Mini Comebacks Fail To Gather Mini Sirloin Burgers

What started out great for the Dodgers ended anything but, as the cross-town rival Angels outscored the boys in Blue 10 to 3 over the final seven frames. The Dodgers mounted a mini comeback in the eighth and ninth innings, but still dropped the rubber match 10-7.

Chad Billingsley cruised along before running into trouble in the sixth, allowing 3 runs to cross the plate, and remained on the hook for his second lost of the season.

"They put a lot of pressure on you," Billingsley stated in the clubhouse afterwards. "They had some good at bats off me today and found ways to push across runs."

"They had good plate discipline. They weren't chasing after my curveball, and they made me get back in the strikezone. I felt I had pretty good stuff out there. It's just one of those days."

After the game manager Joe Torre was very brief as he spoke with the media in his office.

"You know Bills, he was fighting it today. It wasn't his best day, simply put it that way."

Despite the loss Torre praised his team for not throwing in the towel.

"We kept coming back, and that's hopefully going to be our signature all year long. You know, play every inning. We certainly did that. We're still a pretty good team, obviously a confident bunch."

One player who should be confident is Jamie Hoffman. Not only did he make his first major league start, but he also notched his first big league hit. And what a big one it was. Hoffman's 3-run blast in the second inning put the Dodgers ahead, albeit only for a short while.

"As I ran around the bases it felt like I was floating. I didn't calm down until I was back in the dugout."

On notching his first big league home run in his first major league start Hoffman blushed, "I've never played in front of 50,000 people before."

A day of firsts not only for Hoffman, but for me. Very soon I'll be hopping into the Dodger Talk studio and chatting with Ken Levine and Steve Lyons on KABC 790. Please be sure to tune in.