Category Archives: Game Threads

For discussion of today’s game

Oct 07

Division Series Day 2

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Today is the first big day of the Division Series games, with four on the schedule.

First, at 12:00PM Eastern, the Tigers host the Athletics. The Tigers lead the series one game to none on the strength of Justin Verlander’s strong pitching and a home run from Alex Avila. Doug Fister starts for the Tigers and Tommy Milone goes for the As.

Update: Detroit wins 5 – 4 on a sac fly by Don Kelly in the bottom of the ninth.

The second game of the day is Game One between the Nationals and Cardinals in St. Louis at 3:00pm Eastern. The Nats will pitch 21-game winner Gio Gonzales while the Cardinals put Adam Wainwright on the hill.

Update: The Nationals win 3 – 2 on a 2-run pinch-hit single in the 8th inning by Tyler Moore.

The third game of the day begins at 6:00PM Eastern and features Game One between the Yankees at the Orioles in Baltimore. The Yankees’ starter will be CC Sabathia; the Orioles will pitch Jason Hammel. There’s rain forecast for the city, however, so this game may or may not be begun or completed.

Update: The game is in a rain delay at 7:00PM Eastern with no word yet on when or whether it will be played.

Update 2: The game is underway. It began at 8:40PM Eastern.

Finally, Game Two between the Giants and Reds is at 9:30PM Eastern from San Francisco. The Reds will put Bronson Arroyo on the hill while the Giants pitch Madison Bumgarner. One hopes they each pitch better than their teams’ relievers did in the ninth inning in Game One, when there were 3 wild pitches and a passed ball between the two teams. That didn’t keep the Reds from winning the game, however.

Update: The Giants – Reds game has begun. It’s being televised on TNT.

Oct 06

Division Series Openers, Part One

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Today’s first game starts at 6:00PM Eastern with the no-name Oakland As playing the star-laden Detroit Tigers. Wait a minute, you say. Isn’t that unfair to the As? Well, the only nationally-recognized player in their starting lineup is Coco Crisp, and I’d argue that while he’s an excellent player a lot of casual fans might know him more for his cereal-like name than for his talent. The Tigers, on the other hand, have the first Triple Crown winner in 45 years in Miguel (not Melky!) Cabrera; they have baseball’s answer to The Round Mound of Rebound Prince Fielder, and they have today’s starting pitcher and former Cy Young/MVP winner Justin Verlander. People are trying to label the As the Cinderella team in this postseason, but that devalues what they did. They were 13 games back and five games under .500 the last week in June and fought back to a series sweep of the Rangers last weekend.

The second game today starts at 9:30PM Eastern with the Giants playing the Reds. Nobody reading a Dodgers blog needs much background info on these teams. Here’s something I didn’t know, though:

Through the regular season, Baker stands No. 2 and Bochy No. 3 among active managers in career victories. Baker has 1,581 in 19 seasons and Bochy has 1,454 in 18, both short of Detroit manager Jim Leyland’s total of 1,676 in 21 seasons. This marks the sixth postseason appearance as a manager for both Baker and Bochy.

Pitching today: the Reds’ Cueto v. the Giants’ Cain in San Francisco.

Oct 05

Wild Card Knockout Night

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None of the four starters in these two games with everything on the line — Lohse, Medlen, Saunders and Yu Darvish — have1 ever won a postseason game. Medlen and Darvish will be making their first such appearances. Saunders is 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA in four postseason games. Lohse is 0-4 with a 5.54 ERA in nine postseason games.

So writes Tom Verducci in this morning’s electronic Sports Illustrated. There are other analyses of these two games around, but Verducci’s is a good big picture view. Here’s Jay Jaffe of SI on the Atlanta – St. Louis matchup, and here’s Rany Jazayerli of Grantland on the Baltimore – Texas game.

Me? In the NL game I’m rooting for the Braves. I’d like to see Chipper Jones get back into the playoffs for the first time since 2005, and Furcal’s out for the year for the Cardinals; I have no other sentimental attachment to them.

In the AL game I’m rooting for the Orioles because they’ve been a forgotten team (and deservedly so) for the past 15 years or so. Besides, I’d like to see a Nationals – Orioles World Series. The Rangers aren’t playing well and blew a five-game lead with ten to play.

Both games are on TBS. Brian Anderson, Ron Darling and Joe Simpson will do the St. Louis at Atlanta game at 4 p.m. (Eastern). Ernie Johnson, John Smoltz and Cal Ripken will call the Baltimore at Texas game at 7:30 p.m. (Eastern).

If you want to comment as the games go along, this will be the game thread.

1 “None . . . has,” Tom.

Update: And the Cardinals win 6 – 3 in a game that is under protest by the Braves due to a bizarre infield fly call on a ball 50 feet deep into left field.

Update #2: The Orioles continue their winning ways and the Rangers continue to slump. The Os beat them 5 – 1, and it really wasn’t much of a game.

Oct 03

Statistics-padding day

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Okay, that title is probably harsh. Still, when you’ve been eliminated from the playoffs the night before, I imagine it’s a little tough to get up for one more game before the season ends. Nonetheless, it’s here to be played so it must be done.

Kershaw’s trying for his 14th win, for the NL strikeout lead, and he’s trying to keep his NL ERA lead as well.

Lineup:

Ellis, M, 2B
Ethier, A, RF
Kemp, M, CF
Gonzalez, A, 1B
Ramirez, H, SS
Victorino, S, LF
Cruz, L, 3B
Federowicz, T, C
Kershaw, C, P

I find it interesting that FedEx is playing rather than AJ Ellis. I wonder what that’s all about.

The game is on Prime Ticket at 1:15PM HST, so I get to see it.

Oct 02

Sword of Damocles hangs over Dodger Stadium

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Reds – Cardinals Gameday

It’s Chris Carpenter for the Redbirds and Mat Latos for the Redlegs. Game time 5:15PM PDT.

If the Cards win the Dodgers are done. If the Cards lose and the Dodgers win, the Cards’ magic number remains at one. If both the Cards and the Dodgers lose, the Dodgers are done. Not that there’s any pressure on the Dodgers or anything.

The home team sends Chris Capuano (12-11, 3.69 ERA) out to face Barry Zito (14-8, 4.19 ERA). Capuano has been pretty steady all season long for the Dodgers, while Zito has mounted somewhat of a comeback from the disappointment he’s been since coming over to the Giants. In fact, this is year 6 of a 7- year, $126M deal he signed in 2007, and it’s the first year he’s had more wins than losses in any season.

Lineup:

Ellis, M, 2B
Victorino, S, LF
Kemp, M, CF
Gonzalez, A, 1B
Ramirez, H, SS
Cruz, L, 3B
Ethier, A, RF
Ellis, A, C
Capuano, C, P

Giants – Dodgers Gameday

Annoyingly, the game is only being televised by KCAL and not on Prime Ticket, so I’m out of luck. If I were the MLB.TV people I’d have made this game the free one today, since it’s the only one with any playoff implications, but no. The free one is the Mets – Marlins game for unfathomable reasons.

Oct 01

Game Thread 10/1/12

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It’s Cain v. Abel Harang at 7:10PM PDT at Dodger Stadium.

Matt Cain has a perfect game mixed into his 16 – 5 record this year. He’s taken over the #1 starter role from Tim Lincecum, at least this season. Aaron Harang had a late slump but recovered to win his last outing against the Padres on Wednesday. He’s 10 – 10 on the year.

It’s Giants – Dodgers with a playoff berth on the line. If you’re a Dodgers fan with a pulse, you’re either at the game or glued to the couch watching it on TV.

Lineup:

Ellis, M, 2B
Ethier, A, RF
Kemp, M, CF
Gonzalez, A, 1B
Ramirez, H, SS .256
Victorino, S, LF
Cruz, L, 3B
Ellis, A, C
Harang, A, P

Gameday

Update: Cards – Reds Gameday It’s 3 – 1 Cards going to the bottom of the 4th.

Sep 30

Once more unto the breach

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Beckett v. de la Rosa (Jorge, not Rubby!) today, with the Dodgers starting their game two hours after the Cardinals and Nats go at it again. The Cards – Nationals game is the free MLB game, in case anyone cares more for baseball than football, and it starts at 11:15AM PDT. Ross Detwiler starts for the Nationals and Lance Lynn starts for the Redbirds. The Dodgers game is on Prime Ticket and begins at 1:10PM PDT.

Beckett’s been pretty good for the Dodgers since he arrived from Boston, but he’s been unlucky. He’s put up a 3.16 ERA but has only one win to show for it, with three losses. The Dodgers’ offense has scored only 13 runs in his six games with them.

Lineup:

Ellis, M, 2B
Victorino, S, LF
Kemp, M, CF
Gonzalez, A, 1B
Ramirez, H, SS
Cruz, L, 3B
Ethier, A, RF
Ellis, A, C
Beckett, J, P

Gameday

Breaking news: the Cardinals have a 9 – 4 lead over the Nationals in the 5th inning.

Sep 29

Five to go

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It’s Blanton v. Chatwood today at 5:00PM PDT in Dodger Stadium. Blanton’s had little success since coming over to the Dodgers from the Phillies, posting a 1-4 record with a 5.57 ERA in nine starts. In his last start he showed some improvement, giving up one run in 5 2/3 innings against the Reds and getting a no-decision for his trouble. Chatwood is 5-5 with a 5.49 ERA this season, but he too had a pretty good game his last time out, giving up two runs on three hits over 5 2/3 innings to the D-Backs and getting the win.

The Cardinals’ magic number is three. The Dodgers have to win and hope the Nationals can do their part by beating St. Louis this evening. The Nats send out Jordan Zimmermann against the Cards’ Kyle Lohse.

Lineup:

Punto 2B .345
Ethier RF .285
Kemp CF .303
Gonzalez 1B .276
Ramirez SS .251
Victorino LF .252
Cruz 3B .306
Ellis C .268
Blanton P

Gameday

Sep 28

Six to go

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Kershaw v. Francis on Prime Ticket @ 7:10pm PDT.

I’m still nervous about Kershaw’s continuing to pitch with a diagnosed hip impingement. All we can do is hope that the Dodgers’ medical staff, coaches and front office know what they’re doing when they sign off on allowing him to do so.

Francis had a wonderful year in 2007, helping the Rockies to their only World Series appearance as he went 17 – 9. Since then he’s played for the Rockies, the Royals, and back to the Rockies, and he’s been essentially mediocre. This year he’s 5 – 6 with a 5.54 ERA.

Lineup:

Ellis, M, 2B
Cruz, L, 3B
Kemp, M, CF
Gonzalez, A, 1B
Ramirez, H, SS
Ethier, A, RF
Victorino, S, LF
Ellis, A, C
Kershaw, C, P

Gameday

My attention may be diverted a little this evening, as the U of Hawai’i plays Brigham Young University in Provo beginning at 2:00PM HST. The Dodgers game starts at 4:10PM HST, so I can see a full half of football before I have to worry about Kershaw.

Late news: The Dodgers have sent Stefan Jarrin, Jaime’s grandson, to the Phillies as the PTBNL in the Victorino deal. Young Jarrin hit .209 with three homers and nine RBIs in 26 games for the rookie-level Arizona Dodgers.

Sep 27

Game Thread 9/27/12

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It’s Capuano v. Kelly and the devil take the hindmost!

Maybe more later. There’s a medical problem today which may entail a trip downtown, so I thought I’d put this up before anything later kept me from doing so.

Lineup:

Punto, N, 2B
Ethier, A, RF
Kemp, M, CF
Gonzalez, A, 1B
Ramirez, H, SS
Victorino, S, LF
Cruz, L, 3B
Ellis, A, C
Capuano, C, P

Gameday

Oh, by the way, the Reds beat the Brewers in the ninth with a walkoff triple after a home run tied the game 1 – 1 and a single followed that. That leaves the Brewers 1/2 game back of the Dodgers and 4 back of the Cardinals for wild card #2.