Dan Miceli gave up the back-to-back homers in the eighth inning to allow the Dodgers to edge the Stros 7-6 in a wild game on Monday night at the Juice Box. The win was the Dodgers’ seventh straight win, 13th out of their last 14, and dropped new Stros manager Phil Garner‘s record to 1-3 since taking over from Jimy Williams during the All-Star break.
After the Stros took an early lead, the Dodgers scored four runs in the sixth inning, with three unearned because of two Stros errors, including another adventure in left field by Bidg, who is proving just how underrated Berkman was as a leftfielder. Ensberg cranked a dramatic three-run yak in the sixth to give Stros a 6-5 lead, leading to Miceli’s gopher balls in the eighth that put it away for the Dodgers.
Starter Brandon Duckworth had an amazing performance, somehow allowing only one run in 4 2/3rd’s while allowing six hits, one K, and four walks (hint: the Stros turned three DP’s behind him). After Duckworth’s latest tightrope performance, GM Gerry Hunsicker must have taken great pleasure in Carlos Hernandez‘s 7 inning, 10 K, no-hit performance on Wednesday night at AAA New Orleans.
Pete Munro takes the hill in game two of the Dodger series on Tuesday night at the Juice Box. Any bets on whether Hernandez takes the next non-Oswalt-Clemens-Pettitte start in the rotation?