The baseball season is full of peaks and valleys.
Wednesday night marked the Dodgers' first valley.
Clayton Kershaw scuffled all night, Matt Kemp reinjured his hamstring, and the Dodgers dropped a third straight against the Brewers, 6-3. Another loss on Thursday would give the Brew Crew a four-game sweep against a team that came into this series 21-5 at home.
The first inning would not be a good one, with the irony being that the Dodgers actually came out of it up 1-0. The first batter of the game, Corey Hart, lifted a long fly ball that was caught by Bobby Abreu in left. Ryan Braun and Aramis Ramirez each struck out, but on pretty questionable calls, even this Dodger fan has to admit.
Kemp was making his second start since coming off the 15-day DL, and he worked a walk with two outs. Andre Ethier then lined an RBI double into center. As Kemp was coming around third, it was obvious that something was wrong, as he started lumbering as if he were Manny Ramirez.
The pain was obvious, as Kemp was so frustrated in the dugout that he literally broke a bat over his good leg before heaving it in disgust. That was it for him on the night, and probably for the next 15 days once again.
That seemed to suck the life out of the Dodgers, as the Brewers took the lead in the fourth. Ramirez doubled with one out, and Kershaw then issued walks to Rickie Weeks and Cody Ransom to load the bases. Chris Gomez's two-run single made it 2-1.
With the bats going silent, the Brewers added more in the sixth. Weeks doubled leading off, and Ransom took another walk. After a groundout, Martin Maldonado executed a perfect suicide squeeze to go up 3-1. The icing on the cake was an RBI single by Yovanni Gallardo to chase Kershaw.
Javy Guerra came in and gave up a bloop single to Hart for runners on the corners. Norichika Aoki then grounded one to Elian Herrera at second, who decided to take three years to throw to first, resulting in the infield hit and RBI to make it 5-1.
The Dodgers did make a push in the seventh at least. A.J. Ellis and Dee "Strike 3" Gordon each singled leading off (yes, it was a surprise to me that Gordon finally singled). Ivan De Jesus pinch-hit and singled as well to load 'em up. Manny Parra came in for Gallardo and immediately gave up a two-run single to Herrera, and it was now 5-3.
Still with nobody out, James Loney flunked in a big spot yet again by striking out. Tony Gwynn of all people grounded into a double play, and the Dodgers were done after that.
An RBI groundout from Ramirez in the eighth rounded out the scoring.
I'm not sure what was going on with Kershaw, but it was very surprising to see him struggle so much. That's the sign of a great pitcher - any bad outing is newsworthy. He lasted 5 2/3 innings for eight hits, five runs, four walks, and seven strikeouts. The K's were nice, but the walks were a season-high. For some reason the Brewers give him trouble. It's just one of those things. He'll bounce back.
Kemp's injury was obviously the big story. But what was just as big to me was how he admitted afterwards that he was hiding it all along, even after resting for a couple weeks. I can appreciate how he wanted to come back right away, but it turned out to be the wrong call. About the only thing we can hope for is that this next stint on the DL truly does heal him, or that he'll take all the time he needs.
I don't care what the record shows, the Dodgers need Kemp if they want to go anywhere this season. The only way that will happen is if he gets 100% healthy.
Right now the Dodgers are in a bit of a lull, as they became the last team in baseball to suffer a three-game losing streak. The injuries are still there, and they face the possibility of getting swept at home. It's been all good this season so far, so let's see how they react to some adversity. Time will tell.
Chad Billingsley will be put up to the task of grabbing back a win as he takes the mound on Thursday. He'll be up against Zach Greinke, who's been fantastic at home (1.30 ERA) and horrific on the road (7.30). Let's hope the road version stays true to form.
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