The Dodgers spent eight innings failing to score against Madison Bumgarner. When they finally broke through in the ninth and had the Giants' All-Star closer on the ropes, it was a great defensive play that ruined it all.
The Giants needed a diving catch from Nate Schierholtz to prevent Jamey Carroll from at least tying the game, and the Dodgers fell, 3-1. With the loss, the Dodgers lost both games of the two-game set, and are now five games under .500. Ugh.
Going into this one, the Dodgers had to at least like their chances of winning. They were facing a guy in Bumgarner who hadn't won all season. Plus, Chad Billingsley was on the mound, and he's been great lately.
So of course that meant the offense would continue to stink up the joint. And oh that they did. Six measly hits all night were all they could muster. But really, it's not surprising. That's just who they are.
The Giants got the scoring started in the second. Buster Posey led off with a double down the right field line. Billingsley got the next two out, but then gave up an RBI double to Mike Fontenot, making it 1-0.
Bumgarner got in on the fun at the plate in the third. He doubled leading off, and soon went to third on Andres Torres's bunt single. Freddy Sanchez lifted a sac-fly RBI to center for the 2-0 lead.
In the sixth, the Giants added another run. Miguel Tejada started it with a single to left. Bumgarner had another good at-bat with a sacrifice to push Tejada to second. He soon went to third on a groundout, and scored on a single by Freddy Sanchez to go up 3-0.
If you're wondering where the Dodger highlights were, they didn't exist. But that changed in the ninth when things got very interesting. The funny thing was that it all started with two outs and Bumgarner looking for the complete game shutout. Rod Barajas singled and came around to score on Jerry Sands's RBI double, making it 3-1.
With a stud closer like Brian Wilson ready, Bruce Bochy made the switch. It nearly didn't work, as Jay Gibbons pinch-hit for Russ Mitchell and drew a walk. James Loney then pinch-hit in the pitcher's spot, and he also walked to load the bases. Carroll did all he could, but fell a victim to bad luck and great defense by the bad guys as Schierholtz ended the game.
Every loss is frustrating, but these last two have been that much more. Wednesday was all about the latest bullpen meltdown, this time courtesy of the crappy Lance Cormier. Thursday saw a great effort at the end, but eight innings before of an offense on life support. That's how things have been lately for the Dodgers.
The offense is now 27th in runs scored (155) and 25th in slugging % (.355). Those numbers just continue to trend downwards, along with their standing in the NL West. The scary part is, I'm not sure it's going to get much better. The returns of Rafael Furcal and Casey Blake should help, but it's not like we're talking about huge power hitters here. They are what they are.
It's easy to be very concerned with this team now with news that Vicente Padilla is the latest to hit the DL with a sore forearm. That makes Jonathan Broxton, Blake Hawksworth, Hong-Chih Kuo, and Padilla to be disabled. Plus some guy named Ronald Belisario still hasn't showed up all season, and probably never will.
We can all be thankful that the starting rotation is doing their thing, because if they weren't, this team would be one of the worst in baseball. Billingsley wasn't very good in this one, as he lasted six innings for six hits, three runs, four walks, and four strikeouts. Still, he has a 2-4 record with a 3.47 ERA. That's just plain wrong that he doesn't get more support.
Interleague play starts this weekend, and the Dodgers will travel to Chicago to play the White Sox. They, too, have had their fair share of issues this season, and share an identical 20-25 record. Ted Lilly will get the start.
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