On a beautiful summer afternoon in San Francisco, the Dodgers could do no wrong. The result is one step closer to regaining first place in the NL West.
Chad Billingsley pitched over seven innings of shutout ball, Matt Kemp was a triple away from the cycle, and the Dodgers crushed the Giants, 10-0. The Giants' lead in the West is down to one game.
For the first time this season, Mark Ellis found himself in the leadoff spot, and he singled to start the game. He actually was once quite used to leading off since he has 898 at-bats there. Andre Ethier hit in the #2 hole, again for the first time, and he flew out. Kemp stepped up in his usual #3 spot, and his two-run homer got the game off to a great start. It was his 15th jack of the season.
Chad Billingsley and Barry Zito kept the score as is until the fifth, when the Dodgers started to add runs and make it a runaway. Luis Cruz led off and singled, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. A.J. Ellis doubled for runners in scoring position. Billingsley increased his own lead with a sac-fly RBI, and it was 3-0.
An RBI double by Jerry Hairston, Jr. to score Kemp in the sixth got the score to 4-0 and chased Zito from the game.
The game wasn't a blowout yet, but it sure was after the seventh when the Dodgers scored three more. A.J. Ellis started it with a solo blast to left, his eighth of the year. With two outs, Ethier reached on an error by Brandon Crawford, which was costly. Kemp and Hanley Ramirez, hitting cleanup for the first time, hit two straight RBI doubles, and it was a 7-0 game.
The final runs came in the ninth off of Brad Penny, who once started the All-Star Game for the Dodgers in 2006, but is clearly on the last legs of his career. Mark Ellis singled with one out, and Tony Gwynn, in for Ethier after crashing into the fence on a fantastic catch, walked. Kemp had a chance for the cycle, but settled for another RBI on a double. Ramirez collected his third RBI on a two-run single, making it a double-digit advantage.
Javy Guerra got the final two outs of the eighth and a perfect ninth to finish it off. Maybe he should get a crack at being the setup man, instead of watching Ronald Belisuckio... uh, I mean Belisario stink it up again? I'm just sayin'.
While the offense was obviously terrific, scoring 10 runs on 13 hits while leaving only four men, it was Billingsley who really brought his "A" game. He hurled 7 1/3 innings for four hits, no runs, no walks, and two strikeouts. Even Bruce Bochy commented after the game how impressive he was at hitting his spots, something that has not been one of his strong points, to say the least. On this day, however, it sure was.
In two games since returning from the DL, Billingsley has giving up only one run in 13 innings, lowering his ERA from 4.30 to 3.89. So I'll give the devil his due - he's been great. Can he keep it up? Let's just say that I'm VERY skeptical. I realize it would be hard for any pitcher to keep up numbers like those, but I'm not sure he can even be good enough going forward. We've seen this song and dance plenty of times before - look great, then look awful. Let's just hold out hope that maybe the rest has refreshed his arm and he's good to go. We'll see.
The heart of the order of Kemp and Ramirez had a big day. They combined to go 6-for-10 with four runs, seven RBIs, three doubles, and a homer. I'd say this deal for Ramirez has worked out so far! He's hitting .375 as a Dodger, raising his overall average six points to .252. There's still plenty of work to do, but he does look like a new player so far. And that's exactly what the Dodgers were banking on.
The Dodgers are certainly a team of streaks. They started the road trip with four straight wins (five overall), then lost three straight, and now it's back to two wins. I guess that means they're due for at least another win, and if it comes on Sunday, that would mean a tie for first in the West. It would also mean a 7-3 roadtrip, which is awesome.
It'll be a great matchup on the mound, as Clayton Kershaw takes on Ryan Vogelsong. Kershaw loves pitching against the Giants, but I doubt many people realize Vogelsong has a 2.26 ERA. This should be fun to watch.
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