Too many walks. Giving too many free runners. And we’ve got to catch the baseball. That’s all there is to it. You’ve got to catch the baseball.”
— Don Mattingly
That’s pretty basic, and I guess my former fave Luis Cruz and one of my new faves, Carl Crawford, kind of forgot about that yesterday. Their errors cost the Dodgers three runs, the difference in the game. I’m thinking Cruz might not be around too much longer.
However, there’s plenty more blame for this loss to go around. Starting pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu couldn’t get out the leadoff man to save his life, and he walked five Braves. Then Paco Rodriguez came in and loaded the bases before serving up a grand slam to Justin Upton that landed somewhere among the hot dogs on the concourse past left field.
It’s a shame, too, because offensively we were pretty good. We got 10 hits, which is Steve Lyons’ magic number for winning. That new guy, Scott Van Slyke — filling in for right-fielder Andre Ethier against left-handed Braves pitcher Paul Maholm — hit two home runs. And Nick Punto went two-for-four.
I read somewhere that the Braves, in yesterday’s game, finally had the offense they had been aiming for — all their strongest hitters back after stints on the D.L. Ironically, the Dodgers’ best offense is coming from guys filling in for injured teammates.
But today is another game, Chris Capuano on the mound. We gotta keep the faith.
Right?
Piewalla's Dodger Blues 