Jimmy Bramlett

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. The clock keeps ticking down the games of Don Mattingly's tenure as manager of the Dodgers. Since the sweep at the hands of the Atlanta Braves was completed on Sunday, the fans have turned into a collective Salome demanding his head on a silver platter. Even winning two of three against the Milwaukee Brewers can't save him from the mob.

It has come to pass. The Clippers will not be renewing head coach Vinny Del Negro's contract when it expires on June 30.

"It's not been a good day," Kings head coach Darryl Sutter opened his postgame press conference. He lost his reading glasses and paid $79 for a pair of reading glasses knowing that he could have gotten three for $20 from Costco.

It's one of the few times this season the Dodgers impressed me. They beat the Washington Nationals 3-1 winning the series and winning four of their last five games. It looks like things are looking up especially with the return of Zack Greinke.

The words "Jonathan Quick" should have the remaining eight teams shaking in their skates. Quick made 35 saves in his franchise record sixth career playoff shutout as the Kings took Game 1 2-0 over the San Jose Sharks.

The Dodgers won two straight games over the weekend which is quite a feat considering they were coming off of an eight-game losing streak. I know I brushed aside their victory on Saturday, but then I started wondering if maybe the taste of victory could cleanse the psyche that was tainted with all the losses.

It certainly was an exercise of contrasts when after watching the Kings clinch their first round playoff series against the St. Louis Blues last night, I come over to watch the Dodgers tangle with the Miami Marlins tonight. On one night I watch hockey at its finest. The next night? Well, it was a Marlins-Dodgers game.

It was four seconds that ended the series. After the Blues tried to clear the puck out of their zone, the puck found Dustin Penner in the center faceoff circle. Penner circled back bringing the puck down the left wing. He started coiling up for the slap shot with 1.2 seconds left right as he crossed the blue line. "I got all 240 pounds behind that one," Penner remarked.

I knew the Dodgers would have some troubles this season despite their big payroll, but I didn't think it would get this bad. Three errors and the lethal Paul Goldschmidt kept the Dodgers freefalling as the Arizona Diamondbacks handed the Dodgers a 3-2 loss.

The Dodgers continue to plummet in the standings losing their sixth consecutive game, a 5-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The two big problems continue to plague the team as each loss piles onto another loss: lack of power and the bullpen.