Ryu, Gonzo Lead Attack, Dodgers Pound Snakes 6-0

Dodgers  6 10 0

Dbacks    0 2 0

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No matter how bad things get for your team, and no matter how frustrating your team can make your Baseball life, there is always another team way worse off than the one you root for. The Arizona Dbacks are a perfect example. Just imagine being a Dbacks fan for a minute, and then thank the lord that you’re not.

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The club lost their ace pitcher and set-up man. Their team bus broke down in Australia, and the club didn’t arrive in town last night until 2:45 AM after their extra inning win over the Giants the night before. Not to mention the club plays their home games in a stadium that looks like an airplane hangar. The club is still entrenched in last place with a 4-8 record, and their horrendous start to the season couldn’t have happened to a more deserving club.

The Dbacks aren’t hard to beat these days, As long as you pitch around Paul Goldschmidt, the rest of their mediocre sluggers install fear into nobody. Without ace Patrick Corbin, the club is armless, and the rest of their pitchers are ineffective.

The Snakes have looked like zombies in the three games the Dodgers have played them, all wins, and tonight’s 6-0 drubbing was the third straight win this year.

The question is, do you feel any sympathy at all for the Dbacks and their fans? Answer, you shouldn’t. Should the Dodgers not take advantage of this situation, and pound the Snakes into oblivion? You better believe they should attack.

So I have no sympathy when I say that the Dodgers wiped the floor with the Dbacks tonight. Starting pitcher Hyun-jin Ryu tossed seven shutout innings to pick up the win. Ryu made 99 pitches while allowing just two hits, with one walk, and eight whiffs. He was utterly dominating. When the Dodgers give him adequate rest, he pitches like an all-star. I guess he’s not himself when he’s fatigued. Then again, who is?

Do you think Ryu feels guilty at all for destroying the Dbacks again? Don’t think so. Do you think Adrian Gonzalez feels any guilt in his five runs batted in on the night? Not a chance. The powerful first baseman hit a two-run home run in the first, and then had a two-run single in the third, which gave the Dodgers a 4-0 lead at the time. Gonzalez now has 82 career runs driven in against the Snakes, which makes him the current leader.

Dee Gordon had two hits, which gave him his fifth multi-hit game already this year, and Hanley had three hits as well, as the Dodgers scored twice in the first, third, and eighth frames. Puig returned to the lineup, recovered from his injured thumb, and had a double and scored twice.

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Opposing starter Brandon McCarthy, the tall lanky right hander was knocked around for six earned runs on ten hits in seven innings to take the loss.

I don’t feel one iota of sympathy for the Dbacks or their fans. Not one. For all of the Snake’s smack-talking, brawl instigations, and fake drama created, the club is getting a huge serving of Karma right now. So don’t ever feel sorry for the Dbacks. They deserve their fate more than most teams. Let’s just hope the Dodgers keep kicking them when theyre down, and complete a nice clean sweep before moving on to San Francisco to battle the Giants. Now here’s the recap from what was a very enjoyable game.

The Dodgers get on the board early in the top of the first with two runs with two outs. Brandon McCarthy initially starts out well by getting Carl Crawford to chase and whiff on a rising fastball. Yasiel Puig grounds out for the second out. Hanley Ramirez drills a single to center, and Adrian Gonzalez follows with a booming home run into the right field seats to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. Andre Ethier’s sinking liner is smothered and caught by a diving Gerardo Parra.

Hyun-jin Ryu starts out by issuing a lead-off walk to A.J. Pollack. Aaron Hill grounds into a force out, but the Dodgers flub the chance for a double play because Juan Uribe double clutched the throw. With a runner at first, Paul Goldschmidt whiffs swinging, and Martin Prado’s chopper to the hole at short ends the frame.

Uribe’s chopper to Martin Prado is the first out in the top of the second. Tim Federowicz grounds out, and Dee Gordon reaches on a line drive single off of Hill’s glove. So with Gordon at second and two outs, the Dodgers at least get Ryu’s at-bat out of the way. Although Ryu is a good hitting pitcher, as we’ve seen before. But Ryu’s soft liner is caught by Goldschmidt.

The Snakes get a lead-off single from Miguel Montero in the bottom of the second, but leave him stranded, as Ryu whiffs Mark Trumbo, and gets consecutive fly outs from Chris Owings, and Parra.

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Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

In the top of the third, Crawford singles to right, and is forced at second when Puig scorches a smash to Hill. The second baseman was only able to knock it down and fire to second just in time. But now McCarthy has to deal with Hanley, so he’s far from out of the woods. Hanley slices a double inside the left field line, and Puig races into third. Gonzo follows by banging a single to right, that plates both Hanley and Puig, to put the Dodgers up 4-0.

Arizona has a meeting on the mound with McCarthy, but it doesn’t help much as he walks Ethier. But Uribe grounds into an inning endings double play that gets the Dbacks out of the inning.

Ryu retires the side in order in the bottom of the third. McCarthy, and Hill are whiffed, and Pollack flies out to right.

McCarthy returns the favor by retiring the Dodgers 123 in the top of the fourth inning. In the bottom of the fourth Goldschmidt’s long drive to center is the first out. Uribe makes a great bare handed play on Prado’s dribbler for the second out. Montero singles, but Ryu gets Trumbo to fly out to Puig to end the frame. Dodgers lead 4-0 after four. Ryu breezes through the fifth inning, picking up two more whiffs along the way.

Skip ahead to the top of the sixth, as Gonzo is robbed of his third hit on a great diving play by Goldschmidt. Ethier and Uribe ground out, and McCarthy has now retired ten in a row. But is it too little too late for the Snakes?

After Ryu disposes the Snakes in order in the bottom of the sixth, the Dodgers break McCarthy’s string of ten consecutive batters retired when Gordon leads-off the top of the seventh, by chopping a single up the middle, which is his second hit of the night. Gordon then steals second. Gordon now has five steals on the season already. Ryu’s grounds advances Gordon to third. With two outs it’s up to Crawford to pick him up. But he grounds out to end the frame, leaving Gordon stranded at third.

Ryu gets Prado to ground back to the box in the bottom of the seventh. Montero grounds to first, and Ryu whiffs Trumbo for his eighth whiff of the game. That’s ten in a row now for Ryu, who is now on cruise control.

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Puig opens up the eighth with a line drive double into the left field corner. Then Hanley immediately doubles in Puig, to put the Dodgers ahead 5-0. Gonzo slaps a single to left to score Hanley, and now the Dodgers have a comfortable 6-0 lead. Kirk Gibons finally comes out to remove McCarthy, and goes to the bullpen to bring in right hander Will Harris. He restored order, getting Ethier to whiff and Uribe to ground into a double play.

Reliever Jamey Wright came in to relieve Ryu and only whiffed the side in the bottom of the eighth. Owings, Parra, and Tony Campana all go down on strikes.

The Dodgers don’t score in the top of the ninth, and we move to the bottom of the ninth. Wright stays in to finish it off, but starts out shaky by walking lead-off hitter Pollack. Hill flies out to left for the first out. Wright gets Goldschmidt to ground into a game ending around the horn double play. The Dodgers win 6-0! The club also shuts out the Dbacks in AZ for the first time since 2003. This was such a one-sided affair, that no Dback hitter reached second base. Their only hits, were two singles from Montero. The Dodgers had ten hits and were 3 for 6 with runners in scoring position.

Now is not the time for the Dodgers to let up. You never want to let your enemy get up off the floor. Now is the time to kick the downtrodden snakes when they are down.

The Dodgers will try to do just that as they go for the series win tomorrow night at 5:40 PM. Zack Greinke will counter Wade Miley in game two.