DODGERS AT HOLLYWOOD BOWL

Tonight my two favorite things about Los Angeles combined for a special show: The Hollywood Bowl celebrated the Dodgers' 50 years in Los Angeles.

It was a lot of fun, although it was hardly the musical experience we usually see at the bowl with our classical series tickets.

Randy Newman was present to sing "I Love L.A." He also conducted the orchestra for music from The Natural. Nancy Bea played the organ on several pieces, and Tommy Lasorda gave a great pep talk to the crowd, then led the 17,000 present in a rousing rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

They also sang two songs I love; "It's a Beautiful Day for a Ballgame" and Danny Kaye's "D-O-D-G-E-R-S." Alas, it lacked the Lego animation, and the singer was really annoying and brash. Vin Scully read "Gibby at the Bat" (alas, he was in San Fransisco, so his performance was recorded).

The Dodgers beat the Giants today, and with the D'backs losing, that puts the Dodgers 1/2 game out of first place!

Second Shutout in 3 Days for Dodgers!

Chan Ho Park pitched a great game for the Dodgers, continuing his attempt at Comeback Player of the Year. In 6 innings he gave up 4 hits and no runs. He struck out 7. Falkenberg pitched well in the 7th, and Broxton and Saito each struck out the side, for a total of 14 Ks in the game.

The Dodgers looked like a championship team. They strung together hits (plus a Russell Martin homer) to get 3 runs, and Ethier pinch-hit a 3-run homer in the 7th. All this against one of the best teams in baseball, beating the Angels 6-0.

Stultz Pitches Complete Game Shutout Against White Sox!

What a difference a day makes... last night, the Dodgers looked completely flaccid, and tonight, Eric Stultz threw a complete-game shutout, giving up only 4 hits to the 1st-place White Sox. He also drive in an RBI with sac fly, winning the game 5-0. This was only his second game this year - both were wins, giving him the only winning record amongst the Dodger pitchers.

All the kids look good tonight. Both DeWitt and Kemp made good defensive plays, the hits and RBIs were spread out well among the team.

DODGERS LOSE TO WHITE SOX

The Dodgers may be celebrating their 50th year in Los Angeles, but there wasn't a lot to celebrate tonight, as Mark Buehrle made the Dodgers batters look like Little Leaguers, winning 6-1. The lone Dodgers run was a homer by Delwyn Young.

The attendance was reported at 43,900, but the crowd was sparse in the 9th inning. Derek Lowe had 8 Ks, but had a tough 1st, loading the bases and giving up a run, then another run in the 2nd. That would have been enough to lost the game, but he turned it around and made it into the 8th with a 2-1 deficit, but gave up 3 more, and Wade gave up another for the loss.

The Dodgers are looking worse and worse each time I see them. It's like the life is gone from the team.

Dodgers Blow it Yet Again

The Dodgers lost to the Cleveland Indians 6-4 tonight in a rare display of futility.

Clayton Kershaw pitched 5 innings and gave up 4 runs, but that wasn't the problem for the Dodgers. Over and over the Dodgers left runners on third base... The Dodgers had 12 hits but managed a paltry 4 runs. It didn't help that game time temperature was 92 with no wind. The hottest night game I've ever been to.

50,000 people were on hand to watch the Dodgers tie up the game in the bottom of the 10th, then to watch Saito take the loss by giving up 2 runs. Saito has not been himself this year; he throws a lot of balls, and has given up 20 walks this year so far.

The highlight of the night for the Dodgers was a rare 6-2-5 double play, with the bases loaded, the shortstop threw to home to stop the run, and quick-thinking Russell Martin threw to 3rd for the 2nd out. It was not enough to win the game, though.

Rockies Beat Hated Giants 10-5

The Rockies have begin to resemble the team that went to the World Series last year, with Aaron Cook going 7 innings and giving up only 3 earned runs for his 9th win. .

More importantly, the offense looked alive with 2 home runs, a 3-run homer by Todd Helton, and a 2-run shot by Garret Atkins. Helton & Quintanilla each had 3 hits; Atkins & Baker each had 2.

Rockies Hammer Brewers, 7-2

the Rockies looked quite good tonight, and I am increasingly impressed with Coors Field. It's a great place to see a game, especially when the team plays this well. Rookie Greg Reynolds got his first major league win, but it was the offense that carried the game.

Colorado had a 5-run first inning, all with 2 outs. A double followed by 2 walks was followed by a grand slam by Brad Hawpe... and on the next pitch, another home run by Ianetta.

Colorado still has five major players on the DL. It will take a lot for the team to come back from the basement.

Kuroda Shuts Out Cubs

Hiroki Kuroda pitched his best game yet for the Dodgers, pitching a 4-hit shutout against the most dangerous offense in baseball.

Jeff Kent got the first RBI in the first inning. That would have been enough to win it. Kuroda had 11 strikeouts and no walks in the game. Kent got thrown out later in the game for questioning a strike call that looked far inside and high.

Russell Martin had the night off and his replacement Danny Ardoin had 2 RBI, including a perfect executed squeeze play.

If the Dodgers can beat the Cubs, why can't they beat the Rockies???

Dodgers Lose to Rockies

The Dodgers gave the Rockies their first road win in 14 games tonight, being shutout 3-0. Penny had a rough first inning, giving up 2 of the runs, and threw a lot of pitches in the next few innings, but managed to go 6 innings total with only those 2 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks.

The Dodgers were so frustrated that the highlight of the night was a bench-clearing brawl between Matt Kemp and Rockie's catcher Torrealba, which I had hoped would motivate the Dodgers to do well in the 9th, but even with 2 men on, Blake DeWitt popped out to fizzle the ending of the game.

Cards Beat Dodgers Again

Brad Penny had one bad inning and gave up 4 runs to the Cardinals, but it was enough to lose the game 4-0. Not much great to talk about for the Dodgers; we can only hope that Klay Kershaw is in fact the second coming as he has been described by Dodger farm fans, and that his first major league game tomorrow (at age 20!) will be a win for the Dodgers.

Jones Blows it for Dodgers... AGAIN!

The Dodgers played a tight but frustrating game tonight; after 9.1 innings, the game was postponed because of rain. Lowe had pitched well but gave up one 2-run homer. The score was 2-1 at the break.

Finally restarted after more than an hour, Kemp made it to third, and Young to first with 2 out, and who pinch hits?

Andruw Jones. Strikeout to end the game.

Not sure what Torre is thinking, unless he want to prove to Dodger brass the Jones should be dumped once and for all.

Plus, fireworks were cancelled due to rain.

N.B. Looks like they had the fireworks anyway... at almost midnight!

Dodgers Sweep Reds

The Dodgers had an all-Japanese pitchfest tonight, with Kuroda going 8 strong innings, and Saito coming in for the save.

This was one of the strangest games I've ever seen. High winds blew fly balls all over the outfield. Papers were flying everywhere. The Dodgers scored four runs in odd ways: a wild pitch, a passed ball, a wild pickoff throw, and a squeeze play that should have been an out but the pitcher lobbed the ball to short to the catcher and pulled him off the plate.

The small crowd of 33,000 enjoyed the game.

Dodgers Beat Reds in Bottom of 9th

Blake DeWitt got the game-winning RBI in the bottom of the 9th, after a touch-and-go game in which Brad Penny gave up 4 runs in the first 3 innings. Two errors by the Reds also helped the Dodgers by allowing them to tie it up in the 5th at 5 each.

DeWitt had 2 hits and 2 RBI, and Kemp had 4 hits and a walk. Beimel had a tough 5th inning; first he thought he had the 3rd out on a foul ball, then he thought he had it on a pick-off which was ruled a balk. But he came through anyway.

The crowd of 34,000 was small for Dodger Stadium but very vocal in the 9th, greeting a great ending on a beautiful night for a game.

Dodgers Lose Third Straight

The Dodgers lost for the second night in a row to the Astros, this time a 5-0 shutout, with only 3 hits in the game.

Billingsly had a terrible first two innings, but after giving up 5 runs, settled down for the next 3 innings, followed by 3 great innings by Chan Ho Park and another by Joe Beimel.

Dodgers bats were dead. The offensive highlight of the night was a double by Loney. The Dodgers need to get it together.

Dodgers Let Astros Win

Derek Lowe of the Dodgers pitched poorly again tonight, letting the Astros walk all over them for a 7-1 win. There was little to be happy about from the Dodgers. Loney & DeWitt each got two hits. That was the highlight. Otherwise the team played poorly against a middling pitcher who got his first win.

Let's hope they turn it around for the rest of the weekend.

Dodgers Beat Mets, 5-1

Chad Billingsly pitched a good six innings, giving up only one hit, a solo homer. The Beilel-Broxton-Saito combo provided a perfect 3 innings to end the game.

The bigger story was the Dodgers offense, which had 3 home runs, including Blake DeWitt's first major league homer. The offense was strong all night, starting with Rafael Furcal's lead-off homer, through Matt Kemp's 2 hits & 2 RBI and Russell Martin's 2 hits. Pierre got a hit and a walk and scored 2 runs.

The Mets looked weak, particularly their middle of the order, stranding 7 men on base. Their record is a lot better than they looked tonight.

Dodgers Win in 13

It was a long night at Dodger Stadium. Kuroda pitched well, but the game was very slow, with the 7th inning stretch at almost the 3 hour mark. It took 13 innings for the Dodgers to win. The Dodgers had sent Blake DeWitt back to the minors, so when Nomar pulled an abdominal muscle, the DOdgers were forced to move Russell Martin to 3rd. If Nomar goes to the DL, DeWitt will be back tomorrow. If not, and Nomar is day-to-day, it's a big question mark at 3rd.

Russell Martin finished the game with a Sac Fly; he had 4 hits in the game, plus 2 walks, getting on base in all 6 plate appearances. He had 2 RBIs and a run scored.

Hopefully the Dodgers will be well-rested tomorrow to start another game in the evening.

Dodgers Rout Pirates for 2nd Night in a Row

The Dodgers got 15 hits in their second straight rout of the Pirates. Furcal is having a banner year so far, with 4 hits tonight, pushing his BA over 400.

Nomar returned to the lineup with a hit and 2 walks. Blake DeWitt remains on the roster for the time being, pinch-running for Nomar and scoring a run.

Brad Penny had another excellent outing, and the bullpen was also strong.

The crowd was large and loud, with blanket giveaway night always a favorite.

Dodgers Lose Again to Padres

Brad Penny looked weak all night long, and the Dodgers offense could not get the deal sealed once again, leaving 16 on base. Anfrew Jones went a whopping 0 for 4, dropping is BA to a scant .114.

The Dodgers have major problems in every area. Torre has his work cut out for him.

Congratulations to ME!

At 7:22 PM last night, an American Idol fan from Wichita, Kansas became the 10,000th visitor to my blog. His visit may have lasted less than a second, but it still counts!

I started this blog a year and a half ago as a way to communicate with students. It didn't work; instead I get baseball fans. Oh, well, it still works out to about 20 visits a day, and even excluding immediate family, that means I'm popular. Not enough to sell ads, but popular enough that I continue to write baseball updates.