Gut Check Time for the Dodgers: Rev. 2.0

It seemed like a week ago when the Dodgers had a chance to save their season against the Padres, and they failed miserably. They scored not more than 2 runs in a game for the whole series. It was, in a word, awful.

Today, the same scenario repeats itself, but this time with the Dodgers even further back in the standings. Today, LA is 7 games back of the San Diego Padres. If the Dodgers win, it gives them a slight window of opportunity, but realistically they still are too far to have a shot to get to the playoffs.

At this point, Dodger Fans want to see a team with some fight in it. If they can win tonight, maybe some of that fight will return. Anyone notice how Russell Martin and Rafael Furcal did not play last night due to injury, yet, it seemed like offense was more fluid than before.

It may have been a fluke. Going into the Giants series, Furcal was red hot. Hard to figure. Martin, though, needs a break.

The Dodgers had their first real break-out game in a month, when they beat the frontrunning Padres 9-0, with the aid of a Complete Game 2 hit Shutout by Vicente Padilla. Excellent performance, and the best performance I've ever seen from Padilla. He mixed in a curveball that was so fluttery, so fluffy, yet, with its slow motion glory fooled about every hitter in the lineup. Padilla also had 9 strikeouts on the night in a moment where he was "Going the Distance."

Great to know movie studios are plugging another mediocre movie set in New York about a boy and a girl who find the perfect match. Yuck. I've seen this movie 1000 times. Try again, Hollywood.

But for LA... it's been a very tough season, and I think this is just a temporary success story that will eventually be erased by another slide in the standings. Tonight will set the pace for the rest of the season. Billingsley will need to be great once again. Can he do it three times in a row?