All season long, the Dodgers' starting staff has done an excellent job of not allowing any runs in the first inning.
Today was not one of those days.
Matt Kemp gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead, but three home runs for the Nationals later, the score became 4-1. The Dodgers didn't have a comeback in them, as they fell easily, 7-2. It's the second straight loss after winning 11 of the previous 12.
One day after dropping a game in the bottom of the ninth against the Braves, Kemp looked to get the Dodgers right back on track in the first. Jamey Carroll doubled with one down, which led to Kemp's 106th RBI of the season on a double to left. He's still neck and neck with Prince Fielder and Ryan Howard for first in the National League. It changes by the day.
The Nationals got that run right back from an unlikely source, as Ian Desmond led off with his seventh homer. Things didn't get any better for Kuroda, as Rick Ankiel singed next, and Michael Morse smacked a two-run shot to make it 3-1. Jayson Werth then got in on the fun with the third homer of the inning, and the Nationals held a 4-1 lead.
Kuroda settled down from there, but the offense couldn't do a lick against John Lannan. They did put two men on to start the fourth as Juan Rivera walked and Aaron Miles singled. Russ Mitchell was recently called back up to the bigs, but he grounded into a double play, and Tony Gwynn grounded out.
In the sixth, the Dodgers again wasted two men on base. Rivera singled with one out, which chased Lannan from the game. In came Collin Balester, who got Miles to fly out, but James Loney pinch-hit for Mitchell and singled. Tom Gorzelanny was then summoned and got Gwynn swinging to end the threat.
Morse once again was a thorn in Kuroda's side with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the sixth. It was his 26th of the season and made it 5-1.
From there, the Nationals kept tacking on a run in their last couple of at-bats. In the seventh, Desmond singled and scored on Ankiel's RBI double. The following inning, an error by Miles allowed Werth to reach. Ramon Troncoso got the next two outs, but Wilson Ramos made the Dodgers pay with an RBI single, and it was 7-1.
With the game already in the fridge, the Dodgers at least got one more run out of it. In the ninth, A.J. Ellis doubled with two outs. Justin Sellers got him in on an RBI double to make it 7-2. Dee Gordon grounded to short to put an end to it.
It's too bad Kuroda was way off the mark in the first, because he cruised through the next five innings. But, giving up three homers in one inning is usually a recipe for disaster. In all, he lasted six innings for eight hits, five runs, no walks, and nine strikeouts. Take away the bad first, and he only gave up one run on three hits the rest of his day.
The offense did a pretty good job in gathering nine hits, but they left eight men on base. The funny part is that they actually had four doubles, yet still struggled to push more across the plate. Like many other loses, a big part of it was not getting key hits with two outs. Four of those men left were in scoring position with two outs.
Still, it's hard to blame the Dodgers if they have tired legs. After playing 13 straight days in mid-August before getting a day off, they're now in the midst of 24 games in 24 days. Right now they have a great record of 8-3. With 13 more games to go, you can expect to see Don Mattingly taking full advantage of September callups to give guys some needed rest.
Tuesday's game should be fun, as Stephen Strasburg makes his comeback from Tommy John surgery to make the start, a little over one year after going down. I'm not sure the Dodgers' hitters will agree that it's fun, but this should be great to watch. Ted Lilly will go for the Dodgers looking to get his 10th win.
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