6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog: Dodgers 7, Cubs 3

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Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Dodgers 7, Cubs 3

Some games you win because the opposing team hands them to you. That was yesterday's game, which I watched, for a change, via WGN, because of the wife, doncha know. Weaver hung a mess of breaking stuff, but the Cubs failed to take advantage. Moreover, Weaver struck out a mess of Cubs in his best performance in that important ability thus far this year. His K/9 has returned to a very respectable and almost dangerous 7.25. It's also his best single-game strikeout performance to date. The long-predicted return of Jeff Weaver might just be here. It's fragile, and like spring flowers, brief, but I'll take it while it lasts.

Meantime, Dodger hitting didn't slow down, getting 15 hits on the night. Even Jason Grabowski's bat came to life, going 2-4 with a two-run homer -- yes, you read that right -- off a shaky and apparently injured Kerry Wood. Cora went 3-4 on the night and now seems to be challenging Izturis' hold on the leadoff spot in Roberts' absence. Of course, all this is against a Cubs relief corps badly ravaged by injury: Remlinger is still on the DL, and clearly Glendon Rusch is not the kind of guy you want to throw in the game for three innings. We didn't go down the Duaner and need to call in Gagné, but it's obvious to those who might have thought this would be "the first real test" of the team versus good opposition that this was not the case; the Dodgers had already taken a series from the Marlins on the road. Is that good enough, with a weak Central Division, no clear winner in the West, and a weakened NL East? Tinkerbell sightings grow increasingly common in Chavez Ravine, I'm told.

Finally, one item of extreme concern: nearly every at bat, Beltre hopped out of the batter's box after each swing. His ankle is killing him, and he needs to sit some. He absolutely did not need to be hitting in such a lopsided game; they could have and should have pulled him out by the fifth, when the score was 7-1.

Recap

// posted by Rob @ 5:42 AM link // 0 comments