Dodger’s Winning Streak Snapped in 11-4 Drubbing

Boy , when the Dodgers lose they lose, I tell you. To say the Dodgers six game winning streak was merely snapped tonight is an understatement. Not only the Dodgers six game winning streak, but Ted Lilly’s five game winning streak was also snapped. The Dbacks scored 11 runs by the fifth inning, and scored in almost every inning in a horror show 11-4 loss to Arizona on getaway day. Lilly had his worst start of the year, allowing about a hundred runs, and making 900 pitches, or something like that. I won’t post his pitching line because it is far too ugly to look at. So here is how the crapfest went tonight. If you are a glutton for punishment, like I am, then please read on!

Top of the first. Elian Herrera leads off with a booming double off the wall in left field. Left Joe Saunders whiffs Jerry Sands on a breaking ball for a called third strike. Another slow breaking ball whiffs Bobby Abreu for the second out. Once again for the third time, Saunders whiffs Scott Van Slyke on another breaking ball for another called third strike. The Dodgers waste Herrera’s lead-off double.

Bottom of the first. Willie Bloomquist flies out to Abreu in right field. On a full count Ryan Roberts, the annoying tattoo man, takes Lilly deep into the left field seats for a solo home run to give the Dbacks an early 1-0 lead. That is only the third home run Lilly has allowed this season. Justin Upton walks. Jason Kubel lines out to Abreu in right. Then Goldschmidt walks. Rick Honeycutt has to come out to the mound to talk to Lilly to figure out what the hell is wrong with him. Aaron Hill singles up the middle to score Upton for another run, and on the throw home, Hill takes second. Finally Gerardo Parra whiffs on a nice breaking ball and the inning is over. Lilly makes 37 pitches in the inning.

Top of the second. A.J. Ellis whiffs to open the second inning. Ivan Dejesus Jr., last night’s hero pops out to Upton. Adam Kennedy singles. Dee Gordon’s ground-out ends the frame. Bottom of the second. Henry Blanco leads off the second inning with a one-hop single off of Gordon’s glove into left field. Opposing pitcher Saunders is not bunting, and swings away, hitting a looper to Gordon for the first out. Batting practice continues off of Lilly, who looks awful Bloomquist triple into the gap to score Blank as the Dbacks go up 3-0. Roberts hits a long sac fly to right field, that scores Bloomquist for Arizona’s fourth run. Finally Upton’s fly ball ends the inning.

Top of the third. Lilly grounds out. Herrera bounces a hit over the wall in left for a ground rule double. Of course Sands whiffs like  statue. Abreu’s slicing fly ball to left wastes another double from Herrera. Bottom of the third. Kubel grounds out to Gordon. Goldscmidt doubles over Herrera’s head. Then of course Goldschidt steals third base. Hill walks to put runners at first and third. Parra singles through the drawn in infield for the fifth Arizona run. Blanco whiffs for only the second out. Saunders lines out to Gordon for the third out. It’s 5-0 Arizona.

Top of the fourth- Van Slyke pops out. A.J. Ellis finally breaks the shutout with a monster home run to the moon in center field. 5-1 Arizona. That;s A.J.’s fourth home run of the season. Dejesus is thrown out by Roberts at third, on a one-hop throw to first. Kennedy grounds out to end the frame. Bottom of the fourth. Willie Bloomquist of course singles to start the fourth. Roberts walks on four pitches. Upton whiffs for the first out. Batting practice continued again, as Kubel triples off the right field wall. The ball took a crazy bounce, allowing both runners to easily score, to make it a 7-1 score. Goldschmidt walks. Hill yet another hit up the middle scores another run. Finally mercifully Lilly is hooked. This was his worst outing of the year for sure. I won’t tell you what his line was because you may lose your lunch. Anyways, Jamey Wright is called in to try and restore some semblance of sanity. Jamey does just that by inducing an inning ending double play, by way of 3-6-1. Another fine play by Dee Gordon.

Top of the fifth. Gordon grounds out. Jamey Wright is forced to stay in the game and bat. Wright flies out, and Herrera grounds out. Bottom of the fifth. Wright still pitching. Blanco grounds to Gordon. Of course Saunders singles. There is a wild pitch, then another single from Bloomquist. This is getting old. Robert’s groundout scores another run. Upton homers, and it’s 11-1 now. I think it is safe to say that the game is over, but there is no mercy rule, so we must play on. Kubel walks. Oh the horror. Goldschmidt is hit by a pitch. After a botched grounder, the inning finally comes to an end when Parra whiffs. The Dbacks sent up nine batters to the plate this inning, and have scored in every inning so far.

Top of the sixth. The Dodgers go down 123 in the sixth inning, with Scott Van Slyke whiffing to end the inning. That’s seven whiffs for Saunders. Bottom of the sixth. Todd Coffey must come in to pitch the bottom of the sixth. Surprisingly Todd Coffey is the first Dodger pitcher to pitch a scoreless frame tonight for the Dodgers. He retires Arizona 123.

Top of the seventh. The Dodgers finally wake up from their daze, as Saunders begins to tire out. A.J. walks, and Dejesus and Kennedy single to load the bases for Gordon. Dee grounds out to first, as Saunders just beats out Gordon to the bag. A run scores on the play for the Dodgers it’s 11-2. A Loney blooper scores another run. Saunders is hooked after making 107 pitches. Enter Bryan Shaw. Herrera’s fielder’s choice grounder scores Kennedy to make it 11-4. Sands draws a walk, and the inning continues. Tony Gwynn comes in to bat for Coffey, and grounds out to end the mini-rallly. Bottom of the seventh. Javy Guerra comes in to get some work in the seventh, and retires the Dbacks in order. Top of the eighth. Josh Collmenter now enters the game for Arizona. Van Slyke flies out. A.J. and Dejesus both whiff to end the inning.

Bottom of the eighth. Guerra still in to pitch the ninth for the boys in blue. After a groundout, John McDonald is safe on an infield single. Sands makes a nice sliding catch on Parra’s sinking liner. Kennedy boots Blanco’s grounder, and the pitcher Collmenter is pathetically walked to load the bases. Mattingly has to hook Guerra and bring in Elbert. He goes full count before whiffing Bloomquist. Top of the ninth. Collmenter remains in the game to pitch the top of the ninth. Kennedy grounds out uselessly. Gordon singles. Then of course the crapfest ends on a Loney double play. A fitting end to a true crapfest.

Ok so that was awful. I can pull three positives from this game. Number one, Clayton Kershaw pitches on Friday night. Number two, we will be home this weekend, and number three, the Giants lost, so the Dodgers remain seven games in front in the NL West. So there is that. Oh yeah, and Matt Kemp is due back next Tuesday!

In other news, Justin Sellers was a late scratch from today’s game with numbness in his leg. He might have injured it during his diving catch into the stands last week. Sellers I supposed to have an MRI on his leg, and we will provide you updates as soon as we know anything.

The Dodgers will return home on Friday to start a seven game homestand, and a three game set with the Houston Astros. Tomorrow is a much needed off-day. We can’t win them all Dodger fans. Have a great Thursday LasordasLarians, and we will see you on Friday night. Go Blue.