Dodgers Try To Avoid Embarrassing Sweep at Home

Dodgers Lineup vs. Colorado

Jeff Francis-3-4 vs. Chad Billingsley-7-9

The Dodgers don’t have a quality major league offense, heck they don’t even have a quality little league caliber offense. It’s pathetic is what it is. The Dodgers have scored just one lone run against the worst pitching staff in Baseball for the past two games, and must win tonight to avoid being swept at home by the lowly last place Colorado Rockies.

It doesn’t really matter who the opposing team sends to the mound, because the Dodgers don’t score any runs. The Dodgers don’t hit home runs, they don’t get on base, and they don’t get hits. That’s why they have not been winning games. I know, I know I am being negative right now, but can you blame me? Here is the real deal, I just don’t see a playoff team this year. The Dodgers have had a lot of chances to get back into first place and haven’t been able to do it because of the lousy offense.

It’s not like the Giants have been playing real well, they have been playing mediocre ball at best. It’s unlikely the Dodgers will win the wild card with so much competitiveness in the league. Their only chance is to win the division. Maybe they will, but if they don’t start hitting right now they won’t.  Want to know why the Dodgers will more than likely be playing golf this October? Take a look at the following team stats below.

Batting Average- ranked 22nd-.247

Home runs-ranked 29th-67

OPS- ranked tied for 29th-.677

There you have it. The Dodgers rank at the bottom of the league in just about every single offensive category. The Giants don’t have a good offense either, but they rank 11th in batting with a .262 team average. The Dodgers can’t even get guys on base. The truth is, half the position player roster needs to be purged, but that can’t be done until the off-season. The new ownership has a lot of work to do to rebuild the roster into a championship caliber team. You can’t win a championship if you don’t score runs. You HAVE to score runs to win ball games. Not to mention the Dodgers have sucked for weeks now. Hey I’m sorry, but what do you want me to say? I’m not as optimistic as Kenny is. The Dodgers are 5-14 at home since the all-star break, and have won just one series at home in the second half. Since the Dodgers started the season at 42-25, they have gone a disgusting 17-27 since then. Does this look like a playoff team to anyone? No of coarse not. There are no more white horses at the Dodger’s door, there are no more additions expected. This is the team. Hanley Ramirez, and Shane Victorino should help, but haven’t been contributing much since joining. The two most important players are Matt Kemp, and Andre Ethier. Thos are the two guys that have to carry the offense if the Dodgers are going to have any chance at the playoffs. The lineup revolves around those two players, as they are the catalysts for the offense, and right now neither of them are hitting. They have got to start hitting. I have seen many Dodger teams fall flat on their faces in the second half because of non-existent offense, so this is no surprise to me. I am numb to the ohfers now, I just expect them. The Dodgers are close to being a playoff team with their generally solid pitching staff, but you can’t win with only two hitters. (ok three with AJ). A wild card seems out of the question, but the division is still within grabs. I see an 84-86 win team tops. Is that enough to win the division? Possibly, but I think the remaining nine head to head games with the Giants will determine that.

The Dodgers will face the next journeyman who will more than likely shut them out. Lefty Jeff Francis. The Rockies resigned him in mid-season because he was desperate, but not like it takes much to shut down the Dodgers anyways, I mean my grandma could shut them down on four hits.

Francis was predictably terrible last week, serving up six runs and nine hits against the Giants in just 3.2 innings. Francis is 3-4 with a 6.02 ERA against the league, and against the Dodgers he is 5-4 with a 3.33 ERA and 70 whiffs. Francis has only walked ten batters all season, so don’t expect him to walk many Dodgers tonight. Matt Kemp has clobbered Francis in the past. Kemp is batting .357 (10 for 28), with two home runs and eight RBI against Francis. Andre Ethier is .273 (6 for 22), with a triple. Jerry Hairston is 6 for 22 with a double. The Dodgers are hitting .256 31 for 121 off of Francis. The big left hander has 59 wins as a Rockie, and can move into sole possession of second place on the all-time Rockie’s win list. Aaron Cook is the leader with 72 wins.

The Dodgers will counter with righty Chad Billingsley. Our normally inconsistent starter, has been anything but in his last two starts. Since returning from the DL with a sore elbow, Bills has been pounding the strike zone, and the results are very good. In his last three starts Bills has only allowed two runs in those 20.2 innings. Before then he had lost his last five decisions.

Bills is 7-9 with a 3.74 ERA. Against Colorado he is 3-7 with a 5.24 ERA, and 72 whiffs. I think those numbers are Coors Field inflated. Bills will have to pitch around Cargo again. The righty has terrorized Bills in the past to the tune of a .556 avg, (10 for 18), with a double, a triple, and a home run, and five RBI. Remember the Rockies are without Todd Helton who is out for the year with a hip injury, and Troy Tulowitzki, so losing the first two games is pretty pathetic. However getting swept would be embarrassing.

Tune in tonight at 7PM, on Prime Ticket to watch the last game of the homestand. The Dodgers are only 3-5 on this current homestand. We’ll have our detailed post-game recap after the game, no matter how pathetically our Dodgers lose. Remember guys, we have to have patience, if this isn’t our year, I’m ok with that, but roster cuts have to happen sooner or later. The team can’t continue with a roster full of guys who can’t hit. (Kemp, Ethier, and AJ Ellis the exception). Adam Kennedy is due to come off the DL on Friday. Will the Dodgers finally cut the worthless Juan Uribe? The Dodgers are off tomorrow, and then begin a ten game road trip, with the first stop in Miami, as Hanley Ramirez will play in his former ball park. That should be fun. Well anyways, Go Blue.