We got an explanation on the ball that Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier screwed up in the first inning. As I mentioned here earlier, it was extremely windy here tonight, and it was a loud, howling wind — loud enough that neither Kemp nor Ethier could hear the other calling for the ball. That was why neither of them backed off on the play.
“We couldn’t hear each other,” Kemp said. “I don’t even remember (exactly what happened). A lot was going on at that moment. It was a tough ball. (Second baseman Orlando Hudson) said we were both calling it and we didn’t hear each other. I don’t know what to really say about it. (It was) the wind. The elements out there were pretty crazy. But no excuses. That ball should have been caught by one of us.”
Kemp also made no excuses for the next ball, which he misjudged into a triple for Randy Winn.
“It just took off. It had a weird little spin on it, and it just got away from me. But the ball should have been caught.”
It led to a three-run inning for the Giants. If both plays had been made, Randy Wolf would have had a one-two-three inning.
What happened in the eighth inning, with Ronald Belisario on the mound, is laid out in detail in tomorrow’s paper, so no need to revisit it here. In case you were wondering, Joe Torre’s explanation for why he didn’t bring in a well-rested Hong-Chih Kuo, the Dodgers’ designated eighth-inning setup man, to set up in the eighth inning was all the right-handed hitters the Giants had coming up. I’m starting to wonder whether Kuo really IS the eighth-inning setup man for this team.
Anyway, Dodgers fall to 13-7 and 2 1/2 up on the Pods. Giants now just three back. Chad Billingsley against Jonathan Sanchez tomorrow night, 7:15. Billingsley is 4-0 in four starts, but more importantly in this case, he is 3-0 in three starts following Dodgers losses. He not only pitches like an ace, he pitches like a stopper, too.