If you wanted an idea of just how bad things have been for the Dodgers, Sunday was the perfect example. A combination of bad pitching, bad hitting, bad defense, mental errors, and injuries all reared their ugly heads.
It goes without saying that the Dodgers lost again, this time 8-3 to the White Sox. The Dodgers dropped two of three in this interleague series, and have now lost seven of nine.
Hiroki Kuroda entered this game having pitched 14 2/3 scoreless innings. He was practically unhittable his last two starts. Today? Completely hittable.
Juan Pierre singled to lead off the bottom of the first. Alexei Ramirez then cranked a two-run homer for the 2-0 lead. A couple of outs later, A.J. Pierzynski hit a solo shot to make it 3-0.
The mental errors for the Dodgers showed up in the second. James Loney singled with one down. Then Rod Barajas lifted a soft fly ball that was easily caught by Gordon Beckham in shallow right. For reasons only known to Loney, he ventured too far off of first and was doubled up. It was quite frankly one of the dumbest mistakes I can ever recall seeing. Just pathetic.
The White Sox broke it open in the fourth. It started on an error by the returning Rafael Furcal, who no doubt inspired his team by going 0-for-5 with three strikeouts and an error in the leadoff spot. A Pierre double sent runners to scoring position, and also knocked Andre Ethier out of the game after slamming into the fence. Ramirez, who doubled home the fourth run in the second, got another RBI with a single, and it was 5-0. Paul Konerko's sac-fly RBI pushed it to 6-0.
Mercifully, the Dodgers got on the board in the fifth. Loney led off with a double. Barjas hurt his wrist on Pierre's slide the previous inning, so Dioner Navarro pinch-hit and naturally grounded out. Loney went to third on a wild pitch, and Jay Gibbons scored him on an RBI groundout.
In the seventh, the Dodgers at least made it look like a game by scoring a couple more. Gibbons led off with a double, only his second extra-base hit of the season. Jerry Sands singled and Russ Mitchell walked to load the bases. Jesse Crain relieved Chris Sale and got Raffy swinging for one down.
Jamey Carroll then took a walk for the easy RBI. Tony Gwynn grounded into a fielder's choice, but the run scored and it was now 6-3.
Javy Guerra got a couple outs in the seventh, but had no such luck in the eighth. Ramirez collected with fifth RBI of the day with a double for the 7-3 lead. Adam Dunn has been horrific this season, but even he got an RBI single to put the game away for good at 8-3.
Despite getting eight hits, taking four walks, and stealing three bases, the Dodgers could only get three runs. With runners in scoring position and two outs, Kemp left three on, and Raffy, Carroll, and Navarro all left one. It's the same old problem for this team - a lack of clutch hitting. They didn't get it today, and it was another L.
Then there's the pitching, which was awful today. Kuroda ended up going 5 2/3 for nine hits, six runs (four earned), two walks, and three strikeouts. He has been great this year, so this was just a bad day for him. He still has a 3.10 ERA.
The bullpen is in such bad shape right now, that any close game late automatically gives the advantage to the opposing team. Scott Elbert gave up a walk while getting a couple outs. Guerra allowed two runs in an inning of work. Ramon Troncoso got two outs to lower his ERA to... 8.10. Yikes.
I know the injury bug has really hit this team hard, maybe harder than any other team. But, even with that said, they just looked like a complete train wreck for most of this game. The White Sox blitzed them early, then you had Loney's brain fart, then Raffy's big error, then the bullpen erasing any chance at a comeback. It was just a hard game to watch from the first pitch on.
Ned Colletti has maintained that the Dodgers just need to get healthy in order to contend. I can understand his positive thinking, because he should think that way. But the reality is that even with those guys, they're not a top contending team. Take some of those guys away, and they'll be lucky to be a .500 club.
The Dodgers are only seven games in back of the NL West lead. That could be a whole lot worse. But I don't care how many injuries they have - if they play the game like the did today with one mental error after another, they can be the healthiest team in America and still lose. Banged up or not, that has to stop.
With interleague play over for now, the Dodgers will travel to Houston for three before an off day on Thursday to return home. Clayton Kershaw will get the call against Bud Norris.
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