Dodger fans must have thought that Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley traded uniforms the last couple of days.
As great as Billingsley was on Monday, tossing six innings of one-run ball, Kershaw was quite the opposite. After cruising to a 2-0 lead into the fifth, Kershaw completely fell apart, giving up eight runs over the next couple of innings. The end result was an easy win for the Cards, 8-2. It's no surprise that the Giants downed the Padres, so their lead in the NL West is back up to 2 1/2 games.
The game was scoreless through three, but the Dodgers struck in the fourth. With one out, Andre Ethier took a walk and James Loney singled. Juan Rivera cracked one into right for an RBI ground rule double, making it 1-0. Luis Cruz has had some big hits in his brief career, and his RBI single made it 2-0.
That's all the fun the Dodgers would have on this night, as they went from confident in winning six straight with their ace on the mound, to watching the Cardinals parade around the bases.
It all started with two outs in the fifth. Daniel Descalso singled to keep the inning alive, bringing Adam Wainwright to the plate. Wainwright looked like Carlos Beltran, stroking an RBI double into deep center to make it 2-1. Old friend Rafael Furcal's single up the middle brought in another run, and it was 2-2.
The sixth inning was pathetic to say the least. Kershaw couldn't do anything right, and that's an understatement. Matt Holliday walked on four pitches leading off, which was a negative sign if there ever was one. Beltran doubled for runners in scoring position. David Freese hit an RBI single to make it 3-2.
Kershaw still had a great chance to escape without much harm, as he struck out Yadier Molina and got Matt Carpenter to fly out. With first base open, Descalso was intentionally walked to pitch to Wainwright. I guess Kershaw was suddenly scared of him, as he walked him to force in a run.
Raffy followed with a two-run single to chase Kershaw. Josh Lindblom entered and promptly gave up a two-run double to Allen Craig before Holliday struck out to mercifully end the inning. Add it all up, and the Cardinals were ahead to stay at 8-2.
The Double Play Dodgers made a triumphant return, as Jerry Hairston, Jr. ended the seventh and Loney (shocking, I know) ended the eighth. Matt Treanor struck out to end the game.
It's hard to believe just how badly Kershaw melted down in the middle innings, but that's exactly what happened. I made the reference to Billingsley before, as this has been a staple of his for years. Do great for four-five innings, then stink after that. That's the way it went for Kershaw in this, as he finished with a line of 5 2/3 innings for seven hits, eight runs, three walks, and four strikeouts.
I know Kershaw hasn't put up the numbers of his Cy Young run in 2011, so I can see why people would be concerned about him. But, I do think we should cut him some slack. It would be really, really hard to continue the pace he established last year. We expect perfection out of him because that's how good he could be, but even the best have clunkers. I'm sure he'll bounce back from this, as he's too hard of a worker not to.
One guy who I am a bit concerned about his Mark Ellis. I love the way he plays, which is hard all the time. But, in looking at the bottom line, he's hitting only .241 in July with a .317 OBP. That's just not going to get it done in the #2 spot ahead of Matt Kemp and Ethier. The funny thing is, he's actually hit in 10 of the 14 games this month, but his numbers are still pretty low. Let's hope he can start getting on base more.
The road trip is halfway over, and the Dodgers stand at 4-1. That's very good, especially when you consider they were only 2-4 in their homestand before this. Wednesday night will see Aaron Harang take on Kyle Lohse. Thursday will be a day game before heading over to San Francisco for a big three-game series.
No comments:
Post a Comment