Phillies 7, Dodgers 3: Wilson brought his gas can

wilson_2013-09-07“What’s wrong with Brian Wilson?”

This was written by Ken Gurnick about Wilson after he blew the San Diego game on opening night. I criticized him for it, saying it was one game and he looked fine in Australia. Of course, he subsequently went on the disabled list, so something was kinda wrong with him.

Now, Wilson has become unreliable after giving up four runs in the ninth inning of the Dodgers’ 7-3 loss to the Phillies on Thursday night. So, what the hell is wrong with Brian Wilson? I don’t know. I don’t particularly care. He didn’t have a long enough spring training, his surgically repaired elbow is acting up, he’s actually still a Giant at heart — whatever the case, he can’t be throwing in high-leverage situations right now. But, Don Mattingly put himself in this situation by throwing Kenley Jansen four times in the last five nights, including last night when the Dodgers had a comfortable 3-run lead. But hey, SAVEZ.

Jamey Wright came in and allowed two inherited runners to score off a Marlon Byrd double. All in all, Wilson was charged with four runs in one-third of an inning. He has a robust 15.75 ERA. I know, reliever ERA doesn’t mean much, but it does when it’s nearly 16.

This game isn’t entirely to blame on Wilson’s ineffectiveness. The offense was only able to muster three runs against the Phillies. Kyle Kendrick had a 6.84 ERA in his career in 50 innings against the Dodgers. They tagged him for two — a Juan Uribe 2-run home run. Love that guy.

The Dodgers got another solid performance out of Dan Haren (6 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K), but he ran into trouble in the fifth inning. After singles by Ben Revere and Carlos Ruiz (who else? Seriously, how does this guy hit like Babe Ruth against the Dodgers? It’s infuriating.), Adrian Gonzalez booted a grounder by Chase Utley. And, promptly, Byrd hit a 2-run double to right field. Yasiel Puig almost came up with a spectacular catch. He had no business even being near that ball, yet he almost made the play.

Gonzalez would atone for his error by hitting a then-game-tying home run off Phillies’ reliever Mike Adams. It was a no-doubter. He’s been so good this season. He’s making up for guys like Carl Crawford, Andre Ethier and, to a lesser extent, Hanley Ramirez and Puig, who are all struggling on offense a bit.

The Dodgers (13-10) welcome the Rockies (12-9) to Chavez Ravine for the first time this season. Jordan Lyles faces off against Josh Beckett. First pitch is at 7:10 p.m. Pacific.

About Dustin Nosler

Avatar photo
Dustin Nosler began writing about the Dodgers in July 2009 at his blog, Feelin' Kinda Blue. He co-hosted a weekly podcast with Jared Massey called Dugout Blues. He was a contributor/editor at The Hardball Times and True Blue LA. He graduated from California State University, Sacramento, with his bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in digital media. While at CSUS, he worked for the student-run newspaper The State Hornet for three years, culminating with a 1-year term as editor-in-chief. He resides in Stockton, Calif.