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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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.

Dodgers Blog

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 hit three home runs on Wednesday night but they still lost to the Washington Nationals. The Nationals were able to hold off the Dodgers for the 5-4 victory. Tough loss for the Dodgers because the Diamondacks also lost and they could have picked up a full game in the standings.

Greg Maddux got the start for the Dodger but he only lasted 5 1/3 innings and allowed eight hits and four runs. Maddux needed to throw the ball a little better then he did for the Dodgers to get the victory. Chan Ho Park sucked it up once again as he gave up another run in relief.

It was really too bad that the Dodgers hit three home runs but only scored three runs on them as they were all solo shots. James Loney, Casey Blake, and Andre Ethier all went deep in the game. Blake also added on a rbi single in the eighth inning.

The Dodgers will need to win on Thursday to avoid the embarassing sweep by the Nationals.

Dodgers Baseball Blog

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.

Dodgers Blog

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.

Dodgers Baseball

The Los Angeles Dodgers lost to the Colorado Rockies by the score of 5-3 on Wednesday afternoon and they lost two out of three games to the Rockies in Denver.  If you ask most Dodgers fans about the series, they will simply say it was very dissappointing because the Rockies are a team that the Dodgers should be beating up on.

Hiroki Kuroda pitched six innings and gave up nine hits and five runs as he took the loss.  Kuroda is now 5-7 on the year.  Chan Ho Park pitched the 7th and 8th innings without allowing to score another run.  Park atleast gave the offense a chance to come back in the late innings, they just weren’t able to.

Andy LaRoche and Danny Ardoin both had rbi singles in the 2nd inning and then Andruw Jones added a rbi double in the 4th inning.  That was all the offense for the Dodgers however as they struggled at the plate.  You only score three runs in a game in Denver when it is hot and humid?  Hmm I guess they weren’t swinging the bats very good.

The Dodgers will get a much needed off day on Thursday and then begin a weekend series with the Washington Nationals on Friday.  Dodgers Baseball Blog

Relief pitcher Brian Falkenborg served up a 11th inning home run to the Marlins Hanley Ramirez and the Dodgers lost to the Marlins 5-4 on Thursday night.  It was definately not the way the Dodgers wanted to start off the four game series with the visiting Marlins.

Chan Ho Park only lasted four innings as he gave up nine hits and four runs.  Three of those four runs were earned.  after Park left the game, the bullpen guys did a great job until Falkenborg gave up the homer in the 11th.  Hong-Chih Kuo pitched three innings, Jonathan Broxton one inning, and Takashi Saito two innings.  All three relievers combined to only give up three hits.

Russell Martin led the team at the plate with two rbi including a solo home run.  Martin now has 10 home runs on the season and 48 rbi.  Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier both added rbi singles as well.

The Dodgers will now look to even the series up and get a win on Friday against the fish.  Do you think it will happen?  Dodgers Blog

Jeff Kent came up big for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night as he hit a game winning home run in the 11th inning and the Dodgers beat the Houston Astros by the score of 7-6.  The Dodgers were in line to get the win in the game but gave up two runs in the seventh inning and then had to play extra innings where they were able to pull out the victory.

Russell Martin led the Dodgers at the plate as he went 3-5 with a two run home run and finished the game with three rbi.  Martin now has nine home runs and 40 rbi on the season.  Kent finished the game with two rbi while youngsters Matt Kemp and James Loney both chipped in with one rbi each.

Chan Ho Park pitched 1 1/3 innings as he picked up the win and improved his record to 4-2.  Takashi Saito grabbed his 13th save of the season as well in the game.  Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw pitched 5 2/6 innings but was pulled after giving up six hits and three runs.

Brian Falkenborg, Hong-Chih Kuo, and Jonathan Broxton were all charged with giving up one run out of the bullpen.

The series is now tied up at one game each and the two teams will face off on Wednesday night in the third game of the series.  Dodgers Blog

The Los Angeles Dodgers got hammered pretty badly on Thursday afternoon by the San Diego Padres.  The Padres defeated the Dodgers 9-0 after getting up 5-0 after the first inning.   Once you are in a big hole like that, it is very hard to get any momentum going to attempt a big comeback and that is what happened to the Dodgers.

Hiroki Kuroda got hit hard for five hits and six runs over 2 1/3 innings.  Kuroda took the loss and is now 3-6 on the season.  Kuroda put his team in a big hole and as a starting pitcher you can never do that and expect to get a win.

Chan Ho Park did throw 2 1/3 innings of relief after Kuroda left the game and did not allow one run.  But soon after Park left the game the next two Dodger relievers gave up runs.  Hong-Chih Kuo gave up one run while Scott Proctor gave up two runs.

At the plate, the Dodgers stuggled all game long so there really isn’t anything to blog about there.

The Dodgers will now travel to Detroit to take on the Tigers in a three game series over the weekend.  Hopefully they will get out of this slump and beat up on the Tigers.

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