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The Dodgers took to a damp field tonight, and were kind enough to finish the game before the rain picked up late this evening. However they let the Diamondbacks come into town and rain all over any sense of sunshine signaling the return of Chris Capuano and Adrian Gonzalez.
Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with 2 Ks, which helped the cause; Capuano was less sharp, yielding eight hits and six runs (five earned) before yielding with none out and back-to-back HR in the fifth.
Carl Crawford banged a solo HR in the third, which was nice and all. But his brutal misplay of a Trevor Cahill fly ball to left led to a two-run triple (from the pitcher, no less); on top of that, his dropped fly ball of a Didi Gregorious can of corn in the fifth led to Capuano's undoing.
What was worse was seeing Don Mattingly's feeble and unemotive attempt to "argue" the Crawford catching error. Mattingly talked with the umps, who conferred and then upheld their call. Mattingly just shrugged his shoulders and walked back to the dugout, without much of a fight. And say what you will--that action set the tone. If Donnie baseball isn't going to get pissed about careening toward a fifth straight loss, then why the hell should we aspire for more? Why shouldn't the team just shrug its shoulders and move on?
I don't know what's going in with the Dodgers, but injuries alone can't justify the apparent lack of fire. One 9-2 pounding later, and it's not even clear that the Dodgers, or management, know what to do to fix it.
photo swiped from here
8 comments:
Damn, the rain is coming down hard right now. It most sounds worse than a 9-2 drubbing.
S.P.O.S.
I'm really noting the lack of fire in the players. Not all, but several. I've never been one to go to this excuse (reason?) easily, but it is palpable. The way some of the guys walk up to the plate, the way they lazily track down balls hit to centerfield (ahem, I said centerfield; that's a clue). Dare I say, has payday made them care less??
Rats in the cellar.
Flesh on the bone.
Toys in the attic?
I agree with DB. The lack of passion, fun, urgency, (call it what you will, but don't call it chemistry) is obvious even to the unjaundiced eye of the casual fan. My older daughter was live texting me the game on Saturday during the amazing comeback. She was ecstatic about the contributions of Gordon and Punto in particular. Unfortunately, an over-taxed bullpen provided the pin to the balloon of her hope for this Dodger team.
Sad to say, healthy or otherwise, I have my doubts about this team's "heart." As much as I hate to admit it, a managerial change may be in order. The 2013 Dodgers are giving most national baseball writers their wish; seeing a high-priced roster crumble (of course those same writers are over-looking their own high hopes for the much-praised Blue Jays).
Yes there is no fire. I say bring up some of the young guys to put some pressure on the outfielders ie Puig. You may have a nice contract but you can always get traded if someone is there to take your position.
At last night's game, SoSG AC was mentioning to me how no one in the lineup seems to be "protecting" the batters around them, either.
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