Giants at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: ESPN, SPNLA, CSBA
Rich Hill is scheduled to make his first start for the Dodgers since his acquisition at the trade deadline three weeks ago. He’s had blister troubles, and if you wonder how those are treated in the big leagues, read on. Mike Petriello has some excellent analysis of Hill’s “stuff.”
Hill is 9-3 with a 2.25 ERA, all with Oakland before the trade. His opponent will be Johnny Cueto, who’s 14-3 with a 2.90 ERA.
Winning Game One of this series means even if the Giants come back and win the next two games the Dodgers are still in first place, albeit tied. I like that better than tied now after a loss.
Happy news from and for the Segedin family.
Lineup when available.
Tonight’s Dodger lineup vs. Giants:
Utley 2B
Seager SS
Turner 3B
González 1B
Grandal C
Reddick RF
Pederson CF
Kendrick LF
Hill P— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 24, 2016
NPUT
Who woulda thunk that consistently throwing strikes to weak hitters would be a winning strategy?
Missed most of the game. My wife had relatives visiting from California. I held my own with her cousin’s husband who is a nuclear physicist and manages the particle accelerator up near Stanford. My strategy was to let him talk and i would just nod my head. We did have one thing in common. He is thinking about retiring because the Dept. Of Energy ( their major source of funding) is constantly looking over his shoulder. I left teaching when they hired all these teachers who did nothing but come into your room and critique you rather than help you with the students who were struggling.. Stepping down from my soapbox now.
Love your strategy for keeping up with the nuclear physicist – smile more, talk less and nod lots.
Loved Jon’s headline for Dodgers Insider.
Yee-haw!
Wow, what a debut for Hill! Up there with A-gon hitting an HR in his first Dodger AB.
So far 1 & 1 with the Oakland deal (poor Josh!).
Go, Dodgers — win for Vin!
Roberts praising Hill right now.
And Blanton too.
Hill was lights out, and leaving Blanton to get that last out in the 8th was the Dave Roberts move of the game, in my opinion.
Grant with another great recap of a SF loss: http://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2016/8/24/12637358/giants-lose-dodgers-win
Short, sweet and to the point.
Now for the sweep…
So, we end this series either 2 games up – OR 4!
We win!
WOO-HOO!!!!!!!
How sweet it is!
Bigger out, that second one.
I was going to tease you that the second was bigger.
Of course the third out… well it is like the three billy goats.
And we got it!
Hey Bob. This game is a bit lower scoring than the one you saw. That one must have taken a while to play out.
Went fairly fast for such a high score. It wasn’t as close as the final score, either.
Big out, that first one.
We need good Kenley here, please.
Roberts with the big cheer when that ball was caught.
Was it a tough catch? (I’m blacked out tonight).
Not tough but long. Reddick was basically right up against the wall.
Not particularly, but warning track length. (See sandwich, below.)
Sandwiches for everyone!
Nomm nomm nomm.
Big spot for our Grant. Oops,just a visit by Doc.
Wow, that “swing” call was pretty close…
It was well-deserved, even though I didn’t see it.
About as close as it gets, but bat crossed in front of the plate.
Dig deep, Blanton.
Why is Pagan so shifty-eyed?
He’s just sleazy.
Vin remarked on his piercing gaze.
He’s nicer than me.
He’s nicer than just about anyone.
Grant chimes in… https://twitter.com/mccoveychron/status/768663518069399552
He is SO funny.
And he followed it up by suggesting that if SF hits 10 balls to the warning track, they get a free sandwich!
Pederson flailing tonight.
Ok Reddick. You can turn this around. Help out your old A’s mate tonight.
Uggh.
And 11 is my lucky number.
Solid pick for a lucky number. Not over done like 7.
Birthday number, plus I loved being that age.
I thought the first rule was of ten.
First (1) plus ten (10) = 11
Clever. I’ll go with that.
All right! Cueto gone as well.
I am suddenly nervous.
More nervous, I should say.
Dang. Just a fly ball out for AGon..
Let’s get Cueto out of the game as well.
Hill is done. Uh oh.
Can’t believe Doc is pulling him already.
And Baez is warming up…
Maybe afraid of the blister reappearing?
Caution may be appropriate here.
Yeah, its only a game against SF with the lead in the division razor thin. Wink, wink.
Our pen can usually handle the 7-9th. Need to coddle this fellow, who hasn’t pitched in a month.
Okay, top of the lineup, do your thing.
HIlls’ efficiency is startling.
So not used to this, since Kershaw hurt his back.
Reddick meet the 8 spot. 8 spot, here is your new occupant.
Ha! Good call.
Just tuning in. Hill seems to be as advertised so far. Must be figgitying in the pen not quite knowing what to do with themselves at this point.
Just checking in before I call it a night. This looks to be the opposite of last nights game, but what you would expect with the two starting pitchers.
First hit was a good ‘un.
JT!!!!
Hill has a pretty effective breaking ball for a strike.
Read Petriello’s article above.
Yup. I see what he’s talking about.
Gnats not liking some of these calls. They are quick to find fault, methinks.
All of a sudden, there’s this grating voice that wasn’t there the first three innings.
Sorry.
Cueto and Hill both pitching really well. Cueto is better, so far.
Hill, so far so good.
I have no video, but Vin’s descriptions suggest the Gnats aren’t hitting anything very hard.
Pretty accurate.
He is mixing pitches up in an interesting way.
Cueto also looked sharp in his first inning.
I wish I could see it.
Am I dreaming or is Rich Hill actually pitching for the Dodgers tonight.
He looked good on the first inning. Here’s hoping he can go 6 or – dare I say it – 7 innings tonight.
Anyone know if he is on a pitch count on today’s game?
I think every Dodger starter is on a pitch count.
Yah but you know what I mean. Coming back from injury maybe he will be limited to 80 pitches rather than 110. That’s what I’m asking about.
Added another link to the description of Hill above.
I would have started Toles over Reddick. Hope I am proven wrong, however.
That, without a doubt, is the best blister related article I have ever read.
Off to Nats-O’s, so may be a little late joining tonight, but will be scoreboard watching!
OT – reacting to the Dylan Hernandez interview with Belt and more specifically to Dylan’s notion that the Dodgers are somehow “lucky” to be in first because of the giants’ second half swoon, luck runs both ways. http://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/17377501/the-giants-had-their-first-half-fortune-mlb This is an Insider piece which uses differences in OPS for and OPS against to arrive at the conclusion that the giants were lucky in the first half and have been unlucky in the second half and that these sorts of numbers tend to even out over the long course of a season. The giants, according to this formula, currently have about three wins more than they “should” have so they are actually lucky that they are not further behind.
The Gnats continue to play over their heads.