Asleep at the Wheel: Dodgers Can’t Wake Up

The Los Angeles Dodgers have been playing with a listless style for the last few games, but their 4-1 loss to the Diamondbacks took the cake.  The Boys in Blue barely scored one run despite collecting seven hits, the same amount as Arizona, and left six men on base.  The Dodgers could not buy a clutch hit, and Chad Billingsley’s latest implosion only made things worse.

Billingsley cruised through the first four innings, retiring the first 13 batters he faced.  But like a house of cards, one swift move destroyed the entire effort.  With one out of the fifth inning, the starter gave up a double to Miguel Montero, then a home run to Brandon Allen.  After Alex Romero singled and Augie Ojeda struck out, Billingsley gave up a single to the pitcher, Max Scherzer.  The next batter, Stephen Drew, hit a high chopper to Rafael Furcal, and in an attempt to get the runner at second, the shortstop threw the ball away, allowing the third run of the inning to score.  Gerardo Parra hit an infield single to score a fourth run for good measure, and Arizona did not look back.

Aside from Andre Ethier, who went 3-for-4 with a double, no Dodger had more than one hit.  A runner did not cross home plate until the eighth inning when Manny Ramirez hit an RBI-single…. Doug Mientkiewicz was activated from the 60-day disabled list, and Jim Thome was added to the roster.  Victor Garate was traded to Washington as part of the deal for Ronnie Belliard, and Travis Schlichting was moved to the 60-day disabled list.