I asked Torre after the game whether Billingsley can be considered the ace of this staff, especially considering he is the only Dodgers’ starter to win during the club’s past 16 games (he has done it three times during that stretch) and the only starter to go seven innings during the club’s past 17 games (he has done that twice).
As always, Joe gave an interesting, insightful answer.
“I don’t want to put that (ace label) on him,” Torre said. “His personality is such that he puts enough pressure on himself without thinking he has to be the leader of this staff. Right now, he is taking his turn and giving us reasons to feel good about him, just giving us very solid performances. He had seven strikeouts in the first five innings, but he also made them hit the ball, and that’s a really big thing for him.”
Well, whether Chad is an ace pitcher or not, he is routinely delivering ace-worthy performances, and this was just the latest one. He also managed to siphon off Adam Dunn’s home run streak at five games by striking him out twice and walking him once — Dunn did get an infield single off Joe Beimel in the ninth.
Matt Kemp also helped out with a spectacular catch in center field in the fourth inning, robbing Ken Griffey Jr. of extra bases — the ball would have kicked off the top of the wall, and would NOT have been career HR No. 598.
Dodgers go to 24-21 and move within four games of the Snakes.