LiveBlog: Dodgers v. Cubs

After a great game to start things off, we should be in for another one with Lowe and Dempster. Oh wow, Dennis Eckersley is in the TBS headquarters. Anyway (sorry for the side-note), I'll be here throughout this game and probably the Red Sox-Angels game as well.

Lowe (LAD) vs. Dempster (CHC)

It's hard to say who has the advantage in this one. Dempster has the 2.96 ERA and 187 K's, but Lowe walks fewer hitters and gets more groundballs (3.24 ERA). I have to say I like Lowe in this one. No real reason, and actually, it's really against reason. That's why I'm sticking to it.

Before things begin, how cool would it be to have Cal Ripken Jr., Tony Gwynn (not Jr.), and John Smoltz broadcasting the same game. I can only imagine my mind exploding from the baseball knowledge. Maybe that's why they didn't do it.

Top 1 (LAD 0 - CHC 0)
After a pretty good at-bat, Furcal goes down swinging. Martin then works a walk, but he should have been called on the 2-2 and 3-2 pitch. It doesn't matter as Manny hits into a double-play. I guess that's the give and take with Manny. He hits, but he's slow and hits into double-plays.

Bottom 1 (LAD 0 - CHC 0)
Soriano starts off by ... guess ... striking out. The announcers say that Pinella wants Fukudome in for defense, so why is he hitting second? Continuing his slump, Fukudome hits a grounder to Loney for the second out. Derrek Lee follows with walk, and the Cubs are showing early that Lowe is going to have to throw strikes for them to swing. Then, Aramis grounds out to third to end the inning. From the first inning, it seems as though Lowe is going to have a much more difficult time.

T 2 (LAD 0 - CHC 0)
Ethier starts off the inning with another walk, but even though these are supposed to hurt, it doesn't hurt Dempster. Loney popped out to second. Kemp hit it farther and in the same direction, but it was caught. DeWitt came up and hit a lazy fly ball to end the inning. I guess we're going to have to settle into another low-scoring game. I don't mind, but I know some do.

B 2 (LAD 0 - CHC 2) --> Cubs score 2
Soto grounded out to start the inning. Edmonds followed by still being his effective self when he lined one just over (and off) Furcal's glove into left-center. DeRosa then hits one just inside the right field foul pole to make it 2-0. DeRosa is one of those guys you don't hear about, but he just does his job (I realize he got a lot of All-Star votes, but I think that had to do with him playing in Chicago). The Riot came up and sat back down after looking at strike three. At this point, it seems as though Lowe is a little frustrated with the umpire. He's thrown some good pitches low and away, but they're maybe a little off. He's not getting the call. Anyway, Dempster lined one into left for a hit before Soriano could harmlessly pop/fly out to Furcal in short left.

T 3 (LAD 0 - CHC 2)
In one of the most awkward plays I've seen, Blake hits one foul down the right field line, and Fukudome comes in, slips down the bullpen mound, reaches back, and still makes the catch. Pinella's genius at work. Even weirder, Dempster walked Lowe (making the two pitchers have a 1.000 OBP), and to make things worse, he walked Furcal. He's getting up there in pitches, and it doesn't seem as though either pitcher will get through to the eighth unless they get in a groove. Both don't have their command. As evidence, he gets one up to Martin, who hits it all the way to the fence before Soriano runs it down for out number two. Manny comes up and hits one into the hole. Theriot dives and catches it, but he can't throw out a hustling Manny (geez, that guy always gives it his all, doesn't he?). Ethier works a full count, but he strikes out to end the threat. The Dodgers simply can't do this if they want to win.

B 3 (LAD 0 - CHC 2)
Fukudome grounded out to second. Lee then batted one into left for a hit. Lowe then does what he does best by getting Ramirez to hit into a double-play.

T 4 (LAD 0 - CHC 2)
James Loney flied out to left to start things off. Kemp followed by grounding out to third. DeWitt blooped it into center for a hit. Then, Blake lasered one at the Gold Glover Lee. Usually when you do that, you get out. And ... Blake did. Inning over. I guess they're getting it back.

B 4 (LAD 0 - CHC 2)
Soto lines out to center to begin the inning. The offenses are starting to hit the ball harder. I think we'll see some runs in the next few innings. As soon as I say that, Edmonds strikes out. My faith is restored. DeRosa strokes one into center, and then Theriot hits it through the hole on the right. Dempster then ends the inning by swinging at a pitch outside the other batter's box. It didn't even start over the plate. I guess that's what you get with a pitcher.

T 5 (LAD 4 - CHC 2) --> Dodgers score four
Lowe grounds out to begin the inning. Dempster then walks guy number ... five in Furcal (his second). Martin follows with a fly out to right. Then, walk six happens as Ramirez works a bizillion-pitch walk. Dempster will eclipse 100 pitches this inning, and the bullpen will have to come in next inning. I see that being a bad thing. Walk seven as Ethier (I keep typing in Either) loads the bases. Samardzija and Marshall are up in the bullpen. Uh oh, Dempster leaves one up and Loney jacks it over the center-field wall. I thought Lowe's low number of walks would benefit them, but I didn't think Dempster would walk this many. Next, Kemp lines one in the left-center gap for a double, and they come to get Dempster. Sean Marshall comes in and ends the Cubs' misery for now by striking out DeWitt. Here's the Curse.

B 5 (LAD 4 - CHC 2)
Soriano swings and misses another terrible pitch for out number one. Fukudome then laces one at Blake that leaves laces in Blake's chest, and the ball skips away for a single. Lowe then does what he does best and gets another double play from Lee. Lowe only has 80 pitches, so he should be able to get through seven, and then it's Broxton and Saito.

T 6 (LAD 4 - CHC 2)
Blake hits it fairly hard down the first base line to start off the inning, but Lee gets to it and gets the out. Is it unfair that he's that tall and coordinated? Inexplicably, Marshall then walks Lowe (who now has 2 walks). Jason Marquis is now up in the bullpen. Does anyone think he's really a better option? In response, Marshall strikes out Furcal after falling behind 3-0. Now, Samardzija's back up. That would be better unless his command is still off (6 BB in last 4 1/3 IP). Nevermind. Martin gets a meat pitch and hits it right at Soriano for out number three. The Dodgers have two lefties coming up in Ethier and Loney, so I expect Cotts to get up and replace Marquis.

B 6 (LAD 4 - CHC 2)
Aramis Ramirez stats out the inning with a double. Soto strikes out swinging. This is the worst thing about baseball: the frustration. PUT THE BAT ON THE BALL AND AT LEAST MOVE THE RUNNER OVER. Sorry, but when Edmonds grounded out to second, the game would be 4-3. DeRosa then flies out to right to end the inning. See.

T 7 (LAD 5 - CHC 2) --> Dodgers score 1
Manny takes Marshall Y-A-R-D. That was a hard hit ball. Ethier follows up the majestic blast with one of his own ... to second base and an out. Loney then strikes out. This is kinda weird watching other managers and their use of the bullpen. By the way, Marshall strikes out Kemp to end the inning. Anyway, if this was a Braves game, Cox would have used a righty to face Ramirez, and then Ohman would have pitched his 120th game to get Ethier and Loney. Better or worse I don't know, but I think it's interesting nonetheless. Personally, I like Pinella's thinking better, but I called Cotts based on Cox's thinking not Pinella's.

B 7 (LAD 5 - CHC 2)
Lowe's out, Cory Wade in (2.27 ERA in 71.1 IP). I like this as it saves Lowe for a potential Game 4 start (94 pitches tonight). He could have gotten another inning, but why when you have a good bullpen? While I'm writing that, Theriot grounds out to Loney. Mike Fontenot hits for Marshall and gets a single. Wade then jams Soriano for out number 2. The difference between Furcal and Soriano? Furcal has two walks to Soriano's 0-for-4. Anyway, Fukudome continues to be pretty useless (he did have a nice grab and hit earlier, but still) by striking out on a nasty curveball (can we come up with a new word for nasty that pertains to pitches?) in the dirt. Wade has a great curveball and abused the Cubs with it. On to Broxton and Saito.

T 8 (LAD 6 - CHC 2) --> Dodgers score 1
Samardzija's in after throwing for about 8 innings. DeWitt introduces himself with a triple over Edmonds' head in center. You know how far Edmonds has fallen when ... Scratch that, make it a double and error on Edmonds. I'm not sure how much of an error it was, but it hurts anyway as Blake hits one up the middle for a single and RBI. Jeff Kent in to pinch-hit as the bullpen continues to leak. Kent hits into the usual 4-3-6 double-play. No, that wasn't a misprint. Kent hit it to DeRosa, Blake stopped before being tagged, DeRosa threw it to first, and then Lee threw it to Theriot to tag Blake out sliding into second. Furcal takes a healthy swing, but it falls into Soriano's glove at the track (Churchill Downs).

B 8 (LAD 6 - CHC 2)
Broxton came in. What a shock. He gets Lee to ground out harmlessly to Furcal. Aramis Ramirez flies out to right for the second out. Soto works a walk. Then, Broxton dumbly throws Edmonds a high fastball, and Edmonds hits it way back ... way back and ... into Kemp's glove right at the track. But seriously, what makes Broxton think it was a good idea to throw him a high fastball? He's a high fastball hitter. Oh well, it doesn't hurt this time, but he'll remember that tomorrow. Now, we're on to Saito, but is it the good Saito or the recovering one? I guess we'll find out. Actually, it may be best to just put in Beimel or Park.

T 9 (LAD 7 - CHC 2) --> Dodgers score 1
He's been hitting it hard all night, and this time, Martin gets it all and hits it out. I think the game's over, and they should probably (definitely) not put Saito in. Actually, it may be good to put him in to see what he's got for the rest of the series. I'll let Torre decide. Oh, Marquis came in at the beginning of the inning. That explains the home run. My uncle is probably screaming at/breaking the TV at the moment. Well, this is cute. Maddux is now up in the bullpen. I guess this means that Kershaw could get a start. Manny takes his worst at-bat of the night by striking out on a bad slider low and off the plate. Ethier tries to add to the score, but Edmonds catches it on the track. Loney hits an easy grounder to DeRosa, and Maddux trots in to finish the game.

B 9 (LAD 7 - CHC 2)
DeRosa grounds out to short to start the inning. Theriot rips one off the top of Loney's glove and DeWitt tries to throw it to Maddux for the out, but Theriot beats it out. He then takes second (defensive indifference). Loney catches Daryle Ward's grounder and steps on first. Two down. Is it sad that Maddux has essentially become a mop-up reliever? Soriano is jammed and Loney catches the pop up to end it.

That game wasn't extremely exciting unless you're a Dodgers fan. Lowe recovered from initially not getting some calls, but Dempster didn't and walked 7. Walks will kill you, and they finally caught up with him in the fifth. Then, the Cubs bullpen gave up 3 runs in a little more than 4 IP. Marmol and Wood didn't come in, and other than them, there really aren't any sure bets in the Cubs bullpen, especially when you bring out Marquis. Anyway, the Dodgers showed why they're the hot pick to beat the Cubs. They were ready and showed resillience coming back after going down 2-0. There were a lot of young guys starting for them tonight, but they played much better than that. Loney hit a grand slam, DeWitt hit a key triple, and Martin hit a homer. Great night for the Dodgers. The nice thing for the Cubs is that they have Zambrano and Harden coming up. Too bad the Dodgers have Billingsley, Kuroda, and a 1-0 lead.