I could tell you I have lost the password to this site...

... but it would not have been true... The fact is, there have been things happening in my life that effectively took my time away from following the Dodgers. Things big enough in their meaning and bearing upon lives of people around me that I don't even feel remorses for staying away from baseball for a while. I managed to see just one or two Dodger games and some extended highlights but have been reading up on the team on daily basis. Time to write has been short though.

My life is going to change very soon. Think missionary change, if you like. But that's a story for another post, if not another blog altogether.

Back to baseball however.

My feel is that the month of May have been full of frustration for the LA Dodgers. Just have a look at the series since I have last reported them:

Series 9: @ San Diego Padres 2-1

Tough-luck series for both teams as all three games have been decided by just one run each time.

Series 10: vs Arizona Diamondbacks 2-1

Two great performances from the pitchers (Penny and Hendrickson with 6.0 IP of no run ball each, followed by splendid bullpen work)

Series 11: @Atlanta Braves 1-2

First a Brett Tomko implosion in game 1 of the series, than the only time Tsao got shelled in the season so far end up with a series loss.

Series 12: @Florida Marlins 2-2

With a little bit more timely hitting, this series could be Dodgers' all the way. I'm sure there is a Marlins blog our there that claims the same could have happened for Florida 7-10 May.

More May series to come pretty soon.

Andy LaRoche gets called up

Ok, let me celebrate - my favourite Dodger in the system, third baseman, Andy LaRoche, just got called up before this afternoon's game in Atlanta. How about that!

I have nothing against Wilson Betemit - who will likely be DLed in order to slip him through the waivers to LV - but it's inconceivable to me that Andy could hit for lowe average and/or less power than Wilson did. So, barring injury, I'm looking forward to him actually keeping the job at the hot corner for the rest of the season!

(big grin)

Series 8: Dodgers vs San Francisco Giants

It hurts to lose against long time arch-rivals. Getting swept is even worse. How to call getting swept at home by the Giants then? The Dodgers suffered big time, as the games were close.

Game 1 was frustration-ridden as both teams collectively stranded 37 baserunners in nine innings of play. The difference was a 5th inning 2-run HR by former Dodger Dave Roberts off Derek Lowe. The veteran RHP just can't find his groove this season. It's not that he pitches poorly on most nights, just not dominant enough to warrant his team a win. Which, given the most recent news about Jason Schmidt's arm likely shut down for the season (better not, fingers crossed!) is not what you would like to get from your ace of the staff.

And no, I'm not ready to hand this title over to Mark Hendrickson just yet ;).

Game 2 saw Dodger pitchers battle Barry Bonds with a see-saw result. First Barry belted a three-run HR in the first against LHP Randy Wolf, then he got a base hit to raise his BA to .346 at that time. The only other two times Bonds faced LA pitchers - he struck out.

Two runs were again the difference of the game, as the Dodger batter could not get anything going in the final 2 1/3 innings (just one walks with no hits).

Game 3 seems to have slipped from the Dodgers hand. They had a lead which they could not hold, behind steady but not spectacular Brad Penny (6.0 IP, 7H, 3 ER).

Dodgers series in April

With April now officially in the books, it's worthwhile saying that the Dodgers have been on the winning end of most of the April series. Here's how:

Series won (6): vs Giants 3-0, vs Rockies 2-1, vs Padres 2-1, @ Diamondbacks 2-0, vs Pirates 2-1, @Padres 2-1
Series tied (1): @Rockies 1-1,
Series lost (2): @Brewers 1-2, vs Giants 0-3

Had it not been for the clean sweep from the SF Giants at the Ravine, you could almost say the month of April was spectacular (6-2-1 in the series). The early season success against last season foes from the south, the Padres, is especially worth noting (but I thought it was going to be like that as soon as the Padres got rid of the Dodger killer player, that currently plays for the Indians, I guess - hush, don't bring back even his name here ;)).

Anyway, May's schedule has some "bottom half" opponents coming up in Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Chicago Cubs and Nationals, and two showdowns at Atlanta and at Anaheim (interleague).

Keep hitting and pitching bhoyz! Start fielding, too (that was to you, Juan!)