Best Bullpen Outing of the Year Leads Dodgers to Sweep of Arizona

J.P. Howell, Ronald Belisario, Jose Dominguez, Paco Rodriguez, Chris Withrow and Kenly Jansen.  They tossed a 2-hit shutout at the first place Diamondbacks in a game that finished this morning after 14 innings.  Total numbers:  9 innings pitched, 2 hits allowed, 0 runs allowed, 8 strikeouts, 3 walks.

Chalk up the 14-inning Dodger victory to the Dodger bullpen.  A bullpen that has been underperforming all season long.  Withrow turned in his best outing in his short major league career, going 3 innings and throwing 59 pitches with a key strikeout to close out his third inning of work, hitting 98 MPH on the radar gun.

Chris Withrow, pictured here posing for photos with fans in San Francisco this weekend, had his best outing of the year so far, shutting down Arizona for three innings.

Speaking of radar guns,  Jose Dominguez hit 100 MPH on several occasions in his inning of work.  Even Kenley Jansen hit 96 a few times.  The bullpen was dealing, allowing the Dodger offense to tie the game up and then holding the D-Backs at bay for 9 full innings.

I could talk all morning about the clutch hitting of A.J. Ellis and Hanley Ramirez, both who saved the night/morning, but the bully gets the headlines following that masterpiece.

We have seen how difficult it was to get back to .500 after being 12 games under on June 21st (at 30-42).  Here we are, 20 days later and the Dodgers are 45-45.  It’ll be a tired group of happy players flying home after sweeping the Diamondbacks and completing a 7-2 road trip against three tough N.L. West foes.

Yasiel Puig and Mark Ellis, after they both scored on a Hanley Ramirez double in the 5th inning.  (photo by Matt York/AP)

Tonight the Dodgers send Chris Capuano to the mound against Drew Pomeranz and the Colorado Rockies.  Hopefully the guys get some rest and come out prepped to win another series.  There’s 4 games until the All Star break, all against Colorado who trails the Dodgers by two games in the standings.

What a team!  What a fantastic road trip! They've passed three teams in the standings and gained 8 games on the first place Diamondbacks over 20 days and 18 games played.