With the Nationals coming into Thursday night's ballgame sporting a magic number of one, you know they wanted to get the win themselves, and not back their way into the postseason.
And fortunately for them, they got to play the Dodgers.
The Dodgers only got one run to continue their trend of futility, and the Nationals were able to easily dispose of them to get the win, 4-1. While the Nationals are 5 1/2 in front of the Braves for the NL East crown, the Dodgers continue to tumble by falling three games in back of the Cardinals for the second Wild Card spot.
There's not much to report here after another frustrating night, but what the hell, here goes nothing.
Chris Capuano was put in charge of getting the Dodgers back on track, but in the third, the Nationals started their scoring. Jayson Werth singled leading off, but a Bryce Harper grounder forced him at second for one down. Ryan Zimmerman then hit an RBI double to make it 1-0. Zimmerman advanced to third on a grounder and came in to score on a wild pitch.
Down 2-0, the Dodgers had the top of their order due up after going down in order the first time through. Mark Ellis got into one leading off, as his solo shot to left made it 2-1. Shane Victorino then struck out and Matt Kemp popped up. Adrian Gonzalez singled, but of course Hanley Ramirez popped up for the final out.
Any thought of a comeback was quickly erased in the bottom of the inning. Ian Desmond walked leading off. Danny Espinosa then doubled him in to go up 3-1. A sac-fly RBI by Kurt Suzuki later, and it was now 4-1.
When you look at a Dodgers' lineup of Victorino, Kemp, Gonzalez, Ramirez, and Andre Ethier, normally you'd think that an early three-run deficit isn't a big deal. At least that's what you should think, right?
Wrong!
These current Dodgers couldn't string together a good inning if it was their sole job on Earth (which it kind of is if you think about it...). From the fifth inning on, only Kemp and pinch-hitter Bobby Abreu singled, and that was it. A whole lot of swings, and a whole lot of nothing.
A whole lot of nothing, kind of like what the Dodgers have shown the world this entire pitiful month of September.
Capuano had a couple of rough innings, and unfortunately, that's not nearly good enough to get a win these days. He went only five innings for six hits, four runs (three earned), one walk, and three strikeouts. Through June he was 9-3 with a 2.69 ERA. Now he's 11-11 with a 3.65 ERA. It hasn't been very pretty.
I guess the only positive is that the bullpen did a good job. It didn't matter one bit with the offense sucking so bad again, but I digress. Jamey Wright, Paco Rodriguez, Kenley Jansen, Randy Choate, and Shawn Tolleson pitched a nearly perfect final four innings, giving up only one hit and one walk. It was especially good to see Jansen back in the mix. Glad he's healthy and ready to go again.
Honestly, there's just not much I can even say anymore about these guys. It's the same old story over and over. The lineup looks like it should be lethal, yet it's strikeouts, pop ups, and weak grounders all game. They still look like they're all trying to hit grand slams with nobody on base. I'm stunned they haven't even considered changing their approach at the plate, but I guess that's just not gonna happen.
At only four games over .500, not only are the Dodgers dangerously close to being left in the dust for the postseason, but they might not even finish with a winning record anymore. At this rate, it wouldn't even surprise me. Like Don Mattingly admitted after the game, the season is definitely slipping away.
And lucky them, they get to go to Cincinnati for three starting Friday. The Reds' magic number for the NL Central is down to two, so beating the Dodgers will get them a pass into the Division Series. Joe Blanton and his sparkling 4.97 ERA takes on Bronson Arroyo.
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