Suppose I told you that the Dodgers would send two in-season callups to make back-to-back starts in mid-June, and that the first would throw a complete-game shutout and the other would get the loss after a shaky four-plus innings. And suppose that one of these two mystery pitchers was highly-touted 20-year-old rookie Clayton Kershaw, and the other was a 28-year-old farmhand named Eric Stults. Which pitcher would you guess threw the gem, and which would you think was mediocre?
The last two games of the Dodgers’ series with the Chicago White Sox were shutouts, with the home team winning the middle game 5-0 and the visitors taking the finale 2-0 to win the series. But surprisingly for the Dodgers, it was not Kershaw who dazzled in the shutout.
Stults, in his second start this season, threw a masterful four-hitter for the Dodgers second complete game shutout, with the other by Hiroki Kuroda against the other Chicago team. Stults, who was 2-4 and an ERA of 5.78 in two previous seasons with the Dodgers, improved to 2-0 on the season with a remarkable ERA of 0.60. An assist on the complete game surely goes to catcher Russell Martin, who convinced manager Joe Torre to give a gassed Stults the chance to finish off the White Sox. Stults retired all three batters he faced in the ninth to finish with 116 pitches. He also contributed with the bat, smacking a sacrifice fly in the Dodgers’ three-run fourth inning. Telling sign: With no outs, the Dodgers had Angel Berroa bunt Blake DeWitt over to third so Stults – that is, the pitcher — bring him in. Good show of confidence in putting on the bunt for the everyday shortstop, who has zero RBIs, to bring up the pitcher who has a better batting average and more RBIs in two games.
Meanwhile, in the series finale, Kershaw once again struggled with his control, issuing four walks and two wild pitches in four-plus innings. He allowed both runs, the only two the White Sox would need to give to John Denks and a sharp bullpen. Torre lifted Kershaw in the fifth after Kershaw opened the frame by putting runners on first and second on Berroa’s error, a wild pitch and a walk. Torre opted for Brian Falkenborg, who showed no desire to inherit the role of Proctor-in-Training by extricating himself from the mess.
The Dodgers relievers today, consisting of Falkenborg, Cory Wade and Ramon Troncoso, kept the White Sox off the board for the rest of the game but couldn’t cover for the Dodger hitters, who hit four singles and a double. The Dodgers wasted leadoff runners in a whopping five innings (first, second, third, fourth and seventh), and adding to their own demise with three double plays, including a second straight game of having a runner doubled off a base. About the only good news for the Dodgers was that Mark Sweeney didn’t strike out again. He flew out to left field, so I guess it’s somewhat of an improvement. Then again, with his average dipping to .102, there’s a whole lotta room for improvement.
Up next for the Dodgers on this nine-game homestand is three games with the Angels, who are tied for the second-most wins in the majors and have baseball’s best road record at 26-13. Oh, and they’ve also owned the Dodgers since the turn of the millennium.
