May 25

Game 50, 2018

Posted on by

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

The Padres come to town and send LHP Clayton Richard (3-5, 4.87 ERA) to the mound to face the Dodgers’ RHP Ross Stripling (1-1, 2.08 ERA). Richard’s sinker seems to be working: in his last start, a win over the Pirates, he induced 15 ground ball outs among the 22 he got during his win there. In Stripling’s last start he earned a win by going six innings against the Nationals, striking out nine while giving up four hits and only one run. Stripling has now been in 86 big league games with a record of 9-15 and an ERA of 3.57. Only 20 of those appearances have been starts, even though he’s started 53 of his 64 minor league games.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1919 Casey Stengel, traded by the Dodgers in the off-season to the Pirates, calls time, steps out of the batter’s box to give the razzing Ebbets Field fans the ‘bird’. The Pittsburgh right fielder doffs his hat, allowing a sparrow to fly out, much to the amazement and amusement of the fans.
  • 2002 With four homers on Thursday (5/23), one on Friday (5/24), and two more on Saturday (5/25), Shawn Green becomes the first major leaguer to hit seven round-trippers in three games. The Dodger outfielder’s nine big flies in a week also breaks a National League record, established by Ralph Kiner with eight and tied by Ted Kluszewski and Nate Colbert.
  • 2002 Getting his 3,509th K, Diamondback southpaw Randy Johnson passes Walter Johnson to become seventh on the all-time career strikeout list. After fanning Shawn Green in the first to catch the ‘Big Train’, Dodger outfielder Brian Jordan swings and misses a 2-2 pitch in the second inning to become the ‘Big Unit’s’ historic victim.

Lineup when available.


May 23

Game 49, 2018

Posted on by

Rockies at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, ATT SportsNet-RM

The Rockies hand the ball to LHP Kyle Freeland (4-4, 3.17 ERA). He’s had five consecutive quality starts with a 1.59 ERA for those games. He’ll face the Dodgers’ RHP Kenta Maeda (3-3, 3.89 ERA), whose last start was his best of the year; he gave up only two hits to the Marlins over 8 scoreless innings.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 2002 Shawn Green hits four home runs in one game to become the 14th player in major league history, the second this month, to accomplish the feat. The Dodger right fielder’s 6-for-6 performance in Milwaukee’s Miller Park, which also includes a single and double, breaks Joe Adcock’s 1954 mark for total bases by one, with a total of 19. In the same game the Dodgers set a franchise mark when the team hits eight homers in one contest, bashing the Brewers, 16-3. Shawn Green’s four round-trippers accounts for half of the record-breaking barrage with Brian Jordan, Hiram Bocachica, Adrian Beltre, and Dave Hansen also contributing four-baggers in the Miller Park contest.

Lineup when available.

May 22

Game 48, 2018

Posted on by

Rockies at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, ATT SportsNet-RM

The Rockies send RHP Chad Bettis (4-1, 3.27 ERA) to the hill to face the Dodgers’ RHP Brock Stewart (0-0, 3.18 ERA). Bettis has kept the Rockies in the games he’s started: they’ve won six of those nine. Stewart was recalled from AAA for the fourth time this season (and third this month). He started five days ago for the OKC Dodgers and went three innings, giving up three hits but no runs. This will be his first MLB start of 2018.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1998 The Mets trade Preston Wilson, Geoff Goetz, and Ed Yarnell to the Marlins for Mike Piazza. Florida had acquired the All-Star catcher last week from the Dodgers, along with Todd Zeile in exchange for Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Charles Johnson, Jim Eisenreich, and Manuel Barrios.
  • 1999 Mark McGwire becomes the third player to launch a ball out of Dodger Stadium when one of his two home runs travels 483 feet in the Cardinals’ 10-7 victory at Chavez Ravine. The slugging first baseman joins Willie Stargell, who accomplished the feat twice in 1969 and 1973, and Mike Piazza, whose Ruthian blast cleared the ballpark two seasons ago.

Lineup when available.

May 21

Game 47, 2018

Posted on by

Rockies at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, ATT SportsNet-RM

The visiting Rockies send RHP German Marquez (2-5, 5.15 ERA) to the mound to face the Dodgers’ rookie RHP Walker Buehler (2-1, 2.67 ERA). Marquez has a 2.25 ERA on the road, but he’s also got a 13.50 ERA in first innings so far this season. Buehler’s last outing was his least successful of the year; he gave up five runs in five innings but avoided the loss when the Dodgers rallied to tie the game, which they later lost.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1927 For the second consecutive day, an umpire at Ebbets Field is the target of fan abuse. Arbitrator Frank Wilson needs a police escort after the Robins (Dodgers) drop a twin bill to Cubs.
  • 1952 The Dodgers score a major league record fifteen first-inning runs en route to a 19-1 rout over the Reds at Ebbets Field. After Ewell Blackwell retires the first batter, the next 19 Brooklyn batters reached base (10 hits, 7 walks, and 2 HBP), including Captain Pee Wee Reese getting to first base three times during the frame.
  • 1963 Jim Maloney ties a major league record shared by Max Surkont (1953 Braves) and Johnny Podres (1962 Dodgers) when he strikes out eight consecutive batters, beginning with the last out in the first inning, in the Reds’ 2-0 victory over Milwaukee at County Stadium. The Cincinnati right-hander also equals the franchise mark with 16 strikeouts in one game, established by Noodles Hahn in 1901.
  • 2000 Major League Baseball has its first six grand-slam day less than one year after establishing the mark with five, with Garret Anderson (Angels), J.T. Snow (Giants), Brian Hunter (Phillies), Jason Giambi (A’s), and Adrian Beltre and Shawn Green (Dodgers) all contributing to the record. The NL also set a league record, blasting four of the six base-loaded homers.

Lineup when available.

May 20

Game 46, 2018

Posted on by

Dodgers at Nationals, 10:35 AM PDT, TV: SPNLA, MASN

The Dodgers send hard-luck lefty Alex Wood (0-4, 3.35 ERA) to the hill to face the Nationals’ righthander Stephen Strasburg (5-3, 3.28 ERA). Wood has a 1.06 WHIP, 47 strikeouts and only 8 walks in 51 innings of work this season, but he has yet to get a win. He scattered six hits and two runs over six innings in a game against the Nats on April 22. Strasburg went seven innings, struck out ten, gave up two runs to the Dodgers and took the loss on April 21.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1979 Don Sutton becomes the franchise’s winningest pitcher when he is credited with the victory, tossing eight innings in the Dodgers 6-4 victory over the Reds at Riverfront Stadium. The 34 year-old right-hander’s 210th win surpasses the team mark established in 1969 by Don Drysdale.

Lineup when available.

May 18

Game 44, 2018

Posted on by

Dodgers at Nationals, 11:05 AM PDT, TV: SPNLA, MASN, MLBN (out-of-market only)

Young RHP Ross Stripling (0-1, 2.20 ERA) opens the series with the Nationals, who send out the redoubtable RHP Max Scherzer (7-1, 1.69 ERA) to face him. Scherzer has struck out 91 this season and has a strikeout per nine inning ratio of 13.96. That’s impressive, but Stripling has a 9.73 ratio himself, albeit in 30 fewer innings.

Today in Dodgers history:

  • 1929 In the doubleheader played at Philadelphia’s Baker Bowl, the teams combine to score a record fifty runs when the Dodgers outlast the Phillies, 20-16, before dropping the nightcap to the home team 8-6. In the opener, Brooklyn’s Johnny Frederick crosses the plate five times, giving him the major league mark of scoring eight runs in two consecutive games.
  • 1931 Dodgers’ outfielder Babe Herman hits for the cycle for the first of two times this season. In 1933, as a member of the Cubs, he will again hit for the cycle, making him and Bob Meusel the only major leaguers to have accomplished the feat three times since 1900.
  • 1942 Night games in New York are banned for the duration of WW II, leaving fans in the dark about the status of the All-Star game scheduled to be played at the Polo Grounds on the evening of Monday, July 6. The prohibition of nighttime tilts, announced by NYC Police Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine, will change the starting times for 28 contests involving the Dodgers and Giants. (The first night game at Yankee Stadium will be played in 1946.)
  • 1998 With a 6-3 victory over the Orioles, the Devil Rays become only the second expansion team in major league history to sweep an away four-game series. The 1993 Colorado Rockies, who did it against the Dodgers, is the other team to accomplish this feat.

Lineup:

May 17

Game 43, 2018

Posted on by

Dodgers at Marlins, 9:10 AM PDT, MLBN (out-of-market only), SPNLA, FS-F

The Dodgers ask RHP Kenta Maeda (2-3, 4.75 ERA) to stop their losing streak, while the Marlins ask LHP Caleb Smith (2-4, 3.63 ERA) to get them the sweep. Like all Dodgers’ pitchers, Maeda is pitching worse than last year. In addition to his close-to-5 ERA he’s got a WHIP of 1.53 and is giving up nearly 2.5 hits per nine innings more than last season. Smith has pitched pretty well in his last four starts, going 2-2 and giving up four runs in 24 innings over that stretch.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1947 At Forbes Field, Hank Greenberg asks Jackie Robinson if the Dodger infielder was hurt in a collision with him at first base earlier in the game and then tells the embattled Brooklyn rookie, “Stick in there. You’re doing fine. Keep your chin up.” Jackie will remark to the writers a few days later that his “diamond hero” is Hank Greenberg, knowing that the Pirates’ first baseman, who due to the bigotry endured as a Jew, can appreciate his difficulty of facing racial injustice every day as the first black player in the major leagues this century.
  • 1978 Pinch hitting for Davey Lopes in the Los Angeles 10-1 rout of the Pirates, Lee Lacy goes deep in the bottom of the eighth inning off Will McEnaney at Dodger Stadium. The utility player becomes the first player in major league history to homer in three consecutive at bats as a pinch hitter.
  • 1992 Using only 21 dates, the Blue Jays reach the one-million mark in attendance sooner than any team in major league history. The 1991 Blue Jays and the 1981 Dodgers shared the previous record.

Lineup when available.

May 16

Game 42, 2018

Posted on by

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

The Dodgers send young righty Walker Buehler (2-1, 1.64 ERA) out to face the Marlins’ RHP Elieser Hernandez (0-0, 3.00 ERA). This will be Hernandez’s first MLB start; he’s given up one run on six hits in three relief innings this year. Buehler was the starter in the combined no-hitter the Dodgers’ pitchers threw against the Padres in his next-to-last start. In his last one he gave up two runs on five hits in six innings and took the loss against the Reds.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1913 Alfredo Cabrera, born in the Canary Islands, becomes the first person from Spain to appear in the majors. The 32 year-old Cardinals shortstop will go 0-for-2 in the only big league game he will play, a 6-5 loss to the Dodgers at Ebbets Field.
  • 1967 Reliever Phil Regan loses his first game in 77 appearances. The ‘Vulture’ gets pinned with his first defeat in over a year when Astros’ third baseman Bob Aspromonte hits a two-run triple in the tenth to beat the Dodgers, 5-3.
  • 1970 During a game against the Giants at Dodger Stadium, Alan Fish, sitting with friends from the Poinsettia Playground in the second row seats along the first base line, is struck in the head by a foul ball off the bat of Manny Mota. The 14 year-old boy will die four days later to become the first fatality as a result of a batted ball in major league history.
  • 1983 In an 11-4 rout of the Pirates, rookie right fielder Darryl Strawberry hit his first major league home run, a two-run round-tripper off Pittsburgh’s Lee Tunnell at Three Rivers Stadium. The troubled Mets outfielder, the eventual franchise leader with 252 homers, will hit a total of 335 during his turbulent 17-year career with the Mets, Dodgers, Giants, and Yankees.
  • 2000 After a fan steals Los Angeles’ catcher Chad Kreuter’s hat and hits him in the back of the head, many Dodgers, including coaches John Shelby and Rick Dempsey, go into the stands and start fighting with the Wrigley Field faithful. When the melee ends, several fans are arrested as the game is delayed nearly ten minutes, and there is litter all over the field.

Lineup when available.


Muncy at 1st Base, Bellinger in CF. That’s new.

May 15

Game 41, 2018

Posted on by

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

LHP Alex Wood (0-3, 3.60 ERA) pitches for the Dodgers against the Marlins’ LHP Wei-Yin Chen (1-2, 10.22 ERA). This will be Wood’s ninth start. He has pitched better than his record indicates as opponents are hitting only .219 against him. Chen has been far better at home than on the road this year, which bodes well for him this evening.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1919 After 12 scoreless innings at Ebbets Field, the Reds score ten runs in the 13th inning to beat Al Mamaux and the Dodgers, 10-0. Cincinnati starter Hod Eller, who tossed a no-hitter in his previous start, is the beneficiary of the blowout.
  • 1956 Sal Maglie, obtained on waivers by Cleveland last season from the Giants, is shipped to the Dodgers for a hundred dollars after impressing Brooklyn in an exhibition game. The ‘Barber’ will post a 13-5 record along with a 2.89 ERA for the eventual NL Champs, finishing second to teammate Don Newcombe in the balloting for both the Cy Young and MVP awards.
  • 1998 On the day the Marlins trade Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Charles Johnson, Jim Eisenreich, and Manuel Barrios to the Dodgers for Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile, the team hangs on to beat the Cardinals at Busch Stadium, 8-7. In the first inning, the Fish connect for nine consecutive hits, a franchise record, and score seven runs, all without the help of their recently departed teammates.

Turner and Forsythe both return. I hope they’re both fully recovered and not trying to come back too soon.

Lineup when available.