Game 18, 2017

Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 5:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FS-A

Kenta Maeda (1-1, 7.07 ERA) goes for the Dodgers, YALHP Robbie Ray (1-0, 1.96 ERA) for the D-Backs. If you’re counting, Ray is the 10th lefty to start against the Dodgers in 18 games.

Maeda pitched against the Diamondbacks Saturday night, giving up four runs on four hits in four innings. He has yet to settle in this season; the Dodgers are hoping extra bullpen and two extrad days of rest will get him on the right track. Ray faced the Dodgers Monday night, went six innings, gave up two runs, walked four, struck out ten and got no decision for his trouble.

Lineup when available.

So apparently Joc’s deemed not likely to succeed as well against the lefty Ray as he did leading off against the righty Walker last night. No Toles, no Utley, no Seager: I don’t quite understand Dave Roberts’ reasoning here.

73 thoughts on “Game 18, 2017

  1. More Grant:

    “Denard Span strained his shoulder colliding with the outfield fence, the second starting outfielder in the last week to hurt himself that way. The other starting outfielder hurt himself in the field on Friday, and he looked hurt after being forced into the game.”
    ==============================
    Edit. Not Grant, but more “what shoe drops next?” SF news from their Chronicle beat writer:

    “KANSAS CITY — Right-hander Kyle Crick, who was off to a good start in his first Triple-A season, as a reliever, has gone on Sacramento’s disabled list because of a freak injury.

    “Crick was hit in the head by a foul ball Sunday while sitting in the visiting dugout at Cashman Field in Las Vegas and sustained a concussion.”

  2. Grant, in his element:

    “The news broke about Bumgarner’s screwery, and everything was a blur. When it settled down, one of my first thoughts was, “At least Johnny Cueto is starting tonight.” The reasons why are obvious. That’s the co-ace. That’s the reason Giants fans shouldn’t be wearing floaties in a toilet, looking at the sky and wondering why, why, why. Cueto is fantastic, and he’ll pick us all up, the thought went.

    “Then he gave up a grand slam and an inside-the-park home run in the same inning.”

    http://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2017/4/21/15392094/giants-no-what-are-you-doing-stop

  3. At least we made Arizona work hard by making them play the whole game to get eleven runs rather than letting them score most of their runs in one inning like the previous night.

  4. Bah. I’m not worried yet, not after 18 games, but our starting pitching other than Kershaw and McCarthy (!) has not performed up to standard yet.

    • They are showing all the weaknesses of last year: not hitting with RISP and when they DO get the hits, the pitching lets them down . . . not going deep into games by SP . . . and the blisters of Hill.
      Hopefully they can turn things around, as they did last year.

  5. For tomorrow’s game I’ll be in the air, en route to Detroit and then Ann Arbor, where my daughter’s receiving her MSW. Be gone a week, looking in on occasion. In Michigan, I won’t be blacked out for the Gnatgames.

  6. That was even less fun than last night. Likely because last night was a thing that happened and so I had already used up all my “Ha ha the Dodgers had a bad game against AZ” for the week.

  7. It feels a bit one sided here. Like one team has given up and one team is still playing hard. Not good Dodgers.

  8. I think Joc has been on base in every game he has played this year so this might be his last at bat tonight to keep the streak alive.

  9. So Maeda’s era is a not so cool looking 8.05. Nowhere to go but down, I would hope.

  10. Hard to imagine Gonzo beating a throw to first regardless of the circumstances.

  11. Unless he is hurt, I think Seager needs to be in the lineup virtually every day. And we had a day off on Thursday. I don’t get it.

  12. Just got home from umpiring a youth baseball DH and looked at Gameday. Simply put, right now we are not a very good team. Yes, it is early, but still, this is disappointing and frustrating.

  13. Just when I was wondering if Maeda had found his groove he gives up a lead off single.

  14. Being a little rude to their southpaw. Too bad they are getting to our righty.

  15. While we couldn’t hit them, with the worst offensive numbers in the majors last year against southpaws, we almost broke even (if my memory is not too far off) at about 23-26. With the way we bashed righties, we were able to overcome this performance. As such, it is troubling that we are now seeing more than half of our games against lefties so far.

      • If I recall right, 30% of pitchers are lefties, which is about the percentage we faced last year.