By Steven Booth
The fact that the Dodgers aren’t going to Philly down 2-0 is a victory in and of itself. After Clayton Kershaw’s and Geroge Sherrill’s breakdown in Game 1 to Pedro Martinez’s brilliant Game 2 performance, I should be writing the “Who to keep, who to get rid of “article instead of going the Dodgers going to Philly with at least a part of the skin of their asses intact. As it stands, they are travelling to a cold, hostile environment where they could be sent packing permanently. You take what you can get.
First, kudos to Vicente Padilla. Off the scrap heap into the spotlight. His pitching clinched the series against the Cardinals and now slowed down the Phillies. He not only kept them in the game, he shut down the Phils, all except for a measely solo homer in the fourth. Kudos to Andre Ethier. He has truly grown up. the tremendous plate discipline he showed in the eighth taking the walk is something that would not have happened last year. he is Mr. Clutch. Kudos also to Ronnie Belliard. Another guy right off the scrap heap. He has been making big hits ever since he got here. he looks like, after many years on bad teams and a few years on good teams, to taking every advantage of this opportunity. Despite Gerorge Sherrill’s rare meltdown on Friday, the bullpen has been nails. Hong-Shih Kuo and Jonathan Broxton, especially have pitched well in both games. You also need to thank Chase Utley for two key errors, the first helping to keep the Dodgers in the game on Thursday, the second helping them tie it on Friday. Let’s hope he’s not looking for payback. Thanks also to the Philly bullpen they have not let us Dodger fans down. they let the Dodgers win yesterday, and gave them plenty of opportunities on Thursday.
There is also ugliness. Kershaw pitched great for four innings on Friday, until blowing up in the fifth. Joe Torre should not have let him go that long. A four-pitch walk to Cole Hamels after the three-run homer should’ve been reason enough to call in the aformentioned bullpen, but Torre left Kershaw hanging. We are going to need Kershaw to make at least one more quality start, let’s hope Torre didn’t ruin him. Manny Rameriz- yes he did get a homer in game one, but otherwise he is flailing. He can’t get around on a fastball and he is powerless against inside stuff. He has lost his bat speed and has not adjusted his mechanics. Thank God the Dodgers have cats like Ethier and Matt Kemp to pick him up. Kemp does need to step it up this series, however. Although it was ugly, I won’t worry about Sherrill. he has been nails all year, and I have no doubt he will pitch some more fine innings this year.
Let’s hope for a typical big game from Hiroki Kuroda, a solid performance by Randy Wolf, and some consistency from whoever gets trotted out for Game 5 (Chad Billingsley returning from the dead?). Let’s hope the bullpen keeps up the good work, and the Dodgers hit more like Game 1 than Game 2, and not even think about how the Yankees are killing it in that other league. Let’s also hope that Torre acts like the HOF manager he is and not some third rate Dusty Baker clone. We have a war on our hands here.
