Dare I say the Dodgers' bullpen is putting it all together?

If the past week is any indication, then the answer is an emphatic "YES."

After Brett Anderson dazzled with 10 strikeouts in seven innings of one-run ball, Adam Liberatore and the returning Pedro Baez each struck out the side in the last two innings, and the Dodgers cruised to a 7-1 win in Miami.  It helped that the Marlins looked completely incompetent at times, and that their big superstar Giancarlo Stanton broke a bone in his left hand during the game.  But the Dodgers looked really good nonetheless.

We all know the book on beating the Dodgers: get their starter out of there early enough to attack their middle relief.  If you can't do that, then forget about it, because Kenley Jansen is as good as it gets at the end of the game.  For much of the season, the Dodgers looked helpless at times in getting the ball to Jansen.

Maybe that's finally turning around, as over the last seven days, the bullpen has been nearly flawless.  Yimi Garcia, J.P. Howell, Matt West, Juan Nicasio, and Jansen have all pitched at least a couple of innings without being scored on.  Baez made his return on Friday and was perfect, blowing away the three Marlins he faced.

Liberatore has bounced back from a rough start in June to lower his ERA to 2.82.  Joel Peralta is also back, and has two straight scoreless appearances.

Add it all up, and for the first time in quite awhile, the Dodgers have to be feeling good about their options in innings 6-8.  There's been so many moving parts this year that it's hard to pinpoint the exact roles for each, but here's what I would do if I'm Don Mattingly:

6th - 8th Innings: Garcia, Howell, Nicasio
8th Inning: Liberatore, Peralta, Baez
9th Inning: Jansen (duh)

I'll leave Liberatore in the late-inning role right now only for matchups.  Peralta was brought in to be that setup guy, but as long as Baez throws that hard and effectively as he showed Friday night, he deserves some chances as well. 

Nicasio was never meant to be playing such a big role, but much to his credit, he's been fantastic with a 1.78 ERA.  I think he'd be good as a bridge in the earlier innings to the setup and closer.  That can easily change if the other guys flop.

The bullpen has been maligned at various points this year, but if you're looking at the bottom line, it's that they're third in the NL in ERA (2.96) and K's (236), and second in BAA (.219).  That's pretty darn good. 

With healthier arms now, those numbers could get even better soon.

Key games in the Dodgers' 2015 season

Spring Training is humming along without much news to report of.  About the only exciting things to have happened were Will Farrell pitching a perfect 1/3 of an inning, and Aroldis Chapman throwing behind Justin Turner for God knows what reason.  Other than that, not much going on.

So, let's get ourselves excited for when the games count for good.  Here's a look at some key/big/fun games in the Dodgers' 2015 schedule.

Monday, April 6 vs. Padres - Home opener, and the return of Matt Kemp
Monday, April 13 vs. Mariners - First Interleague set
Tuesday, April 21 at Giants - First tilt against the defending World Series champs
Monday, May 11 at Marlins - First matchup with old friends Dee Gordon and Dan Haren
Friday, May 29 at Cardinals - First matchup with the team that knocked the Dodgers out of the playoffs... again
Monday, June 22 at Cubs - Four-game set again Jon Lester, Joe Maddon, and a suddenly relevant Cubs team
Friday, July 17 at Nationals - First game after the All-Star break against a preseason World Series contender
Friday, July 31 vs. Angels - Freeway Series begins
Thursday, August 13 vs. Reds - First time seeing Chapman since Spring Training...
Monday, September 14 vs. Rockies - Last big homestand of the season, a 10-game set with the Rockies, Pirates, and Diamondbacks
Sunday, October 4 vs. Padres - Final game of the regular season, coming full circle

There you have it.  In examining the schedule, there are a heck of a lot of division games to start the season, and of course the last couple of weeks as well.  Then they have this quirk: they start July by playing the DBacks, end August with the Giants, and have no other division games in between.  That's right - there's virtually no games within the NL West for two straight months.  That seems very unusual.

The Interleague games are with the AL West.  The Freeway Series is always fun, and a bit more so this year with Howie Kendrick in Dodger blue.  Who knows what the A's will look like, but they always find a way.  The Mariners have two stars in Robinson Cano and King Felix.  The Rangers were just dealt a huge blow by losing Yu Darvish for the season.  And the Astros?  Well, they do have young talent, so we'll see.

Gordon and Haren traded to the Marlins

Day Three of the 2014 Winter Meetings will go down as a very big, and a very busy, one for the Dodgers.

First there was the acquisition of Jimmy Rollins from the Phillies.  That alone seemed like enough for the day.  Except it wasn't.

One day ago the Dodgers were both being linked to and denying a Dee Gordon trade to the Marlins.  Well, it's happened, and Dan Haren will go along for the ride.

The Dodgers have traded Gordon and Haren to the Marlins for top pitching prospect Andrew Heaney.  Also coming from Miami are second baseman Enrique Hernandez, right-handed pitcher Chris Hatcher, and catcher Austin Barnes.

First, let's take a look at Heaney.  MLB.com has him ranked as the #18 overall prospect, and the #2 overall left-handed pitcher.  He's stands 6'2" and will turn 24 next June.  His profile describes him as a guy who throws up to 95 mph with a "wipeout" slider.  Sounds like another lefty on the Dodgers right now.  He also has developed a changeup for his third pitch, which has really raised his stock.

By the way, who's the #1 ranked lefty?  Julio Urias... of the Dodgers.  Nice!

The other three players are more for depth.  Hernandez has one year of big league experience, appearing in 42 games with the Astros and Marlins, hitting .248.  Hatcher has appeared in 81 games for the Marlins, all out of the bullpen, with a 4.82 ERA.  Barnes has never played above the Double-A level after being drafted in 2011.

So, the big chip is obviously Heaney, who will join Urias as the next big guns ready to step in for the Dodgers.  This makes me think that the new management might not be afraid to trade Zack Greinke this upcoming year if they really do think he'll opt out of his contract.  At least they have some very good arms ready to step in, plus they can get more value in return via trade.  We shall see.

I discussed Gordon more in-depth yesterday, so check out my post about him here.  I will say that I very much enjoyed watching him emerge as an everyday player this past season, as there is simply no match for his speed.  His defense at second was much-improved throughout the season, so I hope the Marlins leave him there.  If he can cut down on his strikeouts and not be tempted to crush the ball too often, he'll be an All-Star again for sure.

Haren certainly had an up-and-down year in LA, as he looked like steal of the free agency class to start the season, fell into a horrible slump around July, then settled back down for some good starts down the stretch.  He finished at 13-11 with a 4.02 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in 32 starts.  All things considered, he did his job for the most part at the back end of the rotation.  I just wish he was more consistent, as when he was bad, he was REALLY bad.

With Rollins in the fold and Gordon and Haren shipped out, the next big name on the list is Matt Kemp.  There's still plenty of talk about him going to the Padres, so don't fall asleep on that yet.  Considering how rapid fire the moves on this day have gone, it could only be a matter of "when" and not "if" this will happen.

Gordon could go from All-Star to traded

While the Matt Kemp to San Diego rumors continue to dominate talk about the Dodgers at the Winter Meetings, here's another tidbit that could be interesting - Dee Gordon is being made available by the new management.

Who knows what the level of "available" is, as this doesn't initially strike me as something the Dodgers are hotly pursuing.  I get the feeling it's more of an "If you like him, let's talk" type of thing.

One team that perhaps would like to talk is the Marlins, who might already be showing some interest.

There are a couple of reasons to believe that Gordon really could be on his way out.  For starters, the Gordon we saw in the second half of last season did not come close to matching the All-Star reserve at second base we saw in the first.  His average was around the same (.292 before, .284 after), but his OBP went way down (.344/.300).  He also started striking out a bunch more, and while he led all of baseball in stolen bases at 64, he started getting caught more in the second half despite playing in much less games.

The other reason is that the Dodgers have Alex Guerrero and Erisbel Arruebarrena waiting in the wings, and they're not cheap.  They're pretty much opposites of each other right now, as Guerrero has the bat, and Arruebarrena has the glove.

A major factor that could keep Gordon right where he is is that Hanley Ramirez is now in Boston.  Perhaps the Dodgers would be satisfied with Arruebarrena at short and Guerrero at second, but that's a lot of inexperience up the middle on a "win now" club.

I'm not ready to give up on Gordon for slowing down in the second half, as his 148 games far outpaced his next highest career total of 87 in 2012.  I think a smaller, speedy guy like him just naturally started feeling the wear and tear of a long Major League season.  If you recall, he bulked up some before last season started, and helped the Dodgers solve their leadoff issues.

Right now the Dodgers are waiting to see if Jon Lester comes aboard, and maybe finalizing the Kemp trade to the Padres.  After that, then possibly this talk of moving Gordon begins to take on more importance.  Stay tuned.

Crawford makes us forget about the bullpen... sort of

* Carl Crawford hit a game-winning two-run homer in the 11th to beat the Marlins 9-7.

* Yasiel Puig hit an enormous three-run bomb measured at 452 feet, his longest as a pro.

* Dee Gordon went 5-for-6 to raise his average to .357, stole three bases, and made a great diving stop to boot.

* Matt Kemp had three hits with a double.

* Juan Uribe and Miguel Olivo each had two hits and two runs.

* Brandon League (yes, Brandon League) pitched two scoreless innings in relief to pick up the win.

(What I just did was list the positives in Saturday night's game.  Because the reality is the bullpen turned a 7-2 laugher into an extra-innings battle thanks to another frustrating night.)

The bottom line is that the Dodgers got the win, but on a night where Kenley Jansen was resting due to a heavy workload, the other guys who appeared at the end did absolutely nothing to give Don Mattingly confidence in resting Jansen again.  Talk about nearly snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, or something like that.

It started with Brian Wilson, who took over in the seventh after Paul Maholm gave up three runs in six innings.  Wilson, quite frankly, sucked.  Any good vibes he had from three straight scoreless appearances was thrown out the window in this one, as Marcell Ozuna hit a three-run homer to cut the lead to 7-6.  J.P. Howell had to get out of the inning with the last out.

Chris Withrow wasn't a whole lot better, loading the bases in the eighth on two walks and a double.  He set himself up for some huge failure with Giancarlo Stanton at the plate, but two fastballs and a sharp breaking ball later, Stanton struck out.

OK, so at least the Dodgers were up 7-6 going into the bottom of the ninth, and even with Jansen unavailable, Chris Perez and his 1.35 ERA was.  You know, the former All-Star closer for the Indians.  All was good, right?  Wrong.

Perez coughed up the lead, and was lucky he didn't blow the game in the process.  He had to get two outs with the bases loaded just to send the game into extras.  Two hits and two walks were his undoing.

The final tally for the bullpen from innings 7-9: four runs, four hits, five walks.

And nearly an embarrassing loss.

The bullpen's 3.80 ERA puts them 10th in the National League.  That's not terrible, but certainly not very good either.  All things considered, it's a little below average.  And definitely not worth the millions upon millions of dollars that Ned Colletti threw at them to shutdown the final few innings.

I'll chalk up Wilson's and Perez's performances to rough nights, as they both still have sparkling ERAs.  Wilson, on the other hand, not so much.  As loyal as Mattingly is to him, and understandably so after how good he was last season, it's time to slide him down in the pecking order even more than he has been.  If he has trouble holding onto a five-run lead in the seventh, I'm not sure what he can do.

The Dodgers have to be exhausted after playing two long games in Minnesota on Thursday, flying right to Miami for a Friday game, and then 11 innings on Saturday.  Well, the offense has done the job for the most part, now the bullpen needs to step up and do theirs.  It seems like two steps forward, two steps back on a day-to-day basis.

With Hyun-Jin Ryu on the shelf, old friend Stephen Fife gets the call on Sunday afternoon in Miami.  His opponent?  Rookie of the Year Jose Fernandez, who has not given up an earned run in three starts covering 23 innings.  Yikes.

If Kemp and Hanley don't hit, then forget it

The road weary Dodgers dropped the first game in Miami on Friday night 6-3.  It was only a 2-0 game heading into the bottom of the seventh when the Marlins scored four.  The Dodgers somewhat woke up with a few late runs, but it wasn't enough.

I'm not surprised about this result, as you can understand the Dodgers being tired from their long day in Minnesota on Thursday.  At least that resulted in two wins.

Regardless, even with the lack of sleep, one thing became more than obvious to me in watching this: the Dodgers are heading nowhere if Matt Kemp and Hanley Ramirez don't hit.  They can still win games, but you can forget about a World Series run.  That's how valuable they are.

Last season the Dodgers came withing two games of playing for a championship, and that was with Kemp on crutches and Ramirez practically useless from being beaned in the ribs during Game 1 of the NLCS.  So, the talent is obviously there from the guys around them to at least compete.

But, "compete" and "contend" are two different things.  In order to contend, these two guys should be right in the heart of the order doing damage.  Tonight Ramirez went 0-for-4, lowering his average 10 points to .261.  He's actually hit safely in 8 of his last 10 games, but is in a 3-for-18 slide after peaking at .280.

Kemp didn't start, but did pinch-hit against the left-handed Mike Dunn, who entered this game with a 6.17 ERA.  The result?  Kemp struck out with a runner on to end the eighth.  He now has 28 strikeouts in 24 games and is hitting .205.

Nearly a month ago, both of these guys hit two home runs in the same game on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball to beat the Giants.  It sure looked like at the time they were ready to go on a run.  That just hasn't happened.

So why hasn't it happened?  There could be a couple of reasons in particular.  You always have to start with the injury factor with these two.  Ramirez was beaned in the hand two weeks ago, and clearly hasn't been the same since then.  Kemp has an injured... everything, at least at some point or another.  I don't think either one will ever by 100% again, but maybe they're hurt worse than they're letting on right now.

The second issue, fair or not, is the contract situations.  Kemp has his, but ever since he extended a couple years back, it's been more time sitting and watching than playing MVP-type baseball.  Ramirez wants his, but the early lack of pop in his bat combined with mediocre defense at short leaves even the cash happy Dodgers a little leery of giving a huge extension.  Any player in his contract year feels the pressure, and Ramirez maybe even more so.

Perhaps the Dodgers only need one of these two to get hot, as they showed last season that winning the division and in the playoffs can be done that way.  However, just the mere thought of having two big bats in the lineup makes this team so much deadlier.  They've done it before, now we need to see if they can do it again.

Kershaw faced the Marlins... bet you know what happened

Yup, he won.

Clayton Kershaw put in another Clayton Kershaw-like day on the mound, tossing eight innings of shutout ball as the Dodgers pounded the Marlins, 6-0.  After dropping Monday's opener to Jose Fernandez, the Dodgers won the next three by a combined score of 16-5.

The Diamondbacks dropped an afternoon tilt at the same time the Dodgers were in action, so the NL West lead increased to 9 1/2 games.

While the final line was fantastic, Kershaw was actually very shaky for himself in the first couple of innings.  He walked leadoff hitter Christian Yelch in the first, but got the next three in order.

In the second, Kershaw had to really fight through his control issues, as his fastball was just all over the place.  Ed Lucas singled to center leading off, then went to second on a wild pitch.  Justin Ruggiano walked, and the Marlins were in business.

Then again, the Marlins are the Marlins, and Kershaw is Kershaw, so you knew that somehow there'd be no runs scored.  And that's exactly what happened, as the next three went down meekly, and the game remained scoreless.

Yasiel Puig led off the fourth with an absolute monster shot that somehow went an estimated 436 feet and DIDN'T leave the ballpark.  Alas, he settled for a double off the very top of the centerfield wall.  After going to third on a groundout, he tried to score on what he thought was a wild pitch to Skip Schumaker, but the ball actually hit his foot, so it was all for naught.

Juan Uribe took a walk to load the bases with two outs, and Kershaw got another big hit with an RBI single, making it 1-0.  Carl Crawford hit a sinking liner just in from of Giancarlo Stanton in right for the two-run double, and it was 3-0.

Spotted a three-run lead, Kershaw shook off any wildness and started mowing down The Fist left and right.  He was helped out by three double play balls, as the rare times the Marlins would get on base, they'd shoot themselves in the foot.  Overall, he ended up allowing five hits, three walks, and six strikeouts over eight frames.

Two more runs were scored for the Dodgers in the fifth, as they really started hitting Henderson Alvarez hard.  Andre Ethier doubled with two outs, and A.J. Ellis hit one of his own to go up 4-0.  Schumaker added an RBI single to score Ellis.

The final run came in the seventh when Adrian Gonzalez doubled leading off, went to third on a passed ball, and scored on Puig's sac-fly RBI.

Once Kershaw was done for the day, the long-awaited debut of Brian Wilson came in the ninth.  He struck out Stanton looking, then got Logan Morrison to ground to second.  Greg Dobbs pinch-hit and lined a double down the right field line, but Wilson bounced back to strikeout Ruggiano to end the game.

And let me tell you, seeing Wilson perform his signature arm cross while pointing at the sky was very weird.  But I'll be happy to keep feeling that way over and over this year.

The Kershaw MVP talk will only continue to intensify with another sensational performance.  He's now up to 13-7 with a 1.76 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, and 188 K's in 198 1/3 innings.  What more can I say?  The guy is simply out-of-this-world good.

The Dodgers are now unbeaten in their last 18 series, going 14-0-4 in the process.  They're on a 44-10 run, and 28-5 since the All-Star break.  It seems like after every game I'm adding to these numbers... but hey, since they keep winning, why not?  That's the fun of it!  I hope I get to keep doing it.

If there's a downside to the last two games, it's that Zack Greinke and Kershaw now won't be available for the upcoming series against the Red Sox.  One year ago right around this time was when the Sox dumped Gonzalez, Crawford, Josh Beckett, Nick Punto, and all of their salaries for various other guys.  Now these two teams finally meet.

Much like playing the Rays a couple weeks ago, this is another possible World Series preview.  With the bottom three in the rotation going, the Dodgers should be thrilled if they take two.  It won't be easy, even if the studs were going.  But who knows, maybe not giving the Sox a look at the aces will pay off in October.

On Friday night, it'll be Ricky Nolasco taking on John Lackey.

Maybe Puig should be late to every game

Apparently, there is no off button in the world of Yasiel Puig.

After getting to the ballpark all of 35 minutes before stretching started, Puig found himself not only riding the pine (he was scheduled to have the day off anyway), but fined by Don Mattingly as well.  Sure enough, with the score tied at four, whom did the Mattingly call on?

That's right, Puig.  His solo homer in the eighth broke the tie, and Kenley Jansen nailed down his 20th save as the Dodgers got back on the winning side, 6-4.  The Diamondbacks beat the Reds, so the lead in the NL West remains 7 1/2.

The Dodgers came into this one having dropped two straight against Cole Hamels and Jose Fernandez, something that would happen to quite a few teams I would imagine.  Still, it was their first two-game setback since June 20-21 in San Diego.  The last three-game losing streak?  June 8-10 against the Braves and Diamondbacks.  Amazing.

Chris Capuano got the start, and he again struggled to get things going.  In the first, Christian Yelich led off with a double, went to third on a grounder, then scored on an RBI groundout from Giancarlo Stanton to make it 1-0.

The score would stay that way until the Dodgers broke out in the fourth.  Jacob Turner gave up consecutive singles to Andre Ethier and Juan Uribe, but Skip Schumaker grounded into a double play.  Tim Federowicz was intentionally walked to pitch to Capuano, but he, too, walked to load the bases.

Carl Crawford certainly still has speed, and he beat out an infield single to score one and make it 1-1.  Mark Ellis started in the #2 spot instead of Puig, and he also hit an RBI infield single, and another run came across on a bad throw by Adeiny Hechavarria.  An RBI single by Adrian Gonzalez put the Dodgers up 4-1.

That lead would appear to be comfortable against a lowly team like the Marlins, but Capuano again failed to deliver.  The Marlins got two back in the bottom of the frame as Stanton and Logan Morrison singled, and Ed Lucas walked to load the bases with nobody out.  An RBI fielder's choice by Justin Ruggiano and RBI single from Hechavarria made it 4-3.

Capuano was out of there after five, and in his place came former closer Brandon League.  Notice I said "former," because he does just about anything to show why he doesn't get anywhere near the ninth inning anymore.  He faced four hitters and only got one of them out, as an RBI single by Jeff Mathis tied the game.  J.P. Howell got one more out, and Chris Withrow struck out Donovan Solano with the bases loaded to end the inning.

The eighth is when Mattingly called upon Puig to hit in the pitcher's spot, and one pitch later, the Dodgers were up 5-4.  Memo to opposing pitchers: you might not want to throw a first pitch strike to Puig, who will hack at just about anything.  I'm just sayin'.

The Dodgers tacked on the all-important insurance run in the ninth on an infield single by Federowicz.  Of course, the Marlins again shot themselves in the foot on another throwing error by Hechavarria, which eventually led to the run.

Then again, the extra run didn't matter, as Jansen tossed a perfect ninth, inducing a popup from Stanton to end it.

It's always good to get back on the winning side, but the Dodgers still have to wish they'd get more from Capuano.  He went five innings for six hits, three runs, one walk, and one strikeout.  Not horrible numbers, but four starts ago his ERA stood at 4.16, and now it's 4.70.  You have to wonder if it'll be Stephen Fife time (again) at some point, moving Capuano into the long relief role.  Wouldn't surprise me.

With the exception of Leauge, the bullpen did a fine job of keeping the score close.  Howell, Withrow, Ronald Belisario, Paco Rodriguez, and Jansen all pitched the final 3 2/3 of scoreless ball.  I think it's fair to say that Mattingly knew he'd have Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw going the next two days, so everyone in the 'pen was available.

One thing the Dodgers have done way too much of lately is ground into double plays.  They added three more in this game, and are fourth in all of baseball with 110.  The league average is 96, so that's obviously way above the norm.  They have the seventh most hits with 1,141, and for a team without much pop, it's natural to hit into more DP's.  Still, fourth most in baseball isn't where they want to be at.

As I stated before, Greinke and Kershaw are lined up to go the final two games of this series.  I'm sure the Dodgers would rather save Kershaw for the next series against the Red Sox, but that's the way it goes.  Who knows, maybe it'll pay off in October if the Sox face Kershaw in the World Series, and don't have any previous looks against him.  Greinke will look for his 12th win.

Dodgers add rotation depth with Nolasco

The Dodgers made the first "splash" in the trade deadline season by acquiring Ricky Nolasco from the Marlins on Saturday.  The Dodgers have agreed to take on the remaining $5.5 million of his contract, which surely was a huge breaking point of the deal.  In exchange, the Marlins get three minor league pitchers in Josh Wall, Steven Adams, and Angel Sanchez.

In addition, the Dodgers continue to add to their international signing bonus with another $197,000.  They did a similar move when they swapped Matt Guerrier for Carlos Marmol a few days ago.  For a team that claims it's serious about rebuilding the international market, this is a good and logical step.

Over the past week or two, the Dodgers have been linked to Nolasco, along with possibly Matt Garza.  I imagine the price to get Nolasco was cheaper, as getting someone like Garza perhaps meant parting with guys like Stephen Fife and Matt Magill.  That's not a big price either, but giving away three minor leaguers who don't figure into the Dodgers' long-term plans makes more sense.

This season, Nolasco is 5-8 with a 3.85 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, and 90 K's in 112 1/3 innings.  You can practically throw the record out the window when you pitch for a team like the Marlins, who would be a decent Triple-A team at best.  How anyone in the world can root for those guys and not go crazy, I have no idea.

The MO for Nolasco his whole career has been "potential," but doesn't seem to live up to it.  He has an overall winning record at 81-72, but with an ERA of 4.44 and WHIP of 1.29.  The positive is that even on a really bad team this season, his numbers (ignore the record) are better.  And that's what made him tradeable.

I like the move, as the Dodgers needed to do something with their 4-5 starters.  Fife has done his part with a 2.76 ERA and 1.27 WHIP in eight starts, so he deserves to keep going.  Chris Capuano, on the other hand, has been bombed his last two outings, and should be moved back to the bullpen as the long reliever.  He's just way too inconsistent, and only getting worse.

I would think the Dodgers can now roll with their rotation of Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Nolasco, and Fife.  The focus will mostly turn to improving their bullpen, as adding Marmol is OK, but hardly the only answer.  With the offense much-improved thanks to some rare good health, pitching in the late innings should now be the key issue.

Kemp reaches 1,000, Dodgers actually win 2 straight

For the first time in a month, the Dodgers have won two straight against the same team.  And also for the first time in a month, the Dodgers scored more runs in the same game than the other team.

OK, so that last sentence was a joke, but not the first.  Chris Capuano struck out seven, Scott Van Slyke homered, Matt Kemp got his 1,000th career hit, and the Dodgers beat the Marlins, 5-3.  They took two straight games, something they haven't done against the same team since downing the Padres a month ago.

Both teams failed to take advantage of two singles in the first.  Van Slyke got the start for Adrian Gonzalez at first, who's still battling neck discomfort.  Leading off the second, he hit a solo shot to center for the 1-0 lead.  That actually made me angry again, because I still contend he should've pinch-hit with the bases loaded on Friday and not Tim Federowicz, but I digress.

A one-out double by a suddenly hot Skip Schumaker led to another run in the fourth.  He then went to third on a single by Federowicz, and scored on Nick Punto's sac-fly RBI, making it 2-0.

The Marlins cut into that lead in the sixth, when they finally got to Capuano.  With one out, Justin Ruggiano laced a hard one out to left, and it was 2-1.

The seventh was a little dangerous, as Capuano was chased when he allowed a one-out double to Derek Dietrich.  In came Kenley Jansen, who struck out both Adeiny Hechavarria and Chris Coghlan to end the threat.

In the bottom half, the Dodgers extended their lead.  Punto and Juan Uribe greeted Jon Rauch with singles, which brought in Mike Dunn.  Carl Crawford found room for an RBI single through short and third to make it 3-1.  The bases were soon loaded, and Andre Ethier scored another on a sac-fly, and Van Slyke on a single, pushing the lead to 5-1.

Jansen threw more smoke in striking out two in the eighth.  Don Mattingly gave the ball to Brandon League in the ninth, and things certainly got interesting.  With two on and two out, Hechavarria hit an opposite field two-run double to get the score to 5-3.  Greg Dobbs then pinch-hit and grounded one hard to third that Uribe had to make a sharp play on for the game's final out.  That very well could have been an RBI single and a one-run game, and who knows what would've happened from there.

For the second straight night, the Dodgers completely dominated this game, for 8 1/2 innings anyway.  And quite frankly, when you're playing the pathetic excuse for a Major League team that is the Marlins, that's the way it should be.  Yes, Giancarlo Stanton is hurt, even if he was in the lineup, it's no-namers galore.  It has to be tough rooting for that team.  Good luck!

Capuano came into the game with a 10+ ERA, and exited in much better shape.  He lasted 6 1/3 innings for five hits, one run, one walk, and seven strikeouts.  He also lowered his ERA by nearly four runs to 6.60.  With Zack Greinke due back soon, I would think Matt Magill would be the odd man out, so Capuano will get more starts.  I'm sure we all feel a little more comfortable about that after today.

Like I brought up before, I was very happy to see Van Slyke get a chance.  The Dodgers are third in baseball in OBP, but 28th in runs scored and slugging %.  A big bat like Van Slyke could help change that.  I'm not saying we should expect Manny Ramirez circa 2008 here, but anybody who hits a home run on this team should automatically be given more at-bats.  Since he can play outfield as well, I'd like to see him mixed in this upcoming week.

This week will be a tough one for the Dodgers, as they take on two playoff teams from last season, the Nationals and Braves.  First up is three against Bryce Harper and the boys at home, followed by an off day Thursday and a trip to Atlanta for three.  Josh Beckett will look for his first win yet again on Monday.  It won't be easy, as Jordan Zimmermann and his 6-1 record opposes.

Dodgers wake up, flash some leather, and finally win

It feels good to win.

Yes, the Marlins are terrible, and this win might only be a slip on the radar of a lost season, but on Saturday night the Dodgers could do no wrong.  Led by a strong start from Hyun-Jin Ryu and three diving catches on defense, they got the win over the Fish, 7-1.  It's their first W since April 30, which was also a victory for Ryu.

Andre Ethier had a four-hit night, by far his best game of the season, and he doubled leading off the second.  A.J. Ellis sacrificed him over to second, and Skip Schumaker's RBI single made it 1-0.  The Dodgers never looked back from there.

The third inning brought an incredible sight - Dee Gordon hit a leadoff homer.  He took a low pitch and golfed it just over the wall in right for the improbable shot.  The inning also featured a dumb baserunning move by Matt Kemp, who overran second and was gunned down from behind.  Schumaker picked up another RBI on a fielder's choice, and it was 3-0.

Two more runs were pushed across in the fifth.  Ethier and Ellis started things with one-out singles.  Schumaker became an RBI machine with a run-scoring single, and Juan Uribe got another one in on a sac-fly, and the Dodgers were in full control at 5-0.

The only blemish of the night for Ryu came on a long home run hit by Miguel Olivo to start the seventh.  The Dodgers responded right away in the bottom of the frame on an RBI single by Uribe and a run by Schumaker from a passed ball to close out the scoring on the night.

There's a lot that went right for the Dodgers, but the defense was fantastic the whole way.  The first of three great diving plays came from Schumaker in the fifth, as he robbed Matt Diaz of an RBI with a two-out stop to end the inning.  Carl Crawford got in on the act with a full-stretched diving catch of Nick Green in the seventh, and Ethier's sliding catch denied Diaz in the eighth.

Heck, even Javy Guerra gloved a wicked liner right back at him for the game's final out.

Ryu is quietly becoming a very effective Major League starter, as he turned in another quality performance by going 6 2/3 innings for five hits, one run, three walks, and three strikeouts.  He's now 4-2 with a 3.40 ERA and 1.21 WHIP.  His strikeouts have been down, but his ground balls have been way up.  He's also pitched at least six innings in all eight starts, which is huge considering how awful the middle relief has been.

All in all, he's been worth the money spent for the Dodgers.  Yes, I know they gave away a boatload's worth to get him, but with injuries to Chad Billingsley, Zack Greinke, Chris Capuano, Ted Lilly, and even Stephen Fife, it's good to rely on Ryu to get deep into the game with a chance to win.  And he's clearly only getting better.

Offensively, the Dodgers were a shocking 5-for-11 with RISP, which is almost an unheard of stat for these guys.  Schumaker had two of those hits as part of this three RBI night.  Uribe had two hits, a walk, and a sac-fly in four productive at-bats.  Ethier had four hits despite playing on a sore leg.  Every starter reached base at least once, including Ryu with a walk.

Kemp was only 1-for-5, but somehow has a 10-game hitting streak.  It's by no means a dominating streak, but it's something to try and build on.  He has raised his average from .253 to .269 at least.  The power is still AWOL, though, and it remains a big issue.

The Dodgers will look to start the week off fresh with a series win over the Marlins on Sunday.  Yes, I know, nothing to get excited about, as the Marlins feature a bunch of no-namers.  But at this point, the Dodgers would take wins over Little League teams.  Capuano gets the call.

Like Parcells says, "You are what your record says you are"

And if you're the Dodgers, your record says you're the sixth worst team in baseball.  But I'll take it one step further - I think they are THE worst team in baseball.  So take that, Bill!

Friday night once again showed just how horrible this season has been.  They got up 3-0 on a three-run homer by Adrian Gonzalez in the first.  They went on to lose 5-4.  It was so Dodger-like it was scary.  You can call it being pessimistic, but I call it being realistic.  That's life as a Dodger fan.

This game featured all the ingredients for another loss: little to no clutch hitting, mediocre starting pitching, atrocious bullpen work, bad baserunning, and another questionable decision by the manager.  It's a sight we've all grown very accustomed to already.

The first inning was the only positive one.  Matt Magill was able to get the Marlins in order.  Carl Crawford then led off with a single and Nick Punto walked.  Gonzalez, and thankfully not Matt Kemp, got the start in the three hole and smacked a three-run shot to center.  That was just like his three-run homer last year against the Marlins in his first game as a Dodger.  He won that game.  This one?  Uh, no.

The score stayed 3-0 until the fourth, when Magill flushed it all down the toilet, and all because of a couple of damn walks to a horrible team missing their best offensive player in Giancarlo Stanton.  97-year-old Placido Polanco walked leading off, and two outs later, no-namer Marcell Ozuna also walked. 

No big deal, right?  Afterall, there were two outs and 23-year-old Derek Dietrich was up playing in his second career game.  So of course that meant he lined a three-run homer out to right to tie the score at 3-3.

Even though it was only in the fourth and the score was tied, the Dodgers were done.  Again, you can call it pessimistic, but that's how the Dodgers are right now.  They have no offense to keep scoring runs, and their bullpen is a joke, so it's a big advantage for the other team.  Those are the facts, and that's exactly what happened.

With Ronald Belisuckio in to start the seventh, the Marlins jumped all over him.  Rob Brantly singled to start, and Chris Coghlan came within inches of a two-run homer, settling for a double instead.  Juan Pierre singled home a run, and a double play ball by Adeiny Hechavarria still scored another, making it 5-3.

The Dodgers actually scored another, and even more shocking was that it was mostly because of Kemp.  He singled leading off in the eighth and then stole second.  An RBI single up the middle by AJ Ellis made it 5-4.  Andre Ethier had a chance before Ellis, but he flew out.  He is absolutely terrible and needs to be traded.  But I think I've said that before.

Steve Cisheck plowed through the Dodgers in order in the ninth for his fifth save.

I've already brought up the bad pitching and lack of clutch hitting, so let's discuss the other two reasons for the loss: baserunning and managing.  The baserunning part came in the fifth.  Juan Uribe pinch-hit and singled.

OK, now that you've recovered from falling out of your chair, just know that he soon erased that good feeling with an idiotic move on the bases.  After going to second on a single by Crawford, Uribe was caught wandering too far off of second when Punto missed a bunt.  A throw behind easily nailed him, and nothing came of that inning.  Uribe just continues to further and further embarrass himself each game he takes the field in Dodger blue.  Yet, there he still is playing.  I continue to be amazed by that.

The managing part came in the sixth.  The bases were loaded with two outs on a single by Ellis, a double by Skip Schumaker, and an intentional walk by Dee Gordon.  Rather than calling upon Scott Van Slyke, who was killing the ball at Triple-A Albuquerque, Don Mattingly went with Tim Federowicz and his zero power.  You'll be shocked to know that he easily flew out to center.

Again I ask, Why not go with Van Slyke in this spot?  He was recalled to give a boost from the bench because of his power.  But you would rather watch Federowicz fail to get a hit again?  It's not rocket science!  Play the guy you said would be used in spots like this.  I just don't understand the (lack of) logic at all.  Another terrible move late in the game.

Magill had some good moments, but more bad ones.  He lasted five innings for three hits, three runs, four walks, and two strikeouts.  Maybe he'll be a good starter one day, but I have to be honest - he just doesn't look that good to me.  He's just OK.  I know it's easy to pile on him after another loss, but I don't get the feeling that he'll ever be anything special.  Like I said, he's just OK.

The two weekend games are huge for the Dodgers.  Can you imagine if the Marlins sweep them?  That could equal the end of Mattingly's time in LA.  I don't know that for sure and it's purely a guess on my part, but we're at the point where we have to start thinking about it.  Hyun-Jin Ryu will pitch on Saturday.

Clutch hitting eludes the Dodgers

After two games and 19 runs against the Marlins, the well finally ran dry on Sunday.

The Dodgers left a whopping 16 men on base, and four homers by the Marlins prevented them from being swept by picking up the win, 6-2.  With the Giants' loss to the Braves on Sunday night, their lead in the NL West remains at two games.

For the first time in six games, the Dodgers actually prevented the opposing team from scoring in the first, though it sure looked close to happening again.  Justin Ruggiano singled and stole second with two outs.  Carlos Lee grounded one up the middle that looked like it was going through, but Nick Punto made a great diving stop at second, then threw behind to third to nail Ruggiano in a rundown for the last out.

Punto kept the momentum going with a one-out walk.  A single by Matt Kemp put two on.  Adrian Gonzalez had a big first at-bat with the Dodgers on Saturday, and he delivered again with an RBI single for the 1-0 lead.  Andre Ethier struck out to end the inning, and also ended his hitting streak at 10 straight at-bats.

Aaron Harang got through the opening third of the game unscathed... and then grooved one to some guy named Giancarlo Stanton.  Um, not a good idea.  His solo shot to dead center tied the game at one.  It also gave him a homer in all three games this series.

The long ball again plagued Harang, as the Dodgers lost the lead for good in the fifth.  Donovan Solano singled to leadoff the inning.  Rod Brantly stepped in and hit his first major league home run, a two-run shot to make it 3-1.

The Dodgers had a perfect chance to strike right back in the bottom half, but came up empty.  Shane Victorino and Punto each singled to start.  Kemp flew out to center, but Gonzalez took a walk to load the bases.  Hanley Ramirez and Ethier, however, failed to get even one run home, so that was that.

After the Dodgers again failed with a couple on in the sixth, the Marlins had the bases loaded and one down in the seventh, but also couldn't score.  In the bottom of the frame, Kemp walked against Mike Dunn leading off.  Gonzalez ripped a single on an 0-2 count down the right field line, sending Kemp to third.  Ramirez struck out again, but Ethier found room on the left side for an RBI single, and it was now 3-2.

Chad Gaudin entered the game to pitch to Luis Cruz, and that's when things got a little weird.  Cruz popped on up in front of first, and as Lee was going after it, he made contact with Ethier.  After much confusion, Ethier was called out, but Cruz was allowed to resume his at-bat since it was a foul ball.  It didn't matter, as he flew to left to end it.

The Marlins tacked on another run in the eighth.  With Ronald Belisario in, Greg Dobbs doubled, Brantly walked, and Austin Kearns pinch-hit and did the same.  That was enough of Belisario, as Randy Choate came in to pitch to Bryan Petersen.  It's safe to say this wasn't Ramirez's finest hour, as his error allowed Dobbs to score to make it 4-2.

The last threat the Dodgers had was in the eighth, but like they did all game long, they failed to really make an impact.  Heath Bell started the inning, and Mark Ellis and Victorino each singled with one out.  Punto struck out for the second out.  Closer Steve Cishek got the ball next and walked Kemp to load 'em up for Gonzalez.  It could have been another magical moment, but Gonzalez's deep drive to right was caught near the warning track.

Back-to-back solo homers by Jose Reyes and Lee in the ninth wrapped up the scoring at 6-2.

This game was pretty much your classic case of trying to do too much with runners on.  The Dodgers got 11 hits, which were all singles.  They also took six walks, all from the top guys in the order.  But then you see that Ramirez was hitless and left eight on himself, Ethier left six on, and Kemp and Gonzalez four apiece.  It was obvious, too, as there were way too many swings going for it all instead of playing small ball to get runners over and in.

Then again, after the excitement of Gonzalez's arrival and impact on Saturday, it's hard not to get too caught up in the moment and go for the big blow.  Let's just hope they find that balance going forward and not leave 16 on base again.

Harang started off well enough, but the two homers were hard to overcome.  He went 5 1/3 innings for six hits, three runs, one walk, and four strikeouts.  The bullpen didn't do a whole lot better, as Belisario and Shawn Tolleson ran into too much trouble.

The Dodgers will now hit the road for a brief trip for three in Colorado starting Monday.  This will start 15 straight games home and away against all four NL West foes.  And when the margin of error is so thin, you know these games take on added significance.  Josh Beckett will make his Dodger debut in Coors.  I'm sure he's thrilled about that!

Gonzo goes boom in LA debut

It took all of one at-bat for Dodger fans to already love this Adrian Gonzalez guy.

Gonzalez crushed a three-run shot in his first plate appearance, become the sixth Dodger in history to do so.  Mark Ellis and Andre Ethier would soon add homers of their own, and the Dodgers easily won over the Marlins, 8-2.  With the Braves defeating the Giants earlier in the day, the lead for them in the NL West is down to two games.

The night didn't start off so well, as for the fifth straight game, the Dodgers let their opponent score first.  Gorkys Hernandez led off the game with a double down the left field line.  A grounder by Donovan Solano got him to third, and Jose Reyes' RBI groundout made it 1-0.

It didn't take long at all for the Dodgers to erase the deficit, and then to take the lead for good.  With Shane Victorino scratched late because of a sore back, Ellis hit in the leadoff spot and had a big night, starting here with a double.  Luis Cruz was bumped up to the #2 spot, and his RBI single tied the game at one.

Matt Kemp had a three-hit night, and he singled to put two on.  That brought up Gonzalez, who certainly knew how to seize the moment, as his three-run jack made it 4-1.  He would go hitless the rest of the night, but it hardly mattered, as his debut could not have possibly gone any better.

It took all of one swing from the mighty Giancarlo Stanton to quiet the crowd, as he unleashed a 458-foot bomb to left, cutting the score to 4-2.

Clayton Kershaw would settle down from there, giving up only one more hit the rest of the way, and the Dodgers' offense would continue to go to work.  Ellis got that run right back with his fifth homer of the season in the bottom of the second, and it was 5-2.

In the third, Ethier kept his hitting streak going with a leadoff double.  He then went to third on Juan Rivera's grounder, and scored right after that on an RBI single from A.J. Ellis, making it 6-2.

With eight consecutive hits at this point, it was all a matter of setting history for Ethier.  And that is exactly what he did, as his solo homer in the fifth tied the Dodger record at nine straight, and made the lead 7-2.  He then set the record a couple inning later on a bloop single to center.  That's an impressive run.

The last run was scored in the eighth off of Heath Bell, who used to be good, but now is relegated to measly middle relief work.  Nick Punto also made his first Dodger appearance, and he walked leading off.  Mark Ellis got on again with a single, and Cruz ripped an RBI single, and it was 8-2.

Ronald Belisario pitched a perfect ninth, getting Stanton to ground to Cruz at third for the game's final out.

I can only imagine what the last couple days have been like for Gonzalez.  He went from taking BP with the Red Sox in Boston last night, to being a late scratch as the trade rumors swirled, to hopping on a plane with Punto and Josh Beckett to get to LA in time for this game, to homering in his first at-bat.  Wow, that's got to be mentally and physically draining.

Make no mistake about it, the Dodgers are clearly a better team now, and this game showed why.  With Gonzalez locked in at the cleanup spot, the offense has so much more punch to it.  If guys like Cruz and Ellis (both of them) keep getting on, then they'll be tough to beat.  And let's just hope that Ethier keeps hanging on to his second wind, as he's swinging a red hot bat right now.

Oh by the way, Kershaw was awesome again.  Seems almost like an afterthought with all of the trade drama!  But after a shaky first couple of innings, he regained his form to throw eight innings for three hits, two runs, two walks, and eight strikeouts.  He ups his record to 12-7 with a 2.84 ERA and 0.99 WHIP.  Not too shabby.

I guess it's only fitting that after getting swept by the Giants earlier this week, they're on the verge of doing the same to the Marlins.  They have got to be the streakiest team in baseball, and as I've said before, that's a dangerous way to play heading into the home stretch.  I mean hey, it's good they can put together a few straight wins, but they obviously still need to do a better job of halting slides when they occur.

Of course, they could always just score 8 runs on 16 hits while giving up only 3 hits like this game, and win every contest from here on out.  That'll work, too.

With an exciting day in Dodger history in the books, it'll now be up to Aaron Harang to end the homestand on a high note.  He'll take on wily veteran Mark Buehrle.

Hanley's return solid as Dodgers topple Fish

Hanley Ramirez may not be the future of the Marlins anymore, but the Dodgers sure will take him.

Ramirez collected a couple RBIs on three hits, and a big two-run homer by Juan Rivera helped carry the Dodgers over the Marlins, 5-2.  And as a nice bonus, the Rockies beat the Giants, so it's a tie atop the NL West.

After the Dodgers went down in order against Mark Buehrle in the first, Clayton Kershaw went to work.  Justin Ruggiano continued his red hot start since being called up in late May by hitting a solo home run with one out, his 10th of the season.

The Dodgers couldn't capitalize with runners on in the fourth and fifth, but sure did in the sixth.  Shane Victornio started things with a leadoff double.  Mark Ellis sacrificed him over to third, and Matt Kemp ripped an RBI double to make it 1-1.  Ramirez found a hole on the right side for a single, which turned into an RBI thanks to a speedy Kemp.

Andre Ethier struck out for two down, bringing up Rivera.  It had been since July 22nd that Rivera went yard, but he picked a good time to get another one here, lining a two-run shot out to left, and it was 4-1.

The Marlins tried to get things going against Kershaw in the bottom of the frame.  John Buck and Gorkys Hernandez hit consecutive singles to start.  Donovan Solano also reached on a fielder's choice, and just like that the bases were loaded with nobody out.  Ruggiano grounded into a forceout at home for the first out, and the Marlins could only score on Carlos Lee's sac-fly RBI to make it 4-2.

The final run came in the seventh.  The Dodgers loaded the bases on one-out singles by A.J. Ellis and Kershaw, and an intentional walk an out later to Kemp.  Ramirez hit a little dribbler along the third base line, which was the equivalent to a perfectly placed bunt, for an RBI single and 5-2 edge.

Kershaw would get the first out in the seventh, but Don Mattingly had to turn to three different relievers just to escape unscathed.  Jamey Wright struck out Buck for two down, but Randy Choate walked Bryan Peterson to load the bases.  Ronald Belisario got Solano to ground weakly to first to end the threat.

Belisario stayed on to set the Marlins down in order in the eighth.  He got a big assist from James Loney, who made a great backhanded play on Lee's grounder, then threw him out from his back in foul territory.  And that is why he still has a job - his glove is second to none.  It's his bat that can't catch up.

Kenley Jansen got his 23rd save, but not without nearly melting down with two outs again.  He struck out Austin Kearns and got Greg Dobbs flying out with ease.  Then he watched Nick Greene hit a double and issue a walk to Buck.  Scott Cousins grounded to Loney to end the game.

Maybe the mixed reaction Ramirez received only motivated him, as he was a big reason the Dodgers won hitting in the cleanup spot.  I was also surprised he didn't get more cheers considering how good he was there at one time.  On the other hand, he was terrible for them last year, and only was hitting .246 at the time of his trade this year.  So, the negative stuff is still fresh in their minds, hence the boos.

Anyway you slice it, the Dodgers are glad to have him, as he slowly looks like he's regaining his old form.  One guy who's happy to have him is Kershaw, who collected his 10th win by going 6 1/3 innings for three hits, two runs, one walk, and seven strikeouts.  That's three straight wins in as many starts since getting punked by the Cardinals on July 24.

One guy who did have a rough game was Ethier, as he went hitless in four at-bats.  At the end of May he was hitting .324, but it's gone all the way down to .284 now.  This month he's hitting .185 with only one extra-base hit (a double).  Do you realize he only has two home runs since the beginning of June.  Wow... that's a pretty bad power outage.

I know Mattingly likes to hit Ethier in the cleanup spot against righties, but I have to wonder if he should just roll with Ramirez there for now.  At the very least, let Ethier hit fifth until he gets his stroke going again.  I'm just not crazy about a cleanup hitter who only hits singles, if that.  Something to think about.

Joe Blanton will make his second start as a Dodger on Saturday.  He was good in his first start with two runs in six innings, but didn't get a decision.  He'll go against Ricky Nolasco, who at one point was supposed to be good, but just... isn't.

Kershaw shuts down the Fish

As the month of May is drawing to a close, the Dodgers finally put together a fantastic performance on both sides of the field against a good team.

The offense pounded out 17 hits and eight runs, and Clayton Kershaw completely baffled the Marlins all day with a complete game, two-hit shutout as the Dodgers got the victory, 8-0. With the win, the Dodgers won a series for the first time since taking two of three from the Pirates on May 9-11.

The Dodgers did all of their scoring in two innings. It started in the third when Kershaw singled leading off. Rafael Furcal had been in a huge slump since coming back from injury, but he got into one for his first homer of the season to go up 2-0. On the day, Raffy went 3-for-5 with two runs and three RBIs. It's not a surprise that on a day where he hit well, the Dodgers easily won.

With one down now, Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp both singled before Jerry Sands popped up. No matter, as both Jay Gibbons and Dioner Navarro hit RBI singles for the 4-0 advantage.

The fourth inning didn't bring any runs, but a whole lot of action. Kershaw again singled leading off, and Raffy did the same. Casey Blake stuck out, and after Ethier was given the intentional pass, Kemp grounded into a double play. Kemp, however, was furious about a called strike during the at-bat, and got tossed for arguing. Ditto for Don Mattingly, as he stuck up for his boy.

The offense put the game away for good in the fifth. The bases were loaded with one out on a single by Gibbons, a double by Navarro, and another intentional walk, this time to Jamey Carroll. Kershaw collected an RBI on a groundout. Raffy got another RBI on a single, and Blake hit a two-run single, making it 8-0.

It was all about Kershaw from there, who was just masterful all afternoon long. To go along with his two-hitter, he struck out 10 and only walked one. He retired the Marlins in order in six of the nine innings he pitched. He was just that good.

With his 10-strikeout day, he now has 87 on the season, good for first in the majors (granted he has one more start than guys right on his heels like Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and James Shields). Plus, with two hits in this game, he now has a .240 average, which isn't bad at all for a pitcher. Not too shabby of a day, huh?

Most importantly, Kershaw showed his team that he can take the ball every fifth day and carry them on his back. He obviously got great support from the offense in this one, but only one of the eight runs were needed. With June approaching, a few more good starts will most definitely earn him another honor he's been waiting on: an All-Star berth.

After dropping Saturday's game in lowly fashion, I talked about what the offense needed to do to get on track. Everyone knows that Ethier and Kemp need to hit for the Dodgers to win. On Sunday, they combined to go 4-for-6 with a double, two runs, and two walks. Plus one sweet ejection. Ethier got on base all five at-bats.

The other guy I pointed out was Raffy, who was still trying to find his groove. Hopefully Sunday was that day in which he become comfortable at the plate again, as his average shot up from .154 to .193. Hey, you've got to start somewhere. A healthy Raffy leading off = an offense that is actually relevant.

It was encouraging to see the offense hit around a good pitcher in Ricky Nolasco, who entered the game 4-0 with a 3.04 ERA. Well, after getting pounded for eight runs on 15 hits in five innings, it's now at 3.82. Not quite as bad as Jaime Garcia's ERA jump the other night, but still pretty eye opening.

I'm just glad the Dodgers both gave their fans something to cheer about and finally won a series after tying or dropping five straight. It's about time! Do I think the Dodgers are completely turned around after one win? No. But I do think they should use this small momentum to win the upcoming three-game set against a slumping Rockies team. Now is the time to get them.

Monday's Memorial Day start will go to Chad Billingsley, who will go up against Jason Hammel.

Dodgers snore their way to another loss

This season has been full of embarrassing moments both on an off the field for the Dodgers. Saturday night brought the latest examples from each.

As the Dodgers were flailing away helplessly at a bunch of middle relievers from the Marlins, a small fire broke out in a warehouse near Dodger Stadium, causing a whole mass of people to relocate seats (it wasn't hard - nobody was there) in the upper deck.

It's probably not surprising that the Dodgers lost again, 6-1. With the loss (again), the Dodgers are now seven games under .500 as they continue to challenge the Padres for dead last in the NL West. At this rate, they'll be there in no time.

Hiroki Kuroda got the start, and he was coming off a rough start against the White Sox, which came immediately after being practically untouchable in the previous two. This start would see the bad Kuroda, as he gave up a season-high 10 hits in only 5 1/3 innings of work.

In the first, Chris Coghlan led off the game with a double. That was a sign of things to come, as after Hanley Ramirez's groundout got him to third, Logan Morrison lifted a sac-fly RBI for the 1-0 lead. Gabby Sanchez then doubled and scored on a single by Gregg Dobbs, and it was 2-0 just like that.

The Dodgers got on the board in the third. Kuroda led off with a walk of all things. Rafael Furcal then singled. Now with two outs, Matt Kemp lifted an RBI double to left to cut the deficit to 2-1. That was Kemp's 35th run batted in on the season, good for seventh in the National League. Imagine if he had a good offense around him? He could be in first.

Kuroda gave that run right back in the fourth. Sanchez opened it up with a double. Kuroda got the next two out, but Omar Infante's RBI single put their lead up to 3-1.

The game was broken open for good in the sixth. Dobbs again burned the Dodgers with a double leading off. Mike Stanton walked, and Infante's sacrifice put runners in scoring position. Out went Kuroda, and in came Mike MacDougal, who got Brett Hayes grounding out. But, Wes Helms bounced one just inside the first base line for a two-run double, and it was 5-1.

The final run came in the seventh against Kenley Jansen, who was all over the place. He somehow only gave up a run on an RBI single by Dobbs. It wasn't surprising, as Dobbs is torching the Dodgers this year with a .563 average in five games.

After this latest putrid outing from the Dodgers, they're now 27th in the baseball in runs scored. They're also 26th in slugging percentage, which obviously shows a complete lack of power. Then there's RBIs, which they're 28th. You get the point by now.

The biggest problem with the Dodgers is that they're so freakin' boring to watch. I understand they don't have a lineup that will put up a bunch of runs, but geez, when's the last time you watched a game in which they just went off? In looking at the month of May, they won 10-3 over the Pirates on the 10th. They've played 16 games after that in which they never just cruised to victory. That's how awful this offense is.

So the question is, How can the Dodgers break out of this slump? That's something that's been asked for awhile now, to no avail. It's probably as simple as getting Andre Ethier and Kemp to hit again. This month, Ethier's hitting .228, and Kemp .247. If they don't hit, forget about it.

Another guy who's key to the offense is Raffy, who recently returned from injury. To say it's been a struggle is an understatement. In six games since his return, he's 3-for-26 with five strikeouts. Here's another big stat: he has zero walks... as the leadoff hitter. He'll never be the most patient person at the plate, but that's just not getting it done.

Every team goes through peaks and valleys during the season, and the Dodgers are desperately looking to get another peak going. The only way that will ever happen is if someone steps up and leads the way at the plate. I have just as many doubts as anyone else does if that will ever actually happen, but there is plenty of time left in the season. I just hope it does or they'll continue to embarrass themselves night in and night out.

Sunday's rubber match will be a great pitching duel. Clayton Kershaw will go against Ricky Nolasco. So if you expect the offense to break out of their slump in this game, you can think again. Let's just hope Kershaw makes life even tougher on the Fish.

A walk-off winner for Navarro

Despite not even averaging three runs a game in the month of May, it was the offense that stepped up and won Friday night's game.

Dioner Navarro pinch-hit with the bases loaded in the ninth inning and lined a sharp single to center to give the Dodgers a win over the red hot Marlins, 3-2. The last two weeks have been brutal for the Dodgers, so it's only their fourth win in 12 games.

Oddly enough, it was the longball that put the Dodgers' first two runs on the board. In the second, James Loney got the first hit of the game by creaming one to right. It was only his second tater of the season, and give his teammates credit for giving him the silent treatment when coming back in the dugout. It was a fun moment in a season that hasn't seen too many of them.

The Marlins tied it in the sixth. Hanley Ramirez walked leading off against Jon Garland. Logan Morrison then singled for two on. Gabby Sanchez grounded into a double play, which allowed Ramirez to get to third with two down. Needing one more big pitch, Garland couldn't do it as Gregg Dobbs singled to left to tie the game 1-1.

The Dodgers didn't waste any time in grabbing back the lead. Again with two outs, Andre Ethier took a high breaking ball out to right for his fifth homer of the year. He had two hits on this night, his first multi-hit game since May 10, or 16 games ago. It hasn't been all roses for him since his hitting streak was snapped on May 7.

With a one-run lead entering late in the game, it was almost inevitable that it wouldn't last considering it was bullpen time. Sure enough, it didn't. But it started off well, as Scott Elbert relieved Garland with one on and one out in the seventh. Elbert immediately got Chris Coghlan to ground into a double play.

The fun would be short-lived, as Don Mattingly gave the ball to Rubby De La Rosa in the eighth. He wasn't sharp at all to begin with, as he walked Ramirez and watched him steal second without a throw. Morrison lined out hard to Loney at first for one down. Sanchez singled to put runners on the corners, and another RBI single by Dobbs evened the game at 2-2.

Who knows if the Marlins would have scored again had they not completely run themselves out of the inning. With one down, Mike Stanton popped one up in foul territory that Loney made a slick catch on near the dugout. Sanchez then tried to catch the Dodgers napping with nobody covering home, yet De La Rosa was able to easily run him down for the last out. Just a horrible play by the Fish.

De La Rosa bounced back with a perfect ninth to set it up for the offense. Clay Hensley came on and all four batters reached against him. It started with a single by the returning Casey Blake, who made a terrific diving catch earlier in the game. Andre Ethier singled, and Blake went to third on Stanton's bobble.

The decision was then obvious as Matt Kemp stepped up to the plate, as he was given the intentional pass to load the bases. Navarro then hit for De La Rosa, and even with an extra infielder to get the forceout at home, Navarro lined it through everybody for the walk-off.

Both team combined for only 13 hits, with the Marlins holding the slight 7-6 edge. But, they certainly have to be kicking themselves for blowing chances with runners on base. The Dodgers turned a whopping four double plays, including the gift baserunning blunder to end the eighth.

Garland bounced back from a rough start against the White Sox to go 6 1/3 innings for five hits, one run, four walks, and two strikeouts. He was obviously helped out by his defense. His WHIP for the season is a concern at 1.44, so let's hope that starts coming down.

De La Rosa gets the blown save, but also his first career win. I think Mattingly just has to continue to let these guys get time, as guys like Javy Guerra, Elbert, and De La Rosa are the wave of the future. With news that Blake Hawksworth suffered a setback in his rehab, it's obvious that the young guns are going to get plenty of chances right now. At this point, Mattingly might as well put them in there and show their stuff.

The Dodgers caught a big break by avoiding both the injured Josh Johnson and the masterful Anibal Sanchez this weekend. So, if they're going to claim a series against the Marlins, this would be the time. So far, so good.

Saturday's game will see Hiroki Kuroda take the ball and look for his sixth win. Brian Sanches has been a great reliever this year, and with the injury to Johnson, will get his first career start after 166 games of relief.

There's no stopping Andre the Giant

Andre Ethier set a record yesterday. Today he added more heroics.

Ethier led off the 10th inning and cranked a homer off of the previously untouchable Brian Sanches, and Vicente Padilla slammed the door shut as the Dodgers took down the Marlins in 10, 5-4. The win avoids a sweep and gives the Dodgers and even 3-3 record on their road trip.

The Marlins had every reason to think they would get this one, as the game started at 9 A.M. Pacific time. Plus the fact that they went up 4-0 and had a guy who threw a one-hitter on the mound, things were looking up.

Chad Billingsley got through the top of the order with ease in the first, but ran into plenty of trouble in the second. With one out, Mike Stanton singled. Next came two straight singles to load the bases by Greg Dobbs and Emilio Bonafacio. Brett Haynes got one in with an RBI single to make it 1-0. Billingsley got Anibal Sanchez swinging, but couldn't escape the inning when Chris Coghlan, that damn little Dodger killer, stroked a three-run double to make it 4-0.

The Dodgers needed someone to step up if they wanted any chance to win, and it happened in the fourth. Ethier extended his hitting streak to 24 straight games with a single with one out. Matt Kemp struck out, but James Loney singled to set it up for Rod Barajas. Barajas was resigned for his power, and it showed with a huge three-run homer, and it was now 4-3.

Still needing another boost to at least tie the game, Juan Uribe came through despite still not being in the starting lineup with a sore thigh. Aaron Miles started the seventh with a single, and he went to second on Ivan DeJesus's sacrifice bunt. Miles was then handed third base via a a balk. Uribe pinch-hit for Billingsley and delivered a big RBI double to tie the game at 4.

From there, both teams had plenty of chances to end the game in regulation, but couldn't get that one more big hit. For the Dodgers, it came in the eighth. Kemp, Loney, and Miles all walked to load the bases with one down. Edward Mujica came into pitch to DeJesus, and it worked with a double play ball to end the threat.

Matt Guerrier found himself in a bad situation in the ninth. He immediately gave up to singles to Dobbs and Bonafacio, with the latter reaching on a bunt. Hayes sacrificed them both over to scoring position, and it wasn't looking good. But Guerrier stepped up by striking out Scott Cousins and getting John Buck grounding out.

The good vibes carried right over into the 10th, as the Dodgers took the lead for good on Ethier's third longball of the season. His 2-for-5 day puts his average at .380, which is slightly above Kemp's .378. Two All-Star starters? It's got to happen if this keeps up.

As if Ethier's day wasn't good enough, perhaps an even greater sight came in the bottom of the 10th. Needing to protect the one-run lead, Padilla was given the ball, not Jonathan Broxton. It worked, as Padilla set the Marlins down in order for his third career save, and first of the season.

The official reason given by the Dodgers was that Broxton had a sore elbow, so he was unavailable. Not that I'm doubting people when they say they're hurt, but I have to think Padilla would have been given a chance regardless. I think it only makes since considering Broxton is still on shaky ground.

The Dodgers deserve all sorts of credit for getting a win in this one. They could've easily rolled over and played dead after being down by four, but they didn't let that happen. Games like this give me plenty of hope that they can hang around and contend.

Of course, the flip side is that they could just as easily have won two of three if not for Monday's letdown. Then again, maybe both teams can claim they're even now after blowing leads they had every chance to hold onto.

Thursday will be a day off as the Dodgers travel back home. Friday they will welcome the Padres for three. Ted Lilly only has one good start out of five, so he will look to get going.

6th inning woes cost Kershaw

Clayton Kershaw found himself locked in a battle with Chris Volstad of the Marlins through five innings of Tuesday night's ballgame in Florida.

Then the sixth inning came, and Wild Kershaw made his return.

After looking sharp through the first five innings, including five strikeouts, Kershaw was all over the place in the sixth. Three singles and two walks later, the Marlins broke a 2-2 tie with two runs, and that score would hold up as they won, 4-2. The Dodgers have dropped two straight in this three-game set.

A day after such a disappointing loss, the offense went to work right away in the first. Aaron Miles again hit leadoff and singled, and soon advanced to second on a passed ball. Andre Ethier collected a hit in his 23rd straight game with an RBI double, and it was 1-0.

For Ethier, the hit was historic. He now has the record all to himself for consecutive hits in April. And here's the kicker - he broke a tie with Joe Torre! Talk about strange. Congrats to Andre on the impressive streak.

Down by a run, Gabby Sanchez led off the bottom of the second with a solo homer, his third of the season.

The Dodgers got that run back in the fourth. With one out, Jerry Sands stroked a double. James Loney singled to left, all part of his 4-for-4 night to raise his average from .170 to .204, and Sands went to third. Rod Barajas did his job by producing a fly ball for an RBI, and it was 2-1.

Another lousy play with the gloves, ala the night before, resulted in the Fish tying the game again in the fourth. Hanley Ramirez singled with one out. Sanchez then hit a grounder to third in which Miles recorded the out at first. Ramirez kept running, so Loney tried to throw him out at third, which was a smart play... right up until Miles let the ball sail by to score Ramirez. The error was given to Loney, but from where I was sitting, it sure looked like a catchable ball.

The sixth inning is where it all came apart for Kershaw and the Dodgers. It started with that pesky Chris Coghlan, who just torched the Dodgers the previous night. He singled leading off, and soon went to third an out later on Ramirez's single. Sanchez then took a walk to load the bases. Kershaw couldn't make the big pitches to end the inning, as Matt Stanton's two-run single with two strikes gave the Marlins the lead for good at 4-2.

The final three inning brought exactly one baserunner for the Dodgers - Loney's single in the ninth. The bullpen of Randy Choate, Clay Hensley, and Leo Nunez emphatically shut the door the final three innings of this one. Nunez now has seven saves.

Kershaw finished with 5 1/3 innings for six hits, four runs, two walks, and five strikeouts. He seems to have settled into a pattern of a great start followed by a so-so one. He's certainly not getting shelled, but the next step for him is to put together consecutive quality outings. He'll get there soon.

Mike MacDougal continues to impress out of the 'pen. He has now only given up one earned run in nine innings of relief. Everyone knew he could throw hard, but his command was the issue. Well, he does have five walks, but he's getting the big outs when needed. It's good to see him getting the job done.

Kenley Jansen was also impressive, as he pitched two scoreless innings with three strikeouts. Unfortunately for him, he has two horrific outings that have completely ballooned his ERA up to 8.03. But, outings like this are what he needs to get back on track, and he looks like he's doing that.

You can't blame the Dodgers for having a case of tired legs, and that looked to be the case at times tonight. Matt Kemp was 0-for-4, and Ethier was hitless after the first. The Dodgers have played 19 straight days, and the Marlins are quietly one of the best teams in the majors with a 15-7 record. That's why blowing last night's game was so tough - it was a chance to hang a loss on a good team. But it is what it is.

Wednesday's game will be a noon start, as Chad Billingsley takes on Anibal Sanchez. Sanchez is coming off a start in which he was three outs away from a no-hitter. After 20 straight days of baseball, the Dodgers will mercifully get a day off on Thursday before a weekend set against the Padres starting Friday.