Dodgers at Marlins, 4:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FS-F
Lefty Rich Hill (11-3, 1.94 ERA) makes his third start for the Dodgers. In his first two he’s thrown 12 scoreless innings. He’ll face RHP Tom Koehler (9-10, 3.87 ERA), who hasn’t won since August 9 but whose last outing was six shutout innings against Cleveland on September 4.
Personnel move:
Today, the #Dodgers reinstated Andre Ethier from the 60-day DL. To create room on the roster, Casey Fien has been designated for assignment.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 10, 2016
Lineup:
Tonight's Dodger lineup:
Kendrick 2B
Seager SS
Turner 3B
González 1B
Grandal C
Reddick RF
Puig LF
Pederson CF
Hill P— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 10, 2016
Belated NPUT
Good afternoon!
Steiner also can’t count – after Utley flies out, he says Ureña has retired 11 straight.
The Fish, apparently, do not believe in diacriticals.
Surprising, given where they play.
We can probably agree with the Wikipedia entry that says Jeffrey Loria has “been called one of the most dishonest owners by numerous publications such as ESPN and named one of the worst owners in sports by Rolling Stone magazine.”
Pitches through three innings:
Urena — 26
Maeda — 30
Orel noting that Urena throws a lot like Martinez (the brother we kept).
Steiner, this won’t be Dre’s first at bat.
Steiner’s not big on facts.
Get-away-day, so everyone swinging early.
Four pitch inning.
Nope, four.
Wow! What a DP.
DP of the Year!
Kenta has a good move, no?
Steiner does not even understand objective case pronouns.
LInk appears to have overslept. Meanwhile, a voice to cringe at…
No, I didn’t oversleep. I did think the game started at 10:10am my time, though. Sorry ’bout that.
Jon, of course, has a well-reasoned take on this. In particular, “Technically, this wasn’t the first time Hill left a start this year without allowing a baserunner. On July 17, he took the mound for Oakland — and then had to leave when his blister problem became untenable during warmups. And it’s that reality that Roberts was dealing with.”
199.
Hate to think that anything is in the bag, but a scenario occurred to me where the Dodgers could be in a position of knocking the giants out of the playoffs, perhaps on the last day of the season. How would Roberts play that game? Come to think of it, who among the players would be designated to manage said game? Utley?
How about Puig?
An inspired choice to be sure.
It would be loads of fun to see the response of Gnatfans.
Those giants are probably looking in the rearview mirror these days. Cards play the Brewers and Mets play the Braves.
Zach on the mound for the Snakes today against Matt Moore. A five game lead with 20 left would be awful nice
McCullough’s LA Times game story.
A combined no-brainer and stomach punch.
True Blue is passing along tweets that indicate Hill was developing a hotspot on his finger (Did Doc leave him in too long?)
https://twitter.com/McCulloughTimes/status/774803980459401217
So if Dodgers make the playoffs, Hill starts Game 1 right?
He may need to start game 2 as well.
Brett Anderson tweets about pulling Hill.
Everyone focusing on the 89 pitches, but at that rate he would have been at 114 to end the game. He was lost 2 1/2 weeks to the A’s before the trade and 3 1/2 weeks to the Dodgers after the trade. Blisters not a minor issue at all.
Kazmir news and it’s not good. Thoracic spine inflammation and no timetable for return.
He probably will not touch this, but it would be interesting to read Grant’s take on this.
So what does Roberts say to Hill? Does he tell him next time you have a perfect game going through 7 and you have less than 90 pitches, I’ll let you pitch longer?
I would advise Roberts to not go anywhere near him.
Sure that Roberts would love to be put in that situation.
So true.
This win ranks right up there with th AJ Ellis trade.
AJ would have found a way to have Hill at only 69 pitches through 7. jk
Can’t wait to read what ol’ Mr. Weisman will have to say about all this.
It will need to contain a great deal of salve.
It always does.
Great choice of terms. Given the blister situation.
Is salve different than balm?
“Who told you to put the balm on?”
Recall that he was lost for 2 1/2 weeks to the A’s before the trade and 3 1/2 weeks to us. Not a minor issue.
He is wondering about that himself
At least Vin was not calling the game. It would be difficult to take away his last chance to call a perfect game.
I was thinking that as well. Major silver lining!
Could you imagine if this was the division clinching win?
Well, we win sort of, I guess.
Woo-hoo.
No exclamation points tonight.
Puig in the doghouse for making Robert’s life difficult.
Ha!
I was thinking along those lines as well. Maybe it would have been better if Puig hadn’t made that catch.
We win! (sorta)
Jansen with the vulture save opportunity.
Clearly the big story tonight is beating Mattingly and company for the first time this year.
Out of respect for Hill, players seem very subdued.
It’s a tough one to swallow, even if the right call.
That’s why it was a tough call.
I hate it when the team morale needs to rebound from a 5-0 win.
Does he pull Kershaw if the same thing happens?
Certainly under present circumstances, with Clayton returning from injury.
Puig’s catch: https://streamable.com/awgg?t=13.9
Somehow I don’t think Howie makes that if he was out there (does he even make it halfway)
It would be funny bizzaro baseball if a manager in Roberts’ position started putting in the defensive B team so that there was a greater chance the perfect game didn’t continue. Like switching Puig for Howie, Hernandez for Joc, etc.
Sure to be a bit weird in the clubhouse after the game. Very mixed feelings.
Last time a pitcher pulled after 7 perfect innings was 1913
Good digging!
Marlins just said it
I just heard that dating back to 1913, no pitcher has ever been pulled after 7 perfect innings. As in, Dave Roberts is the first manager to do so.
Earlier this season, Roberts pulled Stripling from a gno-hitter v. the Gnats. Stripling’s father thanked him.
In the 7th? Or earlier?
After seven-plus I think.
“100 pitches across 71/3 innings of a no-hit debut” for Stripling. Then Hatcher gave up a 2-run dinger to tie the game.
Ah! So this is the second time, although that wasn’t a perfect game, just no hits, right? Several walks.
After getting the first out, walked the next guy at 100 pitches.
Only that walk? I thought he had more.
3 others before that.
Thanks.
Dave Roberts. Crusher of dreams.
(And just to be clear, I’m not saying this angryly – just kidding around.)
Hearing Roberts explain his reasoning after the game will no doubt make Hill and the fans feel much better about it.
NOT.
Maybe Roberts is looking for an edge in a tight Manager of the Year race and thinks this will do it. 😉
Help or hurt?
Ha. Help. Making those tough calls that his pitcher didn’t agree with but was done for the team’s future fortunes.
So good to see Ethier back.
Don’t hurt yourself Andre.
I just said the same thing.
No, don’t foul a ball off your femur.
Joc needs to get on so that Dre can come up.
Here he is!
Done
Hot take: If Roberts was around as manager, Koufax wouldn’t have a perfect game either. Too big a risk on straining his arm in the midst of a pennant race.
Nope. One run ball game.
So you are saying if the Dodgers were winning 1-0, Hill would have kept pitching?
Yep as Dodgers were tied for NL lead and not up by 4.
In Koufax’s time, that was not the issue it is today. Sandy threw until his arm fell off.
Does this make it more difficult to sign Hill this off season?
I don’t think that will be a factor, especially if we get deep into the post season.
They usually go for the highest bidder.
His overall performance, and the distance the Dodgers go in the post-season, will be more meaningful
He’s making less than Puig for this season. $6M.
Roberts has guts, I’ll give him that.
Both his and the ones he tore out of Hill
Seager should have had that.
Bum.
Yeah. He won’t be player of the game.
Not even player of his room, now that Joc has two dingers to his one.
Many years ago, I saw ex-Gnat Dick Lemay throw a seven-inning perfecto in Tacoma. At that time, the second game of Sunday doubleheaders in the PCL were scheduled for seven only.
I remember those at Aloha Stadium when the Hawai’i Islanders played there.
We used to get studio re-creations of Tacoma games in Hawaii, which started at 11 pm PDT. I recall falling asleep with the Tacoma Giants (gnot Gnats) trailing 8-0 and waking up the next morning to hear they had scored 11 runs in the ninth to win.
We had the king of recreations out here for a long time. Les Keiter did the Gnats from 1958-1960 back to NYC and then did the Islanders for about fifteen years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Keiter
We had Don Hill (http://oldtimerbaseball.com/hall.php?name=Don%20Hill) who, in retrospect, was awful. We loved him at the time, though.
Do they bring in Kenley Jansen for the ninth if it’s still an interesting game?
Bringing in Blanton to pitch the eighth I think answers that question.
Hill looks crushed.
For all the reasons for taking him out, those are the same reasons that make Hill want to get the prize. It has been a frustrating season for him.
So are their team perfectos?
Good question.
Well, okay. Now that I hear Nomar’s arguments for pulling him, I understand. But how disappointing, after Puig’s catch, etc. We’d better win this game.
What did Nomar say?
He talked about losing Kazmir, looking ahead to needing Hill to be okay and staying blister free and healthy into the post season and onto the World Series, pitch count, etc., etc.
He agreed with me then. 😉
I do not agree with this at all.
Only 89 pitches. Wow.
His high since coming back from DL.
From celebration to frustration. No player went near Hill during the debate. Smart.
How do you guys feel about that? Seems wrong to me.
He’s thrown 89 pitches, he’s not gone longer than six innings in over a month, and he’s had blisters badly enough to put him on the DL. Those are all reasonably compelling reasons to take him out, I think.
Right call for me. He would have to take him out at some point due to pitch count. easier to do it now rather than after a perfect 8th.
Good point.
Assuming he had pitched a perfect 8th. And truthfully, I’m guessing Hill would far rather be pulled after giving up a base runner and having the perfect game end, than not being given a chance at all.
Or perhaps, he gets through the 8th in 9 pitches and the 9th in 8 pitches and pitch count doesn’t really come into play. And he pitches a perfect game.
There are certainly different scenarios about leaving him in but they all mean more pitches, which is what Roberts was trying to avoid. Dave, the guy was out for 5 1/2 weeks with blisters
Sigh. You are right. And now, to further back you up, sounds like there was some heat on Hill’s finger.
Stupid Roberts left him in too long!
No Hill.
Will Roberts let Hill go all the way?
He will start the 8th anyways.
Not sure. Hill looked pretty furious just now.
You are right.
Guessed too soon.
Disappointing but perhaps not wrong.
Doesn’t look like it.
Seager is so dialed in. (Written before the fly out but after a blistered just foul ball.)
I hope Vinny was watching that. He loves Puig’s wheels.
Good to be a Dodger fan
Always better, often good.
Only Puig’s third time in left field, too.
Wild Horse can gallop!
Wow, what a catch!
Puig! What a catch!!!! Who else?
Wow! Wow! Wow!
Why would Roberts put Puig in left? Answered.
Grant Dayton warming up. Hmmm.
Pitch count might be more powerful than Marlins’ Bats
Joc might be the player of the game.
Or he might not be even close to being player of the game.
He might need 3 more dingers to beat out Hill.
Hill: “Never bet against the Number 9 hitter.”
Professor Hill is making a different kind of pitch tonight.
89 is his most pitches as a Dodger, though he regularly went over 100 as an A’s. (then we have the blister issue to consider)
Fascinating.
9Ks of 18 hitters. Wowsers.
That’s pretty good.
I’m pleased an interesting game got more interesting
How you liking it now?!
If friends don’t let friends drive drunk, why do friends let friends have stupid haircuts? Joc, ya got friends?
Maybe he was on the bad end of a bet.
Maybe that cut is bad for hat hair
As a teacher I had several situations where a parent let a child have a wacky hair cut, then tell ME to not let kids tease him about it!
Sometimes it feels like rule 8 here and the Dodgers hitting multiple home runs in an inning are in some tension.
How can we not make the same point over and over again! 🙂
I blame the team.
Yes, well, the moderator knows when to make allowances.
Thank you sir.
Justin time.
I remember this team. The one that hits the homeruns.
Glad Fernandez was so yesterday
Roommates have something to talk about
Now that Joc has his second, Seager unlikely to even broach the subject.
Seager!!
Corey!!!
I like him. Let’s keep him around for a while.
Nice having an SS with 30 dinger power.
Rich Hill.
He interests me, so to speak.
Hill is Greg Maddux-like with his control.
For a fly ball pitcher, Hill rarely gives up a dinger.
Joc with all the runs!
Did anybody say how far the ball traveled or would have traveled?
They said 418.
I can only get the Marlins feed on Extra Innings and they didn’t say anything, or I missed it.
The outfielder was looking up for a long time on Joc’s blast!!
Joc!!!!
This game is almost too good to enjoy. Almost.
Joc with all the catches.
Reddick with all the pitches.
Hill. Man. So smooth.
Like a good scotch.
With two strikes against him this season, Grandal is now 28-for-201 with 101 strikeouts, but also 13 homers.
All two-strike counts, or 0-and-2?
25 times at 0-2 he has 2 hits both dingers and 14Ks
After two strikes. On 0-2 count he is 7-for-57. Anyhow, that’s how I read it on baseball-reference.com. Bob Hendley may be correct.
In the top of the first in Atlanta, the Mets exploded for two runs on no hits.
Braves blew back-to-to-back force out attempts, making an error on each play.
I cringe at the sound of that voice. Come back, Joe Davis!
Since I got MLB tv at the beginning of Augusr, I haven’t heard Steiner. I had forgotten what it was like to listen to him.
I’d like to be able to forget him.
“Like” and “listen” shouldn’t appear in the same sentence when writing about him.
Sure hope we can keep Fien.
He’s one of the top gopher ball guys in the majors. One almost every three innings.
Speaking of Fine (Fien), one of my all-ime favorite songs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rinz9Avvq6A
It’s OK, but I prefer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16qsYreBJZE
Apples and oranges.
Both very good.
Mangos and papayas.
Speaking of fines, George Harrison had to pay about $600k for that song.
Plagiarism in action.
For “My Sweet Lord”?
Yes, though he claims he was inspired by “Oh Happy Day”, which was no longer under copyright.
Here’s the lineup in fun version (curtesy of DodgerNation’s Twitter feed):
HowieDoin 2B
Mr. StealYoGirl SS
RedDream 3B
Boom 1B
Yazmanian C
WallCrawler RF
WildHorse LF
YungJoc CF
KingOfTheHill P