The Dodgers were completely shutdown by Dan Hudson tonight, falling to the Diamondbacks 5-2 in the middle game of a three-game set at Chase Field. The Dodgers managed two hits off Hudson, who had separate streaks of nine and 11 straight batters retired tonight.
The first Dodger hit was a double by Trent Oeltjen in the fourth inning, which was cashed in for a run thanks to a sacrifice and a groudout. But that was the extent of their offense tonight, until they staged a mini-rally with two outs in the ninth inning. Ryan Theriot singled, Andre Ethier walked, and James Loney singled, bringing Russ Mitchell to the plate as the tying run. However, Juan Gutierrez struck Mitchell out, for his 13th save.
On the positive side, John Ely did collect seven strikeouts in his 5 1/3 innings of work. But other than that, just about everything else was forgettable. He allowed nine baserunners in the first five innings, but thanks to some untimely hitting and bad baserunning, Arizona was only able to cash in one run. Ely's five unintentional walks for the second start in a row were uninspiring to say the least.
Then, in the sixth inning, the thin ice on which Ely was skating completely collapsed. Adam LaRoche doubled to leadoff the inning, then with one out, Ely intentionally walked Brandon Allen to get to Cole Gillespie. That plan backfired, as Ely left a changeup in the middle of the plate that was deposited just out of the reach of Reed Johnson in left, to give Arizona a 4-1 lead. Ely then allowed a double off the wall in dead center to Hudson, and his night was done.
Ely is nowhere near the pitcher he was in his first seven starts, when he was 3-2 with a 2.54 ERA. Last weekend, Joe Torre described Ely now as a pitcher with a defensive approach, one who doesn't trust his stuff. He nibbles too much, and no longer attacks hitters, and it shows. In his last 10 starts, Ely is 1-7 with a 7.48 ERA with 29 walks and 36 strikeouts in 49 1/3 innings.
John Lindsey got the start tonight at first base, and went 0-for-2 to run his major league totals to one hit in 12 at-bats. Lindsey was also hit by a pitch on the left hand in the seventh inning, his welcome-to-the-big-leagues moment. He left the game at the conclusion of the half inning.
UPDATE: Lindsey has a broken left hand, per the Los Angeles Times. What a terrible way to end his season.
Notes
- Jon Link made an appearance tonight, his first in a week, pitching a scoreless ninth inning. That makes tonight the first game that both pitchers from the Juan Pierre trade -- Ely and Link -- pitched in the same game.
- Matt Kemp pinch hit in the ninth inning, extending his streak of consecutive games played to 197, the longest in MLB.
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Mike Hampton came in to try to retire James Loney for the final out of the game, trying to picking up his first save in over 17 years. His only career save came July 15, 1993, when he was with Seattle.
Chad Billingsley starts the series finale tomorrow afternoon, against Joe Saunders.
WP - Dan Hudson (8-2): 8 2/3 IP, 2 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts
LP - John Ely (4-9): 5 1/3 IP, 7 hits, 4 runs, 6 walks, 7 strikeouts
Sv - Juan Gutierrez (13): 1 batter, 1 strikeout