A Comeback Win For The Ages

The Dodgers came from five runs down in the 8th inning yesterday to tie the game against the Cincinnati Reds and nailed down the win with a four run 11th inning. The final score was 11-8. That was the first time since 1994 that the Dodgers had come back from being down five runs or more after the 7th inning and win the game.

Matt Kemp was the star as he hit his 14th and 15th homeruns of the season, his last one being a grand slam that tied it up in the top of the 8th inning, 7-7. He had six RBI's for the game on three hits. Matt Kemp has so much athletic ability but he is not a natural baseball player. His best sport in high school was basketball. I hope he is still playing with the Dodgers when he puts the athletic ability together with a natural feel for the game.

One account I read of the game made the statement that in the 11th inning the Dodgers "singles" hitters went to work and drove in the clinching runs. For the Dodgers offense to start clicking the "singles" hitters need to do this on a more consistent basis. The only player on the team that has shown any consistent power is Matt Kemp. Barajas has 7 homeruns, Ethier has 5, Loney has 3, Blake has spent almost the majority of the season on the DL, and highly touted rookie Jerry Sands power has disappeared against major league pitching.

The stat line on starter Clayton Kershaw for this game looks pretty rough (6 2/3 IP, 6 runs) but it is very misleading. The Dodgers bullpen came in and held down the fort for 4 + innings, only giving up one run in the bottom of the 11th by eventual winning pitcher Javy Guerra. That was Guerra's first major league win.

There are more Dodgers injuries to report. It might be bigger news if there were no injuries to report. Jon Garland and Rafael Furcal are headed back to the Disabled list and John Ely and Ivan DeJesus were brought back up to replace them on the roster. I don't know why the Dodgers just don't pencil Furcal on to the DL about once a month whether he's hurt or not. It would save themselves some time and aggravation. I would rather see the Dodgers start Rubby De La Rosa now and bring Ely in in middle relief out of the pen.