Game 159, 2019

Dodgers at Padres, 12:40 PM PDT, TV: FSSD, SPNLA

LHP Clayton Kershaw (15-5, 3.15 ERA) tunes up for the playoffs and tries to get his ERA below 3.00. He’ll face LHP Joey Lucchesi (10-9, 4.28 ERA). Kershaw gave up three HRs and four runs in six innings to the Rockies his last time out but still got the win thanks to the Dodgers’ prolific offense. Lucchesi has had two bad outings in a row (11 runs in 7 2/3 innings), but his sophomore season has been otherwise acceptable.

Here’s Rios’s 473-foot HR:

On this day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1908 Cubs right-hander Ed Reulbach pitches two shutouts in the same day, whitewashing the Brooklyn Superbas in the opener 5-0 on a five-hitter and 3-0 on three hits in the nightcap. The entire Washington Park doubleheader takes less than three hours to complete.
  • 1954 Willie Mays, with three hits in the season finale, wins the batting title, finishing the campaign with a .345 average. The ‘Say Hey Kid’ goes third to first in batting average with his performance passing teammate Don Mueller (.342) and Dodger center fielder Duke Snider (.341).
  • 1975 Burt Hooton sets a Dodger record for starting pitchers by winning his twelfth consecutive game. The 25 year-old right-hander, who was traded to LA in May for Eddie Solomon and Geoff Zahn, accomplishes the feat by beating J.R. Richard and the Astros at Dodger Stadium, 3-2.
  • 1981 Nolan Ryan becomes the first pitcher to throw five no-hitters when the Astros defeat the Dodgers at the Astrodome, 5-0. The Ryan Express, who will finish his 27-year major league career with a record seven no-hitters, previously has thrown hitless gems against the Royals (1973), Tigers (1973), Twins (1974), and Orioles (1975).

  • 1997 Dodger catcher Mike Piazza, in a 10-4 win over the Rockies, hits the longest home run in the history of Coors Field. The 28 year-old backstop’s sixth-inning blast travels 496 feet and hits the left-center field billboard between the scoreboard and the Rockpile.

Lineup when available.

71 thoughts on “Game 159, 2019

  1. Friday Funtime – Yesterday couldn’t have gone much better, as Dodgers defrocked Friars and Minute Maids fell to Angles on 12th-inning error by rookie 1B Kyle Tucker. For best in baseball, LA now trails Houston by just one game with three to go, and is one full game ahead of NYY.

    In the mediocre NL Central, Redbirds remain one game ahead of BeerGuys. Worst-case scenario – a divisional tie in which run differential determines the champion and other goes to mild card. Interesting to note that Milwaukee has played better without Yelich.

  2. Friday Fun – Yesterday couldn’t have gone much better, as Dodgers defrocked Friars and Minute Maids fell to Angles on 12th-inning error by rookie 1B Kyle Tucker. For best in baseball, LA now trails Houston by just one game with three to go, and are one full game ahead of NYY.

    In the mediocre NL Central, Redbirds remain one game ahead of Beerguys. Worst-case scenario – a divisional tie in which run differential determines the champion and other goes to mild card. Interesting to note that Milwaukee has played better without Yelich.

  3. No. 103! Dodgers now one full game up on Yanquis, 1-1/2 behind Minute Maids, pending what happens in Anaheim tonight.

  4. Seager listed as day-to-day with left hamstring tightness. Roberts said that he is confident of him playing tomorrow night in San Francisco. Describing the same prognosis many years ago for a mildly injured Bobby Bonilla — being day-to-day — Vin Scully once said, “Aren’t we all?”

  5. A couple of years ago it wouldn’t have taken Kershaw 27 pitches to dispose of the likes of France, Urias and Hedges. Pitch count is now 75, ERA at 3.06.

  6. Dodgers by the month:
    March 3-1 .750
    April 17-11 .607
    May 19-7 .731
    June 18-10 .643
    July 14-10 .583
    August 17-11 .607
    September 14-6 .700 (four games remaining)

  7. Would take Klayton 9 innings with no earned runs to get below ERA 3.00. As pitch count rather than IP is Doc’s greater concern at this point, it seems possible but not likely.