Jun 05

Game 58, 2021

Dodgers at Braves, 4:15 PM PDT, TV: Fox

LHP Clayton Kershaw (7-4, 3.33 ERA) goes for the Dodgers; RHP Charlie Morton (4-2, 4.26 ERA) pitches for the Braves.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1977 On Old Timers’ Day, the Dodgers retire former manager Walter Alston’s uniform number 24. ‘Smokey’ compiles a 2040-1613 (.558) record along with seven pennants that results in four World Championships during his 23 years in the dugout.
  • 2015 Current Dodger Pat Venditte becomes the first full-time switch-pitcher in the modern era when he tosses two scoreless frames in Oakland’s 4-2 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park. The A’s ambidextrous reliever faces the minimum six batters in his two innings, allowing a single to Hanley Ramirez before getting an inning-ending double play in the seventh and then proceeds to pitch a perfect eighth.

Lineup:

May 31

Game 54, 2021

Cardinals at Dodgers, 6:10 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports Midwest, SPNLA

RHP Jack Flaherty (8-1, 2.84 ERA) takes the mound for the visiting Cardinals and RHP Trevor Bauer (5-3, 2.07 ERA) goes for the Dodgers.

On this day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1937 In Game 1 of a Memorial Day doubleheader, Carl Hubbell’s consecutive-game winning streak, compiled over two seasons, ends at 24 when the Dodgers, led by Babe Phelps’ 5-for-6 performance, defeat the Giants at the Polo Grounds, 10-3. ‘King Carl’ is honored between games when the southpaw is presented with the National League’s 1936 MVP Award by Babe Ruth.
  • 1948 Tommy Lasorda, best known as the Dodgers’ Hall of Fame skipper, strikes out 25 batters and collects the game-winning hit when the Schenectady Blue Jays defeat the Amsterdam Rugmakers, 6-5, in 15 innings. The promising southpaw, who goes the distance in the CanAm minor-league contest played in McNearney Stadium, believes he probably threw more than 300 pitches during the game.
  • 1965 For the first time in history, an all-switch-hitting infield starts a big league game. In the nightcap of a twin bill, the Dodgers, with Wes Parker at first base, Jim Lefebvre at second, Maury Wills at shortstop, and Jim Gilliam at third, lose to the visiting Reds, 6-1.
  • 1968 Don Drysdale’s shutout streak stays intact when home plate umpire Harry Wendelstedt rules that Dick Dietz, who is hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the ninth inning, did not make an attempt to get out of the way of the right-hander’s delivery. The Giants catcher finishes the at-bat by popping up, and the next two batters also make outs to give ‘Big D” his fifth straight shutout, tying a major league established by White Sox hurler Doc White in 1904.
  • 2001 The Red Sox finally beat the Yankees in their eighth attempt, and for the first time in over a year since Pedro Martinez scoffed at the ‘Curse’. The right-hander was 7-1 with a 1.44 ERA when he said, “Wake up the Bambino and let me face him — I’ll drill him in the “%#$,” but after the comment he managed only seven more winless starts, making it first time he did not win in seven straight starts since the first seven major league appearances as a rookie with the Dodgers.
  • 2012 With their 6-2 victory, the Brewers beat LA at Chavez Ravine for the fourth consecutive day, making the Brew Crew the first visiting team to sweep a four-game series since the Rockies accomplished the feat in August, 1993. The victories also mark the first time the franchise has ever swept the Dodgers.

Lineup when available.

Jun 05

Game 63, 2019

Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 12:40 PM PDT, TV: FS-A, SPNLA

The Dodgers ask RHP Kenta Maeda (7-1, 3.61 ERA) to complete the sweep against the Diamondbacks’ RHP Jon Duplantier (1-0, 3.18 ERA). Maeda made five starts in May, going 4-0 and recording a 2.73 ERA. Duplantier made his sixth big league appearance and first start last Friday against the Mets, giving up three runs on six hits in five innings, leaving with no decision.

Here’s Bellinger’s 8th outfield assist of the year from Tuesday night:

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1977 On Old Timers’ Day, the Dodgers retire former manager Walter Alston’s uniform number 24. ‘Smokey’ compiles a 2040-1613 (.558) record along with seven pennants that results in four World Championships during his 23 years in the dugout.
  • 2015 Current Dodger Pat Venditte becomes the first full-time switch-pitcher in the modern era when he tosses two scoreless frames in Oakland’s 4-2 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park. The A’s ambidextrous reliever faces the minimum six batters in his two innings, allowing a single to Hanley Ramirez before getting an inning-ending double play in the seventh and then proceeds to pitch a perfect eighth.

Lineup when available.


Aug 13

Game 120, 2018

Giants at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, NBC Bay Area

Book plug: I have this on my Kindle and dip into it during baseball season — “The Giants and the Dodgers: Four Cities, Two Teams, One Rivalry”

Tonight’s episode of that rivalry pits two of the best pitchers in the game against one another. Their respective won-loss records are highly unusual. Madison Bumgarner of the Giants is 4-4 with a 2.69 ERA, while Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers is 5-5 with a 2.58 ERA. Each pitcher has spent a lot of time on the disabled list this season; Bumgarner didn’t make his debut until June, while Kershaw lost seven weeks in May and June. In MadBum’s last start he went seven innings, gave up five hits and no runs to the Astros and got no decision. Kershaw’s last start was against the Athletics; he went six innings, gave up six hits and two runs and also got no decision.

In his 30-game pitching career against the Dodgers, Bumgarner has gone 15-10 with a 2.60 ERA. In his 43-game pitching career against the Giants, Kershaw has gone 22-10 with a 1.60 ERA.

You know it’s National Lefthanders Day, right? Not only does the game feature two of the best lefties the NL has to offer, the Dodgers found a pair on their dugout bench.

The Dodgers activated RHP Eric Goeddel from the DL and optioned Pat Venditte to Oklahoma City.

This date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1910 In a game which features each team having 38 at-bats, 13 hits, 12 assists, 2 errors, 5 strikeouts, 3 walks, 1 hit batsman, and 1 passed ball, the Pirates and the Superbas (later to be known as the Dodgers) play to what else – an 8-8 tie.
  • 1951 Any fan who shows up with a musical instrument during the Dodgers’ Musical Depreciation Night is admitted free to the Ebbets Field contest against Boston. With an assortment of trumpets, trombones, zithers, tubas, accordions, bugles, flutes, various type of drums, violins, mandolins, assorted horns, a glockenspiel, a washboard, and a piano, 2,426 fans, which is about 10% of the total crowd, take advantage of the team’s unusual promotion.
  • 1965 Dean Chance establishes an American League record when he fans to extend his streak to 11 consecutive plate appearances with a strikeout. The Angels’ right-hander falls one shy of the major league mark set by Sandy Koufax, who whiffed in 12 consecutive plate appearances in 1955.
  • 1982 At Chavez Ravine, Dodger second baseman Steve Sax steals his 41st base to set a franchise record for rookies when he swipes second base in LA’s 6-1 victory over San Francisco. The eventual National League Rookie of the Year, the fourth consecutive Dodger to win the award, will extend the record to 49.
  • 2006 LA’s Greg Maddux and SF’s Jason Schmidt hook up in a classic West Coast pitcher’s duel, reminiscent of match-ups of Koufax and Marichal, as the Dodgers beat the Giants, 1-0, thanks to Russell Martin’s 10th inning walk-off home run. When Giants slugger Barry Bonds lines into a double play in the first inning, it marks the only time in baseball history a 300 game winner pitches to a batter with over 700 homers.
  • 2007 For the first time in 1,303 games, Nomar Garciaparra of the Dodgers is ejected from a game. The 12-year veteran infielder, who is tossed by home plate umpire Tom Hallion for arguing a called third strike in the fourth inning, is restrained by first base coach Mariano Duncan when he continues to shout and points his bat toward the umpire.

Lineup:


Aug 09

Game 116, 2018

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

RHP Ross Stripling (8-3, 2.68 ERA) comes off the DL where he’s been with a big toe injury just in time to take Alex Wood’s spot in the rotation; Wood has been placed on the DL with tendinitis in his left hip. Let’s hope Stripling’s toe was the cause of his dramatic fall-off since the All Star game; he had an ERA of 2.08 before the break but it’s 9.35 in his appearances since then. He’ll face the Rockies’ LHP Tyler Anderson (6-4, 4.05 ERA), who’s made two starts against the Dodgers and gone 1-0, although he gave up five runs in five innings on June 1 at Coors Field.

To make room for Stripling the Dodgers optioned Pat Venditte to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

This date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1975 At Shea Stadium, Davey Lopes steals his 32nd consecutive base without being caught, breaking Max Carey’s 1922 record in the Dodgers’ 2-0 victory over New York. The Dodger second baseman’s mark will be broken by Vince Coleman in 1989.
  • 1976 John Candelaria becomes the first Pirate since 1907 to throw a no-hitter in Pittsburgh. Nick Maddox threw the first and only Buc home no-hitter until the ‘Candyman’ beat the Dodgers at Three Rivers Stadium. (There was never a no-hitter pitched in the 61-year history of spacious Forbes Field.)
  • 2001 Mike Hampton ties the National League record for pitchers with his seventh homer when he goes deep off Felix Heredia in the Rockies’ 14-5 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. The Colorado southpaw equals the mark established by Dodger hurlers Don Drysdale (1958, 1965) and Don Newcombe (1955), and two shy of the major league standard set by Wes Ferrell, playing for the Indians in 1931.
  • 2013 The Dodgers rally for four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, overcoming a six-run, seventh-inning deficit, for their fifth walk-off victory of the season. The team’s 7-6 victory over Tampa Bay is their 11th consecutive win in a one-run games, a span in which they have defeated ten different clubs.

Also on this date, in 2013 Dan Haren becomes the thirteenth pitcher in history to record a victory over all 30 major league franchises when he hurls seven solid innings in the Nationals’ 9-2 win over Philadelphia. The 32 year-old right-hander joins Al Leiter, Randy Johnson, Barry Zito, A.J. Burnett, Kevin Brown, Terry Mulholland, Curt Schilling, Woody Williams, Jamie Moyer, Javier Vazquez, Vicente Padilla, and Derek Lowe in accomplishing the feat.

Lineup when available.


Jun 05

Game 60, 2018

Dodgers at Pirates, 4:05 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, ATT Sportsnet-PIT

RHP Ross Stripling (3-1, 1.68 ERA) goes for the visiting Dodgers while RHP Joe Musgrove (2-0, 0.64 ERA) goes for the Pirates. Stripling is 3-0 in his last four starts (of seven so far this year, along with 11 relief appearances) with a 1.44 ERA and 35 Ks in 25 innings. Musgrove has won both games he’s pitched this season, going seven innings in each.

From The Athletic via Jon Weisman, a good story about Ross Stripling’s use of data analysis to improve his pitching. Also about Stripling and also via Weisman, an article in the LA Times about Stripling’s insertion into the starting rotation.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1977 On Old Timers’ Day, the Dodgers retire former manager Walter Alston’s uniform number 24. ‘Smokey’ compiles a 2040-1613 (.558) record along with seven pennants that results in four World Championships during his 23 years in the dugout.
  • 2015 Current Dodger Pat Venditte becomes the first full-time switch-pitcher in the modern era when he tosses two scoreless frames in Oakland’s 4-2 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park. The A’s ambidextrous reliever faces the minimum six batters in his two innings, allowing a single to Hanley Ramirez before getting an inning-ending double play in the seventh and then proceeds to pitch a perfect eighth.

Lineup when available.


May 31

Game 56, 2018

Phillies at Dodgers, 4:35 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, NBCSP, MLBN (out-of-market only)

The Phillies send RHP Aaron Nola (6-2, 2.27 ERA) to face the Dodgers’ fresh-off-the-DL lefty Clayton Kershaw (1-4, 2.86 ERA). Nola threw 6 2/3 innings of no-hit ball against the Blue Jays his last time out before tiring. He ended up with no decision. Kershaw’s been on the disabled list with left biceps tendinitis for nearly a month; his last start was May 1. In order to make room for him the Dodgers optioned Pat Venditte to Oklahoma City.

On this day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1937 In Game 1 of a Memorial Day doubleheader, Carl Hubbell’s consecutive-game winning streak, compiled over two seasons, ends at 24 when the Dodgers, led by Babe Phelps’ 5-for-6 performance, defeat the Giants at the Polo Grounds, 10-3. ‘King Carl’ is honored between games when the southpaw is presented with the National League’s 1936 MVP Award by Babe Ruth.
  • 1948 Tommy Lasorda, best known as the Dodgers’ Hall of Fame skipper, strikes out 25 batters and collects the game-winning hit when the Schenectady Blue Jays defeat the Amsterdam Rugmakers, 6-5, in 15 innings. The promising southpaw, who goes the distance in the CanAm minor-league contest played in McNearney Stadium, believes he probably threw more than 300 pitches during the game.
  • 1965 For the first time in history, an all-switch-hitting infield starts a big league game. In the nightcap of a twin bill, the Dodgers, with Wes Parker at first base, Jim Lefebvre at second, Maury Wills at shortstop, and Jim Gilliam at third, lose to the visiting Reds, 6-1.
  • 1968 Don Drysdale’s shutout streak stays intact when home plate umpire Harry Wendelstedt rules that Dick Dietz, who is hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the ninth inning, did not make an attempt to get out of the way of the right-hander’s delivery. The Giants catcher finishes the at-bat by popping up, and the next two batters also make outs to give ‘Big D” his fifth straight shutout, tying a major league established by White Sox hurler Doc White in 1904.
  • 2001 The Red Sox finally beat the Yankees in their eighth attempt, and for the first time in over a year since Pedro Martinez scoffed at the ‘Curse’. The right-hander was 7-1 with a 1.44 ERA when he said, “Wake up the Bambino and let me face him — I’ll drill him in the “%#$,” but after the comment he managed only seven more winless starts, making it first time he did not win in seven straight starts since the first seven major league appearances as a rookie with the Dodgers.
  • 2012 With their 6-2 victory, the Brewers beat LA at Chavez Ravine for the fourth consecutive day, making the Brew Crew the first visiting team to sweep a four-game series since the Rockies accomplished the feat in August, 1993. The victories also mark the first time the franchise has ever swept the Dodgers.

      Lineup: