For the second straight outing, Josh Lindblom watched his numbers skyrocket. It also cost his team another game.
The Angels broke a three-all tie with two runs off Lindblom in the seventh, and the Dodgers couldn't respond in dropping another one, 5-3. The Angels took two of three this weekend, and combined with losing two more against them a couple weeks ago, the Dodgers once again could not top their crosstown rivals.
About the only good news is that the Giants lost to the A's on a walk-off homer, so the lead remains at three in the NL West.
The Dodgers scored in the first inning in each game of this series. In this one, it started with a bloop double by Andre Ethier with one out. Old Angel Bobby Abreu again burned his old mates with an RBI single and 1-0 lead.
After Tony Gwynn made a great catch off Mark Trumbo's deep drive to right center to end the first, the Dodgers got another run in the second. Adam Kennedy singled leading off, and Gwynn followed with one as well. Matt Treanor laid down a great bunt to advance both men to scoring position. Dee Gordon grounded out, but was plenty good for an RBI to make it 2-0.
Erick Aybar started the comeback by taking a walk with one out in the bottom of the second. Peter Bourjos, who only had one homer coming into this game, hit one out to left to tie the game at two.
The Dodgers shot themselves in the foot with double play balls to end the third and fifth, the first by James "Double Play" Loney and the next by Abreu. The Angels took advantage of that, as Mike Trout singled leading off the fifth. After he stole second with one out, Albert Pujols grounded one through the middle for the RBI, making it 3-2.
Juan Rivera's double to start the sixth showed the Dodgers weren't going to roll over. Loney lined one back to Garrett Richards on the mound, who couldn't quite glove it in time, allowing Rivera to get to third. Kennedy's sac-fly RBI to center made it a whole new game at 3-3.
Harang made it through six, so Don Mattingly turned to Lindblom to try and redeem himself from last Thursday's meltdown against the A's. Simply put, it didn't happen.
What made this outing even more frustrating was that he got the first two hitters with ease. Then he walked Pujols and beaned Kendrys Morales. Sure enough, those mistakes were costly, as Trumbo's RBI single made it 4-3, and Howie Kendrick hit one as well to give the Angels a 5-3 lead.
Not much happened for the Dodgers from there. Ivan De Jesus was caught stealing to end the eighth, and Jerry Hairston, Jr.'s single to start the ninth went nowhere as Gordon struck out to end the game.
After winning two of three from the White Sox last weekend, the Dodgers have scuffled ever since, losing five of six. Make no mistake about it, even though they're 13 games over .500, they're definitely slumping now. In these last six, they're scored 13 runs, so the offense isn't driving in runners like they have all season long.
Then there's the Lindblom issue, who had an ERA of 2.12 two appearances ago, and now it's 3.81. Five runs in 2/3 of an inning will do that to you. Perhaps it's just one of those things. Or, just maybe, he's starting to show some signs of fatigue. I think we all have to remember that he was never meant to even be with the big club this year, but has managed to survive thanks to a variety of injuries, and because he started off the year red hot. It looks like Ronald Belisario will now serve as the setup man, and rightfully so.
The upcoming schedule doesn't get any easier. First up is three games in San Francisco, followed by four at home against the resurgent Mets. The first half of the season will then conclude with three at home against the NL Central leading Reds, and four on the road in Arizona, which is never easy. What does this all mean? There's no gimmes, and the Dodgers could easily see their lead in the West slip away if they don't start hitting again.
You don't get to be 13 games over .500 by not responding to some adversity over the course of the season, so let's give the Dodgers the benefit of the doubt that they can do this again. It's not like they're getting blown out, it's more like all the clutch plays are being made by the other team. Maybe now it's time to swing that momentum back their way.
Monday night starts a big three-game set with the Giants. I don't think the Dodgers will be shedding any tears because Matt Cain won't be getting a start. The Dodgers took two of three from them in early May, but the Giants are a much better team now. This should be fun. Nathan Eovaldi goes against Barry Zito on Monday night.
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