When Dodgers manager Don Mattingly walked into the clubhouse interview room after Monday night’s 7-0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, he pretty much summed up the game with the very first thing he said. Taking his seat at the front of the room, Mattingly looked over at Eric Stephen from True Blue LA and said good–naturedly “Not a whole lot to talk about, is there Eric?”

Nobody in the room could argue that point.

The long and short of it is that Phillies ace and former AL Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee flat out dominated the Dodgers from his very first pitch until his last. Not only did Lee shut the Dodgers out, he allowed them only four hits while striking out 10 and walking none. In fact, the Dodgers had only one runner reach second base safely. That runner, the ever-exciting Yasiel Puig, led off the bottom of the first inning (with the Dodgers already trailing 2-0) with a sharp single to right. Puig advanced to second after tagging up on a deep fly ball to center field by Justin Turner. With two outs, Adrian Gonzalez singled deep in the hole to Phillies second baseman Chase Utley, who wisely threw to third base and caught Puig rounding third in a rundown to end the inning. It was yet another classic (and all-too-common) Yasiel Puig TOOTBLAN (Thrown Out On The Basepaths Like A Nincompoop).

Yasiel Puig was the only Dodger to reach second base safely on Monday night after his leadoff single in the first inning. He would later be erased at third base on yet another baserunning gaffe.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

In his five innings of work, Dodgers left-hander Paul Maholm allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits while walking three (two of which scored) and striking out two. He allowed a towering two-run home run to Phillies slugger Ryan Howard and threw a total of 107 pitches, of which only 58 were strikes (54.2%). And while it is easy to blame Maholm for the loss, the truth of the matter is that Cliff Lee simply had his way with the Dodgers offense through his eight innings of work. Of Lee’s 113 pitches, 83 were strikes (73.4%).

Dodgers left-hander Paul Maholm was in trouble after his first pitch on Monday night when he issued a leadoff walk to former Dodgers outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

The night wasn’t a complete disaster for the Dodgers, as Adrian Gonzalez collected one of the Dodgers four hits, the infield single that Puig was erased on, to extend his hitting streak to 16 games. Another positive was that right-hander Brandon League had yet another good outing in relief of Maholm, throwing two scoreless innings allowing only one hit and striking out one.

Recently recalled fireballer Jose Dominguez also pitched well in his two innings of work – except for one 83 MPH slider that he hung over the middle of the plate that Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz deposited four rows deep into the Left Field Pavilion for a two-run home run. But in spite of that one mistake, Dominguez hit 98 and 99 MPH on the radar gun and finished his two innings of work with the two runs on two hits while walking none and striking out two.

If ever there were a game where the Dodgers need to simply shrug their shoulders and say “Oh well” and move on, this is it.

Fortunately, the Giants also lost on Monday night, so the Dodgers maintain their one game lead over the Hated Ones in the NL West standings – so there’s that.