Monthly Archives: May 2015

May 20

Game 39, 2015

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Dodgers at Giants, 7:15PM PT, TV: SPNLA, NBC Bay Area

Brett Anderson goes to the mound for the Dodgers. He’s 2-1 with a 3.50 ERA, and his last two starts have been his best for his new team. He’ll face Tim Lincecum, who’s 3-2 with a 2.43 ERA, in somewhat of a rebound from his poor showings of the last three seasons. He’s 10-8 with a 3.45 ERA in his career against the Dodgers, which is pretty good compared to Anderson’s 0-3 with a 6.10 ERA against the Giants.

Fun fact: The Dodgers and Giants entered Tuesday night’s series opener 69-69 in games played at AT&T Park.

Non-funny fact: LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu will undergo left shoulder surgery tomorrow. The arthroscopic surgery will be performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in LA.

Further info on Ryu: this is exploratory surgery to try to determine the cause of the inflammation he’s had all spring.

Lineup:

May 19

Game 38, 2015

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Dodgers at Giants, 7:15PM PT, TV: SPNLA, MLBN, CSN-BA

Carlos Frias brings his 3-0 record and his 2.89 ERA to the hill at AT&T Park to face veteran Tim Hudson, who’s 1-3 with a 4.57 ERA this season. Frias has faced the Giants twice, both times in relief, and is 1-0 with a 4.15 ERA against them. Hudson is 6-6 with a 4.03 ERA against the Dodgers in his long career.

In other news, the Dodgers finalized the contracts for 30-year-old IF Hector Olivera and 25-year-old RHP Pablo Fernandez. Olivera hopes to be in baseball condition within a month and playing in LA soon after that, while Fernandez says he wants to get into shape and he’ll go wherever the team sends him. Neither of these guys have played since the 2013-2014 season in Cuba.

Club President of Baseball Operations spoke to the press today, primarily about the two players mentioned above. Other topics included Frias, Bolsinger, Urias and Ryu.

Lineup:

May 17

Game 37, 2015

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Rockies at Dodgers, 1:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

Mike Bolsinger brings his 1-0 record and his 1.59 ERA to the hill for the Dodgers. His win came in his last turn when he went 5 2/3 innings against the Marlins, giving up one run and five hits. His opponent will be Kyle Kendrick, whose record doesn’t look very good (1-4, 7.65 ERA) but whose last outing was an improvement. He went seven innings and gave up two runs on seven hits while walking none and striking out five.

Jon posted a scary story with a happy ending about Pedro Guerrero, slugger extraordinaire for the 1981 World Series winning team.

Lineup:


In light of the above, presumably this is Alex Guerrero playing left field, not Pedro.

May 16

Game 36, 2015

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Rockies at Dodgers, 6:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

Note the early game time. Since the two teams play again tomorrow, this isn’t the day before a travel day. I thus have no idea why it’s starting an hour earlier than usual. The Old-Timers Game is scheduled for 4:00PM.

It’ll be Zack Greinke (5-0, 1.52 ERA) for the Dodgers against Jorge De La Rosa of the Rockies.(0-2, 9.56 ERA). De La Rosa went only four innings against the Dodgers last Sunday, giving up five hits, five earned runs, six walks, and striking out four. With all of that, he didn’t take the loss in the Mother’s Day game the Dodgers eventually won.

Lineup:


Hmm. That’s a different outfield.

May 15

Game 35, 2015

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Rockies at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

Clayton Kershaw goes for victory number 100 for the fifth time. His last time out he was roughed up (or nibbled to death) by the Rockies for five runs in 5 1/3 innings. He didn’t figure in the decision as the Dodgers recovered to win 9-5 at Coors Field. His opponent will be Eddie Butler, who pitched and lost the rain-shortened game last week, also at Coors.

The Dodgers could activate Kenley Jansen as early as today. Whether he’s immediately thrown into the closer role is up in the air.

Sports Illustrated has a nice story about the Dodgers’ defense and how it’s improved, particularly with Joc Pederson in center field.

Lineup when available.

May 14

Game 34, 2015

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Rockies at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

The Dodgers send lefty Brett Anderson out to face the Rockies’ righty Chad Bettis. Anderson was a Rockie last year and beat them in a rain-shortened game last Friday in Denver. Bettis has been up and down from AAA to the Rockies over the past three years, making 37 appearances and eight starts in 2013-2014 and earning a 1-6 record with a 6.88 ERA.

Lineup:

The Dodgers put RHP Pedro Baez on the 15-day DL with a pectoral strain and called LHP Daniel Coulombe up to replace him.

Jon has a great evening planned at Dodger Stadium, so cross your fingers that the rain stops in time for the game.

Here’s a good interview with Matt Kemp at Sports Illustrated.

May 13

Game 33, 2015

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Marlins at Dodgers, 4:50PM PT, TV: SPNLA

Note the 4:50PM start time: “The unusual start time of 4:50 p.m. PT (7:50 p.m. ET) was selected to comply with MLB travel rules, so the Marlins would have a day off Thursday without traveling.”

Carlos Frias goes to the mound for the Dodgers. He’s 3-0 with a 2.13 ERA and will be making his third start of the season. The Marlins will counter with Jarred Cosart, who’s 1-3 with a 3.67 ERA and has had some bad results recently, giving up seven runs in his last nine innings.

Lineup:


Rollins gets a day off, the rotating third base position lands on Turner, and apparently Scott Van Slyke is plumb wore out from his heroics of the last two days.

May 12

Game 32, 2015

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Marlins at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

Old friend Dan Haren goes for the Fish against Dodger farmhand Mike Bolsinger. Haren has become the most dependable starter the Marlins have, going 4-1 this season and winning his last three outings. His ERA is a sparkling 2.68.

Bolsinger is up from Oklahoma City for his second start with the big club. He did well in his first one back on April 23, going 5 2/3 innings while giving up 1 run and striking out 5 while walking 2. That was the second game in a row that the Giants beat the Dodgers on a walkoff hit. It was the game that Kendrick saved in the eighth inning with a horizontal dive to catch a ball headed for center field.

Lineup:


Poor Scott Van Slyke. Throw a guy out at the plate, hit a walkoff home run two innings later, and get dropped to the 8th spot in the batting order the next day.

May 11

Game 31, 2015

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Marlins at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

The Marlins’ second baseman this season is the guy who was the Dodgers’ second baseman last year, and he’s off to a super start. Dee Gordon is hitting .439 with an OBP of .462 as the leadoff guy for the Miami team. About the only thing he’s not doing well is base stealing — he’s swiped twelve but been caught six times.

The Marlins send out right-hander Tom Koehler, who’s 2-3 with a 5.18 ERA. He’s 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA in two starts against the Dodgers in the past. He’ll face Zack Greinke, who’s the best starter the Dodgers have right now, with a 5-0 record and a 1.56 ERA and a ten-game winning streak going back to August of last season. He’s 3-0 with a 3.97 ERA in his career against the Marlins.

Lineup when available.

May 09

Game 30, 2015

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Dodgers at Rockies, 5:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, MLBN

Clayton Kershaw makes his fourth try to win career number 100 this evening, weather permitting. He’s won six straight against the Rockies and has a 1.62 ERA over those games. He’s 14-5 with a 3.11 ERA in his career against the Rockies and is 7-3 at Coors Field, posting a 4.58 ERA. His opponent will be Jorge De La Rosa, who has 45 lifetime wins at Coors, more than any other pitcher in the history of the stadium. De La Rosa started the year on the DL, however, and he’s 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA after coming off it.

In outfielder news, Yasiel Puig tweaked his hamstring in a rehab game with Rancho Cucamonga Friday night.

Lineup when available.

The weather is not looking good, unless you’re a skier/snowboarder.

Continued rain today will increase the possibility of flash flooding throughout the urban corridor and plains. Residents should be on alert for flooding in their vicinity after heavy rains pass over. The far eastern plains could see severe weather with increased heating. Chances for large hail and tornadoes increase by this afternoon. For the mountains, the snow level will be around 9000ft lowering to 7000ft by this evening. Areas above 9000ft could see 2 to 6 inches by this afternoon with another 4 to 10 inches overnight. Mountain roads will be slushy and snow packed by this evening.

Okay, lineup for today’s game:

The weather is forecast to be in the low 40s with a small chance of rain.

No explanation given for Ethier’s absence in right field, nor for Uribe’s absence at third base. It could just be that the Rockies’ pitcher De La Rosa is a lefty.