Aug 02

Game 112, 2019

Padres at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: FSSD, SPNLA

LHP Eric Lauer, (5-8, 4.52 ERA) will face the Dodgers’ highest-ranked pitching prospect, RHP Dustin May (0-0, 0.00 ERA). Lauer has been slumping; he’s 1-4 since June 3. The 21-year-old Mr. May was just called up by the Dodgers from OKC yesterday. It may be the Dodgers are looking at this as an audition for a September call-up. They may wonder how he’ll do against big league competition in case they want to use him in relief in the post-season, or maybe they’re thinking of adding him to the rotation and moving Maeda to the bullpen for the playoffs, where he’s had success. Feel free to speculate.

Here’s young Mr. Smith’s grand slam in Thursday’s game:

On this date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1938 Bright yellow baseballs designed by Frederick Rah, who believes the visibility of the dandelion-hue sphere will help players avoid getting hit by a pitch, are used in the first game of a doubleheader. The one-game experiment draws mixed reactions and the Dodgers complete their sweep of the twin bill from the Cardinals, 6-2 and 9-3, using the traditional white ball in the nightcap.
  • 1982 During a ceremony held in Cooperstown, NY, the United States Postal Service unveils a 20-cent stamp commemorating baseball great Jackie Robinson as part of its annual Black Heritage series. The Dodger infielder becomes the first individual baseball player to be depicted on a U.S postage stamp.

  • 2002 Reds general manager Jim Bowden is fined by commissioner Bud Selig for the comments he made to reporters prior to yesterday’s game against the Dodgers comparing a baseball strike with the terrorist attacks of September 11th. Quickly realizing the use of such analogy was inappropriate and insensitive, the Cincinnati GM issues an immediate apology after the game.
  • 2008 In the first game after the Manny Ramirez trade to the Dodgers, the Fenway Faithful enthusiastically welcome Jason Bay, the player replacing the Boston icon. The former Pirates outfielder doesn’t disappoint, tripling and scoring the winning run in the 12th inning of the Red Sox’s 2-1 victory over the A’s.
  • 2017 The Dodgers lost to the Braves, ending their nine-game winning streak. Had they won it would have been the third time that season they’d have won ten straight. The bullpen gave up the go-ahead runs in the eighth inning at Sun Trust Park in Atlanta.

Lineup when available.

Jul 12

Game 93, 2019

Dodgers at Red Sox, 4:10 PM PDT, TV: NESN, SPNLA, FB-Watch

In a rematch of last year’s World Series, the NL West-leading Dodgers face the AL East-third place Red Sox. The Dodgers send RHP Kenta Maeda (7-4, 3.76 ERA) to the hill at Fenway Park to try to get a win. His last one was on May 31. He’s lost three of the six starts he’s made since then, but he allowed just a .182 batting average and compiled a 4.05 ERA in those games. The Sox counter with LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (9-4, 4.65 ERA), who was inconsistent during the first half but has had a 3.75 ERA since May 26.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1966 The National League All-Stars edge the AL, 2-1, in a game played at the newly-built Busch Stadium when hometown favorite Tim McCarver scores the winning run on Dodger shortstop Maury Wills’s tenth-inning walk-off single, with Giants hurler Gaylord Perry getting the victory by tossing a scoreless ninth and tenth inning. The 105-degree weather, 113 degrees on the playing surface, results in nearly 150 people needing treatment for heat exhaustion.



Lineup:


Jun 23

Game 79, 2019

Rockies at Dodgers, 1:15 PM PDT, TV: ATT SportsNet RM, SPNLA

RHP Antonio Senzatela (6-5, 5.09 ERA) is a third-year pitcher who’s having a pretty good June: he’s 3-1 with a 3.57 ERA for the month. He’ll face the Dodgers’ RHP Kenta Maeda (7-4, 3.87 ERA). Maeda won four games in May but has lost two in June, and the Dodgers seem to think he can’t face a lineup three times. His longest outing of the year is 6 2/3 innings, and he’s not gone past five this month.

Verdugo had a four-hit game on Saturday night; the walk-off HR wasn’t his only production. Here’s the recap:

Personnel move: Freese to the IL with a hamstring strain, Will Smith up from AAA to replace him.

On this date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1930 The Dodgers get twelve consecutive hits in a 19-6 win over the Pirates at Forbes Field. Two of the dozen hits in the eight-run sixth inning include a pair of homers hit by Brooklyn outfielder Babe Herman.
  • 1986 The Braves strand 18 runners on base, establishing a National League record. Enough Atlanta players do score to give the team a 6-5 victory over L.A. at Dodger Stadium.

Other notable events in baseball on this date include Ernie Shore’s near-perfect game in 1917, when he relieved Babe Ruth (ejected for arguing balls and strikes and possibly punching the umpire) and retired 26 consecutive batters.

Lineup when available.


Sep 10

Game 144, 2018

Dodgers at Reds, 3:40 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, FS-O

Lefty Alex Wood (8-6, 3.37 ERA) pitches for the Dodgers at Great American Ball Park today. He and Rich Hill’s starts were flipped because Dave Roberts felt Wood’s “stuff” is better suited for this stadium than Hill’s. He’ll face the Reds’ Cody Reed (0-2, 4.81 ERA), who gave up six runs in five innings against the Pirates in his last start. The Reds have a dismal record when he starts: they’re 0-14. Reed himself is 1-10 in the 35 games he’s been in the big leagues.

Bellinger’s versatility is a plus, says Pedro Moura at The Athletic.

Houston Mitchell of the LA Times guesses the fate of Dave Roberts after this season.

I think, and this is only a guess, that if the Dodgers don’t make the playoffs, he is gone. They have a team option on his contract, and the fact they haven’t picked it up yet speaks volumes.

The Dodgers called up LHP Julio Urias from AAA Oklahoma City today, and Kenley Jansen’s cardiologist confirmed another surgery will be performed shortly after the season’s end.

On this day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1992 Cardinals vice chairman Fred Kuhlman tells reporters that a “security check” had revealed serious issues involving the two out-of-state investors, Vince Piazza and Vincent N. Tirendi, part of the six-man group trying to buy the Giants and move the franchise to Florida. The candid reply to the press will cost baseball more than $6 million to settle a suit that includes a letter of apology from acting Commissioner Bud Selig to Vince Piazza, whose son Mike started his major league career with the Dodgers nine days before his father’s rejection by the MLB owners.
  • 1974 Lou Brock ties and then breaks Maury Wills’s 12 year-old single season stolen base record with his 104th and 105th swipes. The Cardinal left fielder’s thievery against the Phillies doesn’t help when the Redbirds drop the Busch Stadium contest, 8-2.

Lineup:


Jun 30

Game 82, 2018

Rockies at Dodgers, 4:15 PM PDT, TV: FOX

The Rockies send RHP German Marquez (5-8, 5.53 ERA) on the mound to face the Dodgers’ RHP Kenta Maeda (5-4, 3.44 ERA). Like Anderson last night, Marquez has been better on the road; he’s 3-3 with a 3.07 in seven starts away from Denver this year. Maeda’s last start was probably his best of the season: he threw seven innings of shutout ball against the Cubs and got his fifth win of the year.

The Dodgers recalled RHP J.T. Chargois from OKC today.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1962 Sandy Koufax becomes the first Dodger southpaw to throw a no-hitter since Nap Rucker accomplished the feat in 1908 when he keeps the expansion Mets hitless in the team’s 5-0 victory in Los Angeles. The 26 year-old left-hander, en route to fanning 13, strikes out the first three batters he faces – Richie Ashburn, Rod Kanehl, and Felix Mantilla, on nine pitches to start the game with an immaculate inning.
  • 1973 With an 8-7 extra-inning loss to L.A. at Riverfront Stadium, the Reds finish the day 11 games behind the first-place Dodgers. Led by the eventual National League MVP Pete Rose, who will win the batting title with a .338 average, Cincinnati will go on a 60-26 tear to capture the Western Division by 3.5 games.
  • 1985 Pedro Guerrero ties a major league record by hitting 15 home runs in June when he goes deep off Bruce Sutter in his final at bat of the month. The eighth inning two-run round-tripper will prove to be the difference in the Dodgers’ 4-3 victory over Atlanta at Chavez Ravine.
  • 1997 Rangers’ hurler Bobby Witt becomes the first American League pitcher to hit a home run in a regular-season game in nearly 25 years. His round-tripper off Ismael Valdez helps Texas to beat the Dodgers in interleague action, 3-2.
  • 2013 “When it comes to compassion, the Rays are batting .000.” – DELCIANNA WINDERS, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for Captive Animal Law Enforcement at the PETA Foundation.Miguel Cabrera, joining Luis Gonzalez of the Dodgers [Ed. note – in 2007], becomes only the second player to hit a homer into the 10,000-gallon touch tank at Tropicana Field. The Tigers slugger’s round-tripper draws the attention of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), who, in a written letter to the Rays’ organization, requests the team to allow the 30 or more captive cownose rays be returned to their natural habitat because the animals are subject to harassment, loud crowds, and at the risk of being injured by baseballs. Evidently the team ignored the request, since the tank is still featured on the Tropicana Field website.

Lineup when available.


Nov 12

Personnel departures

Not players, though. It’s only 10 days after the World Series and the Dodgers have already seen three members of their front office depart: Director of Player Development Gabe Kapler has left to manage the Phillies, Assistant Director of Player Development Jeremy Zoll has left to run the Twins minor league system, and as of Monday Vice President of Baseball Operations Alex Anthopolous is expected to be announced as the new General Manager of the Braves.

I suspect it’s easier to find front office talent than it is good-to-excellent players, but it still means a lot of work for the HR Department.

Jul 14

Game 91, 2017

Dodgers at Marlins, 4:10 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FS-F

The Dodgers come back from their mid-season break with RHP Brandon McCarthy (6-3, 3.12 ERA) on the Miami mound against the Marlins’ RHP Dan Straily (7-4, 3.31 ERA).

McCarthy came off the disabled list and pitched six innings of two-run ball against the Royals. Straily is coming off a career-high 8 1/3-inning performance against the Giants in which he gave up only four hits and one run.

The social whirl: Kiké Hernandez got engaged over the All Star break.

Houston Mitchell of the LA Times talks to Ross Porter about the infamous Reggie Jackson interference call in Game Four of the 1978 World Series. You’ll have to scroll about halfway down the column.

This date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1968 In the nightcap of a twin bill, Don Wilson strikes out eighteen batters in a nine-inning game to tie a major league record shared by Bob Feller (Indians, 1938) and Sandy Koufax (Dodgers, 1959 and 1962). The Astros right-hander fans future Hall of Famer Johnny Bench for the last out of his 6-1 victory over the Reds on a wind-swept night at Crosley Field.

    Courtesy of the Houston Astros network via Astrosdaily.com

  • 1995 Ramon Martinez throws the 22nd no-hitter in franchise history when he beats the Marlins at Dodger Stadium, 7-0. The Dodger right-hander, who was booed by the home crowd in his last outing, was perfect before walking Tommy Gregg on a 3-2 pitch after getting the first out in the seventh inning.
  • 2005 Defeating their historical arch rivals, the Giants become the first team to win 10,000 games as a franchise by edging the Dodgers in LA, 4-3. The Giants, who started as the New York Gothams in 1899, have posted a 10,000-8,511 record during the club’s 123 seasons in the National League.

Lineup when available.

Sep 10

Game 141, 2016

Dodgers at Marlins, 4:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FS-F

Lefty Rich Hill (11-3, 1.94 ERA) makes his third start for the Dodgers. In his first two he’s thrown 12 scoreless innings. He’ll face RHP Tom Koehler (9-10, 3.87 ERA), who hasn’t won since August 9 but whose last outing was six shutout innings against Cleveland on September 4.

Personnel move:

“Manager Dave Roberts said Ethier will get an occasional start, but with the club’s outfield depth, Ethier will mostly be used coming off the bench as a late-innings pinch-hitter.”

Lineup:

Hmm. Utley gets the day off and Kendrick is back at 2B for the first time in a while. His LF slot will be taken by Puig.

Sep 04

Game 136, 2016

Padres at Dodgers, 1:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSSD

The Padres send LHP Christian Friedrich (4-10, 4.84 ERA) out to face the Dodgers’ #2 prospect, Jose De Leon, possessor of a 2.61 ERA at AAA Oklahoma City. He’ll be the fifth rookie to start for the Dodgers in the past week, hard as that may be to imagine. Friedrich will be making his third start against the Dodgers this season, and he’s given up five earned runs in the 8 1/3 innings he’s pitched in those starts.

Kershaw news: Roberts tells Alanna Rizzo Kershaw will start against the Marlins on Friday.

Lineup:

Sep 02

Game 134, 2016

Padres at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSSD

Young Julio Urias (5-2, 3.71 ERA) pitches for the Dodgers and Clayton Richard (1-3, 3.51 ERA) does so for the Padres. Urias is probably nearing his last start for the Dodgers because of a desire to limit his work and save his arm this season (he’s never thrown more than 87 innings in a single season before, and he’s thrown 108 thus far this season), but he’s been getting better with every start. Richard has done the same for the Padres; after signing with them in early August he’s made three starts and given up only two earned runs in 18 innings.

Here’s some news: among the other callups and activations today (Barnes, Coleman and more)

Lineup when available.