It wouldn’t be a Dodger game without an injury now would it? The Dodgers held on to beat the Brewers in a back and forth game 7-5, but may have lost second baseman Mark Ellis again for an unspecified amount of time. M.Ellis strained his right quad while running out a grounder in the fifth inning and had to be removed.

The first game of the home-stand brought some fireworks, with both teams coming out swinging early. Both starting pitchers survived mediocre outings, and were not involved in the decision. Josh Beckett threw 5.1 innings allowing three runs on seven hits and whiffing five. His opponent, rookie Hiram Burgos, went six frames, and allowed three runs on four hits. Mark Ellis’s strained quad brings back terrible memories from last year when a Tyler Greene takeout slide at second base knocked him out for nearly two months. M.Ellis is batting .342 so far this season for the Dodgers while hitting in the number two spot.

The big story is the Dodgers finally starting to hit with runners in scoring position, and their base running was improved as well. Despite the fact the Dodgers committed four errors in the game, they scored seven runs on nine hits, with Crawford and Gonzalez both getting two hits each. Gonzalez drove in three of the seven runs, and Crawford drove in two and homered. Justin Sellers had a good game as well, going 2 for 4. Alex Gonzalez collected three hits, and Ryan Braun, and Yuniesky Betancourt hit home runs for Milwaukee.

Ronald Belisario got the win in relief, making 33 pitches, and Brandon League got the save despite allowing a run, and making a throwing error in the top of the ninth. This was League’s third straight appearance. The lead changed hands three different times, as the Dodgers took an early lead thanks to an RBI single from Ethier, and a solo home run from Crawford. The Brewers would come back with one in the fourth, and two more runs in the fifth on home runs from Braun and Betancourt. The Dodgers would tie it in the bottom of the fifth, with a Gonzalez run scoring double. The Brewers would again retake the lead with an RBI single from Norichika Aoki, and a huge two-base error from Kemp, put the Dodgers behind 4-3.

The Dodgers would score two runs in the seventh, and two runs in the bottom of the eighth, to go up 7-4. Gonzalez plates another pair with a two-run double, and a Crawford RBI single, and Hairston grounder plate the last two runs. The game also saw a botched squeeze from Milwaukee.

Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp (27) high fives shortstop Justin Sellers (28) after scoring a run during eighth inning of the game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Josh Beckett takes the hill for the Dodgers in the top of the first. Norichika Aoki walks to lead off the game. A Jean Segura fly ball to right for the second out. Ryan Braun flies out to right as well. Aoki gets lost in between first and second, and is easily doubled up, and the Dodgers get a double play. Where in the world was Aoki going on that play?

The Dodgers score early, plating a run off of rookie Hiram Burgos in the bottom of the first. Carl Crawford leads off with a deep fly to center, sending Carlos Gomez all the way to the wall to make the catch. Mark Ellis singles, and Adrian Gonzalez’s grounder advances M.Ellis to second. Burgos doesn’t want any of Matt Kemp, walking him on four pitches. Andre Ethier’s line drive single to left scores M.Ellis, and gives the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.

Josh Beckett retires the Brewers in order in the top of the second. Jonathon Lucroy whiffs. Weeks, and Gomez fly out. The Dodgers go do 123 in the bottom of the second. Beckett returns the favor by setting the Brewers down in order again in the top of the third.

Carl Crawford hits a lead-off home run over the center field wall in the bottom of the third. The Dodgers go up 2-0. Ryan Braun’s two-out opposite field solo home run puts the Brewers within one in the top of the fourth. Beckett starts to lose it after Braun’s annoying homer. Lucroy singles, and Weeks walks. Beckett still has a few tricks up his sleeves though, and retires Gomez on a grounder to get out of the inning. Dodgers lead 2-1.

Gomez can’t handle this double from Gonzo-Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The Brewers take the lead with two runs in the top of the fifth. Yuniesky Betancourt smacks a lead-off home run to tie the game at 2-2. Alex Gonzalez singles. Burgos sacrifices him to second. Aoki’s grounder moves Gonzalez to third with two outs. Jean Segura’s predictable line drive single to right scores Gonzalez to give the Brewers a 3-2 lead. Beckett recovers to whiff Braun to end the frame.

The Dodgers tie it at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth, but lose Mark Ellis to injury. Again, at this point, we’re obviously cursed. Carl Crawford is hit by a pitch with one out. Mark Ellis comes up lame on a grounder to the box. He’s seen grabbing what looks like his hamstring. Gonzo immediately doubles down the first base line to score Crawford. Dodgers tie it up! However Mark Ellis is taken out of the game, and Nick Punto replaces him at second.

The Dodgers work out of a jam in the top of the sixth. Beckett gives up a single to Lucroy, but whiffs Weeks. Gomez singles Lucroy to second. Mattingly gives Beckett the hook, and brings in Matt Guerrier. For once, Guerrier does his job, getting Betancourt to ground into an inning ending double play.

The Dodgers go down 123 again in the bottom of the sixth. The Brewers retake the lead in the top of the seventh, thanks to some ineffective relief pitching, and a terrible defensive play from Kemp in center. Guerrier begins the frame by giving up a base hit to Alex Gonzalez. Don Mattingly calls in lefty Paco Rodriguez to pitch to pinch-hitter Logan Schafer. The pinch-hitter sacrifices Gonzalez to second. Aoki singles to center, but the ball takes a weird hop, and skips underneath Bison’s glove, rolling all the way to the wall. I’m not sure what happened on this play, but Kemp kind if just stood there. On the play Gonzalez scores, and Aoki goes all the way to third on the two-base error.

Punto, so gritty-Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The Dodgers make another pitching change, and call in Ronald Belisario. With Jean Segura at the plate, Aoki is caught trying to steal home in what probably was a botched squeeze. A.J. tags out Aoki for the second out. After Beli nearly took Segura’s head off with a high fastball, he whiffs him to end the frame. However the Brewers lead it 4-3.

Burke Bradenhop replaces Burgos in the bottom of the seventh. Burgos pitches six frames, allowing three runs on four hits, walking two and whiffing three.

Sellers leads off the seventh with a base hit to right. Hairston who was double-switched into the game, sacrifices Sellers to second. Milwaukee makes a pitching change and brings in Michael Gonzalez, which makes the third Gonzalez in this game. Crawford flies out to left, and Punto follows with a walk. Gonzo smacks a long double that goes over the head of Carlos Gomez. The Milwaukee center fielder tries to make an over the shoulder catch, but the ball bounces off his glove, allowing both Dodger runners to score, and the Dodgers retake the lead 5-4!

Jerry Hairston’s two errors in the top of the eighth nearly coughs the lead back to the Brewers, but the Dodgers luckily get out of it. Jhair lets a Ryan Braun grounder go right through his legs for error number one. Lucroy lines out, and Weeks whiffs. Gomez reaches on the second error of the frame by Hairston. Thank god Belisario whiffs Betancourt to end the inning, and preserve the Dodger 5-4 lead.

Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Mark Ellis (14) greets catcher A.J. Ellis (17) at the plate after scoring a run in the first inning of the game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The Dodgers tack on much needed insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. With Brandon Kintzler on the mound, consecutive hits from Luis Cruz, and Sellers puts runners at second and third. Cruz a single, and Sellers a double down the third base line. Hairston’s slow roller to third plates the Dodger’s sixth run, making the score 6-4 Dodgers. Crawford singles off of Gonzalez’s glove into left to score Sellers, and the Dodgers extend their lead to 7-4.

Brandon League on to close out the game with the Dodgers leading 7-4. Gonzalez leads off with a hit, and the Dodgers are in trouble. Pinch-hitter Blake Lolli whiffs for the first out. Aoki grounds out to third, Gonzalez moving over to third with two outs. Segura knocks down Lee with a line drive back to the box. The liner hits League in the foot, and he loses the ball while falling over. He tries to make a rushed throw, and throws the ball away for the Dodgers fourth error of the night. Aoki scores to make it a 7-5 game. That brought up you know who, yes Ryan Braun. Fortunately, League gets him to ground out to first, and the Dodgers win!

Great game for the Dodgers despite the four errors, and sloppy play. The offense came through tonight with flying colors. The Dodgers were 4 for 9 with runners in scoring position.

Please pray for Mark Ellis’s health. We can’t afford to lose him again. Again Mark Ellis a strained right quad muscle. As soon as we have anymore updates on M.Ellis we will pass them along to you. The veteran second baseman will undergo an MRI tomorrow, and we’ll know more then. Hanley Ramirez can’t get back soon enough.

The Dodgers trudge on. The Boys in Blue are able to overcome another mediocre start from Josh Beckett, four errors, and now must also survive another injury. Despite all of that, the Dodgers found a way to win. The Dodgers will have to continue to play through adversity.

With the win, the Dodgers improve to 11-11, climbing back to .500. They remain 3.5 games behind first place Colorado. Join us tomorrow night at 6:10 PM for more exciting Dodger Baseball. Stephen Fife will make his second start of the season as the Dodgers go for the series win. The Brewers will counter with Wily Peralta.

The Dodgers have now won three of their last four. Are things finally starting to turn around for the Dodgers? I hope so. Happy Friday everyone! Go Blue.

Ronald Belisario, the 30 year old goggle wearing Venezuelan right hander with nasty stuff, was originally signed as an amateur free agent by the Marlins in 1999. He was only 16 years old. Belisario languished in the minor leagues for the next several years. He mainly pitched for the rookie, and class-A ball teams for the Marlins, before being placed on the 40 man roster in 2004. He missed the entire 2005 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Then he began to get into trouble. In 2006 he missed the entire season because of some kind of suspension. Sound familiar yet? Is Belisario the rebel without a cause of the Dodger bullpen?

No other reliever is more improtant to the Dodger’s success in 2013 than Belisario-Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

He resurfaced within the Pirate’s farm system in 2007. In 2008 he was promoted to the Pirate’s double-A team. He finished with a 25-28 minor league record, a 3.78 ERA, and career walk per nine, and whiff per nine rates of 6.6 and 3.8 respectively.

In 2009, the Dodgers offered Belisario a minor league contract, and an invite to major league spring training. Belisario had trouble getting to camp on time because of some Visa issues. But once he got his Visa issues squared away, and showed up for camp he began to flourish. After an extended spring training down in Glendale, Arizona, Belisario exploded onto the scene in 2009 like an atomic bomb, soon becoming an important part of the Dodger’s bullpen that season.

Belisario was added to the Dodger roster on April 6th, and made his MLB debut on April 7th against the Padres. Belisario had a very solid season in 2009, while pitching as one of the Dodger’s primary set-up men. Belisario pitched in 69 games that season, recorded a 2.04 ERA, and a 4-3 record in 70.2 innings of work. He posted an 8.2 whiff per nine rate, and a 3.7 walk per nine rate. That came out to 64 whiffs and only 29 walks. He only allowed four home runs the entire season, and finished with an ERA+ of 197. Those were very impressive numbers for a guy who had been in the minor leagues for nearly a decade.

Belisario was expected to have a big season in 2010, but was once again late to spring training because of more visa issues. He reportedly was dealing with some kind of driving under the influence charge, before finally showing up to camp very late. Belisario struggled for much of that season. His off the field problems eventually lead up to his mental breakdown, after an outing during a Dodger game at Philadelphia. Belisario had given up several runs during one inning, and then was seen crying in the dugout. After that appearance he was placed on the restricted list. He did return to the Dodgers for the last month of the season, but he was not the same pitcher we had seen in 2009. The 2010 season saw Belisario post a 3-1 record, an uncharacteristically high ERA of 5.04, 38 whiffs, and 19 walks in 55 innings pitched. Belisario’s absence caused then manager Joe Torre’s love affair with Ramon Troncoso (also known as Tronsucko) to sky rocket to ridiculous proportions. With Belisario gone, Troncoso’s workload doubled. That eventually led to Troncoso’s arm being utterly blown to smithereens.

The next season in 2011, it happened again. Belisario missed spring training because of visa issues, and it was rumored that it had something to do with an unspecified drug charge. Belisario’s agent told the Dodgers that he did not know when or if Belisario would return to the Dodgers at all in 2011. The Dodgers placed him back on the restricted list, and did not play at all in 2011. He couldn’t even make it into the country. In late December of 2011, Belisario’s agent informed the Dodgers that he had renewed his visa for five years, and would be able to enter the country and play for the 2012 season.

We learned that the drug charge against Belisario was because he had tested positive for Cocaine back in 2011, and as a result had to serve a 25 game drug suspension handed to him from MLB before he could begin playing in 2012.

Once Belisario had served his suspension, he rejoined the Dodgers in early May, and regained his all-star form that made him so nasty during his first season with the team. He ended up having a similar season to his 2009 campaign while pitching as a set-up man in the Dodger bullpen. Belisario finished with an 8-1 record, a 2.54 ERA,  and pitched in 68 games. Belisario worked 71 frames, while whiffing 69 and walking only 24. Once again he was very good at keeping the ball in the park, only allowing three home runs all season long. He finished with a whiff per nine rate of 8.7, and ERA+ of 150. His WHIP was a career low of 1.070. The numbers Belisario put up last season were almost identical to his 2009 numbers. If you remember, the Dodger bullpen struggled without him during the first month of the season. However once Belisario returned, everything clicked into place. Kenley Jansen was moved into the closer role, and Belisario solidified the seventh and eighth innings. Because of Belisario, the Dodger bullpen became a team strength throughout the 2012 season.

Ronald Belisario-Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Belisario was first year arbitration eligible this winter. After making 480,000 dollars last season, the Dodgers signed him to a one year 1.45 million dollar contract for 2013 avoiding arbitration. Belisario posted a 1.5 WAR in 2012, and his projections for 2013 should have him putting up similar numbers again, provided of course that he shows up for camp on time. Projections show Belisario pitching in 75 games in 2013, with a 3.36 ERA, and 35 walks, and 68 whiffs. We did learn that Belisario got into a little bit of trouble this winter, and was kicked off of his Venezuelan winter ball team. Put your mind at ease Dodger fans. He is expected to arrive at camp on time for the first time ever.

The reason Belisario is so good at keeping the ball in the park, is because he throws a very nasty sinker ball. His sinker is a heavy pitch, and tops out at 95 MPH. He is very adept at getting ground balls in the late innings. He has a career 60% ground-ball percentage, which goes along with the fact that he throws his sinker ball about 60% of the time. He also has a four-seam fastball which can reach the mid 90’s, and a hard slider he throws mainly to right handers.

Will Belisario show up to camp on time this season? It would be a first. There is no doubt in my mind that Belisario is a very strong pitcher with great stuff. Without a healthy productive Belisario, the Dodger bullpen just doesn’t function correctly. If Belisario can stay away from the off the field problems that have plagued him over the last few years, then I am very confident he will have another strong season as the Dodger’s primary set-up man behind closer Brandon League. The success of the Dodger bullpen relies heavily on the sinkerball of Ronald Belisario. I think we will all find out that Ronald Belisario will be a vital cog in the Dodger bullpen for the 2013 season.