Dodgers 5, Astros 2
Chad Billingsley was as good as he has ever been, going eight innings and giving up just two unearned runs. Jeff Kent left with a stiff back, but he should be OK for tomorrow, according to both Kent and Joe Torre. Saito got into mild trouble in the ninth, but got out of it. James Loney homered in his hometown. And the Dodgers take three out of four here from the same team that swept them in Los Angeles back in May. Dodgers improve to 41-44. Snakes are trailing the Brewers 5-0 late in the game, this on a day when Brandon Webb was pitching. Looks like the Dodgers might be within a half-game of the division lead by day's end. See my previous post abou the NL West stinkfest. Off to San Francisco.
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About Inside the Dodgers
Tony Jackson has covered the Dodgers for
the Daily News since 2004 and has covered Major League Baseball on a
regular basis since 1995. He previously covered the Colorado Rockies
and Cincinnati Reds. He is a native of Springdale, Ark., and a graduate
of the University of Arkansas.
It's nice to see what this offense can do when Pierre is out of it.
"Snakes are trailing the Brewers 5-0 late in the game ... Looks like the Dodgers might be within a half-game of the division lead by day's end."
Not so fast my friend. :(
Brewers melted down.
Billingsley was the man - that could have been a CG. His ERA is down to 3.12, which I believe is 7th in the NL at the moment.
Tony... what you got against Andre? No word of Ethier going yard for the second consecutive day? Yet Loney gets the kudos because it's his "home town"? Ethier's swinging the hot stick right now and his shot today ties him for the team lead in Home Runs at 9 with Martin and Kent!
This team is beginning to find its stroke. Look out if Nomar and Jones are healthy... they could run away with the division.
Nope.. 1.5 back still. The porous back-end of the Brewers' bullpen blew this one. 6-5 Snakes.
Haven't read up fully on Billingsley's stats over the past 6 starts but he has been brilliant. In fact, I think he's the ace of the staff right now, about a year earlier than I originally thought. His appears to flowing through a nice routine each start and his mental makeup has been excellent.
Buddy - Billingsley's last THIRTEEN starts, going back to April 30:
8-3, 83 1/3 IP (6.4 IP/GS), 2.27 ERA, 66 H, 75 K, 33 BB, 8.1 K/9, 3.6 BB/9, 1.188 WHIP
El Lay Dave,
Thanks for sharing those stats. They're even more impressive than I guessed, although the walk total is still a bit high. That will no doubt change with a bit more experience. He's also been doing a relatively good job in getting the first pitch in for strikes.