Game 139, 2017

Diamondbacks at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FS-A

Believe it or not, the Dodgers could clinch a postseason spot as early as tonight. The scenario has permutations galore and most of them have to do with the Brewers and Cubs. Put simply, if the Dodgers win tonight’s game and the Cubs and Brewers both lose, the Dodgers are guaranteed a spot because neither of those teams can match the Dodgers’ record of 93 wins.

The streaks end tonight. So saith I, Master of all I survey. In order to make it so, the Dodgers will send their parfait genteel Japanese knight Kenta Maeda, he of the 12-6 W-L record and the 4.19 ERA, to the mound to do battle with the D-Backs’ Taijuan Walker, who brings an 8-7 record with a 3.42 ERA to the game. Oddly, Maeda has 122 strikeouts for the season and Walker has 120. Advantage, Dodgers!

The D-Backs hammered Maeda last week in Phoenix, scoring seven runs on eight hits and knocking him out after three innings. Walker shut out the Rockies for five innings in his last start.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1924 In a game that features a total of only six hits, the Brooklyn Robins beat Boston, 1-0, behind the strong two-hit performance of right-hander Bill Doak. The Braves Field victory is the team’s 15th consecutive win, establishing the longest winning streak in franchise history.
  • 1953 With Giants manager Leo Durocher yelling “stick it in his ear”, Ruben Gomez hits Carl Furillo, the National League’s leading hitter, on the wrist with a pitch. After taking first base, the Dodgers right fielder bolts into the opposing dugout to choke ‘Leo the Lip’, but in the melee, the knuckle on his little finger is fractured, putting an end to his season.
  • 1981 Fernando Valenzuela ties the National League’s rookie record for shutouts, blanking St. Louis, 5-0, for his seventh whitewash of the season. The Dodger lefty shares the mark with Irv Young (1905 Beaneaters), Grover Alexander (1911 Phillies), and Jerry Koosman (1968 Mets).
  • 1985 In a matchup of aces that lives up to its advanced billing, Dwight Gooden and Fernando Valenzuela hook up in one of the best pitchers’ duels in recent memory. New York beats Los Angeles at Chavez Ravine, 2-0, thanks to Darryl Strawberry’s two-run double on a day that the 20 year-old Mets right-hander strikes out 10 batters, throwing nine shutout innings, while the Dodgers southpaw pitches 11 innings without allowing a run.
  • 1996 Brett Butler returns to the Dodger lineup four months after having surgery for throat cancer. The 39 year-old center fielder scores the decisive run in the team’s 3-2 victory over the Bucs.

Also on this date in big league history, in 1995 Cal Ripken breaks Lou Gehrig’s consecutive game record, playing in his 2,131st straight game. When the game becomes official in the middle of the fifth inning, the new ‘Iron Man’ takes a victory lap around Camden Yards during the 22-minute standing ovation from the sellout crowd, including President Bill Clinton.

Lineup when available.

132 thoughts on “Game 139, 2017

  1. Funny thing — that much-derided first game of the doubleheader featuring the cast of “Who?”sville featured the second largest number of runs scored during this nightmare — the first game in AZ had 6 for the Blue, last Saturday saw 5.

    I am no way indicating we should use that lineup. But outside of the quality of opposing pitchers, might the other answer be bats pressing?

        • I thought LV was all about probabilities, or rather taking money way from people who don’t understand them.

          • It is, and we thank everyone who tries to beat the house — keeps us without a state income tax and allows the Raiders to move here. (Don’t like the team, but excited to have the NFL here.)

            Me, I stick to dime video poker.

  2. Weird stretches of Dodger baseball in the fairly recent past:

    2013: 30-42 and then win 42 out of the next 50.

    And my personal favourite…
    2006: coming out of the All-Star break, they lose 13 out of 14 including the last 8 games in a row. Then they immediately turn it around and win 11 in a row and 17 out of 18.

  3. My command was ignored! Vengeance will be mine!

    Drat. This is one of the more discouraging stretches the Dodgers have given me that I can remember.

  4. For a while I’d forgotten what it was like to lose. Now I can’t remember what it feels like to win. Weirdest year ever.

  5. Remember when McCourt had that psychic on payroll?
    Perhaps a sports therapist/hypnotist would help.
    I don’t care what they say about being confident, I can’t see how they’re not questioning themselves and pressing.

  6. There hasn’t been much scoreboard watching in weeks (months), but gotta be rooting for everyone AZ (and WSH) plays.

  7. Tony C. doesn’t scare me as much.
    SP has MUCH better than last week. (Tho same results, so far.)
    Gotta seek silver linings to stay sane.

  8. Let’s put the D-backs in a bit of perspective. They do not have the best record in baseball.
    They do not have the best record in the NL.
    They do not have the best record in the NL West.
    They are not even the hottest team in baseball.
    The D-backs are overrated.
    There I said it.

  9. Now we get to face Archie, with no Turner. Granderson, Forsythe and Hernandez all in the lineup now.

  10. I’m Dodgering in and out of this game tonight. Can’t take another one like last night’s 10 inning affair.

  11. Maeda must have a better pick-off move than the lob toss to first that he has done a few times tonight.

  12. Maybe the Dodgers were simply missing… Joc! And perhaps they will now get back to their winning ways.

  13. I can’t find the Dodgers lineup tonight. Here’s hoping that neither Granderson nor Hernandez is in the No. 2 hole — how about Barnes? — and that the lineup doesn’t include Granderson, Hernandez of Forsythe. I know that I am asking a lot.

  14. Regarding the item above from 1953, the injury forced Furillo to miss the rest of the regular season but he had enough at bats and led the league in hitting at .344. He returned for the World Series, batting .333 in the six games. The Yankees won the Series, 4-2.

  15. Was hoping BBRef had a pitch count for Fernando on that 1985 game, but no. 11 innings, 6 hits, 3 walks, 39 batters faced. That would take 5 or more pitchers to accomplish in this era.

  16. Nice article about Dodgers still having confidence, despite the recent stench (his word) — https://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2017/9/6/16258948/dodgers-losing-streak-confidence-best-record-in-mlb-diamondbacks

    “The bottom line is this. How the Dodgers fare this October will depend on how they play this October. It won’t be because of how they played in late August and early September, just like it won’t be a result of how they played in June, July, or most of August.”