Hiroki Kuroda - Fox Sports.com

Writing as I watch the game:

Great game so far.  As of right now, it’s the 6th and the Dodgers have a 4 to 1 lead.  I’m very glad to see the Dodgers offense starting to come around again.  After Manny hurt his hand, he seems to have slowed offensively, but he’s still getting on base, so hopefully he will come around soon.

Special thanks to all of you who checked in on the site as the Dodgers played the Giants.  It was obvious to me that more people are reading this week.  I’m in the process of looking for guest writers for SF Dodgerfan.com.  If you are passionate about the Dodgers/Giants and love to write (and ideally live in the Bay Area), shoot me an e-mail at scott@sfdodgerfan.com.

Here’s a few notables from the game:

Obviously Joe is still tweeking the lineup to manufacture runs.  Putting Russell Martin second, is different, but it worked tonight, so I’m sure he’ll keep it for a bit longer.

• Great to see Matt Kemp get the key hit.  He really is driving in the runs this year, and can’t be avoided.
• I had to agree with the announcers up here that the 1st base umpire really missed the calls at 1st base.  Twice he favored the Dodgers on the call.  Not that I mind, but he definitely got those wrong.
• Perhaps it was because the cameras only showed the lower fans, but there didn’t seem to be as many Dodger fans at this game.  I know there are always more up high, but perhaps it was just perspective.
• My hero so far in this game is Hiroki Kuroda.  In a game where Jason Schmidt was supposed to make his return to SF, Kuroda stepped right in where the Dodgers needed.  The thing I liked most was that he was hitting his spots…

Interruption——–

The Giants are again chanting “Beat LA.”  If I haven’t made it clear in previous posts, that has got to be the WORST sound on the face of the planet.  It’s like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.  Arrggghhh.

Interruption ended———————

Kuroda just really has kept them off track and is going deep into the game.  If he is truly back and can be consistent, he is what the Dodgers need with Wolf to get into the Playoffs.  Time will tell if not getting Halladay was a mistake, but a healthy Kuroda definitely will help the Dodgers win the West.

We’ll see how this game ends up.  There’s still hope for Giants fans if Jonathan Broxton gets into the game.  He always makes it close for the Giants.  If he can finally beat the Giants strong – he has come a long way….otherwise, Torre should use Sherrill this series.  Go Blue.

Matt Kemp - Morry Gash - AP

I spent the week down in San Diego playing at Legoland with my kids.  Very cool park for young kids.  I think the sweet spot is about 3-10 years old, but cool place.  I grew up down south so I know Disneyland, Magic Mountain, Knotts and SeaWorld, but I hadn’t been to Legoland.  The Lego creations are incredible and you can’t walk around without wanting to get your hands on a set of legos and create something.

While down there I actually got to see the Dodgers on tv, but mainly saw a number of Padre vs Diamondbacks games.  Let’s just say the Padres are just sad this year.  Both of those teams are pretty bad right now, but there is a glimmer of hope for the Diamondbacks.  The Padres on the other hand have nothing but Adrian Gonzalez.  They traded away Scott Hairston while I was there, and they are just trying to get through the season. 

The Dodgers on the other hand, just keep rolling.  It seems like they are settling in again with Manny in the lineup.  Manny seems to be fine after his time off.  He’s hitting his homeruns as he should and the rest of the Dodgers are following up.  Matt Kemps grandslam last night was fantastic.  They really are the tale of two teams.  With Manny, they seem to score 3-5 runs and win.  Without Manny they only score 1-3 runs, but they still win.  Either way, they are still going strong.

I have to give a shout out to Mark Loretta.  He has been a fantastic pickup for the Dodgers.  He is clutch and involved a lot in scoring runs.  Quiet guy, but he does his job.  I had to laugh this week.  I saw him in a commercial while in San Diego.  I called it earlier in the year when the Dodgers were on the Price is Right (see post here).  He was the only one who seemed to have some “acting” capability.  Someone else obviously saw that episode and liked what he saw.  I don’t think he’s ready for the movies yet, but he did well enough to draw a laugh from me.

Coming up this weekend – another spy game.  The Giants surprised the league with a no-hitter…

Andre Ethier - Gary A. Vasquez - US Presswire

Great series this weekend between the Dodgers and Phillies.  Only fitting too that they would split the series.  Those two teams are truly the best teams in the National League (both in pitching and offense) and it was obvious in watching them.  They went back and forth, scrapped runs, held pitching, blew each others pitching, and ended in a split.  I do believe the Dodgers will have to beat the Phillies to get to the World Series this year.  They couldn’t do it last year, so maybe this next year.

They will have to figure out a way to beat Cole Hamels though.  He truly has their number.  He pitched really well on Friday.  I was glad to see Ethier the hero two nights in a row.  The team just keeps fighting and stays in the game.  Juan Pierre continues to rock. 

They directly asked Joe Torre on ESPN last night if he has thought ahead of what to do with Juan Pierre once Manny comes back.  He danced around the question nicely saying that Juan understand the situation of Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier up and coming and with Manny being the high paid star.  What he didn’t directly say is that “Juan Pierre understands that he will go back to the bench once Manny comes back.”  The TV analysts really thought they should trade Pierre now that his value is up. 

As much as I want Juan to play, that seems crazy to trade him now.  Who knows what will happen to Manny once he comes back.  He could get injured, or so could the others, and then no one else has the depth and background like Pierre.  I do think Juan understands the situation and has finally come to peace with it for now.  After playing so well, and then having to sit, maybe it will be different, but at least in word he seems that way.

I say don’t mess with what isn’t broken.  The Dodgers are great right now, with and without Manny, keep it that way.

Found a great new blog this last week.  It’s by a guy who actually works at Dodger stadium selling and preparing Dodger Dogs.  He’s got funny stuff.  http://tonyvarela.vox.com/ .

Also wanted to pass on a good article  (Click Here) on Fox Sports on how the Dodgers clubhouse is a lot friendlier this year.  I do think winning always smooths out a clubhouse, but there does seem to be a good mix of veterans and young guys this year.

What do you think?  Phillies and Dodgers in the National League Championship series again this year?

Juan Pierre - Andrew Carpenean - US Presswire

I exaggerate a little, but with an 8-0 win over the Giants last night, the Dodgers still look good. Even more, Pierre is on fire. We’ve all watched him a lot the last few years, and it seemed that every time I watched him, he grounded out weakly to the second baseman. Not now. I don’t know if he’s just in a groove, or has just waited so long to play that he has something to prove; either way, he’s hot. I love the way he is hitting the gaps right now.

High props to Eric Stults last night and to Ned Colletti. The Dodgers pitching is not bad at all. Actually they have the 3rd best ERA in the National League right now. The Dodgers management definitely knew the pitching would hold, even when everyone else doubted. If Eric Stults can put together a few more of these starts, the Dodgers will continue to do well.

So here’s my only gripe from last night, and it has been that way for the last few years. Why can’t the Dodgers run the bases? I mean, they teach how to run the bases in little league, don’t they have a coach who can teach it in the pros? How many times have you seen the Dodgers get thrown out at second trying to stretch a single…just this year? And I’m not talking close ones. Ones where they are caught up in a run-down because they had no business to chance it. Matt Kemp and Russell Martin are the biggest offenders. I guess when you have the speed they do, they assume they can pull it off. We all know what happens when you assume.

Anyway, the rubber match is tonight against Lincecum. Here’s hoping Jeff Weaver can continue to rebound back to form and make a game of it. Either way, I’m sure Pierre will be up for the challenge. I’ve never heard of a team batting a lead off guy 9th, but when you have 3 leadoff men, batting them back to back to back is pretty cool.

By the way, if you haven’t signed up to receive these posts by e-mail, add your e-mail address to the box in the upper right. It’s an easy way to get the posts without having to check back to the site as often.  Also, don’t forget to confirm it when you get an e-mail in your inbox.   I’ve had a few people who sign up, but then don’t confirm it in their inbox, so they don’t get the posts.

Go Blue.

Jonathan Broxton - Christian Petersen/Getty Images

There really isn’t a good way to explain it. You can’t make this stuff up, and you definitely couldn’t script it.

Weird things just happen with these two teams in SF. Fred Lewis drops a ball in his glove due the wind. Matt Kemp trips while trying to steal second and gets out by a mile. Broxton just can’t seem to have an easy game up here and walks in the tying run. Just weird.

Thankfully, the Dodgers offense is just out of this world this year and it didn’t matter. Manny. Manny. Manny. Talk about a Giant killer. He is just clutch. Even more, he’s rubbing off on the other guys. To see Ethier and Kemp hit opposite field doubles in the ninth just rings of Manny.

I’m really finding that I’m just enjoying watching Ramirez. Yes, he’s drama, but he is a Hall of Famer. Other than Greg Maddux, the Dodgers haven’t had a bunch of those to watch in a while. He just does the little things and does them well. Last night, he knew he didn’t need a home run, just a single to the hole to push over the run. Tonight, just get the rally started.

Who knows if he stays or goes, but he is a treat.

The great thing about winning tonight well is that it levels out last night’s loss.  I got a lot of Giants fans rubbing in the loss last night.  I could blame it on the Dodgers forgetting how to play defense, but it’s still never fun.  At least tomorrow I can give it back.

The best call of the game was Torre using Ohman for the save in the 9th. Broxton didn’t look that bad tonight (he should have gotten some of those calls), but he should just miss the bus when coming to SF. They just beat him up. Give Ohman the ball when in town and let Broxton pitch to all the other teams.

So what do you think, leave Broxton out against the Giants, or let him keep trying?  Let me know what you think.

Go Blue.