Ugly Loss

Well, what started out as a promising night turned into a disheartening 5-4 loss in Washington. In no particular order, some thoughts going through my mind after tonight's game...

• Chad Billingsley was solid in his return to the mound, pitching six innings of one-hit ball, the lone hit being a three-run home run to Ryan Zimmerman that tied the game 3-3 in the sixth inning. He struck out nine while walking four, and two of those four scored ahead of Zimmerman on the home run. He'll probably get one, maybe two, more starts before the season's end, and then the Dodgers will have to decide if he's worthy of a rotation spot in the post-season.
• The offense sputtered all night, failing to really come up a big hit when they needed it most, especially late in the game. They loaded the bases in the ninth inning with no outs and managed one run... on an error.
• I'm still not sure what Matt Kemp was thinking on the pop fly in the bottom of the eighth inning that landed between him and Manny. He seemed to be under it and then for whatever reason he pulled up, and when he realized Manny had also pulled up to back up the play, he tried to recover and the ball fell. That's a play you've got to make. That was your ball, Kemp. It turned out to be a huge.
• Orlando Hudson finally got back in the lineup and his "error" on the double-play ball that would have bailed out Kemp turned out to be huge. If Kemp makes the catch, the double play is never needed because there would have been two outs, instead of one, and all O-Dog would have had to do was step on second to get the force out. No error was given on the play because it was ruled a fielder's choice, but between this play and Kemp's, these kind of mental mistakes can derail a team in a hurry. Tonight was not a night for this to happen.
• Hopefully Hudson will be okay physically. He led off the ninth inning reaching base on a throwing error by Cristian Guzman, but tripped over Adam Dunn's foot while crossing first base and fell on the wrist that he broke last year. He was in obvious pain after the play, but he seemed to be okay as he walked off the field. It looked like they pulled him as a precaution.
• I'm still baffled by Joe Torre's use of James McDonald tonight, and in these kind of games. So far, McDonald hasn't shown me can handle pitching with the game on the line, and after the way the bottom of the eighth and top of the ninth innings transpired and sucked all the life out of the Dodgers, you would think Torre would have gone with a seasoned veteran reliever or someone who's been a little more effective late in games.

The only real positive aspect of all this was Billingsley. He was solid for the most part, although the four walks should still be a bit of a concern. But in recent starts before this one, he probably would have let this game get way out of hand long before he gave up the home run to Zimmerman.

Meanwhile, games like tonight's on a whole are the kind of games that can derail a team for a long time. There were too many mental lapses that never should have taken place. This is a very good team, especially defensively, which is why the two defensive mistakes come as a surprise. But the team has been playing very well of late, sans tonight, so hopefully, with the kind of attitude and leadership provided by Torre, his coaching staff, and some of the veterans on the team, such as Manny, they'll rebound from this tomorrow.

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A quick note from last night's 14-2 Dodger rout. Clayton Kershaw pitched two brilliant innings in relief, and tonight on the Dodger telecast he told Eric Collins and Steve Lyons that he felt good, and feels good today, and he hopes to make his next schedule start sometime over the weekend in Pittsburgh.