Aug 12

Game 114, 2015

Nationals at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, MASN

Clayton Kershaw (9-6, 2.51 ERA) against Jordan Zimmermann (8-7, 3.44 ERA). Two staff aces going against one another.


Need I say more?

Oh, okay. Carl Crawford is hitting .455 against Zimmermann in their career meetings. Ryan Zimmerman has hit .438 against Kershaw in their career meetings.

Lineup when available.

Okay, I understand Crawford’s playing because he hits Zimmermann, but no Rollins?

Jul 25

Game 99, 2015

Dodgers at Mets, 4:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

Righty Zach Lee, Los Angeles’ first-round pick in the 2010 Draft out of McKinney High School in Texas, will start for the Dodgers in his major league debut. He’s 7-3 with a 2.36 ERA in 12 starts this season for Triple-A Oklahoma City. Matt Harvey (8-7, 3.19 ERA) will start for the Mets. He’s walked at least four batters in each of his past three starts, two of them losses.

Scott Van Slyke made a heckuva play in the ninth inning of last night’s game:

Lineup when available.

A-Gon sits, Crawford gets his first start since his return from an extended stay on the DL this season, and Puig gets the day off. Puig’s about seven years younger than Ethier, so you’d think Andre would get the day off instead, but no. Mattingly works in mysterious ways.

Whoops. Updated lineup:

A-Gon says his neck is well enough to allow him to play, I guess, so Turner shifts to third base and Callaspo sits.

Jul 21

Game 95, 2015

Dodgers at Braves, 4:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, SportsSouth

Brett Anderson is 5-5 with a 3.17 ERA and he’s making his 19th start of the season for the Dodgers. He hasn’t made that many in a year since he made exactly that number for the As five years ago. He’s been on a pretty good run in his last six starts: he’s allowed three runs or fewer in each of them.

Anderson’s opponent will be fellow lefty Alex Wood, who’s 6-6 with a 3.76 ERA and coming off a horrible last start. He gave up seven earned runs and ten hits in 5 2/3 innings against the Rockies. This is Wood’s third year in the big leagues, all with the Braves. Lifetime he’s 20-20 with a 3.15 ERA.

Carl Crawford comes off the DL today and will be a fourth or fifth outfielder, and he says he’s okay with that.

Lineup when available.

Barnes starts at catcher for the second day in a row. Grandal’s jaw must still be hurting.

Jul 20

Game 94, 2015

Dodgers at Braves, 4:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, Sports South

Right-hander Brandon Beachy makes his second start of the year for the Dodgers after missing all of 2014 with Tommy John surgery and rehabilitation. He went 4 innings and gave up 3 runs in his first outing on July 11, walking 3 and striking out 2. He wasn’t very pleased with his performance:

“I’d like to tell you I feel really accomplished, but in this moment, I didn’t accomplish what I set out to do. I didn’t set out to pitch in a big league game. I set out to dominate a big league game,” he said.

Beachy will face Matt Wisler, who’s pitched well in 4 of 5 starts this season and compiled a 3-1, 3.10 ERA while doing so.

Tidbits: Carl Crawford is expected to be reinstated sometime during the series, which means somebody has to go down to Oklahoma City or get released or designated for assignment.

The Braves are 22nd in MLB in runs scored and 27th in slugging percentage. The Dodgers have a best-in-MLB team fielding percentage of .989 and only 38 errors, fewest in the big leagues.

Lineup when available.

May 01

Game 22, 2015

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

It’s a battle of righthanders as the D-Backs send out old friend Rubby De La Rosa to face off against Carlos Frias of the Dodgers. De La Rosa was sent to the Red Sox by the Dodgers as part of the trade which brought them Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford two years ago. Arizona acquired him in the off-season, and he’s gone 2-1 with a 4.68 ERA this year in 25 innings over 4 starts. Frias is making his first start of the year for the Dodgers after two relief appearances.

Update: Mark Saxon of ESPN has a discussion of the Dodgers’ bullpen and its management. Three different pitchers have been used in save situations at the MLB level, and it’s the same in the minors: “The Dodgers’ four minor-league affiliates have had a total of 14 pitchers record at least one save.”

Hmm. Interesting.

Lineup when available.

No Uribear and a Guerrero sighting.

Apr 29

Game 21, 2015

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

It will be Zack Greinke v. Ryan Vogelsong in the rubber match of the series. Greinke didn’t pitch in last week’s series against the Giants, while Vogelsong gave up two runs in six innings in the Giants’ 10-inning 3-2 victory. That was the game Kendrick saved with his headlong dive behind second base in the ninth inning only to watch Maxwell single past third base to drive in the winning run in the tenth.

Greinke has been the best pitcher the Dodgers have so far this season, going 3-0 with a 1.35 ERA in four starts, all of them quality ones. Vogelsong is 0-1 in four starts with a 7.71 ERA, and righthanded hitters have been particularly troublesome for him, hitting .298 so far this year.

Puig and Crawford are on the DL, but Van Slyke, who’ll probably replace one of them, has a seven-game hitting streak of his own. If Guerrero replaces the other all he’s done is hit five home runs in limited duty.

Lineup when available.

My goodness, what have we here? Joc leading off, Rollins in the two-hole, Uribe in the eight-hole, and something which will cause lots of talk, no Guerrero in the starting lineup.

Apr 28

Game 20, 2015

Giants at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, MLBN

Like yesterday’s, this game is a rematch of the starters in last week’s series. Clayton Kershaw and Madison Bumgarner squared off last Wednesday. Neither one got the decision in a game ultimately won by the Giants. Each gave up two runs; Kershaw gave up three hits, Bumgarner gave up six. Kershaw walked one and struck out nine, Bumgarner walked two and struck out six. Each pitcher has faced the other team a lot in his respective career: Kershaw is 14-5 against the Giants with a 1.48 ERA and four shutouts. Bumgarner is 11-5 against the Dodgers with a 2.56 ERA.

Lineup when available.

The reason Alex is in left field is that Carl Crawford was placed on the 15-day DL and IF/OF Kiké Hernandez was brought up from Oklahoma City. There’s been no Twitter explanation for Joc’s absence from the starting lineup.

Apr 08

Game Three, 2015

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:

Dec 10

Winter meetings, Day Three

Update: Kemp is gone to the Padres for catcher Yasmani Grandal and a pair of pitching prospects. Fedex also goes to the Padres, along with about $30M to defray part of the cost of Kemp’s contract.

Wow! In very short order today the Dodgers

  • Got 36-year-old shortstop Jimmy Rollins from the Phillies to fill the gap left behind when Hanley Ramirez went the free agent route
  • Traded Dee Gordon and Dan Haren to the Marlins in exchange for pitcher Andrew Heaney, backup catcher Austin Barnes, minor leaguers Enrique Hernandez and Chris Hatcher
  • Flipped Heaney to the Angels for second-baseman Howie Kendrick
  • May be close to signing free-agent pitcher Brandon McCarthy
  • and have discussed adding pitcher Cole Hamels and second-baseman Chase Utley to the Jimmy Rollins deal with the Phillies

And there’s still tomorrow to find deals which send Ethier, Crawford or Kemp to somebody for a starting pitcher or prospects!

Now that they’ve gotten Kendrick, I can’t see why they’d want Utley except as more bait to trade off, as they did with Heaney (hey, kid, I’d have liked to see you pitch!). Do the Phillies need an outfielder?

Update: changed the post title to day 3, which is accurate. I lost a day somewhere.

Sep 23

Game 158, 2014

Giants at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, CSN-BA, ESPN, KDOC-56

The game should be accessible to most fans, as it’s being televised by both ESPN and KDOC-56. KDOC-56’s channel numbers for various providers are in the last post.

Zack Greinke brings his 4-0 record and 1.38 ERA in four starts against the Giants this season to the mound tonight. He’ll face Madison Bumgarner, himself 3-1 with a 1.75 ERA in four starts against the Dodgers this season.

Every game is different, but if Dodger fans are looking for encouragement, this should help:

The career numbers against Greinke in the last five seasons don’t look good for any healthy Giants, but especially not for the heart of the order: Brandon Belt is 1-for-5, Hunter Pence is 1-for-6 and Buster Posey is also 1-for-6.

The most successful Giants hitters against Greinke in the last five seasons? Morse and Pagan, who will each miss Tuesday night’s game with injuries.

Lineup:


No Gordon? No Crawford? Mattingly may just be loading the lineup with right-handed hitters to face Bumgarner. However, Gonzalez is all of 4 for 32 lifetime against the guy.