Oct 02

Game 162, 2016

Last game of the regular season, and it has some importance for the home team Giants.

The Giants can claim the second wild-card spot in the National League and a one-game showdown with the New York Mets in the Big Apple on Wednesday with either a win Sunday against the Los Angeles Dodgers or a St. Louis Cardinals loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Cardinals can still force a one-game wild-card tiebreaker against the Giants on Monday in St. Louis with a win Sunday and a San Francisco loss.

As a result of Saturday’s loss the Dodgers locked themselves into the No. 3 seed in the NL playoffs. The second-seeded Nationals, winners of the NL East, have the home-field advantage in the best-of-five series. (The Cubs have the first seed).

Dodgers at Giants, 12:05PM PT, TV: SPNLA, KTLA, CS-BA, MLB.TV free game (out-of-market)

Kenta Maeda (16-10, 3.28 ERA) hopes to cap off an excellent MLB rookie season with his 17th win. He’s done very well against the Giants this year: 3-0 with a 2.65 ERA in three starts. He’ll face lefty Matt Moore (12-12, 4.21 ERA), who faced the Dodgers on September 21 and did not fare well: he gave up six runs on seven hits in one-plus innings.

Vin Scully will do all nine innings of the game, which will be simulcast on radio and TV in LA and in the Bay Area. It’s also going to be streamed live on MLB.com.

Lineup when available.

Sep 27

Game 157, 2016

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

The Dodgers switched starters around for tonight’s game. They had scheduled Kenta Maeda (16-9, 3.20 ERA) to pitch Wednesday and Jose De Leon tonight, but they reversed the order. It may be that they want Maeda to pitch the last game of the season in San Francisco if home-field advantage for the playoffs is still undecided.

His opponent will be Paul Clemens (3-5, 4.48 ERA), who hasn’t given up a run in his last two starts but who has had trouble going deep into games; his last outing was his longest of the year at 5 2/3 innings.

In playoff opponent news, the Nationals’ All-Star catcher Wilson Ramos is out for the season; he suffered a torn ACL in his right knee in Monday night’s game.

Lineup when available.

Sep 24

Game 155, 2016

Rockies at Dodgers, 6:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, ROOTRM, MLBN (out-of-market only)

This will be Clayton Kershaw’s (11-3, 1.79 ERA) fourth start since his return from the DL. In his previous three he’s gone from two earned runs allowed in three innings to zero in five, and then zero in six. In his last start he threw 88 pitches, so he’s close to fully recovered from his back problem (we all hope). Opposing him will be Chad Bettis (13-7, 4.79 ERA), who is on a roll himself: he’s given up three earned runs or fewer in every start he’s made in the last month.

In case you missed it, here’s Kirk Gibson doing commentary on Vinnie’s call of his 1988 World Series Game One home run.

Lineup when available.

Sep 23

Game 154, 2016

Rockies at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, ROOTRM, MLBN (out-of-market only)

The Dodgers continue their playoffs’ 4th-starter auditions with LHP Scott Kazmir (10-6, 4.59 ERA), who’s been on the shelf since August 22 with thoracic spinal inflammation. He’ll face the Rockies’ RHP Jon Gray (10-8, 4.42 ERA), who threw a shutout in his last start, striking out 16 Padres in the process. Kazmir beat the Rockies on July 2, going six scoreless innings and giving up just three hits. Gray has made five starts against the Dodgers and gone 2-2 with a 3.38 ERA, but the losses have both come at Dodger Stadium, where he’ll pitch tonight.

This will be opening night of a weekend celebration of Vin Scully:

The ceremony will also be available live at the Dodgers’ website tonight at 6:30 p.m. PT.

MLB came up with a playlist of 10 of Vinnie’s comedic remarks.

In non-Scully amusements, check out this photo of Josh Reddick with Stan Lee (yes, the Marvel comics maven).

Lineup when available.

Sep 22

Game 153, 2016

Here’s an interesting point about Vinnie’s broadcasting style: Bob Costas pointed this out to Jason Stark, and Stark repeats it here: the production follows him. He doesn’t get directed “Okay, now insert a 10-second blurb about the upcoming homestand or bobblehead day.” Nope, he tells his stories and the guys in the truck just follow along.

Rockies at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, ROOTRM, MLBN (out-of-market only)

Brett Anderson makes his third start of the year for the Dodgers after first recovering from back surgery and then going on the DL for blisters. He’s 0-2 with a 24.75 ERA in the four innings he’s pitched this season. His opponent will be Tyler Chatwood, who’s 11-9 with a 4.13 ERA this year. He’s given up five home runs in his last four starts and given up at least six runs in three of the four.

Lineup when available.

Howie instead of Turner at 3B has a ripple effect: it puts Toles in LF.

Aug 18

Game 120, 2016

Dodgers at Phillies, 4:05PM PT, TV: SPNLA, CSN-P

The Dodgers go for a series sweep with rookie RHP Ross Stripling (3-4, 4.07 ERA). He’ll face RHP Jerad Eickhoff (8-12, 3.82 ERA), who’s like Dodgers’ pitchers in that he gets in trouble in the sixth inning when the opposing batters get their third look at him. His ERA for that inning this year is 12.71. Stripling has, this season, shown himself to be better in a long relief role; he’s made three long-relief appearances in July, posting a 1.54 ERA over 11 2/3 innings. Over his 10 starts this season, Stripling has a 4.61 ERA.

A.J. Ellis writes a column for ESPN about Vin Scully.

Pitching notes from Jon Weisman. Highlights/lowlights: Kershaw may throw a bullpen session on Saturday, and Ryu is not expected to pitch again this season.

Lineup when available.

Jul 10

Game 91, 2016

Padres at Dodgers, 1:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSSD

Kenta Maeda (7-6, 3.07 ERA) goes for the Dodgers and Christian Friedrich (4-4, 4.42 ERA) for the Friars. Friedrich’s had a rough last month, giving up at least four earned runs in each of his past four starts. This after giving up only eight earned runs in all of his first six. Maeda had his worst start of the season his last time out against the Orioles, lasting just four innings and allowing four runs on seven hits.

Lineup when available.


Vinnie is taking the day off.

Jun 21

Game 73, 2016

Nationals at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, MASN

The Nats send Tanner Roark (6-4, 3.14 ERA) out to make his first-ever start against the Dodgers, who counter with Scott Kazmir (5-3, 4.64 ERA). It’s a matchup of differing pitchers: Roark has made it through six innings in 11 of his 14 starts, while Kazmir hasn’t made it past the fifth inning in any of his three starts since May 31.

The Dodgers want to extend their four-game winning streak while the Nationals want to halt their three-game losing streak.

As expected, the Dodgers have activated Yasiel Puig from the 15-day DL and have optioned Carlos Frias back to OKC.

Also, Vinnie is taking the night off to rest his sore throat.

Lineup:

May 30

Game 52, 2016

Dodgers at Cubs, 2:05PM PT, TV: SPNLA, WGN

Alex Wood (1-3, 4.03 ERA) pitches for the Dodgers while Jason Hammel (6-1, 2.17 ERA) goes for the Cubs. Those are gaudy numbers, but in his career he’s 2-6 with a 4.93 ERA in 16 games (12 starts) against the Dodgers. Wood is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA in five games (two starts) against the Cubs.

Lineup:

May 27

Game 49, 2016

Dodgers at Mets, 4:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, MLBN (out-of-market only)

The Dodgers’ 19-year-old rookie Julio Urias makes his first MLB start against the Mets’ Jacob deGrom (3-1, 3.07 ERA), who’s hit a bad patch: he’s 0-1 with a 4.63 ERA over his last four starts.

This will be Chase Utley’s first appearance in NYC since he slid into the Mets’ then-shortstop Ruben Tejada during the playoffs last year, a collision which resulted in a broken leg for the infielder. Tejada has since moved on to the Cardinals, but the Mets fans are still there and are expected to be loud in their displeasure toward the Dodgers’ second-baseman.

For those on the road or away from the West Coast, this will be “an MLB Network Showcase game, [which] can be seen free on MLB.TV and will feature MLB Plus — MLB.com’s data-driven online broadcast that uses Statcast™ and other analytical and broadcast elements to deliver an in-depth discussion about both the action on the field and the big picture.”

Here’s Vinnie reciting the “People Will Come” soliloquy from “Field of Dreams.”

Lineup when available.