"What's an All-Star Game without Clayton?"

That's the rhetorical question posed by A.J. Ellis after Wednesday night's game.

Considering Clayton Kershaw just got done polishing off the Phillies with a complete game, 13-strikeout, shutout performance in a 5-0 win, it's one plenty of people around the game are asking too.

Left off the roster by both the players' vote and manager Bruce Bochy, Kershaw also saw his name in fourth place out of five in the Final Vote before toeing the rubber at Dodger Stadium.  What followed was his best performance of the season, and even more encouraging was how he rose to the occasion with runners on base, as the Phillies did get eight hits.  That's what's been crushing him earlier this season.

With his final start before the All-Star break in the books, Kershaw finds himself first in the National League in strikeouts (160) and second in innings pitched (123).  Digging a little deeper, he's tied for third in all of baseball at a 3.7 Pitcher's WAR with Chris Sale.

Yet, he still finds himself on the outside looking in, and as of now, it's going to stay that way.  Keep in mind that as we get closer to the actual game in Cincinnati next Tuesday, there will need to be injury/rest replacements.  Any pitcher scheduled to throw this Sunday can either be replaced, or choose to throw just one inning.  The rules are a little petty, but also understandable in a way as they're meant to protect the arms.

Ignoring the 6-6 record because of the Dodgers' awful runs support (Zack Greinke only has seven wins, which is criminal), Kershaw has lowered his ERA a full run from 3.86 at the end of May to 2.85 right now.  One thing he's been constantly mentioning as something he wants to improve upon is how deep he pitches into the game (we all are, considering how terrible the bullpen is).  Last night he went the distance for the first time, and since the start of June, he's hurled at least seven innings in six of his eight starts.  Not bad.

But, once again, it might not mean anything as far as the All-Star Game goes.  And you know what?  Maybe that's not a bad thing.  I heard John Smoltz, soon to be enshrined into Cooperstown this summer, say on MLB Network that Kershaw should just enjoy the rest and get ready for the second half.  The more I thought about it, the more I liked that idea.

While everyone wants the honor of being an All-Star, it's not like he hasn't been there before, as he's made the previous four.  He's actually scoreless in those games, pitching an inning apiece.  In 2012, he loaded the bases but wiggled out of it, and other than that, has barely been touched.  So, he's proven that he can get it done on that stage.

Don't get me wrong, I would be thrilled if he does get in, as he's proven since June that he most certainly deserves it.  I'm just saying that if he doesn't, taking over a week off from starts isn't a bad thing at all.  He's been going nonstop the last couple of seasons between the regular season, All-Star Game, and postseason, without a breather.  This could be a rare chance to get one.

Both trades official: Kemp an ex-Dodger, Rollins a current one

After being in a holding pattern for a week, the trades announced at last week's Winter Meetings became official today.  Matt Kemp is now on his way to play for the Padres, and Jimmy Rollins will be the Dodgers' new starting shortstop.

Here's what went down in both deals:

The Dodgers send Kemp, $32 million of his remaining $107 million salary, and Tim Federowicz to the Padres for catcher Yasmani Grandal, pitcher Joe Wieland, and pitcher Zach Eflin.

In turn, the Dodgers then flipped Eflin and pitcher Tom Windle to the Phillies for Jimmy Rollins and cash.

The holdup for the past couple of days was the physical taken by Kemp on Tuesday.  Supposedly the Padres found that he has arthritic hips, and all sorts of reports were floated that it could be a deal breaker, or not an issue at all.  Then it was reported that the holdup had more to do with the Padres demanding more money.  The Dodgers said no.

So in the end, we're right back to square one, which was the original deal agreed upon by both clubs last week. 

It will be really, REALLY strange seeing Kemp show up Opening Day in Dodger Stadium wearing the opposing team's uniform.  That will be one of the highlights on baseball's grand opening for the 2015 season.  I fully expect, and certainly hope, Dodger fans give him a great ovation in his first at-bat.  And if he then hits a home run, boo him from there on out!

But seriously, let's hope Kemp and Rollins can contribute on the field so these trades work for both sides.  Kemp is the one who has more years left in him, while Rollins is looking for one last run at a second ring.  This will all be a lot of fun to watch.

Jimmy Rollins: Dodgers shortstop

With Hanley Ramirez gone, the Dodgers had a big hole to fill at shortstop.  Sure, they have in-house replacements like Alex Guerrero, Erisbel Arruebarrena, and Justin Turner.  Then there's the 20-year-old top prospect Corey Seager, who is indeed the future, but not necessarily the current.

What did the Dodgers decide to do?  Trade for a three-time All-Star, MVP, and World Series champion.

That man is Jimmy Rollins, who has been acquired from the Phillies.  He's entering the final year of his contract paying him $11 million, which is practically chump change to the rich Dodgers.  What is not yet known is whom the Dodgers gave in return, but stay tuned for that.

Right away, a few things come to mind when seeing this trade.  There's no disputing that the Rollins of 2007 is not walking through that door, as that guy hit .296 with 30 homers, 94 RBIs, and 41 stolen bases on his way to an MVP, Silver Slugger, and Gold Glove awards.  Not a bad season, to say the least.

This version of Rollins is past his prime, no doubt.  But even with that, I think there's plenty of things to like about this deal.  Last season he hit .243 with 17 homers, 55 RBIs, and 28 steals in 126 games.  Hanley hit .283 with 13 homers, 71 RBIs, and 14 steals in 128 games.  Those are surprisingly even numbers, with Rollins getting the edge in the speed department.  That will come in handy for a team that doesn't rely on the long ball to score the majority of their runs.

The other major difference is on defense.  Simply put, Rollins is good, and Hanley is not.  Last season Rollins had a .988 fielding %, seven errors, and a 1.1 Defensive WAR.  Hanley had a .961/16/-0.6 line.  It's not hard to figure out that Rollins is clearly the better choice at short.

When this deal went down, one of the first things the baseball reporters were saying is that Rollins still has something left in the tank, and is still a very good defensive player to boot.  He brings instant credibility to a team that is on the verge of taking the next step, and getting a second ring while leading a new team has to mean a lot to him.

Of course, if Rollins starts off the year slowly and isn't getting any big hits, then I'm sure plenty of fans won't be afraid to express their displeasure at not re-signing Hanley.  I can understand that.  But everyone needs to remember that Hanley made a very smart decision for his career as well, as going to the American League and getting his big money contract is exactly what he wanted to happen.  Good for him.

In the meantime, let's enjoy the top shortstop in Phillies' history coming to the Dodgers for a year (or more, who knows), while Seager continues his climb to the Majors.

Dodgers acquire Roberto Fausto Carmona Hernandez

*** UPDATE ***

It looks like Hernandez will take the place of Beckett in the rotation.  Uh oh... not a good sign for Beckett, who's obviously hurt worse than we all thought.  What a shame.

***

Ned Colletti traded for some pitching reinforcement today, picking up Roberto "Don't Call Me Fausto Carmona" Hernandez from the Phillies for a couple of players or cash.  Hernandez was lined up to start for the Phillies tonight against the Astros, but that's obviously not going to happen.

This season, Hernandez is 6-8 with a 3.87 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, and 75 K's in 121 IP.  Decent numbers, but nothing spectacular.  What is very encouraging is his work since the All-Star break, as he's 2-0 with a 2.18 ERA and 0.87 WHIP.  He's cut down big time on his walks, which has led to much better numbers.

It's unclear right now how the Dodgers will use him, as a starter or in the 'pen.  The rotation has issues at the bottom, as Josh Beckett is battling a bad hip, and Dan Haren has been hit hard before last night's start, where he dominated the Angels.  Maybe giving Hernandez a start in one of their spots is an idea, or to give everyone else an extra day of rest in a spot start.

The bullpen could certainly use him as well.  Take away Kenley Jansen and J.P. Howell, and the other options are slim and none for big outs late in games.  Jamey Wright is having a pretty good year, but he's being used more for outs earlier in the game.  Perhaps Hernandez gets a crack at pitching in setup.

Whatever the case, based on his recent success, this appears like a good move without giving up much.  It's not like the Dodgers can't afford to give away cash, and anytime there's players to be named later, it means low-end prospects.  In other words, not much being lost.

It will be interesting to see if Colletti is done here, which I doubt.  I would think he's still looking for more help in the pitching department.  We shall see what else he has in store.

Awful defense continues to destroy the Dodgers

The Phillies beat the Dodgers on Saturday afternoon 5-3.  Dan Haren scuffled through a very shaky first couple of innings, Chase Utley hit a two-run homer, and the offense chipped away but never could get over the hump.

And one last thing: four of the Phillies' five runs should have never scored in the first place.  If the Dodgers had any clue defensively, then this would've been a victory.

Welcome to the 2014 version of the Dodgers, where defensive miscues dominate.

Let's go through each of the three scenarios:

Miscue #1 - 1st inning
With Ben Revere on second from a leadoff double, Chase Utley popped one up in foul territory with one out.  A.J. Ellis ranged to his right and back, but the ball skipped out of his glove right near the wall.  It wasn't an easy catch because of the wind, but certainly not a hard one either.  Sure enough, Utley creamed the next pitch into the right field stands, and it was 2-0.

Miscue #2 - 2nd inning
First comes the good, and that was a beautiful throw behind by Ellis to Erisbel Arruebarrena at second to nail a wandering Carlos Ruiz.  Soon Cesar Hernandez was sacrificed to second, and Revere singled into center.  Instead of hitting the cutoff man and holding Revere at first, Andre Ethier threw all the way home too late, allowing Revere to advance.  And wouldn't you know it, and RBI single by Jimmy Rollins came next to make it 4-0.  Utley popped up for the last out, so if Ethier made the correct throw, the score would've stayed at 3-0.

Miscue #3 - 5th inning
Again involving the speedy Revere, who hit a little dribbler to Haren.  Having just enough time to make the play, Haren instead fired the ball wide of Adrian Gonzalez at first, causing Revere to go all the way to third.  Don Mattingly argued that Revere was inside the running lane, and it certainly appeared so.  But, it wasn't called, so the play stood.  Regardless, Haren shouln't have thrown it away.  Rollins got the run in on a groundout to short.

Two errors and one mental mistake were enough for the Phillies to get the win.  And it was also enough for Mattingly to once again question just who the heck is capable of playing fundamental defense.  I'm not sure he's able to find nine players at once who can.  It's been that bad this season.

Today marked the 50th game for the Dodgers, and they are right near the bottom of the league with 42 errors.  Only the Nationals and White Sox are worse.  I'm stating the obvious here, but it's inexcusable.  This team has very little margin for error (no pun intended), so when they throw the ball all over the place, they're being their own worst enemy.

The funny thing is, I actually really liked the defensive alignment that Mattingly has used.  Two days in a row we've seen Arruebarrena at short (Hanley Ramirez was a late scratch with a sore calf), Ethier in center, and Carl Crawford in left.  Dee Gordon continues to look really good at second, Yasiel Puig is a stud in right, both Justin Turner and Chone Figgins have handled third well the last two games, and A-Gon and Ellis have long been considered good with the gloves.

Basically, what I'm saying is that when it rains, it pours.  On paper, these guys should be good with the leather.  But, it just seems like when things go wrong, it really, really goes wrong.  It should also be noted that two games straight the pitchers have thrown balls away trying to make quick throws (Brandon League last night, Haren today).  That's not exactly the best way to help your own cause.

Right now the Dodgers are 4-4 on this road trip, splitting evenly with the Diamondbacks, Mets, and Phillies.  If they can't win tomorrow, then this trip has been a major disappointment.  5-4 looks much better than 4-5, though 6-3 would've been best considering the bad teams they've played.  Josh Beckett will take on A.J. Burnett.

Kershaw bounces back with six scoreless frames

Clayton Kershaw needed a jolt after a horrific performance his last outing in Arizona, one that saw him fail to get out of the second inning.  The Dodgers also needed a jolt after a sloppy game last night in New York.

Mission accomplished on both fronts.

Kershaw showed why he's the reigning Cy Young Award winner, tossing six scoreless innings and striking out nine.  He got all the support needed on an RBI single from Yasiel Puig in the first, and a solo home run from Carl Crawford in the second.

I don't think anybody expected Kershaw to get hammered again, but there was some concern that his Arizona debacle would linger into this start.  Instead, he used a wicked slider to keep the Phillies off balance, and was able to wiggle out of two out and none on in both the fourth and sixth.

I'm nitpicking here, but even with the great box score, that still wasn't the best he can offer.  He did walk three guys as he still appears to be searching for better fastball command.  He had it for the most part in this one, but was around the strike zone a bit too much with the hard stuff.  Still, when the heat was on, he rose up and pitched even better.

Not even a 43 minute rain delay could deny Kershaw on this night.  The fear when the rain started pounding the ground in the fourth was that he'd get an early exit again, and the overworked and unproductive bullpen would have to carry the load.  Thankfully the delay was short, and Kershaw went right back to work.

Now that he's gotten this start out of the way, he should be full speed ahead for his next start on Wednesday against the Reds at home.  They're a team that, like the Dodgers, are stuck in the middle of their division trying to play more consistent baseball.

Other thoughts from the game:

* The bullpen was in charge of protecting a three-run lead for three innings, and did just that.  Brandon League got a shot to start the seventh, and a single, walk, and bad throw by himself meant he got the hook before even getting an out.  J.P. Howell did an outstanding job in pitching out of it, as did Brian Wilson and Kenley Jansen right after that with two flawless innings combined.

* Speaking of League, it probably wasn't the best timing by me to write about how I believe League should pitch in setup in the eighth.  Boy did he look bad, which is probably why he's only useful in non-pressure situations.

* The legend of Puig continues to grow, as he had another awesome night at the plate: 3-for-3, two walks, and an RBI single.  He's now up to .343 with 38 RBIs this season.  And if you haven't checked out his sensational catch in New York from last night, look it up.  He's having an amazing year so far, and only looks to be getting better.

* As Orel Hershiser talked about before and during the game, tonight's lineup was an obvious message by Don Mattingly at getting his best defenders on the field.  So, Matt Kemp and Hanley Ramirez rested, while Andre Ethier and the debuting Erisbel Arruebarruena started in center and at short, respectively.  It definitely worked, as they played a clean game, with the only error being charged to League in the seventh.

* Let's see more of Ethier in center from here on out.  I know Kemp will still get his starts, but he's proven to be a step behind anymore.  Ethier is much better at getting good jumps on fly balls, and even had two hits tonight.  Like I said earlier today, the days of Kemp being the everyday center fielder need to come to an end.  Enough is enough.

* Arruebarruena had a weird debut to say the least.  He struck out three times and never once had a ball hit to him at short.  That's almost hard to believe that nobody even accidentally grounded to short, but it's true.  He looks to have a long, long way to go at the plate, though.  He didn't stand a chance on the breaking stuff.

* As was also pointed out during the game, I don't remember ever seeing such a small Philly crowd, and that was even before the rain delay.  They look like they've already thrown in the towel on this season.

Dan Haren will look for his sixth win on Saturday.  His ERA has gone up in each of his last four starts, and was hit around in Arizona last Sunday.  Still, he has a 3.18 ERA in nine starts, something the Dodgers will gladly take.

One too many Hanley errors ends the 10-game streak

Well, make that TWO too many errors.

A couple of errors in the ninth inning from Hanley Ramirez at short led to the winning run off of Brandon League, as the Phillies gave Ryne Sandberg his first big league win as a manager, 3-2.  The loss also ends the 10-game winning streak the Dodgers have been on, as their advantage in the NL West went down a tick to 7 1/2 games.

After watching Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw completely overwhelm the porous Phillies' offense for two games, Ricky Nolasco was given the task of winning without Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, and A.J. Ellis all getting the day off.  Oh ya, Cole Hamels started on the other side.

Nolasco, however, was spotted a 2-0 lead as he was looking good in the early going.  Andre Ethier led off the second and did something that goes against his career stats: homer off of a left-handed pitcher.  His solo shot off Hamels made it 1-0.

In the fourth, Ethier was again the thick of things.  He singled with one out, then scampered to third on a wild pitch.  Scott Van Slyke struck out, but Jerry Hairston came through with a two-out RBI single, and the Dodgers were up 2-0.

The Phillies were desperate for a run of any sort, and mercifully they got one in the fourth.  With two outs, Darin Ruf hit solo bomb to left, cutting into their deficit at 2-1.

That score would hold up until the sixth when the Phillies tied it.  Nolasco beaned Chase Utley on the foot with one out.  Dominic Brown singled out to Yasiel Puig in right, who then fired all the way to third late, allowing Brown to advance to second.  Once again, you live by Puig's arm, and you sometimes die by it.

Ruf took a walk to load the bases with one out.  Cody Asche grounded a slow one to Mark Ellis at second, but they could only get the out at second, allowing Utley to tie the game at 2-2.

The bats for the Dodgers largely went silent after scoring in the fourth, as they only gathered two hits the rest of the way.  Nick Punto walked to start the eighth, but was immediately erased on a double play ball from Ramirez.

League took over for Paco Rodriguez, who struck out three of his four hitters faced, with one out in the ninth.  Right away, Casper Wells reached when Ramirez's throw could not be handled on a bounce by Hairston.  Carlos Ruiz singled to put runners on the corners, and when Jimmy Rollins was announced as the pinch-hitter, he was given the intentional pass to load the bases.

That strategy appeared to work when Michael Young grounded an easy one to Ramirez, who had the option of either getting the out at home, or turning two.  Then again, he chose Option C: bobble the ball, everyone's safe, and the game's over.

This was definitely not a game Ramirez would like to remember, as he went 0-for-4 with a strikeout, a GIDP, and two errors.  Hey, even someone as red hot as him has off days.  Puig was also 0-for-4 with a strikeout, so it's safe to say that perhaps they were trying to carry the offense a little too much.

A question can be asked about Ramirez's first error in the ninth: Would Gonzalez have handled the hop?  A couple things to consider is that the ball appeared to hit the edge of the grass and dirt, so it wasn't a normal hop.  Plus, Hairston was making only his fifth career start at first, all this season.  If Hairston makes that play, then there would've been two outs, and who knows if the Phillies get that run.  It wasn't an easy one to handle, so even Gonzo may not have gloved it.

Something that was positive was Nolasco's start, as he lasted six innings for five hits, two runs, one walk, and five strikeouts.  He was in a rut for awhile of not going at least six innings, so this was good to see.  For a #4 starter, I'll take this line every time.  With the Dodgers in eight starts, he's 4-1 with a 2.98 ERA and 1.30 WHIP.

The Dodgers immediately move on to Miami for four with the Marlins starting Monday.  The Marlins are absolutely horrific at 47-75, second worst only to the Astros.  What do The Fish have going for them?  Giancarlo Stanton and Jose Fernandez.  The Dodgers will get to see both of them right away, as Hyun-Jin Ryu will look for his 14th win.

Youth is served as Dodgers dismantle Phillies

It was a perfect and fitting end to the month of June, which saw the Dodgers go from pushover to a team on the rise.

Youth has been served, and it couldn't have come at a better time.

With big games from Yasiel Puig and Stephen Fife, and contributions along the way from Jose Dominguez, Paco Rodriguez, and Scott Van Slyke, the Dodgers won an easy one over the Phillies on Sunday, 6-1.  The win gave them three of four, and eight of their last nine.

It took until the fourth before either team scored, where the Dodgers certainly got to Kyle Kendrick.  Puig hit his second infield single and soon stole second.  An out later, Hanley Ramirez stroked an RBI single to go up 1-0.  Ramirez got in on the running with a steal of second, and Matt Kemp's RBI single to left made it 2-0.

A balk by Kendrick put Kemp at second, and A.J. Ellis hit an infield single for runners on the corners.  An RBI single by Jerry Hairston later, the Dodgers were in control at 3-0.

The heart of the order of Puig and Adrian Gonzalez teamed up to create another run in the fifth.  Puig lifted a popup to right that landed and scooted away from Delmon Young in right, allowing Puig to get a triple out of it.  Gonzalez lined an RBI double to right, and it was 4-0.

For as much as Dodger fans complain about their bullpen (and rightfully so), the Phillies are just as bad, if not worse.  The Dodgers scored a couple more runs off of them in the eighth.  With Jacob Diekman in, Kemp singled and scored all the way from first on an RBI double by Ellis, who had three hits on the day.  Van Slyke pinch-hit and hit an RBI single to score Ellis, making it 6-0.

Dominguez made his Major League debut in the top of the eighth, and boy did he leave his mark.  Throwing gas around 100 MPH, he immediately struck out Young, then got Ben Revere to ground to short.  On a full count to Carlos Ruiz, he hurled a change-up at about 83 MPH, popping him up to second.  Not only was it great to see that, but the fact he's replacing the recently designated Matt Guerrier makes it even sweeter!

Chris Withrow started the ninth and got a couple of outs right away before allowing consecutive singles to Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins, allowing Utley to score.  Rodriguez came in and got Ryan Howard swinging to end the game.

There was so much about this game that should leave the home fans feeling good as they left Dodger Stadium.  As I mentioned before, the youth strutted their stuff the whole day.  Puig continues to just marvel.  A 4-for-5 day at the plate gives him a .436 average, which is simply insane.  That's the highest average for a player in a calendar month making his Major League debut in the modern era.  Only Joe DiMaggio had more hits at 46 (to Puig's 44), and he had 25 more plate appearances.  Wow!

We all know how good Puig is, but let's give credit to Fife for stepping up and delivering a fantastic game on the mound.  In seven start this year, he's gone 3-2 with a 2.83 ERA and 1.21 WHIP.  Only one of his starts has he given up more than three runs, and that was the first one.  His name was nowhere on the list of potential rotation candidates to start the season, but due to injuries, he's more than justified his spot.

Watching Dominguez and Withrow was refreshing, mostly because we didn't have to suffer through watching clowns like Brandon League, Ronald Belisuckio, and Guerrier.  Paco is turning into a quality reliever against any hitter, as lefties are hitting .143, and righties .163.  Maybe the Dodgers are finally ready for quality middle relief to get the ball to Kenley Jansen in the ninth.  We can only hope.

Going 6-1 on the homestand was sweet, but now it's time to improve on that 13-22 road record, which is nearly the worst in all of baseball.  They'll get plenty of chances to do so coming up, as they start with three in Colorado on Tuesday, followed by three in San Francisco, and concluding with three in Arizona.  Clayton Kershaw gets the call on Tuesday.

Dodgers do everything they can to lose, but still win

The Dodgers were hardly a flawless team on Saturday night, grounding into double plays, committing silly errors in the outfield, and blowing a save in the ninth because of it.

But hey, they still won, and that's all that matters.

A.J. Ellis hit a walk-off single in the ninth to score Hanley Ramirez, giving the Dodgers a 4-3 win over the Phillies, their seventh victory in the last eight games.  It also puts the Dodgers five games in back of the Diamondbacks for the NL West lead, as the whole division is pretty bunched together.

Much like Thursday night's game, the Dodgers started red hot, then cooled off big time.  That's opposed to Friday's game, when the Phillies started hot, got hotter, and ended absolutely scorching hot.  Scoring 16 runs will do that for ya.

Chase Utley has been killing the Dodgers this series, and he lifted a solo shot out to right to make it 1-0 two batters into the game.  Hyun-Jin Ryu at least got the other red hot hitter, Delmon Young, to strikeout for the last out.

Yasiel Puig only had one hit, which for him is like two or three hits too low, and his single with one out started a rally.  Adrian Gonzalez took a walk, which gave Ramirez a chance to drive in runs.  Boy did he ever, as he absolutely unloaded on a long three-run bomb to dead center for the 3-1 lead.  I've seen a lot of homers at Dodger Stadium, but that's one of the farthest I can recall.

The down side is that the scoring stopped for the Dodgers after that, as he did almost everything possible to hand this game away.  The Phillies scored again in the third.  How, you ask?  That's right - a solo homer by Utley, his 11th of the season.  After missing a big chunk of last season, he looks young again, which is good news for Philly.

Despite the win, there were a couple of very frustrating moments for the Dodgers.  The first came in the fourth.  Ramirez doubled leading off, which led to two straight walks to Matt Kemp and Scott Van Slyke, who got the start in left for Andre Ethier.

Considering how well the Phillies have swung the bat this series, the Dodgers needed to score more runs.  Well, that didn't exactly happen here.  Ellis bounced one back to the mound for the 1-2-3 double play, and Juan Uribe grounded to short.  A completely blown opportunity there.

Ryu remained tough, though, as he got through the sixth and seventh without giving up anything else.  On the night, he gave up seven hits, two runs, three walks, and six strikeouts.  He should've gotten his seventh win, but was denied that thanks to some crappy defense.

Paco Rodriguez, Ronald Belisario, and J.P. Howell got through the eighth scoreless.  Actually, Belisario had nothing to do with it, because he was pathetic yet again.  Of the four hitters he faced, three of them reached on two singles and an intentional walk.  And yet again I'd like to point out how this guy should be nowhere near the mound in a close game like this.  He's terrible!

Kenley Jansen was given the ball in the ninth.  He got up 0-2 on leadoff hitter Michael Young, but Young hit a single to right that was misplayed by Puig, allowing him to go to second.  Utley's groundout got him to third.  Jimmy Rollins lifted a shallow fly ball to center which Young faked going home on.

Apparently Kemp didn't realize that, because he throw to home was so bad, Young practically walked home to tie the game at 3-3.  Kemp was bad all-around in this one, striking out three more times to go along with that horrific throw.  Definitely not the stuff of franchise players.  Give me a break.

Jansen was able to get out of the ninth tied, even though Dominic Brown tripled with two outs.  So yes, it's a blown save for Jansen, but it's of no fault of his own.  Puig and Kemp let him down big time.

Ramirez led off the bottom of the ninth with a sharp single to center off of Justin De Fratus.  Kemp, right on cue, struck out looking, barking at home plate umpire CB Bucknor.  Don't get me wrong - Bucknor did not have a good game, as his calls on the corners were very inconsistent and just downright strange for both Ryu and Cliff Lee the whole night.  But sorry, Matty, that was another poor at-bat by you.

Ethier worked a walk right after that, as he came in to start the inning for Van Slyke.  Ellis needed to redeem himself for that awful double play ball he grounded into earlier, and he did with a walk-off single to right, as Ramirez hustled around the tag at home.  It was a great end to an imperfect night.

Not to seem so negative, because the Dodgers will take any sort of win they can get, but this wasn't much fun to watch at times.  First there was Bucknor and his changing strike zone, then the offense going quiet for multiple innings again, then two atrocious errors in the outfield in the ninth.  Just some ugly stuff.

Then again, maybe it's a good thing that even with all of that, the Dodgers still won.  Right now they're 5-1 on the homestand, which is awesome.  If they can get Sunday's game, that's a very successful week in Dodger Stadium.  And that's even with the beatdown they suffered on Friday.

That win won't be easy on Sunday, as the Dodgers send Stephen Fife to the mound against Kyle Kendrick.  Fife has pitched well, but Kendrick has seven wins and a 3.46 ERA this season.  This game will finish up the homestand before taking Monday off and traveling to Colorado for three starting Tuesday.

Six straight W's as Dodgers keep on rollin'

Perhaps the best part about Thursday night's win over the Phillies?  Zack Greinke was far from his usual dominant self at home, but the Dodgers still found a way to win.

Despite being outhit 14-7, a late two-run single by Yasiel Puig gave the Dodgers a lead they would not relinquish, going on to win, 6-4.  After beating the Padres in both weekend games and sweeping the Giants in three, the Dodgers have kept the ball rolling in the opener of a four-game series.

If you were only able to watch the first inning and nothing else, you would think the Dodgers would have won this in a blowout.  Skip Schumaker played second and hit leadoff for Mark Ellis and walked to start things.  Puig lined a hard one up the middle that was kicked by pitcher Jonathan Pettibone, forcing Schumaker at second in an unlucky play.

Adrian Gonzalez singled to put two on.  Matt Kemp hit cleanup in his second start back from the DL, and his RBI single over the third base bag made it 1-0.  Andre Ethier skied one off the wall in center to bring home two, and it was 3-0.

That would be it for the Dodgers for awhile, as about the only thing they did until the seventh was have Nick Punto single, steal second, and get sacrificed over to third in the second, but get stranded.  In fact, Pettibone completely shut them down by retiring 15 straight before getting pulled in the seventh.

The Phillies not only chipped away after the first, they ended up taking a brief lead.  Dominic Brown launched his 21st homer leading off the second, tied for tops in the NL with Carlos Gonzalez.  There hasn't been a whole lot to go right for the Phillies this year, but Brown has certainly been one of them.

Greinke was far from sharp all night, as he ran many counts to 3-2 thanks to relentless nibbling at the corners.  In the fifth, he gave away the lead, though it could have been so much worse.  With one out, Pettibone singled, and Ben Revere reached on an infield single.  Chase Utley hit an RBI single to center to make it 3-2.  Jimmy Rollins followed with his own RBI single to tie the game at 3-3.

With momentum clearly on the Phillies' side, they really screwed it up.  Ryan Howard had a 3-0 count and was turned loose.  That's a good idea if you square up a fat pitch.  It's not if you bounce one in front of the plate for the 1-6-3 double play.  Just horrible execution by a veteran hitter like Howard.

Greinke stayed on to pitch the seventh and almost got out of it unscathed, but fell victim to a two-out, solo shot from Utley to put the Phillies up 4-3.  Puig nearly fell victim to a broken body after crashing into the wall trying to cach it.  Thankfully he was fine, but after starting the game on fire, the Dodgers gave it all away.

Ah, but these are not the same Dodgers from even a couple weeks ago.  These guys fight back, and it showed in the bottom of the seventh.  Justin De Fratus relieved, which was a good thing considering the Dodgers looked lost after the first inning against Pettibone.  Maybe the kid will go on to have a great career, but man... it's hard to believe he can set down 15 straight.  But he did.

Anyway, like many other times when teams have big innings, it starts with a walk, and it did here to A.J. Ellis.  Howard apparently was not done handing over favors to the Dodgers, as fell on his butt trying to field an easy bunt from Juan Uribe, failing to get anyone out.  That was pretty embarrassing and should have been an error, but that's hometown scoring for ya.

Punto laid down a great sacrifice to advance both runners to scoring position.  Don Mattingly then turned to Hanley Ramirez, who started the game on the bench.  Charlie Manuel didn't mess around, intentionally walking him to load the bases.  It was a great move at first, as Schumaker looked horrible striking out on three pitches.

Then came Puig, who looked awful in missing two outside sliders.  De Fratus did the right thing in throwing it again, but should have put it in the dirt, as Puig pulled a two-run single to left to get the lead back at 5-4.  Just when you thought the league had him figured out, he shows just how good of a hitter he is.

The Dodgers added one more in the eighth thanks to Kemp.  He singled leading off, then stole both second and third with one out, which is always good news after missing time with a hamstring injury.  Ellis hit a sac-fly RBI to right, and it was 6-4.

Kenley Jansen got two quick outs to start the ninth before Revere singled to bring up Utley.  It was quite a battle with Utley, but Gonzalez gloved a liner for the final out.  The save was Jansen's seventh.

This turned into one of those games where the bats go silent after a big start.  Credit goes to Pettibone for giving his team a chance to win.  He definitely outpitched Greinke, who lasted seven innings for 12 hits, four runs, one walk, and five strikeouts.  He's fortunate to get his fifth win, as three double play balls definitely helped him get it.

Puig left his mark with a big hit, but even more encouraging was watching Kemp in the eighth.  He looked fresh in stealing two bases and scoring on a fly ball.  I think with him we always have to be a bit cautious, as we've seen him go from looking great one day to injured the next.  Maybe he's finally healthy and ready to go the rest of the season.  He certainly looked that way in this game.

The Dodgers are only six games in back of the NL West-leading Diamondbacks, despite still being in last place.  Chris Capuano will look to keep the good times going by toeing the rubber on Friday.

Kemp ends marathon with a walk-off blast

After nearly four-and-a-half hours of baseball, the Dodgers were looking for any way whatsoever to push across that winning run.

And after using his legs to plate the tying run in the 10th, Matt Kemp let his big stick do the talking in the 12th.

A huge, two-run blast by Kemp off of Jake Diekman ended a long afternoon in Dodger Stadium, as the Dodgers snapped their four-game skip by beating the Phillies, 5-3.  It's the final game of the six-game homestand (which they went 2-4) before hitting the road for 10.

The Phillies claimed the first couple of games by scores of 3-2, so Clayton Kershaw was looking to put the team on his back and get a win.  Of course, he happened to be opposed by Cliff Lee in a battle of former Cy Young Award winners, so runs would be at a premium.

Each man would only give up one run in eight innings.  The Dodgers struck first in the second.  Juan Rivera started at first and hit cleanup.  He lifted a long fly ball to left that was just out of the reach of John Mayberry to go up 1-0.  Actually, all Mayberry had to do was jump, but for some reason he didn't, so the ball just made it over the wall.

The heart of the Phillies' order got the run back in the fourth.  Shane Victorino led off with a single.  With one out, he easily stole second.  Carlos Ruiz singled up the middle, and Kemp's throw to home must have been a hair too late, as Victorino scored to make it 1-1.

The ninth inning featured both teams loading the bases... and having nothing to show for it.  In the top of the frame, Kenley Jansen relieved and struck out Ruiz, then watched Hunter Pence ground to short.  For whatever reason, there was more two-out drama, as Ryan Howard pinch-hit and singled, and walks were issued to Placido Polanco and Mayberry.  Jason Pridie pinch-hit and flew to left for the last out.

The only good thing about Jansen's wildness was that Lee was lifted for Pridie, as Lee was all set to keep going.  Antonio Bastardo came in instead and struck out Tony Gwynn before Mark Ellis singled.  Kyle Kendrick came on to strikeout Kemp on a bad call.

It was Andre Ethier's turn to pinch-hit, and on a hit-and-run with Ellis, singled into right off of Jeremy Horst for runners on the corners.  Jerry Hairston, Jr. was then put on intentionally to pitch to Juan Uribe.  Well, Don Mattingly lifted Uribe for James Loney, who would be facing the righty Michael Schwimer.  Bet you'll be shocked to know that Loney struck out!  Lifting Uribe for Loney is like trading food poisoning for a concussion.  It sucks either way.

Javy Guerra pitched the 10th, and boy was he bad.  He immediately walked Jimmy Rollins, and after a sacrifice by Victorino, walked Utley intentionally, and Ruiz unintentionally.  Pence bounced a double over third for two runs, and the Phillies looked to be in full command at 3-1.

The Dodgers didn't exactly scorch the ball off of Jonathan Papelbon, yet they somehow managed to tie the game anyway.  And guess what?  They don't feel bad about it all!  So there.

It started on a double by Luis Cruz.  A.J. Ellis struck out, but Bobby Abreu pinch-hit and blooped an RBI single into left to make it 3-2.  In a flashback to yesteryear, Abreu then stole second.  Gwynn only had one hit in six trips to the plate, and it came on a little nubber near the mound for runners on the corners.  After Mark Ellis struck out, Kemp grounded one to short in which he JUST beat the throw to first for the RBI, tying the game at 3-3.

Josh Lindblom and Jamey Wright combined to pitch the 11th and 12th, respectively, and put up zeroes.  On to the bottom of the 12th we went, and Mark Ellis walked with one down.  Kemp made everyone go home happy with a no-doubt, two-run shot to center.

There's no question that the Dodgers were thrilled to see Lee lifted in the ninth, as they only collected two hits and one walk off of him.  Kershaw was just as good, giving up five hits, one run, no walks, and seven strikeouts over eight.  Neither factored into the decision, but both once again showed why they're two of the best in the business.

Papelbon definitely didn't have Lady Luck on his side, as he was burned by a bloop, a nubber, and an infield hit.  Like I said beofre, considering how bad the bats have been, the Dodgers will take it.  They were due for SOMETHING good to happen after losing four straight, and it did in extra innings.

The Dodgers will now pack their bags and head to the East Coast.  They get an off-day on Thursday, which is a very good thing since they ran through practically everyone on the 25-man roster in this one.  They then open a three-game set with the Mets on Friday.  Aaron Harang will tangle with Johan Santana.

By the way, I will be attending the game on Saturday (I live in New York, keep in mind), so expect some pics up soon!

Fife impresses... but Belisario does not

With the Dodgers in a crunch, they called upon young Stephen Fife to provide a spot start.  He did all he could to earn a W, tossing six innings of one-run ball, exiting with a 2-1 lead.

Then Ronald Belisario came in and decided to rip away that feel-good moment.

Belisario was all over the place in the eighth, beaning two and walking one before Hunter Pence's two-run single put the Phillies up for good, 3-2.  That's two straight defeats by the Dodgers to the Phills, and four straight overall.  They're now three games in back of the Giants in the NL West.

That's pretty much how things have been lately.  If there's a chance something can go wrong, it will.

Fife was making the start in place of Chad Billingsley, who just hit the 15-day DL with a sore elbow.  In the first, Fife must have been doing his best Billingsley impersonation by giving up a run.  Jimmy Rollins led off with a double and went to third on Shane Victorino's sacrifice.  An RBI groundout by Chase Utley made it 1-0.

Roy Halladay was making his first start since being actived off the DL, and got through the first with ease.  But in the second, the Dodgers took the lead.  Andre Ethier singled and Adam Kennedy doubled for runners in scoring position and no outs.  Believe it or not, James Loney had a good at-bat with an RBI single to make it 1-1.  Luis Cruz followed with his own run-scoring single, and the Dodgers had the 2-1 edge.

Both Fife and Halladay were able to pitch blanks from there, as Fife got through six innings, and Halladay five.  Josh Lindblom relieved in the seventh and got the Phills in order.

Don Mattingly then handed the ball over to Belisario, who's been up and down lately.  Well, this one would certainly qualify as a "down" considering he completely fell apart with two outs.

The top of the order of Rollins and Victorino both grounded out to open the eighth.  The wildness took over from there, as Utley walked, and both Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz were hit by pitches.  Needing to make some sort of change, Mattingly gave the ball to Kenley Jansen, who promptly allowed a two-run single to Pence to give the Phillies a 3-2 lead.

The only runner the Dodgers got on in the final two innings was a single by Kemp in the eighth.  And that would be all she wrote.

As you can tell, the margin of error is so small with the Dodgers.  It seems like every pitch they make is big since they find themselves constantly in these close games.  That's a good thing that they're being competitive, but they're coming up on the short end a heck of a lot more now compared to the beginning of the year.

Fife battled like crazy, especially considering the first hitter he faced doubled and he was down 1-0 pretty fast.  Over six innings, he gave up four hits, one run, three walks, and one strikeout.  With Billingsley saying he should be back soon, Fife may only get one more start at the most, but he showed he has some talent. 

The real culprits of this game was the lack of ability of the offense to score, and of course, Belisario, who gave it all away.  In the five games since the All-Star break, the bats have scored 14 runs.  Take away the six runs they scored last Saturday, and they've put up two runs in each of the other four games.  I know Kemp and Ethier are back, but they need help.  They aren't going anywhere with numbers like that.

I wrote the other day that I was concerned about Belisario's increased workload.  After Tuesday night, I'm even more concerned now.  I know he got two outs right away, but he still was way off the mark after that and couldn't put the finishing touches on it.  Over his last five appearances covering 4 2/3 innings, he's allowed five runs.  And just like the offense, that won't cut it either.  Throw in the fact that he's been used as the setup man, and that's even worse.  Ugh.

With the great start to the season the Dodgers had, the only good thing about losing now is that they still are well within striking distance of taking over first in the division.  The flip side is that now the Giants are the ones on fire, and that doesn't look to be changing.  Keep in mind that there's now two wild card spots, so that helps. 

Anyway you slice it, the Dodgers have to figure things out to start winning again.  Scoring two runs a game and suffering bullpen meltdowns will only further bury them.

Wednesday's game will be a doozy, as Clayton Kersahw goes up against Cliff Lee.  It's pretty hard to believe that both men have a combined eight wins on the year.  Granted, Lee only has one of them, but a 3.92 ERA shows he hasn't had much luck, either.

Dodgers get their swag back in Philly

One week ago, Matt Kemp hit the DL for the second time, and the Brewers went into LA and got a four-game sweep.  The Dodgers were reeling.

Fast forward to a week later, and the Dodgers have turned that all around, thanks to a four-game sweep in Philadelphia.

The Dodgers battled back from a 3-0 hole to take the lead for good in the sixth, then tacked on four more in the ninth to cruise to a win, 8-3.  The major's best team is now 37-21.

Aaron Harang was given the start, and he was coming off a big win to snap five-game losing streak in Colorado last Saturday.  But, he ran into some trouble in the third.  Cole Hamels got things going with a leadoff single.  Jimmy Rollins followed that up with another single, and he went to second on Alex Castellanos's error.

Another error came next, as Elian Herrera's throwing error with one out let Hunter Pence reach, scoring Hamels to make it 1-0.  A sac-fly RBI by Ty Wiggington made it 2-0.  Shane Victorino took a walk, and Mike Fontenot's RBI single put the Phillies up 3-0.

The Phillies had to think they would finally put things together and get back a win, but the Dodgers had other ideas.  Of course, it helped that Wiggington committed two straight errors to open the fourth, which is pretty sad.  With Herrera on third, Juan Rivera picked up an RBI on a sac-fly, and it was now 3-1.

Small ball put the Dodgers on top to stay in the sixth.  Herrera walked leading off, and much like Hamels early in the game, it led to some runs.  Rivera singled to put two on before Jerry Hairston, Jr. popped up.

Castellanos struck out for two down, but James Loney put the Dodgers within one with an RBI single.  Tony Gwynn and Matt Treanor came through in a big way with RBI singles of their own, and out of nowhere, the Dodgers found themselves in the lead at 4-3.

Harang got himself through the sixth with the lead, then gave the ball to Jamey Wright.  Over the next two innings, Wright did a tremendous job in holding onto the slim lead, only giving up a couple singles.  He has been up and down, but this should give him some fresh confidence going forward.  At least I hope.

The ninth was interesting, as the Dodgers separated themselves with four runs.  Chad Qualls came in for the Phills, but immediately surrendered singles by Treanor, the pinch-hitting Bobby Abreu, and Dee Gordon to load the bases.  Some bad glovework bit the Phills again, as Fontenot's error on Herrera's grounder made it 5-3.

Andre Ethier had been in an 0-for-16 slump, but he busted out of that with a two-run double down the right field line for a 7-3 lead.  Hairston finished it off with an RBI single.

Don Mattingly then handed the ball over to young Shawn Tolleson, making his big league debut.  And, uh... it didn't go well.  Two straight walks to Hector Luna and Jimmy Rollins made his first appearance a short one.

Ronald Belisario came in and got Juan Pierre to bounce into a forceout.  Pence came up trying to extend the game, but Belisario got him to ground into the game ending double play.

This was a total team effort for the Dodgers... with a little help chipped in by the Phillies' errors.  But hey, we'll take it.  Harang had his second straight solid start, going six innings for eight hits, three runs, one walk, and three strikeouts.  Not exactly overpowering stats, but still solid for the #5 starter.  He's now 5-3 with a 3.95 ERA.  Oh by the way, he also has 100 wins on his career.  Good for him.

The bullpen made sure the lead stayed, as Wright and Belisario combined to shut down the last three innings on only two hits.  I won't count poor Tolleson, who's ERA reads "N/A" and WHIP reads "INF."  I guess it can only get better from there.  Let's hope he gets a chance to prove that.

The offense came through in clutch situations time and time again.  One look at an important stat tells the true story of this game: with runners in scoring position, the Dodgers went 6-for-13, while the Phillies were 1-for-12.  Ouch.  And to think the Dodgers only had one extra-base hit all game (Ethier's two-run double).  Small ball indeed.

Most importantly, like the headline says, the Dodgers got their swag (cool slang for "swagger") back.  They pretty much traded off getting swept last week for the sweep this week.  They won close games, late games, and turned a slim lead into a big one late in this one.  Without question they are better with Kemp, but it's awesome to see other guys get a chance to step up and deliver in his absence.  That will only make them better going forward.

Up next is the first interleague series of the season by visiting the Mariners.  Remember they were the lone NL-only matchup last time around against the Cardinals.  Actually, the next five series will be against American League teams: at Mariners, vs. Angels, vs. White Sox, at A's, and at Angels.  The next time they return to a regular schedule is Monday, June 25 against the Giants.

The youngster, Nathan Eovaldi, goes up against the old guy, Kevin Milwood, on Friday.

More late-inning magic for Herrera

After nine years toiling around the minors, it's obvious that Elian Herrera is doing everything possible to stick with the big club.

One day after his RBI single off of Jonathan Papelbon gave the Dodgers the go-ahead run, Herrera was money in the clutch again.  This time it was a two-run double off of Cliff Lee to lead the Dodgers to a win again, 2-1.  The Dodgers have taken the first two games of a four-game set in Philly.

The night didn't start off so hot, as the Phillies got on the board right away.  Jimmy Rollins has struggled mightily in the leadoff spot this year, but his double got things going.  After tagging to third, he scored on Hunter Pence's sac-fly RBI to make it 1-0.

Andre Ethier made sure the score stayed that way with a nice leaping catch at the wall to get out of the inning.

Both Chad Billingsley and Lee put up blanks for the majority of the game.  The Dodgers' bats couldn't do much of anything, as they tallied a mere two hits through seven innings.  Bills pitched much better than he has in the past, and when runners would reach, his defense made plays behind him to limit the damage.

Now in the eighth, the Dodgers finally got that big hit they were waiting for.  It all started on a leadoff double by Matt Treanor, who's made the most of his short playing time this year.  Then again, he also got nailed at third trying to advance on Tony Gywnn's grounder for the first out.  Bobby Abreu pinch-hit for Billingsley and singled into right... only to have Gwynn also get gunned down at third via Pence's big arm.  Ugh.

With two outs, Dee Gordon kept the inning alive by singling.  Lee, still looking for his first win, stayed on to face Herrera.  A long fly ball was hit to left that was just out of the reach of Juan Pierre at the wall, easily scoring two to make it 2-1.  Pierre had a slight chance at catching it, but still, that was a tough play.  Trust me, I know how limited he can be in the field, but you can't fault him in this case.

The bullpen still had plenty of work to do, and Josh Lindblom set the Phillies down in order in the eighth. 

Kenley Jansen entered looking for his eighth save, and he got it by striking out the last two hitters.

Much like Monday night, this was another dramatic win for the boys in blue, who came into this series staggering a bit from dropping two of three in Colorado.  Just when you thought the Phillies would jump all over them at home, the Dodgers yet again found ways to win, led by Herrera.

When you look at the box score and see that your team only had six hits and struck out 12 times, the odds are definitely not in your favor to win.  But, credit Billingsley for settling down after the first and pitching great.  He lasted seven innings for six hits, one run, one walk, and three strikeouts.  I'm glad to see he only had one walk, because that stat alone seems to make or break him.

The Dodgers have a great chance now of taking this series by winning one of the next two games.  Imagine if they got a sweep?  Even though the Phillies are very banged up, they're still the Phillies, so that would be awesome.  And on the road, no less.

First things first, as Chris Capuano goes on the hill Wednesday night.  He suffered a rare loss in Colorado last outing, though his defense was absolutely atrocious behind him.  He'll go up against Kyle Kendrick.

Dodgers self-destruct in losing to Phillies

Spotted a 5-0 lead after one inning and 6-0 after three, the Dodgers had every reason to believe they'd avoid the sweep at the hands of the mighty Phillies.

Then the Dodgers remembered they were the Dodgers, and it all fell apart.

The Phillies used homers from Ryan Howard and Chase Utley, and even an RBI from Vance Worley, as they came all the way back to get the win, 9-8. Predictably, the Dodgers were swept at home, and further positioned themselves as one of baseball's worst teams.

Did I mention they had a 6-0 lead?

In better times, the Dodgers put up a five spot in the first as they looked to finally get a damn win. Casey Blake and Andre Ethier walked with one out. Matt Kemp has been scuffling a bit lately, but he found a hole for an RBI single, and it was 1-0. Juan Rivera then did the unthinkable, for the Dodgers anyway, as he cracked a three-run shot, making it 4-0.

Following a walk to James Loney, Dioner Navarro's RBI double shockingly gave the Dodgers a 5-0 lead after one inning. It seemed too good to be true that they'd win in a runaway. And it was.

Chad Billingsley wasn't exactly flawless, but he did get through three innings unharmed. In the third, Kemp doubled leading off. A single by Rivera put runners on the corners. After Loney struck out swinging (he's terrible), Navarro's sac-fly RBI made it 6-0.

So here we go again, as Billingsley had a big lead to work with. How would he do? Naturally, he crumbled. Like he ALWAYS does. It started in the fourth. Howard walked leading off, and Pence hit a two-run homer to go down 6-2. It didn't seem like a big deal at the time, but it was. The inning was then prolonged as Loney (he's terrible) booted a grounder from Miguel Martinez with two outs. Worley grounded an RBI single up the middle to go down 6-3.

Still, with a 6-3 lead, the Dodgers were in control. Aaron Miles doubled in the fourth, but nothing came of it. So back out to the mound went Billingsley.

Living up to his sorry reputation, the Phillies tacked on a couple more. Shane Victorino walked to start, which is always a bad sign. Howard singled an out later for two on. Pence then grounded one to Blake at third, and he pulled a Loney (he's terrible) and booted it, taking away a potential inning-ending double play and scoring Victorino.

Out went Billingsley (thank God), and in came Hong-Chih Kuo, who's been absolutely awful this year. He got Raul Ibanez to ground out, but Howard scored, and it was suddenly 6-5.

The Dodgers did get a run back in the fifth to at least try and maintain a lead. Rivera continued his good day by hitting a single with one out. Loney stepped in and stroked an RBI double to bump the lead to 7-5. OK, so he wasn't so terrible in that at-bat. But he is in pretty much every other one.

Then came the sixth, and the Phillies showed the Dodgers how to win big league games. With Kuo still in, Ben Francisco drew a one-out walk. You didn't think Kuo would actually not allow a baserunner now, would you? Of course not! Ha! Anyway, Blake Hawksworth came in and immediately gave up a single and stolen base to Jimmy Rollins for two runners in scoring position.

A two-run by Chase Utley knotted the game at 7. Howard gave the Phillies their first lead with a big two-run shot to right, and it was 9-7. I gotta say, that was some GREAT bullpen work by the Dodgers. Not.

Ryan Madson came on for another save opportunity, and Blake greeted him with a single. Ethier flew out, but that's not surprise because he can't get a clutch hit anymore. Kemp singled to put runners on the corners and at least present a chance at a comeback. Rivera hit a slow grounder to force Blake at second, but Kemp scored to make it 9-8. Rod Barajas pinch-hit and flew out to center to end it, giving Madson his 22nd save.

The saddest part about watching this game was that even when the Phillies came all the way back, it wasn't a surprise. In fact, I didn't even blink. You practically come to expect these things from the Dodgers. I'm surprised they're only 12 games under .500. They deserve to be even worse.

The downfall all started with Billingsley, who proved yet AGAIN that he shouldn't be a starting pitcher. He had an odd line of 4 1/3 innings, seven hits, five runs (two earned), three walks, and no strikeouts. I understand and acknowledge that his defense did him no favors. But still, he showed everyone that the bigger the situation, the worse he gets. In many ways, he's like this year's version of Jonathan Broxton. Guys who look like they should be so good, yet constantly wilt under pressure and show they're not.

At this point, I'm just ready for this crappy season to get over with. In the last few days, the Dodgers have been swept by the Phillies, watched Billingsley suck, the defense suck, and 1,000 men left on base. Oh ya, and Dee Gordon has been placed on the 15-day DL with a bad shoulder. Good Lord, just waive the white flag already.

Thursday will be an off day, and Friday starts a three-game series with the Astros. As of this writing, both teams are a combined 90-142. I'm sure ratings will go through the roof! Nathan Eovaldi will get his second start.

Cliff Lee dazzles and overpowers LA

The Dodgers have found plenty of ways to lose this season. With a 52-63 record, that's pretty obvious. Tuesday night they found yet another way: striking out 10 times against Cliff Lee, then watching him hit a solo homer.

Wouldn't you know it, the Dodgers lost to the Phillies by a run, 2-1. In a season full of eye-rolling moments, watching the opposing team's pitcher be the main difference because of his bat is pretty embarrassing to say the least.

Ted Lilly was the Dodgers' starter, and he's had his fair share of bad outings this season after ending last year on such a high note. In the first, Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino singled leading off. Chase Utley then grounded to Dee Gordon at short, and Gordon tagged Rollins and flipped to second for a slick double play. Ryan Howard grounded out to end the threat.

Lee was awesome all night, but he left the door open in the first, and like usual, the Dodgers ran into it instead of kicking if over. Gordon singled and then stole his 12th base to start. Jamey Carroll laid down a great bunt that froze Howard at first, and there were two on.

This was the perfect situation for the Dodgers, as they had their two big guns in Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp up. What happened? Ethier struck out, then Kemp struck out. Carroll stole second, but Aaron Miles popped up to end the inning. You just knew from there that the Dodgers would be in for a long night.

The Phillies got the game's first run in the fourth. Wilson Valdez singled leading off, and Lee sacrificed him over to second. Rollins hit an RBI double to right to take the 1-0 lead.

With the Dodgers doing zip at the plate, it was Lee who "helped his own cause" (famous pitcher's cliche) in the seventh. Lilly must have forgotten that Lee is actually a pretty good hitter for a pitcher, as he grooved a horrible pitch down the middle that was taken out to deep right. It was Lee's second tater of the season.

Lee stayed on to pitch the eighth, and Eugenio Valez pinch-hit and reached on a walk. Good thing, because there's no way that bum would actually get a hit. Gordon was up next, and he reinjured his shoulder on a swing, which just added to the crap season the Dodgers are having. Trent Oeltjen pinch-hit with two strikes, and of course he grounded into a double play. Carroll struck out swinging to send the game to the ninth.

Ryan Madson came on for the save opportunity, and Ethier chose now to finally get a hit. It wasn't surprising since nobody was on base. Kemp grounded into what should have been a double play, but Utley slipped at second and couldn't complete it. After Juan Rivera grounded out, Casey Blake kept the game going with an RBI single to make it 2-1.

If the Dodgers were a contending team, they probably would have found a way to score the tying run. But, they're not, and Rod Barajas stuck out to end the game.

I know Lee is a good hitter as I've already pointed out, but it's still pretty sad that that's what the difference was in this one. There's just no way Lilly can allow that to happen. If it were Howard, Utley, or Hunter Pence I can certainly understand. But Lee? Pathetic.

Other than that awful pitch, Lilly did put together one of his best efforts this season. He lasted eight inning for six hits, one run, two walks, and five strikeouts. For a change, his off-speed stuff actually seemed to fool people. Can he go on a little run these last two months? I doubt it, but for his sake I hope so.

Aside from Lee's homer, the most disappointing thing about this one was, once again, the lack of clutch hitting. Ethier and Kemp combined to go 1-for-8 with four K's. For Kemp, he looks a little worn down. He hasn't had an extra-base hit since August 1, and no homers since July 30. He's getting hits, but all singles, and that's the last thing the Dodgers need - another singles hitter.

Ethier's power has been non-existent pretty much all season long. He'll throw in some doubles, as he does have 28 this year. But he only has 10 homers, and hasn't hit one since July 25. Any memories of him being a clutch, walk-off hitter seem to be long gone. It just isn't happening.

Granted, it's hard to be too critical when it was Lee who shut them down, as he's one of the top pitchers in the game. But the Dodgers can't get big hits against anybody. They'll put people on and steal bases, but that's it. Same old story over and over.

These two teams will mercifully wrap up this series on Wednesday afternoon. The Dodgers probably thought they could relax after facing Roy Halladay and Lee, but now they have to face Vance Worley, who's 8-1 with a 2.35 ERA. And to top it off, Chad Billingsley goes for the Dodgers. Grrrrrrrreeeeeaaaaaaat. This might not be pretty.

Please no more Hamels... please?

When it comes to Cole Hamels, the Dodgers would much more prefer the motto of "less is more."

Once again, Hamels was virtually untouchable for eight innings as the Phillies blanked the Dodgers, 2-0. With the loss, the Dodgers dropped two of three in Philadelphia.

One night after backing up rookie Rubby De La Rosa in winning 6-2, the offense could do absolutely nothing to have Hiroki Kuroda's back. Kuroda tried his best to match Hamels pitch for pitch, but ultimately fell short.

There wasn't much happening over the beginning four innings. Both teams only collected one hit. In the fifth, the Phillies did everything but score. With two outs, Michael Martinez tripled. Hamels took a walk on a full count. Kuorda uncorked a wild pitch to move Hamels up, but Martinez inexplicably didn't try to take home. Shane Victorino was given the intentional walk before Domonic Brown flied out to end the inning.

Even though Kuroda was pitching well, he was still wearing down. Ryan Howard, who along with the rest of the Phillies' offense haven't hit a home run the month of June, changed all of that with one swing. His solo homer with one down put the Phills up 1-0.

Kuroda was then yanked after surrendering a double to Raul Ibanez. Mike MacDougal came on and walked Carlos Ruiz, but got the next two hitters to keep the score as is.

The Dodgers had their best chance to at least tie the game up in the seventh, and bumbled it away. Andre Ethier led off with a double. Matt Kemp singled to put runners on the corners with no outs. What would the rest of the hitters do? Juan Uribe popped up, Marcus Thames struck out, and Rod Barajas flew out.

In other words, it was your latest example of the guys not named Ethier and Kemp not pulling their own weight. Those two combined for four hits, the rest of the team went 3-for-25. That pretty much says it all right there.

The Phillies added another run in the seventh. With Matt Guerrier in, Victorino hit a triple with one out and scored on Brown's fielder's choice RBI.

There was another good opportunity to score against Hamels in the eighth, but you all know already how it turned out. Aaron Miles pinch-hit for Guerrier and singled. After James Loney flew out, Casey Blake singled. Ethier was now given a chance to come up with something big, but came up empty instead with a groundout.

Ryan Madson got a double play ball from Uribe to help him get his 14th save.

Without any help from the bats, Kuroda wasn't given any chance of winning, but he still pitched pretty well. He lasted 5 1/3 innings for four hits, one run, three walks, and seven strikeouts. He seemed to just kind of hit a wall in the fifth. Still, he could've gotten a win with any sort of support. His 5-7 record is in no way reflective of the season he's having, especially considering he has a 3.35 ERA.

Guerrier has given up a run in two straight appearances now, so it's a bit of a concern. Maybe he's just not as lucky as MacDougal, who's sporting a shiny 2.14 ERA despite a high WHIP of 1.52. It could be luck, or it could be he's making big pitches when he needs them. The truth is somewhere in between most likely.

Six games into the road trip, the Dodgers are 3-3 against playoff teams from last season. All things considered, that's actually pretty good. Considering how poorly they were playing recently, I think the Dodgers will take this. It would be hard for any team to play six straight against the Reds and Phillies in their houses, so the Dodgers should be somewhat satisfied with this.

There's no rest for the Dodgers, as they will now travel to Colorado for four in trying to take over third place in the NL West. Clayton Kershaw will look to bounce back from a tough start in Cincinnati in which he gave up six runs.

Offensive surge halted by Lee

The Dodgers entered Monday night's game in Philadelphia with a red hot offense that scored 20 runs in two games. They knew they'd be put to the test against the Phillies' great arms. How would they do?

So far, uh... not so good.

Lee struck 10 in seven dominant innings, and the Dodgers only managed a single run the whole night as they fell to the Phillies, 3-1. The loss came on the same day that Juan Uribe, Blake Hawksworth, and Marcus Thames were activated from the DL, and hot prospect Dee Gordon was called up.

The game started out with plenty of promise, as Jamey Carroll and Aaron Miles hit consecutive singles to lead off the game. Andre Ethier sat out this game with some soreness, so Don Mattingly had a decision to make on whom to place in front of Matt Kemp in the #3 hole. That spot went to Thames, who promptly hit into a double play. Kemp then struck out, and just like that, it was an opportunity lost.

Ted Lilly was given the unenviable task of going against Lee, and he got through the first couple of inning fine. But, in the third, Wilson Valdez doubled and soon went to third on a sacrifice. Shane Victorino took a walk for runners on the corners. Placido Polanco hit an RBI groundout to make it 1-0. After Chase Utley lined out to center, Ryan Howard's RBI single pushed it to 2-0.

That's all Lee would need, as the Dodgers tried to chip away here and there, but couldn't crack the scoreboard. Carroll and Miles again singled with two outs in the fifth, but Thames struck out. In fact, Lee's curveball had the Dodgers off balanced all night. It was that nasty.

Hawksworth pitched a flawless seventh in his first appearance since May 10. Mike MacDougal was then given the ball in the eighth and gave up a run. He gave up a couple of walks to Utley and Ben Francisco before Carlos Ruiz doubled off the left field wall to score a run to make it 3-0.

With Brad Lidge still on the DL, Ryan Madson has been a perfect 12-for-12 in save opportunities. The Dodgers tried to mount a comeback anyway when Uribe doubled leading off. Speedy Gordon came on to run, and he went to third on James Loney's single, who came in for Casey Blake when he was tossed earlier in the game for arguing a horrible called third strike. Ethier pinch-hit and got an RBI on a fielder's choice. Rod Barajas and Dioner Navarro then struck out to end the game.

I don't care what team it is, the arms in the Phillies' rotation are good enough to shut anyone down. The Dodgers were without Ethier in the starting lineup, so it was already an uphill climb. What I didn't agree with is hitting Thames third. I'm all for showing confidence in guys but after going 0-for-4 to lower his average to .158, it's not looking like a good decision. Uribe had two hits, so he probably should've been in that spot.

Lilly battled, as he lasted six innings for five hits, two runs, one walk, and four strikeouts. His ERA is down to 4.13 after being at 4.98 early in May. I was plenty worried about him considering he wasn't locating well at all, but he's turned it around nicely.

After Sunday's game, I talked about how tough it would be for the Dodgers to win in these three games. I'd be happy if they get just one of these. They had a chance early on in this one to get to Lee, but blew it. Now they'll have to try and figure out Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels. Oh joy.

Matched up against the veteran Oswalt will by young Rubby De La Rosa, making his first big league start. With the millions of injuries the Dodgers have suffered this season, he was not only rushed up to the bullpen, but now to the starting rotation. He has great stuff, and what bigger way to make a splash than with a road win over the Phillies. It'll be fun to watch.

Kershaw K's 11, but falls to Oswalt

Clayton Kershaw registered double-digit strikeouts, but was unable to avoid the gopher ball as the Phillies beat the Dodgers, 5-1. The Phillies took two of three in Dodger Stadium, which helps their quest for the Wild Card. The Dodgers, obviously, did nothing to improve their standing.

It didn't take long for the Phillies to strike, as Jimmy Rollins led off the game with a home run. An inning later, Shane Victorino copied that feet with a blast himself, and the Phillies grabbed an early 2-0 lead.

All the Dodgers could muster for much of the game were walks off of Roy Oswalt. That's not bad, but then they couldn't get a hit if their lives depended on it. And it's not like they have any home run threats in the lineup, especially with Manny Ramirez no longer around.

Through four innings, the Dodgers took four walks, but did nothing with them. In the fifth, Jayson Werth dropped a fly ball off the bat of Rod Barajas for a two-base error. It didn't matter, as after Kershaw sacrificed him to third, Scott Podsednik struck out and Ryan Theriot flew out.

Entering the sixth, Oswalt had yet to give up a hit. Boy, wouldn't getting no-hit be the icing on the cake, huh? Thankfully Casey Blake singled into right after James Loney drew a walk. With two outs, Ronnie Belliard (who used to be able to hit, not that you would know that based on this year's lousy performances) popped up.

The Phillies upped their lead in the seventh. Carlos Ruiz and Oswalt both struck out to begin the inning before Kershaw ran into a bit of trouble. Rollins walked and stole second. Chase Utley hit an RBI double for the 3-0 lead.

Theriot walked with one out in the bottom of the seventh to end Oswalt's day. In came J.C. Romero to face the speedy Podsednik. It worked for them, as Podsednik grounded into an easy double play to end the inning.

The Dodgers were still well within striking distance at being down only 3-0 in the eighth. Just in case you had any thoughts that they might be able to have a big inning, Mr. Five Tool Star Matt Kemp made sure those thoughts were flushed down the toilet.

Here's the skinny. Ryan Madson came on to pitch, and Jamey Carroll singled leading off. Ethier flew out, but Kemp got a break by reaching on an error by Rollins. With runners on first and second, Loney lifted a long fly ball that smacked the wall in right to score Carroll.

The ball was smoked, so it was an obvious double. The only problem was that Kemp somehow rounded second without touching it. He then had to go back and touch it, and was forced to stay with the ball back in the infield. Larry Bowa stood in the third base box shaking his head, which may as well have been representing every Dodger fan on Earth.

You should know what happened next: Blake grounded into a double play. It wouldn't have been if Kemp had any clue what it's like to play hard and concentrate. But nope, that's asking too much of the Hollywood star. There's just no way he can be bothered with the fundamentals of baseball.

Rollins and Utley both drove in runs in the ninth off of Hong-Chih Kuo, who entered with Dominik Brown on second and one out. I was surprised to see Kuo out there again considering he should be the closer and the Dodgers were losing. The other option was George Sherrill, and he offers practically nothing. The lack of lefties in the bullpen was fully exposed in this spot.

Brad Lidge struck out a couple in the ninth to end the game.

There's no guarantee at all that anymore runs would have scored had Kemp at least gone to third. But, with runners on second and third, perhaps Blake's grounder scores one, cutting it to 3-2. Even if nobody scored there, at least someone else would have been given the chance to drive in two with a single. We'll never know.

It's a shame to see just how far Kemp has fallen this season. It's not like he's just slumping at the plate and nothing else. The issue with him is that his focus sometimes doesn't enter the ballpark with the rest of his body. He's clearly the best athlete on the team, yet it doesn't matter when he can't even run the bases correctly. It's pretty sad.

Add Kemp's blunder to a season full of horrible baserunning mistakes for the Dodgers. They have got to be the worst in the majors at this. There's just no excuse for constantly screwing up on the bases time and time again. Maybe Kemp's bad vibes have rubbed off.

Thursday will be an off day, but maybe Joe Torre will bring the whole team in to learn how to run the bases. Or maybe just Kemp anyway. Friday starts a three-game set with the Giants as Chad Billingsley takes the mound.

Kuroda nearly unhittable in shutting down Phils

Two rare events occurred at Dodger Stadium on Monday night for Hiroki Kuroda. The first was that he took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Phillies.

The second? After 45 at-bats of nothing but failure, Kuroda finally got a hit. It was a single off of Roy Halladay, no less.

Things got quite interesting for Kuroda and the Dodgers, as he was five outs away from getting his first career no-hitter. Unfortunately, former Dodger Shane Victorino hit a sharp single into right to end it. Kuroda and Hong-Chih Kuo went on for a combined one-hitter as the Dodgers got the win, 3-0.

The Dodgers pretty much limped into this game, having suffered two straight losses in Colorado, and watching Manny Ramirez leave through the back door, never to be heard from again. Oh ya, they had to face Halladay too.

But, the Dodgers got on the board with runs in the first couple of innings. In the first, Ryan Theriot drew a walk with one out. Andre Ethier singled, but Matt Kemp struck out. James Loney came through with two outs with an RBI single and a 1-0 lead.

Casey Blake and Jamey Carroll singled to start the second. Rod Barajas grounded into a double play, but Blake was still able to score to grab at 2-0 lead.

With Kuroda rolling, Barajas led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run, his third as a Dodger. It was a nice treat for him, as he is a native of California and had plenty of friends and family watching his first start in L.A.

Once the Dodgers got up 3-0, the attention fully shifted towards Kuroda's no-hit bid. The seventh inning was a tough test, as Chase Utley, Placido Polanco, and Ryan Howard were due up. Kuroda mowed through them on a flyout, lineout, and pop-up.

After getting through the heart of the order, a no-hitter was now a distinct possibility. Plus, Kuroda's pitch count was only in the upper 80's. To start the eighth, Jayson Werth drew a walk. Raul Ibanez grounded into a fielder's choice, as Werth's hard slide broke up a double play.

Up came Victorino, who left no doubt with a single to right. Kuroda stayed on to strike out Carlos Ruiz before exiting for Kuo. Kuo faced pinch-hitter Mike Sweeney, who grounded out on one pitch.

Kuo stayed on to get the Phillies in order in the ninth for his seventh save.

Kuroda was the true star of the night, as he did everything he could to nearly give the Dodgers their first no-hitter since Hideo Nomo got the Rockies in Coors Field on September 17, 1996. It was close, but the Phillies had just enough good hitters to prevent that from happening.

The Dodgers haven't exactly had that many big moments this season, so it was great to see such excitement in the stadium again, even if it was only for one night. With their postseason hopes pretty much slim and none, I'm glad the fans, both live and at home, had a reason to stand up and cheer.

So now the question can be asked: Where will the Dodgers go from here? Their post-Manny era has started off beautifully, with a big win against a good team. Maybe the team can relax, forget about Manny drama, and just play ball? It sure looked like that was the case tonight. Beating Halladay is never easy, and they did it without the guy that's given them many big hits the last two seasons.

In looking at the remaining schedule, the Dodgers have 11 games left at home. That's a good thing since they're 40-27 there. The downside is that they have 16 games left on the road, where they clearly don't play as well. So any thoughts of going on a late run appear to be against the odds.

All the Dodgers can do for now is concentrate on winning this series and the next one against the Giants. In the very least, they can get some momentum for next season, and see which players are worth bringing back. Plus, they can give their fans a reason to care by playing inspired baseball, much like they did tonight.

Carlos Monasterios has a really tough act to follow, but he will try his best to do so on Tuesday. The Phillies will counter with Kyle Kendrick.