Jul 29

Game 99, 2022

Dodgers at Rockies, 5:40 PM PDT, TV: ATT SportsNet RM, SPNLA

LHP Julio Urías (9-6, 2.72 ERA) takes the hill for the Dodgers and RHP Chad Kuhl (6-5, 4.48 ERA) does the same for the Rockies. Urías is 3-0 for July with a 3.00 ERA. Did you know that his lifetime W-L record of 41-16 puts him ahead of Clayton Kershaw’s pace at the same moment in his career? Kershaw’s ERA was lower than Julio’s 3.02, but not by much. Kuhl has had a bad July; he’s 1-0 for the month but he’s got a 9.00 ERA. He’s given up 17 runs on 25 hits in 17 innings.

From the LA Times, news of rehabbing pitchers:

Unlike last week, when May struggled with his command during a two-inning appearance, the 24-year-old struck out six batters over three scoreless innings. He gave up only two hits. He touched 99.9 mph with his sinker. And he found the zone with 32 of his 46 pitches.

[snip]

Roberts announced Thursday afternoon that Treinen, who stayed in Los Angeles, is scheduled to face live hitters Friday for the first time since injuring his shoulder in April — a key step in the reliever’s carefully managed recovery process.

The news came just two days after Roberts had initially said the right-hander was still a couple of weeks away from facing live hitting.

Since then, however, Treinen said he felt ready to take the next progression in his rehab, after several weeks of routine bullpen sessions.

“[He’s] getting closer,” Roberts said of when Treinen could return to the active roster. “I still don’t see Blake being back within the next three weeks. So end of August makes sense.”

Today 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.

    Lineups when available.

Jun 27

Game 72, 2022

Dodgers at Rockies, 5:40 PM PDT, TV: ATT SportsNet RM, SPNLA

The Dodgers send LHP Tyler Anderson (8-0, 3.00 ERA) out to face the team he began his career with back in 2016. He’ll face the Rockies’ RHP Chad Kuhl (4-5, 3.95 ERA). When a pitcher is undefeated in the last week of June with an ERA of 3.00 there are few superlatives left to use about his performance. Kuhl had one bad inning in his last start but retired the last seven batters he faced, prompting praise from his manager.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1939 In front of 2,457 fans at Braves Field, the Dodgers, with Whit Wyatt pitching the first 16 frames, and Boston plays 23 innings in a game that ends in a 2-2 tie when plate umpire Babe Pinelli called the five-hour and 15-minute contest at 8:15 pm due to darkness. The same teams at the same field played 26 innings to a 1-1 tie in 1920.
  • 1940 To honor the lyricist of Take Me Out to the Ballgame, the Dodgers celebrate Jack Norworth Day at Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field. The songwriter and his partner Albert Von Tilzer, who wrote the music, had never seen a game when they created the song in 1908.
    Carly Simon’s Take Me Out to the Ball Game illustrated by Amiko Hirao

  • 1980 Dodger southpaw Jerry Reuss, facing only 28 batters, no-hits the Giants at Candlestick Park, 8-0. Shortstop Bill Russell’s errant throw on Jack Clark’s grounder with two outs in the first inning deprives the 31 year-old left-hander from tossing a perfect game.
  • 2011 Citing MLB refusal to sign off on a transaction that would provide the team with $385 million, the Dodgers file for bankruptcy protection in a Delaware court. Although there will be no disruption to the day-to-day status of the franchise, the Chapter 11 financing permits the Dodgers to use $150 million for daily operations and gives owner Frank McCourt time to seek a media deal that will ensure the club’s long-term financial stability.

Lineups when available.

Aug 24

Game 126, 2017

Dodgers at Pirates, 1:05 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, ATT SportsNet-PIT

Dodger lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu (4-6, 3.45 ERA) will face the Pirates’ RHP Chad Kuhl (6-8, 4.52 ERA) in a day game at PNC Park. Ryu seems to have gotten on track after his two-year recovery from injuries: he’s 2-0 with a 2.22 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 44 2/3 innings in his last eight starts. Kuhl has pitched much better since July 1, posting a 3.21 ERA. In his first 15 starts of the season before that he had a 5.58 ERA.

Yu Darvish and Kenta Maeda will meet and greet the Japanese Little League team before the game.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1941 During a double-header against the Cardinals, a rag tag group of five ‘musicians’, dubbed the Dodger SymPhony by announcer Red Barber, makes their Ebbets Field’s debut. This band, in which none of the members can read music, performs their zany antics at all evening and weekend games.
  • 1955 A telegram sent to Brooklyn president Walter O’Malley by the Patchogue Chamber of Commerce offers the team “thirty acres or more of dry flat land in open country in the heart of Long Island’s densest Dodger fan concentration.” The village’s attempt to attract the fleeing franchise to the south shore of Suffolk County will not materialize, and the club, after exploring many different venues as an alternative to Ebbets Field, will leave the East Coast in 1958 to play in Los Angeles.
  • 1957 The Dodgers, in a 13-3 loss to Milwaukee at Ebbets Field, use eight pitchers in one game, tying a major league record. Johnny Podres gives up three home runs in the fourth frame when Nippy Jones, Hank Aaron, and Andy Pafko all go deep off the Brooklyn starter.
  • 1960 During a dull game, Vin Scully, the play-by-play voice of the Dodgers, knowing that many fans in the stands follow the game on transistor radios, asks his listeners to help him surprise third base umpire Frank Secory. His ballpark audience responds when the veteran broadcaster tells them, “Let’s have some fun. As soon as the inning is over I’ll count to three, and on three everybody yell, ‘Happy birthday, Frank!'”
  • 1974 Davey Lopes steals five bases, tying a National League record established in 1904 by Giants first baseman Dan McGann. The Dodger second baseman’s quintet of stolen bags adds to the team’s franchise mark of eight stolen bases in their 3-0 victory over the Redbirds at Chavez Ravine.
  • 1975 Davey Lopes steals his major league record 38th consecutive base, but the streak will be stopped by Montreal backstop Gary Carter when he attempts to swipe another base in the Dodger Stadium contest. The second baseman will be thrown out in the 12th inning of the team’s 5-3 loss in fourteen innings.
  • 2014 Joc Pederson becomes the fourth player in the history of the Pacific Coast League to have a 30-30 season, and the first to accomplish the feat in 80 years, when he steals his 30th base for the Isotopes. The 22 year-old Albuquerque slugger, who has 32 home runs and a .432 slugging percentage in 116 games this season, will join the Dodgers when rosters expand next week.

Lineup when available.

Yes, that is a birthday cake for Kiké. No, I did not add it. The Dodgers’ Twitter person did.

May 10

Game 34, 2017

Pirates at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, ROOTPIT

The visitors send RHP Chad Kuhl (1-2, 5.54 ERA) out to face the Dodgers’ Kenta Maeda (2-2, 5.81 ERA). Kuhl managed to beat the Dodgers twice last year despite posting a 4.09 ERA while doing so. Maeda’s last two starts were his best of the season (12 innings, three earned runs, 16 Ks).

Here’s a scheduling quirk: today’s game will be the third of 35 consecutive games the Pirates will play outside of the National League Central.

Today in Dodgers history:

  • 1953 With a double and home run, Roy Campanella drives in all the runs in the Dodgers’ 5-0 victory over the Phillies at Ebbets Field. Campy’s total of 40+ RBIs in the first 30 games will not be matched until Tino Martinez accomplishes the feat in 1997 with the Yankees.
  • 1955 Dodger right-hander Don Newcombe faces only 27 batters when he one-hits Chicago at Wrigley Field, 3-0. Newk’s bid for perfection is ruined by a fourth-inning single hit by Gene Baker, who will be thrown out trying to steal second base.

Injury update:

Lineup:

We see the immediate impact of Toles’s injury, as Bellinger moves to left field and Utley plays 1B.

Aug 14

Game 117, 2016

Pirates at Dodgers, 1:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, ROOTPIT

The Dodgers’ Brett Anderson makes his season debut after rehabbing all year from arthroscopic back surgery in March. He’ll face Chad Kuhl (2-0, 3.91 ERA), who made his big league debut against the Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw back on June 26 and won.

Anderson has made three rehab starts between Class A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga and Triple-A Oklahoma City, topping out at 71 pitches and five innings in his final start.

Brandon McCarthy is likely headed for the 15-day DL with a newly-disclosed hip injury. He and the Dodgers both hope that’s what caused his control to disappear in his last four starts. He says he hurt the hip fielding a bunt in Colorado last month.

McCarthy and Ravin both go to 15-day DL, Ravin with right triceps soreness and McCarthy with the hip problem described above.

Lineup when available.

Jun 26

Game 77, 2016

Dodgers at Pirates, 5:08PM PT, TV: ESPN

The Dodgers make their fifth appearance of the season on Sunday Night Baseball tonight. They’ve split the previous four. Tonight they’ll ask Clayton Kershaw to break the tie, and the odds would seem to be in their favor. He’s 11-1 and leads the major leagues in ERA (1.57), innings pitched (115), strikeouts (141), WHIP (0.67), K/BB ratio (20.14), opponents’ batting-average-against (.174) and shutouts (3). His opposite number is set to be Chad Kuhl, who will be making his major league debut. He’s been pretty good in AAA, though: 6-2 with a 2.58 ERA and 1.19 WHIP.

Annoying fact: “The Pirates have won 12 of their last 15 games vs. the Dodgers, winning five of six games vs. Los Angeles last season.”

Lineup: