Bullpen Struggles Against Brewers

After one of the best starts in franchise history the Dodgers droped two in a row against the Milwaukee Brewers. These weren’t just two ordinary loses; these games were lost in the Brewers final at bats on both nights. After these two games the question is now a serious one, what’s wrong with the Dodgers bullpen? The Dodgers either had the lead or were tied in both of these games, only for the bullpen to lose it in the end.
Chad Billingsley took the mound for the first game of the series on Tuesday night. He started off in Chad Billingsley fashion, giving up two quick runs in the 2nd inning. Those would be the only runs he would allow in the game, he settled down and finished with 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, and 2 SO. He was at just 83 pitches for the game and in a groove after the 6th, but was pinch hit for in the 7th in a 2-2 tie with the go ahead run on second base. Matt Guerrier came into pitch the bottom half of the 7th and gave up the lead on a sacrifice bunt by Norichika Aoki. The Dodgers trailing 3-2 in the 8th were bailed out by Andre Ethier AGAIN! He hit a 2 run go ahead home run to put the Dodgers on top 4-3. After the home run the dugout was going nuts and had to be feeling confident. Kenley Jansen was going to pitch the 8th and Javy Guerra was going to come into pitch the 9th. This game was over, right? Not so fast. Jansen was lights out in the 8th, retiring the side in order and striking out two. In the 9th, Guerra came in with a perfect 0.00 ERA, 5/5 in save opportunities, and a 1-0 record on the year. He gave up a leadoff single, walked the next hitter, and then finally got the first out. The Brewers then brought in George Kottaras off the bench to pinch hit, yeah I was thinking the same thing, who the hell is this guy? Well THIS guy hit a game winning double in the gap that scored two; the Brewers won the game 5-4.
In the second game of this series tonight former Brewers pitcher Chris Capuano took the mound for the Dodgers. Matt Kemp got the Dodgers off to a good start with an RBI single in the 1st. The one run held up until the Brewers Matt Gamel singled in a run of his own in the bottom half of the 2nd. The Dodgers took the lead again in the 5th with an RBI from AJ Ellis on a fielder’s choice. Capuano was cruising along in this game with a 2-1 lead but that lead was erased in the 6th when Aramis Ramirez hit a solo BLAST to tie the game, I’m not sure if that ball has landed yet. Capuano was taken out of the game with a solid performance, 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, and 4 SO. Josh Lindblom came into pitch the 7th, who has been one of the few bright spots in the bullpen this year. He pitched two shutout innings in the 7th and 8th, allowing only one hit and striking out one. Jansen was once again dominant, retiring the side in order in the 9th. The game went into extra innings with the game still tied 2-2, and Guerrier was called upon to pitch the 10th. He walked 3 hitters in the inning eventually leading to a bases loaded 1 out situation with Ryan Braun at the plate; everyone knew this wasn’t going to end well. Ryan Braun actually hit a shallow fly ball to Matt Kemp in center field; he made the catch and threw what wasn’t his best throw to the plate. The throw was on target but Nyjer Morgan was called safe on a bang-bang play, by the way, watching Morgan celebrate is like watching a 3-year-old throw a temper tantrum, it actually could be worse than that. So the bullpen blew what could have been an 8 game winning streak for the Dodgers. Instead the Dodgers send Aaron Harang to the mound tomorrow to avoid the 3 game sweep.