Game 68, 2015

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

The Giants send out Chris Heston, one start removed from a no-hitter on July 9 against the Mets. He’s 6-5 with a 3.76 ERA on the season. He’ll face Mike Bolsinger of the Dodgers, who’s 4-1 with a 2.25 ERA (4-0, 1.01 ERA at home).

Lineup when available.

Joc and Yasiel flipped. Here’s why.

94 thoughts on “Game 68, 2015

  1. With the exception of Buster Posey, our players are better, more talented. Their Manager and GM make them better, they get more from each player, and I don’t think I recall any dissonance from their clubhouse.

    • In your first sentence, you’ve told us why the Dodgers are in first place.

      As for clubhouse dissonance, the early ’70s A’s were constantly punching each other out, but still managed to win three straight Series. And the Gnats somehow managed to stagger through last year despite the problem of Phlablo (whom they cut loose after the season, however).

    • Bochy is gold, but not sold on the supposed value of team harmony. After all, our apparently dysfunctional clubhouse (Molly Knight will soon give us all the dirt in her book) beat them by six games last year.

      • Yes, but they won it all — 3rd time in 5 years.
        There’s is no doubt they have been the better team, as far as their results.

        • Yes, I think we all know the results : (, but the question at hand is as regards whether team harmony plays a decisive role. Doubt that the giants were so much more harmonious than the Nats, Cards or Royals in any event.

          • “Harmony” or not, they are the “better” team. John’s original post said Dodger players are better than Giant players. That may be the case, but the team stats (i.e. WS wins) clearly favor the Giants. Whatever it is — laundry, manager, front office, clubhouse music — they’ve got that winning feeling.

          • Yes, of course. John was trying to identify what that element might be. He threw out team harmony as a possibility, but WBBs and I had our doubts as that role. I think in a short series a fellow like Bochy can be pretty important.

  2. For me, last night was the season’s low point – the only game I’ve turned off early.

  3. So, in the “These Types of Stats Don’t Matter or Make Any Difference to How the Dodgers are Actually Doing” category, last nights loss lowered the Dodgers winning percentage in two stats. They have a very good won-loss record when they score first and when they score more than 4 runs. Obviously, both of these took a hit last night.

    • Ha! So either an anomaly or we are starting to get more creative in how we lose.

  4. Not enough clutch hitting, not enough clutch pitching. It’s been that way too often since we started 22-10.

    • By my count, this next week will mark the same amount of time since May 13th as from the beginning of the season until then, when things went . . . bad.
      We still don’t know which is the true team: the one where there was a different hero in every game or the current one, where there’s a different goat.

      • This is the true team, sorry to say. Unless someone can light a fire, this is it.

        • With this front office, this is never “it.” Olivera and Seager wait in the wings, some bullpen help is rehabbing and almost ready, injured starter Beachy shows promise, and the team is likely to use some of its resources at or before the trade deadline to land one or more quality starting pitchers.

          Also, last time I looked the Dodgers were still in first. SF hasn’t played well in June either. And they certainly aren’t some kind of super team, even if they have been very fortunate the last few years.

          • The proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately, Donnie is playing the role of the conductor who is texting.

          • What can I say, it’s early and I have not yet finished my cup of coffee.

          • Don’t go that way! I woke up pissed off from the loss and the coffee is just fueling that.

          • I hear ya.
            I am and always have been the eternal optimist when it comes to the Dodgers. Always have been. I always believe. I drink the Kool-Aid.
            Since Donnie took over, I am not so sure any more. Sure, the FO are a bunch of geniuses. Just ask them, they will tell you. Sure, we have the farm system to end all farm systems. Sure, now we are happy as clams now that the poisons that were Kemp and Uribe are gone.
            Like I say, I just don’t buy in to where we are and where we seem to be heading. No amount of coffee will help with this.

          • I completely agree foul tip. The personnel and financial resources are already present throughout the whole organization to inject a lot of life into this team.

    • Figuring that this team is somewhere between that earlier 111 game winning season and the current 90 game pace. To reach 95 wins we would need to play at a .600 pace in the remaining games. Could win the Division with much less. The giants are on an 86 wins pace. We have more issues than the pen, but its glaring when we have to throw two relievers like that at the giants and getting Baez and Peralta back should help.

      • Having Turner as a go to guy, the clutch guy, reminds me of the Grabarkewitz team years ago.

      • When your team gives up 4 in two different innings, you should lose.

        Fortunately the pitching has been much better than that, for the most part.

    • Streaks like the 22-10 start and the 42-8 run should be enjoyed but really can’t be expected.

    • Heck, who needs clutch hitting. Just normal hitting would do. Jon looked at the previous 7 games when we had 53 PAs in RISP situations. There were 8 Ks, but as many BBs as well, but what is extreme is the BABIP of .056 (2 for 36)! Given that these were mostly well pitched games from our side, if it wasn’t for bad luck we wouldn’t have no luck at all.

      • Perhaps not much of a consolation, but they are only a winning team because they beat us. 🙁

  5. Hi Guys@ … been a while. Busy, but always thinking of my Elysian Fields siblings….
    ….
    I’ll refrain from any negative commentary about this game, but, wanted to offer a hello.
    🙂

  6. And with that I will say goodnight. After a long week, sleep is calling.

  7. Striking out Belt helps. Still need to be careful to get out of this mess without any runs being scored.

  8. I don’t know if I have ever seen a pitching change and a pinch hitter come up – after an at bat has already started.

    • Actually, seeing the pitching after a single pitch to the hitter is more unusual.

  9. Looks like Bolsinger goes only one more inning tonight. Hope it is a full inning at least.

  10. Pretty sad that once Grandal flied out, it feels like the inning is done.

  11. Talk about lows and highs: from giving up the grand slam home run one inning to striking out the side the next.

  12. C’mon, Mike — can’t let ’em score . . . runs are too hard to come by.

  13. Surprised to see tonight’s game is not a blackout. Tomorrow and Sunday are, though.

      • This is one reason I particularly dislike Gnatgames. When they’re not playing the Dodgers, the blackouts don’t bother me in the least.

  14. Off to the movies with my husband for his birthday. I’m counting on you guys to make sure we win this game. No pressure, but…

  15. To WBBsAs: You’re right of course. Callaspo has a certain amount of competency or he wouldn’t have lasted around major league ball clubs this long. But he’s certainly no better than Uribe and not a lot cheaper. It is probably safe to eat Alpo for dinner, I’ve heard some poor people do, but I never have, simply because I can afford better. So too can the Dodgers. With the tons of money Ned AND the new FO have wasted, saving a few dollars by foisting has-beens and never-will-bes like Callaspo and Heisey on the fans is unforgivable, We have better players…use them. Hernandez is a perfectly adequate replacement in centerfield and shortstop, and third base, too, I’d wager; Guerrero plays good enough for me in left field or at third base and God knows he hits better than Callaspo and Heisey. When your club payroll is well over $200 million, saving half a million here or there is without meaning.