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.

Thanks

The Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies combined to scored 26 runs on Monday night as the two teams played in a slugfest at Coors Field.  The Dodgers had jumped out to a 16-4 lead after five innings but the Rockies didn’t back down and scored the next six runs of the game as they kept chipping their way back.  Luckily for the Dodgers, there are only nine innings in a game and the Rockies ran out of time.

What I found interesting was that the Dodgers scored 16 runs at Coors Field but they did not hit one home run!  It was a lot of run scoring singles and doubles that scored most of the Dodgers runs.  James Loney went 3-6 and had five rbi in the game to lead the team at the plate.  Andre Ethier, Jeff Kent, and Angel Berroa all had two rbi each to chip in.  Matt Kemp, Russell Martin, Andy LaRoche, and Eric Stults all contributed with one rbi each.  The Dodgers should have probably scored even more runs but they left 22 runners on base.

The pitching staff was kind of dissappointing as all five pitchers were charged with atleast one run.  Starting pitcher Stults lasted just 3 2/3 innings as he was rocked for six hits and three runs.  Stults gave up a solo home run to Matt Holliday as well.  Brian Falkenborg and Joe Beimel both were charged with one run each.  Cory Wade pitched two innings and gave up three runs.  Hong-Chih Kuo gave up two more runs in the bottom of the ninth inning before he was finally able to get the last out.  Falkenborg ended up getting the victory and is now 2-2 on the year.

Dodgers Blog

Hiroki Kuroda pitched seven innings of scoreless baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers and they defeated the Houston Astros by the score of 4-1.  Kuroda did a good job and pitched a quality game ti improve his record to 4-6 while the Dodgers record improved to 40-44.

Cory Wade pitched two innings after Kuroda left the game and he allowed one run to cross the plate.  Carlos Lee hit a solo home run in the ninth inning for the only run of the game for the Dodgers.

Jeff Kent had two rbi to lead the Dodgers at the plate while Andre Ethier had one rbi on a solo home run and Luis Maza had a rbi sacrafice to first base.  That was enough scoring the way Kuroda pitched in the game.

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 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.

Brad Penny who has been unable to return to the cy young status he was at least year attempted to change his fortune around. Against the team who you can only say is in a bigger slump right now the New York Mets. Penny fought as hard as he could but only managed 4 innings 8 hits and 6 runs he will go to sleep tonight with nightmares of David Wright. Who hit two back to back jacks one to left and one to right which swelled Penny’s era to 5.66. Another weird thing of matter was that Brad Penny could not get anyone out with 2 outs. Which lead the Dodgers to a lose with the score of 4 to 8

Some good news came out of this game though the Dodger bats somewhat woke up. While only getting 7 hits all but three dodger(one being the pitcher) had a hit. Including Jeff Kent hit a home run that I still think has not landed yet. After Kent hit one Blake Dewitt blasted his 5^th home run of the year. Dodgers only left 10 men on base today which is a sign that things could be getting better.

The bullpen looked again solid only giving up two runs threw four pitchers. Also the dodger finally got a extra base hit in Andre Either’s double that would be the only extra base hit in the game. However the Mets bullpen came together after Vargas let go of 4 runs. The Mets bullpen shut down the dodgers cold only giving up one hit after Vargas outing. The Dodgers today made the Mets look like…?…last years Mets before the whole destruction from the inside out at the end of the season.

Amongst the all the losing and errors and home runs special attention was paid to Joe Torre. This being his first time back in the town where he produced so many world series championships. Have with the swagger of being back in New York he fell silent watching his new team be defeated again. Clayton Kershaw will take the mound tomorrow night in hopes of winning his first ever game. Should the bullpen hold the bats swing and the curve ball stays sick Kershaw could finally get his win and get the dodgers out of this 4 game winning streak…

While the windy city of Chicago lived up to it’s name tonight.  It was the Cubs that blew away the Blue Crew this chilly night in Chi Town.  With Media hype Surronding HIROKI KURODA and KOSUKE FUKUDOME they did not disapoint with KURODA going 7 with two runs one earned with seven hits and a loses.  While FUKUDOME went 3 for 2 with a rbi and a couple good plays in right field.  When in a corner you should be able to turn to your bullpen however this was not so for the dodgers tonight.  Like CLAYTON KERSHAW’S  first start the bullpen could not hold the LOU PINIELLA daring cubs.

In a game were a warm cup of coffee was a premium so to were runs.  Knowing this PINIELLA was a bit more daring with his base runners it happened to pay off as the score as evidence.  But when you look around for people to blame in this game you can not blame only one person.  By evidence of the box score with only one player getting two hits that being ANDRE EITHER as well as the dodgers leaving 14 men on base.  In the 8th inning with there best chance JAMES LONEY could not make contact with the bases loaded and when he did he hit just like last night a foul ball that danced with the foul line.

The Dodgers take the bus back to the hotel tonight and tomorrow they hope that DEREK LOWE can shake his poor pitching.  He will be contested by CARLOS ZAMBRANO the considered ace of the cubs staff.  Derek will need to keep his sinker ball low and will have to again lean on the shaky dodger hitting.  We also will hopefully see the Return of JEFF KENT who was a last second scratch due to back spasms tonight.

Dodgers Blog

The Los Angeles Dodgers used a big seventh inning where they scored six runs to come back and beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-2.  The Dodgers pounded out 11 hits as they scored the seven runs.  That is what happens when you have three home runs in the game.

Andruw Jones, Jeff Kent, and Gary Bennett all hit home runs in the seventh inning.  Bennett smoked a three run shot while Jones and Kent both had solo home runs.  Bennett finished the game with four rbi.  Russell Martin also had one rbi in the game for the Dodgers.

Chad Billingsley pitched seven innings and only gave up three hits and one run to pick up the win.  It was Billingsley’s third win of the season as he improved to 3-5.  Jonathan Broxton and Cory Wade pitched the final two innings.  Broxton did give up a solo home run in his inning of work.

Want to write for Dodgers Homeplate?  Click the contact us link at the top of the blog and email us.  Dodgers Blog

Brad Penny dropped his record to 5-4 on the season as he and the Los Angeles Dodgers lost to the Milwaukee Brewers by the score of 5-3 on Tuesday night.  Penny didn’t have his best stuff as he pitched six innings and gave up nine hits and five runs.  One of those hits was a solo home run to Bill Hall.

Penny didn’t have too much run support as the Dodgers were only able to score three runs in the game.  They got rbi from Matt Kemp, Jeff Kent, and Russell Martin in the game.  The Dodgers didn’t come up with that big rally or big home run in the game as they lost their fifth game in a row.

Will the dodgers turn things around and get back to winning baseball?  What do you think?  Dodgers Blog

Jeff Kent hit a two out game winning single in the ninth inning as the Los Angeles Dodgers neat the Florida Marlins 7-6 on Tuesday night.  With the win, the Dodgers are now 13-13 on the season as they try to get over the .500 mark.

Kent finished the game with three RBI, Matt Kemp had two RBI, while Russell Martin finished the game with one RBI.

Joe Beimel picked up the win for the Dodgers as he pitched the eighth inning.  Derrek Lowe didn’t pitch that great as he got the start on the mound for the Dodgers.  Lowe only lasted five innings after giving up eight hits and six runs.  Only three of the six runs were earned.  Takashi Saito picked up his third save of the season as he closed the door on the Marlins in the ninth inning.