Hiroki Kuroda has quietly been one of the most consistent pitchers in baseball during his brief three plus years.
Performances like Saturday night will get more people's attention and fast.
Kuroda was simply awesome as he came just shy of pitching a complete game shutout in San Diego. Instead, he settled for going 8 2/3 innings of six-hit, shutout ball, as the Dodgers got the win, 4-0. Couple that with a win from the continued game before this one, and the Dodgers got two wins in one day. Not a bad night.
Facing Dustin Moseley, the Dodgers got going right away. Tony Gwynn was the hero in the previous game by driving in the winning run in the 11th, and he led off here with a double. Casey Blake laid down the sacrifice to move him over to third, and he scored on Andre Ethier's RBI single for the quick 1-0 lead.
With Kuroda dealing, the Dodgers tacked on two more in the fifth. It all came with two outs, starting with Ethier's first homer of the year to make it 2-0. Matt Kemp kept it going with a single, and he came all the way around to score on Chris Denorfia's error off Juan Uribe's bat.
The final run of the evening came in the eighth. Gwynn again made some noise, as he singled with one out, stole second, and took third on a wild pitch. Blake scored him with an RBI single for the 4-0 advantage.
Kuroda did all he could to get the complete game shutout, and got the first two outs in order in the ninth. Unfortunately, Brad Hawpe and Chase Headley both singled to chase him. Jonathan Broxton came in, and he walked Denorfia (of course).
The end of the game was an unusual play to say the least. With the bases loaded and two down, Cameron "Tiki" Maybin grounded a slow one to Blake at third. As Blake was charging in, Headley inexplicably collided with him, causing interference and ending the game. Maybin probably would have beaten a throw to first, and who knows what would've happened after that.
Nonetheless, it's a win for the Dodgers, who are now 5-3 and just behind the Rockies for tops in the NL West. They pounded out 13 hits, including three each from Ethier, Kemp, and Jamey Carroll. Gwynn and Kemp ran wild on the bases, as Gwynn had two steals, and Kemp three, a career high for him.
The flip side is they left a whopping 14 men on base, including at least one in each inning. Had Kuroda not pitched so flawlessly, then this would have been the focus. Thankfully he did, so the offense gets credit for doing just enough to get the win. Still, 14 left on is pretty nuts.
Saturday night could have been a taxing night for the bullpen, but because of Blake Hawksworth, Kuroda, and Broxton, it wasn't. Hawkworth went two scoreless in the continued game early, and Kuroda did his thing late. Broxton picked up two saves. The Dodgers have just started what will be 20 straight days of baseball, so any rest the bullpen can get is much needed.
The Dodgers will look for the sweep today, as John Ely gets the call. It would have been Jon Garland making the first appearance by the #5 starter, but he needs a rehab start first. Ely started out red hot last year, then pulled a Titanic and... well you know the rest. He'll be opposed by Aaron Harang.
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