Lindsey's First At Bat, Dodgers 6th Straight Loss

Dodgers    2 4 0
Astros       3 7 1
W-Norris  7-8
L-Lilly      8-10
S-Lyon     (14)
HR-Ethier (21)
HR-Johnson (8)

Stop the presses! In the bottom of the 8th inning, Broxton's Walkapalooza begins with a free pass to Bourgeois who is thrown out by A.J. Ellis while attempting to steal second! This is the first runner thrown out by a Dodger catcher since Russell Martin in July.

The first inning started out slightly better than normal when Jamey Carroll reached base on an error, and then Andre Ethier blasted a 2 run homerun off of Bud Norris. Ted Lilly took a shutout into the 6th inning when Chris Johnson shot a 3 run homer on a 3-2 count. The Dodgers once again left as many men on base as they could throughout the game. In the fifth inning Pod lead off with a double. Carroll struck out, Ethier walked, Loney struck out, and then of course the new guy Mitchell flies out to leave Pod stranded. I'm afraid the Dodger's total lack of offense has already rubbed off on the new guys. Lilly went 6 innings with 6 strikeouts, 2 walks, and 3 ERs. Johnson went 6 innings striking out 7, walking 4, and giving up 1 ER. In the seventh the Dodgers had another opportunity when Chacin came in to relieve Norris. Pod walked, Carroll singles, and Ethier walks to load the bases. Loney then hits a weak pop-up and Gibbons who is sent in to pinch-hit for Mitchell grounds out to end the inning. The 8th inning was the icing on this sad cake of a game. After Melancon walks Theriot he is called out on catcher interference by Blake who strikes out at the plate creating a inning ending double play. Just our luck. Kenley Jansen, who has been pitching very well, had a 1-2-3 8th inning with two strikeouts. Brandon Lyon then pitches a 1-2-3 ninth inning to pick up his 14th save.

John Lindsey finally had an at-bat in the 7th inning as a pinch hitter against Chacin. He flied out to center field. Hopefully he will get a start in this series.

In other news, I was very frightened when I read this:
Should Joe Torre return for a fourth season as Dodgers manager in 2011, he said on Thursday that a lot of work will have to be done in the offseason concerning the players' mind-set.
What this means is Torre may be thinking about returning next season *shudder* 

The Dodgers now fall to 3 games below .500. Tomorrow Hiroki Kuroda takes the mound in game 2. See you this weekend, Go Blue:)