Watch out for this kid!

I like this kid. I like him a lot. and boy oh boy did he grow up a whole lot tonight. He really turned himself around from that nightmare outing he had (June 10th) that we are all now set to forget. He tossed 7 scoreless innings tonight. 7 SCORELESS INNINGS!!! Although he only turned out 5 strikeouts and he had 4 walks, he got the win. With you know what? Yep, 7 scoreless innings. Tonight was a night that fans could forget the young age that Kershaw is (21) and begin to see the making of the pitcher that he really could be. The game changing move for Kershaw, I think, came in the 5th inning. Somehow ;) we're sittin there with the bases loaded, no outs, and a pair of walks. Clayton had really gotten himself in a jam and just showed how unsettled he was with a crazy throw to centerfield. Although a part of me was really hoping that Torre would pull him out so we wouldn't blow it so soon, I understand (and agree) with his position. Really, the only time a player or person can grow is when they look at a tough situation and either figure out how to pull themselves out of it or they fall flat on their face and learn what not to do the next time.

It seemed daunting when Ausmus went out to the plate to talk to Kershaw. I would like to start a petition that the catchers/pitchers/whoever wear microphones so we can hear what the heck they're saying to eachother out there. Sometimes I think they just go out for a little fun. Who knows that they even talk baseball out there? It could be something like hey, you wanna grab dinner later? or who was that cute girl you were with last night? I just want to be a part of the ENTIRE game, you know? I guess that's the girl in me, always wanting the details! But anywho, nice work Kershaw on that double play. Flipped to Ausmus and then Ausmus got it right back to Loney. Some quick thinking on his part.

Clayton should feel very proud of his work tonight, that's 2 in a row and he (so far) has really solidified his spot in the starter rotation.

Nailbiter moment of the game was when Broxton almost let the Angels blow it wide open and score some runs. Good thing we had that umpire-viewed Loney homerun to give us a bigger barrier with runs. I'm not sure Broxton's toe inflammation or whatever it is could be giving him this much trouble. But, please let's take a night off and recoup fellas. We need our saver who is still, what, 17-0 to be in top notch come fall baseball.

Way to go guys, we're now 22 games over .500 and without Manny's bat. Hopefully the chemistry of the ball club won't change too much when he returns. Afterall, it's not like he's Jeff Kent.