Game 43, 2015

Padres at Dodgers, 1:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSSD

Carlos Frias brings a 3-1 record and a 2.55 ERA to the hill on a Sunday day game. He’ll face James Shields, who hasn’t lost this season and has won five of his nine starts, posting a 3.74 ERA along the way. Because Shields has spent his career in the AL until this year, only two Dodgers have extensive records against him: A-Gon has 28 ABs hitting .357 with 2 HRs and 4 RBI, and Howie Kendrick has 17 ABs hitting a whopping .471 with 1 HR and 2 RBI.

Lineup when available.


We get our first look at Austin Barnes behind the plate. He’s 25 years old, he’s caught 9 of 23 base stealers and he’s had 3 passed balls. He’s got a slash line of .290/.390/.430 with 5 doubles, 3 homers and 13 RBI.

105 thoughts on “Game 43, 2015

  1. Pingback: Game 44, 2015 | Elysian Fields

  2. And finally some good news.

    Charter is buying Time Warner. That means Charter subscribers will get the Dodger games. And I, it just so happens, have Charter.

    • Good, I guess. How many more subscribers will the Dodgers reach then, and how soon?

  3. Just one bad game, and as DM said, it can happen to anybody.

    But sometimes a game can be summed in just a few box score lines:

    “Frias pitched to 2 batters in 5th

    Gamescores: Shields 61, Frias -4”

    Wonder what’s record low gamescore territory…..

    • Not sure how “accurate” this measure is on the low end. After all, last year he gave up 8 runs in 0.2 innings and managed a “0” game score.

  4. Gnot only did the Gnats get a delayed departure from Denver, but they have a day game in Milwaukee tomorrow. Hopefully the weather causes flight delays.

  5. Gnice to see the Gnats depleting their bullpen this weekend just to offer us some comforting Schadenfreude on an otherwise lost Sunday.

  6. I’m in Ojai watching Tibetan Buddhist monks build/create a sand mandala. Very peaceful. Good thing, because every time I look, the Padres have loaded the bases.

  7. I really don’t understand what Farhan Zaidi is trying to do here….
    1. McCarthy & Ryu – fall 100% on Zaidi & medical staff… Bad luck? Yes… but, ‘bad bets’….
    2. Rollins is old…. He’s ‘kinda settled in’… but, he’s smooth & relatively slow in the field.
    3. Why make a move at 2B when we really needed more help at P and 3B ???
    Gordon was progressing just fine…. He was cheap, and a terror on the base paths.
    In that sense… a ‘game changer’ …. Howie is not.
    4. Too many “Jack of all trades/ master of none” guys like Turner, Hernandez – in starting lineup night in and night out.
    5. Grandal’s been ok..To me, he’s got to show me more than a few dingers. Easy to top AJ.
    6. Carl Crawford… I would have rather them “pay to trade” Carl than Dan Haren @ this point.
    7. Each pitcher they picked up.. “WHO???” – not that impressed with any of them.
    ….
    Sure, they played well to start a young season and get out to a lead with a bunch of games vs. the Padres, D-backs, and Rockies – but, “You can’t win the circuit if you can’t beat the champion” … Just like in boxing. The Giants are still better… just look at the rings on their fingers. Until this team gets accomplishes that… To me, they’re nothing but just ‘ talented pretenders with glass jaws … ‘ – Obligatory IMHO.

      • Hey Dave…. 🙂

        – When he came over… they said this guy’s pitched a ton of innings in Korea.
        – He’s missed time in both seasons due to injury….
        – He’s over-weight…
        – He’s 28 and according to the telecast last week, they said it wasn’t a total ‘shocker’ as they knew he’s had shoulder issues to contend with since before they signed him in 2013.

        So, all I’m saying is…. it was frustrating for me to hear people say… “The Dodgers have 3 solid starters… Kershaw, Grienke, & Ryu… They just need a #4 and a #5 guy, and they’ll be set.”

        To me, I would have looked at Ryu as a 50% guy in that I would have not counted on him to pitch an entire season, and if he did… it would be a bonus.
        And, I would have set my sights (and pocket book) higher in the P – dept.

    • 1. Nobody expected this from Ryu, who had two excellent seasons.
      2. Rollins is fine in the field, better recently with bat, but I personally would hit him lower.
      3. Dodgers sold high on Dee and got a lot back, including Quique, Barnes and Hatcher. At season’s end, Kendrick’s numbers likely to be better than Dee’s.
      4. No other team has the depth the Dodgers do.
      5. Grandal’s been more than OK. He’s been excellent.
      6. Haren had value to other team(s). Crawford has none.
      7. Bolsinger’s been excellent, though he needs to prove himself over a longer stretch. The new relievers have been good to excellent, with a few glitches.

    • I do love the longer post on your Dodger perspective however – even if I disagree.

      • Thanks Dave…. I hope you and your family are having a great weekend…. 🙂

    • I am with you 100% on all this. It is looking more and more like lots of moves just for the sake of making moves and making it the new regime’s team. But while chopping things up, nothing was done to address the issues keeping this team from advancing.

  8. Wow — two hits for LA, and both for Rollins. Yes, things CAN get worse, if that means he stays in the two-slot.
    Or maybe it means he’s breaking out.

  9. On the positive side, I don’t think batting Rollins second will have any negative effect on today’s game.

  10. I suppose it wasn’t reasonable to think Frias could continue to emulate Fernando in his rookie season, but what an unhappy game for him and for all of us, team and fans.

    • Admittedly winning Friday and Saturday takes a bit of the sting out of it for me.

      • Agreed, but it seems like FOREVER since they gained any ground on the Giants . . . can only happy for a rainout in CO, I guess.

        • Is it rained out? Ideally they would start and, after four or five delays and eight pitchers, the Gnats would lose around midnight.

          • Don’t know if it’s been called, just delayed.
            But I like your scenario better.

  11. I do wonder when the Dodgers will have a game like the Pads are enjoying today? Perhaps versus the Braves. (Wow – for some reason I thought the Rockies were coming into LA next until I double checked the schedule. For some reason it made more sense that the Dodgers would be able to break out against Colorado.)

  12. Guess we’ll never know if the offense is deflated by the score or still mired in their collective slump.

    • “You just keep thinking those thoughts, Butch — that’s what you’re good at.”

        • “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.”
          Other great lines from William Goldman, as I recall them:
          (after the train blows up and money flies everywhere:) “Think you used enough dynamite there, Butch?”
          __________
          (while being tracked by the Super Posse:)
          ‘I think we lost them. Do you?’
          “I will if you will.”
          ____________
          (trapped by the Posse on a cliff)
          ‘Jump!’
          ‘No — I can’t swim!’
          ‘The fall will probably kill you!”

          • Right – should have figured that out with the Butch reference. Love some the other quotes – especially the dynamite one.

          • I forgot the one that applies to you . . . ‘I’ve got vision and the rest of the world wears bi-focals.’

    • Perhaps the Dodger offense will improve every inning as well. Start with one run here, 2 or 3 the next, followed by 4 or 5 – and suddenly they are right back in it!

  13. Man, if this was Kershaw pitching I would be in great despair. For some reason it hurts fair less for it to be Frias taking the beating.

  14. Really feel for families who have saved and planned to attend this game . . . and get this.

  15. Silver Lining Dept.: This tailspin started with the bullpen tanking. Perhaps it ends with a starter having such a disastrous game.

  16. Looks like this is an even quicker “game” than last night . . . unfortunately.

  17. Bases loaded AGAIN . . . and not a ball thrown by the bullpen??!!
    Must be sacrificing Frias.

    • Frias was the long man, no? Santos seems to be the go to guy now when we have no hope of winning.

  18. Remember those days this year when a 4-run deficit didn’t bring thoughts of two games to equal it?

  19. Shields has to show the form that’s provided 13 gopher balls so far this year.

  20. Kid catcher gets a start today, not surprisingly. Other than that, usual lineup. I wonder why Hernandez in left and Guerrero at third?

    • Experience trumps? Alex has more than twice as much experience at third in the Bigs than Kike! Like Pedro, this Guerrero is likely to do less damage at third

        • Quique is super simpático. Destined to be a fan favorite (unless he goes to Philly for Hamels).

          • Quique himself wouldn’t be enough to bring Hamels, but he could certainly be part of a package. He’s shown talent, and is young enough to have more upside. He’s versatile, and had a very impressive spring training.