I don’t want to shock you, but the Dodgers scored three runs tonight, and every one of them was thanks to Matt Kemp & Andre Ethier. I know, I can hardly believe it either, because that is a scenario which never happens, ever.
Honestly, it’s only April 20, and I feel like I’m already running out of things to say about Kemp. Oh, an opposite-field homer in his first at-bat, his 8th dinger of the year? Oh, getting on base in each of his four at-bats, with three hits and a walk? Oh, a line that’s still sitting at .481/.525/1.000? I’d like to share with you his position on the National League leaderboards – it’s Triple Crown city, in case you didn’t know – but it hardly seems fair, because that would imply that Kemp is actually playing in the same league as the rest of the mere mortals out there.
Fortunately for the Dodgers, they were playing the punchless Astros and so the three runs were all they’d need, as Ted Lilly was somewhat all over the place in walking six in six one-run innings. Against most teams, that’d be a huge problem, but this Houston outfield would struggle to compete in the Pacific Coast League. The six walks tied for second-most in Lilly’s career and marked the first time since April 8, 2006 against the Devil Rays as a member of the Blue Jays that he’d issued so many free passes. (He lasted 2.1 innings that time around.)
Lilly was followed by a scoreless inning apiece from Josh Lindblom, Kenley Jansen, & Javy Guerra, and if there’s a more dominating 26-and-under bullpen trio in the bigs than that, I’d like to see it. Jansen in particular overwhelmed Houston in striking out the side, which gives him 17 Ks among the 38 hitters he faced. I still can’t believe that there was a time where we all worried that Lindblom was going to get farmed out; Guerra, meanwhile, bounced back from a tough series in Milwaukee to collect his seventh save. But speaking of young relievers, where exactly is Scott Elbert? He hasn’t been seen in a week now since he threw 17 pitches last Friday against San Diego; all told, he’s thrown just 19 pitches since April 8.
Fairly or not, a 9-1 start means that there’s certain expectations placed upon you, and after fattening up on the dregs of the National League (the Pirates & Padres have just five wins between them, and combined have scored only two more runs than the Dodgers have), LA is finally going to see some real competition when they head into Milwaukee for a three-game series starting on Tuesday. Not only that, but they’re going to have to do it without Clayton Kershaw, who started in the series finale against San Diego on Sunday and won’t pitch again until he sees Houston on Saturday.
There’s been a lot of discussion lately about whether the favorable schedule is really responsible for the fantastic Dodger start, and there’s truth on both sides of that. It’s hard to think that the Dodgers would be 9-1 if they were playing teams with any prayer of competing this year, and not only are the Pirates & Padres bad, having to travel to San Diego hardly counts as a road trip; today’s flight to Milwaukee is the first time the club has been to the airport since they left Arizona. On the other hand, the Dodgers did win those games, which isn’t to be taken lightly. It was pointed out in the comments over the weekend that if the Dodgers merely go .500 for the rest of the season, they’ll finish with 85 wins, a total which would put them squarely in the playoff race.
Still, I need to see how this team matches up against a better opponent, and we should be able to see that this week. The Brewers may be just 4-6 after being handed a tough road trip through St. Louis & Atlanta, and they might not have Prince Fielder any longer, but they still have Ryan Braun, Corey Hart, & Aramis Ramirez on offense, John Axford & Francisco Rodriguez in the bullpen, and Yovani Gallardo, Zack Greinke, & Randy Wolf lined up for the three-game set. Post-Fielder, they’re probably not as primed to be real threats as they were last year, when they won 96 games, but they’re still a massive step up over the embarrassingly bad San Diego club we just watched the Dodgers smack around.
So if we’re to believe the Dodgers are for real, continuing their hot start on the road against a solid Milwaukee team would be a good way to do it – as would getting any sort of offensive contribution whatsoever aside from Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, and A.J. Ellis, who are the only three regulars who are contributing at even league-average levels.
Of course, even if they don’t do well in Milwaukee, the schedule keeps on giving gifts. Houston, universally acclaimed as the worst team in baseball headed into 2012, hosts the Dodgers for three this weekend, followed by three back in Los Angeles against the enigmatic Braves. Then things finally get tougher when the revitalized Nationals come to town ahead of a three-game set in Colorado, where the Dodgers rarely play well.
Everything, so far, has lined up perfectly for the Dodgers, and we haven’t even talked about the fact that they’ll be officially free of Frank McCourt two weeks from tomorrow. Can they keep it going once the breaks stop going their way and the opposition stiffens? There was a small part of me heading into the season that wasn’t sure if it’d ever even matter. Now, it does, and I can’t wait to see how they respond.
One of the most… let’s say, “interesting” parts about writing about every game is that you try to have about 90% of the story written by the time the game is over. For most of the afternoon, my game recap was going to include mention of Dee Gordon‘s up-and-down day, pointing out that while he scored the game’s first run and had two stolen bases, he also had just one hit, struck out to leave the bases loaded in the 7th, and hurt Clayton Kershaw with one error & at least two more plays that probably should have been counted as such.
…and then Gordon finished off the Dodgers’ second consecutive series sweep with a walkoff single with two outs in the bottom of the 9th on Jackie Robinson Day, and all seems right in the world.
Kershaw may not have had “it” on a sunny Sunday afternoon against San Diego, but whether it’s just because the Padres are atrocious or that 80% of Kershaw is better than 100% of most other pitchers (or both), it rarely seemed to matter – at least until the sixth inning. Though Kershaw had allowed seven hits through the first five innings, it seemed like all of them (save a first-inning Chase Headley double) were of the “BABIP gods are evening things out” variety; well, that, and some interesting defensive work by Gordon. If Kershaw wasn’t what he normally is, nor was he going out there and making it impossible for his team to win despite the lack of his best stuff.
But the wheels started to fall off for Kershaw in the sixth inning in every way imaginable. Working within umpire Dale Scott’s tight strike zone, he walked three of the first four batters around a Will Venable sacrifice that loaded the bases with one out. Orlando Hudson came up and hit a grounder to the left side, potentially setting up an inning-ending double play, but Gordon was unable to come up with it, with the ball charitably being called a base hit. That was enough to call in Josh Lindblom from the pen, and Lindblom did little to help out Kershaw by allowing Jeremy Hermida to tie the game by driving in two on a single. (As Vin said when Kershaw left the game with a two-run lead, the bases loaded & one out in the sixth, Kershaw could still get a win, a loss, or a no-decision – even after he was in the showers. Pitcher wins are the best.)
Kershaw may not have had his best stuff today, but Matt Kemp always does. Kemp crushed his sixth homer of the year in the third inning – all six having come against San Diego, by the way – and reached base four times on three hits and a walk. He’s now hitting .487/.523/1.026. I don’t even know what to say about him anymore. In fact, the only time that Kemp made an out today may have been on his hardest hit ball, other than the homer. With the game tied in the bottom of the 8th, Mark Ellis led off with a single. Ellis broke for second with Kemp up – which is a conversation for another time, but can we please stop him from ever doing this, ever? – and that drew second baseman Hudson to the bag to cover… which just so happened to be exactly where Kemp ripped a grounder into what became a rally-killing double play.
But while that may have been the luckiest double play the Padres will get all year, it hardly compares to whatever the hell happened in the top of the 9th. Javy Guerra came in and promptly allowed the first two men to reach. Jesus Guzman attempted to bunt – because why wouldn’t you want your cleanup hitter to bunt with two on in a tie game? – which proved difficult when Guerra’s pitch nearly hit him in the face. Guzman, maybe more out of self-preservation than anything else, got the thinnest part of his bat on the ball, which seemingly landed behind the plate. Though umpire Scott seemed to clearly wave the ball foul, A.J. Ellis alertly jumped on it and threw it around the horn for the triple play. San Diego manager Bud Black argued vociferously – and correctly, to my eyes – but was ejected for his troubles.
Judge for yourself…
That kept the game tied headed into the bottom of the ninth, where Juan Rivera walked and James Loney singled. Juan Uribe sacrificed – because why the hell not, he’s not going to help you doing anything else – and A.J. Ellis was intentionally walked. Jerry Hairston hit for Javy Guerra with an opportunity to be the hero, but popped out. With two outs, Gordon ripped a single into left field to complete the victory.
What an afternoon. What a game. What a… really, really, lucky break.
The Dodgers head into the travel day on Monday with a best-in-baseball 9-1 record, as they prepare to toss Chad Billingsley against Yovani Gallardo in Milwaukee on Tuesday.
I don’t want to take anything away from Ted Lilly, who was masterful in his season debut against a lousy Padres team by allowing just two hits and a run over seven innings. But whenever Matt Kemp & Andre Ethier can ruin someone’s big league debut by taking him deep three times before he can even get six outs, yeah, you better believe they’re going to get top billing.
The Dodgers are 8-1. Yes, the Padres are atrocious, and the Dodgers have a lot of question marks. But still, 8-1, with two of the best hitters in the game right now. No, I can’t believe it either. But I’m loving every second of it.
On Friday the 13th, it was a cold, dreary, rainy night in Southern California, enough so that there was a real question about whether we’d see the first Dodger Stadium rainout in twelve years. With that kind of backdrop, you had to expect that we’d see something bizarre and… oh, you better believe that we did. And then some.
Here’s how out of control this game got, okay? This was my original opening paragraph:
Aaron Harang allowed a leadoff single to Cameron Maybin, and then proceeded to strike out each of the next nine batters. Aaron Effing Harang! The nine consecutive strikeouts topped Johnny Podres’ eight to set a new Dodger record and fell one short of tying Tom Seaver’s ten in a row for the big league record. Podres won some of the biggest games in franchise history. Seaver was a no-doubter Hall of Famer. Aaron Harang is Aaron Harang. Can’t predict baseball, indeed. Harang was touched in the fourth for three runs, including a Will Venable homer which broke the streak, but came back to whiff four more to tie his career high with 13 in his 6 1/3 innings of work. After a disappointing debut as a Dodger in the only loss of the season so far, it was an amazing turnaround for the veteran Harang.
Yet with everything that came after, that already feels like it was weeks ago, does it not?
Anyway, the Dodger offense would get itself going in the bottom of the third, thanks to the hustle of the law firm of Ellis & Ellis. With two outs, Justin Sellers at third, and A.J. Ellis at second, Mark Ellis bounced to second baseman Orlando Hudson. Though a tough play, it was a makable one, but Ellis flew down the line to beat the throw. That alone prevented the inning from ending as Sellers scored easily, but unbeknownst to everyone except third base coach Tim Wallach, A.J. Ellis never stopped running hard and scored from second on the infield hit, narrowing beating the throw from Yonder Alonso. After walks to Matt Kemp & Juan Rivera, Andre Ethier sent a broken-bat flare to center to score two, meaning the Dodgers had scored four runs in the inning on two hits that combined went about 150 feet.
Of course, none of that would have happened if not for Padre shortstop Jason Bartlett botching A.J. Ellis‘ grounder in the first place, which might have led to a scoreless inning since both of the two batters behind him made outs, and it’s here where we really have to point out just how atrociously bad the Padres have looked. They’ve committed the most errors in baseball – as this sequence shows, even one can lead to huge problems – and not to take anything away from Harang, but while he was obviously very good, he was hardly showing Stephen Strasburg-level stuff out there. As Eric Stephen noted, the Dodgers have scored six unearned runs off Clayton Richardalone this season, which is just absurd. If the Dodgers might be better than we thought – and it looks like they might be – the Padres also look like they’re going to be really, really bad this year. Everyone keeps saying things like, “oh, I wish the Dodgers could just play the Padres & Pirates all season;” I’m almost ready to say the opposite, because now I want to know how this club measures up against some real competition.
The Dodgers doubled their offense in the 4th on run-scoring hits by A.J. Ellis & Tony Gwynn before Matt Kemp blasted a massive homer, his third of the season. Though it seemed like gravy at the time, it became crucial once Todd Coffey & Scott Elbert tried to pitch the top of the seventh with both hands around their necks, slicing the lead to two. Josh Lindblom, proving once again how much he belongs on this team, pitched a scoreless eighth, before Kenley Jansen calmly shut down the Padres (with Javy Guerra unavailable) for his first save of the year…
…which is what I had written and ready to publish before Jansen had to go and give up a game-tying dinger to Chase Headley. We can talk about Jansen separately – though I have to admit I was somewhat shocked by the amount of vitriol towards him on Twitter, because how in the hell can you be anti-Jansen right now? – but he managed to escape with the tie intact.
In the bottom of the 9th, the Pads brought in their own flamethrower, Andrew Cashner. Dee Gordon, hitting for Jansen, struck out. Gwynn grounded out, leaving the Dodgers with two out and none on.
And then Cashner fell apart. Mark Ellis walked. Kemp walked, his third of the game (and the season). Even James Loney walked, and James Loney is awful. With the bases loaded, Bud Black brought in lefty Joe Thatcher to face Andre Ethier.
Four pitches later, SHRIMP. And the Dodgers, improbably, are 7-1. What I would have given to have heard Vin Scully call what had to have been one of the most memorable games in years.
Oh, and Jansen got the win. Not Harang. Not Lindblom. Jansen. He’s 2-0. Wins are stupid.
******
But back to A.J. Ellis for a second. When he came to the plate in the fourth inning, I could hear through the PA system that his walkup song was off the new Foo Fighters record, which I totally dig. That alone was cool enough, because most guys come out to one of the same five indistinguishable hip-hop songs. Then I realized exactly which Foo Fighters song it was…
It’s called “Walk”. Of course it is. I love this man, and I was going to post this bit even before we saw how the game eventually ended.
I don’t want to shock you, but the Dodgers scored three runs tonight, and every one of them was thanks to Matt Kemp & Andre Ethier. I know, I can hardly believe it either, because that is a scenario which never happens, ever.
