Dodgers Get a Little YOUNGer as Padres Fail to CASHNER In

Dodgers 2 13 0

Padres 1 10 1

WP- Wilson (1-0)

LP- Vincent (3-2)

S- Jansen (23)

HR- Cedeno (2)

The Dodgers won their 80th game on Saturday night thanks to a solid one-run start by Chris Capuano and some late inning offense per usual. Both starting pitchers, Capuano and Cashner, pitched very well over 7 frames each and only allowed one run to their opposition yet neither would be involved in the decision. Capuano may have extended his rotation spot at least for now, wasn’t dominant, but he did keep the Dodgers in the game until their bats woke up in the seventh and eighth innings. Andrew Cashner was hurling heated fastballs their way all night, and he even touched 100-mph in the seventh inning which was pretty impressive. Cashner stifled the Dodgers offense until the seventh inning when the Dodgers squeaked out a run on three singles. The Dodgers took the lead in the eighth inning thanks to a Schumaker double, a FedEx sacrifice bunt, and a clutch pinch-hit single by Mark Ellis. The Padres only run came off a solo homerun by Ronny Cedeno in the fourth inning. Brian Wilson and Kenley Jansen pitched two scoreless frames, and the amazing Jansen struck out the side in the top of the ninth to pick up his 23rd save.

Chris Capuano didn’t get the win, but the lefty deserved one. Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The Dodgers finished Amazing August with a 23-6 record which was the second most wins in any calendar month in franchise history. The D-backs won earlier in the night so the Dodgers remain 10 1/2 games ahead in the division.

Breaking news came in the middle of the game as we learned that the Dodgers made a trade with the Phillies for infielder Michael Young just before the non-waiver trade deadline. The Dodgers traded left-handed pitcher Rob Rasmussen for Young and cash considerations. Rasmussen was acquired from Houston last year in exchange for pitcher Jon Ely. Rasmussen was recently demoted from AAA to AA  after going 0-7 with a 6.46 ERA in 12 games. He then went 3-4 with a 2.55 ERA in 16 games with the AA-Chattanooga Lookouts. We will have continuing coverage of the trade.

Chris Capuano, who is pitching for his rotation spot with this start, gets the first two outs of the first inning as Chris Denorfia grounds out and Will Venable strikes out. Jedd Gyorko proceeds to double over the head of Andre Ethier, and the ball bounces off the wall. Yasiel Puig bobbles the ball as he tries to recover it after it bounces away from Dre. The inning ends thankfully on a pop up by Jesus Guzman which is handled by Skip Schumaker.

Andrew Cashner quickly makes work of Carl Crawford in the home half of the first as the lead-off man goes down on strikes. Yasiel Puig draws a four-pitch walk. With Adrian Gonzalez at bat, Puig is thrown out at second trying to steal. He’s out by a mile. Gonzalez then grounds out to short to end the frame.

Kyle Blanks leads off the second with a single to right field. Capuano strikes out Logan Forsythe, but Ronny Cedeno then singles

The Dodgers had trouble hitting Andrew Cashner’s heated fastball. Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

to center. Rene Rivera grounds out when Capuano sticks out his leg toward the ball. The ball hits his foot and bounces off. Hanley is able to throw out Rivera at first, but it could have been a double play ball if Cappy didn’t interfere. Blanks moves to third on the play. Andrew Cashner grounds out to short as he breaks his bat, and the Padres strand Blanks at third.

Andre Ethier leads off the bottom of the second with a single to center. Dre breaks on a hit-and-run play as Juan Uribe‘s bat shatters in his hand. The ball drops in the left side of the infield where nobody can get to, and Uribe is safe at first with an infield single! Skip Schumaker doesn’t stay around long, and he flies out on the first pitch he sees. Tim Federowicz strikes out. Chris Capuano strikes out. Cashner is dealing 99-mph fastballs.

Capuano pitches another scoreless inning in the third. He only allows another hit, a single, to Gyorko.

In the bottom of the third, Crawford grounds out and Puig strikes out. Gonzo singles to right field for his first hit on the night. Hanley grounds out to short, and the game remains scoreless through three innings.

The Padres take a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth after a two-out solo homerun by Ronny Cedeno. Then Rivera hits a long double to right field as Puig hits the wall attempting to catch the ball. Ricky Honeycutt goes  out to talk to Cappy on the mound to discuss pitching to Cashner who is hitting .262. Cashner promptly singles to right thereafter said mound discussion, but Puig cannons a throw to FedEx who plants and tags out Rivera at the plate!

Skip Schumaker singles with two out in the bottom of the fourth. FedEx grounds into a force out to end the inning.

Chris Capuano finally pitches a 1-2-3 inning in the fifth as Denorfia, Venable, and Gyorko all are retired consecutively.

In the bottom of the fifth, Carl Crawford hits a ground-rule double over the left-center field fence with one out. Puig grounds out, and Gonzalez strikes out to strand the runner. Cashner hit 100-mph on his fourth pitch to Gonzo.

Capuano pitches another nice 1-2-3 inning in the sixth. Kyle Blanks is his sixth strikeout victim in the game. Can the Dodgers offense wake up in the bottom half of the inning?

FedEx makes a great tag on an incredible throw by Puig to get Rivera out at the plate in the fourth inning. Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Andre Ethier doubles down the left field line with one out. That’s Dre’s 28th double of the season. Uribe follows with a single, and Chris Denorfia’s strong throw prevents Ethier from scoring on the play. The sellout crowd comes alive as the Dodgers get a good look at the game. Unfortunately Schumaker hits a soft out to short and FedEx strikes out to end the inning. Sigh.

Capuano pitches a scoreless seventh and only allows a double to the opposing pitcher Cashner who has two hits in the game and raises his batting average to .294.

That’s going to be all for Cappy who pitched 7 solid innings and only allowed 1 run on 8 hits with 7 strikeouts and 1 walk on 104 pitches.

Jerry Hairston Jr. is pinch-hitting for Capuano, and JHair manages an infield single to lead-off the bottom of the seventh for the Dodgers. Crawford singles to left, and the Dodgers have two on with nobody out. Cashner strikes out Puig on a high 100-mph fastball. “Old Reliable” Adrian Gonzalez (as Vinny called him tonight) singles up the middle to bring in the tying run! Hanley Ramirez hits a hard ground ball to third, and Forsythe gets the force at third before he throws the ball away to ruin the double play with the error. Gonzalez moves to third on the play. Mattingly briefly talks with the umpires about whether Gonzalez should have been allowed to score on the play. Cashner intentionally walks Ethier to load the bases up with two outs. Uribe grounds out to third for the force play, and the Dodgers leave the bases loaded but tie up the game 1-1.

Brian Wilson will come in to pitch the top of the eighth. Gyorko singles for his third hit of the game as Hanley bobbles the ball for what should have been scored an error. Guzman pops out in foul territory to Gonzo who makes a difficult catch to retire him.  Kyle Blanks singles. Forsythe grounds into a double play, and once again Gonzo saves his teammates bacon as Schumaker almost throws it away.

Yasiel Puig crashes into the wall in the fourth inning. Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Andrew Cashner pitched 7 innings and allowed 1 run on 10 hits with 7 strikeouts and 3 walks on 119 pitches.

Nick Vincent, a righty, will pitch the bottom of the eighth for San Diego. Skip Schumaker leads off with a double to left field. FedEx is asked to bunt, and he lays down a nice sacrifice to advance Skip to second. Mark Ellis comes off the bench, and he promptly singled to center to bring in the run to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead! MEllis is then thrown out attempting to steal with Crawford at bat. Perhaps that was a busted hit-and-run play. Crawford then singles. Puig strikes out swinging to end the inning.

Kenley Jansen will come in to shut down the Friars in the top of the ninth. Kenley strikes out Cedeno. Kenley strikes out Mark Kotsay. Kenley strikes out Alexi Amarista. Dodgers win. Wow, Kenley is virtually unhittable lately.

The Dodgers win their 80th game, and their *Magic Number is now 18*. Tomorrow Zack Greinke will counter Tyson Ross in the series finale as the Dodgers go for the sweep.

I will be attending my first MiLB game tomorrow in Rancho Cucamonga so stay tuned for posts about my experience. I’ll also be watching Matt Kemp‘s rehab start for the Quakes, and you can follow me on Twitter for live updates: @organicallyrude