Dodgers 1 Pirates 6: Two Game Losing Streak

The Dodgers drop game two to the Pirates and struggle offensively again.

Things were a little shaky off the bat for Kenta Maeda. Maeda walked the first batter he faced on four pitches and then threw a wild pitch, but he was able to work his way out of the jam. Maeda finished the night after five innings of work. He allowed four hits, four earned runs, struck out four batters and walked two. Andrew McCutchen was Maeda’s kryptonite this evening. McCutchen got the Pirates on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning when he sent a hanging breaking ball into the left field seats. The Pirates would not score again until the sixth inning when McCutchen hit another bomb over the fence, but this time it was a three run shot.

The Dodgers would score their one and only run in the top of the sixth inning when Scott Van Slyke doubled and A.J Ellis doubled right behind him. SVS’s double broke up Jeff Locke’s perfect game that he had going. Before that Locke had faced the minimum batters and shut down the Dodgers offense. Sadly the Dodgers could not manage to score any more in the inning.

Joe Blanton entered the game in the sixth inning when Dave Roberts pulled Maeda. Blanton could not stop the Pirates offense either. He surrendered a two run home run to Jordy Mercer that put the Pirates ahead by a score of 6 to 1.

The Dodgers simply could not battle back after the Pirates scored five in the sixth. It was not like they did not have the opportunity. Ellis led off the eighth inning with a single and Howie Kendrick followed with a double. With two runners on and no outs, the Dodgers would then strike out three consecutive times to end the inning. So they seemed to be able to get on base, just not home.

After the sixth inning Blanton went into the dugout and punched the Gatorade cooler multiple times only to pick it up and throw it on the ground in rage. That whole encounter sorta felt like what watching this game was like as a Dodger fan.

What is most frustrating about this is for the second day in a row the Dodgers fall to a team with a pretty bad record. The Pirates are only 36-39. They have gone through long losing streaks all season. Before facing the Giants they had lost five straight games and they are only 3-7 in their last 10 games. This should be a team where the Dodgers capitalize against and get a few more wins to climb up in the division. Instead, they cannot seem to get a lead on the team. It is crazy to me that the Dodgers can play great against the Nationals, who are playing great baseball, but fall to the Pirates. Baseball is weird.

The Dodgers look to avoid the sweep tomorrow, but Clayton Kershaw will be on the mound.. thank goodness.