Headline courtesy of Scareduck.
In his debut Rick Ankiel hit a dramatic Home Run but he was just getting started. Yesterday he put on a Show for the ages as he single handily destroyed the Dodgers with his bat and then made a circus catch against Russel Martin to apply the coupe de grace.
He is having a debut very much like Jeff Francoeur did in 2006. Not surprising, since they are similar players. They both have tremendous power, excellent arms, great defense, and only seem to lack plate discipline in their skill set.
As a Dodger fan it was painful to watch yesterday, as a baseball fan I was grinning from ear to ear.
A loss today, combined with a Diamondback victory will mean the Dodgers will need to focus on the Wild Card when they return home against the Astro's.
On the plus side, we saw Juan Pierre pinch-hit for by Matt Kemp. Kemp looked terrible in the at bat. After taking two high pitches, he flailed at the 3rd pitch which was as high as the 1st two, he then eventually struck out on a pitch that looked about a foot outside. He made up for it with his defense as he took a route that Alan Arkin would have been proud of. His Serpentine route wasn't the most efficient but he eventually ended up in the right position to take a home run away from the Cardinals. It would be the only highlight of the game.