8.7.00
LOS ANGELES DODGERS vs CHICAGO CUBS
The Dodgers. Ugh.
A week ago they had closed to within two games of the first-place Giants. The long-awaited “soft” part of their schedule was here. Time to feast on a bounty of Pirates, Phillies, Brewers and Cubs while the rival Giants and Diamondbacks grind themselves out of the race. Dodger fans could be seen rubbing their palms together in greedy anticipation, pools of saliva collecting at the corners of their mouths. It was shaping up to be an exciting August indeed.
Yep, yep, yep...only nobody bothered to explain all this to the Dodgers, apparently. Or Davey Johnson. Not once could they manage a win on a day that the Giants or Diamondbacks lost. They came home from a mediocre road trip and dropped two of three to the godawful Brewers. And tonight they made 1-and-4, 7.63 ERA rookie Ruben Quevedo look like Curt freaking Schilling, throwing 133 pitches over nine complete innings, giving up just three runs and striking out eight.
Matt Herges went six innings for the Dodgers in his first start since being promoted from the bullpen (Carlos Perez finally lost his starting job) and did okay, giving up a two-run triple to Ricky Gutierrez and a scoring sac fly to Mark Grace in the third. But another crappy outing by Antonio Osuna coupled with the Dodgers anemic offense sealed the deal. At least now I can say I've seen Sammy hit a home run too, I guess.
FINAL SCORE: CUBS 7, DODGERS 3
MEMORABLE HECKLE: Late in the game, the crowd's attitude toward their somnambulant Dodgers found a perfect expression.
Announcer: “Now batting...”
Representative spectator: “Who gives a shit?!?”
