The Dodgers Dominate San Diego in Eighth Win of Season

Dodgers  6 8 1

Padres     1 2 0

WP- Lilly (1-0)

LP- Wieland (0-1)

HR- Kemp 2 (4&5), Ethier (3)

Before the game we learned that Todd Coffey was sent to the 15-game DL, and Ted Lilly was reinstated from the DL. Coffey reportedly has right knee inflammation which has been bothering him when he pushed off the mound. You have to ask the question whether his bullpen sprints to the mound when he’s called in to the game is the smart thing to continue to do when you have knee problems. The middle relief looks to be problematic early in the young season.

We also found out that San Francisco’s closer Brian Wilson a.k.a Blackbeard will be out for the rest of the season, and he probably will need Tommy John Surgery on his elbow. Huge loss for the Giants.

Nancy Bea Hefley threw out the first pitch before the game with Matt Kemp as catcher. 46,549 were in attendance on Dodger Stadium replica night. The Dodgers would pounce on the rookie Joe Wieland who would allow three homeruns including back-to-back dingers to Matt Kemp and Ethier and a second homerun to Kemp during his subsequent at bat. Ted Lilly would pitch beautifully through seven innings, and he only allowed one unearned run in the first inning from a Dee Gordon error.

Dee Gordon starts the game off with a hurried throw and error on a routine play. Cameron Maybin reaches safely, and then he quickly picks Ted Lilly’s pocket. Ted Lilly is known to allow stolen bases aplenty. Denorfia bunts Maybin to third. Chase Headley‘s pops out to James Loney in foul territory. Jesus Guzman then promptly singles into center field, and Maybin scores giving San Diego the early 1-0 lead. Yonder Alonso ends the frame with a force out.

Joe Wieland goes to the mound for the first time as a big leaguer in the bottom of the first. Dee Gordon leads off with a walk. Gordon advances to second on a groundout by Tony Gwynn Jr. The Bison comes up and breaks the rookie pitcher into the Majors by crushing a humongous two-run homerun! Then Andre Ethier takes his turn against the kid and hits a solo shot making it back-to-back homeruns! 3-1 Dodgers! The last time Kemp/Ethier hit back-to-back homeruns was April 16, 2010. Kemp and Ethier have now knocked in 27 runs combined so far.The fun continues when James Loney gets a nicely hit double which is his first extra base hit of the season. A Loney double is rare like a blue moon. Jerry Hairston Jr. short hops a single in front of Denorfia in right field. Adam Kennedy fouls out, but Loney tags up and scores, 4-1. Orlando Hudson snares Matt Treanor‘s line drive for the final out of the inning, and Joe Wieland sighs with relief.

Ted Lilly strikes out Jason Bartlett in the second inning while sending the Padres down in order. After Lilly goes down on strikes and Gordon pops out, Gwynn hits a clean single to left with two outs in the bottom half of the second. For some unknown reason the Padres are still pitching to Matt Kemp. Matt plunks another two-run homerun to center field for his  fourth RBI on the night making it 6-1 Dodgers! That gives Bison 5 homeruns and 15 RBI on the season. Wow.

Lilly pitches a perfect third inning inducing three fly outs. He has now retired seven Padres in a row. Weiland begins to settle in. Loney pops out to start the third, and Jerry Hairston is hit by a pitch which he wasn’t too happy about. Treanor walks. Lilly flies out to end the inning.

Ted Lilly pitches another easy inning in the fourth including a strikeout to Chase Headley. Wieland returns the favor by getting the Dodgers out 1-2-3 in the bottom of the fourth.

Nick Hundley draws a lead-off walk in the fifth inning, but the Padres’ weak offense hits into an inning ending 5-4-3 double play. Ted Lilly is pitching very well despite that shaky rehab start down in Single A. Weiland has another easy 1-2-3 inning.

Ted Lilly’s easygoing rhythm continues into the sixth inning, and the Padres go meekly down in order. Lilly’s rusty neck must be a thing of the past!

In his MLB debut, Joe Weiland pitches 5 innings, allowing 6 hits, 6 runs, 2 walks, and 1 strikeout on 85 pitches. Josh Spence, lefty, comes out of the bullpen for San Diego to relieve Weiland. Kennedy pops out, and Matt Treanor whose walk-up song is the A-Team Theme Song, strikes out. Ted Lilly pops out to Orlando Hudson for the final out.

Chase Headley singles to lead off the seventh innings, but Ted Lilly ain’t havin’ any of that you know scorin’ tonight. He retires the next three batters in a row and strikes out Alonso and Hundley back-to-back! He’s only made 79 pitches through his 7 innings of work. In the bottom of the seventh Matt Kemp singles on a grounder to the shortstop Bartlett with one out, but Ethier pops out for the third out.

Mike MacDougal comes in for the Dodgers in the eighth inning. Ted Lilly cruises through 7 innings, allowing 2 hits, 1 unearned run, 1 walk, and 4 strikeouts on 79 pitches. Dougie strikes out Bartlett and Hudson back-to-back to start the eighth. Pinch hitter Andy Parrino flies out to Matt Kemp to end the inning and bring the Dodgers three outs away from their eighth win of the season and fifth consecutive victory. James Loney singles to start the eighth off of Ernesto Frieri. That’s Loney’s first multi-hit game on the year. Jerry Hairston proceeds to hit into a double play to erase Loney’s hit. Kennedy walks with two outs. Matt Treanor grounds into a force out to wrap up the eighth.

Jamey Wright comes in to try to close it out for the Dodgers in an effort to rest Guerra and Jansen. Jansen was battling the flu last night when came in and blew the save. Wright strikes out Maybin to begin the ninth. Denorfia hits a chopper to short for the second out. Chase Headley walks and takes second on defensive indifference. Jesus Guzman flies out to Ethier for the final out! The Dodgers improve their record to a MLB best of 8-1!

Tomorrow on Jackie Robinson Day, the Dodgers will try to sweep the Padres for their second consecutive sweep and third series win of the season. The game starts at 1:10 pm, and Clayton Kershaw will go up against Edinson Volquez.

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