July Begins on a Winning Note

Dodgers 5 13 0
Angels   0  6 1
WP- Kuroda (6-9)
LP- Chatwood (5-5)

Hiroki Kuroda's luck finally changes, and his teammates get him an unheard of 5 runs as the Dodgers shut-out the Angels at home in game 1. Aaron Miles with 4 hits, a walk, and a run and Tony Gwynn Jr. with 3 hits, 3 walks, and 3 hits had big nights.

The Dodgers scored in each of the first four innings. In the first inning Gwynn leads off with a double, Blaker bunts him over to 3rd, and Gwynn scores on Ethier's sac fly, 1-0 Dodgers. Kemp also singled. In the bottom of the inning Kuroda hits Torii Hunter on the hand, and Hunter would later leave the game in the 3rd inning with a contusion on his hand. Hunter is caught stealing. Abreu singles, but the Angels fail to score.

In the 2nd inning Miles singles, Ellis whiffs, Gordon singles, and then Gwynn singles in Miles making it 2-0. In the bottom of the 2nd Kuroda allows a single to Kendrick but that is all.

Hunter Bruised his Hand on a Kuroda Fastball

In the 3rd, Ethier singles and reaches second on a little nubber by Kemp. Miles bloops a single to left scoring Ethier, 3-0. Miles steals 2nd, they intentionally walk Oeltjen, and the runners advance to 2nd & 3rd on a wild pitch by Chatwood. Ellis flies out to end the threat. Kuroda only allows a walk to Izturis in the bottom of the inning.


In the 4th, Gwynn gets a bunt single, Blake singles and Gwynn reaches 3rd on a throwing error by Callaspo. Ethier is hit by the pitch which loads the bases. Gwynn scores on a sac fly by Kemp, 4-0. Wells slides to catch Loney's fly ball to end the inning. Kuroda strikes out Wells and send the Angels down in order in the bottom of the 4th.

In the 5th, Miles singles, Oeltjen singles, Ellis nicely bunts over the runners to 2nd & 3rd, and Gwynn walks to load the bases. Blake then grounds out. In the bottom of the 5th, Bourjos gets a groundrule double but that's it.

In the 6th, Ethier leads off with a double and Chatwood is taken out of the game and replaced by Cassevah. Loney grounds out, Miles walks, and Oeltjen whiffs to end the inning. Kuroda has another nice 1-2-3 inning in the bottom half of the inning.

Chatwood goes 5 innings, allowing 12 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, 1 strikeout on 99 pitches.

In the 7th, Ellis is hit by the pitch, Gordon grounds into a force and steals 2nd. Gwynn walks. Gordon steals 3rd as the catcher throws to 1st to try to pickoff Gwynn. Gordon then steals home while Gwynn is caught in a rundown, but Gwynn avoids the tag and is also safe at second making it a double steal! This is the first time a Dodger has stolen home since June 24, 2004 when Paul Lo Duca stole home against the Giants. 5-0 Dodgers! Blake walks, and Mike Scioscia brings in a new pitcher, Thompson, to try to stop the meltdown. A wild pitch is promptly thrown and the runners take 2nd & 3rd. Then Ethier and Kemp both whiff back-to-back to kill the rally. In the bottom of the 7th, Trumbo is hit by the pitch and the umps issue warnings since this is the 4th batter hit in the game. Conger then strikes out.

Bell comes into pitch the 8th for the Angels, and Miles promptly collects his 4th hit of the night with a single, Got Roids? Oeltjen hits into a force, Ellis grounds out. Then Dougie comes in and almost blows Kuroda's chance for a win. Izturis singles, Callaspo singles, Abreu hits into a force allowing Izturis to 3rd. Wells grounds out and phewwww.

Kuroda goes 7 innings, allowing 3 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts on 103 pitches.

Hiroki Snaps his 6 Game Losing Streak

In the 9th Guerra comes in to pitch and allows a single to Kendrick and goes to 2nd on defensive indifference. Gordon makes a leaping catch to get Aybar out on his pop-fly. Trumbo grounds out and Conger strikes out to end the game.

Great start to a new month, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us! Tomorrow is a rematch between Jared Weaver and Clayton Kershaw at 6:05pm on KCAL. Go Blue:)