Friday, July 8, 2011

Dodgers do the unthinkable: win

For all of the negativity and pure crap associated with the Dodgers' organization this season, there's two reasons to be thankful: Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp.

Kershaw struck out nine in eight scoreless innings and Kemp doubled home a pair as the Dodgers ended a five-game slide by beating the Mets, 6-0. The win saves the humiliation of getting swept at home.

The scoring got started in the second, with some help. Juan Uribe was beaned with one down. James Loney then hit one back to the mound that Dillon Gee turned and fired into center for the error, putting runners on the corners. Aaron Miles hit a fly ball to left in which Uribe tagged up on. It was a close play at the plate that went Uribe's way, but replays clearly showed he was out. But I don't care, I'll take it.

Both Kershaw and Gee were cruising along until the sixth when the Dodgers finally did something with the bats. Tony Gwynn singled leading off, stole second, and took third on a bad throw by Ronny Paulino. Jamey Carroll grounded out and Andre Ethier took a walk. Kemp then stroked a two-run double to make it 3-0.

The Dodgers kept adding on from there, as they put the game away. Uribe hit a ground rule double to right to score Kemp. After Loney struck out to make it two down, Miles hit an RBI double to go up 5-0. Manny Acosta relieved Gee, and Dioner Navarro greeted him with an RBI triple to push the lead to 6-0.

Kershaw stayed on to pitch the eighth, and he found himself in some trouble. Two singles by Ruben Tejada and Angel Pagan, and a walk to Carlos Beltran loaded the bases with two outs. Don Mattingly came out to check on his ace, and Kershaw stayed in the game to pitch to Paulino. With two strikes, Kershaw pulled the string and got him swinging to end the inning.

The game should have been over at this point, as Kenley Jansen came on to get to the last three outs with a big lead. Jansen started off well by striking out Jason Bay. But, he then gave up a single to Daniel Murphy and walks to Willie Harris and Tejada. Mercifully he was yanked, and Hong-Chih Kuo gave us a flashback to last year with a strikeout of Lucas Duda and getting Pagan grounding out to end the game.

After another gem by Kershaw, he now ends the first half of the season with some awesome stats: 9-4, 3.03 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 147 strikeouts in 130 2/3 innings. Now the question will be if he gets to start the All-Star Game. As I pointed out a few starts ago, with the start on Thursday, he'll be on his regular five-days rest by Tuesday. NL manager Bruce Bochy has plenty of great pitchers to choose from, but if they're going by who's on proper rest, Kershaw is the guy.

The best part of watching Kershaw pitch was actually when he was facing trouble in the eighth. When Mattingly came out with the bases loaded, everyone assumed he was being pulled. But when he was left in to get he last out, the crowd went nuts, and they stayed that way through the strikeout. When's the last time Dodger Stadium has been excited like that? Opening day? I'm glad the fans appreciate just how good he is.

The guy who we know is definitely starting next Tuesday, Kemp, showed once again why he's an MVP candidate. His two-run double started the wave of runs in the sixth. Plus, he stole another base to make 25 on the season, good for fourth in the majors behind speedy little dudes Michael Bourn, Jose Reyes, and Jacoby Ellsbury.

With the Mets' series thankfully over, the Dodgers will now entertain the Padres for three games. I can see the headlines now - "The battle for the cellar." The Padres are 10 games in back of the Giants, and the Dodgers are 12. Chad Billingsley will get the start against Mat Latos.

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