After the bullpen turned Clayton Kershaw's masterpiece into a blown save, the Dodgers scored twice in the eighth inning to tie it, and James Loney walked with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 5-4 win over the Giants on Wednesday night.On a night dedicated to Jackie Robinson, the 21-year-old left-hander Kershaw evoked memories of Sandy Koufax by pitching a one-hitter through seven overpowering innings and becoming the youngest Los Angeles Dodger to strike out 13. Kershaw fanned the side in his last inning and five of the last six batters he faced, but was removed by manager Joe Torre with a 2-1 lead after making 105 pitches.
Hong-Chih Kuo took over to start the eighth inning, hit Pablo Sandoval with a pitch and allowed a single to Rich Aurilia that put runners on the corners. Rookie Ronald Belisario took over and, on an 0-2 pitch, served up a three-run home run to Aaron Rowand.
The Dodgers had five runners reach base in the first inning against Matt Cain, but scored only once on a bases-loaded walk by Loney. The Giants evened the score much quicker in the top of the second on Bengie Molina's leadoff homer in the Dodgers bullpen, the only hit off Kershaw.
Casey Blake put the Dodgers back in front with his third home run of the season in the fourth inning. In the eighth, Andre Ethier singled to chase Jeremy Affeldt and went to third when Russell Martin greeted Bob Howry with a double. On Loney's sacrifice fly, Ethier scored and Martin took third. Matt Kemp tied the game with a line single to center.
In the ninth, Orlando Hudson singled, was singled to third by Manny Ramirez and Ethier was walked intentionally to load the bases. Martin bounced into a forceout at the plate before Brian Wilson walked Loney on a 3-2 pitch.
Even though Kershaw was mowing down the Giants, he admitted that wasn't even the most satisfying part of the night...
"Without a doubt, the seven innings is more important than the strikeouts," said Kershaw. "Strikeouts are not that important to me, but seven innings is. That's the benchmark of a starting pitcher, how deep can you go. Five-and-dive is not what you need to do. That taxes the bullpen and taxes the team. The only thing I wanted tonight was to go deeper."
What an mature quote from such a young player. Any doubt who the number 2 starter should be?
The four game winning streak has moved the Dodgers into a tie for first place with the San Diego Padres. Can't see that one lasting long though. San Diego's carriage is pumpkin bound.
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Let's play the sweep, courtesy of dodgers.com...
Barry Zito, San Francisco Giants (0-1, 9.00 ERA)
Trying to avoid another slow start, Zito didn't reverse this trend with his first 2009 outing, surrendering four runs and seven hits in four innings at San Diego last Friday. Zito allowed three first-inning runs and struck out three in the next two innings before allowing another run in the fourth. Last year he thrived on the road, where he posted a 7-6 record with a 4.40 ERA -- contrasting sharply with the 3-11 mark and 5.93 ERA he compiled at AT&T Park. Zito also owns a winning record at Dodger Stadium, where he's 3-1 with a 2.73 ERA.
Eric Stults, Los Angeles Dodgers (1-0, 1.69 ERA)
James McDonald was sent to the bullpen for a few days, so Stults takes the start. He's coming off a sharp fill-in performance for the injured Hiroki Kuroda. Stults, called up before ever making a Triple-A start, allowed only one run over 5 1/3 innings in Phoenix, providing a bit of rest for a bullpen that was taxed the previous night in McDonald's 2 1/3-inning start.
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2 comments:
I really felt as if Kershaw should have come out for the 8th inning. I mean he handled the 2-3-4 batters in the 7th by blowing them away. 105 pitches sure...but this is after he was at nearly 60 pitches through 3 innings. 45 over the next 4 with most being strikes that nobody could hit. Let the kid do his thing and back him up in the pen if he gets in trouble.
Being in the crowd, everybody was standing when he'd get 2 strikes on a hitter. You don't bench a guy who's on fire.
I know it's his 2nd start of the season and you want him fresh for the end, but a win at the start of the year is as good at the end. Rest him later, let him smoke 'em down now.
I was indifferent to pulling Kershaw. Of course I didn't think Belisario was going to serve one up like that. But with Kuo, Belisario, and Broxton in waiting you have to like your chances every time.
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