Dodgers Set Record, Win First 10 Home Games

by Brendan Scolari on May 3, 2009 7:54 PM PDT in Game Recaps Comment 13 comments

Los Angeles Dodgers' Orlando Hudson (13) is congratulated by manager Joe Torre, left, after scoring a run against the San Diego Padres during the first inning of a baseball game in Los Angeles, Sunday, May 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Lori Shepler).

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6 months ago: Los Angeles Dodgers' Orlando Hudson (13) is congratulated by manager Joe Torre, left, after scoring a run against the San Diego Padres during the first inning of a baseball game in Los Angeles, Sunday, May 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Lori Shepler).

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Today was a great win all around for the Dodgers. Despite starting Brad Ausmus, Juan Castro, Mark Lorretta, and Juan Pierre in place of Russell Martin, Rafael Furcal, Casey Blake, and Manny Ramirez respectively they were still able to sweep the four game series against the Padres. The final score was 7-3 and the winning pitcher was Chad BIllingsley, who is now 5-0 and leads the National League in wins. Chad went 7 innings, allowing 2 earned runs on 4 walks and 4 hits with 8 strikeouts.

After taking a 3-0 lead in the first, the Padres got a run from back-to-back doubles by Chase Headley and Edgar Gonzalez in the second inning. The game was quiet until the sixth, when the Dodgers got four runs after the first two batters were retired, including one on a Chad Billingsley single that helped his cause. The Padres cut the lead to 7-3 with home runs in the 7th (Brian Giles) and 8th innings (Jody Gerut, off of Will Ohman). But then Ramon Troncoso came in and got the final six outs without allowing a baserunner. His impressive work has led to his 1.08 ERA so far this season, and one wonders how much longer it will be before he is moved into a more important role, much like Hong-Chih Kuo was last year after starting out as a long reliever.

Orlando Hudson had 2 doubles, a walk, and 3 RBI's to lead the offensive attack for the Dodgers. He was supported by Pierre, 2-4 with an RBI, Ethier, an RBI double and a walk, and Juan Castro, who also went 2-4. The only starters who didn't get a hit were Matt Kemp and Mark Loretta, who went a combined 0-7 with 4 K's.

The Dodgers will look to extend their franchise record-setting home winning streak tommorow when they take on the Diamondbacks at 7:05 PM, in what should be a very important series against their main contenders for the division title. The starting pitchers for the first game of the series will be Doug Davis and Eric Stults. The Dodgers are now 18-8 and have a 4.5 game lead in the division.

Box Score

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Comments

i wish every dodger game was at home.

Dodgers - 2008 NL West Champions
Cardinals - 2008 NFC Champions

by wongy on May 3, 2009 8:21 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

That would be nice.

Maybe a few in SF so I could still go to some games. ;-)

by Brendan Scolari on May 3, 2009 8:42 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

it seems like kemp isn't seeing the ball well

he’s not really swinging at bad pitches – definitely has a better eye than he did last year – but he’s just flat missing good pitches. It seems like the way to get kemp out these last few games is to throw the ball down the middle…any thoughts on his slump? i feel like i’m overreacting but we’ve seen him go into this before and he’s just too good of a player to have long stretches like this where he just can’t hit the ball.

by bucknellbruin on May 3, 2009 8:44 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I haven't seen much of the last two games

But I think sometimes he just guesses too much still. He takes hittable pitches and then anticipates (wrongly) when he thinks he is going to get a pitch to hit.

I think overall he’ll be fine, he’s just still very strikeout prone.

by Brendan Scolari on May 3, 2009 8:59 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs