End of the Line: Dodgers Fall Flat In Final Game

It was a wild and crazy season.  They won 13 straight home games.  Manny was suspended for 50 games.  They carried the best record in the majors for a while, and hardly ever surrendered the best record in the National League.  There were come-from-behinds and blown leads.  There were offensive outbursts and deep lulls.  There were near no-hitters and there were pitching nightmares.  One pitcher was sent to the hospital after getting struck in the head by a line-drive.  An All-Star closer was acquired, and a 21 year old sophomore posted the fifth-best ERA in the NL.  Three players attended the All-Star Game.  Orlando Hudson hit for the cycle in the opening home game.  Andre Ethier collected six walk-off hits.  Manny Ramirez hit a pinch-hit grand slam.  The offense scored a run off Cy Young winner Jake Peavy in the very first inning of the very first game of the season.  It was a season to remember.

Unfortunately, it was not an NLCS to remember, as the Dodgers fell to Philadelphia 10-4 to complete their second straight series loss to Philly.  Orlando Hudson, Andre Ethier, and James Loney all had solo-homers, but Vicente Padilla lost the game in the first inning on Jayson Werth’s three-run homer.  Werth and Shane Victorino did most of the damage; the former had four runs-batted-in and scored three runs, hitting two home runs, and Victorino drove in three and had his own home run.

Padilla lasted only three-plus innings, giving up six runs over that span.  The bullpen could not hold fort, combining to surrender four runs in six innings of work.  The offense could not muster much, leaving seven men on base.  It was a disappointing series, where much of the Dodgers’ most heralded aspects could not match expectations, including the much-maligned yet ERA-leading rotation, and the normally sure-handed bullpen.

Next season brings new opportunity, and the Dodgers will look to add a few new members to shore up a few holes, including in the bullpen, the rotation, at second-base, and on the bench.  Pitchers and catchers report in late February, Spring Training starts in March, and the regular season begins April in Pittsburgh.  As Vin Scully would say, until then, have a pleasant good evening.

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