Kershaw Pitches Dodgers to Sixth Straight
[picappgallerysingle id="8750454"]Kershaw pitched a three-hit gem and James Loney hit a towering shot to center as the hottest team in baseball won their sixth straight over the first-place Padres, 4-1.
It was another masterful outing for Kershaw (3-2, 3.55) as he kept the Padres off-balance all night long throwing seven strong and allowing only one run off three hits, seven K’s, and only two walks.
The lone run came in the first inning after walking lead-off man Scott Hairston, who later scored on Chase Headley’s fielder’s choice. After giving up a lead-off double to Yorvit Torrealba in the second, Kershaw retired 12 of his next 13 batters.
It just goes to show that when Kershaw’s control is on, he is one of the most dominant pitchers in the league; the lefty started the Dodgers’ tear last Sunday striking out nine in a two-hit, eight-inning shut-out over the Rockies.
“He keeps it together,” head coach Joe Torre added. “He doesn’t unravel. For a kid his age, it’s pretty remarkable. It’s a lot of fun to watch him grow into his ability right now. He’s not going to give you the ball. You’re going to have to take it away.” (from Yahoo Sports)
Ramon Troncoso added a scoreless eighth with two strikeouts and then Jonathan Broxton came on to secure the ninth with his sixth save in eight chances.
Loney’s fourth home-run of the season came in the top of the second to tie the game 1-1. Shortstop Jamey Carroll (2-for-3 with a run and a RBI) continued to swing the bat well with a go-ahead single in the fifth scoring Casey Blake. Carroll later scored off Russ Martin’s single to center, and then Garrett Anderson added an insurance run with an RBI triple in the sixth. Just enough offense to squeak by the Pads.
The win does come with some bad news, though, as the Dodgers found out they’d be without slugger and triple-crown leader Andre Ethier, who missed the game with a broken right pinkie.
Ethier said he was taking swings in the indoor batting cage when he pinched his right pinkie against his bat. He took a few more swings during batting practice before telling hitting coach Don Mattingly the problem. Ethier also said the finger bothered him while he was playing catch. According to team officials he’ll be examined by a hand specialist today, but he doesn’t expect to miss more than a few games.
The win does bring the Dodgers within three games of first place, and L.A. could close more ground with a win tonight. After getting over that .500 mark for the first time Friday night, the Dodgers look to build on the momentum with a sweep over the Padres, which would mark back-to-back divisional sweeps.
Chad Billingsley will be looking for his third win in four starts, and second straight on the road. He’ll be taking on Padre left-hander Wade LeBlanc (2-0). Billingsley is 7-4 with a 2.74 ERA in 14 career starts against the Padres, and has earned wins in four of the last six match-ups. Bring out them brooms, Blue!
Dodger Bullpen ‘Seeing Red Again’
Chad Billingsley struggled in his third outing of the season giving up seven runs in just three innings, and the Dodgers (6-7) failed to capitalize on a late rally dropping the first of the series to the Cincinnati Reds (6-8), 9-11.
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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. (more…)
Arizona Outlasts Dodgers in 11th, 9-7
The Dodgers bullpen hung in against the resilient Diamondbacks last night but eventually faltered to in the 11th inning, 9-7.
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The Dodger bullpen had it’s work cut out for them last night. Los Angeles used seven relief pitchers in the battle including last Sunday’s starter Charlie Haeger who pitched a scoreless ninth. But the Diamondbacks (5-3) came out on top after the 11-inning affair went late into the Los Angeles night.
The ‘Backs went ahead for good in the 11th when Chris Young (4-8, two RBI on the series) hit a bases-loaded single off Russ Ortiz (0-1) to bring in Stephen Drew. Second baseman Augie Ojeda added an insurance run plating Adam LaRoche with a sac fly to center, but Arizona really only needed one run to win the ball game. (more…)
First Ever Nut-Up Award: When in Doubt, C. Your Way Out
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The Dodgers have an ace in the hole, and his name is Chad Billingsley.
Because of this, Chad Billingsley is the first to take home Matt Gullette’s Semi-Weekly Nut-Up Award: Players that Step it Up in the Clutch, Volume 1.
According to Webster’s dictionary, defiance is a disposition to resist; a willingness to contend or fight.
Defiance.
That’s exactly the kind of game Chad Billingsley pitched this afternoon. It was a statement. Yes, he beat the Pirates, but it was an urgent message sent across the radio waves loud and clear: Chad Billingsley is here to stay.
Message received.
C. Bills, as I like to call him, pitched his first game of the 2010 season. Billingsley, as the name on his jersey likes to call him, won his first game of 2010. And Chad Ryan Billingsley, as his mother probably calls him, threw a gem this afternoon and avoided a potential Dodgers sweep at the behest of the strangely-competitive-during-the-first-week-of-the-season Pittsburgh Pirates.
Maybe to some it was just the third game of the season. But to Chad, it was a fight for a spot in the rotation, a fight to earn back some of his respect, and more importantly, it was a fight to show the kind of defiance we want from our Ace of Spades.
That fight earned Bills and the Dodgers the first win of the season. Third time’s the charm.
We can’t deny that this Dodger team is just as talented, if not more talented, than last year’s squad that made it to the NLCS for the second-consecutive season. That being said, we also can’t deny that we have a pitching problem too. And no, his time it has nothing to do with Jamie Schmidt.
Chad was our go-to-guy for most of the last season, winning his first five decisions and hurling more K’s than an Eastern European brunch menu.
But we all know the dreadful end of that story. After he made his All-Star Game debut, Bills had a tough run late in the season which ended in a 12-11 finish and an E.R.A above 4.00. That is why the Dodgers invested money into the volatile Vicente Padilla and chose to selectively expose C. Bills to anymore postseason stress than necessary. In other words, they hid him in the bullpen.
But while the Dodgers were en route to dropping three straight games to Pittsburgh (yes, the Pirates), Billingsley came up huge. He threw five and a third strong innings with seven wiffs and only one earned run. He even buckled a few knees with the good ole Uncle Charlie. That’s something you’d expect from a guy born and raised in Defiance, Ohio.
This is what I’m saying: Chad Ryan Billingsley is the future of the Los Angeles Dodgers. After all, Chad’s mother didn’t raise no punk.
Bills is only 25, and with Kershaw at number two in the rotation, plus a pretty darn good bullpen to fall back on, there’s no reason why the Dodgers shouldn’t give him a second chance. Joe Torre, take heed. What more can we lose? Plus, the combination of Billingsley/Kershaw in the playoffs: I’m talking more K’s than an entire Czechoslovakian restaurant.
Belliard leads L.A. over Pirates, avoid sweep
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The Pittsburgh Pirates are the toughest team to beat the first week of the season. They certainly gave the Dodgers fits.
It’s not until about, oh, the third or fourth game, when the Pirates come back down to reality and lose the rest of their games–as has been the tradition for the last 17 years (1992 was the last year Pittsburgh had a record above .500).
But with the heart of the Dodgers line-up taking the day off and Chad Billingsley on the hill, Joe Torre’s crew managed to hold off the invincible Garrett Jones and Ronnie Belliard led the Dodgers with three extra base hits (a single shy of the cycle) as L.A. avoided an embarrassing opening-series sweep from the Bucs, 10-2.
Today the Dodgers sat out five regular starters including Andre Ethier (sore ankle), Manny Ramirez, and Casey Blake, but the Blue Crew still managed to rack up 16 hits and sent four different Pirate pitchers to the showers. The Dodgers strung together base hits like they did most of last season when they actually led the NL in hits (fourth in the NL in runs scored).
Phew….nostalgia.
Speaking of nostalgia, Ronnie “Big Belly” Belliard, after having lost his second base job to Blake DeWitt, moved into third base to replace the usual starter Blake and made an impressive argument for a starting spot going 3-for-5 with two runs, four RBI, and a two-run shot in the fifth to help the Dodgers pull away 4-0.
Much has been said about Belliard’s weight in the off-season (hence the move to DeWitt), but love handles or no love handles, the guy hits the ball with the same kind of zeal as a chubby fourth-grader in the cafeteria line. He really gave us a boost in the latter part of last season when Blake’s bat went into an August-September slumber. Over a span of 24 games, Belliard hit a belly-busting .351 with five homers and 17 RBI. Give the man some credit and a Little Debbie snack or two. I believe he’s earned it.
Aside from Ronnie, the middle part of the order hit the face off the ball. Batters 1-4 (1. Raffie, 2. Reed Johnson, 3. Matty K., and 4. Loney) batted an unconscionable 10-for-18! with three extra-base hits and four runs batted in. I’m not sure what kind of slugging percentage that is, but I do know this: it’s going to win you ball games.
My personal favorite, Matt Kemp, is always Mr. Consistent at the plate proving that he can hit from anywhere in the line-up. I really like Kemp at the three-spot, though, because he hits well with runners in scoring position (.280 in 2009). In fact, last season Matty hit from every position possible hitting the best in the seven-hole (.328 with eight home-runs and 30 RBI). He is prone to the strikeout (had two today), but I’ll take 2-for-4 to the bank any day of the week.
However, one of the best stories of today probably goes to Reed Johnson who went 3-for-4 in his Dodgers debut. Might I be the first to say: welcome to L.A., Mr. Johnson.
The Dodgers signed the outfielder in the off-season after he spent two years as utility-man for the Chicago Cubs. With the absence of Mark Derosa (who’s now with the Giants–ugh), Johnson was one of the scrappiest players for the Cubs and could always find ways to manufacture runs. Today he scored a couple of runs including the first of the ball game on Loney’s single to center.
The other best-story nominee definitely goes to Chad Billingsley who got his first win today–hopefully there’s more where that came from. Today he threw a solid five and a third innings and served up 7 sweet-baby-K’s. I know as well as you know he struggled late last season. He knows struggled late season. And I know that you know that the Philadelphia Phillies know he struggled late last season.
But the 25-year-old hurler IS our ace, and it was Chad who should have started Opening Day (I’m not sayin’….I’m just sayin’). I think after having some time to adjust to the role, Bills will be more comfortable as our go-to-guy. And I’m more than willing to give him another chance. The only negative is that he did have four walks, but when you can keep serving up wiffle balls, all is forgiven.
And man it feels good to get the first win off our backs. I thought the world was coming to an end after we dropped two in a row to open the season to the Pirates. Kind of like last year when they dropped three-of-four to the Buccos in the last week of the season. Is it just me, or do we have a really difficult time beating teams from Pennsylvania?
The Dodgers hadn’t been swept in a three-game series by Pittsburgh since Sept. 4-6, 2000, in Los Angeles. The last time it happened in Pittsburgh was May 31-June 2, 1999, when the Pirates still played in Three Rivers Stadium.
