Game 122, 2015

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Dodgers at Astros, 4:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

Zack Greinke has been emulating Superman recently. He’s made 11 consecutive starts without a loss, and he’s now 13-2 with an MLB-leading 1.58 ERA. He’s also the second-best hitting pitcher in the NL behind Madison Bumgarner of the Giants. His opponent will be left-handed Scott Kazmir (6-8, 2.43 ERA), who’s given up nine earned runs in his last three starts. He’s 1-3 with the Astros after coming over from the As at the trade deadline.

Lineup:

Puig’s back in right, Utley’s at second, and Kiké is in center. Van Slyke’s in left because Kazmir’s a lefty and neither Crawford nor Ethier hit southpaws well at all.

120 thoughts on “Game 122, 2015”

  3. What’s going to happen to Callaspo? He turned out to be a better and more useful player than I thought when we first got him and I hate losing him for the Ghost of Utley. I know he was DFA’d several days ago. That means he goes through waivers where other teams can claim him. If he is claimed (and he is good enough and cheap enough that he will be claimed) the Dodgers can try to work out a trade with the claiming team or simply give him up, along with responsibility for his salary. What I am wondering is this: If the Ten Day DFA Period runs into September 1st, could the Dodgers simply stall until the First when the roster expands, then re-activate him?

    • DFA means he’s no longer on the 40-man roster so, even if he accepts a demotion, they could not bring him back without promoting him to the 40-man. Unlikely anybody will claim him at his full salary, but somebody might want him as depth. They’ll get little or nothing for him, in any event.

  5. This team mirrors last year’s. Last year, the team lived and died on the bat of Hanley. This year it is Turner. But last year we got the glove of Hanley, this year Turner. Hmmm…..

  8. 45-45 in our last 90 games, seven straight losses on the road, 3 runs in our last 29 innings and still, somehow, in first place by 1.5 games and two games up in the loss column. Kershaw goes tomorrow. The ship has not completely sunk.

    • Listing, though. The only consolation is that the players, coaches and management are probably even more frustrated and ticked off than the fans are.

      • And in the case of the players, likely pressing, trying too hard instead of playing with a loose, relaxed confidence. Not having fun.

      • As Foul Tip suggests, not sure I want them ticked off. What are you ticked off about?

        • Poor performance. Continued poor performance by the hitters, which affects: the bullpen which might be a little better if it didn’t frequently find themselves in situations where one pitch can tie or lose the game.

          • Totally agree.
            Having to be perfect affects the starters as well — they can’t trust the batters or the bullpen for support!

          • But that is what stretch run and playoff baseball is about….pitching….
            The successful teams in postseason aren’t the ones scoring a lot of runs, its the one where the pitching does the job.
            The big hitting teams right now…Toronto, Yankees…they are going nowhere…the teams with the pitching, they are the ones to fear. Unfortunately, while we do not hit, we pitch even less.

          • But isn’t that what a bullpen is about? being in situations where one pitch can tie or lose the game? if they weren’t in that situation, the current pitcher would not be replaced….
            I like to rail on DM, and most times with good reason, but this team, at this price, and it is no better…maybe worse…than the past few years. Same issues…more money….same issues….hitting, bullpen, manager.
            Yes, still a game and a half up in the division, but if they cannot stay ahead of the Giants, they do not make the playoffs at all. Pretty pathetic.

    • Unfortunately, the fact the Dodgers are still in 1st is less a reflection on the quality of the Dodgers as it is on the rest of the division.

      I know we’ve been saying it since mid-May, but maybe, maybe, maybe they can once again be that team which got off to such a great start.

  10. Improvement from yesterday. Hope to come away with a win tomorrow. Enough for today.

  13. Here is my analogy. A hitting coach is to a team as a mechanic is to a car. When you are having problems with your vehicle, you take it to the shop and expect the mechanic to analyze the problems and fix them. McGwire is our mechanic. The Dodgers are the car. Maybe we need a new mechanic.

    • They havta know they will still face SF 7 more times . . . so they are going to HAVE to do what they have only infrequently done all summer: get it done themselves.

  15. It’s a puzzle why entire teams go into hitting slumps at the same time.

    Although we’ve doubled the number of hits the Astros have. Greinke by rights should be really annoyed.

  16. Tuesday was aggravating, Wednesday was numbing, Friday was embarrassing, today is what I have come to expect.

  19. It is dismaying to have Guerrero tail off so badly after his solid start:
    April — .423 batting average
    May — .239
    June — .220
    July — .091
    August — .167 (including tonight)

    • So he is rebounding, and if he continues that he should be hitting about .250 in October.

    • This I put a little on DM. The better Alex hit early on, the more infrequent his appearances. But actually that is DM’s m.o. A hitter goes 3 or 4 for 4, the next day he sits, without fail, to give him rest because he must be tired from running the bases. Now don’t ask me when was the last time a Dodger hitter had 3 or 4 hits in a game.

      • Ha. I can fluctuate wildly with the best of them, but I do feel optimistic about this team despite some lackluster play recently.

  33. I have a new family friendly slogan for the Dodgers on the road:
    “Today a hit. Tomorrow a run.”

    Actually, I am confident they will accomplish both today.

  34. 2 innings and a 2-0 lead for the Astros. Up hill battle to be sure again today,

  35. Have Dodgers won on the road against AL teams yet this year? I know they lost vs Texas, Oakland and last night. Not sure how they did against LA of Anaheim or other AL teams.

    • Just looked at Baseball Reference. I guess they haven’t won on the road vs AL teams yet – but have only played 5 of those games thus far. So 0-5. 3% of their total season.

  45. Here’s to a big top of the first inning. It’s been a long time coming as I believe Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young used to sing.

    • If we win today we can erase what happened yesterday and move back to 2 1/2 up, three in the loss column.

      The Pirates beat the Giants today on three solo homers — two by Kang and the walkoff with two outs in the 9th by Martin. The Pirates’ only other hit was a Marte double. The Giants also had four hits, all of them singles.

      The Giants are 2-4 on their road trip; we are 0-3.

  48. LAT’d: If we only had Hanley (per MLBTR): Cherington says he misjudged how Hanley Ramirez would transition from the infield to the outfield. “We didn’t know what he would be defensively,” Cherington says. “We made a bet based on the history of what players look like going from middle infield to outfield. … It hasn’t gone well.” Ramirez has rated as well below average in left field, and his defensive struggles this season have coincided with a decline on offense, arguably making Ramirez one of MLB’s worst position players while still in the first year of his contract.

  49. Today’s game should be better than yesterday. Let’s start with that and see how it goes.