The Dodgers’ latest ROY candidate is RHP Walker Buehler (3-1, 2.20 ERA). He’ll face the Rockies’ RHP German Marquez (4-5, 4.21 ERA). Buehler faced the Rockies on May 21 and went seven strong innings, striking out six and allowing only a solo home run to Gerardo Parra. Unfortunately, after he left the game the Rockies, behind Marquez’s seven innings of two-hit ball, got two more hits and the winning run in the eighth and won the game.
The Dodgers today claimed LHP P.J. Conlon from the New York Mets and transferred LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (left groin strain) to the 60-day disabled list. Conlon will be assigned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
1995 Hideo Nomo, limiting the Mets to one run on two hits in 8+ innings of work, picks up his first major league win, a 2-1 decision at Dodger Stadium. L.A. signed the 26 year-old former Japanese All-Star in the off-season.
Lineup when available.
Tonight's Dodger lineup at Rockies: Taylor SS Turner 3B Grandal C Kemp LF Bellinger 1B Pederson CF Puig RF Valera 2B Buehler P pic.twitter.com/HE62SUtBeJ
The Dodgers send LHP Alex Wood (0-3, 4.11 ERA) in search of his first win. He hasn’t pitched as badly as his record seems to indicate, but his velocity hasn’t gotten to the heights it reached last year. He’ll face the D-Backs’ LHP Patrick Corbin (4-0, 2.25 ERA), who set the Dodgers down brilliantly on April 4, going 7 1/3 innings while giving up just one hit and no runs.
Roberts said he expects outfielder Yasiel Puig, currently on the disabled list with contusions on his left hip and left ankle, to be activated Tuesday.
Second baseman Logan Forsythe, on the disabled list with right shoulder inflammation, is likely to begin a Minor League rehab assignment this weekend. But Roberts said he had “no idea” when Justin Turner (broken left wrist) would begin an assignment.
Reliever Tom Koehler, on the disabled list since Spring Training with a strained right shoulder, has started throwing, but he’s not close to a rehab assignment.
Roster moves:
The Dodgers today recalled RHP Yimi García and IF/OF Tim Locastro from Triple-A OKC, while optioning IF/OF Breyvic Valera to OKC and placing LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu on the 10-day disabled list with a left groin strain.
1947 In a controversial move, Branch Rickey trades five Dodgers, including southerner Kirby Higbe, to the Pirates for five-foot, six-inch left-hand-hitting outfielder Al Gionfriddo and $100,000. Some believe ‘the Mahatma’ made the deal to send a message to the team about his commitment to breaking the color barrier and his support of Jackie Robinson, the first black to play in the major leagues this century. It’s a darned good move, considering that Gionfriddo made a game-saving catch of a DiMaggio fly ball in Game 6 of that fall’s World Series.
2004 Similar to last season, the aging outfielder Rickey Henderson re-signs with the Atlantic League’s Bears, hoping for a shot of returning to the big leagues. The 45 year-old future Hall of Famer batted .339, hit eight home runs, drove in 33 runs, scored 52 runs, and stole nine bases for the Newark team last season before joining the Dodgers in July.
2009 Defeating San Diego 2-1 in 10 innings, the Dodgers tie a franchise record, winning their ninth consecutive decision at home from the start of the season. The 1946 club also reeled off nine straight victories at Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field at the beginning of the post-war campaign.
Lineup when available.
Today's Dodger lineup at D-backs: Taylor SS Hernández 2B Kemp RF Bellinger 1B Barnes C Farmer 3B Verdugo LF Locastro CF Wood P pic.twitter.com/3XhaxPQjXa
The Dodgers send LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (3-0, 2.22 ERA) out to try to stop their current four-game losing streak. He’s been their most consistent starter this season, and his last start was no exception. He got no decision in 5 2/3 innings against the Giants, giving up a couple of solo home runs in a game the Dodgers’ bullpen eventually lost. The D-Backs send RHP Zack Godley (4-1, 3.81 ERA) out to face the Dodgers for the third time this season; he’s split the first two and posted a 4.91 ERA in 11 innings.
Today in Dodgers’ history:
1912 At South End Grounds, the hometown Braves score ten runs in the first two innings and hold on to defeat the Superbas (Dodgers), 11-7. Brooklyn scores four runs in the bottom of the third to knock out Boston’s starter Buster Brown.
1928 With the bases loaded and two out in the ninth inning, Giants’ manager John McGraw orders that Dodger rookie Del Bissonette be intentionally walked with the bases loaded by Larry Benton, forcing home a run. The strategy works when Harry Riconda strikes out, giving New York a 2-1 victory in the Polo Grounds contest.
1958 George Weiss denies any reprisals, but the New York GM warns the National League there will be consequences, interpreted by some as a nationwide Yankees network, if teams continue to flood the market with games, trying to fill the void created when the Dodgers and Giants left the Big Apple. The Phillies have already committed to broadcast 78 of its games in NYC, with the Cardinals and Pirates making plans to show their home games in the Big Apple when they play against the West Coast teams.
One more notable event on this date: in 1917 southpaw Hippo Vaughn of Chicago and Reds righty Fred Toney throw no-hitters against one another through the first nine innings at Weeghman Park. The deadlock is broken in the top of the tenth with a one-out single by Larry Kopf, an error, and an infield hit by Jim Thorpe, and Toney then sets the Cubs down in order to preserve his extra-inning gem.
LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (3-0, 1.99 ERA) goes for the Dodgers this evening while the Giants send LHP Derek Holland (0-3, 4.98 ERA) to the mound. In his career Ryu is 4-3 with a 3.40 ERA at the Giants’ home park. Holland has made two starts against the Dodgers in his career and has come up winless in each. Ryu’s last start was stellar: he shut out the Nationals on two hits in seven innings. Holland was shelled by the Angels in his last outing: of the five hits he gave up in six innings, three were home runs.
News of note: Maeda has been striking out lefties at a 37% clip this season, compared to 17% last year. How come? He’s gone to a splitter as a changeup.
Corey Seager turns 24 today. He has a hit on each of his two previous birthdays in the majors, including a home run (and two walks) last year in San Francisco
1981 Fernandomania continues to explode at Chavez Ravine when Dodger rookie sensation Fernando Valenzuela pitches his fourth shutout in five starts. The 20 year-old Mexican southpaw, who is batting over .400, beats the Giants, 5-0, and lowers his ERA to a microscopic 0.20.
2004 At Dodger Stadium, Mike Piazza ties Carlton Fisk for the most career homers by a catcher as he hits Hideo Nomo’s sixth-inning pitch into the stands for his 351st round-tripper as a backstop. The homer, which was his 362nd overall, moves the Mets’ star past Yankees’ Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio on the all-time list.
2007 On the night in which the ceremonial first pitch is thrown by his three sons, Trevor Hoffman is unable to hold on to a two run lead when the Dodgers score three in the ninth and eventually beat the Padres, 6-5. It’s ‘Trevor Time Desk Clock’ Night, and the usually reliable Padres closer blows the save, thanks to some shady defense, for the second consecutive game.
2010 The suddenly streaking Mets win their sixth consecutive game with a doubleheader sweep of the Dodgers, 4-0 and 10-5. The victories mark the first time since August 28, 1971 that the club has taken both ends of a twin bill from L.A.
Lineup when available.
Tonight’s Dodger lineup at Giants: Taylor CF Barnes 2B Hernández SS Kemp LF Grandal C Bellinger 1B Puig RF Farmer 3B Ryu P pic.twitter.com/fyBMJatm7G
Save us, Hyun-Jin Ryu! The lefty is 2-0 with a 2.87 ERA, tied for the team lead in wins with Kenta Maeda (2-1). His last time out he struck out nine Padres while going six innings and allowing two runs on three hits. He’ll face the Nationals’ RHP Stephen Strasburg (2-1, 3.08 ERA). Of the Dodgers’ likely starters, only Matt Kemp has hit Strasburg well, with a .421 BA over 19 ABs. None of the Nats’ hitters have as many as ten ABs against Ryu.
Mr. Puig has challenged himself and his fans:
Im going to push myself to try even harder for Los Angeles, my fans and my community!
This season I am pledging $1,000 for every home run I hit to benefit my @wildhorseFDN.
1925 No games are played in the National League due to the funeral for Dodger owner Charles Ebbets, who died three days ago. Edward McKeever, who became president of the Brooklyn club upon the death of the owner, contracts pneumonia at the services for his business partner and will be dead in eight days.
1948 Returning after serving his one-year suspension from baseball, Dodger manager Leo Durocher uses 24 players in a 9-5 loss to the Giants. The controversial ‘Lip’ had been suspended last April by commissioner Happy Chandler for an assortment of actions deemed detrimental to baseball.
1967 For the first time since LA opened their stadium in Chavez Ravine in 1962, the team is rained out at home. The postponement of their scheduled game against St. Louis ends a streak of 737 consecutive contests at Dodger Stadium without a washout.
2000 In Cincinnati, the Dodger/Red game is delayed for 27 minutes due to the umpires’ equipment being accidentally shipped to New York. Replacement gear is secured from a downtown store, but due to heavy traffic, a police escort is needed to get the goods to Cinergy Field.
2016 Jake Arrieta tosses a no-hitter in the Cubs’ 16-0 rout over the Reds at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park. The Chicago right-handed ace becomes only the second pitcher, joining Johnny Vander Meer, who threw consecutive no-hitters in 1938, ever to go unbeaten between no-hit games, having not recorded a loss in his last 17 regular-season starts since he threw a no-no against the Dodgers last season.
You know, fans say the Cubs’ trade of Lou Brock to the Cardinals for Ernie Broglio was possibly the worst trade ever, but I think this one comes very close: in 1966 the Phillies obtain Larry Jackson and Bob Buhl from the Cubs in exchange for future Hall of Fame hurler Ferguson Jenkins, outfielder Adolfo Phillips, and first baseman/outfielder John Herrnstein. The pair of right-handers will post a 47-53 record collectively for Philadelphia as Chicago’s new moundsman will win twenty or more games for six consecutive seasons starting in 1967.
Lineup when available.
Tonight's Dodger lineup vs. Nationals: Taylor 2B Seager SS Grandal C Bellinger 1B Pederson CF Kemp LF Puig RF Muncy 3B Ryu P pic.twitter.com/gygRBIkLEh
Dodgers at Padres, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, FSSD, MLBN free game of the day (out-of-market only)
The visiting Dodgers send LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (1-0, 2.79 ERA) to the hill to face the Padres’ LHP Robbie Erlin (0-1, 2.38 ERA). In his last start Ryu gave up only one hit in six innings while striking out eight and getting the win. Erlin is making a spot start for the banned-for-five-games Luis Perdomo. He’s made five relief appearances this season and in 11 1/3 innngs he’s given up three runs on seven hits while striking out nine.
1928 Braves’ pitcher Charlie Robertson has his glove removed from the game by umpire Charley Moran after the Brooklyn Robins (Dodgers) complain the ball is acting strangely. The Boston hurler still manages to win, 3-2.
1946 LOCAL NEWSPAPER AD — “An Apology to Braves Fans – The management will reimburse any of its patrons for any expense to which they might have been put for necessary cleansing of clothing as a result of paint damage.” As the result of the newly painted grandstand seats having not yet completely dried, about 5,000 fans attending the Boston’s home opener against the Dodgers left Braves Field with green paint covering much of their clothing. The team took out newspaper ads to apologize to the affected patrons, agreeing to reimburse any expense caused by the mishap, an offer that will cost the team $6,000, after it generates nearly 13,000 claims, including some from as far away as California and Nebraska.
1964 Shea Stadium is christened with Holy Water from the Gowanus Canal, which passes near Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, the Dodgers’ old home, and Holy Water from the Harlem River at the location where it flows past the Polo Grounds, the once longtime ballpark of the Giants and the Mets’ home for the past two seasons. The stadium’s namesake Bill Shea, the lawyer credited with bringing the National League back to New York, pours the water from two bottles, blessing the Flushing Meadows structure on the eve of its debut.
1975 After making the second of his two poor starts for the Dodgers, Juan Marichal, who signed with the team as a free agent, appears in his final major league game. The 37 year-old ‘Dominican Dandy’ finishes his 16-year Hall of Fame career with more complete games (244) than the total of his victories (243).
1983 Steve Garvey appears in his 1,118th straight game, breaking the National League record established by Hall of Fame outfielder Billy Williams playing for the Cubs in 1970. The Padres’ first baseman, who spent 13 seasons with the Dodgers before signing as a free agent with San Diego in the offseason, will see his consecutive game streak end at 1,207, the third-longest span in major league history at the time, due to a dislocated thumb suffered as a result of a collision at home plate during the first game of a doubleheader in 1983.
1988 The Braves establish a National League record for losses at the start of a season by losing their tenth consecutive game. With a 7-4 defeat to the Dodgers, Atlanta surpasses the mark, previously owned by four teams, including the infamous 1919 Braves and the 1962 Mets.
Lineup when available.
Tonight's Dodger lineup at Padres: Taylor CF Seager SS Hernández 2B Bellinger 1B Kemp LF Grandal C Puig RF Farmer 3B Ryu P pic.twitter.com/lFkjoIbuwS
The As send LHP Sean Manaea (1-1, 1.15 ERA) to the hill for his first road start of the season. He’s gone 15 2/3 innings in his two previous starts and given up only two runs while striking out 11. He’ll face LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (0-0, 7.36 ERA), who went only 3 2/3 innings in his first and only appearance so far this season, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits and walking 5.
Today in Dodgers’ history:
1947 During the sixth inning of an exhibition game against their minor league team at Ebbets Field, the Montreal Royals, Dodgers’ president Branch Rickey issues a brief statement to the press. The two sentences will forever change the game when the team announces “The Brooklyn Dodgers today purchased the contract of Jackie Roosevelt Robinson from the Montreal Royals. He will report immediately.”
1962 In front of 52,564 fans, Reds infielder Eddie Kasko doubles off of Johnny Podres in the first ever at-bat at Dodger Stadium, and Duke Snider’s single in the bottom of the second accounts for the home team’s first hit. After playing their first four seasons at the LA Memorial Coliseum, the team drops a 6-3 decision to the Reds in the debut of the new $22 million ballpark in Chavez Ravine, financed with a low two-percent interest loan from the Union Oil Company in exchange for exclusive rights to advertise within the stadium.
1962 Wally Post hits the first home run in Dodger Stadium history, a two-out, three-run shot in the seventh inning off Johnny Podres that proves to be the difference in the Cincinnati’s 6-3 victory. The left fielder’s round-tripper to center field is a fair ball, unlike some others hit in the ballpark where the foul poles are discovered to be positioned in foul territory, requiring special permission from the National League to be recognized as fair during the first year in the team’s new home in Chavez Ravine.
1976 After being granted his free agency in a landmark case which will forever change baseball, Andy Messersmith becomes one of the first major leaguers to use his new status to sign with a team of his choice. The former Dodger right-hander comes to terms with the Braves and will post a 16-15 record during his two-year tenure for his new club.
2012 Vin Scully misses the Dodgers’ home opener for the first time in 35 years when doctors order the 84 year-old Hall of Fame broadcaster to rest as he recovers from a bad cold. The last time the team’s play-by-play announcer was absent from the season’s first home game he was calling the first round of the Masters in 1977.
Lineup when available.
Tonight’s Dodger lineup vs. Athletics: Taylor CF Seager SS Puig RF Hernández 2B Kemp LF Bellinger 1B Forsythe 3B Barnes C Ryu P pic.twitter.com/P1lihjj3ES
It’ll be LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu for the visiting Dodgers and RHP Taijuan Walker for the Diamondbacks. Ryu was 5-9 with a 3.77 ERA in 24 starts last season, while Walker was 9-9 with a 3.49 ERA in 28 starts. Ryu lost his first four starts of last year and then recovered to go 5-5 the rest of the way, even picking up a 4-inning save. Walker’s last appearance of 2017 was not a good one; he started Game One of the NL Division Series against the Dodgers and lasted only one inning, giving up four runs and four hits with two walks in a series the Dodgers swept.
Today in Dodgers history:
2003 Todd Zeile homers in his first at-bat as a Yankee, becoming the only major leaguer to hit a home run for ten different teams, surpassing Tommy Davis, who went deep for nine different clubs. In addition to homering with the Bronx Bombers, the infielder has also gone deep for the Cardinals, Cubs, Phillies, Orioles, Dodgers, Marlins, Rangers, Mets, and Rockies.
2007 For only the fourth time in major league history, a hurler under the age of 21 wins an Opening Day assignment when 20 year-old Venezuelan right-hander Felix Hernandez pitches eight strong innings in the Mariners’ 4-0 victory over the A’s at Safeco Field. Fernando Valenzuela of the Dodgers was the last pitcher ‘not of age’ to accomplish the feat, beating the Astros 2-0 in 1981.
2008 Third base ump Ed Montague tosses Larry Bowa for not staying within the boundaries of the coaching box although he warned the Dodger coach several times to follow the new edict put in place by MLB following the tragic death of Tulsa Drillers’ first base coach Mike Coolbaugh. The former infielder and manager’s behavior will lead to a three-game suspension for “inappropriate and aggressive conduct,” in which he had to be restrained by manager Joe Torre and bench coach Bob Schaefer in the sixth inning of the 3-2 victory over the Giants in Los Angeles.
Lineup when available.
Tonight’s Dodger lineup at D-backs: Pederson CF Seager SS Puig RF Grandal C Bellinger 1B Kemp LF Utley 2B Forsythe 3B Ryu P pic.twitter.com/RnrYd1fx19
There have been or will be not one, not two, but six Dodger weddings this offseason. There might even be seven, but Kiké Hernandez and his fiancée may not have set a date yet.
Messrs. Ryu, Stripling, Wood, Turner, Barnes and Pederson have all either gotten hitched already or gotten engaged. Isn’t that sweet? See the pictures at True Blue LA’s link above.
All these gentlemen are obviously taking Satchel Paige’s advice, particularly his 4th rule: “Go very light on the vices, such as carrying on in society. The social ramble ain’t restful.” Marriage will settle a man right down, I’ve heard.
Dodgers at Rockies, 5:10 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, ATT Sportsnet RM, MLBN (out-of-market only)
Why are baseball games always scheduled to start at five or ten minutes after the hour?
The Dodgers open their final series of the 2017 season with LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (5-8, 3.47 ERA) pitching in the rarefied air of Coors Field against RHP Chad Bettis (1-4, 5.72 ERA).
Ryu has been very good since the All Star break, going 2-2 in ten starts with a 2.42 ERA. He’s in a tussle with Alex Wood for a spot in the post-season rotation. Bettis had a good outing his last time out, giving up just one run on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings last weekend in San Diego. He’s battling for a spot on the Rockies’ post-season roster if they get in. The Rockies have a two-game lead over the Brewers for the second National League Wild Card spot. If they win and a Brewers lose tonight they’ll clinch it.
1951 Don Newcombe becomes the first African-American to win twenty games in a season. In a must win for the Dodgers, the right-hander bests Robin Roberts, also a 20-game-winner, when he blanks the Phillies at Shibe Park, 5-0.
1959 At the L.A. Memorial Coliseum, the Dodgers capture the NL flag with a dramatic 6-5 come-from-behind victory over the Braves, taking the first two games of the three-game playoff necessitated by the teams being tied on the last day of the season. The deciding run comes in the bottom of the 12th inning, after the first two batters make outs, when Gil Hodges walks and scores on singles by Joe Pignatano and Carl Furillo.
1976 Tommy Lasorda is named to succeed Walter Alston as Dodger manager. ‘Smokey’ compiled a 2040-1613 record (.558), during his 23-year tenure with the club, winning seven pennants, and four world championships.
1979 Manny Mota sets a major league record with his 146th career pinch hit, a single to right field, in LA’s 6-2 victory over Chicago at Dodger Stadium. The Dominican Republic native surpasses the all-time record set by Smoky Burgess, who collected his last hit as a pinch-hitter in 1967.
2000 Gary Sheffield ties the Dodgers’ franchise single-season home run record when he goes deep off Woody Williams in the team’s 3-0 victory over San Diego at Qualcomm Stadium. The left fielder, with his career best 43rd round tripper, now shares the team mark with Duke Snider, who established the record in 1956 when he played for Brooklyn.
Today is also the anniversary of The Catch (the Willie Mays one, not the Dwight Clark one):
Lineup when available.
Tonight’s Dodger lineup at Rockies: Granderson CF Seager SS Turner 3B Bellinger 1B Puig RF Ethier LF Grandal C Forsythe 2B Ryu P