Road Warrior Dodgers Go For 16th Consecutive Road Win Behind Kershaw In Game Two

Dodgers Lineup vs. Cardinals

Crawford 7 M.Ellis 4 Gonzalez 3 Puig 9 Ethier 8 A.J. Ellis 2 Uribe 5 Punto 6 Kershaw 1

Clayton Kershaw-10-6 vs. Joe Kelly-2-3

As the road warrior Dodgers begin game two of their four game series with the Cardinals. At Busch Stadium in St. Louis with the MLB PED/Biogenesis investigation as a backdrop, the Dodgers prepare for their 16 consecutive road win.

MLB continues with its investigation into the PED usage of several big name players. MLB has handed out suspensions to about 15 players on the “you’re an idiot for doing juice” list. MLB will go on with their own special brand of Bud anti-PED justice as they collect evidence, speak with witnesses and build their cases against Alex Rodriguez, and the rest of the players that have been linked to the Biogenesis clinic. And it’s all sooooooo boring. I mean I don’t think I have ever seen anything more boring in my life than this MLB investigation, and suspensions. I’m all for banning these juicers, but man could the MLB like spice things up a bit? Throw in Johnny Cochran for some entertainment purposes? We couldn’t escape this borefest, even during the Dodger game last night.

Kershaw will look to keep the Dodgers streak alive, but he’ll need some run support-Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Fortunately tonight’s Dodger game is back on KCAL 9, so we won’t have to put up with that stuff. Unfortunately KCAL 9 is still in the dark throughout Los Angeles for Time Warner customers. So if you have TWC and live in the LA area, you may have to make other arrangements to watch the game.

Last night’s game was a taught nervous match, with the Dodgers pulling out a thriller, beating the Cardinals 3-2. The Dodgers were down 1-0 early, but found a way to win, they usually do. There was an RBI broken bat single from Ethier, an amazing relay to the plate from Yasiel Puig to Nick Punto to A.J. Ellis to cut down Allen Craig at the plate in the fifth inning. That was the third out, and a huge play in the game. The Dodger bullpen was outstanding again, and then there was Zack Greinke. Good lord was there Zack Greinke.

I haven’t really talked about him much on here, but that’s because he just quietly does a great job. He pitched 5.1 innings of two-run ball against a good hitting team. He whiffed five and also added an RBI single with the bat in the seventh inning. That was the decisive run of the game. Greinke is not only pitching great, but he does a lot of other things well. He has perfect pitching mechanics which allow him to be a great fielder. He lays down bunts well, and he’s a great hitter. Greinke lead the ML in hitting for pitchers. Birdman is hitting .405 (15 for 37) with three RBI, and four walks. I don’t know if Greinke is worth the entire 147 million dollars he was given this offseason, but I can tell you that he has been a very important part of the Dodger’s success this season.

Another shoutout should go to Nick Punto as well. I know we’ve heard a lot of people make fun of him because of his head first slides or whatever, but the guy has done a very commendable job filling in It seems when he is in the lineup he’s fine. Punto had a key double in the seventh inning last night, scored on Greinke’s hit, and made a great relay throw to the plate. And of course, the bullpen has been spectacular.

In tonight’s affair, Clayton Kershaw will go up against right hander Joe Kelly. Kershaw is coming off another terrific outing (against the Yankees) in which he was given no run support. That has got to change tonight with a spot starter on the mound. Kershaw is 10-6 with a MLB leading 1.87 ERA. As long as his ERA stays below 2.00 then I have no reason to throw a tantrum. Kershaw has whiffed 161 and walked 35. He leads the league in WHIP, ERA, BAA, hits per nine allowed, and ERA+ (191).

Joe Kelly-Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Kershaw has had his troubles against the Red Birds in the past. Kershaw is 4-4 with a 3.84 ERA in eleven games versus the Cardinals. The Red Birds are tough. At Busch Stadium, Kershaw is 2-2 with a 3.77 ERA in five starts. What have the Cardinals done against Kershaw in the past? You can check that out below.

RBI

OBP

SLG

Matt Holliday

.300

.475

.433

Carlos Beltran

.211

.273

.316

Allen Craig

.286

.267

.500

David Freese

.231

.267

.308

Adam Wainwright

.333

.500

Matt Carpenter

.222

Daniel Descalso

.500

.667

.500

Jon Jay

.000

Rob Johnson

.000

Pete Kozma

1.000

1.667

Shelby Miller

.000

Jake Westbrook

.000

Tony Cruz

.000

Total

132

110

.264

.354

.382

The Cardinals will counter with Joe Kelly. The 25 year old right hander from Anaheim, is making his sixth start of the season due to injuries in the Cardinal’s rotation, but I think he impressed enough to keep himself in the rotation. From what I heard, he replaced Lance Lynn, who was moved to the bullpen. Kelly besides being a local boy is a spot starter/long man. Kelly in his second season has posted a 2-3 record, 3.10 ERA in 26 games. In 61 innings Kelly has allowed seven home runs, and 22 walks. He’s whiffed just 45 though. He was actually a converted pitcher out of high school.

He was trouble during his last August 1 at Pittsburgh, in which he threw six shutout frames, picking up his second win of the season. He’s appeared against the Dodgers three times, and made two starts. He is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA versus the Dodgers. The Dodgers haven’t seen much of him, but check out what they’ve managed to do against Kelly.

RBI

OBP

SLG

Hanley Ramirez

.286

.375

.429

A.J. Ellis

.000

Andre Ethier

.333

1.000

Mark Ellis

.000

.200

.000

Adrian Gonzalez

.750

1.750

Nick Punto

.750

1.000

Dee Gordon

.500

Chris Capuano

.000

Total

.324

.361

.618

The Dodgers have been playing some amazing Baseball. The club is 32-7 over their last 39 games, which is a club record during a stretch of that many games. The Dodgers have won 15 consecutive road games. That is a new franchise record, and the team is going for the all time ML record. The Dodgers have made up 15 games in the standings since June 22. They haven’t lost a series since middle of June, going 9-0-4 in those series. The Dodgers haven’t lost consecutive games since June 21, and have gone 15-2 since the all-star break. 15-2! This is incredible. The club is now six full games in front of Arizona with a 62-49 record. I was worried about last night’s game. That was the toughest game of the series with Wainwright on the mound, and the Dodgers still won. We have some more tough games ahead when we get home and play Tampa Bay, so things won’t get any easier.

Last night’s exciting win left Red Bird rants singing the Blues. The Dodger Blues that is. I can understand the frustration, but seriously the Cardinals are 19 games above .500, so something tells me they’re going to be alright. One more thing that just came in. The Giants have signed Ted Lilly. This is not a joke. WHat a hilarious turnabout. We sign Wilson, and they turn around and sign Lilly. Revenge? Or desperation. I’ll choose the latter. Have a laugh!

Anyways, you can catch the game at 5:15 PM, and then catch our daily Dodger recap over here after the game. Both Stacie and I have Time Warner so bear with us tonight. If you have Time Warner too, then I am sorry. You have no idea the MacGyver like setup I have to use so Stacie can watch and cover the game tonight. Thank god we won’t have to put up with this until the next KCAL game in a week. Enjoy the game. Go Blue!

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