Kemp does work, but Eveland doesn't

Matt Kemp did his best to put the Dodgers on his back on Wednesday night, hitting a three-run homer and scoring a couple of runs.

Dana Eveland, on the other hand, came crashing back to Earth.

Eveland suffered his second straight sub-par performance, getting knocked around in only four innings, as the Dodgers lost to the Giants, 8-5. The Dodgers continued their yo-yo of going above .500, back to .500, and below .500. For now, it's all even after 154 games.

The Giants didn't waste anytime in thanking the Lord that Clayton Kershaw wasn't on the mound again, as they came out swinging in the first. Justin Christian led off and singled. Jeff Keppinger grounded into a double play, and it looked like an easy inning for Eveland. But, Carlos Beltran doubled and Brett Pill hit an RBI single to make it 1-0.

Eveland then became his own worst enemy, as he issued two straight walks to Brandon Belt and Mark DeRosa to load the bases. Mike Fontenot delivered on a two-run single, and the Giants were up 3-0.

The Dodgers put a couple men on in each of the first couple of innings, but came away with blanks. The Giants made them pay for that by increasing the lead to 5-0 in the fourth. DeRosa singled to start, Chris Stewart walked with an out, and both men advanced to scoring position on Ryan Vogelsong's sacrifice. Christian against came through, as his two-run double gave the Giants a big lead.

After again wasting a couple of singles in the fourth, the Dodgers finally got something going in the fifth. Eugenio Valez still doesn't have a hit, but he was beaned leading off. Dee Gordon singled to put two on, and Jamey Carroll hit an RBI single to make it 5-1. Kemp then deposited one into deep center for a three-run shot, and just like that, it was now 5-4.

The bullpen couldn't hold the Giants' offense down, as Josh Lindblom pitched the sixth. DeRosa led off with a single, but the next two batters were retired in order. The two-out bug struck the Dodgers again, as Conor Gillaspie walked, and that darn Christian had another big at-bat with an RBI single, and it was 6-4.

In the seventh, the Giants pretty much put the game away. This time it was Hong-Chih Kuo in, and he again got roughed up to add to his miserable season. Andres Torres walked leading off, and scored on Pill's RBI double. Pill then went to third on Belt's fly ball, and was plated on DeRosa's sac-fly RBI off of Matt Guerrier, making it 8-4.

The Dodgers did get a little two-out rally in the ninth, as Kemp singled and Juan Rivera walked against Santiago Casilla. Brian Wilson was then summoned, and James Loney greeted him with an RBI single to make it 8-5. Aaron Miles flew out to end the game.

At this point of the year, the Dodgers really have three goals: finish above .500, get Kershaw the Cy Young, and get Kemp the MVP. Well, they're at 77-77, Kershaw has vaulted into the lead position for the Cy, and Kemp had another big night to add to his MVP push.

In looking at the big three stats, Kemp is third in average (.322), second in home runs (35), and first in RBIs (116). Plus, he's first in runs (108), third in hits (184), second in steals (40), and second in OPS (.969). Just like his teammate is doing on the mound, those are some awesome stats.

Will Kemp actually get the MVP? Right now, Ryan Braun seems to be the frontrunner, as his unbelievable August and September have not only catapulted him into the MVP lead, but the Brewers on the verge of a playoff berth. Unfortunately for Kemp, the Dodgers haven't been anywhere close to the playoff race all season, which may hurt him in the end.

As for Eveland, he's started to look more like the erratic pitcher who's already playing on his sixth team since 2005. In this one, he went four innings for six hits, five runs, three walks, and one strikeout. His ERA two starts ago was 0.60. Now? 3.75. Um, not good.

Eveland was bad, but Kuo was even worse, giving up two runs and only getting one out. There's not a whole different to say about him at this point. He just continues to completely stink up the joint with a 9.72 ERA and 1.84 WHIP. How many other pitchers out there would even be sent to the mound with those numbers? He's obviously pitching just on past performances, as he looks like he has no business being out there. What a shame that is.

The Dodgers will finish up their home schedule on Thursday night. Win or lose, they'll finish over .500 at home with a current 41-39 record. Hiroki Kuroda will make his last start, possibly for good in front of the home crowd, looking for his 13th win.