Game 53, 2014

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

Zack Greinke brings his 2-runs-or-fewer per start streak (now at 22) and his gaudy 7-1, 2.01 ERA record out to face Alfredo Simon, who’s got a 6-2, 2.31 ERA record of his own.

Hanley Ramirez’s sore calf kept him out of the last few games, but he’s back in there at shortstop tonight. Matt Kemp is still out, which is surely not making him happy.

45 thoughts on “Game 53, 2014

  1. It appears that Crawford’s injury does not look good.

    “It didn’t look good,” said Manager Don Mattingly. “The video didn’t
    look good, Stan [Conte, head trainer] didn’t sound good. We always say
    we’ll wait until tomorrow to see, but it didn’t look good.”

  2. Boston interested in upgrading their outfield and Ethier has been named as a person of interest. Might the Dodgers bring up Pederson if Ethier traded and might the Dodgers get a catching prospect Blake Swihart?

    • I generally agree we should trade one of our outfielders if we can get upgrade the current roster, but given the frequent injuries we suffer I am not sure if it’s the right thing to do. Given Fenway’s dimensions, might the Red Sox be more interested in Kemp, giving him a fresh star?. Until this year, I never would never have imagined that Kemp could be traded, but we cannot keep Pederson in the minors after this season and may even want to bring him up during the summer. Swihart was the top draft pick of Boston in 2011 and they are bringing him up gradually. He is doing well now at Double-A. He hits for average but hasn’t shown much power. I would say he is at least two years away.

  3. At 6:30 p.m., I’ll be boarding a flight to Oslo, but I just learned that Norwegian Airlines has free WiFi, so I’ll be able to watch the game on the iPad.

  4. 3 games in a row, Dodger bats have “quality games” (4 or more runs) . . . Dodgers win all 3. Defense has also done well.

  5. Let’s have the kind of 9th inning in the field that I like when I’m flying: uneventful.

  6. I feel this is close to being comparable to a Rule 9 violation, so let’s put it this way — Have Dodger fans been happy for three consecutive games this season?

    • I didn’t know you could have those 2 words in the same sentence!

      • certainly not like a few years ago, where it seemed to be every second game with many a walkoff included

        • “Those were the days, my friend . . . ”
          Perhaps these can be even better!

  7. On a more uplifting note, saw a newspaper cartoon today named Drabble, which I’d never seen before.

    Dude stuck in traffic muses, “traffic is moving very slowly…gonna be a long drive home”..turns on radio, hears, “and now, for the play by play, here’s Vin Scully”….dude smiles and thinks “just the way I like it.”

    • “the number of pitching changes continues to rise. Pitching changes have increased 27 percent in the past 20 years and 78 percent in the past 30 years.”

      And how many six-pitcher games have the Dodgers had this year? A whole bunch.

  8. I hope Hanley’s healthy enough not to hurt himself any further. Meanwhile, it was interesting to see how smooth Arruebarrena is, even in limited circumstances.