When in doubt, call on Clayton Kershaw.
Kershaw turned in yet another fantastic performance, hurling eight scoreless innings in leading the Dodgers past the Brewers, 5-1. The win avoids a sweep, as the Brewers are darn near impossible to beat at home.
The Dodgers got things going early. In the second, Rod Barajas got the team's first hit with a solo homer to left, making it 1-0. That was his 11th homer of the season, and broke a streak of being hitless since August 6. He's pretty much all or nothing at the plate, but he's actually second on the team in homers. And that's pretty sad.
In the third and fourth, the Dodgers wasted chances by grounding into inning-ending double plays. First up was Andre Ethier, who grounded to first and saw Prince Fielder nail Tony Gwynn at home. Barajas had one the next inning. Like I said, all or nothing. In two at-bats, he had them both.
There wasn't much going for either team until the seventh, when the Dodgers got a couple. It all started with two outs and a double by Barajas (all or nothing...). Jamey Carroll then hit an RBI single to center, as Barajas hustled home to beat the throw. Kershaw then laid down a perfect bunt in which pitcher Kameron Loe threw to the outfield, allowing Carroll to score and make it 3-0.
The eighth inning broke it open for good. Ethier started it with a single, which isn't at all surprising considering his only hits are singles. Matt Kemp followed with another single. With Ethier on third, Kemp stole second, his 33rd of the year, one below Jose Reyes for second in the NL. Juan Rivera lifted a sac-fly RBI to make it 4-0, and Aaron Miles followed that up with an RBI single, and it was 5-0.
Kershaw got through the eighth in order before handing the ball over to Javy Guerra after 104 pitches. Guerra gave up his first run in the month of August when Ryan Braun tripled and Prince Fielder hit a sac-fly RBI. Casey McGehee singled with two outs, but Mark Kotsay flew out in foul territory in left to end the game.
Like I even need to say this, but Kershaw was awesome. He lasted eight innings for five hits, no runs, no walks, and six strikeouts. He's upped his NL-leading strikeout total to 199, which is just behind Justin Verlander's 204 for tops in the majors. Also, his 15 wins are tied with Ian Kennedy and Roy Halladay for the best in the NL. Wow, those are some great numbers.
It's not like the Dodgers got blown out this series despite dropping three of four. They only gave up nine runs total. Rather, the problem was same old, same old - they can't get a big hit. Kemp was only 4-for-15 with no extra-base hits or RBIs. Ethier was 2-for-13 with no extra-base hits or RBIs. Considering they make up the heart of the order, it's hard to win like that, no matter how good the pitching is.
One person who I will give credit too is Rivera, who quietly has done a nice job in LA since arriving on July 15. In 28 games and 99 at-bats, he's hitting .333 with two homers, seven doubles, and 15 RBIs. Not exactly great power numbers, but at least he's getting hits, which is a lot more than others on this team can say. Plus, he's been versatile in playing both outfield and first. He can thank crappy James Loney for that.
Speaking of Loney, he's now down to .255 after receiving only six AB's this series. Have I mentioned how anxious I am for him to be gone after this season? Well, I am.
In peaking at the NL West standings, the Dodgers are now back in fourth place, a game behind the Rockies for third. That can easily go the other way, too, as they're only in front of the Padres by 1 1/2 games. It would be nice if the Dodgers could finish in third at the very least. But does it really matter? Probably not.
The Dodgers will now take on those very Rockies for a three-game set in Coors starting Friday. Hiroki Kuroda has won two of his last three starts, pitching seven inning shutouts both times. He'll look for his ninth win.
No comments:
Post a Comment