Chad leaves nobody hanging in Florida
For that matter, nobody left Chad hanging, either.
The kid often known as "Bills" (on this blog, if nothing else) has put forth outings this season often equal parts brilliance -- 12 strikeouts in his last go -- and erratic -- getting hit hard on about every other pitch in the same game. Thus, Chad Billingsley entered Wednesday's scrap in Miami as perhaps baseball's Most Talented Winless Starter. But after holding the Marlins to three hits and one run in a 13-1 Dodger win, he finally got that elusive "W."
Of course, with a baker's dozen in run support, either K Brother could have pitched and pocketed a victorious decision (except for BK, obviously). Fifteen hits in all for the Blue, with five alone in Raffy Furcal's pocket (a career high). Recently returned rook Blake DeWitt knocked in four runs (another career high). Matt Kemp and James Loney were each good for a trio of ribbies (a career high for neither, but still admirable). Check out the box score and you'll see a stat reflecting how nutty them Dodger bats went. Take away the pair by Billingsley and there was only one other Blue K. Them's the kinda results Joe Torre will easily live with.
AK
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Another great team effort. Except from Jones of course. I guess a team where everyone bats about .300 can carry one 'good field no hit guy'. But who would have thought itwould be a center fielder. Now that we are winning it looks like Torre will stick with him.
David S
Posted by: david | April 30, 2008 at 08:28 PM
I really like what I've been seeing from them in the past week or so. Looks like everyone's finally getting on the same page and gelling together.
What's even more amazing is that they've accomplished this winning streak without Repko!
Posted by: Eric B. | April 30, 2008 at 08:43 PM
i was coming down hard on them bums 2 & 3 weeks ago. but i got to tell you, watching them play the last 7 days has been very enjoyable..isn't interesting that save for raffy and jeff kent, no one in the dodgers' big bat squadron (loney, kemp, martin, ethier) makes over $1mm a year ( i think !). they're kids having fun playing baseball. you can see it in their high-five celebrations ( with their backs). these guys look goooooood. very aggressive base running has been a big plus. it's like psych warfare against the opponents..this team can achieve,,,hopefully. and, i think joe torre is also a big reason for the dodgers explosive offense of late..just go out and play...loving it !
Posted by: willy fuleihan | April 30, 2008 at 11:06 PM
AK/BK,
I think tonight's run production from the 7th on surpassed the season total so far for the same time frame. I noticed in a lot of the games we score early and then go flat. It was nice to see them score late also...Is their any way to look that stat up?
Posted by: K T USN (feeling retired) | May 01, 2008 at 12:09 AM
Has anybody checked out the batting averages lately?
Everyone's above .278 except FAJ. Here's the link to the box score:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=280430128
Posted by: K T USN (feeling retired) | May 01, 2008 at 12:31 AM
Vin Scully is talking about retiring. I've dreaded this day for years.
What do we have to look foward to once he's gone? Steiner as the No. 1 guy?
Lord, I miss Ross Porter.
Posted by: hashpipe | May 01, 2008 at 01:23 AM
Willy - I've dubbed them booty bumps.
So on the FLA telecast last night (weather is nice wish you were here....NOT), the announcers commented right before Raffy hit #5 that he's never had a 5 hit game. I BELIEVE in the curse of the announcer.
The game was such a blowout they started showing sausage races, and then the Perogi race. I'm still trying to get over the "rice race" from Japan.
It's crazy.
I hate to point it out, but it's the young uns making it happen. My faith is restored, and since I rode colletti hard last week, I will point out that he could have traded some of the youth in a panic move. He did not, and for that we should give him mad props... this week.
Oh... and Blake DeWitt is the new Jason Repko.
Posted by: benzojones | May 01, 2008 at 06:10 AM
Wow! The explosive offense we knew was there has arrived. Nothing says a fun clubhouse like winning. Eventually, Torre is going to have to bench Jones if he doesn't wake up the bat. With Young hitting .385, he has to be thinking about it. Also, with the bats going well, I'd rather have JP's speed than Jones' defense and K's. We are stuck with JP so we may as well use him unless he catches some GM's eye that needs an average leadoff hitter. I still think he is going to be traded for a good prospect and a portion of his salary.
Posted by: Jack | May 01, 2008 at 06:32 AM
AK nice hanging chad reference. The blue boys have been doing quite well the last 5 games and i think they are finally playing to the level they should be at, sans AJ. With Dewitt playing so well at 3rd, maybe the dodgers should keep him rather than Laroche. Benzo, Dewit is not the new Repko, he hasn't supplanted Chuck Norris and cured cancer yet with his tears. Jack i think you are right that at this point delwyn young deserves to start over AJ.
Posted by: poppinfresh | May 01, 2008 at 08:15 AM
Poppinfresh,
"With Dewitt playing so well at 3rd, maybe the dodgers should keep him rather than Laroche."
I was actually thinking about that yesterday. If DeWitt keeps playing well, I'm not convinced he'll lose his starting gig to either Nomar or LaRoche. And if he did lose it to Nomar (which would likely send DeWitt back to Vegas), I'm wondering if LaRoche could still end up on the block, with Dewitt then coming back up. I'm not entirely sold on LaRoche (if nothing else, he's hurt a lot for a young guy) and I wonder if they'd move him while he still has some "upside mystique."
Just spitballing a bit.
AK
Posted by: Andrew Kamenetzky | May 01, 2008 at 09:51 AM
AK I agree, Laroche had great potential, but it is also hand in hand with him being injury prone at a young age. I think since he was ranked well as one of the top 50 prospects we can get good value from him in a trade. Granted he has more power potential than dewitt, dewitt is still very young and can develop some power, but his defense and all around skills seem very polished for a 22 year old.
Posted by: poppinfresh | May 01, 2008 at 10:35 AM
PoppinFresh,
All good points you mention. I must admit, DeWitt has looked pretty good, better than just about anybody anticipated. Obviously, it's a very small sample size, so it's a little early to declare him the "answer" at third. For that matter, I haven't given up on LaRoche, either. And I also doubt the Dodgers have, since they seemed to be creating as many opportunities as possible for him to open the season as the starter. I'm just saying. The situation has gotten me thinking.
AK
Posted by: Andrew Kamenetzky | May 01, 2008 at 10:53 AM