Beardtastic!!

Hopefully I can start posting more regularly I've just had one crazy summer.

Last night's game featured Chad Billingsley vs. Barry Zito in a 2-0 victory for the Dodgers. Bills pitched a complete game in which he had 3 K's and 125 pitches. He was also helped by the fact that the Gnats went 0-8 with runners in scoring position.
The great bearded one went yard and had an RBI to finally stop the bleeding.

The Dodgers take on the Mets next, with Hiroki Kuroda taking the mound.

Back In Blue

Hey Everyone I'm baaaaaccccckkkk! After many moons away from my wifi, I'm officially back in blue with some All-Star news and notes:

 Andre Ethier is batting 7th for the NL tonight, you can find the entire lineup here: http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/news/story?id=5373816

Dodgers mid-season grades according to ESPN L.A.: http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/columns/story?id=5375308

Should he stay, or should he go?

And no, I'm not talking about NBA free agency.  I'm talking about Stephen Strasburg and if he should or should not be in the All-Star game.  Allow me to explain why I think that the right decision was made.

6 STARTS DOES NOT AN ALL STAR MAKE.

All-Stars and Diamondbacks

So glad to be back in town for the time being.  A lot of stuff happened but here's the most recent:

Andre Ethier and Johnathan Broxton made the all-star team! Congrats to both!

And, there was a game this afternoon which featured Chad Billingsley vs. Dan Haren.
Bills went 6 innings with 1 ER and 8 K's in what turned out to be a solid start.  Hong Chih Kuo continued his dominance pitching 2 innings with 6 K's.  En Fuego had an RBI, and Matt Kemp continued his welcome back streak by hitting the go ahead 2 run home run.

The Dodgers take on the Marlins next, with John Ely facing Nate Robertson.

Has anyone seen my broom?

Because there was sweeping this afternoon! And as if to give everyone who doubted him the finger, Matt Kemp finally remembered what that piece of wood on his shoulder was for. 

The pitching match up featured Vincente Padilla vs. Johnathan Sanchez, who could use some lessons from Mark Sanchez on how to be a winner.  Padilla matched John Ely's seven innings with 1 ER, 3 hits, and 5 K's.  Troncoso came out of the bullpen for an inning and was effective, and George Sherill had to be taken out in the ninth inning after giving up a run, this time in favor of Justin Miller.

Matt Kemp, shocking just about everyone, hit his 13th HR of the year, after Raffy hit his 3rd to continue his hitting tear.  Jamey Carroll also contributed nicely with two doubles.  Garrett Anderson however, went 0-5 on his birthday continuing his hitting futility. 

Tomorrow the Dodgers head out to Arizona where Hiroki Kuroda faces Edwin Jackson (who recently threw a no-hitter, too bad no one cared.)

(Picture courtesy of theleftfieldpavilion.blogspot.com)

You better go you better run while you can, don't wanna see no blood don't be a macho man

Because my brain is not functioning and I'm already procrastinating packing for a coming trip, I'm going to get straight to the game:

John Ely faced Matt Cain who was 0-7 in his career against the Dodgers until last night, when he became 0-8 in a 4-2 loss.  Ely went 7 good innings giving up only 1 ER, 5 hits, and 5 K's. 

Matt Kemp started the game on the bench for the third game in a row, until Manny pulled a hamstring and Kemp came in and replaced him, coming up with two great catches out in left.  Raffy continued to astound me with his batting hitting a triple and two singles, the great bearded one had an RBI, and Loney aka the RBI machine had three more.  The fragile bullpen was all right, only giving up one home run to Pat Burrell from Justin Miller.  This game brings the series to 2-0 for L.A.

This afternoons game features Vincente Padilla vs. Johnathan Sanchez, and probably a crazy Torre daytime lineup.


(Picture courtesy of theleftfieldpavilion.blogspot.com)

So Lost Without You....

First things first, I apologize profusely.  As my summer vacation has started certain things have fallen by the wayside, including my beloved Dodger blog.  But no more will I allow this to happen!!
Moving on to last night's game against the Giants:
It featured Chad Billingsley making his return start vs. Barry Zito, and surprisingly enough, Bills was all right. He went 6 innings with 5 hits and 2 ER.  En Fuego had a sac fly, Man-Ram had 3 hits along with an RBI double, and of course the great bearded one went yard in the top of the eight to win the game.  (of course me being really tired and still bitter about Sunday night's nightmare, turned it off in the bottom of the seventh to write an article.)  Hong-Chih Kuo came on to close the game, as Torre gave the imploding Broxton the night off.  If his stupid elbow wasn't that of an 80 year old he could be an all-star closer.  Along with Broxton getting a sit, Loney and Martin also took the night off (Loney because he doesn't hit well against Zito)
Tonight's game features John Ely vs. Matt Cain who just happens to be 0-7 in his career against the Dodgers.

(Picture courtesy of theleftfieldpavilion.blogspot.com)