Trouble In Paradise

The Dodgers have been losing a lot.  I'm glad I missed the games on Tuesday and Wednesday, as they were the second and third consecutive shutouts the Dodgers played (and, in case it's not obvious, they lost them all).  That was a terrible skid, which ended Thursday with an extra inning win against the Reds.  The six-game losing streak was definitely the longest of the season.  The Dodgers should have swept the Reds, plain and simple.  Instead, they lost two of three.

Perhaps Rafael Furcal's home run in the top of the 11th inning today provided a little extra spark that the Dodgers needed to go on a bit of a tear.  Earlier, when I said the Rockies have a better record, I was wrong.  The two teams are tied for third place in the west, five games back of the Diamondbacks.  San Diego is sandwiched in between, three games back of Arizona.

The Dodger still have plenty of time to put up a fight.  But they need to actually show they're capable of such a fight.  I don't know what that will take, but the bats obviously need to wake up a bit.  It's been the same old story for a while now, with the hitting and pitching just not quite able to get into sync.  Today, the Dodgers made a trade with the Giants for pinch-hitter extraordinaire Mark Sweeney.  It's the first trade the two teams have made together since 1985.  Interesting.  Sweeney is a left-handed hitter, and apparently there is talk of some discontent with James Loney, who is mired in a bit of a slump.  Seems odd to be jumping on Loney when the whole team is struggling right now.

Anyway, I'm back into Dodger world now, and I'm looking forward to the series this weekend against the Cardinals.  The Dodgers should be able to beat this team, so we'll see if they can gather any momentum from today's game.  I'll be back in Dodger Stadium for the first game against the Astros on Tuesday.  Let's hope I'll be able to say something good about the team by then.