Dodgers at Pirates, 1:05 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, ATT SportsNet-PIT
Dodger lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu (4-6, 3.45 ERA) will face the Pirates’ RHP Chad Kuhl (6-8, 4.52 ERA) in a day game at PNC Park. Ryu seems to have gotten on track after his two-year recovery from injuries: he’s 2-0 with a 2.22 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 44 2/3 innings in his last eight starts. Kuhl has pitched much better since July 1, posting a 3.21 ERA. In his first 15 starts of the season before that he had a 5.58 ERA.
Yu Darvish and Kenta Maeda will meet and greet the Japanese Little League team before the game.
Today in Dodgers’ history:
- 1941 During a double-header against the Cardinals, a rag tag group of five ‘musicians’, dubbed the Dodger SymPhony by announcer Red Barber, makes their Ebbets Field’s debut. This band, in which none of the members can read music, performs their zany antics at all evening and weekend games.
- 1955 A telegram sent to Brooklyn president Walter O’Malley by the Patchogue Chamber of Commerce offers the team “thirty acres or more of dry flat land in open country in the heart of Long Island’s densest Dodger fan concentration.” The village’s attempt to attract the fleeing franchise to the south shore of Suffolk County will not materialize, and the club, after exploring many different venues as an alternative to Ebbets Field, will leave the East Coast in 1958 to play in Los Angeles.
- 1957 The Dodgers, in a 13-3 loss to Milwaukee at Ebbets Field, use eight pitchers in one game, tying a major league record. Johnny Podres gives up three home runs in the fourth frame when Nippy Jones, Hank Aaron, and Andy Pafko all go deep off the Brooklyn starter.
- 1960 During a dull game, Vin Scully, the play-by-play voice of the Dodgers, knowing that many fans in the stands follow the game on transistor radios, asks his listeners to help him surprise third base umpire Frank Secory. His ballpark audience responds when the veteran broadcaster tells them, “Let’s have some fun. As soon as the inning is over I’ll count to three, and on three everybody yell, ‘Happy birthday, Frank!'”
- 1974 Davey Lopes steals five bases, tying a National League record established in 1904 by Giants first baseman Dan McGann. The Dodger second baseman’s quintet of stolen bags adds to the team’s franchise mark of eight stolen bases in their 3-0 victory over the Redbirds at Chavez Ravine.
- 1975 Davey Lopes steals his major league record 38th consecutive base, but the streak will be stopped by Montreal backstop Gary Carter when he attempts to swipe another base in the Dodger Stadium contest. The second baseman will be thrown out in the 12th inning of the team’s 5-3 loss in fourteen innings.
- 2014 Joc Pederson becomes the fourth player in the history of the Pacific Coast League to have a 30-30 season, and the first to accomplish the feat in 80 years, when he steals his 30th base for the Isotopes. The 22 year-old Albuquerque slugger, who has 32 home runs and a .432 slugging percentage in 116 games this season, will join the Dodgers when rosters expand next week.
Lineup when available.
Today's Dodger lineup at Pirates:
Taylor CF
Granderson LF
Turner 3B
Grandal C
González 1B
Puig RF
Forsythe 2B
Hernández SS 🎂
Ryu P pic.twitter.com/DFHXl2wWcW— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 24, 2017
Yes, that is a birthday cake for Kiké. No, I did not add it. The Dodgers’ Twitter person did.
NPUT
Just read the SI article you posted yesterday, Link — thanks!
I knew about JT’s impact on the field, I didn’t realize it’s equally important off it.
I subscribe to the magazine and I haven’t gotten my dead-tree version yet. Grrrh.
I expect there to be a grand welcome for Curtis in Dodger Stadium tomorrow — what a debut week!
Unusual slash for Granderson: .174/.367/.565/.932.
That low of a BA?
He seemed to have had an impact on every game I heard.
I’m also impressed with his hustle.
A walk’s as good as a hit – unless that hit goes for extra bases, preferably four of them.
Woo-HOO!!!
Now it’s official.
Woo-hoo!?
See above…
Last night’s game exhausted me, so I decided to just check in periodically tonight. It still seems as though we struggled to score tonight, looking at the number of hits we had. Just one of those runs from today’s game, last night would have been helpful
Agree re both points — LOB and “if only.”
As Vin taught me (amongst sooo many other things): “Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, ‘It might have been.”
Don Meredith: “If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we’d all have a merry Christmas.”
Road trip was 5-2. The only loss to Pittsburgh was our best-pitched game of the season. Ironic.
Nice way to bounce back after that heart-breaking game last night.
But sounds like they have been leaving A LOT of runners on base.
Winning is winning (+ an historic loss), but is there any concern about all those LOB?
We know that LOB can become RBI . . . right RBI?
I think it is just a blip, but we will learn more over the next few games.
I am counting on it.
Percentage of base runners scoring doesn’t vary much over any significant amount of time among teams. The average in the NL is 15%. Rox are at 17% and Nats at 16% and Dodgers are 14%. Most teams are clustered around 13-14%. The Rox are a bit of an outlier (Coors), but even then we are talking about the Rox scoring 3 more runs our of 100 base runners more than the Dodgers this season Even then the Rox have only scored 19 more runs than the Dodgers, because the Dodgers have had 92 more base runners and have hit more solo dingers (29 more dingers in total – too lazy to do the math)..
90 wins! Ryu gets his fifth win!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpGx4foRdPw
We win!
Number 90!
90-36. Remarkable. Five wins for every two losses. I’d loved to see the Dodgers reach 100 wins before 40 losses.
At 90-36, the Dodgers are now six games below .750.
Crazy. Absolutely crazy.
Kike on that record and what’s to come: “It’s been fun.”
Tomorrow’s the start of the “Players Weekend” extravaganza. Here’s a list of the nicknames that will be on the jerseys.
“Today use Morrow and then Jansen tomorrow.”
Sounds like a Steinerism. Where is he, anyway? Anybody know?
I haven’t listened to radio since you wonderfully told me about the MLB.tv deal a few months ago.
Heh.
Noticed that video highlights have had Monday commenting during this road trip at least.
Monday and Kennedy on the radio. Davis and Nomar on the tube. Maybe Orel and Charlie are on a fishing trip.
Mo had said before that Charlie was taking some time off.
I love when Mo is play-by-play . . . and that’s pro-Mo, not anti-Steiner.
But I miss Jerry Reuss as the color fill-in. He did some games for the Las Vegas 51s in recent years.
I would hope he’s taken early retirement.
Utley (.228) and Hernandez (.220) have both been very valuable despite their low averages.
We had higher expectations, but Logan contributing as well.
Joe Posnanski notes Rich Hill had a 91 game score last night. He says there are ten other games in which the pitcher had a 90-plus game score and lost. He generously listed them.
WBBsAs: Here’s a good piece from four years ago about Carlos Bernier, one of my favorite players on the Hollywood Stars. I don’t recall who sent it to me. Perhaps it was someone on this site:
http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/Op-Ed/2013/04/14/Carlos-Bernier-more-than-a-footnote/stories/201304140150
This is not a trend I want to see continue: the Dodgers have left the bases loaded seven times in this four-game series.
And I like when the Dodgers have the bases loaded.
Granderson and Grandal have combined for six homers n the last six games, including today’s, and Grandal has played in only four of them.
He might reach 20 this year.
That looked like the old AGon.
Grandote and El Titan!
A-Gon!
Grandal!
Báez delivers!
Got to go back to my houseguests. Hopefully I will get to have my own belated woo-hoo later!
Looking forward to it!
Lots of two out scoring lately.
Short relievers are not allowed to mix several bad outings in with several good outings. I’d rather see Avilan than Watson or Cingrani.
It’s tough work where failings are magnified by the short duration and intensity of their appearances.
So true. We expect relievers to get the job done every time, which is way too high a bar. But when they fail frequently, it is difficult to digest.
Again, Dodgers have the luxury of a big division lead to experiment with their relievers.
As well, the common way that they are measured, saves, halts and ERA often hides more than it gleans.
A starter with an ERA of 3.00 is generally considered good, a reliever at that same number is mediocre. Magnified situations lead to magnified expectations.
Bye bye Tony.
Okay now, Watson. Throw a strike why dontcha.
Playing keep-away with Harrison.
How long is Bellinger supposed to be out?
The sooner, the better. Although it is a small sample, Gonzalez isn’t doing it for me. Also, Bellinger was injured in the third game he has started in right field. Was it an accident that could have happened anywhere or did his lack of familiarity with the position play a role?
Feel better about A-Gon now? 😉
I will take another order of crow, please, if you don’t mind.
S’alright. 🙂
Many chances to put this game away have been frittered away. Let’s hope that they don’t come back to haunt us.
Truer than ever.
Johnny Barbato sounds like a character in a Mickey Spillane novel.
Definite fedora involved.
Or maybe Dennis Lehane.
Barnsey being Motaesque.
I saw Manny play at Tacoma, where he was one of my favorites. I was delighted when he became a Dodger.
You must have been a wee laddie then.
Acquiring Mota and reacquiring Wills for Fairly and Popovich from the Expos in June 1969 was one of my favorite Dodger trades.
I saw both Matty and Jesús, and even Perry and McCovey and Jim Ray Hart. Still, I always remained a Dodgers’ fan.
Good for you. I saw guys like Dick Stuart and Carlos Bernier of the Hollywood Stars, and Steve Bilko and Sparky Anderson of the Old L.A. Angeles when I was a kid in L.A. before the Dodgers moved west.
I saw Carlos Bernier play in Tacoma, where was the most hated player. He and Bo Belinsky were with the Hawaii Islanders.
Yep.
Bo was a real celebrity and living it up in Hawaii. He eventually died of bladder cancer but, given his suntan at the time, I’m surprised it wasn’t melanoma.
Bilko pictured with Albie Pearson on the first Angels team was a kick. Then there was Leon Wagner. Later they got a little better with Dean Chance.
Pearson has done (he’s still alive — 82 years old) quite a lot of good in his post-baseball career.
I just read the link to Albie Pearson that you provided. That’s great.
I don’t know why I was surprised. Shame on me.
Quique delivers!
Ryu has ERA 1.54 so far in the second half.
What has happened to our offense lately?
Ugh. A whole lot of nothing.
But I’m not going to complain about this small sample size when:
A. They are actually leading this game.
B. They have about a million wins this season.
Sports Illustrated cover jinx.
More like the bases loaded jinx.
Dodger OPS+ for the season with sacks full is 125 relative to the NL and 123 relative to other situations.
Can you explain what that means?
25% higher than your average team and 23% better with other combination of runners or no runners. Only situation where they are below average is with runners on first and third, where they are 24% below average. It is a strength not a weakness.
Thanks. I was referring to this game, but that’s good to know and makes sense overall.
Of course.
Averaged 7 runs in first two games of the series. Hit the ball well yesterday. Today’s game still being played.
Up to Yasmani.
To my fellow Dodger fans on this site, I am taking my daughter and sister to the Saturday night game against the Brewers. Our seats on the reserve level between home and third: 7RS, Row K, Seats 11, 14 and 15 (they are separated). If any of you are there and want to say hello, that would be great.
I so wish I could visit you but I am going on Sunday.
Ryu lumbering to third.
That was exactly the verb I used.
CT3 with the double!
And of course, Ryu gets a hit.
Dropping in and out – houseguests for the night. Go Dodgers.
Keep hitting them to the birthday boy and he keeps throwing them out.
What is the major league record for assists in an inning?
No more than 4, I’d think.
In theory, it could be infinite.
yeah, but like strikeouts, you gotta think out of four three would count.
If the first baseman, for example. drops a throw for an error allowing the runner to be safe, the infielder who made the throw gets an assist. So, conceivably, that play could continue to be repeated — someone dropping a throw for an error on what should have been an out — and there could be an infinite number of assists. Haven’t said that, I still haven’t answered your question.
My slowpitch team once hit three sac flies in an inning.
Maeda has already flown to LA. Not available for PH duties.
This youngster Granderson appears to have potential.
Granderson!
Red!
This Bell guy is pretty good.
Were it not for Bellinger, he’d be leading candidate for ROY.
So, even hits w/RISP don’t work…
Ha! Still counts!
That was a foolish sending of Puig.
Pretty much gotta take the chance with a Ryu due up,
He was easily thrown out and miss a chance to have Ryu bat this inning instead of leading off the next.
That’s one way to look at it I suppose, but objective is to score runs.
Also, Ryu’s not helpless with the bat.
Guessing that the odds of Puig scoring on that are better than Ryu getting him in.
Either decision involved some risk.
Since both the Rox and Snakes have already won, Dodgers will have to win to maintain their lead.
Filibusteros finally get good wood on a ball. Unfortunately with guys on base.
CT!
Which Dodger pitcher is the least terrible bunter?
Klayton, Wood, Maeda?
I recall Kershaw and Maeda handling the bat OK at times, but not Wood.
Yeah. Less clear to me but he does have 4.
Hill is horrendous.
I think most of them are good to adequate.
Hill’s a terrible hitter, but an even worse bunter.
Pitch count!
Quique draws a five-ball walk…
Quique battling against the righty.
Good job birthday boy!
Last 24 hours not kind to Logan.
OK, I’m starting to get annoyed.
Missed opportunity, again!
Former Griddle author Bob Timmermann on the Dodgers and the eclipse.
Davis seems to forget Harvey Haddix.
Believe that was Joc’s OBP. He slugged .582. Never showed much ability at stealing bases in the Bigs. While he did steal 33 at AAA, he was also caught 13 times (72%). I am reminded that Wills also got caught 13 times in 1962, but he stole 104!
I vaguely recall a triple steal with Maury in the lead.
It apparently was not Maury, according to “Finding the Left Arm of God” about the 1962 season: https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bb479de24352a9a5ad33b32b93da07ce7b5d40bc8bf3e3b5177fb9d6b91244d6.png
Is that a book? Any good?
I had heard of it before, can’t say whether it’s any good. The 1962 season was not, though, despite many exceptional individual performances.
One of the best and most exciting Dodger teams, particularly since moving to LA. Remember it fondly from my youth, though could do without the ending.
I still curse Alston for bringing in Williams.
Too young to curse at the time.
Me too, but I have made up for it since.
Williams, though, brought the Dodgers Moose Skowron, who helped them sweep the Yanks in ’63.
Yeah, but on that particular day his control was non-existent.
Williams was a pretty good pitcher who had an awful day at the wrong time.
Second in a trilogy, apparently.
Here’s the first.
Alston was saving Drysdale for the first game of the World Series in 1962, apparently.