Dodger Homestand

The Dodgers won both series with Division rivals during this recent homestand. They took 2 of 3 from both the Diamondbacks and the Giants. Having said that they really didn't play well until the last game Sunday against the Giants. The pitching was very inconsistent and the defense was shoddy; fortunately the offense carried the team throughout.

Matt Kemp homered in 4 consecutive games and Andre Ethier homered twice including a grand slam in the opening game of the Giants series. Manny Ramirez hit a pinch hit 2 run homer in the bottom of the 8th to win the finale of the Giants series 2-1.

They lost the middle game in each series - 9-7 to the D'Backs in 11 innings after blowing 2 leads and 9-0 on national TV to the Giants on Saturday.

They won the final game of the D'Back series in dramatic fashion by taking advantage of a miscue by D'Back shortstop Drew in the 9th. Ethier stroked the game winning walk off hit bringing back memories of his clutch hitting of 2009. Ethier continued his heroics with the 2 dingers in his 1st 2 AB's in the Giants opener including the Granny. The bullpen was unimpressive in all of those games but the offense was good enough to keep the Boys in Blue in the game. Saturday was bad on all fronts - no pitching, no defense & Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum made sure there was no offense.

My earlier comments about the offense carrying the team this year have been borne out - the wins prior to Sunday have been: 10-2, 7-3, 9-5, 6-5 and 10-8. Even in the losses the team has been scoring runs (except for the Lincecum game) losing: 5-11, 3-4, 6-7, 5-6 & 7-9. We currently rank 1st in the National League in overall offense with a .303 team average & 2nd to the Phillies in runs scored. Yet we rank 13th in pitching with a team ERA of 5.30 (although we do lead the League in K's) and most concerning we are 15th in fielding percentage (only Florida is worse) with the 2nd most errors - 12.

Sunday's game was either an aberration or a sign of things to come. The 2-1 victory displayed Clayton Kershaw at his best; the bullpen was solid - Big Jon earned his 1st save; and, of course, Manny provided the dramatic pinch hit HR. Charlie Steiner commented several times that this was the 1st time all season he saw the team looking like the 2009 Dodgers.

Help is on the way - Russ Ortiz was sent packing, Kuo may be back Tuesday and Belisario isn't far off. This will allow changes to be made in the bullpen and may cover up the starting pitching failure to get into the late innings. If there was a way for the Dodgers to replace Haeger with a true #1 Starter then the rotation would look like championship quality. This will have to wait until the trading deadline so we can only hope that we hang close until then - it isn't often that an upgrade from one's 5th starter is a frontline guy.

On a better note - Vin Scully celebrated his 60th Anniversary announcing Dodger games this week end. He is still the best by a long shot. I am going to miss hearing him as the Dodgers hit the road to play the Reds, Nationals and Mets. Steiner is my 2nd choice so I will be watching the games on MLB TV on "mute" and listening to him on radio.