Mets at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA
Save us, Clayton! That’s what the Dodgers are saying to their superhero Mr. Kershaw, (4-1, 2.04 ERA) as they ask him to salvage a split in the series with the Mets. He’ll face Bartolo Colon, whose 3-1, 2.82 ERA record was overshadowed this week by the first home run of his career the other night.
Things to think about:
David Wright, Curtis Granderson, and Lucas Duda lead the current Mets in plate appearances against Kershaw. In 124 combined plate appearances, they’re hitting .142/.224/.150 against him. Wright holds the sole extra-base hit of the group, a double.
Lineup:
Utley 2B
Seager SS
Turner 3B
Gonzalez 1B
Grandal C
Pederson CF
Puig RF
Hernandez LF
Kershaw P— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 12, 2016
NPUT
It’s gratifying to see the Dodgers alone in first place again, even if only by percentage points, but disappointing that Greinke let us down v. the Gnats.
Will there be a black baseball revival? https://twitter.com/NewYorker/status/731094271957291008
Always a pleasure to wake up in the morning and see a win for the Dodgers happened.
Missed the game while flying to Europe for about six weeks in Italy and Portugal. Unlikely to be live on the blog much during that period, but with you guys and gals in spirit.
Well, Scherzer’s 20-K game was a great sendoff, I expect.
Was quite something. Crowd also gave Zimmermann a very warm welcome back, which I found quite touching in this day and age. I expect Zach to receive a similar reception at DS.
Especially if he pitches as poorly as he did v. the Gnats.
I made it through five, but then you slackers let the offense fizzle out.
Woo-HOO!!!
And nice to see Kershaw’s era back to where it seems most natural – starting with a 1.
He is remarkable.
Hard to say that it was imperative to get a win at this point in the season, but we will be playing three games at home vs. the Cardinals this weekend without either Maeda or Kershaw starting.
Way to bring the mood from really high to really low in one post Scoop. Yikes!
An observation. Didn’t mean to bring anyone down.
Pretty crazy when you get 13 strikeouts and give up only 1 walk and your k/bb goes down.
We win! What a night for Kershaw!
Not to be greedy but would like to see Kershaw get one more k to make it to double digits again tonight.
Yes!
Kerhsaw: 88 pitches through 7 innings, an average of 12.6 per inning, which is very good.
He certainly is dealing.
With Greinke facing the Giants tonight I was torn over whom to root more AGAINST, and I decided that would be Greinke. How do some of you feel?
I understand your dilemma and thought about it myself earlier tonight. Then I gave my head a shake and said – never the Giants. Unless a Giant win helps the Dodgers clinch a playoff spot (which would be a sweet scenario), then never the Giants.
Besides – not that it is playing out like this tonight – one can always root for a starting pitcher to do poorly but still have their team win.
I will admit that the nightmare experience would be to have to sit through a NYY vs SF World Series such as the one in 1962. But I think even then never the Giants.
I was in my first year of high school then, still hurting from the Dodgers’ collapse at the end of the regular season and then in the 9th inning of the third and final playoff game vs. the Giants. The World Series, however, was quickly overshadowed by the Cuban Missile Crisis, which followed on the heels of the 7th game.
I was negative 8 years old and have only read about both of those events.
It was particularly scary for the country — but as a young teen I wasn’t worried. Looking back, it was probably the closest that the U.S. and U.S.S.R. ever came to going to war. There was a run on food in supermarkets in L.A. with entire shelves cleaned out.
My wife and I just finished a dinner of turkey burgers with all the trimmings, including avocado — nothing to compare with WBBsAs’ South American repast this evening — and I went to Gameday and was pleasantly surprised at the score.
Kershaw slowing down on the strikeouts but becoming more efficient with his pitches.
And Kershaw ends the inning with a k just as I type that.
Houston is having a rough go of it to start this season and got hammered again tonight 11-1. They are 4-12 on the road. But I would gladly take their home record of 10-10 for the Dodgers.
I blame myself.
Chase! Everyone is hitting tonight,
8-pitch inning. The kid’s pretty good.
My goodness, that’s a welcome change from the last three starts.
I really like the start to this game. Really.
I have to admire Barltolo’s durability, but I wouldn’t mind seeing him knocked out early tonight. And with that, I’ll retire to bed.
Oh no. A walk by Kershaw!
After a fine entrecot de tres pimientas and a really good glass of Tannat, I’ll be watching on the iPad as I lie in bed. We’ll see whether I make it to the end of a game that’s starting at 11 p.m. The MLBTV feeds a bit blurry.
Yah. Good luck with that. Mr. 2 am we will call you.
Mind you, I just finished my restaurant dinner. which is a standard time in Argentina and Uruguay.
Red, yellow, green? And what cut?
Various, some surprisingly strong large grains. It’s a sirloin.
Amazing how close CK and Sandy’s career stats are at 250 starts. But surprising slight edge to CK, except for stuff like complete games.
http://www.truebluela.com/2016/5/12/11667002/clayton-kershaw-sandy-koufax-250-starts
To be honest – I really would have thought that Kershaw would have a huge edge through 250 starts since it took Koufax 6 years to hit his full greatness. However, then I realize that Koufax only a handful more than 300 starts in total. So 250 would include all but the last 2 seasons of Koufax’s career. Hope Kershaw goes longer – much longer – than that.
Koufax got off to a very late start because of his “bonus baby” status. That really hurt his development.
And Alston didn’t trust him much.
He came to do so, though.
Glad to see Jon has commemorated this occasion with a list of all Kershaw’s starts and the title he gave them. There’s more than a few I didn’t understand/get. http://dodgers.mlblogs.com/2016/05/12/kershaw-ccl-has-arrived/#more-2102827
Some recent stats noted by thinkbluela.com in a post pushing for bringing up Urias. My point is not about Urias but about the quoted ERA and record of this year’s starters after CK and Maeda, Which no doubt have changed slightly since the posting. But still…
“I’m sure that there are many who say ‘What’s the rush?’ and I get that. But realistically, aside from Kershaw and Maeda, the rest of the Dodgers rotation is a collective 3-7 with a combined ERA of 5.11 and 80 strikeouts as compared to Kershaw and Maeda’s combined 6-2 record and insane 1.73 ERA with 82 strikeouts.”
Oh-so wise Twitter user Brett Anderson recently–
Brett Anderson
@BrettAnderson35
I had a 62:1 k/bb ratio my junior year of high school and @ClaytonKersh22 is at 64:3 so far this year in the MLB…pretty much the same.
2:59 PM – 7 May 2016
I don’t know why I take it so personally but I always feel like Kershaw needs to “respond” to other starting pitchers’ results. Whether it’s Arietta’s no hitter or Scherzer’s 20 k’s, I want Kershaw to throw a perfect game or strikeout 21. Preferably in the same game, in multiple starts.
As if baseball works like that. I know it doesn’t. (But in regards to Kershaw – maybe it should.)
He already carries a pretty heavy burden of expectations from his teammates, management and himself, I think.
So you are saying that the added pressure from me means nothing to him. Or that it pushes him beyond the breaking point?
The former, I’m afraid.
Try to bear up under that disappointment.