Saturday, July 30, 2011

Kemp's big bat leads the way

Matt Kemp had gone 10 games without a longball going into Friday's night tilt in Dodger Stadium. One swing of the bat reminded everyone why he's one of the best players in the majors this year.

Kemp blasted a three-run homer in the third, and later added a two-run single as the Dodgers put up plenty of runs to get the win, 9-5. It's not too often I get to say "the Dodgers put up plenty of runs," so let's enjoy this one while we can. The win gives them nine of their last 11 at home.

The game was back-and-forth all night, as neither Ted Lilly or Josh Collmenter could shut down the opposing offense when needed. After the Diamondbacks scored the game's first run, the Dodgers took over and held a slight edge throughout until a big seventh inning put the game away for good.

The Diamondbacks got the first run in the second when Ryan Roberts hit a solo home run with two outs. Lilly had retired the first five batters he faced before giving up the tater.

In the third, the Dodgers would take the lead and never relinquish it. With one out, Aaron Miles and Andre Ethier each singled. Kemp then stepped up having already struck out to end the first. He wasted no time in taking a first pitch fastball out to deep center for his 25th of the season, making it 3-1. He now stands alone in the 25-25 club with 27 stolen bases already.

The Diamondbacks would try to chip away from there, but could never get over the hump. Justin Upton led off the fourth and reached when Lilly threw the ball away at first for an error. After going to third on a groundout, Upton scored on Xavier Nady's RBI single, and it was 3-2.

The Dodgers responded, as Kemp delivered the big blow again. Eugenio Valez, who's still on the roster for some unknown reason, actually got on base with a walk leading off. A sacrifice by Lilly got him to second, and Rafael Furcal was beaned. Miles grounded out for runners on the corners, and Ethier was also beaned.

If you're keeping track, three men were on base with a walk and two hit batsmen. With two outs, Kemp smacked a two-run single to center to give him five RBIs and make it 5-2.

In the fifth and sixth, the Diamondbacks again battled back by scoring single runs each inning. First it was a solo homer by Willie Bloomquist, who's filling in for Stephen Drew after his ugly ankle injury last week. Blake Hawksworth then surrendered an RBI single to Roberts in the sixth for a 5-4 score. Matt Guerrier had to clean up the two-on, one-out mess by getting the final two outs.

Ethier also had a big night with three hits, and he came through for an RBI in the sixth. Jamey Carroll started it with a single, and Miles followed with another an out later. Ethier's RBI single made it 6-4.

Not going away quietly, Upton made sure his team stayed close with a solo homer to start the seventh off of Guerrier. Like Kemp, he too is having a big year with a .302 average, 21 homers, and 62 RBIs. And Prince Fielder still kept the hometown boy off the Home Run Derby team for Rickie Weeks. Yeah, that worked out well!

As has been the case all night, the Dodgers' offense responded, and this time put the game on ice. With one out, Loney singled and Dioner Navarro walked. Tony Gwynn pinch-hit and hit a long fly ball to Upton in right. I just went over Upton's big stats at the plate... but I guess that doesn't carry over to the field as he could not make the catch as the ball bounced over the fence for a two-base error, scoring Loney as well.

A sac-fly RBI by Carroll followed to make it 8-5. Raffy laced an RBI double to score Gwynn and go up 9-5.

Mike MacDougal pitched a perfect eighth, and Javy Guerra worked around a couple runners in the ninth to finish out the non-save situation.

The nine runs were the most the Dodgers have scored at home all season, and continues their recent run of impressive play at home. Quietly they're back to nine games under .500. Trust me, that's certainly nothing to brag about, but this could have easily gone the other way. Instead, they've found ways to win and at least give the home fans something to cheer for.

Lilly's final line doesn't look bad, as he went five innings for three hits, three runs (two earned), two walks, and one strikeout. What's deceiving, and even unfair, is that his own error led to an unearned run. I'm not sure what logic there is in a pitcher committing his own error and not having it count against him. Either way, he did get the win to improve to 7-10, but his ERA is still huge at 5.02.

What carried the Dodgers in this one was their 2-5 hitters of Miles, Either, Kemp, and Juan Rivera. They went 9-for-18 with four runs and six RBIs. Rivera looked good with plenty of hard hit balls, and most likely earned himself more time on the field. The Dodgers sure can use that, no doubt.

Chad Billingsley will get the start on Saturday. He's coming off a brilliant start against the Nationals in which he gave up one run in seven innings, striking out 10. He'll be looking for his 10th win of the season.

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