After nine years toiling around the minors, it's obvious that Elian Herrera is doing everything possible to stick with the big club.
One day after his RBI single off of Jonathan Papelbon gave the Dodgers the go-ahead run, Herrera was money in the clutch again. This time it was a two-run double off of Cliff Lee to lead the Dodgers to a win again, 2-1. The Dodgers have taken the first two games of a four-game set in Philly.
The night didn't start off so hot, as the Phillies got on the board right away. Jimmy Rollins has struggled mightily in the leadoff spot this year, but his double got things going. After tagging to third, he scored on Hunter Pence's sac-fly RBI to make it 1-0.
Andre Ethier made sure the score stayed that way with a nice leaping catch at the wall to get out of the inning.
Both Chad Billingsley and Lee put up blanks for the majority of the game. The Dodgers' bats couldn't do much of anything, as they tallied a mere two hits through seven innings. Bills pitched much better than he has in the past, and when runners would reach, his defense made plays behind him to limit the damage.
Now in the eighth, the Dodgers finally got that big hit they were waiting for. It all started on a leadoff double by Matt Treanor, who's made the most of his short playing time this year. Then again, he also got nailed at third trying to advance on Tony Gywnn's grounder for the first out. Bobby Abreu pinch-hit for Billingsley and singled into right... only to have Gwynn also get gunned down at third via Pence's big arm. Ugh.
With two outs, Dee Gordon kept the inning alive by singling. Lee, still looking for his first win, stayed on to face Herrera. A long fly ball was hit to left that was just out of the reach of Juan Pierre at the wall, easily scoring two to make it 2-1. Pierre had a slight chance at catching it, but still, that was a tough play. Trust me, I know how limited he can be in the field, but you can't fault him in this case.
The bullpen still had plenty of work to do, and Josh Lindblom set the Phillies down in order in the eighth.
Kenley Jansen entered looking for his eighth save, and he got it by striking out the last two hitters.
Much like Monday night, this was another dramatic win for the boys in blue, who came into this series staggering a bit from dropping two of three in Colorado. Just when you thought the Phillies would jump all over them at home, the Dodgers yet again found ways to win, led by Herrera.
When you look at the box score and see that your team only had six hits and struck out 12 times, the odds are definitely not in your favor to win. But, credit Billingsley for settling down after the first and pitching great. He lasted seven innings for six hits, one run, one walk, and three strikeouts. I'm glad to see he only had one walk, because that stat alone seems to make or break him.
The Dodgers have a great chance now of taking this series by winning one of the next two games. Imagine if they got a sweep? Even though the Phillies are very banged up, they're still the Phillies, so that would be awesome. And on the road, no less.
First things first, as Chris Capuano goes on the hill Wednesday night. He suffered a rare loss in Colorado last outing, though his defense was absolutely atrocious behind him. He'll go up against Kyle Kendrick.
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