This game leaves the Los Angeles Dodgers 67-62 and the Colorado Rockies, 66-61 putting them in a tie for 4th in the Wild Card race and with the Giants losing, both teams are now 4.5 games back.

Personally, I was in someways shocked the Dodgers pulled it out, I had gotten so used to them faltering when down against good pitching, it was 1-0 Rockies when I left and the whole time I contemplated coming back to a 1-0 game or at best 2-1 but it looks like this team really thinks they can win and with Ethier’s bat coming in, Blake hot, Kemp more consistent, and with the way we’ve been pitching, we look like a team that will be hard to be for the foreseeable future.

[picappgallerysingle id="8837397"]The Los Angeles Dodgers were buyers this year as the deadline has come and gone. They traded young pitchers Brett Wallach and Kyle Smil as well as servicable Blake DeWitt for Ryan Theriot and Ted Lilly. Are you kidding me with this? Not to mention the opportunity to rid themselves of Manny Ramirez’s contract was present, and ignored. Do the Los Angeles Dodgers REALLY believe they’re in this race? That the San Diego Padres will fall down in September and the San Francisco Giants will choke? Give me a break. This Dodgers team is NOT better than either of those teams right now, and adding payroll to the situation of the front office was a joke. The system already isn’t exactly tip top and they sent 2 of their better prospects for a 34 year old left hander whose lost velocity, had shoulder surgery, AND is a free agent at the end of the year. Ryan Theriot a sparkplug? What exactly is he going to spark? Is he going to teach guys how to not take a pitch? How not to get on base, evident by his .320 OBP? Blake DeWitt wasn’t worth more than Ryan Theriot? Did Ned Colletti lose his mind or forget to remember that Ryan Theriot’s career year was now 2 years ago?

The Dodgers had some pieces that could have been coveted by other teams. Look no farther than Manny Ramirez. Mannywood hasn’t exactly lived up to the hype this year, with his “injuries” popping up often. Ridding the remainder of his contract would have been glorious while adding a couple of prospects. Nope- instead they’ll hold on to him and watch him leave for free agency. Good move. They could have traded Casey Blake for a couple mid level prospects. Hiroki Kuroda for a couple mid level prospects. Vincente Padilla could have attracted some buyers. Heck- you could have moved Chad Billingsley at the high as well which would have saved some money. Sometimes, you have to be realistic about your roster. Sometimes you have to say ” you know what- it’s time to move on from this roster, build around Clayton Kershaw, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, and the big man Broxton at the back end of the bullpen. Instead, the Dodgers hurt their future, while NOT helping their present.

Terrible moves and moves that should get Ned Colletti fired.

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John Ely (3-2), who grew up in suburban Homewood, Ill., held the Cubs to only four hits in 7 1-3 innings in his return home, but a late-inning mishap by right-fielder Xavier Paul, filling in for an injured Ethier, may have cost L.A. the game, as the Cubs won 8 of the last 11.

The score was 0-0 in the bottom of the eighth when Cubs utility player Mike Fontenot (filling in for Jeff Baker, who left with an apparent vision problem) led off the inning with a triple down the right-field line, which was misplayed by Paul. Fontenot scored two batters later on a one-out, RBI-double down the line by Tyler Colvin, who went to third when Paul again had trouble picking up the ball. 

It’s always an adventure in the Wrigley outfield.

Both players entered the line-up in the eighth as part of a double switch in which reliever Sean Marshall replaced the starter Ted Lilly, both of which combined with closer Carlos Marmol to hold the Dodgers scoreless.

The streaking Casey Blake led the Dodger offense with two more hits, going 15 for his last 34 plate apperances, but despite out-hitting the Cubs, Los Angeles couldn’t come through when it counted, leaving 15 men on-base.

With the Dodgers down 1-0, Manny came in to pinch-hit with a runner on and one-out in the ninth, but struck out on a Marmol slider out of the zone. Not even veteran Garrett Anderson could come through, striking out to end the game and wasting Ely’s finest outing in his young Dodger career.

A White Sox fan growing up, Ely was drafted by the Southsiders and spent three years in their system before he was dealt to the Dodgers as part of the Juan Pierre trade in December. He got called up on April 28 has been an integral part of the Dodger rotation ever since.

The good news for the Dodgers offense is the probable return of Andre Ethier. According to Yahoo Sports, Ethier, who’s been out with a broken right pinky finger, could return from the 15-day disabled list as early as Monday. Manager Joe Torre said he’s scheduled to play for Triple-A Albuquerque this weekend and take Sunday off.

The Blue Crew will travel to Colorado for a weekend series with the surging Rockies, who’ve won their last five-straight. One thing’s for sure, if the Dodgers hit like they did against the Cubs, they won’t stand a chance on the road against Ubaldo Jimenez and the rest of the Rockies’ pitching staff. Time to bring the bats, boys.

They did it all behind a rejuvenated offense and the arm of Hiroki Kuroda (5-1), who won his fifth game in his last six decisions. Kuroda completed six innings allowing three runs and seven hits and striking out two. The Dodger bullpen (Belisario, Kuo and Troncoso) pitched another shutout, giving up only one hit in three innings.

Dodger pitching is a big reason why they’ve won nine-in-a-row; the Dodgers’ staff hasn’t allowed more than three runs in a game during the streak, an ERA of 1.89, and the bullpen hasn’t allowed an earned run in the last six contests.

Meanwhile, the Dodger offense have averaged 5.6 runs during this streak, even with their leading slugger missing the last four games.

Casey Blake led the attack last night with three hits, including two RBI and his fourth homer of the season. Manny Ramirez and James Loney each batted in two runs as well and Jamey Carroll added a sacrifice fly in the fourth, which was more than enough to beat the lowly Houston Astros (who, besides Carlos Lee, have the league’s worst offense).

The Dodgers are streaking in all the right places in the month of May. Russell Martin added a single in the fifth to extend his hitting streak to 13 games, one more than his previous best in 2007.

The offense could have taken a severe hit, though, as they found out they may be without Silver Slugger Andre Ethier for as long as six weeks. Ethier, who leads the league with a .392 average and 38 RBIs, went on the DL for the first time in his five-year career just hours before the sellout crowd received his bobblehead.

The right-fielder was placed on the 15-day after sustaining a fractured bone in his right pinkie Saturday while taking swings in the indoor batting cage at San Diego’s Petco Park.

Even with the recent string of injuries, the Dodgers have managed to win 11 of their last 12. The Blue Crew currently stands one game back in the division, and they have a chance to pull into a first-place tie in the NL West with the visiting San Diego Padres coming to Chavez Ravine tonight.

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Last night’s performance marks 84 consecutive batters Ely has faced without allowing a walk—the longest current streak in the majors. The right-hander. who turned 24-years-old last Thursday, hurled eight K’s in his fourth career start and allowed only five hits in seven strong innings, six days after beating Arizona for his first big league victory.

The Astros got on the board quickly with Lance Berkman’s RBI single in the top of the first, but the Blue Crew came back with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning. After two singles by Reed Johnson and Matt Kemp and a walk to Manny, James Loney hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to score a run, and then and Casey Blake cleared the bases with a two-run double scoring Manny and Kemp, who ran through third-base coach Larry Bowa’s stop sign to score his MLB-leading 33rd run.

The Dodgers made it 4-1 in the fourth when DeWitt tripled off the glove of right fielder Hunter Pence. scoring on shortstop Jamey Carroll’s sacrifice fly. DeWitt then drove in the final two runs with another triple, making him the first Dodger with two triples in a game since Rafael Furcal on June 13, 2007. He finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBI (Source: Yahoo Sports).

The Astros got a run back in the fifth, but Ely and the Dodger bullpen shut-out the struggling Houston offense the rest of the way as they continued their longest winning-streak in almost four years.

Ely, acquired (with Jon Link) from the Chicago White Sox in a trade for Juan Pierre,  has given up only three walks and racked up 25 strikeouts through his first four outings, and if he continues to throw fireballs, he’ll earn a definite starting spot in the Dodger rotation.

The win boasts the white-hot Dodgers (21-17) 13th in their last 16 games, the latter of which were without slugger Andre Ethier who missed his third straight game with a small fracture in his right pinky. Ethier currently leads the majors in batting average (.392), RBIs (38) and tied for the NL lead in home runs with 11. The Dodgers are expected to place the outfielder on the disabled list sometime today.

With the first-place Padres playing San Francisco again tonight, the Dodgers have a chance to pull within one game of the division. They currently stand two games back.

Tonight Los Angeles will go their most solid starter of late, Hiroki Kuroda (4-1, 2.66), against Bud Norris and a Houston team that’s averaged 2.6 runs and hit .216 while dropping 15 of 20. The Astros (13-25), losers of four straight, are last in the majors in batting average (.227) and runs (112).

[picappgallerysingle id="8647564"]Without slugger Andre Ethier, the Dodgers managed only two hits this afternoon, but that turned out to be enough as Russ singled in shortstop Jamey Carroll for the ballgame’s only run in the top of the sixth.

Then Jonathan Broxton shut the door with a perfect ninth and his third save of the series–seventh-out-of-nine chances on the season. The win marks the Dodgers 12th in the last 15 games.

But it was the right-handed Billingsley that was the hero today. On the mound Bills (4-2) posted six strikeouts in 7 and 1/3, allowing only four hits and one walk, as he finished the week with the ace-like command we’ve come to expect from the 25-year-old.

That’s impressive enough, but he did his job at the plate, too. After Carroll drew a lead-off walk the sixth inning, Bills dropped down a sacrifice bunt which later turned into a run off Martin’s single to center. That’s what I call paying the Bills.

Manager Joe Torre initially wanted to give Martin the day off after he caught back-to-back games this weekend (Martin has also started every game this month), but he figured it would be tough to give Martin, Casey Blake and Manny Ramirez the day off without having Ethier in the lineup.

It turned out to be a wise choice indeed, Joe. Russell Martin continues to be one of the Dodgers’ most reliable bats hitting safely in the last 11 games dating back to May 5 against the Brewers. During that span he’s batting .304 with two home-runs, seven RBI and seven runs-scored.

This afternoon’s win marks the first time this season the Dodgers have swept back-to-back divisional series. After entering the weekend with a three-and-a-half game lead, the Padres’ margin atop the NL West is down to a half game over the San Francisco Giants, who travel to San Diego for a two-game series starting Monday night.

The Dodgers are two games back in the division as they return home to Chavez Ravine to take on the Houston Astros (13-24) tomorrow night @ 10:10 EDT .

James Loney was ejected for arguing balls and strikes, and the Dodgers felt a little dejected after getting swept by the New York Mets in today’s doubleheader at Citi Field, 0-4 and 5-10.

After a frustrating first game, Loney was tossed in the fourth of game-two when a disagreement sparked over umpire Angel Campos’ questionable third-strike call, one that subsequently ended a Dodger-rally with bases-loaded. Loney had been swinging a hot bat coming into the series, hitting around .310, but unfortunately he let his hot head get the better of him.

Casey Blake, who replaced Loney at first, went 0-for-1 with an RBI, but it was Reed Johnson who led the Dodgers in offense going 3-for-8 with an RBI on the day, as he replaced an ailing Manny in left field. Speaking of injuries, Rafael Furcal missed part deux of the doubleheader after tweaking his hamstring while running out a double-play in the earlier contest. Just what we need, more injuries.

Scoring, which has been an issue for L.A. as of late, was not so in tonight’s game. It was pitching. Surprise, surprise.

Charlie Haeger (0-3) got roughed up again allowing five-earned in just four innings, bringing his ERA to a McDonald’s value menu-esque 7.45. Haeger gave up five hits and four walks in the nightcap, a performance that I think will ultimately send him packing to the bullpen.

And who could argue?

It seems like Haeger just can’t hit his spots, especially early on in the ballgame, and when you’re a knuckleballer you have very little margin for error in the first place.  Haeger gave up three quick runs to the Mets in the first inning, which marks the second-straight start he’s gotten into trouble early, and he gave up two more runs in the fifth inning.
I think this is a wake up call to Rick Honeycutt and Joe Torre who desperately need to figure out the pitching dilemma.

Unfortunately, with Jeff Weaver and Vicente Padilla both on the disabled list, the Dodgers staff also has very little wiggle room. Maybe it’s time to let loose the reins on rookie pitcher Carlos Monasterios and move him from the bullpen to the starting rotation. Monasterios is 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA in 8 and 2/3, and I wouldn’t doubt it if a move is made sometime next week.

In the meantime, we’re left feeling the Blues after today’s double-dip beatdown. The surging Mets improve to 12-9, winning their sixth straight, while the Dodgers have lost five-of-six and fallen to a paltry 8-12. The Dodgers have won only three of their ten road contests this season, currently taking up last place in the NL West.

April showers might bring May flowers, but they probably washed away any chance the Dodgers had of finishing April with a winning record.

If you told me about a month ago that the Los Angeles Dodgers would drop three of the opening five series to the Pirates, Marlins and Nationals, I would have called you a bold-faced liar. But as it turns out, the cards have been stacked high against the Dodgers all season as they’ve struggled to win a series on the road and still have yet to get above .500.

Unfortunately for L.A., the road doesn’t get any easier tomorrow. Since tonight’s game was postponed due to rain, the Dodgers find themselves playing a doubleheader against the surging New York Mets, who’ve won seven out of their last ten. The Dodgers, meanwhile, have lost six-of-nine on the road.

Oh yeah, and Johan Santana is pitching the first game.

But with Vicente Padilla on the DL and a blank-spot in Wednesday’s rotation against John Maine, a sweep tomorrow may be the only chance the Dodgers have to finish April with a winning record. To do so they’ll need to win four out of five games this week.

There is a silver lining for the Dodgers waiting over the rain-soaked grass of Citi Field. Nothing washes the rain away like a good, old-fashioned sweep on the road, and kicking off the series with a double-dip over the Mets would be a great start.

Tomorrow’s first game is scheduled to start at 4:10 EDT with Hiroki Kuroda going against Santana. On a positive note, Kuroda has thrived away from home as of late, going 5-1 with a 2.09 ERA in his last seven starts;  however, he’s 0-2 with a 12.86 ERA in two road meetings versus the Mets and has never competed more than five innings.

Knuckleballer Charlie Haeger will take the hill in game two against tonight’s scheduled starter Olivier Perez despite getting shelled in his last three outings. Haeger is 0-2 with a 6.46 ERA.

Matt Kemp, who’s leading the Blue Crew with seven homers and 20 RBI, is hitting a whomping .436 with six RBIs in the last ten road trips to New York. Casey Blake is 5-for-his-last-9 with two homers and 3 RBI.

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How does a baseball team still manage to stay below .500 despite having one of the most explosive offenses in the league? Pitching, or a lack thereof.

This time the Dodgers tried but couldn’t quite rebound from Billingsley’s latest meltdown. After giving up seven hits and four earned, most of which came in a six-run second inning, Los Angeles erased a six-run Reds’ lead late in the ballgame, but the struggling Dodger bullpen couldn’t come through in the clutch…again.

The Reds jumped out to what seemed like an insurmountable 9-3 lead when Matt Kemp and the Dodger offense came back in waves. After a lead-off double by Ronnie Belliard, Rafael Furcal singled in a run in the eighth and Kemp cleared the bases with a three-run shot to center which tied the ballgame, completing obliterating a six-run deficit. The home-run was Kemps his sixth of the season, all of which have come in the last nine games.

The tie lasted all of three batters as the Dodgers’ bullpen continues to lose games in the late innings. Ramon Troncoso (1-1) came in the game and quickly gave two of those runs right back to the Reds, which ended up being the difference in the game. After Troncoso walked two, Cincinnati’s Paul Janish singled home the tiebreaking run, and the Reds broke their five-game losing streak to a Dodger team that just haven’t found the answers on the road.

I guess the Reds were just due.

But when you’re losing games despite having plated nine runs, it be a little nauseating to watch. Casey Blake led the Dodger hitting with two extra-base hits and four RBI while the 6-7-8 portion of the batting order (Blake, DeWitt, Martin) all managed to go 2-for-5. However, it’s pitching that’s the problem for Los Angeles, both starting and relief pitching. When the starting rotation can’t seem to go past the sixth inning and the bullpen struggles to get out of jams late in the ballgame it’s a recipe for disaster. Something’s got to give, and until they find the right chemistry it’s going to continue to be a roller coaster season.

In a move to patch up their bleeding bullpen, the Dodgers activated pitcher Ronald Belisario for tonight’s game against Cincinatti. Last season Belisario pitched an impressive 2.04 ERA in 70 1/3 innings in his rookie season, but he was placed on the restricted list of the Dodgers’ roster this off-season after missing most of spring training when he couldn’t acquire a visa from his native Venezuela.

Hiroki Kuroda (1-0) gets his third start of the season tonight against Aaron Harang (0-2), who gets my vote for ugliest soul patch in the National League (considering that Scott Spiezio is no longer playing). The Dodgers hope to get some help from their bullpen and hopefully take a game on the road (they have lost five of seven on the road so far this season).

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The Dodgers have an interesting dynamic. While they do have some power in the middle of the batting order, most of their offensive success is based on small-ball, or stringing a bunch of hits together and moving runners around like a carousel. When the Blue Crew is on, so is the carousel and vice versa. It worked last night, for the most part.

There are several ways you can turn the carousel off, though, and perhaps the biggest rally-killer of them all is the dreaded double play. And perhaps the biggest rally-killer on the Dodgers is James Loney.

Last night Loney led the Dodgers with seven runners stranded, something that’s becoming sort of a trend for the first baseman. I can’t remember how many times I’ve seen Loney ground into an inning-ending double play with runners in scoring position. It’s frustrating especially when the middle of the order, or as I like to call them: the Terrific Trifecta, is crushing the ball (13-for-27 with four home-runs and 10 RBI in the series).

This year Loney’s batting only .188 (3-for-16 with four K’s) with runners in scoring position, and he’s only .222 (2-for-9) with men on and two outs. Last season Loney was much better (.294 with RISP), but he was still only .244 (21-for-86) with RISP and two outs. Loney is also batting only .211 (4-for-19) in the number five spot. Is it time to call for a change?

That’s a lot of numbers, so let me break it down. When the majority of offensive productivity is coming from the middle of your order (two-three-four), then putting someone directly after those hitters (in this case, the five-spot) who can capitalize on that productivity exponentially increases the changes of a rally continuing, and it enhances your run-production as a result.

Don’t get me wrong, I love James Loney. But part of the science that goes into making a batting order is putting your players in the best place for them, and as a result the team, to succeed. Long story short, Loney is just not getting the job done.

Keeping this in mind, I think Joe Torre might want to consider moving someone else in that position. An argument could be made for Russell Martin. Martin’s hitting is much-improved from last year (.389), but Russell is also prone to the double play and he hasn’t gotten a hit yet with runners in scoring position (0-for-6).

That’s why I think Torre should move Casey Blake in that spot, so long as he agrees to grow back the beard. I don’t know Blake’s stats in regards to beard vs. no beard, but I do know this: Blake is 4-for-9 (.444) with RISP (including three doubles), and he’s 1-for-3 with a double with RISP and two outs. He only has five RBI his year, but imagine how many opportunities he would get batting behind the Terrific Trifecta?

Besides, if you believe in numerology: Blake’s number is 23, or 2 + 3 = 5. It was meant to be. As you can tell, I’ve seen Jim Carey’s movie too many times.