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Unlike the last two games, there was no comeback in store for the Dodgers tonight as they fell to the Cincinnati Reds 5-2. They weren't going to go undefeated in their remaining 62 games. They were going to take their lumps here and there, and they surely took them tonight.
The Dodgers only score off of starter Mat Latos was in the fourth inning when Yasiel Puig led off with a single. An errant throw by centerfielder Choo Shin-soo that sailed into the crowd sent Puig to third, and Puig scored on Adrian Gonzalez's grounder.
In the eighth inning after Carl Crawford led off with a double that just eluded Choo's glove. Crawford went to third on Puig's grounder and scored on Gonzalez's grounder.
"I thought he was amazing," Dodgers starter Zack Greinke said of Latos. "He's getting better all the time."
Things weren't so smooth for Greinke. The Reds took the lead when former Dodger Xavier Paul belted a homer to right-center field in the first inning. A one-out double by Todd Frazier in the second inning was cashed in by former Dodger Cesar Izturis giving the Reds the 2-0 lead.
The nail in the coffin was dealt in the sixth inning when Jay Bruce hit a two-run homer after Greinke had hit Brandon Phillips with a pitch.
"I got [Bruce] out a lot on curves in the past," Greinke commented, "but he hit that one good. It wasn't a good one, but it's worked in the past and it didn't today."
The assessment: "I made a lot of good pitches," Grienke said. "I made a couple of bad pitches, and they capitalized on it."
For Mattingly the problem wasn't Greinke.
"We just couldn't get anything going with their guy," Mattingly commented.
One thing Mattingly wouldn't use as an excuse was them coming back from Toronto at 4 a.m. "We could complain about that, but there are a lot of team that do the same thing we do," he said. "It's the nature of our game."
The fifth run the Reds scored was attributed to Carlos Marmol in the ninth inning, and there's no need to describe that for the sake of common decency.
Fortunately the Reds centerfielder Choo Shin-soo provided some hearty comic relief for the game. Aside from his error noted above, here is this beauty that I can't even describe:
The loss had particular bad timing. The Dodgers honored the legend that is Vin Scully with a bobblehead doll. In the middle of the fifth inning, 53,275 gave Vin a standing ovation as they played a tribute video on DodgerVision. Well 53,276 if you count home plate umpire Scott Barry.
When Elian Herrera stepped into the Dodger clubhouse, a bunch of us media folks were looking around wondering what the corresponding move would be. We knew it couldn't be a disabled list stint since Scott Van Slyke would have been reinstated despite having optioned four days ago. All signs pointed to Chris Withrow being optioned since the Dodgers were carrying 13 pitchers heading into the game.
But that was all guesswork — we had no official word. Then we spoke to manager Don Mattingly.
"We designated Teddy," Mattingly told us.
Just like that Ted Lilly joined Luis Cruz and Matt Guerrier as players designated for assignment by the team. Lilly was due to make $13 million in the final year of his contract.
"Obviously I'm not happy about what happened," Lilly said. "I thought I had a chance to help us. This is the healthiest point I've been in in a long time. Unfortunately it took me this long."
Lilly was set to come out of the bullpen, but Mattingly had a hard time putting faith in Lilly without the benefit of seeing him pitch in rehab assignments in the minor leagues.
"He didn't feel like he needed to throw minor league games," Mattingly said. "He felt like he was ready to pitch."
"I'm sure the club would like me to continue to do that, but at this point we're past that," Lilly said. "There's a difference of opinion there, and maybe that's why we're here today. Maybe that's not."
Mattingly made the other compelling reason. "It's hard to see him displace one of our guys in the bullpen now."
Then again, this team also employs Carlos Marmol. "I think his stuff is still good," Mattingly said. "He's getting better, so we'll see what we get."
Reds Scorecard: (click to embiggen)
Dodgers Scorecard: (click to embiggen)
