It was nice to watch the Dodgers win today. It was a refreshing change to say the least. They gained a game on St. Louis and pulled within 2 games of the Wild Card spot with 11 to play, but the frustration continues with the offense that can’t seem to hit a lick with runners in scoring position.
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| Ronald Belisario had his best outing of the year as he picked up a well deserved "win." (AP Photo/Al Behrman) |
Positives in today’s Dodger win:
- The heart of the Dodger lineup made up of Ethier, Kemp, Gonzalez and Ramirez went 6 for 19 tonight. A substantial improvement over recent performances.
- Matt Kemp is waking up. He had three hits and the game winner.
- Andre Ethier belted a long drive that was kept in the park by a stiff wind that was blowing towards the infield. Adrian Gonzalez flied out deep to the warning track twice on balls that usually are out of this park.
- In a game where 30,000 plus Reds faithful were anxious to celebrate a division championship, the blue crew crashed the party for an additional day with some stellar pitching by virtually everyone that took the mound.
- Ronald Belisario went two innings and struck out the heart of the Reds lineup that included Votto, Rolen and Bruce. He had a nasty sinker working for him that made him un-hittable.
- Brandon League is turning out to be a "lights out" closer. It would be real nice to lock him up next year and beyond.
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| Kemp connects on an 0-2 pitch and slaps a 2-RBI single to right field. (John Grieshop/Getty Images) |
It’s a longshot, but Dodgers faint playoff hopes are still out there. It is my position that if they can return home within 1 game of the final playoff spot, they’ll be in a prime position to take it. What will it take to do that? Probably a sweep of the Reds and a 2 game sweep in San Diego. In other words, the Dodgers need to run the table with victories the rest of the way. There is no cushion any longer with 11 games remaining.
Stephen Fife (0-1) takes the mound tomorrow against Mat Latos (12-4). Cross your fingers that the offense wakes up and Fife gives us some quality innings again.
Hanging on by a thread is better than not hanging on at all. The Dodgers have a mountain to climb but so did Sir Edmund Hillary.
ReplyDeleteOur pitching, although we feel it is not very strong, has been among the best in MLB in 2012: tied with the Reds for the third best ERA, seventh in K's, third in BAA, third fewest hits allowed, fewest home runs allowed. Those are in all of MLB, not just the NL. Our one blemish - seventh in most walks yielded. And, admittedly, without Clayton and Chad, our pitching stock has become somewhat depleted. Yet, the lesser lights are giving us a chance to win games.
So why aren't we way out front? We all know why, as does team management. To compensate for lack of offense, the Dodgers acquired some hired guns at the trade deadline. Those guns were acquired for the future but also to get us over the hump this year. How could we not score more easily with Shane Victorino, Adrian Gonzalez and Hanley Ramirez added to out line up? For some reason in the shoot out at OK Corral, our hired guns are firing blanks.
Our pitchers just have to work so hard with little run support. They are in a position of not being able to make a mistake or allow a run to score. The pressure on them must be enormous. So, the answer is easy. Let's turn hope into reality by using bazookas instead of pop guns. Let's go Dodgers.