9 runs in 7th and 8th bust open game for Dodgers

For the first time since April 7, the Dodgers are over the .500 mark. For a change, I'm thankful to say that it's their bats doing most of the talking.

Staked to a 4-1 lead entering the 7th inning, the Dodgers' bats absolutely unloaded on the helpless Florida Marlins. Between the 7th and 8th innings, they sent 18 men to the plate, scoring 9 runs on 7 hits. Throw in some walks, stolen bases, and errors, and the Marlins must have thought the game would never end. The Dodgers still don't hit home runs, but when they are stringing hits together and showing their speed, they are really tough to beat. Tonight was the perfect example of that.

Even with the big offensive output, a better story may have been Chad Billingsley's dominating effort. He's pitched well before, but has always managed to run into a wall later in the game. In the 5th tonight, he was faced with a bases loaded, 1-out situation. After getting a big out by forcing Dan Uggla to foul out to 1st, Jeremy Hermida hit a cheeseball infield single to score 1. Needing another big out, Bills K'd Jorge Cantu swinging. The bats took over soon after.

The final line for Billingsley was 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 8 K. After 4 loses to open the season, he finally has his 1st win. He's pitched better than his 5.20 ERA indicates, he just found a way tonight to avoid getting shelled in 1 inning. On the road against a scrappy Marlins team, it's a big win.

With the exception of Billingsley and Andruw Jones (big shock), every starter got at least a hit. Leading the charge as usual was Rafael Furcal, who was 5-6 with 3 runs and 1 stolen base. Other contributors were Matt Kemp (3-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 SB), Russell Martin (2-2, HR, 3 R, 1 RBI, 3 BB), and Blake DeWitt (2-5, 4 RBI). In the 7th and 8th, both James Loney and DeWitt had huge, 2-out, bases loaded triples.

Thursday's game will be an early one for you LA people, as it starts your time 9 a.m., my time at noon. I'll admit that with the exception of those ridiculous games overseas that Major League Baseball forces 2 teams to open the season in, I'm not used to waking up and watching a baseball game. I guess that means you have the rest of the day free, which is cool. Anyway, Hiroki Kuroda gets the ball and will look to bounce back from a poor start against Colorado last Friday.

2 sweeps in-a-row would be SWEET.

Kent rescues Dodgers from blown lead

It was a fast start for LA as they scored the first 5 runs of the game. By the end of the night, they had to do everything they could just to squeak out the victory.

Thankfully for the Dodgers, they had the right man up at the right time in Jeff Kent. With 2 down in the 9th and Andre Ethier on 2nd, Kent singled to center to score Ethier and take the lead, 7-6. Takashi Saito nailed the Marlins in order with 2 K's to seal the deal.

The night started off great against Andrew Martin, who looked completely lost. Russell Martin hit an RBI-single in the 1st to score Ethier for a quick 1-0 lead. The 2nd would bring 5 straight men reaching base starting with Derek Lowe hitting a single, all with 2 outs. Matt Kemp and Kent found good spots to place singles and a big 5-0 lead.

With Lowe on the mound, the hope was that this would be a cruise control victory. Instead, Bad Lowe took over. He was constantly struggling with his command, and when he did hit the zone, he was hammered. The middle of the order for the Fish of Dan Uggla, Jeremy Hermida, Jorge Cantu, and Luis Gonzalez (remember him?) all did the damage. About the only thing that went right during Florida's rally was that Hanley Ramirez got caught stealing twice. If he advances, who knows what the outcome would be.

Of course, it's hard to put all of the blame on Lowe, especially when he should've gotten through the 5th with no problems. But, with 2 down, James Loney botched the easiest ground ball ever, and the Marlins would tack on 3 unearned runs. Lowe still wasn't very good, but it's not all his fault.

As I said before, Kent was the perfect man to be at the plate in a big-game situation like he had in the 9th inning. He didn't try to kill the ball - he just made contact and let his team do the running. Very encouraging. I have to admit, I had plenty of feelings during the later innings that the Dodgers would somehow blow this one. They would have in the past. Winning this game against a pesky Marlins team is a great sign that the better ball they have been playing will keep up.

While I'm on this whole positivity thing, I hope Saito's save will at least quiet the idiotic critics who claim that Jonathan Broxton should now be the closer. Please. A couple of bad nights does not change the fact that Saito's still one of the top closers in the game. He had his stuff flowing tonight. Now shut up!

Chad Billingsley will look to make it 5 straight when he starts tomorrow against Scott Olsen. It'll be a good young guy matchup.

Mailbag

It's an off day today as the Dodgers arrive in Florida, fresh off a 3-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies. This week's topics are the difference between this year and last year in Takashi Saito, why the money spent on stadium upgrades wasn't spent on big-name players, if the China trip affected the team, and what exactly "options" means.

Read and be smart.

Loney singles home a sweep

One day after pounding the Colorado Rockies from the 1st inning, the Dodgers had to work extras to get the job done.

Fortunately for them, they were able to come through in the clutch, something that has plagued them all season long. James Loney's RBI-single with 1 down in the 10th scored Rafael Furcal to get the duke, 3-2. It's the first sweep of the season for the Dodgers, against the defending NL champions no less.

Last week at this time, the Dodgers scored 3 total runs in a 3-game sweep in Atlanta and looked like the worst team on Earth. Well, that's probably because they were the worst team on Earth. After splitting in Cincinnati and home against Arizona, they welcomed the Rockies to Chavez Ravine in a battle between 2 struggling teams. I'm thankful to say that the Dodgers were the ones that left feeling much better about themselves.

The Dodgers got the scoring started in the bottom of the 4th by scoring 2 runs all with 2 outs (did I just say that?). Blake DeWitt tripled, and after Chin-lung Hu was intentionally walked, Esteban Loaiza came through with a run scoring single. Furcal added 1 next for a 2-0 lead.

The lead would be short-lived when the Rocks used a Willy Taveras double and Todd Helton single the very next inning to even the game at 2. That would be the end of the scoring until the 10th.

Jeff Francis had his 2nd good start in 5 tries by giving up only the 2 runs in 7 innings. The Dodgers did have their chances against him at various times, but they left 10 on base. Shockingly (sarcasm indeed), Andruw Jones left 3 of those with 2 outs. He went 0-4 with 3 K's and continues to prove his case of being the worst free agent signing in baseball. I'm trying to find new, creative words to describe how much he sucks but the well has run dry. That's all I've got to say about that.

Esteban Loazia was rewarded with the start a couple of days ago, and made the most out of it. In addition to his RBI-single, he went 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. Very efficient day for him. He threw strikes and made the Rockies beat them with their bats, which didn't happen. For the #5 spot in the rotation, that's all you can ask for.

Much like the last series against the Arizona Diamondbacks was important, this was as well. They can look back at those 2 series and be very pleased by going 4-1. With the D-Backs playing the best ball in the Majors, maybe being 6 games back at this point isn't so bad after all. True, it could be better, but they are now in 2nd place and can look to build on this recent momentum.

After an off day Monday, the Dodgers will be in Florida for 3 starting Tuesday. The Marlins are one of the more surprising teams in baseball with a 15-10 record, good for 1st in the tough NL East. That won't last forever, but it's fun to see them play so well for now. Even without Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis, they keep plugging away and winning. Derek Lowe will be given the ball in Game #1.

Dodgers put this one away early

At first I thought I was just seeing things. Then I thought I was seeing things over and over and over. Thankfully I wasn't.

The Dodgers put up a 10-spot on the Colorado Rockies on Saturday night to get the easy victory, 11-3. They went into the bottom of the 1st down 2-0 thanks to a Garrett Atkins 2-run homer. Then they must have realized that they were about to face Mark Redman, someone who hasn't had a quality start since Little League. Seriously, how in the world is this guy starting for the defending NL champions? Mind boggling.

Anyway, Redman was his own worst enemy. He walked 3 straight batters, hit 2, gave up 4 singles, 1 double, 1 sac-fly, and the big grand slam to Matt Kemp. The Rocks must have acknowledge defeat early on because they let Redman stay on to pitch 6 innings. His ERA alone after the first inning jumped 4 runs to somewhere in the 9's.

For the Dodgers, it was another case of hitting being contagious. The 1st actually started with Rafael Furcal grounding out, but Juan Pierre singled, stole 2nd, went to 3rd on a wild pitch, and scored on Kemp's sac-fly. Again, for all of the Pierre haters out there (and I've been one of them), that's why he's kept around - he causes plenty of trouble on the bases. Kemp ended the inning with 5 RBI, and Brad Penny even chipped in with an RBI-single.

After the 1st inning where Penny gave up 2 runs, he was really good. He finished at 7 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K. After starting the year with control problems, this now makes his 3rd game in a row where he has been in command and picked up the W. He's their ace, so if he can keep the walks down, he'll have success. His ERA is now 2.89 with a WHIP of 1.31.

Of course, for those of you that have been watching Sportscenter at all today, this game will best be known for home plate umpire Kerwin Danley being knocked out by a 96 MPH fastball from Penny. It seemed obvious to me that Russell Martin was crossed up, and was most likely expecting something off speed. Martin didn't even react to the ball until it was over his glove. The reports were that he's doing much better in the hospital, so hopefully he'll be back on the diamond soon. But man, that looked scary. It's a good thing he didn't get hurt much worse.

The Dodgers will look for their first sweep of the season when Esteban Loaiza takes the mound against Jeff Francis this afternoon. Loaiza is part of the revolving door for the 5th starting spot with Chan Ho Park and Hong-Chih Kuo. But let's be honest here, we're all just waiting for the inevitable call-up of Clayton Kershaw, who's dominating Double-A ball. Loaiza has a chance to look really good with a quality start today and a Dodgers' win.

Nomar to be DL'd, so DeWitt is back

I made a small joke the other day that "when" Nomar Garciaparra (not "if") gets hurt, Blake DeWitt will be back with the big club. Little did I know how right I would be.

Nomar exited Friday night's game against the Colorado Rockies with a strained left calf muscle and will be back on the shelf once again. It's a positive for DeWitt fans, as he'll get the call back up. That demotion lasted, oh... about 5 minutes.

Look, I can fully appreciate Nomar's desire and heart to play ball, but enough is enough. The guy is simply WAY too much of an injury risk at this point in his career, and is just an accident waiting to happen. He was actually hitting pretty his last few games, but like always, cannot find the ability to stay on the field.

So what to do with him? I hate to say it, but it's time to seriously consider moving him, whether that be by trade or outright releasing him. Andy LaRoche will be back soon, and while he's had his fair share of injuries, it's not nearly as bad as Nomar. DeWitt has played well enough to keep getting starts for now, but LaRoche is their future.

No disrespect meant to Nomar, but it's time to acknowledge that resigning him was a mistake and for the organization to move on.

Don't ever gid rid of Russell Martin!

On a night where the Dodgers lost both Nomar Garciaparra and Andruw Jones to injuries, Russell Martin showed why he is the true MVP of the team.

Martin started off the night as the catcher, moved over to 3rd base for the first time in his Major League career when Nomar was hurt in the 9th inning, and hit the game winning sacrifice fly in the 13th to get the W, 8-7. He ended the game at 4-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, and raised his average 40 points to .276. Not a bad night.

This was a back-and-forth game much of the night, as each team puts runs on the board in innings 2-4. The Rockies took a 4-1 lead off of Hiroki Kuroda in the 3rd on a run-scoring double by Matt Holliday and a 2-RBI single by Garrett Atkins. The Dodgers immediately responded when Rafael Furcal and Andrew Jones (no... really) each reached base to start the bottom of the frame. Furcal scored on a Nomar single, Jones on a wild pitch, and Martin and Juan Pierre added RBI-singles for a 6-4 lead.

Kuroda ended up pitching 6 innings, but gave up 5 runs on 9 hits, his first poor start in 5 outings. Cory Wade made his 2nd appearance and gave up 1 run in an inning. Takashi Saito had a blown save, part his fault and part backup catcher Gary Bennett's fault when he let a passed ball score the tying run. The game could have been MUCH worse with Scott Podsednik on 3rd with nobody out, but a flyout by Troy Tulowitzki and a double-play ball by Matt Holliday ended the inning.

Just as the Rockies benefited from an error, but Dodgers started their rally in the 13th thanks to an error by Clint Barmes at SS to put Matt Kemp on. After a Bennett single moved Kemp to 3rd, Martin's sac-fly scored him with 1 down for the game winner.

Much like Martin, Chan Ho Park deserves plenty of praise as he pitched 3 scoreless innings in "overtime." His WHIP is really high at 1.73, but he's managed to get key outs when he's needed them to keep is ERA at 3.00. Last night works out huge for him in keeping his job in the Majors.

The Dodgers have been on a win one, lose one streak this week, so they will look to break that today when they send their top guy, Brad Penny, to the mound against the awful Mark Redman. A night start will work well for everyone, and may mean that Martin will talk his way into the lineup again.

Needing a 12th arm, DeWitt is odd man out

Blake DeWitt has gone from a virtual nobody in the minor league system to the everyday starting 3rd baseman for the Dodgers, all thanks to the injuries of Nomar Garciaparra and Andy LaRoche. He started in 15 of the 18 games he appeared in, and was praised for his hard work.

Unfortunately, he became a victim of the numbers game as he was sent down to Triple-A Las Vegas today in order to make room for right-handed reliever Cory Wade.

His final numbers are modest, but pretty good for someone who jumped from Double-A to the Bigs without any prior experience: .255 AVG, .367 OBP, 4 2B, 8 BB, 5 RBI. More impressively, however, is that in 57 total chances, he committed only 1 error for 98% fielding.

As for the new guy, Wade has been at Double-A Jacksonville and has compiled a 4.30 ERA with 13 K in 14.2 IP. He'll throw strikes, which obviously will make Joe Torre feel comfortable about putting him out there if need be. I speculated earlier today that since Jonathan Broxton and Takashi Saito both threw over 30 pitches last night, they probably wouldn't be available for tonight's game against the Diamondbacks. It will be good to have that extra arm ready to go.

I have a feeling we have not heard that last of DeWitt, as he made quite the positive impression. When.... oops, I mean IF Nomar gets hurt again, DeWitt's phone could come ringing for a return.

Derek Lowe injury update

Good news for the Dodgers, as Derek Lowe should be ready for his next start, which will probably come next Tuesday in Florida.

Lowe was cruising along last night against the Diamondbacks, but had to leave with tightness in his right elbow. With Jason Schmidt gone for who knows how long, Brad Penny and Chad Billingsley fighting with command issues, and Hiroki Kuroda just a rookie, it'll be good that Lowe will not be out for any extended period of time.

Dodgers hand Haren 1st loss

FINALLY the Dodgers were able to do something that has plagued them all season: get clutch, 2-out RBI's. In fact, 6 of their runs came with 2 outs, leading the way to a 8-3 victory over the Diamondbacks. It was Haren's first loss of the season in 5 starts.

As I stated before last night's game, this may have been the strangest of Joe Torre lineups yet. When Nomar Garciaparra is your cleanup hitter, it's probably a sign for desperate times. Last night, though, it worked. Nomar got the scoring started in the 1st with an RBI-single to score Rafael Furcal. James Loney then drove in Nomar for a quick 2-0 lead.

Pretty much each person in the lineup contributed to the win in some way. Furcal stole 2 bases to go along with 2 hits, raising his average to .398. Andre Ethier hit #3 and scored 3 times. Loney drove in 2. Matt Kemp hit another double and drove in 2. Chin-lung Hu got the start at 2nd for the resting Jeff Kent and went 2-3 with 2 RBI. Weird lineup or not, it worked.

But remember how I said "pretty much" everyone did well? That's because Andruw Jones, hitting in the 2-hole, did absolutely horrendous yet again. He was 1-5 with 2 K's, and the 1 hit was a puny single up the middle. He now is "hitting" .159 with 25 K's in 69 AB's. He continues to be a complete waste of space and the worst free agent signing of the year.

Derek Lowe turned in a good performance, so it was the Good Lowe last night. He finished at 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. Unfortunately, he had to leave after the 5th because of right elbow tightness. Considering that he's right handed, and the elbow is part of his pitching motion, that can't be good. Hopefully it was just more precautionary and he'll be ok. More on that when I find out.

Jonathon Broxton got the hold and Takashi Saito got the save, but both had to throw a lot of pitches (Broxton - 32, Saito - 34). This is where the lack of available arms in the bullpen really showed. Scott Proctor got the night off, so Chan Ho Park entered in the 6th and pitched a scoreless inning. He got into trouble in the 7th, so Joe Beimel took over. Broxton then came in later in the 7th and pitched into the 8th, where Saito then got out of the inning when Miguel Montero pinch-hit and lined out to left with the bases loaded. The D-Backs put 2 more on in the 9th, but could not score.

With the amount of pitches thrown by Broxton and Saito, you have to wonder if they will be available tonight. They had to throw many more pitches than they're used to, so expect Proctor to get called on at some point. The Dodgers really need Chad Billingsley to throw deep into the game tonight. He has yet to last more than 5 innings this year. He was great for the first 4 innings against the Braves last start, but then fell apart. He's till young, so he'll mature gradually and learn to battle through rough spots.

Jones hitting 2nd, Nomar cleaning up tonight

I would definitely qualify tonight's lineup against the D-Backs as "quirky."

In another one of Joe Torre's lineup shufflings, he has Andruw Jones in the 2-hole, Nomar in the cleanup spot, Matt Kemp 7th, and Chin-lung Hu 8th. Jeff Kent gets the night off against the dangerous Dan Haren.

Should be an interesting game...

Hitting (or not hitting) is contagious

What a night Monday was. The Dodgers came ready to play from the first pitch of the game. Rafael Furcal led off with a home run, Russell Martin was 3-3, Matt Kemp had 2 doubles, James Loney had 3 RBI, and Nomar Garciaparra hit his first home run of the year. Yup, it was quite the exciting night.

So of course that meant that the Dodgers would then revert back to their old ways 1 night later.

Up 1-0 in the 3rd inning from a Furcal RBI-double, it was all downhill from there as the Cincinnati Reds took the last game, 8-1. The Dodgers could only gather 5 hits, but did collect 6 walks. But, they then hit into 3 double plays. It was lousy, un-clutch hitting once again.

This was the kind of game you'd watch and just constantly roll your eyes at. Put a man on base? Good. Ground into inning-killing DP's? Bad. Hit 3 doubles? Good. Leave 4 runners in scoring position on with 2 outs? Bad. Allowing the other team to have 4, 2-out RBI? Bad. Lousy starting pitching? Bad. Striking out 9 times? Bad. Looking lifeless, clueless, and utterly pathetic for nearly the entire night? Bad, bad, bad.

Quite simply put, it was a pathetic effort from a pathetic team. The Dodgers are just incapable of stringing together solid innings and beating teams they should be beating. Instead, they are a free-swinging, low-hitting, completely beatable team. They are the worst team in the NL West and deserve to be there. Even the San Francisco Giants are better than them. That's really sad.

If the Dodgers ever want to prove they can be a contending team, then they need to man up and beat the Arizona Diamondbacks the next 2 games. It won't be easy with Dan Haren taking the mound tomorrow, but I don't care. They have to win a couple of big games in a row at some point. The next 2 days are the perfect time to do so.

Raffy and the Dodgers talking extension

I'm willing to look for any sort of good news after that horrific performance over the weekend in Atlanta. I think I just found it.

According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, Rafael Furcal and the Dodgers are willing to talk about extending his contract during the season. From what I've seen in the past, usually top stars would rather not be bothered talking during the season, instead opting to wait until its conclusion. This is definitely a good sign.

He's in the final year of his 3-year/$39 million contract, of which he is earning $13 million this year. Now that he's healthy, he is proving once again why he is one of the top SS in the league. Currently he has numbers of .391 AVG, .494 OBP, 8 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 4 SB. He's hit in the leadoff spot in every game and has been virtually the only sure thing in the Dodgers' lineup. His value is increasing with each game he plays.

I like the aggressive move of Ned Colletti to try and lock him up. Even with prospects like Chin-lung Hu and Tony Abreu waiting in the wings, Furcal is a legit All-Star and deserves a fat new contract. While Colletti has been criticized for giving big contracts to players like Juan Pierre and Jason Schmidt, signing Furcal would be met with open arms.

Braves own the Dodgers yet again

Here's some numbers to look at regarding the last 3 games in Atlanta:

3 runs
17 hits
20 K's
1-23 with RISP
52 runners left on base
23 runners left to end an inning

Now here's a look at how some of our "superstars" did:

Andre Ethier: 2-10, 2 K
Nomar Garciaparra: 0-8
Matt Kemp: 1-8, 2 K
Jeff Kent: 2-7, K
James Loney: 0-12, 5K
Russell Martin: 1-8, HR, 2 K
Andruw Jones: 2-8, HR, 5 K

So there you have it. They'd keep the game close early, but when it came time to get a big hit and take over, they looked helpless. The Braves totally outplayed them in every way imaginable. Plain and simple.

Needless to say, I'm embarrassed. In fact, this 3-game series was one of the most embarrassing series I can ever recall the Dodgers playing in recent memory, and that's saying something. They've lost before, but to look as lifeless and pathetic as they have is inexcusable.

Despite not being too sharp all game, Hiroki Kuroda tried his best to keep them in the game, and he only gave up 2 runs in 6 innings. That would normally be enough to win, but nope... not the Dodgers. Bad swing after bad swing after bad swing. I can't believe I once said that their lineup is "deep." Ya, they're deep enough to have everyone look terrible, not just certain guys.

So instead of sending a message to rest of the league that they are capable of beating good teams on the road, they are once again a complete laughingstock. I have a feeling Ned Colletti will start feeling the heat that his big free agent signings haven't done well, perhaps rightfully so. But what is forgotten is that people were screaming to keep the "young guys" and let them grow and develop. Well, he's kept them, and they suck right now. What's he supposed to do?

The Dodgers not only lose, but look unwatchable in the process. Thank God I'm a Lakers fan and I could just turn off the Dodgers game today. Like I said the other day, you can make changes to the front office and coaching staff, but it's up to the players to perform. They haven't done that in the least bit.

I sincerely hope each and every hitter walks up to not only Joe Torre but the entire pitching staff as well and apologizes for their pathetic performance. That's the least they can do.

Obviously I'm not involved with the team in any way, but I can honestly question their work ethic right now, because it sucks. Until they decide to change the way they approach the game, they will continue to be the most underachieving team in the league.

Gosh, what a great start to the season...

Another sad offensive effort

Here we go again.

It seems like everytime the Dodgers go to Atlanta, they suck. No matter who's playing on each team, they look like they are not even in the Braves' league. Today, they proved once again that they are not.

Despite putting the first batter on base in 7 of the 9 innings, the Dodgers could only score 1 lousy freakin' run. 1. That's it. It's unreal the different amount of ways that they can turn something positive into a negative so quickly. But that's our Dodgers for ya.

Seriously, just think about that for a second. If you were told before the game that your team would get the initial runner on base 7 times, wouldn't you think they'd have at least a few runs scored? Nope, not the Dodgers! That would be the easy way to do things. They like to do things the hard way. Grounding into 3 double plays while leaving 16 total men on base (5 to end the inning) is a recipe for a big, fat L. That's what they deserve.

I know I know I know, it's only April, but excuse me if it's "Deja vu all over again" for me. It seems like every damn year the Dodgers get really good pitching, but are let down time and time again by a pathetic offense. Looks like the same old typical Dodger BS again this year.

Chad Billingsley gets the loss, but I can't blame him. He struck out 9 before the floodgates were opened in the 5th. He was constantly having to make perfect pitches, because God forbid his team score some runs for him. So pretty much, the only way he was going to win was to be... well, perfect. He was for awhile, but ran into too much trouble eventually. Don't blame him for this loss, blame the team surrounding him.

Rafeal Furcal (2-4) and Andruw Jones (1-1, HR, 2 BB, RBI) were the only positives in this game. Nomar Garciaparra started at 3rd and for some strange reason hit #6, and responded with an 0-4 and an error. Great game! Russell Martin got the day off, and his backup Gary Bennett proved why he is a backup with an 0-2 before being lifted late in the game.

Here's the bottom line: blame Joe Torre, blame Ned Colletti, blame the coaches, blame the entire Dodgers' organization if you want. It's the responsibility of the players that are put on the field to produce, and right now they are not. That's why unless something drastic changes, they will continue to be mediocre, a letdown, and not even sniff the playoffs.

Hiroki Kuroda starts tomorrow against some guy on the Braves I've never heard of. Then again, the last 2 games the Braves have thrown nobodies up there and won. Think the Dodgers have 1 good game in them before going to Cincinnati? We shall see...