Casey Blake - Matt Sayles-AP

Hope you bought a lottery ticket yesterday because the Dodgers broke all the odds. To win game 2 against the Cardinals and take a 2-0 lead into St. Louis, no one would have believed you. Got to love it.

I was coming back from Vegas yesterday and could only catch part of the game on the radio. Nicely, the only part I caught was the bottom of the ninth. I can’t say it was a quiet listen, as my kids were screaming in the back of the car while I had the stereo cranked up. I should clarify screaming…they wanted to watch Thomas the Train Engine – which we allowed, just to the sounds of the Dodger game. My son kept saying “Sound on, sound on” and my younger daughter kept saying, “mama, mama, mama” with the hope that my wife would turn on the dvd sound since daddy obviously wasn’t going to budge on turning off the game.  Let’s just say chaos is my family sometimes…

In the midst of all that, I heard Casey Blake take the walk.  Then Belliard hit the single, then Loretta hit the single.  Ironic as always that Juan Pierre scored the tying run.  Who knew that the lower part of the lineup would just chip away at the lead.  Dodger fans would…but not the rest of the country.

Great article in the LA times yesterday about how the team thought Casey Blake was the hero with the walk (click here).  I fully agree and have been hyping him all year.  He doesn’t hit like Manny, but he definitely does the other things to be just as valuable.  

So in the midst of all the excitement, I was brought back to earth here in the Bay Area.  I talked to Giants fan co-worker and asked him why he hadn’t congratulated me that the Dodgers won last night…he responded, “You’re not on the team, why should I congratulate you?”  Such it is up here.  At least the Dodgers are in and the Giants aren’t so I can just smile and know he knows the Dodgers are the better team.

Bring out the brooms – let’s sweep the Cardinals!

Bengie Molina - Fox Sports.com

Well, so much for predictions. Vincente Padilla just didn’t have it tonight, and the Dodgers couldn’t get it done. I thought Ethier could do his MVP thing in the 7th…but apparently his magic only works when the game is truly on the line. The Giants looked strong and they just looked like they wanted it more.

Tonight was funny though because there were two things in the game that I’ve never seen before. Ironically they both had to do with Bengie Molina.

First, he hit in a double play which wouldn’t have been special except that it was the slowest double play I’ve ever seen. The ball went to third, Blake sent it to second where Hudson had to step away to dodge the sliding runner. You figured the Dodgers would just get one. Then, it was like time slowed down. Hudson stepped out of the way, twirled, and then realized Bengie was still way down the line and then “decided” to throw down to first.  There was seriously a 2-3 second delay.  It was like there was a time warp and then he realized he could still get the second out. Ironically he threw it to first and still beat Bengie by at least 3 or 4 steps. Cool play that will soon be forgotten, but was something I’d never seen.

The second play was not very long after. There was a pitch by the Giants and for whatever reason Bengie was having problems with the pad strap on his catching gear. You figured he would fix it, but it seemed to be taking too long. Then all of a sudden, you saw a bat boy bringing a whole second set of equipment out to Bengie. First off, who knew catchers had a whole second set of equipment ready at all times? Second, why not just change the leg protectors, instead of everything? It was pretty random, but again something I’d never seen before.

Well, not quite what I expected and the Giants gained a game since the Rockies lost. Here’s hoping tomorrow shines a little more blue.

Casey Blake - LA Times

Yee Ha!  What a way to start.  Big wins are always fun…especially when you live up here.  Sadly I won’t be at work the next few days for the weekend, because it would have been really fun to talk about this game.

I’m making it official.  Casey Blake is my favorite player on the Dodgers right now.  If you’ve read this blog, you know I’ve been partial for a long time.  I like Manny and Loney and Pierre, but Blake just gets the job done.  He is a good guy and a great player.  Sometimes up, sometimes down, but he is clutch when they need it.  I’m glad to see his body seems to be ok after resting for a bit. 

My prediction rang true that the Dodgers would have the advantage, but it definitely wasn’t what I expected.  Matt Cain is a good pitcher and the Dodgers ate him up.  It’s interesting how Manny is just playing smart these days.  He’s hit a few homeruns of late, but he’s trying to hit to the right side and he was involved in driving in runs tonight.  I agree with people that something seems a little off, but he’s a good enough player that he’s still contributing.

It was great to see Loney playing well too.  He has a sweet swing.  I still think he’ll win the batting title some day, but he when he connects, man does he drive it.

We saw history tonight too.  Buster Posey is the Giants true catching prospect, and he made is major league debut.  They’ve been talking about this guy for weeks as he just tore up the minors this year.  What was interesting was that they’ve had him in the majors for almost a week and he hasn’t been in a game.  Bruce Bochy said he was waiting for the right time, but it was weird that they waited so long.  I guess that being down 7-1 was long enough.  Based on his stats we’ll be seeing a lot of him, and he seems to be the heir apparent for Bengie Molina.

It was real interesting reading the local papers today to see what they said about the series this weekend.  What was interesting was that there wasn’t a lot to read.  The Giants are on the cusp of not making the playoffs and everyone knows the Dodgers are better, they just hope they can stay close to still catch the Rockies.  The Giants are playing the Dodgers this weekend, but the focus is the next series with the Rockies.  As a Dodgerfan, I wanted the big story on how important this series is…but none of that was there.  The focus was Tim Lincecum’s back, Buster Posey being in the bigs, and the hope to catch the Rockies.

Bring on tomorrow and Sunday.  If anyone is going to the game on Sunday, let me know and we can meet up.  The Willie McCovey statue might be a good place before the game.  E-mail me at scott@sfdodgerfan.com.

Go Dodgers.

Orlando Hudson - Alex Gallardo - LA Times

Who needs the Giants this week when the Dodgers are playing the A’s! I had to hunt a little to find the A’s channel (Channel 89 up here), but once finding it, it was a pleasure to watch the boys in blue the last two nights.

The didn’t win two nights ago, but they pulled it out last night. Even though they lost two nights ago, this is a GOOD Dodger team. I am just really impressed with how scrappy they are. They are very much like the Angels in 2002 against the Giants. They don’t hit the long ball, but they are always getting hits, and always on base.

The other part is their defense.  The Dodgers turned 4 double plays last night.  Blake is having a Gold Glove year, and then with Furcal, Hudson and Loney, they have a great defense up the middle. 

I heard a great quote from F.P. Santangelo, an announcer for the A’s. He was saying that sometimes there are just good teams who know they are going to win. They don’t know how they will do it, but they know they are going to win. He said the Dodgers are very much that team right now.

I couldn’t agree more. It seems like they win a lot of games in the 8th and 9th innings, which is exactly what you need to go far in the playoffs. They get the runs when they need to, and they do what they have to do.

I have to admit it was fun to see Nomar Garciaparra play last night. He even drove in a run. I always liked him and was glad to see him as a Dodger. Too bad his body keeps breaking down on him because he was fun to watch.

The Dodgers play the Angels this weekend, and the writers are already saying that this weekend may be an indicator of the playoffs.(See Yahoo article here).  This article gives the advantage to the Angels because of their pitching, but I’m not sold.  The Dodgers just seem to find a way.  The Angels have figured out how to win again, so it will definitely be a battle.  I’m predicting the Angels will easily re-claim first place by the All-Star break.  They had a lot of injuries, but you knew Mike Scioscia’s club wouldn’t be down that long.

Coming this weekend, another Spy Game post.  Let’s just say the Angels swept the floor with the Giants this week.

I have to admit I was pretty disappointed when I found out that Manny Ramirez still has a really good chance to make the All-Star game this year.  I know he will have the month of June to make his case, and he is definitely popular, but I believe that anyone who gets suspended for steriods for 50 games shouldn’t get to play in the All-Star game.  It just isn’t right.  It is an honor, and most of the time a pay raise for a lot of guys to be in that game, and to keep someone else from going for a guy who cheated just isn’t right.  It sounds like Joe Torre is on the same page, but it certainly didn’t seem that way from the Dodgers owner Frank McCourt.  He said it would be an “honor” for Manny to play.  That still seems like a bad quote from a guy who’s number 1 player just got busted for cheating.

I actually don’t vote for the All-Stars a lot any more (I used to love pushing out the tabs at the ball-game), but this year, I’m going to vote for three players.   These guys have been all-stars in every part of the word and should get their shot.

Juan Pierre - Fox Sports.com

First, Juan Pierre.  Manny’s replacement doesn’t hit homeruns, but he steals bases, is hitting like crazy and is doing everything possible to help the team.  Just look at his stats the last few games:

The hits alone is crazy.

Casey Blake - Fox Sports.com

Second, Casey Blake.  Where would the Dodgers be without him this year?  He is just clutch and has a lot more homeruns than Manny.  He can be streaky, but he drove in the winning run again two nights ago and was involved last night.  He was a good pickup and will definitely provide stability at third for the next few years.

Jonathan Broxton - Fox Sports.com

Finally, Jonathan Broxton.  Who would have thought that we wouldn’t be missing Saito.  Broxton has shored up his game, and as long as they keep him out against the Giants, he can definitely pitch.

Honorable mention to Chad Billingsley.  He really has become the ace this year.  The Dodgers are now 9.5 games ahead in the West.  I read today that they haven’t been that far out in front since 1988 when they won the World Series.  Too early to predict the World Series, but they are a very good team.  

Go Blue.