Let me just say thank goodness for Andre Ethier and his two wonderful swings. Without him, the Dodgers are looking at a four-game sweep at home against the Phillies, and instead of being 5-5 in their last 10, they'd be 3-7.
Right now I feel like the Dodgers are treading water. They aren't scoring runs, they go completely dormant for innings at a time and at this point I feel like the Phillies are the better team. Sure, the Dodgers have the best record, but that entire four-game series I felt like the Dodgers were holding off a giant Philly attack the whole time.
It felt like every inning was a pressure inning, and most of the time they would survive and look to counterattack a little.
It just didn't feel like two heavyweights duking it out.
The Dodgers scored just nine runs in the four games, got outscored 16-9 and didn't seem to have good swings against anyone on the Phillies staff other than Brad Lidge.
Cole Hamels shutting you out is one thing, but to not score runs of Jamie Moyer, Joe Blanton and Antonio Bastardo is a bad thing.
These are the two best teams in the National League, for sure, and I have a hard time imagining they won't be seeing each other again in October. Let's just hope the Dodgers can keep the league's best record and maintain home field.
Right now the Dodgers are 18-12 without Manny Ramirez, which is fine, but I think his absence is being exploited. The team isn't drawing as many walks, they obviously aren't hitting very many home runs and Juan Pierre is really cooling down, especially with runners on base.
All these factors are equaling a slump.
I too got the feeling that the Phillies were like the big bully and the Dodgers were just trying to hold them off and get a few licks in. I think the Dodgers offense will get rolling again and they'll be the bully of the NL playoffs.
Dodgers are beating up on the bad teams and arent overbearing on NL contenders, however give Kuroda some more quality starts (his arm looks fine 94mph) and for god sakes get 1-2 quality relievers (maybe J. Walker although Leach is looking better) to add to Troncoso and Belessario.
Whats Manny going to be like when he gets back? I was talking to a friend of mine and he thinks Manny could pull a Rafael Palmeiro and disappear like a fart in the wind. Could be possible? But if that happens back to looking for a bat at the trade deadline. One more stud starter would seal the deal for a repeat of a NLCS bid.
i think one more stud starter is what we need...with leach coming around and the three solid guys in the bullpen, we are good enough there...a veteran later would be fine...but a starter now...i think manny will be fine...
It was good to see Manny release a statement...although it was pretty weak, but it outlined his gameplan for when he comes back..."its in the past"