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Same Story, Different Night for the Dodgers
Here’s the rundown of the Dodgers’ 6-0 loss to the New York Mets: Ted Lilly gives up homers; Dodgers offense muster nothing; Dodgers lose. “That’s been our story,” Dodgers’ manager Don Mattingly acknowledged particularly when it came to offense. Although this story is categorized as “news”, this is nothing new for the team and anyone who has followed the team this season.
From the May 4th game against the Chicago Cubs:
Dodgers’ starter Ted Lilly was in a groove through four innings. But the tide started to turn in the fifth inning when Geovany Soto took a fat fastball down the heart of the plate and deposited it into the left centerfield bleachers. “When we’re not scoring like that I feel Teddy’s trying to keep zeroes every inning, and you can’t make any mistakes,” Mattingly said. “That’s not a good way to pitch.”
“I think it’s a good opportunity for us starting pitchers to match up with their guys,” Lilly said. “Those are sometimes the best games to win as a starter: to go out there and go deep into the game and keep us close.”
From May 4:
During the sixth inning Juan Uribe was pulled from the game after getting hit by a pitch on the left hand from Cubs’ starter Carlos Zambrano in the fourth inning.
As for Uribe, he took x-rays after being pulled from the game in the sixth inning which came back negative giving some hope he’ll be back in the lineup on Friday. For a team that’s lost their starting shortstop and third baseman for extended time in Rafael Furcal and Casey Blake respectively, a loss of Uribe would be a huge concern. “We can’t really afford to lose any more guys off of our infield,” Mattingly said. “We’re playing mostly our utility guys out there anyway. We really can’t afford to lose that bat.”
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Miles took x-rays after being pulled from the game in the seventh inning. For a team that felt it had no other option than to bat Miles and his 17 career home runs third in the lineup after Andre Ethier was sent home with flu-like symptoms, a loss of Miles would be a huge concern.
In all seriousness the Dodgers are not improving. They continue to be unable to string together hits when they count going 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and leaving 13 runners on base.
“If we’re not able to plate a couple, we’re going to have trouble winning,” Mattingly said. “We’ve been able to get guys out there and we’re having trouble getting that hit.”
You know things are not right when the highlight for the Dodgers was Gene Simmons throwing a perfect strike for his ceremonial first pitch before the game.
LA Angels defeat Detroit Tigers 1-0. The Angels also had problems scoring runners, but they had All Star snub Dan Haren pitch a complete game two-hit shutout against a potentially lethal team in the Tigers. Not too shabby for Haren’s 100th win especially against All Star Justin Verlander.
TONIGHT’S ACTION
Detroit Tigers at LA Angels. 12:35 p.m. FSWest, AM 830 KLAA.
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New York Mets at LA Dodgers. 7:10 p.m. FS Prime Ticket, AM 790 KABC.
San Jose Earthquakes at Chivas USA. 7:30 p.m. FSWest, AM 690 W Radio (en español).
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