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Billingsley Comes Through as Dodgers Overtake Giants
Tonight was quite a game! I decided to head over to the ravine myself and check out the action (or possible lack there of ) on a Wednesday night.
I was shocked to my delight as Chad Billingsley pitched one hell of a game tonight. The Giants were no match for Bills as he worked their lineup like gangbusters. He was striking out Giants faster than the grown rate of Barry Bonds giant head. He struck out eight guys and only allowed five hits. The nail bitting for me really came in the ninth when we were standing up to prepare for the final out (and also to prepare to haul ass out of the packed stadium) and a hit bounced off the right field pavillion wall ALMOST making it a home run. Thankfully, it was only a double.
It didn’t matter anyways as Bills made his final out for the evening and every cholo around me began to dance. It reeked of beer and axe body spray, but who cares. The game was fantastic.
It was so nice to see a game with such a lack of errors on the Dodgers’ part. Even Fatty McFatFat Andruw Jones was on some what less dumb behavior. The Dodgers used their bat once again as they rallied off Giants pitcher Jonathan Sanchez. Because of the strong hitting in the first and third innings by Russell Martin and Jeff Kent, the Dodgers were able to hold back the Giants and have a cushion to prepare for those famous Dodger eff-ups.
The Dodgers were seriously at their best tonight which is something we diehard fans can’t say too often. But with the actual hitting, Bills pitching some heat and the drunk cholo next to me singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”, I think it just felt that good.
Can’t they all be like this?
See you next game!
-Val
The Weekend Works and the Dodgers Tie It Up for First
For once, I am coming out of a Dodger weekend pretty impressed. Going in on Friday, I was pretty nervous and was expecting that the Dodgers would get their asses beat by the Diamondbacks. Mostly because the Dodgers have a habit lately of screwing up their first place status and because the Diamondbacks have just been notoriously difficult to beat this season.
However, the Dodgers came out on top this weekend by securing their first place tie with the D-Backs. It totally blew my mind the way it blew my mind that A-rod would actually have intercourse with Madonna-I thought she was just a corpse by now being kept alive by like solar panels or something. Let’s review the weekend.
Friday was scary for me and other Dodger fans because we were just dreading a loss. And from the looks of it in the beginning of the game, it looked very bad. The Diamondbacks played some mean ball. Especially against the usually impressive Hiroki Kuroda. Kuroda just didn’t have the usual gusto in his pitching as he usually does. He spent two innings trying unsuccessfully to defend the 3-0 lead the Dodgers had, but he just couldn’t do it. Eventually, the Dodgers ended up falling behind 6-3. At this point I wanted to kick the tv. Luckily, Nomar Garciaparra came through. He brought the Dodgers back into the game and Matt Kemp tied the game at 7-7. The rest is history as James Loney’s hit in the 11th got the Dodgers the win they needed. With the bullpen being used to capacity and a tiring night of hitting, the Dodgers started the weekend off right as they won 8-7.
Too bad that didn’t happen on Saturday. The Dodgers lost 3-2 to the D-Backs mostly because they couldn’t hit off pitcher Dan Haren as he pitched seven scoreless innings against the do-nothing Dodgers. It was one of those Dodger games that just makes you say, “well, shit”. I say this because we saw one of the famous Dodgers “FALSE HOPE RALLIES” in the ninth. This is when the Dodgers attempt to make up for their lack of actually playing decent ball for the WHOLE game and so they try and make a pathetic comeback in the last inning of the game. In the ninth, they tried really hard with even some hitting from Jeff Kent, but fell short.
Then on Sunday, it happened. The Dodgers won this one 6-5 securing their tie for first place with the D-Backs. It was nice to see the Dodgers try the age old technique of winning a game which is hitting. It worked as the Dodgers offense made a comeback in the ninth that won the game. One of the best highlights of the game came in the ninth when Nomar Garciaparra hit a double that started a hit parade that led to the win for the boys in blue. THANK GOD.
It would have just sucked if they had blown Sunday’s game. Now with a secure first place tie, the Dodgers can work towards keeping it that way. As they head off to Colorado for their series with the Rockies at crappy-ass Coors Field, they are going to need to play the best ball they can if they want to make it this year.
But like I say every year …Let’s not get our hopes up.
See you next game!
Love,
Val
Lowe Gets Down to Business on Wednesday and the Boys Stay in First
For the last few weeks, I’ve listened to my dad complain and complain about Derek Lowe. He has called him all sorts of things and said, “Valerie, that guy just isn’t worth a darn these days”.
Well, I think Derek Lowe may have proved my dad wrong on Wednesday. He did do a few things actually that contributed to a 2-1 win by the Dodgers over the Atlanta “redneck” Braves (more wisdom from my dad).
Even with all the rumors and all the shit talking about him, Derek Lowe held his head high and started off the game string as he pitched a scoreless four innings. This may sound lame, but when I watched him pitch those four innings at Wednesday’s game, he looked like an angry train. Just hurling these angry, flawless pitches. He beat Braves pitcher Tim Hudson’s ass. Boo to you Hudson.
It was not only a game of dueling pitchers, but also of second chances. Matt Kemp looked a little sad the night before. Probably because he struck out almost every at bat. On Wednesday he redeemed himself as he hit a nice homer in the sixth that put the Dodgers in winning position. Maybe this time he won’t run like a little girl into the locker room like he did after Tuesday’s game.
Wednesday made me feel really good about Derek Lowe. The guy hasn’t been perfect this season, but what Dodger ever is? I mean we just watch Juan Pierre and expect him to do something gaytarded. You never expect perfection from him.
I guess after Wednesday’s game, I could see why other teams would want Lowe. He’ll probably leave at some point after the season anyways. Knowing Ned Colletti , I am SO positive we will get someone super in return. Like a one armed chimp or a blind leprechaun. Gotta love the infamous Dodger deals.
See you next game!
-Val
Way to Mess Up a Good Thing-Dodgers Lose Tuesday in the Lamest Way-duh
While the title of this blog may be a bit long, Tuesday’s game made me forget all about the previous dreamscape I was living in the night before (first place, hello!).
The Dodgers just reached the top. For this game, I actually went to the ravine thinking “wow, they did it and i know they’ll play hard to hold onto it”. Yeah, way to jinx it, Valerie.
So with my overpriced coke in hand I watched with eager eyes as Chad Billingsley pitched aggressive and excellent. He was striking out Chipper Jones and I was like “hell yea, in the bag”. The first and second innings pass and good old Chad was just throwing some real heat. The third inning comes and he’s on fire. No hits. Then the fourth inning comes. Our boy Chad started looking a little shaky. Then in the fifth it happened. He gave up pitches like crazy after that. Out of the 11 batters he faced after the fourth inning, six ended up scoring. I was so pissed. Also because a fan in back of me kept talking to himself and I couldn’t focus.
After that, everything just started turning to crap. The Dodgers just couldn’t hit off Braves pitcher Jair Jurrjens. He was kicking their blue and white asses. Not only that, but there were so horrible errors. At one point a ball was hit just a little bit above second basemen Jeff Kent’s head, but he didn’t even jump for it. Like he didn’t even try and it was so in his direction. It was sloppy ball played once again.
The “late game false hope rally” took place in the eighth and ninth as the Dodgers tried to salvage whatever they could. There was even a two run rally. But at that time the Braves already had nine runs on the board and they were trailing by eight. It just wasn’t worth it.
I left the game feeling grumpy and sick. Sick only because I decided to try that pre-made Panda Express food in lieu of a dependable Dodger Dog. Mistake. The only highlight for me came in the eight when some renegade decided to run on the field and started break dancing next to Andruw Jones. The man was then hauled away as people kept leaving. Speaking of Jones, he threw his bat and helmet and pouted every time he struck out yesterday. Damn baby. He also made Matt Kemp bring him his glove as he would walk dramatically to his position as Kemp ran to him. Gosh, Jones. Well only two years of him.
The experience for me can be summed up in these words/phrases:
-Sloppy ball
-Bloating (Panda, again)
-Whiny Babies
-disappointment
-there goes first place
Have a good one and may the next game be better than this.
-Val
A Weekend Wrap Up of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Dodgers had an interesting couple of days since winning Thursday against the Astros. The holiday weekend was full of all the regular Dodger fixings as we saw both excellent hitting (Ethier on Friday) to some decent pitching only to be done in vain (Sorry Chan Ho on Saturday).
Either way, the Dodgers are a sweet 1/2 game behind the Diamondbacks which is gives me such an incredible feeling that i might paint my face at the next game. That’s how excited I am. Let’s go to the games…
So, Friday was a 10-7 win for the boys in blue against the piece of crap Giants who I hate more than most things. The Dodgers played like Tommy Lasorda eats-sloppy. Errors were plentiful as we saw in the eighth as Russell Martin threw to take out a stealing Randy Winn and the only person covering first base was the invisible man. Not only did that cost the Dodgers a run, but it made them look like amateurs.
Aside from the sloppier than thou defense, the hitting was top notch and the pitching didn’t fall far behind. Hong-Chih Kuo saved the day from a “Lowe point” (ha), by striking out six consecutive batters that contributed to the great success of the Dodgers. Good game, good time, good stories on the car ride back from the ravine.
Saturday’s next game against the Giants made me want to punch a kangaroo or any other marsupial that hops around on the planet. I was disappointed to say the least as the game totally started out in the Dodger’s favor. In the first inning, Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp scored two runs off Barry Zito. It was at that point that I became extremely excited and got my pathetic hopes up of writing about another weekend win for the Dodgers.
I was so freakin’ wrong. The Dodgers became tired, pathetic morsels of major league players as they managed to screw up a chance to score with runners on second and third. They wasted it like I waste money buying those silly Dodger hats that look like blue and white wigs. Barry Zito pitched effortless strikes as no Dodger was able to really hit anything off him late in the game. In the eight there was even potential with runners on first and second, but Andruw “Are you gonna eat that” Jones screwed that it with a pathetic groundout. The boys lost with their 2 runs to the Giants 5.
Boohoo for you Dodgers and boohoo for me buying that dumb hat.
Sunday was a relief as the Dodgers won this one with a score of 5-3. Thank God.
Joe Torre was working his ass off on Sunday moving his players around and giving some much needed rest to the regulars by utilizing a few rookies. Somehow it all worked out just perfect.
The Dodgers played without Jeff Kent, Nomar Garciaparra and Andruw Jones. While this was thought to possibly hurt the chances of winning on Sunday, let’s not forget that even when Andruw Hones plays, it is like he isn’t there because HE DOESN’T DO ANYTHING.
The bat and the bullpen were what did it. There was the great RBI single by Matt Kemp and the RBI Double by Matt Kemp. James Loney was the big man of the game as he delivered three runs making the hitting consistent throughout the nine innings. He was the true guardian of the game making sure the Dodgers stayed ahead.
The bullpen was utilized to the max, but in a good way. Torre utilized three relievers on Sunday as he used Brian Falkenborg, Hong-Chih Kuo and Jonathan Broxton. Between the three there were three scoreless innings which isn’t too shabby by Dodger standards.
Sunday’s game was perhaps the best to watch because it was a showcase of new talent and capability by the Dodger organization that they can still produce some great games even when there is only so much to work with. It was good to see the Dodgers playing like they should all the time-as a cohesive freakin’ team.
So, there we have it for now. 2 of 3 for the holiday weekend and a whole lot of fireworks to come as July is upon us. And so close to that sweet, first place spot…
I can dream can’t I ?
See you next game!
-Val
Kuroda is Back in Town and Dodgers Win It
Hiroki Kuroda is back in action as he made the game on Wednesday look easy against the Astros as the Dodgers won it 4-1.
It is good to know that at least some of the money on the disabled list is now being put into good use. Kuroda wasted no time as he pitched seven scoreless innings against the Astros. His pitching was flawless as he shut out power hitters such as Carlos Lee.
If you were watching the game, you know how wild it was to see him pitch so damn good. This guy went from being completely and utterly in pain to making every Astro player feel like they sucked on Wednesday. Too bad Nomar Garciaparra can’t recover like this. Nomar scratches his head and his whole body just falls apart.
The only reason the Astros were able to score one was because Cory Wade took over the remainder and ended up giving one up to Carlos Lee. Well,I guess things could of been worse, but Wade the rookie is going to have to a lot better than he did this game.
As Dodger offense becomes consistently stronger recently, it has become easier for the Dodgers to score runs. Two Dodgers that have just been phenomenal in getting their team ahead only proved Wednesday that a hit is never out of reach. Jeff Kent and Andre EIthier stood out once more as Kent hit two RBI doubles and Ethier himself had three hits.
This is two in a row for the Dodgers which is exciting considering this season has been an uncontrollable roller coaster for the Dodgers full of injuries and lost scoring opportunities. Speaking of injuries, Brad Penny is supposed to make his return from the disabled list on Saturday, he will instead have another bullpen session before any decisions will be made about his return. This is just killing me. I mean come on. Brad Penny is built like a bull. And he needs more bull pen time? It seems like these days players are constantly getting hurt or need to go under rehabilitation. You never heard of this ten years ago. Baseball players played hard and didn’t mess around. You never saw them complaining of ankle problems of knee problems. Koufax would’ve pitched even if his arm came off.
As my dad says, it’s a different time and even the game is a little different, but as long as the heart is still there i guess that’s all that matters. Except if you’re Ned Colletti. He sold his to the devil a long time ago, that assclown.
Let hope the Dodgers can keep this streak going as winning becomes a necessity at this point.
See you next game!
-Val
A Win for Tuesday Puts Dodgers in Right Behind Diamondbacks
Tuesday’s game put me in a good mood, proving that the Dodgers offense still has the potential to get the job done. The Dodgers managed to get their hitting on track as they won 7-6 against the Houston Astros on Tuesday.
The player of the game was definetely Jeff Kent as he hit the necessary home run in the 11th inning to pull the Dodgers ahead to win against the Astros. Prior to that, the Dodger offense was consistent with power hitting from Kemp and Loney and of course the two run homer by Russell Martin proving once again that he has the potential to become a true Dodger great.
The pitching was also interesting as Clayton Kershaw made another appearance and looking more comfortable and steady as he pitched into the sixth inning and allowed only one run which is a hell of a lot better than he’s pitched in his last few games. Too bad for the kid, though, as he didn’t get the one. That would end up going to Chan Ho Park who prevented the game from going in favor of the Astros by preventing any more runs from the Astros.
Finally. I say that because finally do we see the Dodgers start playing like a team that looks out for each other instead of playing like whiny babies. The Dodgers are still in prime position as they sit only 2 1/2 games behind the D-Backs.
The boys in blue are definetely looking good and the season is getting a hell of a lot more intense.
All we usually say at this point in the season is “Dodgers, please don’t screw up”.
See you all next game!
-Val
Dodgers Lose Sunday and Disabled List Continues to Grow
The Dodgers obviously didn’t save the best for last as they lost the last game of the Freeway Series against the Angels on Sunday.
The Dodgers had managed to win without hitting the night before, so they thought they would take it up a notch and try hitting Sunday to see if that would do the trick. Unfortunately, it didn’t as they lost 0-1.
Angels pitcher John Lackey did an excellent job of striking out Dodger after Dodger on Sunday, making Derek Lowe’s pitching look mediocre. Lackey only gave up two hits in the first eight innings and struck out nine out of 120 pitches. Derek Lowe only gave up two hits, but ended up with a loss for the game and the feeling of disappointment that he has had t deal with all season.
The Dodgers looked like robots the entire game up until the ninth inning. A lot of the time prior to the ninth inning they looked like they were only going through the motions making one question if they would be ready if they did make it to the playoffs. The Dodger offense was simply boring until it exploded with some strong attempts by Andre Ethier and some excellent base running by Juan Pierre that was the only time that a Dodger as in scoring position for the whole game.
Perhaps the biggest blow will come from the fact that a new man has been added to the disabled list-none other than Juan Pierre. This was unexpected as he has never been on the dl. After stealing second base during the fifth inning, Pierre was seen grabbing his left knee. This can’t be good for anyone for a few reasons:
-there is now at least close to 80 million sitting on that wretched disabled list so i am sure that the McCourts will find something to raise the price on at the ravine (15 dollar beers anyone?-hell no)
-This is seriously affecting the Dodger defense as more players will be moved around the field than pawns on a chess board.
Somehow in all this bad crap and the overpriced Dodger Dogs at the Ravine, our favorite boys in blue have still managed to stay within 2 1/2 games of the first place D-backs. The Dodgers have a long way to go before they can think about that. I guess we should be used to it by now though. The Dodgers are made to tease their fans like spaghetti is made to lure Tommy Lasorda.
See you next game and go big blue!
-Val
Thursday=Fail for Dodgers
Thursday was a big “F” for the Dodgers as they fail to beat the White Sox Thursday before the extremely important Freeway Series against the Angels this weekend. The Dodgers managed to get beat with a score of 0-2.
You know I could blame this loss on just about anything in the game, but the real blame lies in one Dodger-Clayton Kershaw. Now it pains me to blame the kid. I think just about every Dodger fan couldn’t wait for Kershaw as their shining beacon of hope for the always, um, “interesting”, Dodger bullpen.
Well, that sure had to change after Thursday. Kershaw remains winless as Thursday he gave up four walks and allowed two runs. He managed to get out of a few tough plays by having the Dodger defense working overtime. Kershaw is now 0-2 with a 4.36 ERA. It showed Thursday night as he lasted only four plus innings against the win-hungry White Sox.
One of the most agitating parts of the game was the fact that the Dodger offense had all the chances in the world to put some runs on the board, but they blew it. We saw Pierre single and even steal second. At one point the Dodgers were in the perfect position. Matt Kemp was walked and a double steal put men on base at second and third base. What is so painful about this is that there was not one out on the board. And in classic Dodger style, none of this was put to good use and the Dodgers ended up getting spanked. And I don’t mean only by the White Sox, but also by Joe Torre.
The rest of the game is like any page in Dodger history. Men on base plenty of time for the remainder of the game, but no scoring.
That’s too bad. Considering the Dodgers have to catch up in the standings. Bottom line is this: Kershaw could be wearing out his welcome as I even find myself wanting to kick him and the Dodgers have some serious playing ahead of them as they take on the Angles. And there is nothing we hate more than the Idiots From Anaheim. Losing to them is like being beat up by Vern Troyer. It just feels shameful.
See you next game!
Stults Proves He Can Earn His Keep Wednesday
It’s Wednesday and all you can think is what a week. It has been a roller coaster as the Dodgers find themselves going through each time like a ride on Goliath. Luckily, the Dodgers managed to find their rhythm as they beat the White Sox 5-0 on Wednesday.
Wow, 5-0. It is amazing that the Dodgers-yes the ones in LA-managed to not even allow a single run from the other team for the entire game. I mean, from their recent games usually someone ends up pulling some bonehead move to totally blow a lead. I must say, this makes me just a little giddy.
The game was in a word-awesome. This was mostly in part to the more than decent pitching of Dodger Eric Stults. Oh you’ve never heard of him? Yeah neither had most fans until Wednesday when he must of made Joe Torre smile just a little as he proved he’s not just a shadow from spring training anymore.
Stults pitched with a lot of heart and his teammates were more than happy to help him out. Stults moved with ease through the White Sox lineup with a solid performance against key players such as Carlos Quentin and Jermaine Dye. As he began to get tired towards the end of the game, his teammates made some phenomenal plays to make sure this rookie would be around for awhile. Even a great play by the usually disappointing Juan Pierre.
The Dodgers also proved that they could still hit as we saw some excellent hits by Andre Ethier and even Blake DeWitt.
The Dodgers are managing to stay in close range of a solid Diamondbacks team that has held on firmly to their first place lead all season. Thursday may be another day, but a win makes next game a little less scary and a little more hopeful for the always hopeful Dodger fan.
See you next game!