Game 70, 2015

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Giants at Dodgers, 5:08PM PT, TV: ESPN

Here we go again. The Giants have already swept two series from the Dodgers this season and they have a chance to do it again today in front of a national audience on ESPN. If they do, they’ll take over first place in the NL West by a half-game.

This is the only Sunday Night Baseball appearance the Dodgers make this year. They have a Wednesday game this week and a Friday game July 3. That’s it on “The Worldwide Leader in Sports.” For a team which was regarded as a lock to win its division and make it to the playoffs that seems a little short-sighted to me.

The Giants will send Tim Lincecum to the mound this afternoon. He’s 7-3 with a 3.31 ERA and is having a nice comeback so far from what have been several poor years following his Cy Young winning seasons of 2008-2009. The Dodgers can take some hope in the fact that Lincecum hasn’t had a quality start in his last five and he’s given up six home runs in those appearances.

The Dodgers counter with Brett Anderson, who’s gotten virtually zip in run support and has a 2-4 record and a 3.43 ERA to show for it. The Dodgers have scored two or fewer runs in 7 of his 13 starts this season. He and Greinke should file a class-action lawsuit against the team’s offense.

Yasiel Puig has owned Lincecum since he came into the league. He’s 10-17 against him with four extra-base hits.

Lineup when available.

Guerrero takes Ethier’s place in left field. Since Lincecum’s right-handed, I guess Mattingly just thinks Ethier needs a day off.

114 thoughts on “Game 70, 2015”

    • The biggest cultural difference may be that there are a lot more players who are bilingual now who can interpret (in Puig’s case, when he first came up he had both A-Gon and Juan Uribe available). Clemente was on a team with no one who could speak both Spanish and English, and in a time when teams weren’t going to pay for interpreters. Imagine if Nomo or Saito hadn’t had a Dodgers-supplied Japanese speaker around for them.

      • Puig, however, came from a totalitarian environment to what must seem like “anything goes.” That’s a huge step to take, and finding your limitations can be a slow process.

  3. From MLBTR…

    Melissa Mayeux, a 16-year-old French shortstop, has become the first known female to be added to Major League Baseball’s international prospect registration list, writes MLB.com’s Lindsay Berra. That would make Mayeux, who plays for the U-18 French junior national team, eligible to sign with a Major League club on July 2. As Berra goes on to explain, only players that at least have a chance to be signed by a Major League team are typically registered. It still seems unlikely that Mayeux will be signed, Berra continues. European prospects typically sign at the age of 18, as opposed to 16, as is often the case with Latin American prospects. Mayeux tells Berra that she’s not focusing on being the first female added to the registration list and simply hopes to be able to play baseball for as long as possible. MLB director of international game development Mike McClellan calls Mayeux a “legitimate shortstop,” praising her fielding ability and adding that she “swings the bat really well and is fearless.”

  5. Can’t call a June 21 game a must win, but we badly needed this one. Can you imagine how dreary the flight to Chicago would have been had we lost?

  13. Love to see them score another run here to keep the run(s)/inning streak going.

  14. I think you scared the Dodgers RBI. Or they just really love your name.

  36. BTW, Winnepeg Dave and others, who were talking about the women’s world cup, what about those Aussies beating the might of Brazil!

  43. Monday noticed that Anderson has been limping since he got hit by the ball.

  47. Nice D, especially after Mo pointed out they weren’t handling it properly before that.

        • Just wondering if that was by design, since they did it on the next play as well, I believe.

          • Gotcha.
            We’ll go with the optimistic approach, that they meant to do it. . . . Yeah, that’s the ticket!

          • I think it was the ticket. Designed to get the slow running catcher at second, where Rollins was covering, and, as we saw, the possibility of getting the 250 lb Petit (!?) at first.

          • I like the thought that there’s thinking going on out there.
            I like even more that they got out of that near-disastrous inning.
            I like even more than THAT that the bats have come alive.

  51. Oh yeah – Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there. Hope it’s been a good day thus far.

  55. It feels like it’s going to be a good night tonight. Here’s hoping anyway.

  61. Let’s see how tonight goes. (I have to be out for most of the game, but will be checking my phone for the score. If we win, I’ll stick with RBI. If we lose, Woo-HOO it is. Thanks, Package, for the suggestion. (My old user name was LOB, until it was proving too true to keep.)

    • RBI is a much smoother handle than Woo-HOO. The Dodgers just have to win tonight, if for no other reason than for you to keep your name.

  62. Lincescum’s numbers above are very misleading. He rarely goes more than six innings, if that, with high pitch counts and a poor ball-strike ratio. He’s no better than in previous years, perhaps even worse.

  63. We couldn’t beat Bozo the Clown right now… Matter of fact, isn’t he 3 and 0 against us?