Jun 11

Game 63, 2021

Rangers at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports Southwest, SPNLA

The Rangers send the hard-luck RHP Mike Foltynewicz (1-6, 4.75 ERA) to the Dodger Stadium mound to face the Dodgers’ LHP Clayton Kershaw (7-5, 3.66 ERA). Foltynewicz has several quality starts in April and May despite his six losses. Kershaw has only faced the Rangers twice in his career.

This day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1957 The Dodgers’ Roy Campanella surpasses former Cub and Giant backstop Gabby Hayes to establish a new National League mark when he hits his 237th career round-tripper as a catcher. Campy’s historic home run comes off Ray Crone in the seventh inning of Brooklyn’s 7-2 loss to the Braves at Ebbets Field.
  • 1972 LA outfielders Manny Mota and Willie Davis both hit inside-the-park homers down the foul lines at Dodger Stadium off Bucs’ starter Bruce Kison. Roberto Clemente’s seventh inning home run over the fence proves to be the difference in Pittsburgh’s 7-5 victory, their 21st win in their last 26 games.

Also, in 1938 In the first of two consecutive no-hitters he will hurl, Johnny Vander Meer keeps the Boston Bees hitless in Cincinnati’s 3-0 victory at Crosley Field. The Reds’ southpaw, in the first night game played in Brooklyn, continues his no-no mojo four days later by beating the Dodgers, 6-0, without giving up a hit in the Ebbets Field contest.

Lineup when available.

Oct 09

NLDS Games Five, 2019

FYI, the 630 comments on the Dodgers’ Game Three post was the fourth-highest ever on this blog. The three higher all occurred during the 2017 World Series: Game Five — 1,022; Game Seven, — 691; and Game Three — 638.

On this date in baseball history Woodrow Wilson became the first President to attend a World Series game in 1915, rumors circulated about a fix of the 1919 World Series, Frank Robinson homered off Don Drysdale in the 1966 World Series to complete the sweep, 1-0, and Jeffrey Maier gave Derek Jeter and the Yankees a victory in Game One of the 1996 World Series.

The early game: Cardinals at Braves, 2:02 PM PDT, TV: TBS

The Cards’ RHP Jack Flaherty faces the Braves’ RHP Mike Foltynewicz in a rematch of Game Two pitchers. The Braves got three runs off Flaherty and won 3-0 in that game behind Foltynewicz’s seven scoreless innings.

Cardinals lineup:

Braves lineup:

The late game: Nationals at Dodgers, 5:37 PM PDT, TV: TBS

The Nats send RHP Stephen Strasburg to the mound to face the Dodgers’ RHP Walker Buehler. In Game Two Strasburg gave up one run in six innings while striking out ten. Buehler gave up one hit and no runs in six innings in Game One.

Nationals lineup:

Dodgers lineup:

Hmm. I guess the idea is to hold Freese in reserve for pinch-hitting duties. I can’t see any other reason to start Beaty there.

Oct 04

NLDS Games Two, 2019

The early game will be the Cardinals at Braves, 1:37 PM PDT, TV: TBS

This game features the hottest pitcher of the second half, the Cardinals’ RHP Jack Flaherty. He’ll face the Braves’ RHP Mike Foltynewicz. Flaherty made 15 starts in the second half and posted a 0.91 ERA for all of them. Foltynewicz struggled early, went to the minors, and came back up in the second half rejuvenated. He went 6-1 with a 2.65 ERA in his ten starts after August 5.

Cardinals lineup:

Braves lineup:

The late game will be Nationals at Dodgers, 6:37 PM PDT, TV: TBS

The Nats send RHP Stephen Strasburg to the mound to face the Dodgers’ LHP Clayton Kershaw. Strasburg threw only 34 pitches while dispatching the Brewers handily for three innings in the Wild Card Game Tuesday. Strasburg’s been in four postseason games in his career, going 2-2 with an 0.41 ERA over 22 innings. Kershaw has been in thirty postseason games with a 9-10 record and a 4.32 ERA over 152 innings.

Jon W. presents an updated edition of his Clayton Kershaw Postseason Chart, which recounts the pitcher’s exploits once the regular season is done.

Nationals lineup:

Dodgers lineup:

Aug 17

Game 125, 2019

Dodgers at Braves, 4:20 PM PDT, TV: FSSO, SPNLA

LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (12-2, 1.45 ERA) pitches for the Dodgers while the Braves send RHP Mike Foltynewicz (4-5, 6.24 ERA) to the hill. The last time Ryu saw the Braves he threw a 4-hit complete game shutout against them on May 7. Foltynewicz spent six weeks at AAA and has made two starts since. He’s got a 7.41 ERA in the four starts he’s made against the Dodgers since 2018.

The Dodgers set a new record for most HRs in a five-game stretch with 22:

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1992 Kevin Gross, retiring 22 of the final 23 batters he faces on his wife’s birthday, no-hits the Giants at Dodger Stadium, 2-0. The LA right-hander’s no-no averts the team from being swept in a four-game series at home against the Giants for the first time in 69 years.
  • 2013 Clayton Kershaw blanks the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, 5-0, giving the Dodgers their first double-digit winning streak since 2006. The team’s 42 victories in their last fifty games, including a 25-3 mark since the All-Star break, equals the 1941 Yankees and 1942 Cardinals for the best record for that span of games since 1900.

Lineup when available.

Jul 27

Game 106, 2019

Dodgers at Nationals, 1:05 PM PDT, TV: MASN, SPNLA

LHP Clayton Kershaw (8-2, 2.84 ERA) pitches for the Dodgers and RHP Joe Ross (0-2, 9.45 ERA) takes the mound for the Nationals. In his last start Kershaw went six scoreless innings and struck out ten, leaving with a six-run lead and then watching the bullpen give up all of it. Fortunately for the Dodgers, Matt Beaty hit a three-run HR in the 8th inning to give the Dodgers the eventual win. Ross will be making his second start of the year; his first was Sunday, July 21. He gave up three runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings in a spot start.

Here’s Turner’s 8th-inning three-run HR which gave the Dodgers a 4-1 lead:

Yesterday was the fourth consecutive day someone had a three-HR game.

The streak began with Robinson Cano of the New York Mets on Tuesday. Paul DeJong of the St. Louis Cardinals and Nelson Cruz of the Minnesota Twins followed up on Wednesday and Thursday respectively, before Betts went deep three times in the first four innings against Yankees starter James Paxton.

Prior to Thursday, it had never actually happened on three straight days in MLB history.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1918 In his major league debut, Robins (Dodgers) starter Harry Heitman, after giving up hits to four consecutive batters in a 22-7 loss to the Cardinals, is pulled from the Ebbets Field contest. The 21 year-old Brooklyn rookie right-hander will never hurl again in the big leagues, ending his career with an ERA of infinity.
  • 1959 The Continental League is formally announced, with franchises located in Denver, Houston, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York City, and Toronto. The concept of the new major league is the brainchild of William Shea, an attorney who proposed the idea a year after the Giants and Dodgers left New York City to move to the West Coast.
  • 1966 Sandy Koufax strikes out 16 Phillies and Jim Bunning whiffs 12 Dodgers in the first 11 innings of a pitching duel between future Hall of Famers at Chavez Ravine. With both starters out of the game, Los Angeles beats Philadelphia, 2-1, thanks to an unearned run scored in the bottom of the twelfth inning.
  • 1998 Tony Womack of the Pirates establishes a new major league mark by not grounding out into a double play in 888 consecutive at-bats, breaking the record previously established by Dodger outfielder Pete Reiser in 1946.
  • 2005 Ryan Freel becomes the first player in the Reds’ 136-year history to steal five bases in a game, including two in the ninth that moves him to third base, where he scores the eventual winning run on Felipe Lopez’s sacrifice fly. The Cincinnati second baseman’s thievery contributes to the team’s 7-6 victory over the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine. [Note: the Dodgers’ catcher was Jason Phillips, in his only season with the team.]

Lineup when available.

May 08

Game 39, 2019

Braves at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, FSSE

The Braves send RHP Mike Foltynewicz (0-1, 5.06 ERA) out to face the Dodgers’ LHP Clayton Kershaw (1-0, 2.77 ERA). Foltynewicz missed spring training and most of April with a bone spur in his elbow. He was scheduled to be the Braves’ Opening Day starter. In his return from the IL he had a 6.11 ERA in four Triple-A rehab starts and hasn’t done much better in his first two starts for Atlanta. Kershaw too had a slow start to the season; this will be his fifth start of 2019. He’s averaging six-plus innings per appearance.

Turner had a big night:

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1941 An Army-Navy Relief game between New York’s two National League teams raises over $60,000. Dolph Camilli’s homer is the difference in the Ebbets Field exhibition as the Dodgers edge the Giants, 7-6.
  • 2012 Josh Hamilton becomes the 16th major leaguer to hit four home runs in one game when he blasts an 0-2 pitch over the Camden Yards centerfield fence in the eighth inning of the Rangers’ 10-3 victory over Baltimore. The Texas outfielder, who connected each time with a man on base, also hits a double to set the American League’s single-game record for total bases with 18, one shy of Shawn Green’s major league mark of 19 established in 2002 with the Dodgers.

In a sign that the apocalypse cannot be far away, in 2012 the New York State Senate congratulates Mr. Met with a voice approved resolution, honoring the larger-than-life bobblehead for being named the best mascot in the U.S. in a fan survey conducted by the Marketing Arm. The Amazins’ spherical symbol of cheer, who defeated the popular Phillie Phanatic in the poll, is commended by the legislative body for having his legacy serve as “a sterling example for all mascots”.

Lineup when available.


Oct 08

NLDS Game Four, 2018

The NL has only one divisional series still going. Game Four will be played between the Dodgers and Braves at Sun Trust Field at 1:30 PM PDT and will be televised by FS1.

The Dodgers ask Rich Hill (11-5, 3.66 ERA) to finish the Braves off without a need for a Game Five. The Braves send Mike Foltynewicz (13-10, 2.85 ERA in the regular season), who lost Game One of this series on October 4, going just two innings and giving up three hits and four earned runs including two homers. Hill will make his first start of this postseason; in last year’s playoffs he made four starts and posted a 2.55 ERA with no decisions in 17 2/3 innings.

How did Kiké get his groove on at the plate?

Dodgers’ history on October 8 has ups and downs. Don Larsen pitched his perfect game on this date in 1956, but three years later the Dodgers beat the Chicago White Sox in Game Six of the World Series to win it. The Braves lost Game Two of the 1948 World Series on this date.

Lineups when available.

Dodgers lineup:


Braves lineup:


Oct 04

NLDS Game One, 2018

The Rockies and Brewers play the early game on Day One of the NL Division Series, while the Braves and Dodgers play the late game.

I’m not going to fiddle with four teams’ historical facts from this date. You’re welcome to look at the following link: Today in baseball history.

Rockies at Brewers, 2:07 PM PDT, TV: FS1

The Rockies call upon RHP Antonio Senzatela (6-6, 4.38 ERA) to start Game One. The Brewers are going with the “opener” concept, starting a reliever and going from there.

“We really think when we’re going to put together our pitching staff for this series, every one of the guys we’re adding is going to pitch significant innings in the series,” Counsell said.

The team has not yet announced who that first pitcher is going to be.

Lineups when available.

Brewers:


Rockies:


Braves at Dodgers, 5:37 PM PDT, TV: MLBN, MLBN-INT

The Braves will start RHP Mike Foltynewicz (13-10, 2.85 ERA) in their first postseason game since 2013. He started one game against the Dodgers this year, going five innings, giving up six hits and four runs and taking the loss. Two of the runs were knocked in by Clayton Kershaw, who got a single and three walks in 7 2/3 innings in that game.

The Dodgers give the ball to LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (7-3, 1.97 ERA). Picking Ryu to start Game One may have surprised some people, but he’s been lights-out since coming back from a groin injury in August, making nine starts and posting a 1.88 ERA over that stretch. He also has a 2.81 ERA in three post-season starts as well as a history of big game performances in Korea, the Olympics (in the gold medal game against Cuba in 2008 he pitched 8​1⁄3 innings, allowing two earned runs in a 3–2 victory) and the Asian Games (gold medalist in 2010). Here’s more on the decision from The Athletic. And here’s Sports Illustrated’s preview of the Braves–Dodgers series. The LA Times has five stories about the playoffs, from Plaschke’s “They must win the Series this year” to Dylan Hernandez’s “Kershaw got the shaft,” as well as the omission of Stripling from the 25-man NLDS roster and Madson’s appearance there.

Lineups when available.

Braves:


Dodgers:


Jul 27

Game 104, 2018

Dodgers at Braves, 4:10 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, FSSO

This afternoon LHP Clayton Kershaw (3-5, 2.64 ERA) pitches for the Dodgers against the Braves’ RHP Mike Foltynewicz (7-6, 2.85 ERA). Kershaw was the victim of three unearned runs in his last start and got a loss. His velocity is several MPH below what we’ve seen from him for years, but he’s still getting batters out. In his first 16 starts Foltynewicz gave up two earned runs or fewer in 15 of them; in his last three starts he’s given up four or more.

Here’s a treat from Kenley Jansen:


Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1918 In his major league debut, Robins (Dodgers) starter Harry Heitman, after giving up hits to four consecutive batters in a 22-7 loss to the Cardinals, is pulled from the Ebbets Field contest. The 21 year-old Brooklyn rookie right-hander will never hurl again in the big leagues, ending his career with an ERA of infinity.
  • 1959 The Continental League is formally announced, with franchises located in Denver, Houston, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York City, and Toronto. The concept of the new major league is the brainchild of William Shea, an attorney who proposed the idea a year after the Giants and Dodgers left New York City to move to the West Coast.
  • 1966 Sandy Koufax strikes out 16 Phillies and Jim Bunning whiffs 12 Dodgers in the first 11 innings of a pitching duel between future Hall of Famers at Chavez Ravine. With both starters out of the game, Los Angeles beats Philadelphia, 2-1, thanks to an unearned run scored in the bottom of the twelfth inning.
  • 1998 Tony Womack of the Pirates establishes a new major league mark by not grounding out into a double play in 888 consecutive at-bats, breaking the record previously established by Dodger outfielder Pete Reiser in 1946.
  • 2005 Ryan Freel becomes the first player in the Reds’ 136-year history to steal five bases in a game, including two in the ninth that moves him to third base, where he scores the eventual winning run on Felipe Lopez’s sacrifice fly. The Cincinnati second baseman’s thievery contributes to the team’s 7-6 victory over the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine. [Note: the Dodgers’ catcher was Jason Phillips, in his only season with the team.]

Lineup when available.


Jul 20

Game 96, 2017

Braves at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSSE

This is the first of a four-game series. It’ll pit the Braves’ RHP Mike Foltynewicz (7-5, 3.84 ERA) against the Dodgers’ RHP Brandon McCarthy (6-3, 3.38 ERA). The Dodgers have beaten the Braves twelve of the last fifteen times they’ve met at Dodger Stadium.

Foltynewicz took a no-hitter into the ninth inning of a game against Oakland on June 30 before giving up a leadoff HR to break it up. He came out and the reliever struck out the side to preserve the 3-1 win. The Dodgers have won McCarthy’s last five starts, but he came out before completing five innings in two of them. He gave up four runs in 4 2/3 innings against the Marlins on Saturday.

The Dodgers have good prospects down on the farm, says Kyle Glaser of Baseball America.

Sergio Romo has been DFA’ed and Grant Dayton has been reinstated from the 10-day DL.

This date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1906 At St. Louis, Brooklyn hurler Mal Eason no-hits the Cardinals, 2-0. The ‘Kid’ was the losing pitcher when Johnny Lush pitched a no-hitter against the Superbas (Dodgers) in May.
  • 1970 Twenty-six year-old right-hander Bill Singer pitches the first Dodger no-hitter since Sandy Koufax’s departure when he keeps the Philadelphia batters hitless in a 5-0 victory at Chavez Ravine. The ‘Singer Throwing Machine’, who spent 52 days on the disabled list earlier in the season recuperating from hepatitis, posts a 5-0 record along with a 1.84 ERA in July, and will be named NL Player of the Month.
  • 2008 The Dodgers, with a five-run ninth-inning rally at Chase Field, beat the Diamondbacks, 6-5, and move into a flat-footed tie (48-50) with Arizona for first place in the National League West. Andre Ethier has the key hit in the comeback victory, a go-ahead triple off the center-field wall, as D-Back closer Brandon Lyon, pitching in his third consecutive game, couldn’t hold a three-run lead.

Lineup when available.