Add Jerry Hairston, Jr. to the list of "unsung heroes" for the Dodgers this season.
Hairston was a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate hitting in the #3 hole, and the Dodgers took another series from the Astros, 5-1. Yet again, the Dodgers will spend another day atop Major League Baseball with a 32-15 record.
Chris Capuano is another one of those "unsung heroes" thanks to a 6-1 record coming in, but he was quickly in trouble when Jose Altuve tripled to lead off the game. A groundout by J.D. Martinez scored him, and it was 1-0.
The Dodgers knotted it up in the second. With one out, Matt Treanor and Dee Gordon singled. Capuano failed to get a bunt down, so it was now two outs. Tony Gwynn has done a great job playing center for Matt Kemp during his time on the DL, and his RBI single made it 1-1.
From there, Capuano was overpowering, and the Dodgers slowly started to tack on runs. In the fourth, Treanor hit his second homer of the season for a 2-1 lead. He's only made 10 starts this year, thanks to the incredible start from A.J. Ellis, but he's taken advantage of the time he's in there. In his five starts this May, he's hitting .438 with two homers and four RBIs. And because of that, he's another "unsung hero."
In the seventh, the Dodgers loaded the bases, thanks to an error and a little patience. Hairston singled with one out, and Andre Ethier reached on Chris Johnson's error at third. Fernando Rodriguez came on to pitch to Scott Van Slyke, but when James Loney pinch-hit, he was given the intentional pass to load the bases.
With the bases loaded and one out, Bobby Abreu pinch-hit for Jerry Sands. Xavier Cedeno relieved and got an 0-2 count, but lost him to force in a walk and make it 3-1. Treanor grounded into the inning ending DP, so the game was still close.
Josh Lindblom pitched a perfect eighth, striking out the final two. That led to a single and stolen base from Gordon to start the bottom of the frame. A grounder by Adam Kennedy moved him over, and Gwynn got him in with a single and 4-1 advantage. Hairston made it a career day with his fifth hit, which was an RBI single to go up 5-1.
Both Kenley Jansen and Javy Guerra were warming up for the ninth, but when the Dodgers went up by four, it gave Don Mattingly the perfect opportunity to get Guerra some ninth inning action. And, as he's done every appearance since being demoted from the closer's role, he pitched a scoreless inning, getting Carlos Lee to fly to right to end it.
Capuano continues to amaze, as he ran his record to 7-1, tied for tops in the majors. He went seven strong innings for two hits, one run, two walks, and eight strikeouts. Yet again, he located his fastball and used his nasty off-speed stuff to completely confuse hitters. That little two-year, $10 million deal he signed is looking like a thing of genius. Who would've ever thought he'd be doing this? Probably not even him.
Someone else who deserves credit for a good game is Gordon, who has settled into his role as the #8 hitter. He went 2-for-2 with a walk, a sacrifice, a run, and two steals. Most importantly, he looked like he was a factor again and played with confidence. Now that Justin Sellers has been added to the DL list, the Dodgers need Gordon to play like that. And it's fun to watch when he does.
With a win-loss ratio of just over 2:1, the Dodgers haven't had many negatives the season. But, back in mid-April, the Brewers took two of three from them at home. The Dodgers will look to get some revenge as they open a four-game set before hitting the road for 10. Aaron Harang will go against Shaun Marcum.
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