Sep 22

Game 153, 2023

Giants at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: Apple TV+

LHP Sean Manaea (6-6, 4.92 ERA) pitches for the Giants and LHP Caleb Ferguson (7-3, 2.82 ERA) opens for the Dodgers.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1925 Robins starter Burleigh Grimes accounts for seven outs in just three plate appearances in the team’s 3-2 loss to Chicago, a 12-inning game played at Cubs Park. The Brooklyn right-hander follows grounding into two double plays by hitting into a 6-4-3-2 triple play.
  • 1926 At Ebbets Field, the aging 18-year veteran outfielder Zack Wheat hits his last homer as a Dodger, but severely pulls a muscle nearing second. The future Hall of Famer needs to rest nearly five minutes before completing his trip to home plate, making it the longest home run trot in major league history.
  • 1947 On an off day, the Dodgers clinched the National League pennant when Chicago takes the nightcap of the twin bill against St. Louis. Although it is past midnight when the good news about their beloved team reaches the borough, Brooklynites begin to gather on Flatbush Avenue for an impromptu celebration.
  • 1954 Karl Spooner, in his major league debut, blanks the Giants at Ebbets Field 3-0. The 23 year-old Dodger southpaw fans 15 batters, including six straight, recording the most strikeouts in a first appearance by a rookie.
  • 1957 Duke Snider, with his second round-tripper in the Dodgers’ 7-3 victory over Philadelphia, hits his 40th home run, tying Ralph Kiner’s National League record of five consecutive seasons with forty or more homers. The Duke of Flatbush’s seventh-inning homer off future Hall of Famer Robin Roberts will prove to be the last one ever hit at Ebbets Field.
  • 1976 Right-hander Don Sutton goes the distance to become a twenty-game winner for the first and last time when the Dodgers beat the Giants at Candlestick Park, 3-1. The future Hall of Famer will compile a 324-256 (.559) record during his 23-year career in the bigs.
  • 1986 Dodger hurler Fernando Valenzuela (20-10) two-hits Houston en route to a 9-2 victory at the Astrodome. The 25 year-old southpaw becomes the first Mexican to win 20 games in the major leagues.
  • 2018 The Dodgers establish a franchise record for team home runs hit in one season for the second consecutive year when Yasmani Grandal goes deep in the bottom of the sixth inning in the team’s 7-2 victory over the Padres. The catcher’s round-tripper was the club’s 222nd of the campaign, surpassing last year’s total with seven games left on the schedule.
  • 2019 After dropping a 12-8 decision to the Twins, the Royals (100) join the Tigers (109), Marlins (101), and Orioles (105) in breaking the 2002 mark for the number of 100-loss teams playing in the major leagues in the same season. Conversely, the Dodgers (100), Yankees (102), and Astros (102) have won a hundred or more games, marking three straight years three teams have posted triple-digit victories.

Lineups when available.

Sep 03

Game 132, 2022

Padres at Dodgers, 6:10 PM PDT, TV: BS SD, SPNLA

LHP Sean Manaea (7-7, 4.90 ERA) goes for the Padres and LHP Julio Urías (14-7, 2.32 ERA) goes for the Dodgers.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1917 Grover Cleveland Alexander goes the distance in both games of the Phillies’ doubleheader sweep of Brooklyn at Ebbets Field. In his 18 innings of work, the Philadelphia right-hander limits the Dodgers to seven hits en route to posting 5-0 and 9-3 victories in the twin bill.
  • 1956 In front of the largest regular-season crowd in County Stadium history, the league-leading Braves split a twin bill with the Reds, 5-3 and 5-7. Much to the delight of many of the 47,604 fans attending the Labor Day double-dip, the home team ends the day 3.5 games in front of Cincinnati and the Dodgers, but Milwaukee will finish the season in second place, winning only 11 of 23 of its remaining games.
  • 1978 At Dodger Stadium, Lee Mazzilli becomes the first Mets player to hit a home run from each side of the plate in a game. The center fielder’s first and seventh inning blasts, respectively hit off southpaw Tommy John and right-hander Charlie Hough, pace the last-place club to an 8-5 victory.

Lineups when available.

Aug 05

Game 106, 2022

Padres at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: BSSD, MLBN (out-of-market only), SPNLA

LHP Sean Manaea (6-5, 4.25 ERA) pitches for the new-look Padres and RHP Tony Gonsolin (12-1, 2.41 ERA) goes for the Dodgers. Manaea had a winning July (3-2) but a lousy ERA (5.40). Gonsolin’s July was somewhat similar: 3-1 W-L record but 4.40 ERA.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1954 Stan Musial, in a 13-4 rout of the Dodgers in Brooklyn, paces the Cardinals attack, hitting two homers and driving in seven runs. The defeat is Preacher Roe’s first loss to St. Louis at Ebbets Field in four years.
  • 1969 With a titanic blast that clears the right-field pavilion, Willie Stargell becomes the first player to hit a home run completely out of Dodger Stadium. The 506-foot round-tripper helps the Pirates defeat LA, 11-3.

  • 1979 Don Sutton, surpassing Don Drysdale, becomes the Dodgers’ all-time strikeout leader with 2,487 when he fans six in an 8-1 victory over San Francisco at Chavez Ravine. After establishing the mark, and receiving a two-minute standing ovation that he acknowledges by tipping his cap, the right-hander is charged with an automatic ball due to running his fingers across his lips while thanking the crowd.
  • 1979 Outfielders Willie Mays (Giants, Mets) and Hack Wilson (Giants, Cubs, Dodgers, and Phillies) are enshrined into the Hall of Fame. Baseball administrator Warren Giles, who served as the president of the National League from 1951 to 1969, is also inducted during the Cooperstown ceremony.

Lineups when available.

Apr 24

Game 15, 2022

Dodgers at Padres, 1:10 PM PDT, TV: BS San Diego, MLBN (out-of-market only), SPNLA

No matter what position in the rotation these pitchers have, they’re aces. Today LHP Clayton Kershaw (2-0, 3.00 ERA) goes for the Dodgers while LHP Sean Manaea (2-1, 1.42 ERA) takes the ball for the Padres. Kershaw started out the year with seven innings of perfection before being pulled from the game, and his second start was good until the sixth when he gave up a home run, a single and double and came out. Then the bullpen let those two runners score. In Manaea’s three starts he’s given up just three runs.

This day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1958 At the Los Angeles Coliseum, Gene Fodge picks up his only major league victory when the Cubs beat the Dodgers, 15-2. Outfielder Lee Walls carries the day with three homers and eight RBIs.
  • 1962 Dodger southpaw Sandy Koufax ties his major league record, a mark he shares with Bob Feller, when he strikes out 18 batters in a nine-inning contest during the team’s 10-2 rout of the Cubs at Wrigley Field. In 1938, nineteen year-old right-hander Bob Feller established the record, whiffing 18 batters in the Indians’ 4-1 loss to the Tigers at Cleveland Stadium.
  • 1965 Casey Stengel wins his 3,000th game as a manager when his Amazin’ Mets score three runs in the top of the ninth inning to beat San Francisco at Candlestick Park, 7-6. The ‘Old Perfessor’, who served as the skipper for the Dodgers, Braves, and Yankees, won more than a third of his games (1,149) during his 12-year tenure with the Bronx Bombers.
  • 1998 Dodger backstop Mike Piazza ties a major league record, hitting his third grand slam of the month. The blast highlights a nine-run second inning which leads Los Angeles to a 12-4 victory over the visiting Cubs.

Also, in 2003 Chase Utley gets his first major league hit, blasting a third inning grand slam off Rockies starter Dennis Cook. The rookie second baseman’s big fly to right field contributes to the Phillies’ 9-1 victory at Veterans Stadium.

Lineups when available.

Oct 06

ALDS Game Two, 2020

Astros vs Athletics, 1:37 PM PDT, TV: TBS

The Astros lead the series 1-0. LHP Framber Valdez goes for the Astros and LHP Sean Manaea pitches for the Athletics. Valdez gave the Astros five scoreless innings of relief in Game One of the Astros’ matchup with the Twins. Manaea didn’t pitch in the Wild Card Series against the ChiSox; his lone start against Houston this year came on September 10 when he went seven innings and gave up just one run to them.

Yankees vs Rays, 5:10 PM PDT, TV: TBS

The Yankees lead the series 1-0. They’ll start RHP Deivi Garcia. The rookie will be the youngest Yankee ever to start a postseason game; Whitey Ford was slightly older than Garcia’s 21 years and 140 days in 1950 when he started against the Phillies in the World Series. Garcia will face RHP Tyler Glasnow, who made three starts against the Yankees this year going 1-1 with a 3.77 ERA in 14 1/3 innings.

Sep 23

Game 56, 2020

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

LHP Sean Manaea (4-3, 4.50 ERA) goes for the visiting As and LHP Julio Urias (3-0, 3.49 ERA) does the same for the Dodgers. Manaea’s record belies his performance: in his last five starts he’s given up more than one earned run only once, and his team has won six of his last eight starts. Urias has trouble in the first inning of nearly every game he starts (maybe he should pitch it in the bullpen before the actual game starts?), but he usually settles down. In his last start he gave up two runs early and then retired 13 consecutive Rockies in 5 2/3 innings.

Here’s the final out of the Dodgers’ NL West-clinching win yesterday:

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1901 The Superbas establish a new franchise record for runs scored in a game when they rout the Reds, 25-6. Brooklyn tallies 11 times in the fifth inning during the League Park contest played in Cincinnati.
  • 1916 Allowing only just one walk during a twin bill with the Cincinnati Reds, Grover Alexander of the Phillies wins both ends of a doubleheader, 7-3 and 4-0,to establish a National League record. The future Hall of Famer will repeat the feat on September 3, 1917 against the Brooklyn Robins at Ebbets Field.
  • 1939 In the first game of a twin bill, Brooklyn’s third baseman Cookie Lavagetto reaches base seven consecutive times as the Dodgers rout the Phillies, 22-4. The 26-run Shibe Park contest takes only two hours and five minutes to complete.
  • 1947 Prior to a game against the Giants in a sold-out Ebbets Field, the Dodgers staged Jackie Robinson Day. The Brooklyn rookie, who endured much grief this season as the game’s first black player in modern times, is moved when his teammates crowd around home plate to take part of the ceremony.
  • 1956 Due to the enforcement of a curfew, the Sunday contest between the Dodgers and Pirates is postponed with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, sending the 44,932 fans, the largest crowd in Forbes Field’s history, home. The game will be completed tomorrow with Brooklyn maintaining their 8-3 advantage over Pittsburgh.
  • 1969 In his last major league at-bat, John Miller homers, making the Dodger the only player in history to have hit a home run in his first and last plate appearance in the major leagues. In 1966, as a Yankee, he went deep in the first of only 61 big league career at-bats in which he would collect only 10 hits, including the two memorable round-trippers to start and end his 32-game career.
  • 1986 Astros rookie starter Jim Deshaies sets a major league record by striking out the first eight batters he faces. The young left-hander will finish with a two-hitter and ten strikeouts, beating the Dodgers, 4-0.
  • 1992 Lead-off hitter Bip Roberts ties the National league record with his 10th consecutive hit, a first-inning single in the Reds’ 3-0 victory over Los Angeles at Chavez Ravine. The Cincinnati left fielder’s streak ends when he grounds out in the fifth inning, facing Dodger starter Pedro Astacio.
  • 2006 With one home game left on the schedule, the Dodgers break their single-season attendance record established in 1982 as the team sells 3,708,723 tickets to its games played in Chavez Ravine. The previous record of 3,608,881 was determined by former National League rules which counted fans by turnstile count.
  • 2009 Trailing 8-0 at Dodger Stadium, the Giants take the lead, scoring nine runs in the top of the seventh inning. Although L.A. will come back twice to tie the score with clutch two-out hits in the eighth and ninth, San Francisco tallies four runs in the top of the tenth frame for the 14-10 victory.

Also, in 1908 Fred Merkle’s failure to touch second after an apparent game-winning hit by Al Bridwell scoring Mike McCormick from third costs the Giants a 2-1 win over the Cubs when the ump calls him out and rules the game a tie. Merkle’s ‘boner’ will eventually cost the Giants the flag.

Lineup when available.

Oct 02

AL Wild Card Game, 2019

Rays at Athletics, 5:09 PM PDT, TV: ESPN

RHP Charlie Morton starts for the Rays. A former Astro, he was the starter in Game Four of the ALCS last year against the Red Sox and was last seen by the Dodgers closing out Game Seven in the 2017 World Series. Morton had a 0.68 ERA against the As this season and his ERA against them is 2.97 lifetime. His Athletics opposite number will be LHP Sean Manaea, who’s been hot for a month after coming back from shoulder surgery; he went 4-0 with a 1.21 ERA in September. He’s 1-1 with a career 2.70 ERA against the Rays.

Have some managerial rumors to chew on while watching this game.

Lineups when available.
Rays:

Athletics:

Aug 07

Game 114, 2018

Dodgers at Athletics, 4:05 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, NBCSCA

LHP Rich Hill (4-4, 3.63 ERA) takes his hot streak to Oakland to face the Athletics’ LHP Sean Manaea (10-7, 3.38 ERA). Hill has lowered his ERA from 6.20 to the current 3.63 in the last two months and has given up just two earned runs in his last 20 innings. Manaea hasn’t given up more than three earned runs in a game since May 30.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 2003 Fireballer Eric Gagne ties the single-season record for consecutive saves to start a season, established in 1995 by Jose Mesa of the Indians. The Dodger closer strikes out the Reds’ side in the ninth inning for his 38th save this season and 46th consecutive regular-season save overall.

Lineup when available.


Apr 10

Game Ten, 2018

Athletics at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, NBCSCA, MLBN (out-of-market only)

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.