Dodgers Lose 7th in a Row as Shutouts Start Piling Up

Dodgers 0 3 2

Mets 5 9 0

WP- Santana (6-4)

LP- Eovaldi (0-5)

HR- Davis (11)

Today was the 50th anniversary of Sandy Koufax’s first no-hitter. As I sit here today in the press box of Dodger Stadium, I think of my uncle sitting in the stands as he witnessed Sandy’s no-no 50 years ago. The Dodgers beat the Mets 5-0 fifty years ago as Sandy Koufax no-hit them, and I guess the Mets got a little revenge today as they overtook the Dodgers by the same score.

While the experience of sitting here side-by-side with all the talented sportswriters is a dream come true, it’s just not as enjoyable as it could be if the Dodgers were winning. You can feel the frustration in the air, and it’s almost as if everyone is just chomping at the bit for that one big inning which never comes. Johan Santana would only allow one Dodger run through 7 innings, and the Dodgers couldn’t score with runners at second and third in the eighth which was their only  glimpse at the game.  Eovaldi wasn’t awful but not dominating either in his outing, and he ended up allowing 5 runs to New York on the heels of a three-run shot by Ike Davis.

Before we get to the game recap, there was some positive news from Dodgertown this afternoon. Corey Seager, the Dodgers’ first-round draft pick, was on hand at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers and Seager finalized his deal which included a $2.35 million signing bonus. The 6’4″ shortstop will begin his professional career for the rookie- level Ogden Raptors in a couple of weeks. Look for future coverage featuring Seager here on Lasorda’s Lair in forthcoming posts.

Here’s how the game played out tonight while I watched from the press box. Nathan Eovaldi goes to the mound still looking for his first win. The game starts off on a typical note-a Dee error. Torres hits a shallow fly ball to right field, and Dee Gordon draws an error as he drops the ball in an attempt to catch it in front of Herrera. Why does he go out that far? That’s Dee’s 15th error on the season. The first out is made on a Tejada fly out to right. David Wright lines out to Scott Van Slyke, and they double up Torres at first to end the inning! Van Slyke ends up making all three outs in the inning, and he picks up his first career outfield assist.

Dee Gordon leads off with a clean single to right in the Dodger half of the first. Elian Herrera flies out. While Jerry Hairston Jr. is at the plate, Dee Gordon steals his 25th base of the season. Hairston hits a comebacker to Santana, and Dee scrambles back to second. Juan Rivera grounds out, and Dee is stranded at second.

Ike Davis leads off the second inning with a double. Lucas Duda flies out to right, and Davis tags up and takes third. Davis scores the first run of

the game on a Dale Murphy sacrifice fly. Rivera made a strong throw to the plate, but he was just ahead of the tag by Ellis. 1-0 Mets. Kirk Nieuwenhuis almost gets robbed of a hit by a good stop by Dee, but the throw is high. Josh Thole grounds out to end the frame.

A.J. leads off with his signature walk. Scott Van Slyke ruins any sort of path toward runs by grounding into a double play. Juan Uribe flies out, and the Dodgers remain scoreless.

Johan Santana hits a comebacker off his opposing pitcher and it goes right up the middle for a lead-off single. Torres grounds into a force out. With Tejada at bat, Ellis picks off Torres at first! Very nice. Tejada then flies out to right.

The Dodgers go down quickly in order in the bottom of the third.

The Mets also go down 1-2-3 in the top of the fourth.

Rivera draws a two-out walk in the bottom of the fourth, but that is all they manage to muster in the inning.

The Mets score another run in the fifth. Dale Murphy leads off with a double to right field, and he tags up to third on a fly ball by Nieuwenhuis. Thole’s sac fly allows Murphy to plate the run. 2-0.

The Dodgers go down in order again in the fifth. Sigh.

In the sixth Torres leads off with a single and steals second. Tejada grounds out, and Eovaldi intentionally walks Wright. Ike Davis, who is hitting barely above .200, then proceeds to smash a three-run homerun to center field. 5-0 Mets. Duda follows with a single, as the ball bounces off Rivera’s glove. Mattingly brings out the hook, and Scott Elbert will come into relieve Eovaldi. Elbert gets Murphy to fly out. Nieuwenhuis strikes out to end the inning.

Nathan Eovaldi pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing 7 hits, 5 runs, 1 walk, and no strikeouts on 86 pitches.

The Dodgers have another failure of an inning in the bottom of the sixth. Dee’s game opening single is still the only hit of the game for the Boys in Blue.

Scott Elbert allows a two-out walk to Torres in the seventh. That’s it for Elbert as Todd Coffey comes running in from the bullpen. Coffey whiffs Tejada. Coffey has really turned his season around.

The frustration mounts as the Dodgers go down in order again in the seventh.

Todd Coffey is back for more in the top of the eighth and pitches a nice scoreless frame.

In the eighth, Scott Van Slyke comes up with the Dodgers’ second hit of the night with a single to left field. Abreu flies out. Tony Gwynn Jr. singles down the third base line, but Van Slyke is too slow to get past second. Adam Kennedy‘s grounder to first moves the runners over to second and third, and now it’s up to Dee Gordon to end this scoreless streak. Gordon sadly grounds out to short.

Josh Lindblom will pitch the ninth inning for the Dodgers. He’s been real shaky lately, and he serves up a single to Murphy and a double to Nieuwenhuis. Omar Quintanilla and Andres Torres are both whiffed to end the Mets’ ninth.

Bobby Parnell will try to shut the door on the Dodgers in the bottom of the ninth. Herrera, Hairston, and Rivera all ground out to end the ninth and the game in the shutout.

Johan Santana pitched 8 innings, allowing 3 hits, no runs, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts on 107 pitches.

The Dodgers (43-36) have now lost 7 games in a row. Luckily the Giants lost earlier today, so the downtrodden Dodgers remain 1 game back of San Francisco.

The Mets will go for the always mortifying four-game sweep tomorrow at 5 PM. Clayton Kershaw will counter Dillon Gee. Tomorrow is July 1st, can we please forget about June and start the month fresh with a win?