Tag Archives: Don Sutton

Sep 28

Game 155, 2022

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Dodgers at Padres, 6:40 PM PDT, TV: BS San Diego, SPNLA

The Dodgers give LHP Julio Urías (17-7, 2.25 ERA) the ball to face the Padres’ RHP Joe Musgrove (10-7, 3.12 ERA). Urías leads the NL in ERA.

On this day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1924 Rogers Hornsby finishes the season with a .424 batting average to lead the National League. The Cardinal second baseman easily outdistances Zack Wheat, who finishes second in the race, batting .375 for the Dodgers.
  • 1952 On the last day of the season at Ebbets Field, the Braves’ 77 years of representing Boston is extended by three innings when Eddie Mathews’ ninth-inning, two-out double ties the game. The contest is called due to darkness and ends in the 12th inning in a 5-5 tie with the Dodgers.
  • 1955 In the bottom of the second inning, Elston Howard, in his first World Series at-bat, knots the score at 2-2 when he homers off Dodgers’ right-hander Don Newcombe. The round-tripper to deep left field at Yankee Stadium marks the first time a black batter has hit a home run off a black pitcher in the history of the Fall Classic.
  • 1959 The Braves, who ended the National League regular season in a first-place tie with the Dodgers, lose Game 1 of the three-game series, 3-2, in front of a sparse crowd of 18,297 at County Stadium. Milwaukee will lose tomorrow’s game in L.A., spoiling their chance for a three-peat as NL Champs.
  • 1966 At Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Larry Jaster throws a four-hitter, blanking Don Sutton and the Dodgers, 2-0. It’s the southpaw’s fifth shutout against LA this season, equaling a post-1900 major league mark held by the Senators’ Tom Hughes (against the Indians in 1905) and Grover Cleveland Alexander of the Phillies (against the Reds in 1916).
  • 1988 In his last start of the regular season, Dodger Orel Hershiser tosses 10 shutout frames to extend his streak to 59, breaking Don Drysdale’s record of 58 consecutive scoreless innings.
  • 1997 With his 40th home run, catcher Mike Piazza sets a single season Los Angeles Dodger record. Duke Snider holds the franchise record, slugging 43 round-trippers for Brooklyn in 1956.
  • 2003 At Turner Field in Atlanta, Jose Reyes becomes the second Mets player to hit a home run from both sides of the plate in one game. Lee Mazzilli was the first when he went yard twice against the Dodgers in LA on September 3, 1978.
  • 2006 At Coors Field in Colorado, James Loney collects four hits, including two homers, and drives in nine runs in the Dodgers’ 19-11 victory over the Rockies. The rookie first baseman, who had one homer and eight runs batted in in 93 previous at-bats with the team, ties the franchise RBI mark set by Gil Hodges in his 1950 four-homer game for Brooklyn and breaks the Los Angeles club mark held by Ron Cey.

Lineups when available.

Sep 22

Game 150, 2022

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Diamondbacks at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: BS Arizona, SPNLA

RHP Zac Gallen (12-3, 2.52 ERA) pitches for the D-Backs and LHP Julio Urías (17-7, 2.27 ERA) does so for the Dodgers.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1925 Robins starter Burleigh Grimes accounts for seven outs in just three plate appearances in the team’s 3-2 loss to Chicago, a 12-inning game played at Cubs Park. The Brooklyn right-hander follows grounding into two double plays by hitting into a 6-4-3-2 triple play.
  • 1926 At Ebbets Field, the aging 18-year veteran outfielder Zack Wheat hits his last homer as a Dodger, but severely pulls a muscle nearing second. The future Hall of Famer needs to rest nearly five minutes before completing his trip to home plate, making it the longest home run trot in major league history.
  • 1947 On an off day, the Dodgers clinched the National League pennant when Chicago takes the nightcap of the twin bill against St. Louis. Although it is past midnight when the good news about their beloved team reaches the borough, Brooklynites begin to gather on Flatbush Avenue for an impromptu celebration.
  • 1954 Karl Spooner, in his major league debut, blanks the Giants at Ebbets Field 3-0. The 23 year-old Dodger southpaw fans 15 batters, including six straight, recording the most strikeouts in a first appearance by a rookie.
  • 1957 Duke Snider, with his second round-tripper in the Dodgers’ 7-3 victory over Philadelphia, hits his 40th home run, tying Ralph Kiner’s National League record of five consecutive seasons with forty or more homers. The Duke of Flatbush’s seventh-inning homer off future Hall of Famer Robin Roberts will prove to be the last one ever hit at Ebbets Field.
  • 1976 Right-hander Don Sutton goes the distance to become a twenty-game winner for the first and last time when the Dodgers beat the Giants at Candlestick Park, 3-1. The future Hall of Famer will compile a 324-256 (.559) record during his 23-year career in the bigs.
  • 1986 Dodger hurler Fernando Valenzuela (20-10) two-hits Houston en route to a 9-2 victory at the Astrodome. The 25 year-old southpaw becomes the first Mexican to win 20 games in the major leagues.
  • 2018 The Dodgers establish a franchise record for team home runs hit in one season for the second consecutive year when Yasmani Grandal goes deep in the bottom of the sixth inning in the team’s 7-2 victory over the Padres. The catcher’s round-tripper was the club’s 222nd of the campaign, surpassing last year’s total with seven games left on the schedule.
  • 2019 After dropping a 12-8 decision to the Twins, the Royals (100) join the Tigers (109), Marlins (101), and Orioles (105) in breaking the 2002 mark for the number of 100-loss teams playing in the major leagues in the same season. Conversely, the Dodgers (100), Yankees (102), and Astros (102) have won a hundred or more games, marking three straight years three teams have posted triple-digit victories.

Lineups when available.

Sep 14

Game 142, 2022

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Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 6:40 PM PDT, TV: BS Arizona, BS Arizona Extra, SPNLA

The Dodgers haven’t yet named a starter, but the D-Backs have. They’ll give the ball to RHP Zach Davies (2-4, 4.09 ERA).

Update: Michael Grove will start.


That’s an astonishing statistic: 60 times Kershaw has gone seven-plus innings without allowing a run. In a different era he’d have been pushing the shutout numbers that Sutton (52), Drysdale (49) and Koufax (40) put up for the Dodgers.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1951 Preacher Roe wins his 20th game of the season when the Dodgers beat the Pirates at Forbes Field, 3-1. The 36 year-old southpaw will finish the season with a 22-3 record.
  • 2002 Chin-Feng Chen becomes the first Taiwan-born player to appear in the major leagues as he walks and scores as a pinch-hitter for the Dodgers against the Rockies. The 24 year-old first baseman-outfielder played for the 1990 Taiwan team which won the Little League World Series.
  • 2008 Mets shortstop Jose Reyes, with his eighth-inning thievery in a 7-4 loss to the Braves at Shea Stadium, becomes the first player to have four straight seasons of 50 or more stolen bases playing for a New York area team, which also includes Yankees, Dodgers, and Giants. The accomplishment extends the infielder’s own record, as he is also the only Gotham major leaguer to achieve the feat for three consecutive years.

Also, in 1990 Mariner Ken Griffey and his son, Junior, become the first father and son to hit homers in the same major league game. The back-to-back blasts are given up by Angel hurler Kirk McCaskill.

Lineups when available.

Aug 20

Game 119, 2022

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Marlins at Dodgers, 6:10 PM PDT, TV: BSF, SPNLA

LHP Braxton Garrett (2-6, 3.67 ERA) pitches for the Marlins and RHP Dustin May (0-0, 0.00 ERA) makes his first start for the Dodgers in 15 months after Tommy John surgery. Garrett hasn’t won a game in August but after two losses his last start was good: he threw six shutout innings last week. May had several good rehab outings:

May began his rehab assignment with the Arizona Complex League Dodgers on July 16, and he advanced to making five starts for Triple-A Oklahoma City. The right-hander threw 70 pitches over five innings on Sunday for his final tuneup, and completed an additional 10 throws in the bullpen.

May has already stretched out to five innings, which has him in position to take on a normal workload upon being reinstated from the IL. May has allowed just three runs over 16 innings pitched (1.69 ERA) and collected 26 strikeouts in his rehab starts.

En route to collecting 10 strikeouts in his final rehab start for Oklahoma City, May pitched an immaculate inning. Each of his three strikeouts during the feat were looking.

From MLB: The Dodgers are on a run not seen in decades.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1945 Dodger shortstop Tommy Brown becomes the youngest player (17 years, eight months, and 14 days) in major league history to hit a home run. The round-tripper by ‘Buckshot,’ who started his career as a 16 year-old high school student, will be the only run Brooklyn scores off 30 year-old Pirates southpaw Preacher Roe, who goes the distance in the 11-1 rout of the home team at Ebbets Field.
  • 1974 In an 18-8 rout of the Cubs, the Dodgers collect 24 hits and set a club record with 48 total bases, including Davey Lopes’ three home runs, double, and single. The Dodger second baseman’s 15 total bases are the most ever for a leadoff hitter.
  • 1978 In the visitors’ clubhouse at Shea Stadium, Dodger Blue becomes black and blue when Steve Garvey confronts teammate Don Sutton about a Washington Post story in which the pitcher is critical of him. After the right-hander confirms he had made the comments, the argument becomes physical when he makes an inappropriate remark about the first baseman’s wife.

Lineups when available.

Aug 10

Game 110, 2020

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Twins at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: BSSN, SPNLA

RHP Sonny Gray (6-3, 3.19 ERA) pitches for the visitors this evening and RHP Ryan Pepiot (1-0, 2.76 ERA) does the same for the Dodgers. In Gray’s last start he went five scoreless innings and gave up just one hit but got no decision in a game which blew up after he left: The Jays got three runs in the sixth and six in the eighth and won 9-3. Pepiot has been in four games for the Dodgers, all starts in this his rookie season. He got his first win in his last game, the first one in which he went as many as five innings. He gave up four hits and one run in that one.

On this day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1979 Dodger hurler Don Sutton sets a franchise record with his 50th shutout, blanking San Francisco at Candlestick Park, 9-0. The 34 year-old right-hander had previously shared the mark with Don Drysdale. (Ed. note: 50! In his twelfth year [now fifteenth] Clayton Kershaw has a career total of 15! In fact, Kershaw hasn’t thrown a complete game since 2017, which shows how the management of pitchers has changed.)
  • 1995 The first forfeit in the majors in sixteen years occurs when the fans for the third time during the night throw promotional souvenir baseballs onto the Dodger Stadium field. At the time of the decision to halt the game, Los Angeles is trailing the Cardinals, 2-1 with one out in the bottom of the ninth.

August 10 is a good day for pitchers: in 1971 at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park, Juan Marichal records his 50th career shutout as the Giants blank the Expos, 1-0. The Dominican hurler’s ninth inning double helps to build the winning run.

Lineups when available.

Aug 05

Game 106, 2022

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Padres at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: BSSD, MLBN (out-of-market only), SPNLA

LHP Sean Manaea (6-5, 4.25 ERA) pitches for the new-look Padres and RHP Tony Gonsolin (12-1, 2.41 ERA) goes for the Dodgers. Manaea had a winning July (3-2) but a lousy ERA (5.40). Gonsolin’s July was somewhat similar: 3-1 W-L record but 4.40 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.

Lineups when available.

May 20

Game 38, 2022

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Dodgers at Phillies, 4:10 PM PDT, NBCSP, SPNLA

The visiting Dodgers send LHP Julio Urías (2-3, 3.00 ERA) to the Citizens Bank Park hill to face the Phillies’ LHP Ranger Suãrez (4-1, 3.72 ERA). These two pitchers met one another at Dodger Stadium on May 14, and Urías had a horrible game, giving up 8 runs (5 earned) on 8 hits in six innings. Suãrez got the win, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits while going seven innings.

The Phillies’ Bryce Harper won’t be playing right field for the next several months with his elbow troubles.

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.

Lineups when available.

Sep 28

Game 157, 2021

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Padres at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports San Diego, ESPN (out-of-market only), SPNLA

RHP Yu Darvish (8-10, 4.21 ERA) takes the mound for the visiting Padres, facing the Dodgers’ RHP Walker Buehler (14-4, 2.58 ERA).

The Giants have put their slugging first baseman (29 HRs, 59 RBI) Brandon Belt on the IL with a fractured thumb.

As noted in the comments to the previous post, Albert Pujols has been put on the IL; Cody Bellinger has been activated.

On this day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1924 Rogers Hornsby finishes the season with a .424 batting average to lead the National League. The Cardinal second baseman easily outdistances Zack Wheat, who finishes second in the race, batting .375 for the Dodgers.
  • 1952 On the last day of the season at Ebbets Field, the Braves’ 77 years of representing Boston is extended by three innings when Eddie Mathews’ ninth-inning, two-out double ties the game. The contest is called due to darkness and ends in the 12th inning in a 5-5 tie with the Dodgers.
  • 1955 In the bottom of the second inning, Elston Howard, in his first World Series at-bat, knots the score at 2-2 when he homers off Dodgers’ right-hander Don Newcombe. The round-tripper to deep left field at Yankee Stadium marks the first time a black batter has hit a home run off a black pitcher in the history of the Fall Classic.
  • 1959 The Braves, who ended the National League regular season in a first-place tie with the Dodgers, lose Game 1 of the three-game series, 3-2, in front of a sparse crowd of 18,297 at County Stadium. Milwaukee will lose tomorrow’s game in L.A., spoiling their chance for a three-peat as NL Champs.
  • 1966 At Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Larry Jaster throws a four-hitter, blanking Don Sutton and the Dodgers, 2-0. It’s the southpaw’s fifth shutout against LA this season, equaling a post-1900 major league mark held by the Senators’ Tom Hughes (against the Indians in 1905) and Grover Cleveland Alexander of the Phillies (against the Reds in 1916).
  • 1988 In his last start of the regular season, Dodger Orel Hershiser tosses 10 shutout frames to extend his streak to 59, breaking Don Drysdale’s record of 58 consecutive scoreless innings.
  • 1997 With his 40th home run, catcher Mike Piazza sets a single season Los Angeles Dodger record. Duke Snider holds the franchise record, slugging 43 round-trippers for Brooklyn in 1956.
  • 2003 At Turner Field in Atlanta, Jose Reyes becomes the second Mets player to hit a home run from both sides of the plate in one game. Lee Mazzilli was the first when he went yard twice against the Dodgers in LA on September 3, 1978.
  • 2006 At Coors Field in Colorado, James Loney collects four hits, including two homers, and drives in nine runs in the Dodgers’ 19-11 victory over the Rockies. The rookie first baseman, who had one homer and eight runs batted in in 93 previous at-bats with the team, ties the franchise RBI mark set by Gil Hodges in his 1950 four-homer game for Brooklyn and breaks the Los Angeles club mark held by Ron Cey.

Lineup:

Sep 22

Game 152, 2021

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

RHP Walker Buehler (14-4, 2.39 ERA) pitches for the visiting Dodgers and RHP Germán Márquez (12-10, 4.16 ERA) starts for the Rockies.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1925 Robins starter Burleigh Grimes accounts for seven outs in just three plate appearances in the team’s 3-2 loss to Chicago, a 12-inning game played at Cubs Park. The Brooklyn right-hander follows grounding into two double plays by hitting into a 6-4-3-2 triple play.
  • 1926 At Ebbets Field, the aging 18-year veteran outfielder Zack Wheat hits his last homer as a Dodger, but severely pulls a muscle nearing second. The future Hall of Famer needs to rest nearly five minutes before completing his trip to home plate, making it the longest home run trot in major league history.
  • 1947 On an off day, the Dodgers clinched the National League pennant when Chicago takes the nightcap of the twin bill against St. Louis. Although it is past midnight when the good news about their beloved team reaches the borough, Brooklynites begin to gather on Flatbush Avenue for an impromptu celebration.
  • 1954 Karl Spooner, in his major league debut, blanks the Giants at Ebbets Field 3-0. The 23 year-old Dodger southpaw fans 15 batters, including six straight, recording the most strikeouts in a first appearance by a rookie.
  • 1957 Duke Snider, with his second round-tripper in the Dodgers’ 7-3 victory over Philadelphia, hits his 40th home run, tying Ralph Kiner’s National League record of five consecutive seasons with forty or more homers. The Duke of Flatbush’s seventh-inning homer off future Hall of Famer Robin Roberts will prove to be the last one ever hit at Ebbets Field.
  • 1976 Right-hander Don Sutton goes the distance to become a twenty-game winner for the first and last time when the Dodgers beat the Giants at Candlestick Park, 3-1. The future Hall of Famer will compile a 324-256 (.559) record during his 23-year career in the bigs.
  • 1986 Dodger hurler Fernando Valenzuela (20-10) two-hits Houston en route to a 9-2 victory at the Astrodome. The 25 year-old southpaw becomes the first Mexican to win 20 games in the major leagues.
  • 2018 The Dodgers establish a franchise record for team home runs hit in one season for the second consecutive year when Yasmani Grandal goes deep in the bottom of the sixth inning in the team’s 7-2 victory over the Padres. The catcher’s round-tripper was the club’s 222nd of the campaign, surpassing last year’s total with seven games left on the schedule.
  • 2019 After dropping a 12-8 decision to the Twins, the Royals (100) join the Tigers (109), Marlins (101), and Orioles (105) in breaking the 2002 mark for the number of 100-loss teams playing in the major leagues in the same season. Conversely, the Dodgers (100), Yankees (102), and Astros (102) have won a hundred or more games, marking three straight years three teams have posted triple-digit victories.

Lineup when available.

Sep 15

Game 147, 2021

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Diamondbacks at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports Arizona, ESPN (out-of-market only), SPNLA

RHP Merrill Kelly (7-9, 4.30 ERA) goes for the D-Backs and LHP Julio Urías (17-3, 2.98 ERA) does the same for the Dodgers. With that W-L record and a falling ERA, Urías may be close to entering the Cy Young award conversation along with his teammates Max Scherzer and Walker Buehler.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1946 In Brooklyn, a giant swarm of gnats engulfs Ebbets Field at the end of the fifth inning of the second game of a doubleheader. The nightcap is called due to the bothersome insects and the impending darkness, resulting in a 2-0 Dodger victory over the Cubs.
  • 1950 At Ebbets Field, Cardinal starter Cloyd Boyer hurts his arm while warming up and is replaced by Red Munger. The reliever goes the distance, beating the Dodgers, 6-2, getting credit for a complete game, but not for a game started.
  • 1978 Don Sutton, in front of 47,188 fans at Dodger Stadium, throws a six-hitter to beat Atlanta, 5-0. Los Angeles, with tonight’s attendance, becomes the first major league team in history to draw three million fans at home.
  • 1995 Ozzie Smith takes part in the 1,554th twin killing of his career to set a new big league record for double plays. The Cardinals’ shortstop’s wizardry isn’t enough to prevent the Redbirds’ 7-6 loss to the Dodgers at Busch Stadium.

Lineup when available.