The offense slugged three home runs, Carlos Zambrano went eight strong innings, and the Cubs took an afternoon game at Dodger Stadium, 5-1. With the loss, the Dodgers dropped two of three in this series, and only won two of six during the homestand. Not exactly the best way to try and catch the Rockies for first.
Ted Lilly got the start, and he was able to open the game cruising through the Cubs' order with ease. He got through the first four innings in order thanks to a couple of double plays. One came in the second when Alfonso Soriano tried to tag up on Carlos Pena's flyout to left and was gunned out by Tony Gwynn. The other came on a grounder from Darwin Barney in the fourth.
The Cubs again ran themselves into an out in the fifth. Jeff Baker singled with one out and was thrown out trying to stretch to second for two outs. Geovany Soto then stepped up and hit a solo shot for the 1-0 lead.
Looking to build on the lead, the Cubs did just that in the sixth. Pena again burned the Dodgers with his second homer in as many games to go up 2-0. That would also be his second homer all season. Yup, they both came against the Dodgers. Shocking. Zambrano then singled and Barney followed with another an out later. Marlon Byrd cranked a three-run homer to make it 5-0.
All the Dodgers could muster on this day was a single run in the sixth. Gwynn doubled leading off. Aaron Miles then singled to put runners on the corners. Jay Gibbons was seeing action for the first time this year, and he hit a sac-fly RBI to make it 5-1. Matt Kemp ended that momentum with an inning ending double play ball.
That's about it for the Dodgers' highlights on this day. The rest of the game only saw singles by Dioner Navarro and James Loney. With Andre Ethier resting a sore elbow and Jamey Carroll not starting (but appearing later on), it figured to potentially be a tough day for scoring. And not to disappoint, it most certainly was.
Ethier currently is riding a 29 game hitting streak. It was only natural for people to think that Don Mattingly was trying to protect him from facing a tough pitcher. But, Ethier has had plenty of success in the past against Zambrano, so that notion should be put to bed. It seemed to honestly be a case of giving an everyday guy a chance to breathe.
Lilly started off very well, but he fell apart in the middle innings. Overall, he went six innings for eight hits, five runs, one walk, and four strikeouts. Three homers just killed him. He now has a 4.93 ERA this season.
I have to admit, Lilly worries me. I know he's a finesse pitcher, but it just seems like opposing hitters aren't the least bit intimidated by him. It almost looks as if they're ready to tee off at any moment. The problem with being a control pitcher is that when you miss spots, you get burned. So far, that's how it's been for him. I can only hope he finds his groove soon.
At least we can take the three innings of work by the bullpen as a positive. Hong-Chih Kuo was flat out atrocious his last outing, but he went a scoreless inning today with a couple of strikeouts. Mike MacDougal let a couple baserunners reach but nobody scored. Vicente Padilla continues to impress with a perfect ninth of two strikeouts.
Right now the Dodgers are in a rut where it seems like they win won, then lose one. With an inconsistent offense and bullpen, that's not surprising. Kemp's average has gone down in recent games, though there was no way he could keep up his torrid pace. Juan Uribe left today's game after being hit by a Zambrano pitch on the hand. Add that all in with Ethier's sore elbow, and it's easy to question if the production will get any better in the near future.
It looks like the Dodgers will have to rely on their starting rotation and a collection of role players if they want to get wins. We can only hope that Uribe isn't out long, as he has been swinging a much better bat lately. Ethier sounds as if he is fine, but just needed a little bit of time for rest. I'm sure he'll play on Friday against the Mets.
The last thing the Dodgers need is more people added to the DL, where Rafael Furcal and Casey Blake already reside. We shall soon see.
Thursday will be an off day for travel as the Dodgers go to New York. Hiroki Kuroda will get the call in the first game.
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