Category Archives: Game Threads

For discussion of today’s game

Apr 17

Game Ten, 2015

Posted on by

Rockies at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw has given up nine hits in 12 1/3 innings and a .320 batting average in two starts this season. Kershaw is 13-5 with a 3.17 ERA in 26 starts against the Rockies.

This would seem to be the place for a song:

The Rockies send Kyle Kendrick out to face Kershaw. Kendrick has had two wildly different outings this year. In the first he went seven innings, scattered seven hits, walked none, struck out six and gave up no runs to get the win. In his second start he went six innings, walked five, gave up eight hits and eight runs to take the loss.

In personnel news, the Dodgers optioned RHP Carlos Frias to Oklahoma City. They also claimed RHP Daniel Corcino from Cincinnati and designated LHP Ryan Dennick for assignment.

Lineup when available.

Apr 15

Game Nine, 2015

Posted on by

Mariners at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, ESPN2

On Jackie Robinson Day, the Mariners start Taijuan Walker, who last week had a first start of the season he’d rather forget: he gave up 9 hits and 9 runs in 3 1/3 innings in a 12-0 loss to the A’s on Friday. He’s 3-4 with a 4.15 ERA in 12 appearances (nine starts) over the past three years for the Ms.

The Dodgers counter with Brett Anderson, who gave up five hits and three runs but got no decision in a game the Dodgers lost to the Diamondbacks 4-3. Lifetime against Seattle Anderson is 7-4 with a 1.81 ERA in 15 games, all but one a start.

Lineup:


I’m not sure who that Van Skyle guy is playing left field. Puig is out, presumably to rest his hamstring again. Tomorrow’s an off-day, so he’ll have had three days to let it recover before the Rockies arrive.

In other personnel news, the Dodgers claimed left-handed pitcher Ryan Dennick from the Reds and designated left-handed pitcher David Huff for assignment.

Apr 14

Game Eight, 2015

Posted on by

Mariners at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

David Huff is a 30-year-old veteran with a lifetime 25-28 record and a career ERA of 5.02 in the major leagues. He’s been called up from Oklahoma City and is filling the fifth starter role for the Dodgers this evening. I imagine his 2-0 record with a 1.32 ERA over 13 1/3 innings during spring training had a lot to do with his call-up for this start. Darwin Barney was sent down to OKC to make room for Huff.

He’ll be opposed by RHP Hisashi Iwakuma, whose first start didn’t go well. He’s 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA. He’s a good pitcher, though, as witnessed by his 38-21 record with an ERA of 3.11 in his four years in Seattle. That’s after eleven years in the Japanese league where he compiled a 107-69 record and had an ERA of 3.25.

Lineup:

Puig gets the night off. I wonder if this is just to keep Andre fresh.

Apr 13

Game Seven, 2015

Posted on by

Mariners at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

The Mariners trot out James Paxton to face the Dodgers’ Brandon McCarthy.

The left-handed Paxton (0-1) started 2014 with the Mariners in April and then went down to Tacoma in AAA. He came back up to Seattle in August and stuck. He had a 6-4 record with a 3.04 ERA and a WHIP of 1.20 over the final two months of last year. He’s made one start this year, pitching six innings of four-hit ball, giving up two runs and losing.

McCarthy (1-0) hopes to go longer than the five innings he got in his first start. He gave up nine hits, four earned runs, struck out nine and won the game. In his career he’s 2-6 with a 3.88 ERA against Seattle, not that that means much.

Lineup when available.

In other news, the Dodgers released RHP Ryan Webb today.

Apr 12

Game Six, 2015

Posted on by

Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 1:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

Zack Greinke went six innings and gave up two hits and one run in his first time out this season, getting a no-decision for his trouble. He’ll try to get a win tomorrow, one the Dodgers could use. They didn’t expect Clayton Kershaw to be 0-1 with a 5.84 ERA after two starts. His opponent will be Josh Collmenter, who had a rough outing in his first start of the year, going only 4 2/3 innings against the Giants and giving up 10 hits and four runs while taking the loss.

The Dodgers’ infield lineup is going to be interesting for this game. Justin Turner’s finger was spiked but required no stitches; he’s day-to-day. Juan Uribe’s hamstring tightened on him and he’s also day-to-day. I imagine Alex Guerrero will start at third base.

Lineup:

Apr 11

Game Five, 2015

Posted on by

Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 5:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

Clayton Kershaw goes for his first win of the season against rookie Archie Bradley. Bradley is regarded by MLB.com as the D-Backs top prospect. In spring training he was 3-2 with a 1.61 ERA, 14 Ks and a 2.00 WHIP over 22 innings.

It seems like a mismatch, but as Joe Garagiola once said, “baseball is a funny game.”

Lineup when available.

And now it is:

Puig is off to a slow start at 2 for 17, so that may explain why he’s sitting this evening.

Apr 10

Game Four, 2015 – On the road, sorta

Posted on by

It’s the Dodgers @ Diamondbacks today (6:30PM PT, TV: SPNLA) in the first of a three-day road trip. What were the schedulers thinking? The Dodgers play three games in Phoenix and then travel right back to LA to play the Mariners starting Monday.

The Dodgers send lefthanded Brett Anderson to the hill for his debut in their uniform. It will be his first regular-season game since last August 5 for the Rockies. That night he threw three innings, came out of the game and underwent back surgery a week later. He’s obviously an unknown quantity and will be for at least his first four or five starts. Anderson’s career WHIP is 1.285.

His opponent will be the right-handed Chase Anderson, who is coming off his first season in the big leagues, one in which he was 9-7 with a 4.01 ERA over 114 innings and a WHIP of 1.37.

Anybody betting A-Gon keeps his HR streak alive?

Lineup:

Apr 08

Game Three, 2015

Posted on by

Padres at Dodgers, 7:10PT, TV: SNLA Spanish, SportsNet LA, ESPN2

Each team has won one game in the opening Clash of the Titans of the NL West, so tonight is the rubber match. The Padres send out Andrew Cashner, who’s 1-2 lifetime against the Dodgers. Don’t let that fool you, though. He’s got a 1.53 ERA with 45 Ks in 53 innings against the home team. His opponent will be Brandon McCarthy, who last year had a 2.61 ERA against the Padres in two starts for the D-Backs, giving up one run in 14 innings.

Adrian Gonzalez is 6 for 9 (.667) to start the season, with 2 singles, 2 doubles, 2 home runs and 4 runs scored. Jimmy Rollins and Howie Kendrick are each 3 for 8 (.375), Carl Crawford is 2 for 6, and nobody else has more than one hit.

Lineup:

Apr 07

Game Two, 2015

Posted on by

Padres at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PT, TV: SNLA Spanish, SportsNet LA

In their Opening Day game the Dodgers came back to win a game, something they had a terrible time doing last year. Better, they won it on the strength of a home run from one of their newcomers, Jimmy Rollins. Rollins went 2 for 4 on the day. Another Jimmy, Mr. Wynn, started his Dodger career the same way, going 3 for 5 with a home run in his first game in Blue back in 1974.

Today’s pitching matchup pits Zack Greinke for the Dodgers versus Tyson Ross (isn’t that name better suited for a prizefighter?) for the Padres. Greinke is 4-0 with a 1.84 ERA in his career against the Padres, while Ross was 0-4 against the Dodgers in four starts last year, albeit with a 2.67 ERA. He didn’t get a lot of help from his offense, obviously. Overall, Ross had a good year on a bad team. He was 13-14 with a 2.81 ERA. He struck out one batter per inning and gave up 30 fewer hits than innings pitched.

Lineup:

Apr 05

Opening Day 2015

Posted on by

Padres at Dodgers, 1:10pm PT, Dodger Stadium

Here it is at last, the first day of the new season, with the changes the new management made over the winter soon to be on display.

Will Jimmy Rollins play better defense than Hanley Ramirez? Will Howie Kendrick hit better than Dee Gordon? Will Kershaw win a fourth Cy Young Award? Can he lead the National League in ERA for the fifth consecutive year? Will Hyun-Jin Ryu recover from his shoulder woes and win more than fourteen games? Can Kenley Jansen come back from his foot woes and regain his form as an elite closer? Will the Dodgers miss Matt Kemp’s bat more than they’ll be helped by Puig’s play in right field? Can Uribe play up to his standard of the past two years while remaining healthy enough to play 125 games or so? Can Justin Turner keep up his torrid hitting from last year while coming off the bench and playing all over the infield? Will Joc Pederson keep up the hitting he did in spring training? What’s going to happen with André Ethier?

Questions, we have questions. Today we start getting answers.

Lineup: