The Dodgers have been one of the most inconsistent teams in baseball this season and they showed exactly why on Wednesday while losing the first game of a double header to the Yankees, as they made four errors while dropping the game 6-4.
The Yankees needed the win and the offensive outburst badly, as they were averaging just three runs during their West coast road trip and now that they are back home they will take wins any way they can get them. The series with the Dodgers is steeped in history with the two teams playing in the World Series 11 times and the last time was in 1981, which was also the last time the team was at the stadium. On Wednesday, Hiroki Kuroda got the best of his former team, but the Dodgers beat themselves with four errors in the game.
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The Yankees needed a solid pitching performance from Kuroda and he basically shut down the Dodgers until the seventh inning. Mariano Rivera came in and got his 25th save of the season, while Hyun-Jin Ryu lost for the third time this season after giving up some runs early. The Yankees got a boost from both Lyle Overbay and Ichiro Suzuki and they needed every run, as Hanley Ramirez cut the lead to 6-4 before Rivera came in.
The Dodgers have been struggling all season and they could end up 0-2 on this Wednesday if Phil Hughes pitches better than he did in his last outing. Hughes has been up and down this year while going 3-3 with a 4.89 ERA and he will go up against another pitcher that has struggled in Chris Capuano, as he is 1-4 with a 5.45 ERA. The Yankees were lucky to miss out on Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw in this series and they are trying to take advantage by getting both wins in the only matchup between the two teams all year unless they meet in the championship, which is very unlikely.
The Yankees have been dealing with tons of injuries and that has hurt the offense, as the team is ranked in the bottom half of the league in runs and batting average, as well as on base and slugging percentage. The return of players will help the Yankees and if they can just hold on and stay above water through the season, A-Rod and Jeter and Grandy and Tex will give them a big boost when they return.