Angels 10, Dodgers 2
Yesterday was a nice break for the Dodgers from their annual routine of getting their hats handed to them down here, but it didn't last. The Angels are still the kings of SoCal. D-Lowe got tagged for seven earned runs on 10 hits, but after he gave up four in the second -- all of them were earned, according to an official scorer who made a judgement call after a James Loney throwing error -- nothing else mattered much. Dodgers fall to 22-21 and back to 5 1/2 behind the Snakes. ... btw, Esteban Loaiza will begin his minor-league rehab tomorrow at Inland Empire against Lake Elsinore. He'll throw 40-45 pitches. He also becomes eligible to come off the DL tomorrow, so this could be a one-and-done rehab, assuming everything goes well and he recovers from it OK.
I've been thinking about this team and how it might project out through the season, especially the offense. As a group, they have hit for an average so far -- .273 thru Saturday; albeit with much inconsistency - they've gone through a couple of periods of no hit, everybody hits, then no hit again. The one thing that has been a constant is the lack of power. 5 homeruns leads this team. They are in the upper third as far as runs scored, the middle in slugging, and tied for 5th in batting average. The problem lies in the power stats. Just 29.5% of their hits are for extra bases. Only 7 teams are bleow that figure and every one of those are between 8 and 40 pts below the Dodger batting average. This is why they have trouble scoring and why it seems that they need 10 hits a game to score 3 to 4 runs. There's not one player, with the possible exception of Andruw Jones, if he ever gets hot, that would scare the opposing pitcher. Most of the hitters are singles type slappies.
For this team to get anywhere, they need more than one power threat. I know I'm stating the obvious here. Oh, and they need some starting pitching that lasts the WHOLE season and pitchers that act like number one starters -- Penny and Lowe come to mind.