Oct 04

Wild Card Games Two, 2023

FYI: All series are available in the U.S. on MLB.TV with authentication to a participating Pay TV provider. Games are available live internationally (except in Canada). Full game archives are available approximately 90 minutes after the game ends.

Texas at Tampa Bay, 12:08 PM PDT, TV: ABC

RHP Nathan Eovaldi goes for the Rangers against RHP Zach Eflin of the Rays.

Rangers – Rays preview

Toronto at Minnesota, 1:38 PM PDT, TV: ESPN

The Jays’ RHP José Berríos faces off against the Twins’ RHP Sonny Gray.

Blue Jays – Twins preview

Arizona at Milwaukee, 4:08 PM PDT, TV: ESPN2

The D-Backs hand the ball to RHP Zac Gallen and the Brewers give theirs to RHP Freddy Peralta.

Diamondbacks – Brewers preview

Miami at Philadelphia, 5:08 PM PDT, TV: ESPN

LHP Braxton Garrett takes the ball for the Marlins and RHP Aaron Nola does so for the Phillies.

Marlins – Phillies preview

Today in baseball history:

  • 1916 Reds right-hander Christy Mathewson faces Mordecai Brown of the Cubs in the career finale for each pitcher, marking the first time two future Hall of Famers have made their final appearance in the same game. Both Cooperstown-bound hurlers go the distance in Cincinnati’s 10-8 victory at Chicago’s Weeghman Park.
  • 1951 In Game 1 of the World Series, the first all-black outfield in major league history makes its appearance when Monte Irvin, Willie Mays, and Hank Thompson take the field for the Giants at Yankee Stadium. In a curious move, Leo Durocher replaces the previously injured right fielder Don Mueller with Hank Thompson, a third baseman by trade, using veteran outfielder Bobby Thomson at the hot corner.
  • 1955 After more than half a century of futility, the Dodgers finally win a World Championship, thanks to Johnny Podres’ 2-0 shutout of the Yankees in the Bronx. The turning point of the historic contest proves to be an outstanding catch by defensive replacement Sandy Amoros in the sixth inning that robs Yogi Berra of an extra-base hit with two on, resulting in a rally-robbing double play.

  • 2006 At Shea Stadium, Russell Martin’s double kills a promising two-on and none-out rally as both Dodgers runners become outs at home in the Mets’ eventual 6-5 victory in Game 1 of the NLDS. Jeff Kent and J.D. Drew both try to score, but the relay from right fielder Shawn Green to second baseman Jose Valentin to Paul Lo Duca allows the catcher to tag each runner during their headfirst slides into the plate.

  • 2008 The Dodgers complete a three-game NLDS sweep of Chicago with a 3-1 victory, winning their first postseason series since 1998. The stunning loss in the playoffs extends the World Series drought for the Cubs into another century.
  • 2015 Clayton Kershaw strikes out Melvin Upton to end the third inning of LA’s 6-3 victory over the Padres at Chavez Ravine, becoming the 34th pitcher to record 300 strikeouts in a season, joining Sandy Koufax, who accomplished the feat three times in the 1960’s, as the only the second Dodger to reach the mark. The 27-year-old southpaw is the first pitcher in 13 years to achieve the milestone since Diamondback teammates Curt Schilling (316) and Randy Johnson (334) surpassed the plateau in 2002.
  • 2015 MLB schedules all games to start simultaneously at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time to add more drama to the regular season’s final day. The scheduling, similar to the English Premier League’s “Survival Sunday,” also evens the playing field by limiting teams’ ability to rest potential playoff starters based on the results of contests played earlier in the day.
Jul 30

Game 104, 2023

Reds at Dodgers, 1:10 PM PDT, TV: BS Ohio, SPNLA

RHP Graham Ashcraft (5-7, 5.64) pitches for the Queen City representatives today. RHP Michael Grove (3-2, 6.19 ERA) does the same for the City of Angels.

Here are Joe Davis and Orel Hershiser’s respective speeches from last night’s ceremony inducting Hershiser into the Dodgers’ Legends.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 2004 In a blockbuster trade, the Marlins deal Brad Penny, the winner of two World Series games last season, first baseman Hee Seop Choi, and southpaw prospect Bill Murphy (who will be traded to the Diamondbacks tomorrow) to the Dodgers for backstop Paul Lo Duca, relief pitcher Guillermo Mota, and much-traveled outfielder Juan Encarnacion.
  • 2017 Texas third baseman Adrian Beltre collects his 3000th hit when he doubles in the fourth inning in the Rangers’ 10-6 loss to the Orioles at Globe Life Park in Arlington. The twenty-year veteran, who has also spent time with the Dodgers, Mariners, and the Red Sox, is the first-ever Dominican-born player to reach the coveted milestone.

Lineups when available.

May 28

Game 54, 2023

Dodgers at Rays, 8:35 AM PDT, TV: Peacock (streaming)

The Dodgers give the ball to one of their rookies, RHP Gavin Stone (0-0, 10.13 ERA). As of midnight Saturday night the Rays had not named their starter.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1956 Going deep in the fourth inning off Carl Erskine in the team’s 3-2 victory over the Dodgers at Forbes Field, Pirates first baseman Dale Long establishes a major league record by hitting his eighth home run in eight games. Yankee first baseman Don Mattingly (1987) and Mariner outfielder Ken Griffey, Jr. (1993) will also match the accomplishment.
  • 1957 Walter O’Malley and Horace Stoneham are given permission by the National League to negotiate deals with cities on the West Coast, with the proviso that the future location of their respective clubs, the Dodgers and the Giants, be known by October 1. The Brooklyn and New York owners both deny there is any significance to the unanimous vote other than being given an opportunity to explore all the available options for their possible relocation of their clubs.
  • 1969 The day after he becomes a father, Randy Hundley hits a grand slam and a double, driving in five runs in Chicago’s 9-8 victory over San Francisco at Candlestick Park. The eight-pound, four-ounce baby boy named Todd will follow in his dad’s footsteps, becoming a major league catcher, receiving for the Mets, Dodgers, and the Cubs.
  • 1989 With runners on second and third, no outs, and the Mets and Dodgers tied at 3-3 in the 12th inning, home plate umpire Bob Davidson calls a balk against Roger McDowell which scores the winning run in the Chavez Ravine contest. Dave Anderson is waved home when the New York reliever fails to pause and make a discernible stop.
  • 2001 In an 11-inning slugfest with Colorado, LA catcher Paul Lo Duca goes 6-for-6 in the team’s 11-10 victory at Dodger Stadium. The backstop’s five singles and a three-run homer tie a National League record for hits in an extra-inning game.
  • 2011 The game between Los Angeles and Florida continues as fans in a section of the upper deck seats at Dodger Stadium are evacuated due to a small fire in a nearby storage area. With plumes of smoke visible coming from the top level of the ballpark on the first base side, the crowd is informed by the public address announcer that it will not be necessary to evacuate the entire stadium.

Lineups when available.

Oct 04

Game 161, 2022

Rockies at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: ATT SportsNet RM, SPNLA

The Rockies give the ball to RHP Ryan Feltner (3-9, 6.01 ERA) while the Dodgers hand theirs to their NL-ERA-Leading Julio Urías (17-7, 2.12 ERA).

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1955 After more than half a century of futility, the Dodgers finally win a World Championship, thanks to Johnny Podres’ 2-0 shutout of the Yankees in the Bronx. The turning point of the historic contest proves to be an outstanding catch by defensive replacement Sandy Amoros in the sixth inning that robs Yogi Berra of an extra-base hit with two on, resulting in a rally-robbing double play.
  • 1981 The Reds blank the Braves, 3-0, finishing with the best record in the National League strike-shortened season (66-42) but will not participate in the postseason because the Dodgers and Astros posted better records for the first half (pre-strike) and the second half (post-strike). The plan, instituted midseason by Giants executive Al Rosen to salvage the season, eliminates the Western Division team from the first-ever NLDS.
  • 1992 The Dodgers lose to the Astros, 3-0, ending the season with a 63-99 record, 35 games behind the division-leading Braves. Tom Lasorda’s club is the first in franchise history to finish in last place since 1905, when the team was called the Superbas and played in Brooklyn’s Washington Park.
  • 2006 At Shea Stadium, Russell Martin’s double kills a promising two-on and none-out rally as both Dodgers runners become outs at home in the Mets’ eventual 6-5 victory in Game 1 of the NLDS. Jeff Kent and J.D. Drew both try to score, but the relay from right fielder Shawn Green to second baseman Jose Valentin to Paul Lo Duca allows the catcher to tag each runner during their headfirst slides into the plate.

  • 2008 The Dodgers complete a three-game NLDS sweep of Chicago with a 3-1 victory, winning their first postseason series since 1998. The stunning loss in the playoffs extends the World Series drought for the Cubs into another century.

  • 2015 Clayton Kershaw strikes out Melvin Upton to end the third inning of LA’s 6-3 victory over the Padres at Chavez Ravine, becoming the 34th pitcher to record 300 strikeouts in a season, joining Sandy Koufax, who accomplished the feat three times the 1960’s, as the only the second Dodger to reach the mark. The 27-year-old southpaw is the first pitcher in 13 years to achieve the milestone since Diamondback teammates Curt Schilling (316) and Randy Johnson (334) surpassed the plateau in 2002.

Lineups when available.

Jul 30

Game 100, 2022

Dodgers at Rockies, 5:10 PM PDT, TV: ATT SportsNet RM, SPNLA

Third in a string of lefthanders the Dodgers have trotted out to face the Rockies, Clayton Kershaw brings his 7-2 record and his 2.49 ERA to the Coors Field mound this evening. He’ll face the Rockies’ lefthanded Kyle Freeland (5-7, 4.64 ERA). Kershaw’s only made one start against the Rockies this year, and it was less than stellar. He went four innings, gave up six runs on nine hits and took the loss. Freeland is 1-2 this year against the Dodgers; in his most recent start against them he went 5 2/3 innings, giving up four runs on six hits.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 2004 In a blockbuster trade, the Marlins deal Brad Penny, the winner of two World Series games last season, first baseman Hee Seop Choi, and southpaw prospect Bill Murphy (who will be traded to the Diamondbacks tomorrow) to the Dodgers for backstop Paul Lo Duca, relief pitcher Guillermo Mota, and much-traveled outfielder Juan Encarnacion.
  • 2017 Texas third baseman Adrian Beltre collects his 3000th hit when he doubles in the fourth inning in the Rangers’ 10-6 loss to the Orioles at Globe Life Park in Arlington. The twenty-year veteran, who has also spent time with the Dodgers, Mariners, and the Red Sox, is the first-ever Dominican-born player to reach the coveted milestone.

Lineups when available.

May 28

Game 46, 2022

Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 4:15 PM PDT, TV: FOX

RHP Tony Gonsolin (4-0, 1.62 ERA) gets the ball for the Dodgers and RHP Merrill Kelly (3-2, 3.49 ERA) gets it for the D-Backs. Gonsolin has already won as many games this season as he’s ever won in a single big league season. Kelly has the idential record so far this season as he had in all of the Covid-shortened year of 2020.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1957 Walter O’Malley and Horace Stoneham are given permission by the National League to negotiate deals with cities on the West Coast, with the proviso that the future location of their respective clubs, the Dodgers and the Giants, be known by October 1. The Brooklyn and New York owners both deny there is any significance to the unanimous vote other than being given an opportunity to explore all the available options for their possible relocation of their clubs.
  • 1969 The day after he becomes a father, Randy Hundley hits a grand slam and a double, driving in five runs in Chicago’s 9-8 victory over San Francisco at Candlestick Park. The eight-pound, four-ounce baby boy named Todd will follow in his dad’s footsteps, becoming a major league catcher, receiving for the Mets, Dodgers, and the Cubs.
  • 1989 With runners on second and third, no outs, and the Mets and Dodgers tied at 3-3 in the 12th inning, home plate umpire Bob Davidson calls a balk against Roger McDowell which scores the winning run in the Chavez Ravine contest. Dave Anderson is waved home when the New York reliever fails to pause and make a discernible stop.
  • 2001 In an 11-inning slugfest with Colorado, LA catcher Paul Lo Duca goes 6-for-6 in the team’s 11-10 victory at Dodger Stadium. The backstop’s five singles and a three-run homer tie a National League record for hits in an extra-inning game.
  • 2011 The game between Los Angeles and Florida continues as fans in a section of the upper deck seats at Dodger Stadium are evacuated due to a small fire in a nearby storage area. With plumes of smoke visible coming from the top level of the ballpark on the first base side, the crowd is informed by the public address announcer that it will not be necessary to evacuate the entire stadium.

Lineups when available.

Jul 30

Game 105, 2021

Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 6:40 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports Arizona, SPNLA

RHP Tony Gonsolin (2-1, 2.38 ERA) goes for the visiting Dodgers. He’ll face the Diamondbacks’ RHP Zac Gallen (1-5, 4.80 ERA).

Also,

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 2004 In a blockbuster trade, the Marlins deal Brad Penny, the winner of two World Series games last season, first baseman Hee Seop Choi, and southpaw prospect Bill Murphy (who will be traded to the Diamondbacks tomorrow) to the Dodgers for backstop Paul Lo Duca, relief pitcher Guillermo Mota, and much-traveled outfielder Juan Encarnacion.
  • 2017 Texas third baseman Adrian Beltre collects his 3000th hit when he doubles in the fourth inning in the Rangers’ 10-6 loss to the Orioles at Globe Life Park in Arlington. The twenty-year veteran, who has also spent time with the Dodgers, Mariners, and the Red Sox, is the first-ever Dominican-born player to reach the coveted milestone.

Lineup

May 28

Game 51, 2021

Giants at Dodgers, 4:10 PM PDT, TV: NBCS BA, SPNLA

RHP Anthony DeSclafani (4-2, 3.54 ERA) goes for the Giants and RHP Walker Buehler (3-0, 2.78 ERA) takes the hill for the Dodgers. The Dodgers battered DeSclafani on Sunday; they got 10 runs in just 2 2/3 innings against him.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1957 Walter O’Malley and Horace Stoneham are given permission by the National League to negotiate deals with cities on the West Coast, with the proviso that the future location of their respective clubs, the Dodgers and the Giants, be known by October 1. The Brooklyn and New York owners both deny there is any significance to the unanimous vote other than being given an opportunity to explore all the available options for their possible relocation of their clubs.
  • 1969 The day after he becomes a father, Randy Hundley hits a grand slam and a double, driving in five runs in Chicago’s 9-8 victory over San Francisco at Candlestick Park. The eight-pound, four-ounce baby boy named Todd will follow in his dad’s footsteps, becoming a major league catcher, receiving for the Mets, Dodgers, and the Cubs.
  • 1989 With runners on second and third, no outs, and the Mets and Dodgers tied at 3-3 in the 12th inning, home plate umpire Bob Davidson calls a balk against Roger McDowell which scores the winning run in the Chavez Ravine contest. Dave Anderson is waved home when the New York reliever fails to pause and make a discernible stop.
  • 2001 In an 11-inning slugfest with Colorado, LA catcher Paul Lo Duca goes 6-for-6 in the team’s 11-10 victory at Dodger Stadium. The backstop’s five singles and a three-run homer tie a National League record for hits in an extra-inning game.
  • 2011 The game between Los Angeles and Florida continues as fans in a section of the upper deck seats at Dodger Stadium are evacuated due to a small fire in a nearby storage area. With plumes of smoke visible coming from the top level of the ballpark on the first base side, the crowd is informed by the public address announcer that it will not be necessary to evacuate the entire stadium.

Lineup when available.

Jul 30

Game 7, 2020

I get an email notice whenever anyone comments on this blog (excluding my own). I cleaned up the mailbox tonight, deleting 17,256 comments from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019.

And we didn’t even GO to the second round of the playoffs or the World Series last year!

Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 6:40 PM PDT, TV: FS-A, SPNLA

Fresh off a satisfying two-game sweep of the Astros, the Dodgers send RHP Ross Stripling (1-0, 1.29 ERA) to the mound in Chase Field to face the Diamondbacks’ LHP Robbie Ray (0-1, 7.36 ERA). Stripling was impressive in seven innings against the Giants on July 24, giving up just one run. Ray had a horrible opening against the Padres, throwing 97 pitches in 3 2/3 innings and giving up a 3-run HR to Wil Myers.

Here’s Edwin Rios’s go-ahead HR in the 13th inning of last night’s game in Houston:

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 2004 In a blockbuster trade, the Marlins deal Brad Penny, the winner of two World Series games last season, first baseman Hee Seop Choi, and southpaw prospect Bill Murphy (who will be traded to the Diamondbacks tomorrow) to the Dodgers for backstop Paul Lo Duca, relief pitcher Guillermo Mota, and much-traveled outfielder Juan Encarnacion.
  • 2017 Texas third baseman Adrian Beltre collects his 3000th hit when he doubles in the fourth inning in the Rangers’ 10-6 loss to the Orioles at Globe Life Park in Arlington. The twenty-year veteran, who has also spent time with the Dodgers, Mariners, and the Red Sox, is the first-ever Dominican-born player to reach the coveted milestone.

Lineup when available.

Jul 30

Game 109, 2019

Dodgers vs. Rockies, 5:40 PM PDT, TV: ATT SportsNet-RM, SPNLA

LHP Julio Urias (4-2, 2.34 ERA) makes his first start since June and second since April, taking the spot Ross Stripling has filled in Rich Hill’s absence. Now Stripling is injured (right biceps tendinitis), so the no-longer-teenager Urias will come out of the pen tonight. I don’t imagine him going more than three or four innings. Interestingly, his splits as starter and reliever are virtually the same in WHIP and BA Against: 0.97 and .173. He’ll face LHP Kyle Freeland (2-8, 7.00 ERA), who’s gone 0-3 with a 8.79 ERA in his last seven starts. His last one was mildly encouraging: he gave up just one run in six innings against the Nats. Look for a lot of Dodger baserunners as Freeland’s walked 29 batters in 73 1/3 innings this year.

Even when the play turns out okay Joc’s defense at first looks shaky:

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 2004 In a blockbuster trade, the Marlins deal Brad Penny, the winner of two World Series games last season, first baseman Hee Seop Choi, and southpaw prospect Bill Murphy (who will be traded to the Diamondbacks tomorrow) to the Dodgers for backstop Paul Lo Duca, relief pitcher Guillermo Mota, and much-traveled outfielder Juan Encarnacion.
  • 2017 Texas third baseman Adrian Beltre collects his 3000th hit when he doubles in the fourth inning in the Rangers’ 10-6 loss to the Orioles at Globe Life Park in Arlington. The twenty-year veteran, who has also spent time with the Dodgers, Mariners, and the Red Sox, is the first-ever Dominican-born player to reach the coveted milestone.

Lineup when available.