Thursday, August 16, 2012

Dodgers take over 1st on Melky's bad day

Could Melky Cabrera's stupidity be the Dodgers' fortune?

It sure looked that way for one day anyway.  After Cabrera was busted for 50 games for elevated testosterone levels, the Giants lost an afternoon tilt to the Nationals, 6-4.  The Dodgers then took over sole possession of first place in the NL West with a win at night over the Pirates, 9-3.

The first inning saw another score and another early lead for the boys in blue.  Shane Victornio beat out an infield single, then advanced to second on Josh Harrison's wild throw to first.  Mark Ellis followed with a single for runners on the corners, and Matt Kemp's grounder scored a run, making it 1-0.

The Pirates tied Clayton Kershaw in the second.  Gabby Sanchez led off with a ground rule double to right.  Two straight deep fly balls got him home, with the RBI coming from Garrett Jones.  Harrison also flew out deep to right, and the Pirates temporarily made it look like they'd make a game of this.

"Temporarily" being the key word, as the Dodgers took the lead back in the third and never relinquished it.  It started on a single by Ellis and a walk to Hanley Ramirez an out later.  Andre Ethier loaded the bases with a single.  A sac-fly RBI from Juan Rivera made it 2-1.

The Dodgers started to take full command of this game in the fifth.  Kershaw singled with one out, followed by one from Victorino.  Ellis grounded out but advanced both men.  Kemp got his only hit on the night with a two-run double, and it was 4-1.  Ramirez stepped up next and doubled as well to score Kemp, making it 5-1.

Andrew McCutchen tried to lead the Pirates back with a solo homer in the bottom of the fifth, his 24th of the year for the MVP candidate. 

A somewhat close game was blown wide open for the second straight night with a big inning late.  Ramirez and Ethier started the seventh with singles.  James Loney pinch-hit for Rivera and delivered with an RBI single, and not a double play.  Hooray!  Luis Cruz continued his hot series with an RBI ground rule double, putting the score at 7-2.  A.J. Ellis and Kershaw both hit sac-fly RBIs to give the Dodgers at 9-2 lead.

Kershaw stayed on to pitch the eighth, and eventually gave up an RBI single to Clint Barmes for the game's last score.  Brandon League pitched a scoreless ninth, which included a double play ball from Sanchez.

This was really the perfect night for the Dodgers to take advantage of some really bad news for the Giants, and they sure did.  Just like the night before, it was a combination of great starting pitching and production all throughout the lineup that got the job done.  And hopefully will continue to do so going forward.

First, let's start with the offense.  They collected 15 hits, 10 of which came against Wandy Rodriguez.  By the way, he's been awful since coming over from the Astros, going 0-3 with a 5.47 ERA.  Not exactly what the Bucs thought they'd be getting.

Anyway, Victorino and Ethier had three hits each, and Mark Ellis, Ramirez, and even Kershaw had two.  The offense also did the little things like hitting three sacrifice flies.  This is obviously not a team that will light it up by hitting it out of the ballpark over and over, so this is how they need to win: get 'em on, get 'em over, and get 'em in.

Kershaw was awesome yet again, this time going eight innings for six hits, three runs, no walks, and eight strikeouts.  Like Chad Billingsley, he's on a great run as of late, winning his last four straight starts.  The eight K's were the most he's had since collecting nine against the Mets on July 1.

Although this was a minor part of the game, I'm glad League had a good appearance.  It didn't look that way at first, as he walked McCutchen leading off in a blowout game, which is never a smart thing to do.  But he got Sanchez on the double play ball, then Mike McKenry grounding out.  I still think that once he settles in, he can be a great setup man, especially with Ronald Belisario struggling.

The Dodgers have a chance for a four-game sweep on the road as they send Joe Blanton to the hill Thursday afternoon.  The Pirates counter with A.J. Burnett, who's probably just the guy the Pirates would want to try and stop a skid.

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