Dodgers hang on to win season's final game

The Dodgers nearly found a way to blow a huge lead for the second straight night, which would have been one more dark cloud to add to this season.

Thankfully for them, Matt Kemp and Kenley Jansen made sure that didn't happen.

Kemp hit a two-run homer to end the season as the National League's leader in homers and RBIs, and Jansen got the last couple of outs to avoid another collapse as the Dodgers won their last game of the season over the Diamondbacks, 7-5. The Dodgers have ended their season with an 82-79 record, which is a 2 1/2 game improvement over last year's 80-82.

Much like the night before, the Dodgers were in full control until very late. With Ted Lilly on the mound taking care of business, the offense went to work in the first. Dee Gordon, the NL's Rookie of the Month, singled and swiped his 24th base right away. A groundout by Justin Sellers got Gordon to third, and Kemp was beaned. Juan Rivera's sac-fly RBI made it 1-0.

Another run was added in the third. It started again with Gordon, who singled with one down. Sellers then roped an RBI double to left, and it was 2-0.

The fourth inning brought a couple more runs. Jerry Sands finished the season with hits in 15 of his last 16 games, and he singled with an out. With two outs now, Jamey Carroll lined an RBI triple to make it 3-0. Lilly got in on the fun with a single up the middle, scoring to Carroll to make it 4-0.

The Dodgers played longball in scoring their final three runs. In the sixth, James Loney launched a solo shot, putting his team up 5-0. To say his resurgence was unexpected would be a giant understatement. At the end of July he was hitting .256 with four homers. At the season's end, he was up to .288 with 12 homers. Who knows what got into him, but I'm glad it did.

With the Dodgers comfortably ahead, there was really only one story left to unfold, and that was Kemp's battle to lead the league in the power categories. A three-homer night from Prince Fielder on Tuesday deadlocked him with Kemp at 38. One more dinger would put Kemp in a class by himself.

So, after Sellers doubled with one out, it was time for Kemp to shine. He lifted a big fly into deep left for a two-run shot, putting the Dodgers up 7-0 and putting him at 39. He did have one last chance at getting a 40/40 season, but struck out in the ninth. Still, 39/40 is just awesome.

Much like Blake Hawksworth the night before, Don Mattingly gave the ball to a struggling reliever with a huge lead. And just like Hawksworth, it was a pure disaster for Ramon Troncoso. The bases became loaded with one out on singles by Peter Goldschmidt and Collin Cowgill, and a walk to Ryan Roberts.

I guess the DBacks have this thing for grand slams, because they made it two games in a row when Cole Gillespie blasted one to make it 7-4. Troncoso stayed on to pitch to Henry Blanco, so naturally Blanco also homered, and it was 7-5.

We can only thank the big guy above that Jansen was able to get out of this mess, as he got Sean Burroughs and Josh McDonald flying out to end the game and the season. It was Jansen's fifth save. Oh by the way, he also set a major league record with 16.1 K's/9 innings. Incredible.

There was a lot to like about this game, even if the Dodgers nearly handed it all away again. Lilly ended the season as one of the game's best pitchers over the final couple of months. He lasted seven innings for three hits, no runs, one walk, and five strikeouts. His ERA at the end of July was a horrendous 5.02. Wednesday's great effort improved it to 3.97. That's the kind of stability in the middle of the rotation the Dodgers signed up for when they gave him a three-year deal this past offseason.

The three young guys in the lineup - Gordon, Sellers, and Sands - combined to go 6-for-13 with four runs, an RBI, two doubles, a stolen base, and a walk. Most importantly, they showed once again that they can perform on the big stage and win games. They're young, they're exciting, and you can believe in them.

Kemp may not have gotten his Triple Crown that he made a late charge for, but his final line is still tremendous: .324 AVG, .399 OBP, 115 runs, 195 hits, 33 doubles, 4 triples, 39 homers, 126 RBIs, and 40 stolen bases. MVP? I certainly think so when you look at the his total game. He tracks down numerous fly balls in the outfield, and had 11 assists. He is the most complete player in the game, hands down.

Yup, there was certainly plenty to be excited about, even in a non-playoff season. But then there's the tale of poor Eugenio Valez. His groundout in the eighth inning put him at a final tally of 0-for-37, a new major league record for non-pitchers. Going back to last season with the Dodgers, he's 0-for-46. How in the world he managed to stay on a big league roster this long is anybody's guess. Watching his futility went from funny to just plain sad. I really do feel badly for the guy. That's just brutal.

Since July 7, the Dodgers put together a 42-25 record. That's an incredible turnaround for a team that looked like it could finish anywhere from 10-20 games behind .500. It still doesn't makeup for the lousy start they had, as they were long out of the playoff race. But at least they showed some very positive signs for the future.

Now the Dodgers will sit back, relax, and join 21 other teams in watching the postseason from home. The focus will now shift to the offseason in getting extensions for the Big 2 in Kemp and Clayton Kershaw. Plus there's the ownership drama. And there's also a couple of huge first basemen who will be free agents. Will one of them be in LA next season? Hmm...