Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Post-Game 8 Thread: Bills, Bills, Bills

DODGERS 4, PADRES 3

Chad Billingsley made his 2013 Dodgers debut tonight and though he wasn't perfect (retired the side only in the second inning; had a lot of trouble locating his curve (Vin Scully said only two curves fell for strikes)), he was good enough. Six innings, five hits, 1 ER, 3 Ks and 3 BB. Welcome back, Chadley!

It helped that Bills got run production early. Carl Crawford hit the second pitch of the game into the left field stands for a leadoff HR; Luis Cruz got his first hit of the year in the second inning and AJ Ellis knocked him home with another HR to left. The Dodgers added a fourth run in the fifth inning, when Crawford hit a one-out triple and Mark Ellis singled him home.

The Padres' starter, former Dodger Eric Stults, was even shakier than Billingsley: 101 pitches over five innings, giving up eight hits with 4 Ks. Even Matt Kemp (batting .167) and Justin Sellers (batting .190) got singles off of Stults. The Dodgers had a season-high 13 hits tonight. That said, the Dodgers wasted a ton of opportunities to seal the deal: 1-for-8 with RISP, and an absurd 12 LOB. Ugh.

You know who else was shaky? Brandon League, who gave up three hits in the bottom of the ninth, and then struck out Chris Denorfia...but AJ Ellis allowed a passed ball, scoring the Padres' third run and giving the home team a fourth out. Yonder Alonso went all the way to a full count, before flying out to left fielder Skip Schumacher to end the game. Whew!

Rubber match tomorrow night, Zack Greinke vs. Jason Marquis. A Marquis matchup, if you will!

16 comments:

Steve Sax said...

That was much too close for comfort.

Paul said...

Stubbs?

Neeebs (The Original) said...

A win is a win.

Steve Sax said...

sweet, Lakers won too

Neeebs (The Original) said...

A win is a win.

Dusty Baker's Toothpick said...

Dodger game is on replaying in HD now on Verizon. Just saw Crawfords blast in HI Def brilliance.

karen said...

That was one shaky win. I hope I'm able to sleep tonite:(

Goodnite t'al.

Steve Sax said...

Still super-impressed by Crawford. I can be happy about that leadoff HR and the triple off the wall.

karen said...

Mattingly just called this game "a lousy W". Gee Donnie, ya think? I'm having trouble loving you right now.

Orel said...

League was turrible. Just turrible.

Hideo Nomo said...

Smiley Chad in the post-game interview. Weird to not see him be a mumbly sad sack.

Steve Sax said...

Let's face it, a loss would have been devastating. Let's thank our lucky stars and move on

Orel said...

Thanks, lucky stars!

Steve Sax said...

You're welcome

Bostitch said...

Completeley unrelated..... Check out this little gem on Eric Karros:

Karros was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 6th round of the 1988 Major League Baseball Draft. He made his Major League debut as a pinch runner on September 1, 1991 against the Chicago Cubs

That's right PINCH RUNNER.... what was Tommy smoking that day?

Pistol Pete Reiser said...

Slimfast