Fresh off a three-game sweep against the defending World Series champs, the Dodgers picked up right where they left off.
Another strong performance by Chris Capuano was backed up by three homers as the Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks, 6-1. The win increases the lead in the NL West to a whopping seven games... and we're not even in June yet. Amazing.
A.J. Ellis got the night off, which is something that's hard to do considering how fantastic he's been this year. But, Matt Treanor made sure the production was still there, as his two-run shot also scored Jerry Sands for the 2-0 lead in the second.
Capuano was perfect through three, but Willie Bloomquist greeted him with a leadoff triple in the fourth. An RBI single by Aaron Hill made it 2-1. Chris Young singled to put two on with two out, but Jason Kubel's liner was snared by Capuano to end the inning.
It was still pretty much anybody's ballgame until the seventh, when the Dodgers' offense took over. It started with a one-out homer from Andre Ethier, his ninth of the season, to go up 3-1. His 38 RBIs lead the National League.
The Dodgers put the game away for good in the eighth. With Bryan Shaw on the mound, Ivan De Jesus, freshly recalled after Mark Ellis's scary leg injury, singled leading off. An out later, Sands gathered an RBI triple to make it 4-1. James Loney came in the previous inning for defense, but it was his offense that made the difference, as his two-run shot put the Dodgers emphatically ahead at 6-1.
At 6-1, Capuano is showing that his two Tommy John surgeries are thankfully a thing of the past. Heck, they probably helped him more than anything. He lasted six innings for four hits, one run, one walk, and five strikeouts. He's clearly an All-Star candidate right now, and is pitching like a guy with total confidence.
The bullpen of Ronald Belisario, Javy Guerra, and Jamey Wright shut the door the final three innings. Belisario earned his fourth hold and has yet to give up a run in seven appearances. Guerra got demoted after blowing a save on May 6 against the Cubs, but has gone 6 1/3 scoreless innings since. Can't do better than that.
Let's give Loney some credit here, too. Before the injury bug started running wild like Hulkamania through the Dodgers, he was mostly being platooned at first with Juan Rivera. He still envisions himself as an everyday player, and has gotten much more PT because of those injuries. So far in the month of May, he's hitting .300 with five doubles, a homer, and eight RBIs. He certainly heated up as the season wore on last year, so let's hope that's happening again.
All in all, everything is going right for the Dodgers. On the flip side, it's not all fine and dandy for the DBacks. After winning the division last year, they were clearly the favorites coming into this season, but have stumbled to a 19-24 start. They have talent, so it's correctable, but their team ERA of 4.19 places them near the bottom in the NL. Wade Miley and Joe Saunders are pitching well, but that's about it from the starters. Ian Kennedy needs to get on track again if they want to fight back.
Aaron Harang will look to give the Dodgers their sixth straight win on Tuesday. He's given up only three runs in his last three outings. Trevor Cahill goes for the home team.
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