Athletics at Dodgers, 6:40 PM PDT, TV: ESPN (out-of-market only), NBCSCA, SPNLA
RHP Frankie Montas (3-4, 5.86 ERA) pitches for the visiting As. He’ll be opposed by RHP Dustin May (1-1, 2.68 ERA) of the Dodgers. This will be Montas’s first start in nine days; he was off for paternity leave (Congrats and best wishes!). In his last five starts he’s gone no longer than 5 1/3 innings and has a horrid 10.80 ERA in those appearances. May is coming off a 5 1/3 inning relief stint in a game in which he was announced as the starter. Instead he came in in the third inning and got credit for a hold in the Dodgers’ 7-5 win.
Here are Gonsolin’s ten Ks in Sunday’s loss:
Obligatory “if the playoffs began today” feature.
Wild Card Series (begin Sept. 29)
Best-of-three format, with higher seed serving as the home team for all three games
AL matchups
No. 8 Blue Jays vs. No. 1 Rays
No. 7 Indians vs. No. 2 White Sox
No. 6 Astros vs. No. 3 A’s
No. 5 Yankees vs. No. 4 Twins
NL matchups
No. 8 Phillies vs. No. 1 Dodgers
No. 7 Reds vs. No. 2 Cubs
No. 6 Cardinals vs. No. 3 Braves
No. 5 Marlins vs. No. 4 Padres
Today in Dodgers’ history:
- 1925 Robins starter Burleigh Grimes accounts for seven outs in just three plate appearances in the team’s 3-2 loss to Chicago, a 12-inning game played at Cubs Park. The Brooklyn right-hander follows grounding into two double plays by hitting into a 6-4-3-2 triple play.
- 1926 At Ebbets Field, the aging 18-year veteran outfielder Zack Wheat hits his last homer as a Dodger, but severely pulls a muscle nearing second. The future Hall of Famer needs to rest nearly five minutes before completing his trip to home plate, making it the longest home run trot in major league history.
- 1947 On an off day, the Dodgers clinched the National League pennant when Chicago takes the nightcap of the twin bill against St. Louis. Although it is past midnight when the good news about their beloved team reaches the borough, Brooklynites begin to gather on Flatbush Avenue for an impromptu celebration.
- 1954 Karl Spooner, in his major league debut, blanks the Giants at Ebbets Field 3-0. The 23 year-old Dodger southpaw fans 15 batters, including six straight, recording the most strikeouts in a first appearance by a rookie.
- 1957 Duke Snider, with his second round-tripper in the Dodgers’ 7-3 victory over Philadelphia, hits his 40th home run, tying Ralph Kiner’s National League record of five consecutive seasons with forty or more homers. The Duke of Flatbush’s seventh-inning homer off future Hall of Famer Robin Roberts will prove to be the last one ever hit at Ebbets Field.
- 1976 Right-hander Don Sutton goes the distance to become a twenty-game winner for the first and last time when the Dodgers beat the Giants at Candlestick Park, 3-1. The future Hall of Famer will compile a 324-256 (.559) record during his 23-year career in the bigs.
- 1986 Dodger hurler Fernando Valenzuela (20-10) two-hits Houston en route to a 9-2 victory at the Astrodome. The 25 year-old southpaw becomes the first Mexican to win 20 games in the major leagues.
Lineup when available.
Joc Pederson is back from emergency leave and DHing tonight.
Tonight's lineup vs. Athletics: #Dodgers | @Biofreeze pic.twitter.com/QEV3Xq1pf5
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 22, 2020
NPUT
Yippee!
Pedro did great!
That was a fairly deep fly ball out to Mookie in right. But yes.
In years past he got to pitch lots of innings using only a fastball
Jansen in the ninth?
Maybe McGee.
Throw strikes, McGee.
I take it back.
Worked there to get the K though.
Surprised Seager didn’t bite on that first pitch fastball in the strike zone.
As I remember there are 8 bits to a byte
And a shave and a hair cut? 2 bits.
Tonight in SF, Matt Kemp has stolen a base.
Is it too late for 40-40?
Did they find a replacement?
Seen on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/illliterate_/status/1308440149898850305
https://twitter.com/billplunkettocr/status/1308633494323474432
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpGx4foRdPw
Love this team.
Klayton and Kenley have been there for all eight.
Happy birthday, Tommy!
Dodgers win!
8th straight NL West division championship!! (8 is NOT enough…)
We did it!!! Woo-HOO!!!!!!!!
I want 95 at top of strike zone
95, not 96
How about https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TL-F5iLo28
Wow, off speed from McGee.
So – are we doing the zoom thing on Sunday? Or do we keep the status quo?
Phew.
Edwin. Double.
Weems has hair only a mother could love…
a mother or his mother?
his
Baez is a poop
Should have waved in all the infielders and outfielders.
https://twitter.com/BlakeHarrisTBLA/status/1308626326639665152?s=20
Weirdest set up I’ve ever seen!
Prevent defence.
Four man outfield, Orel pointed out.
I guess Baez is not a ground ball pitcher.
I would just poke at the ball.
Now that’s Báez at his best.
Gained a few mph.
Shoulda had a few more there. Oh, well.
Shoulda swung at the 3 -0 pitch
Maybe A’s are not showing off their defence in case they play the Dodgers in the WS and want to give them a new wrinkle they aren’t used to.
A-ball
What just happened there? Besides that we scored…
Well. Nothing. Which worked perfectly for Belli and the runners.
Pads have lost, so Dodgers can clinch tonight.
Let’s go!
A byte’s worth of consecutive Division championships
In the immortal words of Tom Lehrer, “Base eight is just like base 10 – if you’re missing two fingers.”
Memorable clinches for me were when Beimel wore his bath robe on the field at DS and the swimming pool dip in Snakes Den.
Steve Finley’s grand slam.
Yeah, I was thinking about the celebrations.
Oh. Yeah. Bathrobe is good then.
Dodgers all running along the track by the stands with a flag, I think? Mattie, André etc.
I will confess that I am tired of the current mode of celebrating. The goggles especially. Maybe I am too much of a curmudgeon, but it just seems silly. And I know in my youth it wasn’t like the current over the top spraying of alcohol carnage.
Didn’t the Mets gather on the mound one year smoking joints?
Now it’s just a spraying show, but they actually used to drink themselves silly at those things.
I was thinking this exact thing. It is definitely the goggles that represent it being overdone.
Fingers crossed.
Wendelken sounds like a fairy tale character.
Okay I guess that evens things out, ump.
That was a very generous non strike call.
Kelly time. How many fastballs will he throw?
Zero
Yup.
https://www.toddradom.com/blog/elephants-together-since-july-10-1902
The A’s and Their Elephants, Together Since July 10, 1902
I recently received a Twitter inquiry about the Oakland Athletics’ uniform sleeve patch. The A’s sport the symbol of an elephant on their uniforms, a visual association that dates back to the franchise’s second season. Why an elephant? Hardly a symbol of athleticism, the Athletics’ elephant has a unique story attached to it, one that dates back to July 10, 1902.
Athletics owner and manager Connie Mack explained it all in his 1950 autobiography, “My 66 Years in the Big Leagues:”
The insignia of our Philadelphia Athletics, as you know, is the White Elephant. The story of acquiring it is an interesting one. In 1902 the Baltimore Club forfeited its franchise in the newly formed American League. Its spot was filled by the New York Highlanders, “the acorn from which sprung the mighty Yankee oak.”
The astute John McGraw took advantage of the opportunity and jumped from the crumbling Orioles to the New York Giants, a leap to fame and fortune. When the sportswriters gathered around McGraw to fire a barrage of questions, one of the questions was, “What do you think of the Philadelphia A’s?”
“White elephants!” quickly retorted Mr. McGraw. “Mr. B. F. Shibe has a white elephant on his hands.”
Research shows that McGraw made these remarks on July 10, 1902, and the elephant connection has endured, albeit with many twists and turns.
Must be nice to turn a DP like that.
Also must be nice to get the outside strike call from the umpire.
Wasn’t giving them to Lux.
Lux?
Well, it’s true, he wasn’t
You gave me a belly laugh. Thank you.
Most welcome. Would that be a YGMBL
Hahaha. Dustin May. Three letter last names plus COVID brain equals Lux.
Glad to see Joc get a hit!
Hmmm, off a lefty
Seager’s D is inconsistent.
Guys, get your act together!
Muncy needs longer limbs.
Hi. Lots of HRs but I wish we were up by more.
I read about this play in my morning paper. It really is heads-up by both Freeman and Swanson.
Well. I missed a lot over the last few innings when I was doing bedtime routine with my son.
For a potential WS matchup, this seems surprisingly one sided.
The A’s can be explosive, too.
Missing Chapman. Pen seems to be their strength.
Lamb has been good facing AL pitching, which apparently doesn’t have a book on him.
Timber!
Did that just tie the MLB record for the most number of players named Kemp stealing a base on the same day?
I will go with yes
Whenever I hear the Angles’ catcher has done something, I can’t help but think of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3_iLOp6IhM
That was one of the best movies I have ever seen.
Love that movie as well. Profoundly good.
There’s a really good TV series about a Stasi family called Weissensee, that I highly recommend if you can stream it. I saw it on MHZ.
JAAJJ
CT360 4 8
Hot CT3!
I am looking forward to a May-October (b)romance if Dustin keeps landing that breaking ball.
Will he K Spumoni
🙂
Yep!
Let’s go Mr. Smith
Loved the bat drop! Told me all I needed to know.
Keep getting on him Bums! It worked.
We got the Dodger version of Muncy
Mad Max Thunder Dome!
Seager with the well placed single.
Muncy with the well-placed fly ball.
No video here, but May sounds as if he’s not at his sharpest.
He’s doing fine. His fastball is moving at least a foot.
Unfortunate run that inning.
Not the best time for a wild pitch that allowed a walk to score
Welcome back Joc.
Happy autumnal equinox everyone
I’m not falling for that line.
Then just leaf it alone
Nice inning by May.
Piscotty always sounds like an Italian dessert to me.
And I always thought that biscotti sounded like the name of a ballplayer.
Not really a dessert, just something to chew on with your espresso.
Steiner seemed unclear on what just happened, but that’s no surprise.
Oh dear. Nice DP play Oaktown.
Well, that hurt
Smith’s right foot is also close to home plate
Dodgers are hitting tonight.
Muncy was just said to have started his career in Oakland but he is no longer the player was ther—or is he?
Guy has provided the team with WAR 4.1 and 5.7 the past two years, so I give him the benefit of the doubt.
I’m not judging anybody definitively on the basis of this oddball season.
Using the new iOS 14 update to watch the game and be on this site at the same time. Real time comments.
I will be watching as I exercise – go Dodgers! Go Dustin!
I’m being a couch potato but I did play a round of golf earlier.
Ball flying out. That was a weird home run.
Rick Monday cannot pronounce Spanish surnames.
I am not looking forward to the three-night blackout.
Got radio?
Audio, yes, through MLB. The A’s, for what it’s worth, have no English-language broadcast – they have only online feed. They do have Spanish-language radio.
KNBR has the Giants, right? Hard to believe Oakland wouldn’t have a station to play As games.
Aha! https://www.athleticsnation.com/2020/7/31/21349208/oakland-as-radio-station-iheartradio-bloomberg-960-knew
Not mentioned on MLB Audio app.
No, Oakland does not, even though the A’s are far more worthwhile listening – especially since SF’s radio team is so bad. A’s have televised games on cable, but none on broadcast TV (which the Gnats do have occasionally).
This has always been a problem. I can remember when only UC Berkeley’s student radio KALW carried Oakland games, and one of the play-by-play announcers was Larry Baer, now a Gnats’ exec. You’d hear stuff like “Far out, we’re gonna score!”
The one above doesn’t have them?
” the team announced that the rest of the games on the 2020 regular season schedule will be broadcast on Bay Area radio after all. Fans can tune in to 960 AM to hear Ken Korach and Vince Cotroneo call the action,”
Again, not mentioned on MLB Audio app.
I’ve got half-a-dozen terrestrial radios around this house. I guess I just assume most people do.
We’ve got one, in the kitchen.