Game 79 Dodgers @ ANAHEIM 6:1
Andre Ethier stepped up his game a notch. After coming down to Earth, he continues to impress with his play. After going three-for-four with a two-run homer, most players, especially rookies, would have been out celebrating. Not Ethier. He hit the weight room.
"Got to maintain that strength, I guess," he said, grinning sheepishly. "Long season."
"I don't think I hit any Anaheim farm team too well coming up, and I guess now it's paying off for all those bad games I had against them," said Ethier, whose .333 batting average leads NL rookies.
The rookie's offense helped Brad Penny notch his ninth win of the season, more than his combined victories from the previous two seasons. Penny threw seven strong innings from to open the interleague Freeway Series with a 6-1 victory over the Anaheim Angels on Friday night.
Penny (9-2) allowed one run and seven hits, struck out six and walked none for his first victory in four career starts against the Angels.
The right-hander rushed out of the clubhouse after the game, saying he wanted to beat the traffic, and didn't talk to reporters.
Ironically, Russell Martin, who usually drives Penny around, had time to stay and chat.
"He had his good stuff," Martin said. "He had good snap on his curveball, he was keeping his fastball down, moving it in and out. He's throwing that ball like 95 miles an hour, and he's keeping that ball down, it's going to be real tough on those hitters."
The Dodgers snapped a 15-game interleague road losing streak with the victory at Angel Stadium, site of their last interleague road win in 2004.
After being swept in Minneapolis, this is just what the doctor ordered.
"We went a long way to get our butts kicked three games in Minnesota and we needed to rebound some way," said Ethier, who just concluded his second month in the majors after being called up in May.
Martin got a two-out RBI double and Jeff Kent got an RBI single, before scoring on a bad throw by Vladimir Guerrero, the Angels' 30th error in June.
J.D. Drew hit an RBI groundout.
Penny gave up his lone run on a double in the fourth. He then retired 11 of his next 13 batters in his last start before the All-Star rosters are announced Sunday.
"To me, it's a no-brainer," Dodgers manager Grady Little said of Penny's chances. "I don't see how there could be any question."
Nomar Garciaparra went two-for-four, increasing his batting average to .365 on the year.
Some thoughts:
1) Mark Hendrickson makes his Dodger debut Saturday against a struggling Angels team. This should be a good indicator of what we got in the trade.
2) J.D. Drew seems to be playing fatigued lately. He just hasn't been doing much. Should we maybe rest him for a couple days?
"Got to maintain that strength, I guess," he said, grinning sheepishly. "Long season."
"I don't think I hit any Anaheim farm team too well coming up, and I guess now it's paying off for all those bad games I had against them," said Ethier, whose .333 batting average leads NL rookies.
The rookie's offense helped Brad Penny notch his ninth win of the season, more than his combined victories from the previous two seasons. Penny threw seven strong innings from to open the interleague Freeway Series with a 6-1 victory over the Anaheim Angels on Friday night.
Penny (9-2) allowed one run and seven hits, struck out six and walked none for his first victory in four career starts against the Angels.
The right-hander rushed out of the clubhouse after the game, saying he wanted to beat the traffic, and didn't talk to reporters.
Ironically, Russell Martin, who usually drives Penny around, had time to stay and chat.
"He had his good stuff," Martin said. "He had good snap on his curveball, he was keeping his fastball down, moving it in and out. He's throwing that ball like 95 miles an hour, and he's keeping that ball down, it's going to be real tough on those hitters."
The Dodgers snapped a 15-game interleague road losing streak with the victory at Angel Stadium, site of their last interleague road win in 2004.
After being swept in Minneapolis, this is just what the doctor ordered.
"We went a long way to get our butts kicked three games in Minnesota and we needed to rebound some way," said Ethier, who just concluded his second month in the majors after being called up in May.
Martin got a two-out RBI double and Jeff Kent got an RBI single, before scoring on a bad throw by Vladimir Guerrero, the Angels' 30th error in June.
J.D. Drew hit an RBI groundout.
Penny gave up his lone run on a double in the fourth. He then retired 11 of his next 13 batters in his last start before the All-Star rosters are announced Sunday.
"To me, it's a no-brainer," Dodgers manager Grady Little said of Penny's chances. "I don't see how there could be any question."
Nomar Garciaparra went two-for-four, increasing his batting average to .365 on the year.
Some thoughts:
1) Mark Hendrickson makes his Dodger debut Saturday against a struggling Angels team. This should be a good indicator of what we got in the trade.
2) J.D. Drew seems to be playing fatigued lately. He just hasn't been doing much. Should we maybe rest him for a couple days?
posted by Blue Man | 12:04 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home