Jul 10

Game 85, 2022

Cubs at Dodgers, 1:10 PM PDT, TV: Marquee Sports Network, SPNLA

LHP Drew Smyly (2-5, 3.80 ERA) goes for the Cubs in this final game of the series and LHP Julio Urías (7-6, 2.57 ERA) pitches for the Dodgers. Smyly is making his first big league start after six weeks on the IL with a left oblique injury. he went four innings and threw 52 pitches in a minor league rehab start on Monday. Urías has won his last four starts and his ERA is seventh-best in the league, which his manager thinks makes him a good candidate for the All Star Game.

On this date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1943 Some of the Dodgers, led by infielder Arky Vaughan, threaten not to play in today’s game to protest the suspension of their teammate Bobo Newsome by manager Leo Durocher. The Ebbets Field contest begins ten minutes late. Brooklyn plundered the Pirates, 23-6, and in a few days, Newsome, who had argued with his skipper over a pitch selection in a previous game, is traded to the Browns for Archie McKain and Fritz Ostermueller.
  • 1953 With Roy Campanella’s home run off Giants hurler Sal Maglie, the Dodgers establish a National League record, homering in their 24th consecutive game. Campy’s homer is the only run Brooklyn scores as the Giants extend their winning streak to seven with the 6-1 victory. Six teams have surpassed 24 consecutive games with at least one HR since; the record is now 31 games in a row by the 2019 NY Yankees.
  • 1979 With his team trailing the Padres 5-3 in the bottom of the ninth with two outs at Veterans Stadium, Phillies pinch hitter Del Unser hits a three-run walk-off home run, giving the team a 6-5 comeback victory. The dramatic dinger makes Del Unser only the second player in major league history to hit a homer in three consecutive at bats as a pinch hitter, a feat also accomplished by Lee Lacy of the Dodgers last season.
  • 1984 At San Francisco’s Candlestick Park, Dodger southpaw Fernando Valenzuela and Mets rookie Dwight Gooden combine to strike out six consecutive American League All-Stars on the 50th anniversary of Carl Hubbell’s memorable 1934 Midsummer Classic performance of setting down five future Hall of Famers on strikes (see below). Dwight Gooden, at the age of 19, becomes the youngest player ever to participate in an All-Star Game.

In one of the most famous events in baseball history, at the All Star Game in 1934 in New York’s Polo Grounds, Giants pitcher Carl Hubbell faces a starting lineup comprised of nine eventual Hall of Famers. ‘King Carl’ is up to the unique occurrence in baseball history when he fans five batters in a row after letting the first two hitters reach base: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, and Joe Cronin.

Lineups when available.

May 06

Game 24, 2022

Dodgers at Cubs, 11:20 AM PDT, TV: Marquee Sports Network, MLBN (out-of-market only), SPNLA

The visiting Dodgers send LHP Clayton Kershaw (3-0, 2.08 ERA) to the daylit Wrigley Field mound to face LHP Drew Smyly (1-2, 2.42 ERA) in the opening game of this doubleheader for the hometown Cubbies. Kershaw has been his usual self, setting career records and winnng games. Smyly has made four starts and not yet gone beyond 5 innings in any of them.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1937 Dodgers and Giants fans attending afternoon ball games at both the Polo Grounds and Ebbets Field are thrilled to have the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the Hindenburg when the passenger airship appears over New York, nearing the end of its maiden voyage of the season from Germany. A few hours later, the majestic German zeppelin will explode on a landing strip in Lakehurst, N.J., killing 36 of its passengers.
  • 1947 In a small office high up behind home plate at Ebbets Field, National League president Ford Frick meets with seven Cardinal players individually, revealing he is aware of their secret plan to strike as a protest to Jackie Robinson playing for the Dodgers. The usually non-confrontational leader of the Senior Circuit makes his position clear about their planned boycott, telling the Redbird conspirators they will encounter quick retribution from his office that will include suspensions from baseball.
  • 1978 After going deep as a pinch hitter on May 2, Lee Lacy becomes the first major leaguer to pinch-hit home runs in consecutive at-bats. The Dodgers’ super sub will make it three in a row on May 17.
  • 2009 With a 10-3 victory over Washington, the Dodgers break the major league mark for consecutive victories at home to open a season with their 13th straight win in L.A. The previous record of 12 was established in 1911 by the Tigers.
  • 2015 Bob Uecker, along with fellow broadcasters Joe Block and Jeff Levering, longtime engineer Kent Sommerfeld, and his assistant, Mary Burns, become trapped for several innings as the result of a broken lock on the Miller Park’s radio broadcast booth door. A crew of workmen, using a ladder positioned on the loge level, climbed into the booth to remove the door from its hinges, while the announcers’ play-by-play continued to detail the action of Brewers and Dodgers game on the field.

    “People who are listening to the ballgame, I know what you’re thinking. He’s ready for the home. He’s cooked. It’s finally happened. He’s seeing ladders and doors without handles.” – BOB UECKER, explaining being trapped for several innings by a broken lock on the radio broadcast booth’s door.

  • 2021 The Angels designated Albert Pujols, hitting .198 with five homers and 12 RBIs in 86 at-bats, for assignment, releasing the aging superstar after he clears waivers. The reigning World Champion Dodgers will sign the 41-year-old future first-ballot Hall of Famer to a one-year deal for the prorated share of the $570,500 league minimum, with the $30-million remaining in his 10-year, $240-million contract the responsibility of the Halos. It worked out well for the Dodgers: Pujols had a slash line of .259/.299/.460 with 12 HRs and 38 RBIs in 85 games with the team.

Lineups when available.

Aug 30

Game 132, 2021

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

LHP Drew Smyly (9-3, 4.54 ERA) pitches for the Braves and LHP Julio Urías (14-3, 3.17 ERA) pitches for the Dodgers.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1918 At the Polo Grounds, the Giants beat the Dodgers, 1-0, on an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth in a contest that takes only fifty-six minutes to complete. Pete Compton’s base hit off Jack Combs plates Larry Doyle, who had singled to lead off the frame and moved to third on Ollie O’Mara’s errant throw on a sacrifice bunt.
  • 1952 Nine-time All-Star infielder Arky Vaughan drowns with a friend when their boat capsized while fishing in a volcanic lake near Eagleville, CA. The former shortstop and third baseman, who compiled a .318 batting average and a .406 on-base percentage playing with the Pirates and Dodgers, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1985.
  • 1966 Sandy Koufax, in his final decision facing the Mets, lasts only two innings, losing to Bob Friend at Shea Stadium, 10-4. The Dodgers Hall of Fame southpaw has compiled a 17-2 record against the lowly expansion team since their inception in 1962.
  • 2000 Earning his 1,600th victory, Braves’ manager Bobby Cox passes former Dodger skipper Tommy Lasorda on the career list for most managerial victories. His 5-2 victory over the Reds puts him 14th on the all-time list.
  • 2015 The NL’s eventual 2015 Cy Young Award recipient Jake Arrieta, needing just 116 pitches, beats Los Angeles, 2-0, tossing the 12th no-hitter ever thrown at the Chavez Ravine ballpark, and the 13th no-no in Cubs history. The contest marks the second time in ten games the Dodgers has been unable to get a hit; they were held hitless by Astros right-hander Mike Fiers on August 21.

Lineup:

Jul 26

Game 4, 2020

Giants at Dodgers, 7:00 PM PDT, TV: ESPN

The Giants send LHP Drew Smyly to the mound for his first start of the season after appearing in relief for one scoreless inning on July 23. He’ll face the Dodgers’ LHP Julio Urias, who’s also making his first start of the year. With the departures of Maeda, Ryu and Hill, he’s got an opportunity to cement a spot in the rotation for years to come if he does well in this shortened season.

On 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 shut out 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 when available.

May 04

Game 28, 2016

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

Alex Wood (1-2, 4.82 ERA) goes against Drew Smyly (1-3, 2.60 ERA). The two lefties are both coming off good starts their last times out.

Manager Roberts says we should expect to see Justin Turner at DH and someone other than Pederson in CF. He thinks Smyly’s rising fast ball might be tough on the young lefthanded hitter.

Lineup when available.