Matt Kemp has proven that, once again, he can do no wrong.
Kemp's two-run homer in the first held up the whole way, as the Dodgers downed the Astros on the road, 3-1. The record is now upped to 11-3, which is still tied with the Rangers and Nationals for tops in the majors.
Justin Sellers got the start at short and in the leadoff hole, giving Dee Gordon a needed day of rest. Sellers made the most of it by singling to open the game. An out later, Kemp hit his eighth homer of the year to grab the quick 2-0 lead.
Somewhat overshadowed in all of the Kemp hysteria has been the great start by Andre Ethier as well. He got in on the act in the third. Mark Ellis started it with a single, and Kemp did something that pitchers should be doing a lot more of - issuing a walk. Juan Rivera hit a hard one, but it was gloved at third for a double play. Kemp went to third on the play, and he scored on Ethier's RBI single to make it 3-0.
Lilly was rolling until running into a bit of trouble with two outs in the fourth. Brian Bogusevic singled and stole second. He came around to score on Chris Snyder's RBI single, and it was now 3-1.
Jerry Hairston, Jr. got plenty of attention for his sharp defensive play in the Brewers' series, and he again raised some eyebrows in this one. The bases became loaded for the Astros in the fifth on a walk to Jose Altuve, a single by J.D. Martinez off of Lilly's glove, and an intentional pass to Chris Johnson. Jed Lowrie then grounded a hard one to Hairston at third, who made the play, then dove to the base to just get a sliding Martinez by a hair. It was a bang-bang play, but looked to be the right call.
Then again, I'm a Dodger fan, so of course it looked good to me.
Much like the last series, the game was turned over to the bullpen to close it out. Don Mattingly is showing more and more confidence in Josh Lindblom, and for good reason. Lindblom got a double play ball and struck out Martinez in the seventh.
The combination of Kenley Jansen and Javy Guerra did the rest. Jansen walked Carlos Lee leading off, but struck out the side after that. Guerra added two more K's for his seventh save, tops in the majors.
Lilly continued his hot start to the year with another great outing. He lasted six innings for four hits, one run, six walks, and five strikeouts. Six walks is too high, but he got the big outs when he needed to. He did a good job of attacking the hitters he knew he could get out, and not giving in to the other ones.
As good as Lilly, the bullpen, and the defense of Hairston was, nothing compares to Kemp, who is by far the best player in the world right now. His numbers through 14 games are just crazy: .481 AVG, .525 OBP, 1.525 OPS, 16 R, 4 2B, 8 HR, 20 RBI, 1 SB. He's not going to be this hot the whole year, but boy is it fun for now. What he will do is provide that threat each time he's up to the plate, ala Manny Ramirez during his scorching hot run at the end of the '08 season.
When Kemp and even Ethier start to cool off a bit (and even by "cooling off," they can still hit vey well), the Dodgers will need others to step up more. The highest average for another starter is Rivera, who's at .267. From there the numbers dip even more, such as Mark Ellis at .245, Gordon at .192, and James Loney at .190. The positive side is that those numbers are bound to get better, and hopefully soon.
The Dodgers will look for their third straight win by sending their ace Clayton Kershaw to the mound on Saturday. Kershaw is coming off a mediocre start against the Padres last Sunday, and is still at 0-0, so he'll be pitching with something to prove.
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