And so it begins...

Look, before any of you get your panties in a bunch, I realize it was just one game. I know, in the grand scheme of things, this one game probably won't make or break the season. We are bound to lose a couple heartbreakers this year; that's just baseball.

No, what pisses me off is it's the same old Dodgers. The same Dodgers who have a history of failing to execute in the most crucial of spots. The same team who caused me to break my dresser drawer 2 years ago after failing to score in a bases loaded, no-out situation.

So, today the bullpen blows a two-run lead with one out in the eighth. After Will Ohman gave up a homerun to Adrian Gonzalez, Cory Wade came in with one out got a line drive (ripped, by the way) out to James Loney. He then proceeded to give up a single, double, and triple (not in that order) to the next three hitters. Hell, Padres almost hit for the cycle without making an out. Now, I can only partially blame this one Wade... Joe Torre deserves a heavy share of the blame as well. Wade threw well last night in relief, but he has a history of not performing well when pitching on consecutive days. Last year, he pitched on back-to-back days eight different occassions (including playoffs). His ERA in those eight appearances? 4.82. His ERA when he had a least one day of rest? 2.08! You know who should have known this? Joe Torre, Rick Honeycutt, Stupid Ned Colletti, bench coach Bob Schaeffer. One of them should have known that it was a hell of a lot more likely Cory Wade would get hit hard today. It took me all of 10 minutes to figure it out. What do we have Ramon Troncoso and Guillermo Mota in the bullpen for if not for situations like this, to take the stress off of guys like Cory Wade on days when we know they probably won't have it?

Anyway, that's not even the point of this post. The point of this post is basic execution. After falling behind 4-3, Orlando Hudson led off the ninth with an absolute shot to deep right center for a triple. All we could have asked for from the newest Dodger. He gives us three chances to tie the game. And, best of all, we didn't even need a hit... just a fly ball to the outfield. And we had our best hitter, one of the best hitters in baseball, coming up. And Manny proceeds to hit a weak groundball to short. Next up, Andre Ethier, who looked terrified of the pressure. He takes two pitches just off the plate to work a walk. Great, awesome, fine. If he had put together a strong at-bat where he took some good hacks and then walked, I would be fine with that. But he looked timid, nervous, even scared. Either way, he walked and the winning run was on base. Russ came up, and if anyone could have used a good at-bat in that spot, it was him with the way he has struggled coming out of the gate. Nope. He takes two quick strikes and then roles over a fastball to short. Double play. Game over.

All we needed for one of these guys to get a ball relatively up in the zone (which is where Heath Bell pitches, by the way), put an easy swing on it, and hit a fly ball... anywhere. It's just not that difficult to do. I would have rather had a couple of basehits and taken a lead to the bottom of the ninth, but the absolute MINIMUM that needed to be done there was a fly ball to the outfield. Both Manny and Russ swung at balls down in the zone, which naturally lead to groundballs, and Andre was to0 scared to even put a decent swing on anything.

This team may win the 90-93 games it's projected to, and it will probably win the NL West. But until I see differently, I will continue to believe it is a team that fails in the most important situations in a games. It's time for the so-called "kids" to grow up and embrace the big moment, to live to be the hero, and not shy away from pressure. I can't handle another team that refuses to execute and is scared of that moment.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to sit here and repeat "It's only one game" in my my head until I manage to calm down. Or until tomorrow night's start time. I suggest you do the same.