Like us on Facebook here

Friday Apr.19/2013

Matt Kemp has begun the year hitting .182 with no HRs and 5 RBI in 15 games. Kemp hopes to get out of his slump by visiting an American League ballpark for the first time in the season.  Last year, the big man torched through April, smashing 12 HRs and adding 28 RBI – to go along with a .417 Batting Average.

By Enrique Rivera (Dodgers Correspondent):  Follow @eriqwiththeq

After the brawl last week with the San Diego Padres, Dodger fans were wondering if Dodgers’ slugger Matt Kemp would get out of his early season slump and start getting clutch in the series at Arizona and the series back at home against the Padres but Kemp was still unable to get out of that slump. Kemp went 4 for 22 (.182) in those two series but did collect 4 RBI.

The Dodgers managed to win only one game in those six games including a three-game sweep by the Padres at home. They were also shut-out twice in Arizona.

The most devastating one was the Sunday game as they let an amazing pitching performance by Josh Beckett go to waste in the 9th Inning. The final score of that game was 1-0. Beckett had 9 SO on that game with only one Earned Run.

Dodgers’ skipper Don Mattingly might have criticized a bit by letting Beckett continue on with the game.

Harrison Ford throws out first pitch on Jackie Robinson Day for Dodgers

Dodgers’ part owner Magic Johnson, Rachel Robinson and ’42’ star Harrison Ford during the Dodgers’ Jackie Robinson Day pre-game celebration on April 15, 2013.

The Dodgers hoped to let go of Sunday’s failure by going back to Dodger Stadium and celebrate the legacy of Jackie Robinson Day on Monday April. 15, 2013.

They began the celebration by having Dodgers’ part owner Magic Johnson walk Jackie Robinson’s widow Rachel Robinson to the field as Dodger fans honored her and her husband’s contributions to the game.

Harrison Ford who starred in Robinson’s biopic ’42’ as Branch Ricky got to have first pitch honors. Ford proves his talents are only in acting by letting the ball bounce on the dirt before landing in the catcher’s glove. 

Chad Billingsley started the game for the Dodgers on Jackie Robinson Night – and went 6 Innings, giving up 3 Earned Runs, with 3 SO and 2 Walks. The 3 Runs came in the second inning when he gave up a three-run HR to the opposing pitcher and former Dodger Eric Stults.

The Dodgers tied the game by scoring one run in back-to-back innings from the 3rd to 5th innings but couldn’t keep up as the Padres scored twice in the 7th and one in the 9th to beat the Dodgers 6-3.

The winning pitcher of the game was Stults while the loser was reliever Ronald Belisario. The biggest problem for the Dodgers on that game was the fact that the Dodgers outhit the Padres 12-9.

Tuesday’s game was supposed to be the next start for Zack Greinke but couldn’t due to his injury from last week. So, Chris Capuano was asked to start.

Tuesday night’s game didn’t go any better for the Dodgers as they dropped another game to the Padres. The final score was 9-2 Padres.

Capuano gave up 4 earned runs in the first Inning – and was only allowed to pitch 2 Innings as he gave up a total of 5 Earned runs, he also walked two.

He showed his frustration to the media by saying,  “They hit some seeing-eye balls, and they found holes. Nothing went our way in the first Inning. And to have this stupid little injury (his Tommy John surgery) pushes you over the edge.”

Chris Capuano gave up 5 Earned runs in two innings for the Dodgers on Tuesday night as the Dodgers were routed with 9-2 loss to the Padres. Capuano was later put on the 15-Day DL.

After allowing 16 runs in the first two games against the Padres, the Dodgers were hoping to avoid a sweep in their own home against the rival Padres by putting their ace Clayton Kershaw on the mound.

Still, Kershaw was not the answer for the Dodgers as they loss once again to the Padres as they loss 7-2.

While Kershaw did pick up his 1,000th strikeout he ended up giving up HRs to Everth Cabrera, Chris Denorfia, and Kyle Blanks. Kershaw’s final line score was 5.1 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 4 Walks and 5 SO for his second loss of the season. This prompted the Dodgers to have a team meeting after the sweep.

Of note, Kershaw was the 2nd fastest Dodger in the history of the franchise to record 1k Strikeouts. (13 Pitchers in total.)  Only Fernando Valenzuela was younger to do it.  The hard throwing Southpaw has also fanned at least 212 Batters per year since 2010.

Mattingly has talked to the media about what he told his team. “How do we go on? We can’t sit here and say it’s going to be OK. We have to continue to get after it, continue to work and make sure we’re not sitting here feeling sorry for ourselves in any way shape or form.”

Some plus sides for the Dodgers offense has surprisingly been Outfielder Carl Crawford – who is hitting .375 from the Leadoff spot for the Dodgers. He even had a three-hit game on Jackie Robinson Day.

First  Baseman Adrian Gonzalez is hitting .407 with 2 HRs and 12 RBI.  Juan Uribe is still tied for most HRs for Dodgers with two. Still they need to have Kemp and Andre Ethier going if they want to get hot again.

Dodgers head off to Baltimore to begin an Interleague series with the defending A.L. Wildcard Champs Baltimore Orioles. They will try to get their clutch hits going by visiting an American League ballpark in April. They are currently  game under .500 with a 7 – 8 record for the season.

***The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com or their partners***

Today’s feature was prepared by our Dodgers Correspondent Enrique Rivera. Enrique was born in Los Angeles and raised in Compton, CA. He has  been a Dodger fan since he was introduced to the greatest sport of all time.

‘Eriq’ also has written a couple of baseball stories for another website here . Eriq has also talked Dodger baseball on a college radio show called LA Sports Weekly.

His second favorite thing in the world is rock and roll – and he owns his own website called xstaticradio.com as well as hosts/produces his own college radio show called X-Static Radio Live.   You can also follow Enrique on Twitter Follow @eriqwiththeq

Please e-mail us at: mlbeports@gmail.com with any questions and feedback.  You can follow us on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.  To subscribe to our website and have the daily Reports sent directly to your inbox, click here and follow the link at the top of our homepage.

Like us on Facebook here