Pin This "L" on Mattingly

I’m never quick to blame losses on the manager.  I think that fans often place too much blame on the guy moving the chess pieces.  But tonight.  Ohhhhh, tonight.  This one was on you Donnie.

(photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

I’m not blaming Mattingly for the 8th inning where Dee Gordon didn’t advance past first base.  That was just dumb rotten luck as every time Dee took off to steal, AGon would foul it back.  No, the 8th inning wasn’t his fault.  That was just a failure of execution by the Gonzalez and Puig. The 9th?  Now that’s a different story.  

With two men on and none out, Juan Uribe stepped to the plate, one of the Dodgers hottest hitters on the club, and the bunt was on.  Even after Uribe feebly missed one bunt attempt, the manager kept the bunt play on with a player that simply doesn’t execute it with proficiency.  The result, a 1-6 force play from me to you.  The D-Backs were handed an out, courtesy of the Dodger manager.

So coming up next was Chilli Buss.  The Chilli Buss with less than 10 major league at bats to his credit.  No chance for a pinch hitter there Don?  There was a guy named Kemp on the bench and no open base either.   I guess he wanted a lefty up to at least hit the ball to the right side.  He got that, as Buss meekly grounded out to first.  Out number two given away as charity as well.

So now with first base open, Kemp was called on to pinch hit.  I was surprised the D-Backs pitched to him, that was until watching how overmatched Kemp was.  Two fastballs in and a slider away and  the game was over.  The slider Kemp struck out on was a good foot and a half outside.

Yes, pin this loss on Mattingly.  He managed the ninth inning about as bad as it could be managed.  That’s my opinion.  It’s easy to criticize after the fact, but believe me, there were a few choice words being yelled at my television while the inning was playing out.

Great game for Ryu, by the way.  Why he pitched to Goldschmidt is beyond me.  Too bad he allowed the one guy in the D-Backs lineup that could beat him to do just that.