Nationals at Dodgers, 1:10 PM PDT, TV: MASN 2, SPNLA
RHP Stephen Strasburg (3-2, 3.71 ERA) goes for the Nats while LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (4-1, 2.03 ERA) pitches for the Dodgers. How is it possible that Strasburg is 30 years old with a career W-L record of 97-54 and a 3.16 ERA? In his last start he went 6 2/3 innings; he held the Brewers to three hits until the seventh inning when they got to him for four runs. Ryu’s last start was that rarity, a complete game shutout, in which he gave up four hits on 93 pitches against the Braves. He’s struck out 45 on the season and walked two. The two pitchers have met twice before and their teams have split.
Mike Petriello, now of MLB.com but formerly the blogger at the now-defunct Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness Dodger blog, has written an analysis of Hyun-Jin Ryu which posits that he’s MLB’s most underrated ace. If you remember Petriello, his pieces are stat-heavy, and this one’s no exception. He uses them to make the point that Ryu’s career performance is up with the elite pitchers in all of baseball.
- 1956 At Ebbets Field, Carl Erskine tosses his second career no-hitter when he holds the crosstown rival Giants hitless in the Dodgers’ 3-0 victory. The right-handed ‘Oisk’ also threw a no-no against the Cubs in 1952.
- 1958 In a 12-3 rout of their West Coast rival, Willie Mays homers twice against the Dodgers in the LA Memorial Coliseum contest. The ‘Say Hey Kid’s’ second round-tripper, a fifth-inning shot off Ed Roebuck, is the first grand slam ever hit by a San Francisco Giant.
- 1979 Bill Murray, anchorman on Saturday Night Live Weekend Update reports 42 year-old Chico Escuela (a fictional baseball player portrayed by Garrett Morris) has informed the Mets that he is quitting baseball. Although baseball has been “berra berra good…” to him, a crushing blow off the bat of Dodger first baseman Steve Garvey into the Dominican’s infielder’s crotch ends an inspiring comeback.
- 1990 Blanking the Dodgers at Shea Stadium, 7-0, Frank Viola gets his seventh consecutive win from the start of the season. The Mets southpaw sets a franchise record of nine straight victories, dating back to his past two decisions last season.
- 2004 In one of the most remarkable at-bats in big league history, Alex Cora fouls off 14 consecutive pitches and then hits the 18th thrown to him by the Cubs’ Matt Clement over the right-field fence for a two-run home run which doubles LA’s lead to 4-0. The Dodger Stadium crowd cheered each foul ball, watching the increasing total displayed on the scoreboard.
- 2015 Giancarlo Stanton becomes the fourth player to hit a home run out of Dodger Stadium, joining Mark McGwire (1999), Mike Piazza (1997), and Willie Stargell, who accomplished the feat twice (1969, 1973). The jaw-dropping first-inning blast off Mike Bolsinger, estimated to have traveled 475 feet, proves to be the only bright spot in the Marlins’ 11-1 loss to LA at Chavez Ravine.
Lineup when available.
Today's Dodger lineup vs. Nationals:
Pederson LF
Muncy 1B
Turner 3B
Bellinger RF
Verdugo CF
Seager SS
Hernández 2B
Martin C
Ryu P#Dodgers | @Biofreeze pic.twitter.com/2PzMSQo7H7— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 12, 2019
NPUT
This is disturbing. https://twitter.com/mlbtraderumors/status/1128307264262213632?s=20
No, it doesn’t sound good at all.
May see Kenley anyway? Hasn’t pitched in quite a while (May 5) and no game tomorrow.
0-24 RISP?
Martin’s offensive numbers are looking very respectable now.
OBP of .391 coming in (SSS).
Division lead grows to four games over Snakes and Pads, still at 6.5 over Rox and 8.5 over Gnats
High praise for Ryu from Russell Martin:
Bellinger’s walk to strikeout ratio this season is now 24:25.
Last year it was 69:151.
In 2017, his rookie season, it was 64:164.
It’s an impressive turnaround.
Alexander’s hip is an issue, Roberts says.
“As it stands, you’ve got to keep running him out there. But we’ve got to get the delivery, the execution right.”
Really? If he’s injured, shouldn’t it be treated so that he can actually get the execution right?
Bellinger may be hitting .407, but Culberson’s hitting .429.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1X7IwtPTsc
Woo-HOO!!!!
What a back and forth series.
Barves dodge a bullet in Phoenix and still lead 4-3 after seven. Rojopen has blown a lead to the Gnats, now 6-5 in eighth.
Dodgers win!
What the heck is Kenley throwing? Looks like a slow curve.
He’s reinventing himself with an eephus.
Learned from watching Ryu.
And Greinke.
Bellinger’s not quite a Beach Boy – he’s only hitting .407.
I really wanted to see Rocky Gale go deep.
Hill gives Martin a big smile when he returned to the bench.
The Gnatpen is choking, but so are the Barves.
Corey!!!!!
Hello Seager!
Maybe the Dodgers can get an 8th inning slam today.
Okay. That was fun!!!
Nice call!
Fortune favours the bold. As does blind luck sometimes.
Steiner called it foul…
Ha!
At one point during this game I was dreaming of a 1-0 win with Ryu throwing a perfect game and Strasburg throwing a no hitter. And then I imagined that instead of a walk leading to the only baserunner of the game – it was a missed catch strike out.
Rox hung on v. Pads, but Barves lead down to 4-3 and Gnats have tied Rojos (who, however, have a promising start to their eighth).
Speaking of promising starts to an inning…
Standing O!
Cy Ryu! Taylor made him work, though.
https://twitter.com/mike_petriello/status/1127701655250702336?s=20
Of course it’s him. I haaaaaate him.
I don’t hate him. I loathe him.
What is the difference?
The level of repellence.
Ha.
Parra stop!
¡Pará!
¡En rioplatense!
I’m not a fan of Para.
Sipping Mother’s Day pink champagne, finishing up Jerry Reuss’s memoir, and now cussing that rat Parra.
Three weak popups on three pitches apiece, please.
*Three pitches total.
2-0 into the 8th. Hope this redemption – and not repeat – from last night.
Martin hears Scoop!
Quique’s hitting the ball consistently hard with little to show for it.
Ryu!
Glad to see him get past Rendón.
Doc and Honey working the gum.
Bellinger now sits at .403. Just missed a dinger with that one.
Ryu’s pitch count may affect the interesting nature of this game.
Some times there are combined interesting games.
Indeed there are, and let’s hope if Ryu comes out that it becomes one of them.
Expect he comes out for 7th with Strip up in the pen.
Strip knows all about coming out of interesting games.
Bellinger with an extra base hit!
Oh wow Belli!
Awesome play!
Puig just homered off BadGums, and Rojos lead Gnats 4-2 after 5-1/2.
Yasiel has faced him more than any other pitcher (51PA to 37 for second most). That would be an interesting video clip.
and what on earth has he done to his hair (you see it at the end of his HR video when he goes back to the dugout)
Pictures of Puig’s blonde mohawk.
https://twitter.com/extrabaggs/status/1127718359988981761?s=21 but he thinks Puig is a quick learner!
Rox have blown it open 10-3 v. Pads, but it’s only the seventh at Coors. Barves up 4-0 on Snakes in fourth, Rojos 3-2 over Gnats after five.
Martin hears Scoop!
0-19 RISP
But small ball continues to work.
Who needs RISP anyway?
Barves now lead 3-0 over the Snakes. Pads have crept closer to Rox at 5-3 after 6-1/2, while Rojos lead BadGums and the Gnats 3-2 in the fourth.
If Steiner is to be believed that walk was Ryu’s first at Dodger Stadium since August of last season.
So it would therefore seem he is not perfect.
Ryu or Steiner?
Or Strasuerg?
A stopped clock…
Is right twice a day?
A stopped calendar?
The Astros have had scoring innings today of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 runs.
I think we are going to need an offensive upgrade at the catching position.
When?
Sooner than later.
Spoiled by Grande? Getting offense out of the catcher position is a rarity these days.
And how? Note that Fillies aren’t getting offense out of Realmuto much different from what Dodgers are getting out of Austin and Martin.
Gomes, the supposed second choice in the off-season is only OPS+77.
Give QuiQue a catchers glove. Oh, wait a minute, let me check what he has been doing lately.
That may have to wait until Will Smith and/or Keibert Ruiz arrive.
I expect that Smith will be called up before long.
He probably gets called up sooner than September as the Dodgers seek to prepare him for next year. Certainly not as an answer to a floundering offense (?) that requires more from the catcher’s slot.
Dodgers are thinking 3 catchers though it would seem after temporarily adding one.
Sure, but Smith likely to benefit more from reps in the minors than Rocky Gale.
Smith can also play IF.
And third.
He’s the new Russell Martin.
Having him third in depth at third behind JT and Max would certainly boost the offense.
Always in the back of my mind when Ryu pitches is that he is not under contract for next year.
He will be an interesting test of the free-agent system – no qualifying offer, but history of fragility.
Wilmer Difo, shortstop for the Nationals, makes me think of the actor Willem Dafoe.
0-18 RISP this series.
But small ball works!
Rojos lead Gnats 2-0 in the first, after three hits plus two errors by the home town.
I loved my mother, but I hate the pink.
Reflecting on Strasburg and how he seemingly jumped from being young to old (30!), is that he was drafted out of college. By comparison, Klayton was more in the spotlight as he climbed his way through the minors in anticipation of his arrival in the Bigs. He is actually only 4 months younger than Klayton!
May eventually take an act of Congress for Floro to be charged for an earned run from last night. https://twitter.com/jonweisman/status/1127651401977536512?s=21
Somewhere Mitch McConnell is saying “Case Closed.”
Farhan’s upsetting the Gnatcart… https://twitter.com/mlbtraderumors/status/1127579195037630465?s=20
Holland should probably be focusing on his own performance.
In fairness, all the players on the Gnats’ roster are pretty interchangeabe.