Dodgers frustrated in Wrigley, 5-4

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On an aggravating day for any Dodger not named Jerry Hairston Jr., the Dodgers dropped their third of four games on this week’s road trip.

Newest team member Bobby Abreu had a chance to give the Dodgers a lead in the ninth inning, but his drive to right with a runner on base fell short, and Los Angeles fell to the Cubs, 5-4.

Hairston is OPSing .911 after hitting a home run, triple and single for the Dodgers, accounting for half of their six hits. Matt Kemp (triple) and Andre Ethier (sacrifice fly) each had RBI in the eighth inning that brought the Dodgers from down 5-2 to within a run.

Kemp, whose batting average briefly fell below .400 for the first time since Opening Day, is now hitting .404.

But mostly, this game was a bummer for the Dodgers, starting with a difficult outing for Chad Billingsley, who allowed four runs, eight hits — five of them for extra bases — and three walks in six innings.  The Cubs’ David De Jesus had a single, double and triple before the fourth inning was done.

The Cubs had some trouble making the most of their opportunities, but they never trailed. With the Dodgers losing 3-1 in the top of the sixth, Billingsley hit for himself, and then gave up a pinch-hit home run to Joe Mather with two out in the bottom of the inning. Scott Elbert and Todd Coffey then combined to allow what came to be the critical run in the bottom of the seventh.

The Dodgers had only four baserunners in six innings off Chicago starter Paul Maholm. Abreu’s first at-bat as a Dodger was a strikeout with A.J. Ellis on first base that ended the top of the seventh. Ellis was then hit by a two-out, 2-2 pitch in the ninth to give Abreu the near-miss chance for redemption.

  • Anonymous

    Cycle alerts canceled.

    Stand down.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/DQKCUJVYNHPWJGM36UUHRXUPP4 Gilbert

    Very Frustrating last 4 Games…. even the Win was marred by bad pitching… im getting nervous very quickly here

    • Anonymous

      Don’t worry, We’ll bounce back tomorrow

      • KT

        That’s the spirit john

      • Anonymous

        But its already tomorrow where you are!  Did we bounce back?

        • Anonymous

          That is funny.

        • Anonymous

          How about 4-2 :)   BTW I predict Kemp will finish the season .374

    • Anonymous

      It could be far worse. You could be a Gnats fan.

  • http://www.dodgerthoughts.com/ Jon Weisman

    Castellanos, Van Slyke are Triple-A All-Stars for April  bit.ly/Iut3jO

    • Anonymous

      Van Slyke seems to have tailed off after a hot start.  Castellanos is as hot as ever.

      • Anonymous

        Castellanos is on the DL, hasn’t played since April 23. 

  • http://www.dodgerthoughts.com/ Jon Weisman

    John C. McGinley to play Red Barber in ’42′: http://vsb.li/nmFKf3

  • Jack Dawkins

    I blame Rick Monday, did you hear him sing Take me out to the Ballgame?  That would put me off my game.

  • Anonymous

    So Justin Sellers gets sent down to make room for Abreu, yet Adam Kennedy remains on the roster.  Better to let sellers get regular playing time in AAA (unless he’s not supplanting the current 2nd baseman there) or to jettison AK and let Sellers get intermittent experience?

    • Anonymous

      My vote is jettison.  Sellers is never going to be more than a utility guy anyway.

      • Anonymous

         I’m partial to our homegrown players and would like to see Sellers be our incumbent everyday 2nd baseman, but I think he needs AJ Ellis-like faith from management – the job is yours to lose so just go play.  I think that’s why I’m partial to him getting regular playing time in Albuquerque.  However, AK coming off the bench isn’t exactly the offensive shot in the arm the team needs late in the game.

        • Anonymous

          My objection is that while Sellers is not good, Kennedy is not good while also being expensive.  Plus, Sellers can back up SS.

  • Anonymous

    With the Panda out, is there any way at all we can give them Uribe back? I’d settle for a bag of balls.

    • Anonymous

       I’d settle for a lack of Uribe.

    • Anonymous

      I would settle for a Panda.  Got bamboo?

      • Anonymous

        Holding out for an order of orange chicken and pot stickers at Panda Express. The Taco Bell of chinese food.

    • Anonymous

      This year Juan Uribe is OPS’ing 62 points higher than last year.  He’s also 65 points higher than Dee Gordon, 25 points higher than Juan Rivera, and only 13 points less than our other first baseman.

      • Anonymous

        Nevertheless….

  • Anonymous

    By the way, what’s with the lousy new ownership?!  The team hasn’t won a single game since the takeover!  Fire Guggenheim!  

  • Angel Nodal

    http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/story/_/id/7893161/los-angeles-dodgers-lease-parking-lots-14m-year-according-repot.

    my reason to continue the boycott… how much more money does mccourt need after that 2 billion dollar check??

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/PB4KGNXDNT6M5DW3DTN5R2W7ZE NorthStateBlues

    There’s always hope that the City of Los Angeles could claim eminent domain on McCourt’s co-owned 50% of the parking lot.  They could cite the necessity to build a transport hub with bus stop/metrolink/whatever excuse they could use to wrest control of that land from him.  

    Likely? No, but a nice thought nevertheless.  

  • Anonymous

    The Dodgers seem to have played mediocre baseball since their great start.  We started the season 9-1, but since then we are 8-9.

    • Anonymous

      They don’t seem to be playing all that poorly.  Not looking forward to when that starts happening.

  • Anonymous

    Ned was in the dugout signing autographs before the game yesterday.  I said to him, “I guess you sign more than just contracts, huh?” and he quipped, “This is a lot less expensive.”  :)

    • Anonymous

      That would be an unusual item to haul out to impress friends.  He got his start with the Cubs, no?

      • Anonymous

        Why would anyone want his autograph? I don’t want autographs from people I like even… Lot of strange people in this world.

        • Anonymous

          Yeah, I know what you mean.  That said, I have five autographs.  A Steve Earle concert poster signed by him and his wife Allison Moorer (I was in a line and it was just an excuse to have an exchange with them).  An Interview Magazine signed by Andy Warhol with a note telling me to get well (my friend got it for me when I was sick).  And two baseballs signed by Bush the Elder and Dan Qualye (won at a charity auction).

          • Anonymous

             I had a Manny Mota autograph on a Tacoma Giants program from the early 1960s but, unfortunately, it disappeared.

          • Anonymous

            What led you to get that?  Don’t recall him being a hot prospect.

          • Anonymous

            I grew up in Tacoma, and we got autographs of whoever would sign (they were actually pretty good about signing). I also had Jose Pagan and Dusty Rhodes (a really friendly drunk in his declining years), plus other future Gnats and some who never made it. Marichal wasn’t there long enough, nor was McCovey, but Gaylord Perry lasted longer.

  • http://www.dodgerthoughts.com/ Jon Weisman

    NPUT