Monthly Archives: April 2014

Apr 30

Game 27, 2014

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Rain and snow cause trouble for the Dodgers’ schedule.

Tuesday’s game has been rescheduled as part of a day-night doubleheader Thursday, with the second game starting at 6:10 p.m. CT, ahead of an overnight flight to Miami, where the Dodgers play a Friday evening game against the Marlins.

Worse, there is a 70 percent chance of precipitation (snow and rain) for both Wednesday and Thursday.

Dodgers at Twins, 5:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA Update: The game is free on MLB.tv

Thanks to yesterday’s rain/snowout, Zack Greinke gets an extra day off before pitching this game. He’s 4-8 with a 4.73 ERA in 22 outings against the Twins, including 18 starts. On the other hand, this season he’s 4-0 with a 2.45 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 29 1/3 innings and in the midst of a streak of 16 starts of at least five innings without allowing more than two runs.

Starting for the Twins is Kyle Gibson, who’s 3-1 with a 3.63 ERA this season. This is only his second season in the bigs, and last year he only threw 51-plus innings, going 2-4 with a 6.53 ERA. He’s still almost a rookie.

Hanley Ramirez says his thumb’s fine and he expects to play. The weather may not cooperate, though, as rain is forecast for Wednesday.

Lineup when (or if) available.

Apr 29

No game today

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For your rainout viewing pleasure, here’s a sketch Jimmy Fallon did with Robinson Cano on Cano’s first return to Yankee Stadium after departing for the Mariners as a free agent last offseason.

Apr 27

Game 26, 2014

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Rockies at Dodgers, 1:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

It’s a battle of lefties this afternoon. Hyun-Jin Ryu (3-1, 2.12 ERA) is on the bump (I keep hearing that term for the mound from our local TV sportscasters, who must have gotten it from somewhere) for the Dodgers against the Rockies’ Jorge De La Rosa (1-3, 6.38 ERA).

For an added attraction,

A victory would be the 10,000th in Dodgers franchise history, according to Elias Sports Bureau. Only the Giants, Cubs and Braves have reached that plateau.

The Yankees haven’t? Really? Not quite. They’ve got 39 wins to go. As Dodgers Insider has pointed out, the Dodgers’ records and Elias’s differ by 13 wins.

Lineup:

Apr 26

Game 25, 2014

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Rockies at Dodgers, 6:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA (Note the one-hour-earlier-than-usual start time.)

The Dodgers are 3-5 on the homestand, 1-5 in extra innings games and the bullpen has suffered eight of the team’s 11 losses. To try to stop the slide, today the Dodgers will pitch Paul Maholm, who’s 0-2 with a 5.60 ERA so far this season. He’s also a career 1-8 against the Rockies, although the last time he pitched against them was three years ago. The Rockies counter with Juan Nicasio, who’s 2-0 with a 4.30 ERA this season. He’s 3-2 with a 3.67 ERA in eight lifetime starts against the Dodgers.

Here’s Gordon’s infield double from yesterday’s game:

Lineup when available.

Apr 25

Game 24, 2014

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Rockies at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

The Rockies send out right-handed Jordan Lyles (3-0, 3.04 ERA) to start against the Dodgers’ right-hander Josh Beckett (0-0, 2.57). Lyles has only started once at Dodger Stadium, in 2011. He was shelled, giving up seven runs on seven hits including three home runs in 5 1/3 innings.

The Dodgers are 5-7 at home overall and 3-4 on this home stand. The Phillies came in under .500 at 8 – 10 and left even at 11 -11. The Rockies come in at 12 – 11 and one game behind the Dodgers. The Dodgers need to win two of three just to break even on this home stand.

Lineup when available.


Notice that Crawford is hitting sixth. Here’s Mattingly’s reasoning.

Apr 24

Game 23, 2014

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As if there weren’t some interesting prospects there, this may be sufficient reason for a road trip to Albuquerque to see the Isotopes.


Assembly instructions here.

Phillies v. Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

It’s the Phillies’ Kyle Kendrick, who is 0-1 with a 3.50 ERA, facing Dodgers right-hander Daren Haren, who is 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA.

The Dodgers defense has been awful, as we’ve all seen. They’ve committed 22 errors in their first 22 games, which won’t cut it.

“I’m assuming, if we’re going to get to where we want to go, it’s not going to be with 10-8 and 7-6 games, it’ll be 4-2 and 3-1 where a mistake can cost a run when they don’t come easily,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. “You don’t get as much attention for playing solid defense. They don’t say, ‘Bills [Chad Billingsley] really backed up the bases well today.’ But we have to change what we’ve been doing. We need a much better concentrated effort. There are going to be certain physical limitations for certain players, but we can’t afford mental mistakes. We need to be in the right position and communicate. These guys know what to do. We’ve got to make sure we put enough focus on it. I’ve expressed it to them once and will continue to.”

Lineup when available.

Apr 23

Game 22, 2014

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Phillies at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

Cole Hamel makes his season debut for the Phillies, while Zack Greinke brings his 3-0, 2.42 ERA record to the party.

Adrian Gonzalez’ hitting streak ended at 16 games as he went 0 for 3 in yesterday’s 10-inning loss.

Lineup when available.

Apr 22

Game 21, 2014

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Phillies v. Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

It’s not Curt Schilling’s bloody sock, but A. J. Burnett’s going to pitch for the Phillies tonight with an inguinal hernia. I had one of those for eight years before finding time to get it repaired, so I don’t think he’s risking much by pitching with it. He’s 0-1 with a 2.74 ERA so far this season.

The Dodgers counter with Hyun-Jin Ryu, who’s 3-1 with a 1.93 ERA. Here’s a startling tidbit: “Ryu has made five starts this season, and four have been scoreless. He allowed eight runs in two innings April 4 against the Giants, but otherwise has not allowed a run in 26 innings.”

Lineup when available.

Apr 21

Game 20, 2014

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Phillies at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

It’s the Fightin’ Phils’ Cliff Lee (2-2, 4.00 ERA) against the Dodgers’ Paul Maholm (0-1, 4.97 ERA).

If we’re to take MLB’s Preview as gospel, the Dodgers should just forfeit.

Of his four big-name outfielders, Carl Crawford’s .212 (7-for-33) lifetime mark against Lee is the best of the bunch. Yasiel Puig is 1-for-7 vs. the lefty; Andre Ethier is 0-for-11 with five strikeouts; Matt Kemp, who generally wears out lefties, is 1-for-18 with 11 whiffs.

How’s Scott Van Slyke? He’s 0-for-5 with three strikeouts against Lee.

Jeff Passan wrote a good editorial column exhorting MLB to take action to better control the way Cuban athletes are allowed into this country when defecting. He rightly calls the current system a form of human trafficking.

Dodger Insider has a fascinating little story about the Dodgers’ franchise official win total: Elias Sports Bureau has it at 9,997 including the twelve wins this year, while the official Dodgers’ records have it at 9,984 including those wins. The discrepancy is owed to wins achieved with the help of an ineligible player in 1899 (!).

Lineup when available.

Apr 20

Game 19, 2014

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Diamondbacks at Dodgers, 1:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA.

The Dodgers send Josh Beckett out to face the D-Backs’ Josh Collmenter. I wonder if this is a first: two guys named Josh facing one another.

Collmenter’s record is 0-1, with a 3.75 ERA. Beckett is 0-0, with a 4.00 ERA. Adrian Gonzalez has a 14-game hitting streak.