Kuzul

On Sunday May 16, one run was all the Dodgers needed in the final match of a three-game series to complete a sweep of the first place San Diego Padres.

The win was their seventh in a row.

Entering the series, the Padres found themselves returning home fresh-off their second sweep of the Giants this year.  After a successful road trip, they were looking to find similar results against the Dodgers in San Diego.

However, the Dodgers had other things in mind after also sweeping their last opponents—the Arizona Diamondbacks. 

In their first match up of the season, the visiting Dodgers gave the Padres a taste of their own style of play with some timely hitting and solid pitching.

The Dodgers pitching—which has been a weakness all season long—outperformed the Padres pitching staff, which still leads the National League in ERA with 2.69 after Sunday’s game.

Padres hitters were limited to one hit with runners in scoring position, going a combined 1-for-12 in the series. 

Los Angeles hitters took care of business when it mattered, batting a total 7-for-19 (.368) with runners in scoring position (RISP) in the series.

GAME 1—Dodgers 4, Padres 3

Dodgers RISP: 3-10 (.300), Padres RISP: 1-5 (.200)

Another solid pitching performance was turned in by San Diego starter Jon Garland 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 KOs.  But it was a seventh inning two-run home run from Matt Kemp which gave the Dodgers the lead for good. 

Ramon Ortiz, 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 2 KOs, with his first start of the season became the eighth different starter for the Dodgers, threw 86 pitches.

Five Dodgers pitchers came out of the bullpen to back up Ortiz, and pitched five shutout innings.

GAME 2—Dodgers 4, Padres 1

Dodgers RISP: 3-7 (.429), Padres RISP: 0-5 (.000)

Clayton Kershaw (3-2) pitched seven strong innings, allowing just one run while striking out seven.  Ramon Troncoso and Jonathan Broxton pitched flawless eighth and ninth innings, respectively. 

James Loney, batting cleanup, hit his fourth homer of the season, a solo shot in the second inning.  Jamey Carroll and Russell Martin drove in two more runs in the fifth inning, and Garrett Anderson, playing for the injured Andre Either, had an RBI triple in the sixth inning.

The Padres sole run came in when Scott Hairston scored on a Chase Headley ground-out via fielder’s choice.

GAME 3—Dodgers 1, Padres 0

Dodgers RISP: 1-2 (.500), Padres RISP: 0-2 (.000)

Chad Billingsley (4-2) 7.1 IP, 4 H, 6 KOs along with Hong-Chih Kuo 0.2 IP, 0 H and closer Jonathan Broxton 1.0, 0 H—who picked up three saves over the weekend—combined for a shutout. 

Padres rookie starter Wade LeBlanc (2-1) 7 IP, 1 ER, 4 KOs only allowed two hits.  He was pitching no-hit ball until Russell Martin hit a line-dive RBI that zipped right by his head.

The timely hit from the leadoff-man in the sixth inning drove in Jamey Carrol from second base to score the only run of the game.

NOTES

Despite suffering three consecutive losses and being swept for the first time this season, the weekend series left the Padres with one consolation—the match up drew near sell-out crowds at Petco Park in San Diego.

An estimated 126,819 people were in attendance over the three games.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

As of this writing, the Los Angeles Dodgers are in last place in the National League West, with an 11-16 record. The Milwaukee Brewers have scored 11 runs on them the past two nights.

Most Dodger fans did not expect this, with the team coming off two straight NLCS appearances with a good core of young players.

However, when the season started, I was afraid that this swooning futility might happen, sorry to say.

Here, in my humble opinion, is why the Dodgers are where they are at this point:

Injuries

Manny Ramirez and Jeff Weaver are currently on rehab assignments in the minors, they are scheduled to rejoin the team this weekend.

Shortstop Rafael Furcal is on the disable list with a bad hamstring, and opening day starter Vicente Padilla is out with an arm injury for roughly two months.

Particularly with Ramirez and Furcal, those are key players that the Dodgers have been missing.

It is safe to say that these injuries have hurt L.A. badly, if not outright decimated them. Unlike Juan Pierre last year, outfielder Reed Johnson and infielder Jamey Carroll haven’t stepped up in Manny’s and Rafael’s absence; they went 0-for-8 last night in the Dodgers’ 11-3 loss to the Brewers.

Pitching 

In my view, this is the biggest reason why Los Angeles has only won 11 out of their first 27 games.

The starting pitching was a concern for me going into 2010. I felt that Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw had to step up big time, and have dominating seasons in order for the Dodgers to win their third straight division title.

Even though Billingsley has been pretty good of late, he gave up four runs in the first inning last night; he and Kershaw have not pitched as well as expected.

Kershaw gave up seven runs in two innings in his last start, and he continues to throw too many pitches and walk too many batters.

As for the bullpen, except for Jonathan Broxton, who has been lights out, it has flat-out sucked.

Charlie Brown would fit right in with L.A’s middle relievers and their ineptness, and may be the best one if he was a Dodger.

Guys like Ronald Bellasario, Ramon Troncoso, and especially George Sherill have thrown gasoline on the fires whenever they’ve taken the mound. It has gotten to the point where high school players could probably hit off them, their pitching has stunk so bad. 

If the Dodgers are going to climb out of the cellar and be the contending club that they are more than capable of being, the pitching absolutely must perform better.

Otherwise it could be a long, frustrating year in Chavez Ravine.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com