Sunday, June 26, 2011

Angels run away from Dodgers

Those signs of the life the Dodgers showed against the Tigers have quickly faded away.

For the second straight game, the Angels turned it on late to pull away from the Dodgers. This time it was on a late three-run homer by Vernon Wells to get the win, 6-1. The Angels have outscored the Dodgers 14-4 in the first couple of games.

Hiroki Kuroda got the start, and he's been stuck in a miserable slump where he's pitched well, but his team hasn't supported him for a win since May 17. He got through the first eight hitters in order before pitcher Tyler Chatwood singled to keep the third inning alive. Leadoff hitter Eric Aybar stroked an RBI triple to make it 1-0.

The following inning, Marc Trumbo made some more noise for the Angels with two outs, this time on a solo shot for a 2-0 lead. The Dodgers got their first hit of the game on a single by Jamey Carroll with one out, but was quickly erased on a double play ball from Andre Ethier.

The fifth inning was interesting for a couple of reasons. Matt Kemp led off and struck out looking. As he was in the dugout, he continued jawing to home plate umpire Chris Conroy and was given the boot. It looked like Don Mattingly brought up the age old debate if umpires should just ignore conversations from the dugout, but Kemp seemed to earn this one.

James Loney and Aaron Miles each singled next, and both advanced a base on an error by Bobby Abreu. Chatwood then walked Trent Oeltjen to load the bases and A.J. Ellis to force in a run, making it 2-1. Casey Blake pinch-hit for Kuroda, ripped one that would have scored a couple, but instead it was snagged at second by Howie Kendrick, who then flipped to first for the double play. So it goes for the Dodgers.

You got the feeling that that play deflated any hope of the Dodgers coming back, as they went into an offensive shell the rest of the way. It's not Kenley Jansen's fault, as he did a great job getting through the sixth and seventh in order with a couple of strikeouts to keep the score as is. Since making a return from injury, he's pitched 4 2/3 innings in three appearances without a run and seven strikeouts. Now that's more like it.

You definitely can blame Matt Guerrier and Hong-Chih Kuo, who combined go surrender four runs in the eighth to send Dodger fans to the exits. It started on a double with an out by Russell Branyan. Now with two outs, Kendrick hit an RBI single, and it was 3-1. Kuo came in, walked Abreu, then watched Wells crush a three-run homer for the 6-1 lead.

The Dodgers put a couple of runners on in the ninth on a walk by Tony Gwynn and single by Loney, but as usual, couldn't drive them in, and mercifully the game was over.

Kuroda pitched well, as he went five innings for three hits, two runs, one walk, and two strikeouts. In fact, he's pitched well enough in his last five starts to earn wins, yet never gets the offensive support. It's pretty embarrassing that he has a 3.10 ERA and only a 5-9 record. It should be the other way around.

The offense managed only five hits and four walks the entire game. They were completely shut down by Chatwood, who must love this Interleague stuff considering he's pitched 14 innings of one-run ball against the Mets and Dodgers combined. Plus, you eliminate a couple more at-bats from the ejected Kemp, and it's an uphill battle to say the least.

The biggest disappointment was watching Guerrier and Kuo get smacked around in the eighth. Before the season, these were two of your top guys penciled in to get big outs late in the game. 78 games into the season, Guerrier's ERA is 4.50, and Kuo's is 12.79. It's no wonder this team is 10 games back in the NL West. What appeared to be their calling card has instead turned into a disaster.

The final game of this series will be on Sunday afternoon before the two meet again next weekend in Anaheim. The matchup on the mound will be awesome, as Clayton Kershaw goes against Jared Weaver. Two of the best young hurlers in the game should make scoring runs at a premium.

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