Dodgers complete sweep of Cardinals even without Kemp for best record in baseball (5/12)
Dodger Stadium – Sunday, May 20, 2012
Dodgers Sweep Cards with Bench Play
How do the Dodgers keep doing it? Their best player Kemp is on the DL, Mark Ellis just joined him and their most inconsistent pitcher, Billingsley, is on the mound against the formidable bats of the Cardinals. Could it be today’s solar eclipse, the first one in the U.S. over the past 18 years? That would be the easy explanation, but it’s more complicated than that. We are seeing perfect chemistry – exceptional managing, supportive new ownership, new life emerging from veterans that many would consider on the way out and, most importantly, incredible bench play from guys like Herrera and Van Slyke.
The Dodgers swept the Cardinals Sunday evening in front of a Dodger Stadium crowd of 44,005 with a final score of 6 – 5. Billingsley struggled early with his curve ball and the bright sunlight in his eyes through the 2nd inning, but the Dodgers figured out a way to score early, a first inning RBI single by Ethier, and be the first ones on the scoreboard – a trend we are seeing with nearly half of their games to date. The Dodgers would score another run in the fourth inning when Loney hit into a bases loaded double play with no outs scoring Abreu. The most tenured (active) Dodger, James Loney, blew the Dodgers’ best chance to run up the score leaving the Dodgers with a weak 2 – 0 lead at the end of the fourth.
The Cardinals finally rattled Billingsley in the top of the 5th when they added 3 runs and took a 5 – 2 lead. Schumaker tripled to deep right scoring Descalso and Furcal followed by Beltran’s RBI when he grounded into a fielder’s choice scoring Schumaker. Billingsley would give up two more runs in the 6th when Furcal singled in Adams and Descalso – (Adams made his MLB debut with a single in the 2nd on his very first pitch ending the night going 2 – 4 with one run).
Kyle Lohse gave up an RBI single off of Loney before being replaced by reliever Marte with a 5 – 3 Cardinals’ lead, but it wasn’t until Rzepczynski relieved Marte in the 7th that Dodgers fans witnessed something special. With Herrera and Abreu on base with 2 outs, Mattingly calls on Van Slyke to hit in place of veteran Kennedy. On a 3 – 0 count, Van Slyke pinch-hit his first career homerun, a shot into the left field pavilion, completing the Dodgers rally with a 6 – 5 lead.
Kenley Jansen, coming off a blown save on Friday, put down the Cardinals 1-2-3 in the ninth inning for his fifth save. The win improved the Dodgers record to 28 – 13, the best in Major League Baseball.