The Dodgers ran into a buzzsaw tonight, and his name was Jason Marquis. Not only was Marquis brilliant on the mound, throwing a two-hit shutout, but he delivered the crushing blow on offense as well, a two-out, two-run single to turn a one-run game into a seemingly insurmountable 3-0 affair. The Rockies ended up winning by that 3-0 score.
Marquis did not walk a batter, and his game score of 86 is the highest thrown against the Dodgers this season, narrowly beating Jake Peavy's 85 (eight shutout innings) earlier in the season. Coincidentally, 86 was a key number in another way, as Marquis only needed 86 pitches to shut down the Dodgers.
Chad Billingsley pitched a bullpen-saving 7.2 innings, striking out 11, but taking his fourth loss of the season. The key play was the two-run single by Marquis in the seventh, as it appeared Juan Pierre was no more than 150 feet from home plate with Ian Stewart not yet at third base. Yet Stewart scored easily on another weak throw from Pierre.
However, that wasn't the story on this night. Hats off to Jason Marquis, who did it all at Chavez Ravine, to become the NL's first ten-game winner.
Well, at least it wasn't the best game pitched in the Rockies' organization Tuesday night.
One of the best things about baseball is that tomorrow brings another game, and tomorrow's game comes even quicker than usual, with a noon start. The Dodgers turn the page on a new month to play their final game without Manny Ramirez, a game started by Clayton Kershaw and Jason Hammel.
WP - Jason Marquis (10-5): 9 IP, 2 hits, 3 strikeouts
LP - Chad Billingsley (9-4): 7.2 IP, 5 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, 11 strikeouts
Thanks to the following for participating in tonight's game thread: Tripon, Bluetrek, shoothoop, mwhite06, oshea2002, dashiell, Ollie, Dr. Geek, Gen3blu, BoulderDodger, KellyStephen, matthewmafa, Phil Gurnee, sparksjessed, Brendan Scolari, Yodasbrthr, Rox Girl, Nofatmike, wongy, Coolguy_88888888, Xeifrank, and Rolex