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?

The Los Angeles Dodgers find themselves down 2-0 in the best of seven series against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies used big innings in the second and third innings where they scored for runs in each inning to blow open the game and go onto win by the score of 8-5.

Chad Billingsley struck out four of the first six batters he faced, but quickly ran into trouble after fanning Pat Burrell and Jayson Werth in the second. Greg Dobbs hit a soft single up the middle and scored when Carlos Ruiz hit a double to left-center. Myers lined the next pitch to right-center to drive in Ruiz and give the Phillies a 2-1 lead. Jimmy Rollins bounced a single up the middle and Myers chugged toward third. Matt Kemp misplayed the ball in center field or he could’ve thrown Myers out to end the inning. Rollins hustled into second on the play. Shane Victorino followed with a two-run single to left-center to make it 4-1.

Billingsley also was charged with the four runs in the third inning when he gave up a two-run rbi single to Myers and and left runners on base for Chan Ho Park who entered the game in relief. Park then gave up a two-run triple to Victorino for the final two Phillies runs.

Manny Ramirez led the offense once again as he went 1-4. His one hit however was a three-run home run that got the team back in the game in the fourth inning. After the home run, the score was 8-5 but the Dodgers were unable to score over the final six innings to draw closer. James Loney and Blake DeWitt each had a rbi as well for the Dodgers.

It is time to go back to the drawing board if you ask me. The team is down 0-2 as they head back to Los Angeles for the next two and hopefully three games of the series. Hiroki Kuroda will take the mound for the Dodgers against Jamey Moyer and the Phillies. Hopefully the offday on Saturday will do the team good and they will bounce back with a victory on Sunday.

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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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What a weird game for the Los Angeles Dodgers as they out hit the Phillies 13 to 10 but ended up losing on the scoreboard by the score of 5-0. Yeah 13 hits and the Dodgers were not able to score a run. That is not the way you want to play when you are in a playoff run like the Dodgers are right now.

Chad Billingsley pitched six innings and gave up seven hits and three runs. Billingsley took the loss as he received to run support and is now 12-10 on the season. He had some control issues as he walked five Phillies and struck out three others. Chan Ho Park had a bad seventh inning as he gave up three hits and two more runs that pretty much put the game out of reach for the Dodgers.

The Dodgers offense left an outrages number of runners on base in the game. Thirty-two runners were left on the bases for the Dodgers and right there is why the did not score any runs. Talk about not being productive at the plate and coming up with a key hit when you really need one. Ten strikeouts sure don’t help either.

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The Los Angeles Doders got out to a 3-0 lead after the first inning against the Colorado Rockies but then did not score again and lost the game 4-3. The game was tied 3-3 heading into the ninth inning when the Dodgers bullpen hit a batter, allowed him to steal second, and then score on a rbi single. It was a bad loss for the Dodgers as the Diamondbacks beat the Padres as well.

Jonathan Broxton was the losing pitcher as he gave up the winning run in the ninth inning. Broxton is now 3-5 on the season. Dodgers starting pitcher Chad Billingsley gave up five hits and two runs over six innings of action to get a no decision. Chan Ho Park pitched two innings of relief and gave up two hits and one run.

In the first inning when the Dodgers scored all three of their runs, Matt Kemp had a rbi single and then Nomar Garciaparra and Russell Martin both scored on an error by Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki.

The Dodgers need to beat the Rockies on Thursday to avoid the three game sweep. They also need to win the game as they are now two games back of the league leading Diamondbacks.

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First off, sorry for the lack of updates as things have been busy around here.  The blog will hopefully have someone writing game recaps here in the near future on almost a daily basis.  In the mean time, please bear with us!

On Wednesday night, the Dodgers finished off a three game series with the Giants and they shut them out 4-0.  After losing the first game of the series, the Dodgers game back to win the final two and win the overall series.  That is what they have to do if they want to stay in this playoff race.

Chad Billingsley was awesome against the Giants as he tossed a complete game five hitter and shut them Giants down.  He did not walk a batter and struckout eight others.  The Giants pretty much looked lost at the plate against him.  Hopefully the other Dodgers pitchers can follow what Chad did.

Russell Martin had two - two run singles while Jeff Kent added a rbi double and James Loney a rbi sac fly.  That is how the Dodgers scored all four of their runs in the first three innings of the game.  One run in the first inning, and then three more in the third inning.  The way Billingsley was dealing, he didn’t need much scoring from the offense.

So hopefully our new Dodgers blogger will start soon, and if not I won’t be able to update the site until around August 12th as I have to head to a couple of computer conferences in Chicago.  If there is another Dodgers fan out there that would like to write game recaps (4-5 a week) can you please email me by clicking the contact us link at the top of the site.  I will have access to my email and will reply with more details.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers took a beating from the bats of the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night.  The Braves came out swinging and defeated the Dodgers 9-3 to even the three game series at one game each.

Dodgers starting pitcher Chad Billingsley gave up six runs on six hits in only 5 1/3 innings of action.  Five of the six runs were earned and charged to Billingsley as he took the loss and dropped to 8-8 on the season.  Billingsley struck out eight batters but also had control issues as he walked four others.

Ramon Troncoso pitched 1 2/3 innings without giving up a run but then Joe Beimel gave up three hits and a run and Cory Wade allowed two more runs to score in the ninth inning.  It just wasn’t a good night to be a Dodgers pitcher.

James Loney had a rbi double in the in the sixth inning that score Andre Ethier for the Dodgers first run of the game.  The Dodgers did not score again until the ninth inning when Delwyn Young scored on a rbi groundout by Nomar Garciaparra.  Loney also scored on that play when Kelly Johnson committed a throwing error.

The Dodgers just didn’t play good and most of the blame has to go on the pitching staff.  Will they get it together and come back and get a victory on Wednesday?

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The Los Angeles Dodgers picked up a close win against the Cincinnati Reds by the score of 3-1.  Jeff Kent went 3-4 in the game with a rbi double to finish the game with one rbi.  Juan Pierre and Russell Martin both had one rbi in the game as well.

Chad Billinglsey got the start on the mound for the Dodgers but only pitched 6 1/3 inning while he gave up five hits and one run.  It was good enough to get the win, but it would have been nice to see Chad throw a few more innings and save the bullpen.

Joe Beimel and Jonathan Broxton both pitched in relief of Billinglsey and they both did a great job by not allowing any runs to score.  Takashi Saito came in closed things down in the ninth to record his ninth save of the season.  That is exactly what you want your bullpen to do.

The Los Angeles Dodgers couldn’t solve San Diego Padres starting pitcher Randy Wolf on Wednesday night as the Padres defeated the Dodgers 4-1.  The Dodgers struggled all night long at the plate and were only able to record five hits in the game and one run.

The one run in the game came in the fourth inning on a Andy LaRoche solo home run.  Other then that one hit, the Dodgers struggled all game long and never made much of a threat to the Padres.

Chad Billingsley took the loss after pitching seven innings and giving up eight hits and all four of the Padres runs.  Billingsley gave up two home runs early in the game which was a supirse because it is so hard to hit home runs at Petco.  Hong-Chih Kuo pitched the eighth inning and did not have any problems for the Dodgers.

The Doders and Padres will play on Thursday which will be the rubber game of the three game series.

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Chad Billingsley pitched a superb game going 7 innings with only 4 hits and no runs. The Dodgers seemed poised to win again with Jonathan Broxton getting on the mound. People were already closing the book on the Mets who left 23 men on base all game. But Broxton did not have the stuff today giving up a double then a home run to Carlos Beltran. To tie the game then leaving Broxton in in hopes of saving some face. Then Carlos Delgado gets a single then a sac bun and a intentional walk later Broxton gives up a single to Fernando Tatis and the Mets move into the lead.

Then comes the in my opion best closer in the mlb Billy Wagner. He stuck out the side and the Dodgers lose another heartbreaker. To fall below 500. The good news however is that the Diamondbacks are within a slump as well. Leaving the dodgers on 3 and half games behind first place. Someone is looking down on the dodgers and guiding them threw because I don’t know how any teams could lose this much and still have a shot at first place.

The Dodgers will figure out how to kill the rest of the day. Then tomorrow they will face off with the Mets for the last time in the series. I believe Hiroki Kuroda will take the mound tomorrow he will be opposed by Claudio Vargas. Kuroda’s main task will be keeping clam threw the 5^th inning. He tends to get there with strong pitching but when he arrives in the 5^th he starts to take on water.

Also again the name of the game will be hitting as in every game. James Loney needs to get on the ball going 0 for 4 today the whole team needs to step up. Going 1 for 4 is unacceptable especially when the entire team is 1 for 4. No one will pick the dodgers up to help them instead the coaching staff will stand on there throat and force them to become better. Not at all the all star break yet but seems like this season if not saved soon is already over…