R.A. Dickey & Co. Make Dodgers Look Like Knuckleheads

Dodgers 0 4 2

Mets 9 14 1

WP- Dickey (12-1)

LP- Harang (5-5)

HR- Murphy (3)

There wasn’t much going on in the game tonight for the Dodgers, but the real action was playing out as trade rumors swirled the internet. Dodger fans were aghast after false initial reports cited that the Dodgers and the Houston Astros were talking trade. Zach Lee and Garrett Gould for Jed Lowrie?! After most of us were fretting, the rumors morphed into what seems like a more reasonable deal: Carlos Lee for Garrett Gould. It’s no shock that the Dodgers are in desperate need of corner infielders. James Loney hasn’t had a hit since June 16th, and Uribe is well Uribe. I’m okay with this deal, but Carlos Lee reportedly has some sort of no-trade clause so he would have to agree to be traded to L.A. We will keep you updated on the trade circuit.

As for the game tonight? This lineup was just overmatched by R.A. Dickey. The Dodgers could only muster four hits, one of which was a lucky Harang hit.

Andres Torres leads off with a walk against Harang, and Ruben Tejada follows with a single. David Wright pops up for the first out. Ike Davis grounds into a force. Aaron Harang allows his second walk in the inning to Lucas Duda, and the Mets have the bases loaded with two out. Harang gets out of the first inning jam by striking out Daniel Murphy. Once again he reaches back to escape unscathed.

The Dodgers will now have to fend off R.A. Dickey’s wicked knuckleball. Dee Gordon is the knuckler’s first victim as he strikes out on a foul tip. Herrera lines out to first. Jerry Hairston Jr. is also struck out as the Dodgers go down in order.

Harang pitches a very nice 1-2-3 inning in the second against the bottom half of the Mets’ order.

In the bottom of the second the Dodgers go down quickly as well as Abreu grounds out, A.J. Ellis whiffs, and Loney grounds out.

The Mets put two runs on the board in the third. Torres reaches on a fielding error by second baseman Hairston as the ball bounces off his glove. Tejada and Wright hit back-to-back singles, and Torres brings in the first run. Tejada scores the second run on a sacrifice fly by Davis. 2-0 Mets. Duda strikes out to end the inning.

Scott Van Slyke strikes out, and Tony Gwynn Jr. flies out for outs one and two in the bottom of the third. Aaron Harang bloops a single to center field. Dee Gordon grounds into a force out to end any chance of scorin’.

Daniel Murphy flies out, but Harang walks Kirk Nieuwenhuis. Josh Thole grounds out to first, and Dickey grounds out to short.

We move to the bottom of the fourth as the Dodgers are still looking to figure out Dickey’s tricky knuckler. They have but one hit through three innings. Herrera strikes out swinging, Hairston flies out, and Abreu strikes out.

Harang strikes out Torres to begin the fifth. Tejada doubles down the left line for his third hit of the night against Aaron Harang. They intentionally walk David Wright. Davis pops out to Gordon for the second out. Duda singles to right field, and for some reason Van Slyke hesitates to throw back in which allows Tejada to score easily ahead of the late throw, 3-0 NY. More runs comes in on a double to right field. Van Slyke looks awful out there again as the ball goes right by him, and Tony Gwynn has to retrieve it as two more runs are plated, 5-0 Mets. That prompts a Rick Honeycutt visit to the mound. Bobby Abreu makes a nice catch down the line in foul territory on a fly ball by Nieuwenhuis for the third out.

Ike Davis draws an error in the bottom of the fifth when he drops a foul pop ball hit by Loney who ends up striking out. Van Slyke strikes out for the second time as well.

Thole leads of the sixth with a single, and Dickey bunts him over to second with the sacrifice. Torres grounds out, and Thole takes third on the play. Tejada is hit by the pitch, and that’s all for Harang. Mattingly brings in Shawn Tolleson who gets David Wright to ground out to end the frame.

Aaron Harang pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing 7 hits, 5 runs, 4 walks, and 3 strikeouts on 116 pitches.

More outs by the Dodgers happen in the sixth. Gwynn grounds out. Uribe, now in the game, strikes out. Gordon is hit by the pitch in perhaps retaliation for Tejada. Both dugouts are issued a warning. Herrera strikes out, and that gives Dickey his 10th strikeout in the game.

Shawn Tolleson is still in for the seventh inning. Davis leads off with a double. Duda singles. Then Daniel Murphy crushes a three-run homerun to left field, and the Mets take a commanding 8-0 lead. Dee Gordon makes another error, and Thole reaches safely. Gordon leads the Majors in blunders with 14. The bleeding continues as Dickey flares a single to center. Torres grounds into a force for the second out. Tejada singles adding the fourth run of the inning to the board for the Mets. The final out finally comes from a David Wright fly ball caught by Herrera.

Bobby Abreu draws a one-out walk in the bottom of the seventh. Ellis singles for just the second Dodger hit of the night. James Loney, who is suddenly wearing some sort of glasses, grounds into an inning-ending double play.

Kenley Jansen comes into pitch the eighth inning. Jansen hasn’t appeared in a game since the Angel series last Saturday. Jansen pitches a scoreless inning and whiffs two.

In the bottom of the eighth Tony Gwynn Jr. comes up with a one-out double, but the Dodgers get nothing else.

Jamey Wright gets the ball in the ninth. He strikes out Nieuwenhuis. Thole and Justin Turner get back-to-back singles. Torres strikes out, and Tejada flies out as we head to the bottom of the ninth.

Jeremy Hefner will close up shop for the Mets in the bottom of the ninth. Herrera leads off with a single. Herrera takes second on defensive indifference. Hairston’s fly ball is the first out. Abreu flies out as Herrera tags up. Ellis flies out.

R.A. Dickey pitched 8 innings, allowing 3 hits, no runs, 1 walk, and 10 strikeouts on 116 pitches.

With this shutout, the Dodgers have now lost 6 games in a row and 10 of their last 11. The Dodgers (43-35) remain one game back of the Giants who also lost tonight. Arizona won, so they are now 4 games back of SF and 3 games back of the Dodgers.

Stay positive Dodger fans, changes are coming. All hope is not lost just yet.

Tomorrow’s game will start at 4:15 pm. I will have the privilege of sitting and writing from the Dodger Stadium press box, so be sure to follow me on Twitter for live coverage: @organicallyrude