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They paid through the roof for a roster that looked to be top of the line. Yet after a first few weeks, it's clear money can't buy rings. This time I'm not talking about the Lakers.
The Dodgers are in a world of hurt right now. Having come into the season with eight starting pitchers, they started Stephen Fife after Chad Billingsley was put on the disabled list with "right elbow pain." All of this after taking their show of offensive futility on the road where they lost both games of the split day-night doubleheader to the Baltimore Orioles yesterday.
It looked like for a second that the road cured all of that in the first game when Andre Ethier paid his own tribute to former Orioles skipper Earl Weaver with a three-run homer in the first inning. But the Orioles eventually got back into the game against Ryu Hyun-Jin and eventually took the lead on the Dodgers bullpen with Paco Rodriguez being tagged for the loss.
In the second game of the doubleheader Josh Beckett made one bad pitch to Manny Machado in the sixth innings, and what was a winnable 3-1 game became an out-of-hand 6-1 game.
So things didn't look good for the final game of the series. Fife seemed a little excited to have been called up needing 34 pitches to get out of the first inning while giving up three runs. The Dodgers and Orioles exchanged runs in the third inning, and it looked more of the same for the Dodgers.
But then the fifth inning happened. Against Orioles starter Jake Arrieta, the Dodgers:
1. Skip Schumaker walks.
2. Justin Sellers hit by pitch.
3. Carl Crawford walks.
The bases were loaded with no outs. Just how would the Dodgers end the inning with no runs?
4. Mark Ellis singles. Schumaker, Sellers scores. Crawford to third base.
Eh? What was that? An actual hit with runners in scoring position? Not a sacrifice fly. An actual hit! And the Dodgers cut the Orioles lead to 4-3. Orioles brought in left-handed pitcher T.J. McFarland to face Adrian Gonzalez, and you figure the rally was over.
5. Adrian Gonzalez doubles. Crawford scores. Mark Ellis to third base.
The Dodgers had tied the game! And the Orioles left McFarland in to face Matt "Mendoza" Kemp.
6. Matt Kemp singles. Mark Ellis scores. Gonzalez to third base.
The Dodgers took the 5-4 lead, and there were no outs. Unforunately aside from A.J. Ellis walking, the Dodgers went down easily the rest of the inning.
Inexplicably, the Dodgers held on to win the game 7-4 breaking their six game losing streak. But is this just a one-game anomaly for the team? We've seen the Dodgers make strides towards being a good team before. They immediately went back to a team fighting with the Padres for the cellar of the NL West.
The Dodgers have a day off tomorrow as they head over the New York City for a three-game series against the Mets.
NL West Standings
1. Colorado Rockies 13-5.
2. San Francisco Giants 12-7 (1 1/2 games back).
3. Arizona Diamondbacks 10-8 (3 games back).
4. Los Angeles Dodgers 8-10 (5 games back).
5. San Diego Padres 5-13 (8 games back).
