The Dodgers lost the game 8-6, in large part because of two two glaring problems that has plagued this team off and on throughout the season: walking too many hitters and leaving too many runners on base.
Clayton Kershaw was cruising through four innings before the wheels fell off the barrel in the fifth. In that inning alone, he walked three batters and threw a post-season record three wild pitches. Two of those walks eventually scored. When the inning started, the Dodgers had a 1-0 lead. At the end of it, the score was 5-1 Phils.
In the eighth inning, George Sherrill walked the first two batters he faced and they both scored as well. A 5-4 game was suddenly 8-4.
Between Kershaw and Sherrill, they walked seven batters total. You can't expect to win many games when you walk that many hitters.
The offense did its part most of the night. Six runs is usually enough for this pitching staff and bullpen to squeeze out a win. But against an offensive juggernaut such as these "Phightin' Phils," six runs usually just keeps you in games.
The Dodgers left a total of 10 runners on base. Between the 14 hits and three walks they were issued, leaving 10 runners on base is far too many. They had chances in the first, sixth and seventh innings to get at least one, maybe two runs. They left two runners in the first, they loaded the bases in the sixth with two out and didn't score, and they stranded a lead-off double in the seventh inning. If they get one hit in the first and seventh innings, or one in the sixth, thats two more runs they could have had.
In a nutshell, as much as the win was a team effort for the Phillies, the loss was just as much of a team effort for the Blue. But there were some positives that came out of the loss.
The Dodgers showed resiliency all night. Every time they fell behind, they didn't quit. They rallied each time to get the game close again.
When they fell behind 5-1 in the fifth, they responded by scoring three of their own, capped by a booming Manny home run. In the eighth, after Raul Ibanez's home run gave the Phils the 8-4 lead, the Dodgers battled back by scoring two more off Ryan Madson, and they came pretty darn close to getting more when Manny came up again with the deuces wild, as Vin Scully would say. With two on, two out and two in, Madson battled Manny, pounding him inside mostly, and eventually getting him to ground out harmlessly to Chase Utley at second.
As I mentioned earlier, the offense wasn't silent last night. James Loney and Andre Ethier each had three hits, and both battled against season trends. Loney had just one of his 13 home runs at Dodger Stadium this year. He hit one last night. Ethier was just a .194 hitter against lefties, but had two hits last night against them. And Manny? Well, I'd say Manny's back. It took a while but he's swinging the bat in the last two or three games about as well as he has all year.
Outside of Sherrill's hiccup in the eighth, the pen was as good as it had been all year. Sure, if Sherrill doesn't give up the Ibanez home run, the Dodgers probably win the game. He could have still given up the home run even with out the walks, and things might have been different. But the rest of the pen was stellar last night, and if they have the chance in Game 2 to do it all over again, the Dodgers won't hesitate to do it again.
Keep in mind, the only thing Dodgers lost was one game, and home field advantage. Remember 1988... the Dodgers lost the first game that year in the NLCS at home to the heavily favored Mets. They won Game 2, and went on to win the series in seven games, despite losing two at home. In a seven game series, anything is possible.
That said, down 0-1, they'll turn to Vicente Padilla this afternoon to do battle with former Dodger Pedro Martinez. And you can bet the fans will have a field day with him if the Dodgers push him around today. Today's lineup...
- Furcal, 1
- Kemp, 8
- Ethier, 9
- Manny, 7
- Loney, 3
- Blake, 5
- Belliard, 4
- Martin, 2
- Padilla, 1
Game time is T-minus two hours and 37 minutes...
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