Game 155, 2014

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Dodgers at Cubs, 10:05AM PT, TV: Fox

This is a battle of fourth or fifth starters. Roberto Hernandez starts for the Dodgers and Felix Doubront will start for the Cubs. Hernandez has fallen on hard times after starting out well when the Dodgers picked him up in early August. Three of his first four outings were quality starts, but he hasn’t gotten past 4 1/3 innings in any of his last three appearances. Worse, 6 of the 16 hits he’s given up in the latest starts have been home runs.

Doubront has been in the majors since 2011 but only with the Cubs since July of this year. He’s 4-5 with a 5.00 ERA in 2014, but his last start was a six-inning four-hit no-run performance against the playoff-contending Pirates.

Jon Weisman put together some statistics which show that the Dodgers have a much better offense than many of us think. It’s hard to argue with the numbers, so why do we so often feel like they aren’t very good at scoring runs? Anyway, go look at his bullet points and try to ingest them.

Lineup when available.

75 thoughts on “Game 155, 2014”

  3. It would certainly be easy for us poor fans if the Dodgers simply won the next three games and end the torture.

    • There’s still a bitter taste, but I’d venture to guess the Giants are more frustrated than the Dodgers.

      Imagine what the Padres could do with some bats.

  6. not the best of days sports wise, my NRL rugby league team Manly got knocked out of the finals in the semis by 1 point in extra time, Liverpool in the EPL lost and now the Dodgers 🙁

    • I agree. With Ryu out, Haren is the best starter hope. The bullpen game can’t be vs. the Giants, where the games count twice.

  10. Unless the starters pitch completely games, this bullpen must be counted on to provide good outings to win AT LEAST three consecutive series vs. winning teams . . . they couldn’t hold off the last-place Cubs!

    . . . AND the offense has to stay hot.

    I consider myself an optimist, but this looks like a daunting task for the Blue.

    Still . . . go, Dodgers!

      • Looked to me like Howell was rubbing his arm after that great play he made. Most of the damage done to him came after that. I hate to say it but he may have injured his arm making that great throw to first. I am coming to agree with another poster here, Wilson should be banned from this planet…. Not just his bad pitching, anyone who chooses to “decorate” himself like that has to have mental problems.

        • Didn’t know about the great play/possible injury. Regardless, Donnie — and we fans — need to count on JP . . . or SOMEone.

          Thanks for the laugh with your last sentence!

  15. I decided to get the rest of the news — good or bad — from Dodger announcers. And realized a national broadcast means Steiner is on the radio. . . . I’m not a true Steiner hater, but I MUCH prefer hearing Mo do play-by-play.

    • They have throughout the year.
      “Getting to the bullpen” is most likely #1 for the opposition.

  18. “Dodger bullpen” is a 4-letter word.
    Wilson and Howell both with those beards I mentioned not liking. (Regardless of their performance.)

  19. Heavy load on pen lately and all that, but DM shouldn’t have left JP in when he was having obvious control problems.

    All managers probably develop overconfidence in certain relievers who are doing well, but hope is not a valid strategy in the face of obvious problems with other options.

  24. Those with eyes, any danger of rain shortening the game? It’s official after 5 anyway, but earlier Bob said he’d hate to see this washed away.

      • Good to hear — I didn’t see it . . . I’m trying to prepare a talk for Monday, including rehearsing it — tough to do while watching/following the game at the same time. (Tho it hasn’t stopped me from pausing and checking in here. 🙂 )

  26. Fauxto was doing about as well as could be expected, not allowing much damage and eating innings, saving the pen.

    However…?

  27. Speaking of catchers, as of yesterday our top 2 had a great batting average–.386. As in .193 x 2.

    Fedex adds .116 to the total. Ugh. No, make that triple ugh.

    AJ continues to show why BA alone is misleading….has 51 hits, has walked 52 times, has struck out 54. Likely not a batting line you see too often.

      • Probably a lock they’ll be in on Russell Martin–and have plenty of company since the ranks of decent available catchers are mighty thin.

  28. I hope LA follows Boston’s recent postseason success.

    But I don’t like them following the wilderness beard look. (It’s on Fox and I get to see the players.)

  30. Thought Fox might carry this here in Middle TN. Naw. KC-Det. Which is a bit more relevant, even if hopeful Dodger fans prefer otherwise.

  31. I think Butera is our best defensive catcher but he must be the all-time worst hitter. He takes a perfect strike right down the middle for Strike Two, then swings on one TWO FEET outside! He couldn’t have reached it with an oar. He’s not the only one, unfortunately. We really don’t have a hitting coach, apparently.

    • Players have to have the ability to apply the coaching. Butera never has shown offensive ability.

  32. AGon getting to be a regular RBI hog–not that that’s anywhere near a problem.

    Wonder what HR totals for these Dodgers would look like if Wrigley were home field…

  35. What a day at Wrigley! Not having been at DS since 1976 and never attending a game in a tight playoff race, this was a first for me. Its always hard to tell one Blue from another in Wrigley, but saw a lot of it going to our seats about 15 rows beyond the Dodger dugout. When Matty slammed one in the first, all of those around me rose in a burst of mayhem. Something I hadn’t experienced since my first game at DS, Sandy’s perfecto. Not to be outdone, the Cubbie fans exploded in there half, when they got to Clayton. Had a fellow Dodger fan in front of my bad mouthing AJ, who quickly changed his tune. I was rather taken aback at the degree of booing by local fans on Edwin. Was wonderful being able to mix with fellow fans in that environment, not that I don’t like sharing with you fellows sitting in front of my computer every night!

  36. “It’s hard to argue with the numbers, so why do we so often feel like they aren’t very good at scoring runs?”

    I’ve been thinking the same thing, Link — especially every time Bob H. cites similar #s as to how well LA is doing.

    I’m sure much of it is expectations — this group SHOULD be hitting well.

    Perhaps it’s also situational — lack of timely hitting has cost soo many games (that’s true with any team, but it’s highlighted with the good starting pitching LA has).

    And there’s the fact that the lack of such timely hitting has cost them games vs. winning teams. Now that we know they’re in the playoffs, we also know they need to win series vs. at least three winning teams in a row to be WS champs. . . . Those teams won’t roll over when shown the stats. They’ll say ‘Prove it.’ . . . . I hope LA does.

    • Variation is something that I have not been able to work on. Haven’t found anywhere that does it nor the data base I might need to make my own calculations.