Kemp Joins 30-30 Club; Second Player from the Dodgers to Accomplish That

Matt Kemp crushed a long home run to center field in the bottom of the seventh innings of the 6-1 win on Friday over the Rockies, making him just the second Dodger to arrive 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases, and the quickest to do so.

Kemp links Raul Mondesi, who accomplished the feat in 1997 and ’99. He performed so on a 3-1 pitch off lefty reliever Matt Reynolds.

As Dodger Stadium followers chanted “MVP”, Kemp got three pitches and fouled one off before he crushed the fastball 427 feet to directly center field.

Kemp said, “I’ve always thought I could do it.  I can run. I can put a little bit of power in it. I just had to put it all together at the same time. It’s pretty special.”

Kemp is striking .323 with 98 RBIs to go together with his 30 homers and 33 steals.  He is in the peak four in the league in the entire three categories.

Kemp said after the game, “I’m just happy I got to do it here in L.A. The fans have always supported me. We still got a long way to go.”

No Dodger has ever reached the 40-40 club, and when Kemp was inquired concerning the mark, he replied, “Maybe one day.”

Manager Don Mattingly admired Kemp both before and after the game, particularly noting how much leadership role of Kemp has destined to the team.

Mattingly said, “It’s been a tremendous season for him in all areas of his game — leadership and the whole thing.  It’s been a joy really to have Matt playing this way, and his leadership in the dugout. The presence he brings, but not only that, this guy gets ready to play every day and plays hard every day.”

In 2009 the last Major Leaguer to arrive the 30-30 club was Texas second baseman Ian Kinsler.

Uggla Extends to 30-game Hit Streak

Atlanta Braves second baseman Dan Uggla moved his hitting streak to 30 games on Tuesday, legging out infield single with two outs in the fifth innings versus the Florida Marlins.

Martin Prado homered with one out to give Atlanta a 2-0 lead.  After Freddie Freeman grounded out back to pitcher Clay Hensley, Uggla hit a ball deep in the hole between second and third.  Shortstop Emilio Bonifacio’s throw to first was delayed and Uggla moved in one game of Atlanta’s all-time record for highest striking streak. The Braves won the game with 4-3 in 11 innings.

Braves third baseman Chipper Jones said, “I think the loudest cheer of the night is when he beat out that ball, in our dugout.  I think we were all too tired to cheer in the 10th or 11th. When he got that hit the whole dugout erupted.”

Uggla, who has the greatest active hit streak in the majors, tied the highest for the season in the majors, first set by Andre Ethier, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder.

The 30-game run as well moved Uggla past Rowland Office (1976) into second place on all-time record of Atlanta, with just Rico Carty in 1970 standing in the way at 31 games.  Tommy Holmes has the highest striking streak in Braves history with a 37 games stretch in 1945 when the franchise was situated in Boston.

This season, in spite of his streak, Uggla is batting just .220.

Nationals Drops Debut of Davey Johnson

Danny Espinosa, Washington Nationals second baseman, put in a few ninth-inning heroics, yet it was not sufficient as the Los Angeles Angels clip the Nationals 4-3 in the debut of latest Nationals manager Davey Johnson.

With the Angels leading 3-2 in the ninth, Espinosa hit yet another new home run to add to his tally, tie the game and place the game into extras.  Espinosa is currently tied with Michael Morse for a team leading 15 home runs.  Espinosa, Morse and Ryan Zimmerman, every one of them, had solo shots throughout the game to include the Nationals scoring.  On the other hand, the Angels were capable to push a run across the plate in the center of the 10^th off reliever Sean Burnett to finish the game.

Starting pitcher John Lannan renounced over two runs for the first time in seven starts and admits his pitches were finding over the plate Monday night.  Lannan went 5.2 innings giving up three runs on 11 strikes, walking two and striking out two.

For Davey’s debut, the game on Monday was a bit of a comedown, although the manager who is 68 years old while disappointed with the outcomes cannot have had a good time:

“I enjoyed every minute of it,” Johnson said of his first game as a Major League manager since October 2000 with the Dodgers, “I enjoyed every minute of it, I probably went a little farther than I should have with Lannan. I wanted to give him an opportunity to get a win. But the bullpen did a good job, we just didn’t hit with runners in scoring position.”

The 68 years old said, “I still enjoyed that one even though it was a loss.  It’s a joy. I love baseball. I enjoy every pitch that’s thrown. That never changes.”