It was a crazy ride through the 2008 season for the Los Angeles Dodgers as they had their ups and downs but made into the playoffs even advanced to the NLCS. On Wednesday night, the season came to an abrumpt end however as Cole Hamels and the Philadelphia Phillies won game five by the score of 5-1.

The Dodgers offense struggled the entire night against Hamels. Three errors by Rafael Furcal sure didn’t help either. The only offense on the night was as solo home run by Manny Ramirez when he went yard in the sixth inning. The game could have been different except everytime Manny came up to bat, no one was on base. He has to have runners our there for the home runs and singles to really matter.

Blake DeWitt had a terrible game and series at the plate. He twice grounded into double plays that killed rallies.

Starting pitcher Chad Billingsley struggled from the get go. He only lasted 2 2/3 innings as he was charged with four hits and three runs. He walked three batters and also gave up solo home run. Jimmy Rollins took him deep in the first inning and things only got worse from there.

Greg Maddux also gave up two runs in relief. However, those three errors we mentioned before by Furcal really hurt Maddux so it wasn’t all his fault.

So now we head into the off season wondering what management will do with Ramirez and Furcal. Will Ramirez except a 2-3 year deal? I really doubt it but time will tell. What do you think?

It was a tough loss for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night as they dropped game four of the NLCS by the score of 7-5. Heading into the eighth inning, the Dodgers had a 5-3 lead and things looked like they would be evening up the series with the Philadelphia Phillies at two games each. However, the Phillies had other ideas as they hit two two-run home runs in the inning to take the lead and go on and win the game by the score of 7-5.

Cory Wade and Jonathan Broxton each gave up a home run in the eighth inning as they pretty much blew the game for the team. Wade ended up getting the loss in the game.

Starting pitcher Derrek Lowe pitched ok but wasn’t as good as he usually is. Lowe tossed five innings and gave up six hits and two runs while striking out four batters. He allowed two first inning runs and then settled down after that.

Clayton Kershaw and Hong-Chih Kuo were both charged with giving up a run as well. Kershaw’s run actally came on a Chan Ho Park wild pitch in the sixth inning.

Four different Dodgers had one rbi each for the offense. Manny Ramirez, Casey Blake, Russell Martin, and James Loney each provided an rbi. The offense did enough in the game to pull out the win, the bullpen just didn’t do their job to secure the victory.

The two teams will be off on Tuesday and then pick things back up on Wednesday for game five of the series. This is a must win for the Dodgers as they have to win to send the series back to Philly. It will be tough as they will be going against Cole Hamels while they will counter with Chad Billingsley.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers picked up a much needed win on Sunday evening as they took game three in the NLCS by the score of 7-2. The Dodgers jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead after the first inning on three-run triple by Blake DeWitt and rbi singles from Manny Ramirez and Casey Blake.

They weren’t done after the first inning however. Rafael Furcal jumped all over a Jamie Moyer pitch for a solo home run in the second inning which put the Dodgers up 7-1. Hiroki Kuroda gave up a rbi single to the Phillies in the top half of the inning before the Furcal home run.

Nomar Garciaparra added the seventh and final run for the home team in the fifth inning when he singled in Ramirez. Nice to see Nomar getting in on the action during the playoffs.

The main man of the night was Kuroda in my opinion. He pitched six strong innings and kept the Phillies off balance. He only allowed two runs which both came on singles and he struck out three while only giving up five hits. Cory Wade pitched the seventh and eighth innings before he turned things over to Jonathan Broxton for the ninth.

Derek Lowe will now take the mound on Monday night as the Dodgers look to tie the series up at two games each. It won’t be easy however as the Phillies will be sending Joe Blanton to the mound.

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Two bad pitches and two home runs for the Philadelphia Phillies as they beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 on Thursday night as the two teams opened up the NLCS in Philly. Dodgers starting pitcher Derrek Lowe gave up home runs to Chase Utley and Pat Burrell in the sixth inning to put the Phillies up 1-0 in the best of seven series.

Lowe didn’t pitch that bad at all but the two home runs really hurt the teams chances. Chan Ho Park, Greg Maddux, and Hong-Chih Kuo all pitched in relief of Lowe to hold the Phillies to three runs but the offense was unable to score another run to tie the game up.

Speaking of the offense, they struggled for the most part against lefty Cole Hamels. Hamels struck out eight Dodgers and limited them to six hits through seven innings. Manny Ramirez stayed hot as he had a rbi double in the first inning to get the team on the board. The Dodgers next run would come in the fifth inning when Casey Blake scored Matt Kemp on a rbi sac fly. That would be all the scoring for the Dodgers however.

The team will look to bounce back in an afternoon game on Friday. Chad Billingsley will face off against the Phillies and their starting pitcher Brett Myers. If the team can pick up a win on Friday, I like their chances as the two teams head back to L.A. for the next three games.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies are ready to kick the NLCS off on Thursday evening. Games one and two will be played in Philadelphia and then the next three games in Los Angeles. Games six and seven would then be played back in Philly if needed.

The Dodgers are coming off a three game sweep of the Chicago Cubs. They have all the momentum in the world and they are ready for the Phillies. The Dodgers will be sending Derrek Lowe to the mound in game one against the Phillies Cole Hamels.

The Dodgers right handed pitching staff will have to keep Chase Utley and Ryan Howard off the base paths if they want to win the series.

The offense will try to stay hot with Rafael Furcal leading things off and setting things up for Russell Martin and Manny Ramirez. Manny is just being Manny and that means hitting home runs and knocking in runs in the playoffs while racking up the victories.

Hopefully the Dodgers will get off to a fast start and get a win in Philly and then be setup to finish off the series in L.A. Let’s enjoy the game tomorrow and hope that the Dodgers jump all over Hamels! Go Dodgers!

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It a very suprising series so far, the Los Angeles Dodgers have taken the first two games in the NLDS against the Chicago Cubs. The Dodgers now only need one more win to advance to the NLCS and they have two chances to do it at home. The third game will be Saturday night and I expect to see the Dodgers sweep away the Cubbies.

The Dodgers took advantage of four cubs errors in the game on Thursday night as they came away with a 10-3 victory. Russell Martin made the Cubs pay in the second inning after they commited two errors. Martin cleared the bases with a three-run double which gave the Dodgers a 5-0 lead and they never looked back.

Manny Ramirez hit his second home run of the series as well in the game as the Dodgers clobbered the Cubs in pretty much every was shape and form.

Chad Billingsley was lights out as he pitched 6 1/3 innings while limiting the Cubs to only one run. Billingsley struck out seven while only walking one. Takashi Saito was charged with three hits and two runs in the ninth inning when the Cubs attempted to come back from the large deficit but they were unable to do so. Jonathan Broxton came into the game and finished off the Cubs rally by getting all three outs in the inning.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched atleast a share of the West division on Wednesday night as they beat the San Diego Padres 12-4. Now all the Dodgers have to do is win one more game or have the Arizona Diamondbacks lose one game and the Dodgers will be the 2008 National League West Champions!

Manny Ramirez hit a two-run home run while Nomar Garciaparra added a solo home run of his own against the Padres. Matt Kemp, James Loney, and Angel Berroa joined Ramirez and Garciaparra with two rbi’s each in the game. Not to be left out, Andre Ethier and Chin-lung Hu both had one rbi in the game as well.

The Dodgers offense kept pressure on the Padres pitchers all night long as they scored runs off of five different Padres hurlers. Great job by the Dodgers bats!

Clayton Kershaw was the starting pitcher for the Dodgers and he tossed 5 2/3 innings but was pulled after giving up six hits and three runs. Kershaw struck out seven and walked two while picking up the win to improve to 5-5 on the year. Chan Ho Park gave up one run in relief but then Joe Beimel, Cory Wade, and Scott Proctor finished off the Padres.

The Dodgers will be looking for the division crown on Thusday night when they take on the Padres once again. Dodgers Blog

The Los Angeles Dodgers had to play extra innings on Thursday afternoon but it was well worth it as they came away with a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Great win for the Dodgers who needed to pick up a win as the Diamondbacks were getting closer in the standings.

James Loney singled in Russell Martin for the winning run in the top of the 13th inning. Earlier in the game Blake DeWitt had a two-run single and Matt Kemp scored on a infield single by Andre Ethier. I would have liked to see more offense out of the Dodgers but at this point in the season you will take a win any way you can get one.

Scott Proctor ended up picking up the win while Jonathan Broxton picked up his 14th save of the season. Clayton Kershaw pitched good during his five innings of action as he only gave up two hits and one run. However he was pulled and then Takashi Saito and Wade each gave up a run in relief.

The Dodgers will now head back to the West Coast as they will begin a series against the Giants on Friday. This is a must win series for the Dodgers so they can stay ahead of the Diamondbacks in the standings.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers had no problems with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night. The Dodgers whooped up on the Pirates by the score of 8-2. Scoring in five out of nine innings, they really put a lot of pressure on the young pirates team and they had no shot at coming back.

Hiroki Kuroda pitched seven innings to pick up the win and improve his record to 9-10. Takashi Saito and Brad Penny both tossed an inning of relief with Penny giving up two runs in the ninth inning on a Adam LaRoche home run.

James Loney went 2-4 and finished the game with three rbi to lead the team at the plate. Manny Ramirez had another good game as he went 3-4 and had two rbi. Blake DeWitt and Juan Pierre both finished up the scoring with one rbi each. Pierre actually hit his first home run of the season to account for his rbi.

The Dodgers are looking very strong and I don’t think they will have any problems winning the West division especially the way the dbacks have been playing.

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Manny Ramirez was awesome for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night against the San Diego Padres. Ramirez hit two two-run home runs that blew the game open in the late innings as the Dodgers went on to beat the Padres 7-2 as the two teams finished up their three game series. The Dodgers took two out of the three games and extended their divisional lead to 3.5 games over the Arizona Diamondbacks. I’d say it has been a very good couple of weeks for the Dodgers!

Ramirez finished the game with a team high four rbi. Russell Martin, James Loney, and starting pitcher Derek Lowe all contributed with one rbi each as well. It was a nice balanced offense for the Dodgers on Wednesday night as there were other players that helped out manny.

Lowe received the win after tossing 5 1/3 innings. Lowe would have pitched longer in the game except he was taken out due to an undisclosed injury to his right leg. Hopefully it isn’t too bad as it would be a big blow to lose Lowe for any amount of time.

Let’s hope the Dodgers can extend their lead this weekend as they play the Colorado Rockies in a three game weekend series.

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