Oct 05

AL Wild Card Game, 2021

Yankees at Red Sox, 5:10 PM PDT, TV: ESPN

RHP Gerrit Cole (16-8, 3.23 ERA) goes for the Yankees and RHP Nathan Eovaldi (11-9, 3.75 ERA) takes the ball for the Red Sox.

October 5 has been an eventful day in baseball history. Among other things, Mickey Owens let Tommy Heinrich’s ball get past him in 1941, Al Gionfriddo caught Joe DiMaggio’s fly ball in 1947, Don Newcombe made the first World Series start by a black pitcher memorable but lost 1-0 on a walk-off HR by Tommy Heinrich (him again!) in 1949, Mickey Mantle tore up his right knee in 1951 when DiMaggio called him off a fly ball, and Glenn Burke high-fived Dusty Baker in 1977, the first time that gesture was seen in MLB.

Yankees’ lineup:

Red Sox lineup:

Aug 08

Game 112, 2021

Angels at Dodgers, 1:10 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports West, MLBN (out-of-market only), SPNLA

The Angels give the ball to rookie LHP Reid Detmers (0-1, 12.46 ERA). In his second big league start he’ll face the Dodgers’ RHP Walker Buehler (11-2, 2.16 ERA).

On this day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1903 In the third inning of the 4-3 nightcap loss to New York at the Polo Grounds, Dodger starter Henry Schmidt is thrown out of the game after he throws the baseball out of the park. The Brooklyn hurler became very angry when opposing pitcher Joe McGinnity dashed home from third base while his infielders were arguing the close call at the bag.
  • 1954 Gil Hodges comes to bat three times in the eighth inning when the Dodgers score 13 runs en route to a 20-7 rout of the Reds at Ebbets Field. The first baseman will go 1-for-3 in the frame with a leadoff triple, but will be responsible for all three outs when he hits into a double play and flies out to centerfield to end the Brooklyn barrage.
  • 1957 Club President Walter O’Malley makes it official, announcing the Dodgers will play in Los Angeles next season. The club’s departure from Brooklyn corresponds with the massive social shift taking place in the borough that finds many of its former residents leaving for the suburbs of Long Island.
  • 2000 Cubs hurler Phil Norton becomes the 18th pitcher in major league history to give up four homers in one inning in the Dodgers’ 7-5 victory at Chavez Ravine. Kevin Elster, Darren Dreifort, Gary Sheffield, and Shawn Green all take the 24 year-old southpaw deep in the bottom of the fourth inning.
  • 2000 Darren Dreifort hits two home runs and gets the win in the Dodgers’ 7-5 victory over the Cubs. The starting pitcher, who hurls 6.2 innings, goes deep in the bottom of the fourth and fifth frames.
  • 2000 After kissing one another in the seventh inning, a female couple is abruptly asked to leave Dodger Stadium immediately and are told never to “set foot back on the premises” for “lewd behavior”. The pair had planned to sue the organization, but ended up not doing so after the team apologized, promising to contribute 5,000 tickets to LGBT organizations and continue sensitivity training for all its employees. [Note: The Dodgers held their eighth annual LGBT Night in 2021.]

Lineup when available.

Jul 03

Game 83, 2021

Dodgers at Nationals, 4:10 PM PDT, TV: FOX

LHP Clayton Kershaw (9-7, 3.25 ERA) takes the hill for the Dodgers and RHP Paolo Espino (2-2, 2.02 ERA) goes for the Nationals.

This date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1925 Milt Stock sets a National League mark by having his fourth consecutive four-hit game, going 16-for-23 during the span to compile a .696 batting average. The 31 year-old second baseman’s offensive output, which includes three singles and a triple, helps the Robins beat the Giants at Ebbets Field, 6-3.
  • 1949 En route to a 16-0 shutout of the Dodgers at the Polo Grounds, starting pitcher Monte Kennedy hits a grand slam. Another 51 seasons will pass by before another Giants hurler hits a four-run homer when Shawn Estes accomplishes the feat in 2000.
  • 1958 In their 35th home date in L.A., the transplanted Dodgers reach the one million mark in attendance. Last season, the team drew only 1,028,258 fans, playing in Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field.
  • 2013 Yasiel Puig becomes the first player to be named Player of the Month for the first month he plays in the major leagues in the 55-year history of the award. The Dodger outfielder played in 26 games in June, compiling a .436 batting average, with his 44 base hits being the second-most ever by a first-month player, only behind Joe DiMaggio’s total of 48 in 1936.

Lineup:

Apr 05

Game Five, 2021

Dodgers at Athletics, 6:40 PM PDT, TV: NBCSCA, SPNLA

RHP Dustin May (0-0, 0.00 ERA) makes his first start of the year against fellow RHP Frankie Montas (0-0, 0.00 ERA), also making his first start. May went 3-1 with a 2.57 ERA in 12 starts in the shortened 2020 season. Montas had a down year in 2020, going 3-5 with a 5.60 ERA in 11 starts.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1913 In an exhibition game against the Yankees, 25,000 fans watch the Dodgers play their first game in Ebbets Field. Brooklyn beats New York, 3-2, with Casey Stengel hitting the park’s first home run, an inside-the-parker.
  • 1957 The Phillies trade five players, Ron Negray, Tim Harkness, Elmer Valo, Mel Geho, and Ben Flowers (the player to be named later), and send $75,000 to the Dodgers to obtain much-touted Cuban infielder Chico Fernandez. Philadelphia’s new shortstop plays three seasons in the City of Brotherly Love, batting just .242, before being traded to the Tigers.
  • 1989 At Riverfront Stadium, Dodgers’ hurler Orel Hershiser’s scoreless-inning streak ends at 59. With two outs in the bottom of the first, Todd Benzinger’s single scores Barry Larkin, who had been picked off after getting a base hit to lead off the game, but was safe on the ‘Bulldog’s’ throwing error.
  • 1993 In front of 42,334 fans at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, the Florida Marlins, making their major league debut, defeat the Dodgers, 6-3. Joe DiMaggio throws out the ceremonial first pitch, and the team retires uniform number 5 in tribute to Carl Barger, their late president.

Lineup when available.

Aug 08

Game 15, 2020

Giants at Dodgers, 6:10 PM PDT, TV: MLBN, NBCS-BA, SPNLA

RHP Johnny Cueto (0-0, 4.97 ERA) goes for the Giants; LHP Clayton Kershaw (1-0, 0.00 ERA) pitches for the Dodgers. Cueto started Opening Day against the Dodgers and went four innings while giving up one run. In his subsequent two starts he was much less effective, going 3 2/3 innings against the Padres and 5 innings against the Rockies. Kershaw’s first start of the year was delayed by back trouble but was worth waiting for: he went 5 2/3 scoreless innings against the D-Backs. In his career he’s 23-12 against the Giants.

Roberts says “Seager is day to day. He’s getting tests on his back and will likely not play tomorrow.”

Here are the Dodgers’ four home runs in last night’s game.

On this day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1903 In the third inning of the 4-3 nightcap loss to New York at the Polo Grounds, Dodger starter Henry Schmidt is thrown out of the game after he throws the baseball out of the park. The Brooklyn hurler became very angry when opposing pitcher Joe McGinnity dashed home from third base while his infielders were arguing the close call at the bag.
  • 1954 Gil Hodges comes to bat three times in the eighth inning when the Dodgers score 13 runs en route to a 20-7 rout of the Reds at Ebbets Field. The first baseman will go 1-for-3 in the frame with a leadoff triple, but will be responsible for all three outs when he hits into a double play and flies out to centerfield to end the Brooklyn barrage.
  • 1957 Club President Walter O’Malley makes it official, announcing the Dodgers will play in Los Angeles next season. The club’s departure from Brooklyn corresponds with the massive social shift taking place in the borough that finds many of its former residents leaving for the suburbs of Long Island.
  • 2000 Cubs hurler Phil Norton becomes the 18th pitcher in major league history to give up four homers in one inning in the Dodgers’ 7-5 victory at Chavez Ravine. Kevin Elster, Darren Dreifort, Gary Sheffield, and Shawn Green all take the 24 year-old southpaw deep in the bottom of the fourth inning.
  • 2000 Darren Dreifort hits two home runs and gets the win in the Dodgers’ 7-5 victory over the Cubs. The starting pitcher, who hurls 6.2 innings, goes deep in the bottom of the fourth and fifth frames.
  • 2000 After kissing one another in the seventh inning, a female couple is abruptly asked to leave Dodger Stadium immediately and are told never to “set foot back on the premises” for “lewd behavior”. The pair had planned to sue the organization, but ended up not doing so after the team apologized, promising to contribute 5,000 tickets to LGBT organizations and continue sensitivity training for all its employees.

Lineup:

Jul 03

Game 88, 2019

Diamondbacks at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: FS-A, SPNLA

RHP Merrill Kelly (7-8, 4.00 ERA) makes his 18th big league start after spending four years in the Korean Baseball League, where he compiled a 48-32 record with a 3.86 ERA. Pretty good for a league known more for hitting than pitching. As his W-L record shows, he’s had an up-and-down season thus far. He didn’t face the Dodgers in the D-Backs’ previous three series against them. He’ll face the Dodgers’ RHP Walker Buehler (8-1, 3.43 ERA), who’s headed for the All Star Game. His last start was awful; he gave up seven runs on 13 hits to the Rockies in 5 2/3 innings. He avoided the loss in that game as the Dodgers came back with four runs in the ninth inning to win.


Here are the Dodgers’ five consecutive walks in the ninth last night to win the game.

This date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1925 Milt Stock sets a National League mark by having his fourth consecutive four-hit game, going 16-for-23 during the span to compile a .696 batting average. The 31 year-old second baseman’s offensive output, which includes three singles and a triple, helps the Robins beat the Giants at Ebbets Field, 6-3.
  • 1949 En route to a 16-0 shutout of the Dodgers at the Polo Grounds, starting pitcher Monte Kennedy hits a grand slam. Another 51 seasons will pass by before another Giants hurler hits a four-run homer when Shawn Estes accomplishes the feat in 2000.
  • 1958 In their 35th home date in L.A., the transplanted Dodgers reach the one million mark in attendance. Last season, the team drew only 1,028,258 fans, playing in Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field.
  • 2013 Yasiel Puig becomes the first player to be named Player of the Month for the first month he plays in the major leagues in the 55-year history of the award. The Dodger outfielder played in 26 games in June, compiling a .436 batting average, with his 44 base hits being the second-most ever by a first-month player, only behind Joe DiMaggio’s total of 48 in 1936.

Lineup when available.


May 03

Game 34, 2019

Dodgers at Padres, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: FSSD, SPNLA

The Dodgers send LHP Clayton Kershaw (1-0, 2.25 ERA) out to face the Padres’ LHP Eric Lauer (2-3, 4.41 ERA) in the opener of a three-game series. While Kershaw’s velocity is down some, his sliders are sharp and he’s been able to vary their speeds. Lauer has been bitten by the “one bad inning” bug, which has precluded him going longer than six innings in any game this season.

Bellinger has evolved into a complete hitter, Matt Kelly of MLB.com says.

Pollock will be out for several months. He’s having surgery to remove hardware left from previous operations from his elbow.

Manager Dave Roberts would not provide an estimated time frame for Pollock’s return, but said it should be this season. Typical hardware removals require one to two months of recovery before a player can return to competition to assure the holes in the bone where the screws were removed are fully healed. Hardware is sometimes left on the bone for added protection, and because removal can be more trouble than it’s worth.

This will be the third operation on Pollock’s right elbow since 2010. The previous two required five-month recoveries, but Roberts said that isn’t expected to be the case this time.

The dilemma that is Urias’s youthful arm and how to protect it while at the same time getting its benefit.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 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.


Apr 27

Game 29,2019

Pirates at Dodgers, 6:10 PM PDT, TV: ATT SportsNet PIT, KTLA, SPNLA

The visitors’ RHP Joe Musgrove (1-1, 1.59 ERA) takes the hill against the Dodgers’ LHP Clayton Kershaw (0-0, 2.77 ERA). All four of Musgrove’s appearances this year have been quality starts (definition: complete six innings and permit no more than three earned runs). Kershaw’s two games this season were also quality starts. Last time out he uncharacteristically walked four men, but his opponents are hitting only .159 against him, so the walks didn’t hurt.

Barnesy’s home run yesterday:

Also:


Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 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.


Apr 05

Game 8, 2019

Dodgers at Rockies, 1:10 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, ATT SportsNet RM

The Dodgers send RHP Kenta Maeda (1-0, 4.05 ERA) to the Coors Field mound today to face LHP Tyler Anderson (0-1, 9.00 ERA). Maeda has very good career numbers in Denver: 4-1, 3.19 ERA, with 35 Ks, only 8 walks and a WHIP of 1.065 in 31 innings there. Anderson’s home ERA is third-best in club history at 3.73. He’s coming off a horrible outing against the Padres in which he gave up nine hits and three runs in five innings.

Mr. Puig’s arm hasn’t changed, even though his uniform has:

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1913 In an exhibition game against the Yankees, 25,000 fans watch the Dodgers play their first game in Ebbets Field. Brooklyn beats New York, 3-2, with Casey Stengel hitting the park’s first home run, an inside-the-parker.
  • 1957 The Phillies trade five players, Ron Negray, Tim Harkness, Elmer Valo, Mel Geho, and Ben Flowers (the player to be named later), and send $75,000 to the Dodgers to obtain much-touted Cuban infielder Chico Fernandez. Philadelphia’s new shortstop plays three seasons in the City of Brotherly Love, batting just .242, before being traded to the Tigers.
  • 1989 At Riverfront Stadium, Dodgers’ hurler Orel Hershiser’s scoreless-inning streak ends at 59. With two outs in the bottom of the first, Todd Benzinger’s single scores Barry Larkin, who had been picked off after getting a base hit to lead off the game, but was safe on the ‘Bulldog’s’ throwing error.
  • 1993 In front of 42,334 fans at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, the Florida Marlins, making their major league debut, defeat the Dodgers, 6-3. Joe DiMaggio throws out the ceremonial first pitch, and the team retires uniform number 5 in tribute to Carl Barger, their late president.

Lineup:


Oct 05

NLDS Games Two, 2018

Rockies at Brewers, 1:15 PM PDT, TV: FS1

The Rockies send LHP Tyler Anderson (7-9, 4.55 ERA) to the hill at Miller Park to face the Brewers’ RHP Jhoulys Chacin (15-8, 3.50 ERA). The Brewers hammered Anderson back on August 4, when he went just four innings and gave up seven runs including three homers. He made five starts in September and had a 3.25 ERA to show for them. This will be Chacin’s first postseason appearance and his first time ever pitching on only three days rest.

Lineups when available.

Rockies:


Brewers:


Braves at Dodgers, 6:37 PM PDT, TV: FS1

Lefty Clayton Kershaw (9-5, 2.73 ERA) takes the mound for the Dodgers against the Braves’ Aníbal Sanchez (7-6, 2.83 ERA). Kershaw spent time on the DL for the third straight season and his velocity has dropped a couple of miles per hour from what it once was, but he’s still one of the best pitchers in the league. He beat Atlanta on July 27, going 7 2/3 innings and giving up one run on six hits. Sanchez had the best year he’s had in ERA terms since 2013. He beat the Dodgers June 9 and lost to them July 26.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic covers the Kershaw/Ryu Game One start story.

Oh, doctor! On October 5, 1947 Al Gionfriddo of the Dodgers robbed the Yankee Clipper Joe DiMaggio of a home run in Game Six of the World Series.

Lineups when available.

Dodgers:


Braves: