw ended up going 4 2/3 for six hits, five runs, five walks, and five strikeouts. MacDougal and Kenley Jansen each did a nice job, but Ramon Troncoso got torched for seven hits and three runs in two innings. He was just recalled recently in place of Hong-Chih Kuo, who's on the DL with a bad back.
While we're only 15 games into the season, the Dodgers are learning a lesson about what they need to do to compete with the big dogs. The Cardinals put men on base and hit them in. The Dodgers time and time again look lost with men in scoring position. Someone other than Ethier and Kemp need to step up. Loney and Uribe are terrible. Blake is hitting in the #2 hole, so it's not like he's in an RBI position. Rafael Furcal is hurt.
Bottom line, the Dodgers need to play with more fire. They start getting behind against the Cards, and instead of battling back, they keep getting pounded. Definitely not a good sign. And to make matters worse, their supposed calling card in pitching is nearly dead last in the majors in ERA. I don't expect that to remain that way, but then again, I didn't expect it to be this bad either. So who knows.
The Dodgers really need to win Sunday's game. Chad Billingsley will take the mound against Chris Carpenter. Carpenter has yet to win a game in three starts, and is coming off a rough one against the Diamondbacks. For Billingsley, it's a perfect chance to step up and be the man.
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