W: Hiroki Kuroda (4-5)
L: Yovani Gallardo (10-8)
MVP: Prince Fielder (+.125)
LVP: Yovani Gallardo (-.417)
Win Expectancy Graph
SBNation Coverage
Is it over yet? Can I look now?
Well, the first inning sucked. The top of the Brewers order didn't do anything and that seemed to rub off on the rest of the players once the Brewers took the field. The Dodgers scored four runs in the bottom of the first, getting this game off on the wrong foot. Yovani Gallardo was able to get his pitching back in shape once the inning ended. Nothing exciting really happened until the top of the fourth, when Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, and Frank Catalanotto loaded the bases for... Jason Kendall. Needless to say, Kendall failed to do anything good, but the spirit was at least there.
In the top of the fifth inning, we learned that FROTF (fans running on the field) were good luck. With Yovani Gallardo and Felipe Lopez on base, Braun, Prince, and Mike Cameron were able to get base hits. All in all, the Brewers scored three all night this inning before JJ Hardy screwed it up by grounding out. Manny Ramirez hit a homer in the fifth, leading what would later become the infamous Dodgers rally though it took a whole inning for his teammates to catch up. In the sixth, Gallardo had a meltdown and replacement Mark DiFelice followed suit. Chris Smith was brought in and finally got the last out of the seven-run inning. At this point, most Brewers fans decided it was time for bed, but they missed the Brewers rally.
Former Brewers Guillermo Mota was brought in to pitch. After Kendall got on base with a hit, Jody Gerut was brought in to pinch hit for Smith. Here, we found that the rare and often spoken of Gerut RBI was not a myth. He singled to center and scored Kendall. Unfortunately, that was the end of the rally. A myriad of substitutions took place: Gerut came in for Cameron, Hernan Iribarren in for Braun, and RJ Swindle in to pitch. Matt Kemp hit a two-run homer, leaving Swindle with no outs in the inning. Ken Macha wouldn't take Swindle out of the game, which led to yet two more runs. This was the season high for the Dodgers before Bill Hall missed a single from Mota, scoring run number seventeen.
The game looked as though it was over until Guillermo Mota hit Prince Fielder and he was ejected. Ken Macha were both surprised and confused. Prince seemed extra offended after climbing off the ground. However, this seemed like a deliberate pitch, as the Dodgers had a man starting to warm up in the bullpen.
Yes, we just gave the Dodgers the best game of their season. I can't believe I actually just wrote that much for this game.