Dodgers Daily May 7th, 2013: Dodgers Lose 6 Games In A Row, Again

Hello,

This nightmare of a Dodgers season continues on with yet another loss. Yet again the Dodgers were victimized by bad pitching and this time it wasn't only Josh Beckett's fault. The Dodgers alleged closer Brandon League gave up the game winning homer. LA's offense continues being average and once again they couldn't score more than 3 runs.

Beckett at least lasted 6 innings this time, it just wasn't a very effective 6 innings. He gave up 9 hits and 3 earned runs. But he was good enough to not get the loss, his record stays at 0-4. I'm hoping he gets his first win by his birthday, which is May 15th. His ERA continues to get worse though, now it's 5.13. 

Yet another player the Dodgers brought in recently has also been ineffective, or at least not as good as you'd expect. That's the Dodgers alleged closer, Brandon League. He does have 8 saves this season. However he has given up more hits, 13, than struck out opponents, 7. That's not a stat I want to see from a suppose to be top of the line closer. League is now 0-2, has one blown save and a 5.40 ERA. Last night wasn't considered a blown save as he got the loss.

With Matt Kemp remaining stuck at 1 home run, the Dodgers offensive star was Nick Punto. He was 2 for 3 with a double, a home run and 2 RBIs. Punto might be the Dodgers hottest hitter right now, he's hitting at a .368 clip. He's also gone from a platoon player to playing nearly every day. As for Kemp it seems he isn't fully recovered from his shoulder injury. However his batting average continues to trend upward. Last night he was 2 for 4 and is how hitting .273 this season.

The Dodgers main offensive problems come from their lack of hitting at the bottom of the lineup. The number in parenthesis is their current batting average. Juan Uribe (.234), Justin Sellers (.191), Skip Schumaker (.135) and Luis Cruz (.091) continue to drag down the Dodgers offense. It's crazy with the Dodgers $216 million payroll they have players such as these playing so much. 

This is the second time this season the Dodgers have lost 6 straight games. LA now falls another game behind the 4th place Padres and now trail San Diego by 1.5 games. That's extremely embarrassing for the Dodgers as their payroll is approximately $145 million dollars more than the Padres. Meanwhile the Dodgers are 6 games behind the Rockies, a team they pay $141 million more in payroll. Again it's clear this Dodgers roster is poorly built, this team should be building only for the future now. They also need to properly plan for when they can finally dump some of these horrendous contracts. They need to start with Beckett and Uribe's contracts.

Thankfully LA's best pitcher, Clayton Kershaw, takes the mound for the Dodgers tonight. Kershaw is 3-2 and has an 1.66 ERA. I'm hoping the Dodgers can get at least one win in this series. While I'm sure Kershaw will have his usual great game, if the Dodgers offense continues to be anemic it won't matter. 

Following tonight's game the Dodgers play the next 6 days, they welcome the Marlins and the also struggling Nationals. The Dodgers then have May 16th off, it will be a travel day to Atlanta. Then they'll start a series with the NL East leading Braves on May 17th. 

David Ortiz had a hit last night in the Red Sox loss. Ortiz was able to extend his consecutive game hitting streak to 27 games. A reminder the Red Sox-Twins game will be tonight's Wednesday Night Baseball game.

There are a lot of good games on tonight. About the same time as the Red Sox game the Heat will be crushing the Bulls. In the NHL the Red Wings will continue to try for a series upset over the Ducks. Go Red Wings! Oh yeah and it's "Nashville" night. If you are looking for a lot of meaningless sex, that's your show.

themusicaddict