Aug 05

Game 110, 2017

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Dodgers at Mets, 1:05 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, SNY, FS1

The Dodgers send July’s NL Pitcher of the Month Rich Hill (8-4, 3.35 ERA) to the mound to face RHP Seth Lugo (5-3, 4.53 ERA).

Hill has allowed two or fewer earned runs in 12 of his 15 starts, and he went 4-0 with a 1.45 ERA in July. Lugo was 2-2 with a 5.29 ERA in July. He’s gone 3-0 against NL West teams this year, albeit with a rather unsightly 4.91 ERA.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1954 Stan Musial, in a 13-4 rout of the Dodgers in Brooklyn, paces the Cardinals attack, hitting two homers and driving in seven runs. The defeat is Preacher Roe’s first loss to St. Louis at Ebbets Field in four years.
  • 1969 With a titanic blast that clears the right-field pavilion, Willie Stargell becomes the first player to hit a home run completely out of Dodger Stadium. The 506-foot round-tripper helps the Pirates defeat LA, 11-3.
  • 1979 Don Sutton, surpassing Don Drysdale, becomes the Dodgers’ all-time strikeout leader with 2,487 when he fans six in an 8-1 victory over San Francisco at Chavez Ravine. After establishing the mark, and receiving a two-minute standing ovation that he acknowledges by tipping his cap, the right-hander is charged with an automatic ball due to running his fingers across his lips while thanking the crowd.
  • 1979 Outfielders Willie Mays (Giants, Mets) and Hack Wilson (Giants, Cubs, Dodgers, and Phillies) are enshrined into the Hall of Fame. Baseball administrator Warren Giles, who served as the president of the National League from 1951 to 1969, is also inducted during the Cooperstown ceremony.

Lineup when available.

Aug 04

Game 109, 2017

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Dodgers at Mets, 1:00 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, SNY

Joe Posnanski writes for MLB.com:

Assuming everyone stays healthy, the Dodgers’ crazy lineup features eight players with double-digit home runs and includes NL MVP Award candidates Corey Seager and Justin Turner, along with a certain NL Rookie of the Year Award winner in Bellinger. Their bullpen is so good that the Dodgers have gone into the sixth inning with 61 leads … and they have won every single one of those games. And the rotation will feature Kershaw, Alex Wood (who is 13-1 with a 2.33 ERA) and now Darvish. It doesn’t quite seem fair.

Dylan Hernandez writes at the LA Times:

What immediately stands out about Yu Darvish is his size.

He’s huge. Like, really, really huge.

The measurements of 6 feet 5 and 220 pounds don’t adequately describe the physical stature of the Dodgers’ recently acquired flamethrower. His shoulders are massive. His chest is expansive.

Andy McCullough has team reactions as the deal was made and confirmed.

As noted, the Dodgers send out the newly-acquired RHP Yu Darvish, who was 6-9 with a 4.01 ERA for the Rangers this season. He’ll face RHP Jacob deGrom, who’s 12-4 with a 3.29 ERA and one of the few bright spots in the Mets’ otherwise-unhappy season in which they’re eight games under .500 and only Jacob deGrom has made all 21 scheduled starts. Steven Matz, who is 2-4 with a 5.50 ERA in 10 starts, is the only other pitcher on the active roster of the seven candidates for the rotation in spring training.

This date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1908 In Brooklyn, the last-place Cardinals blank the Brooklyn Superbas (Dodgers), 3-0. The entire Washington Park contest is played with just one ball.
  • 1941 Mickey Owens [sic] becomes the first catcher to handle three foul pop ups in one frame. The Brooklyn backstop’s third inning defense contributes to the Dodgers’ 11-6 victory over New York at Ebbets Field.
  • 1942 In a military relief game at the Polo Grounds, which will be the last war-time twilight game played, Pee Wee Reese’s grand slam in the top of the ninth, which puts the Dodgers up 5-1, doesn’t count because of the 9:10 pm government curfew. The game ends up as a 1-1 tie with the Giants.
  • 1948 Ernie Harwell, filling in for Red Barber, who is recovering from a bleeding ulcer, calls his first major league game as the Dodgers beat the Cubs at Ebbets Field, 5-4. To obtain the future Hall of Fame broadcaster, Brooklyn general manager Branch Rickey trades minor league catcher Cliff Dapper to the Atlanta Crackers.

In non-Dodgers history, on this date in 1985 Tom Seaver won his 300th game and Rod Carew got his 3,000th hit.

Lineup when available.

Aug 03

Game 108, 2017

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Dodgers at Braves, 4:35 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSSE

LHP Alex Wood (12-1, 2.38 ERA) won his last start after taking his first loss of the season (to the Braves, no less) in his previous one. He’ll face rookie LHP Sean Newcomb (1-5, 4.50 ERA).

Wood has had two poor starts in a row, giving up 13 runs in 11 2/3 innings. Newcomb has a 4.96 ERA in his last three starts and has walked three or more batters in five of his nine starts.

This date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1959 In the second All-Star game played this summer, Yogi Berra’s two-run home run off Dodgers right-hander Don Drysdale in the third inning at the LA Memorial Coliseum proves to be the difference in the American League’s 5-3 victory over the Senior Circuit. The home run will be the last one hit by a Bronx Bomber in a Mid-Summer Classic game for 41 years until Derek Jeter goes deep in 2001.
  • 1995 Making his first start for the Rockies since being acquired from the Mets, Bret Saberhagen gives up 13 hits and walks three batters, but gets the win in the team’s 9-4 win over the Dodgers. The sellout crowd gives their new hurler an enthusiastic standing ovation when he departs the game with one out in the seventh inning.
  • 1997 Jeromy Burnitz, coming off the bench in the Brewers’ 6-5 loss to Seattle at County Stadium, homers as a pinch hitter for the second consecutive time, tying an American League record. The major league mark for consecutive pinch-hit appearances with a home run is three, shared by Lee Lacy (Dodgers – May 2, 6, and 17, 1978) and Del Unser (Phillies – June 30, July 5 and 10, 1979).
  • 2013 The first-place Dodgers set a franchise record, winning their 13th consecutive game on the road with their 3-0 victory over the Cubs in Chicago. The Giants established the National League mark in 1916 when the team won 17 straight games away from the Polo Grounds.

Lineup:

Aug 02

Game 107, 2017

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Dodgers at Braves, 4:35 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSSE

The Dodgers have won nine in a row. They have already had two 10-game winning streaks this year; only two teams have had three since 1913.

The visiting Dodgers give RHP Brock Stewart (0-0, 0.00 ERA) the ball and ask him to hold off the hometown Braves, who counter with RHP Julio Teheran (7-9, 5.09 ERA).

Stewart went only 3 2/3 innings against the Twins last Wednesday, but all five of the runs scored on him were unearned and he got off the hook when the Dodgers rallied to win 6-5. Teheran has lost three straight games and posted a 6.88 ERA since the All Star break. It doesn’t get any easier: Corey Seager is 3-for-9 against Teheran, all of them home runs. Yasiel Puig (5-for-10, HR), Chase Utley (7-for-28, HR), Logan Forsythe (3-for-5, HR), Yasmani Grandal (6-for-13, three doubles) and Joc Pederson (4-for-13) have been successful against him as well.

Yu Darvish has been activated. To make room, Josh Ravin was optioned to OKC.

This date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1938 As an experiment, bright yellow baseballs are used in the first game of a doubleheader. The teams go back to the traditional white ball in the nightcap as the Dodgers swept the twin bill from the Cardinals, 6-2 and 9-3.
  • 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.

In non-Dodgers history of note, in 1921 with the jurors lifting the men onto their shoulders, the eight White Sox players accused of throwing the 1919 World Series are acquitted by the jury. The next day, Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis will say the overwhelming evidence clearly shows the Black Sox fixed the games with gamblers, and all involved will be banned from playing professional baseball again.

Lineup:

Aug 01

Game 106, 2017

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Dodgers at Braves, 4:35 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSSE

The Dodgers send RHP Kenta Maeda (9-4, 4.09 ERA) to the mound in the Braves’ new ballpark. He’ll face a right-handed pitcher named Lucas Sims who’ll be making his MLB debut.

Maeda has had trouble getting past the fifth inning this season, doing so only three times in 16 starts. Sims had a 2.84 ERA in his last four starts at AAA Gwinnett.

This date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1906 After pitching 10.2 innings of no-hit ball, Harry McIntire yields a single to Pirates second baseman Claude Ritchey. The Dodgers and McIntire lose the game in the 13th on an unearned run, 1-0.
  • 1924 Dazzy Vance strikes out seven consecutive batters to establish a major league record when the Brooklyn Robins defeat the Cubs at Ebbets Field, 4-0. The future Hall of Famer, who will compile a 28-6 record for the Brooks this season, will lead the National League in strikeouts with 262.
  • 1957 Gil Hodges, in a 12-3 win over the Cubs, hits his 13th and last career grand slam in Brooklyn Dodger history. The first baseman’s bases-loaded shot off Dick Littlefield establishes a new National League record, previously shared by Rogers Hornsby and Ralph Kiner.
  • 2011 After popping out in a pinch-hitting appearance, Craig Counsell remains without a hit in his last 45 at-bats, tying the longest single-season hitless streak by a position player in history, established by Brooklyn backstop Bill Bergen in 1909. The major league record is 0-for-70, established in 1970 by Bob Buhl, a pitcher who toiled with the Braves and Cubs that season.

    • 2015 Clayton Kershaw strikes out Mike Trout looking with a wicked curveball, marking the first time that reigning MVPs have faced one another in a major league game. The interleague contest between the two LA teams ends with Dodger southpaw keeping the Angel outfielder 0-for-3 while hurling eight innings in the team’s 3-1 victory over the Halos at Chavez Ravine.

In non-Dodgers’ history of note, on this day in 1978 Pete Rose, making the last out when he strikes out on a Gene Garber change-up, goes 0-for-4, ending his 44-game hitting streak, one contest shy of breaking the National League record. The Reds third baseman has tied Willie Keeler’s 1897 National League record last night with a hit off future Hall of Famer Phil Niekro. Rose was very angry about Garber’s pitch selection afterward, as I recall.

LHP Tony Watson has been activated. To make room on the active roster LHP Edward Paredes was sent to OKC.

Lineup:

Jul 31

Trade deadline, 2017

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Dodgers acquire Darvish. Trade does not include Verdugo. The Rangers get Willie Calhoun, A.J. Alexy and Brendon Davis. 2B Calhoun is the big name there. He’s got a slash line of .298/.357/.574 at OKC. RHP Alexy is with the Class A Great Lakes Loons, and SS Davis has been with both the Loons and the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes this season.

Scott Van Slyke for Cingrani. Deal also includes Hendrik Clementina, a 20-year-old catcher who’s currently at Ogden in the Pioneer League (Rookie).

The Dodgers also acquired LHP reliever Tony Watson from Pittsburgh. They reportedly send IF Oneil Cruz and RHP Angel German to the Pirates. German’s been with the Class A Loons, as has Cruz.

Discuss in comments.

Jul 30

Game 105, 2017

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Giants at Dodgers, 5:00 PM PT, TV: ESPN

The Giants try to salvage the final game of the series on national TV by sending LHP Madison Bumgarner (1-4, 3.38 ERA) to the mound. He’ll face the Dodgers’ LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (3-6, 4.17 ERA).

Neither pitcher has had the year he hoped or expected to have. Bumgarner missed months after famously injuring himself in a dirt-bike accident and just got his first win of the year last Tuesday. In his career he’s 8-6 with a 2.56 ERA at Dodger Stadium. Ryu has had trouble getting past the fifth inning, doing so in only 4 of 14 starts, and he hasn’t won since June 17. He’s made ten starts in his career against the Giants and gone 4-5 with a 3.79 ERA.

This date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 2004 In a blockbuster trade, the Marlins deal Brad Penny, the winner of two World Series games last season, first baseman Hee Seop Choi, and southpaw prospect Bill Murphy (will be traded to the Diamondbacks tomorrow) to the Dodgers for backstop Paul Lo Duca, relief pitcher Guillermo Mota, and much-traveled outfielder Juan Encarnacion.
  • 1987 Although the Bulova company had promised a free watch to any player who hit their clock located high above the Ebbets Field scoreboard, Bama Rowell didn’t receive the timepiece after his 1946 blast. The injustice is corrected more than 40 years later when the former Braves’ outfielder receives his wristwatch from Bulova on ‘Bama Rowell’ Day in Citronelle, Alabama, the honoree’s hometown. The home run is said to be the inspiration for Roy Hobbs smashing a glass-shattering homer off the light tower in Bernard Malamud’s novel “The Natural.”

Lineup when available.

Jul 29

Game 104, 2017

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Giants at Dodgers, 1:10 PM PT, TV: FS1, SPNLA Spanish, NBCS Bay Area

The Giants send LHP Ty Blach (6-6, 4.50 ERA) to the mound to face the Dodgers’ LHP Rich Hill (7-4, 3.48 ERA).

Blach gave up five runs on eight hits on Sunday against the Padres, but the Giants have won seven of his last twelve starts. Hill has gone 4-1 with a 1.93 ERA in his last six starts.

Friday’s game marked the first time there was a 30-game difference or larger between the Giants and Dodgers entering a series. The last time these teams met with a 30-game difference in the standings was Sept. 27, 1985, when the Dodgers were exactly 30 games ahead of the Giants.

No gloating!

This day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1915 Pirates third baseman Honus Wagner reaches Robins hurler Jeff Pfeffer for a grand slam in the eighth inning, helping Pittsburgh beat Brooklyn at Forbes Field, 8-2. The inside-the-park round tripper makes the 41 year-old infielder the oldest player ever to hit a home run with the bases full, a record which will last until 1985.
  • 1996 After a mild heart attack last month, Tommy Lasorda, 68 year-old Dodger manager of twenty years, announces his retirement due to his health. The future Hall of Fame skipper, who was named the National League Manager of the Year in 1983 and ’88, led Los Angeles to four pennants and two World Series championships during his 21 seasons at the helm.

Here’s a nice sight for the morning, but does it look to you like he’s got a bit of a belly?

Lineup:

Jul 28

Game 103, 2017

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Check out the #PingPong4Purpose hashtag for more action-filled photos!

Giants at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, NBC Bay Area

The visiting Giants send YALHP Matt Moore (3-10, 5.82 ERA) to the mound to face the Dodgers’ LHP Alex Wood (11-1, 2.17 ERA). Despite the difference in the league standings, the Giants lead the season series 6-4.

Both pitchers are hoping to get back on track. Moore has not won in more than a month, while Wood took his first loss of the season in his last start. Moore has given up 17 earned runs in his last 26 1/3 innings, while Wood gave up nine runs (seven earned) to the Braves on July 21, going only 4 2/3 innings.

This date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1991 In a game of firsts, Expos right-hander Dennis Martinez pitches a perfect game, defeating Los Angeles 2-0 at Dodger Stadium. In doing so he becomes the first pitcher born outside the United States to do so. Ron Hassey becomes the first backstop to ever catch two perfect games as he also was behind the plate on May 15, 1981 when Indian hurler Len Barker faced 27 batters, beating the Blue Jays, 3-0.

In non-Dodgers’ history, this is also the date in 1994 when Kenny Rogers threw the 12th perfect game in modern major league history and became the first American League left-hander to accomplish the feat when he beat the Angels, 4-0. This was the fifth no-hitter in franchise history and the first perfect game. I’m mentioning this next one only because I’m greatly amused by the name of the ballpark: in 2005 at Whataburger Field, a trio of Frisco RoughRiders (Rangers-AA) pitchers hurled nine perfect innings to beat the hometown Corpus Christi Hooks (Astros-AA), 3-0. A.J. Murray (6), Steve Karsay (2), and Scott Feldman (1) combined to throw only the third nine-inning perfect game, the first by a combination of hurlers, in the 117 year history of the Texas League.

Lineup when available.

Jul 26

Game 102, 2017

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Twins at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSNO

RHP Ervin Santana (11-7, 3.26 ERA) goes for the Twins and RHP Brock Stewart (0-0, 0.00 ERA) makes a spot start for the Dodgers.

Santana has hit a rough patch in his last five outings, going 2-3 with a 4.25 ERA while walking 11 batters. He only got through 3 1/3 innings last Friday against the Tigers and gave up five runs. Stewart, 25, has been used out of the bullpen this season, appearing in six games and throwing 13 innings. He’s filling in for Kershaw and McCarthy, who are both on the DL. He made five starts for the Dodgers in 2016, going 2-2 with a 5.79 ERA in 28 innings. He’s on a 50-60 pitch limit.

This date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1900 In Brooklyn, a sheriff seizes the St. Louis share of gate receipts to reimburse Gus Weyhing, recently released by the Cardinals after posting a 3-4 record in eight starts with the team, who claims to have been cheated out of ten days of pay. Next week, the right-hander, known as Cannonball by his teammates, will sign with the Superbas as a free agent.
  • 1948 Former Dodger skipper Leo Durocher, who left the team ten days ago, makes his first appearance at Ebbets Field since taking over the Giants. The return of ‘the Lip’ is less-than-triumphant when his new team drops a 13-4 decision to Brooklyn.
  • 1951 In a 9-1 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field, Jim Russell becomes the first player in major league history to hit a home run from both sides of the plate in a game in two different games. The Dodger outfielder’s accomplishment will be surpassed in 1956 when Yankee slugger Mickey Mantle goes deep both right and left-handed in the same game for a third time.
  • 1960 The Phillies end their scoreless streak of thirty-eight consecutive innings when Johnny Callison plates Tony Gonzalez with a sixth-inning single in the team’s 4-3 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Philadelphia’s drought began when the team failed to score in the last six frames of a 3-0 win against the Giants, and continued when they were shutout in three straight games ( 2-0, 2-0, and 9-0) by the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
  • 1991 Mark Gardner no-hits the Dodgers for nine innings, but Los Angeles wins the game in the bottom of the tenth on two singles off the Expos’ starter and Darryl Strawberry’s RBI single off reliever Jeff Fassero. It’s the first time the Dodgers had been held hitless at home for nine innings since Johnny Vander Meer’s second straight no-hitter in 1938.

Lineup: