MVN - Most Valuable Network

Dodgers Stay Hot in Freezing Cold Weather

Before I get to last night’s game I’d like to recognize former Dodgers General Manager Buzzie Bavasi. Bavasi passed away Thursday night at the age of 93. Under Bavasi the Dodgers won nine pennants and four World Series, and he was responsible for putting some of our franchise’s greatest players in Dodger blue. Thanks for everything.

Now to the game in Denver for some nice May baseball in February-like weather.

Seven consecutive wins. Three games above .500. Four games out of first place. After being 9-13 just over a week ago, the Dodgers can be pretty happy about where they stand right now.

Before we praise the Dodgers it is important to note that the Rockies are not a very good team. Their pitching is mediocre (15th best ERA in the NL) and their hitting isn’t much better (13th best average in NL). Now they’ve lost Troy Tulowitzki until at least the All-Star break.

That said, the Dodgers are playing some very good baseball right now.

Brad Penny didn’t have his best stuff last night, but he still managed to battle. I think it’s pretty safe to say that the 40 degree game-time temperature with a 31 degree wind chill factor had something to do with it.

He gave up three runs in the game, all in each of the first three innings. He only allowed three hits, though, while walking four and striking out one. His control was definitely a problem as two of the walks led to runs. But then he settled down a bit and could have gone longer than the five innings he threw, but Torre decided to pull him in the top of the sixth to give Blake DeWitt a chance with two outs, the bases loaded, and LA down by one.

And just like he’s done all season long, the kid took advantage of the opportunity with a two-run single to give the Dodgers the 4-3 lead. Rafael Furcal would extend it to 7-3 with his team-leading fourth homer of the year.

DeWitt’s pinch-hit single came after Andruw Jones squandered another great scoring chance and before DeWitt almost blew the game in the field.

That’s right, with the bases loaded with one out in the sixth inning Jones struck out for the third time in the game. The guy can’t even manage to put the freakin’ ball in the air. He has now fanned 32 times in 93 at-bats. That means he’s striking out in 34% percent of his AB’s.

But wait, there’s good news. His double in the eighth actually RAISED his average to .161. Yup, everything is coming up Andruw!

I like seeing Martin at third base. Not because I like Gary Bennett a lot or because I don’t like DeWitt at third (I love DeWitt). Seeing Martin start at third base last night for the first time in his Major League career just reminds me how awesome he is. I also think it’s a great way to keep him fresh while at the same time keeping his bat in the lineup. And on top of that, he really looks like he knows what he’s doing in the hot corner.

Usually DeWitt does also. Obviously the two consecutive errors to start the bottom of the seventh weren’t exactly what we wanted. The decision to throw to second instead of home on Matt Holliday’s infield grounder was a very bad one. Those three plays by DeWitt played a major role in the Rockies pulling within one run.

He could have cost us the game. Luckily he didn’t. I’ll give him a pass. It helps that we still won and that he played a big part offensively. It also helps that for the most part, the guy has played a very good third base. Those two errors give him four on the year and he has made some great plays that Nomar would have no shot at.

Where DeWitt almost blew the game, Furcal may have saved it by completing the double play off Todd Helton to end the seventh. Willy Taveras was on third and easily would have scored had the double play not been completed.

It was mostly routine with the ball being hit to Kent and throwing to Furcal on second. Matt Holliday is a big man and was ready to take out Furcal with a hard slide, but Raffy hung in there. Making that turn was not easy so you’ve got to give him a lot of credit.

On the night Furcal went 3-for-5 with the homerun, four RBI, and two runs scored. His .380 average is good for second in the majors. It’s amazing what he can do when healthy.

Matt Kemp has been huge on this seven-game winning streak. After going 2-for-5 with a double and four RBI last night, he has raised his average 30 points during the streak and has 15 RBI in the last six games.

Since I take pretty much every chance I get to point out what Juan Pierre is doing wrong, it wouldn’t be right for me to ignore what he’s doing right now. Last night he went 2-for-5 to up his average to .283, but more importantly he’s got a .358 on-base percentage. It’s impossible not to love him on the basepath and right now I will gladly watch him in left if it means Jones sits.

Jonathan Broxton threw a bullpen last night and should be available tonight.

There’s also some talk about Jason Schmidt throwing one more simulated game and then being ready for a minor league rehab assignment. I’m not holding my breath any more than Andruw Jones is skipping a meal.

The Clayton Kershaw watch continues. Last night he had another outstanding start for Double-A Jacksonville, going 6 2/3 innings and giving up just one unearned run on six hits while striking out five and walking none. He still hasn’t gotten his first win, but it’s not his fault. He’s got a 1.11 ERA and opponent batting average of .197.

I’ll be at the game again tonight to watch the Dodgers go for eight in a row. It will be Esteban Loaiza (1-2, 4.15) against Jorge De La Rosa (8-12, 5.82 in 2007). De La Rosa was recently traded from Kansas City and just called up from the minors so hopefully the offensive surge will continue.

And hopefully it won’t be freezing again.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 3rd, 2008 at 11:50 am and is filed under Clayton Kershaw, Nomar Garciapara, Matt Kemp, Gary Bennett, Blake DeWitt, nate edelstein, nathaniel edelstein, Jonathon Broxton, Russell Martin, Brad Penny, Jason Schmidt, Jeff Kent, Juan Pierre, Rafael Furcal, Dodger Wins, Andruw Jones, Joe Torre. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.