Bankruptcy? What bankruptcy?
Despite all of the negative news surrounding the Dodgers today, the actual team went onto the field and kicked the crap out of the Twins on Monday night, 15-0. Needless to say, it was a season high in runs and hits for a Dodgers team that has never been confused with an offensive powerhouse this season.
Even though the Twins looked like they were dead in the water, they still sent a very solid Nick Blackburn to the mound, sporting a 3.15 ERA. Tony Gwynn got another start in the leadoff spot, and he singled and stole second opening the game. A groundout by Casey Blake advanced him to third. Andre Ethier grounded one up the middle to score a run, and he reached on an error. An RBI double by Matt Kemp made it 2-0.
From there, the Dodgers just methodically tore apart the Twins, who appeared to want nothing to do with fighting back. Back-to-back singles by Ethier and Kemp with two outs kept the third inning going, and James Loney's RBI single made it 3-0.
Trent Oeltjen had a huge night, and he launched his first homer of the season leading off the fourth. Blake added an RBI single, and it was 5-0.
The fifth and sixth brought five more runs, and ended any chance of a Twins' comeback. In the fifth, A.J. Ellis got in on the fun with an RBI single. With Anthony Swarzak relieving Blackburn, Dee Gordon's RBI single made it 7-0. A wild pitch soon sent Ellis home to score. Juan Uribe added an RBI single, and Oeltjen's sac-fly RBI in the sixth made it 10-0.
Do you happen to notice I'm typing the phrase "RBI single" over and over? Well, Blake and Kemp got runs the easy way in the seventh with solo home runs. For Blake it was his fourth, and for Kemp it was an NL-leading 22nd, one ahead of the mighty Prince Fielder.
The final runs were scored in the eighth. Oeltjen continued his hot night with a leadoff triple. Ellis walked, and Gordon added an RBI double for the 13-0 lead. A single by Gwynn and sac-fly by Dioner Navarro finally put an end to this one at 15-0.
The final tally shows some awesome numbers. The Dodgers scored in every inning but two, and had at least one runner on in every inning. They hung 12 hits and eight runs (seven earned) on Blackburn, raising his ERA to 3.64. The Twins' bullpen gave up another 12 hits for seven runs.
Lost in all of this was the great job by Chad Billingsley and company on the mound. Bills went six innings for four hits, no runs, two walks, and four strikeouts. He's won his last two starts (the Reds being the other one) for a combined 11 1/3 innings of only one-run ball. He's also lowered his ERA from 4.65 to 4.22.
The bullpen was untouchable... literally. Blake Hawksworth, Hong-Chih Kuo, and Scott Elbert pitched the final three innings of perfect ball, save for an error in the ninth by Gordon. Hawksworth struck out the side, and Kuo and Elbert had two apiece. That's some serious flames thrown.
I'm sure the Dodgers would like to put this game into a bottle and cork it, because it was everything they could have possibly asked for. Leadoff hitting, two-out rallies, sacrifices, some power hits, stolen bases, double plays turned, and big pitching. After a lousy 4-8 homestand, maybe getting away is what they needed. It sure looked that way tonight.
The headlines on Tuesday morning will still be about the McCourt family drama, and that's just reality. But, at least the side note will be about the team on the field absolutely going to town in Minnesota. It makes for a good story about the team not being affected by the idiot owners.
The Dodgers have two more games in Minnesota, and I'm sure they're looking at that as a good thing right now. Ted Lilly will go to the mound on Tuesday.
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