Game 90, 2015

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

The biggest surprise about Brett Anderson for the Dodgers this season might be that he’s remained healthy throughout. He’s 3-3 with a 3.12 ERA, coming off a loss which snapped a three-start winning streak. The biggest surprise about Kyle Lohse for the Brewers might be how poorly he’s pitched. He’s 5-10 with a 6.29 ERA, his highest since 2010 when he underwent forearm surgery in June and couldn’t come back till mid-August.

Lineup:

Ethier may still have hamstring tightness, which kept him out of Friday’s lineup. Maybe the shakeup of the order has some logic to Mattingly, but it has none to me.

128 thoughts on “Game 90, 2015”

    • Always liked the cut of Trent’s jib. Saw him strike out against Chapman in Mexico City in the WBC (Chapman had 7 Ks in 4 innings).

      • I seem to recall he had a four-hit game in which he was utterly awesome. He had a great smile, always seemed to be enjoying himself.

  3. Well, looks like they changed and I will be watching Ballslinger warm up. Seats for the other games are not above the pen, but will see Kershaw and Zach on the mound,

    • I remember seeing Koufax for about three innings at DC Stadium (later RFK) in the spring of 1965 or 1966 after the two teams left Florida before the season started.

      • Might have been 1966 when he and Don held out. Would account for him pitching at all or only going three innings. If I recall correctly there was a lot of rain on the East Coast and Don ended up starting 3 of the first 6 games because of rainouts.

        • Yep, Sandy started the 2nd game of the season and only went 3 innings (got bombed by the ‘Stros) and then the 6th game, where he built up to 6 innings of shutout ball and got the win against the Cubs.

    • I saw the Battle of the Birds at RFK in 1991 – a spring training game between the Orioles and Cards on a frigid Saturday in late March. Because RFK’s field dimensions had been altered for soccer, the LF fence had a high screen like the one at the LA Coliseum.

      • When the Nats started in 2005 they had resolved that to some extent Though still a short porch, which Soriano was able to exploit, no need for a screen.

  4. The Gnats have just signed PED’er Everth Cabrera, who is also serving three years’ probation on a driving while stoned plea bargain.

  6. Just got Molly Knight’s book. The prologue is a thinly veiled opening statement by the prosecution. To wit ” The Dodgers’ new owners were rich beyond belief and that money allowed them to load the roster with all stars. A handful of which were time bombs dressed as humans, which scared Kershaw beyond belief, because he wanted more than anything to win championships”. Well, I can guess who the bad guys are in this story.

  9. Chris Reed, on DFA from Dodgers, traded to the Marlins for a no name that doesn’t require a 40 man roster spot.

  11. Bochy did his homework and knows that Bryant has played 5 games in the OF this year (but pulls Joc to show how smart he is!)

    • You gotta get everybody in the game (yet another reason why it’s such a joke to give the home-field advantage to the winner).

  12. I’m probably forgetting something that happened in the last year or two – but it seems like the Dodger players always perform poorly in this silly exhibition game. Certainly the case so far this year.

    I can’t believe I get so bothered by the ASG but it usually irritates me like a mosquito buzzing around my head. Easily swatted away, but still annoying.

      • Sometimes I feel like I’ve lost my integrity by following it as closely as I have. I guess I still tie it to my memories of being a kid and watching it with my dad – back in the day when the NL always won the ASG.

        • The last great ASG was 1994. I was on a working camping trip in Wyoming, but rented a motel that night to be able to watch it.

          • 1964 and Johnny Callison’s 3 run dinger in the ninth is something I’ll never forget.

          • I recall the one in 1995 being excellent as well – a 3-2 come from behind win by the NL.

    • Don’t really follow the game so don’t know who messes up. Part of it may be that you are so focused on them and don’t register performances by other players in the same way. As I recall, Garvey used to do well in the ASG.

    • Got seats right above the visitors pen for Friday’s game in DC and will get to see Kershaw warm up real close!

        • That’s what Jon is saying. And then Greinke on Sunday so that they can split the 4 and 5 starters to relieve the pen a bit.

      • Clayton’s prep in the pen

        “Dodgers’ catcher A.J. Ellis can rattle off the list if you ask, like a flight attendant rambling through pre-takeoff safety instructions. “Three fastballs when I’m standing up. I sit, and three fastballs down the middle. Then three fastballs either side. Three changeups away. Fastball inside. Three curveballs to the middle. Fastball inside. Three sliders to the middle. Then he goes to the stretch position. Two fastballs inside, two fastballs away, two changeups, one fastball inside, two curveballs, one fastball inside, two sliders. Back to the windup, and one fastball inside, one fastball away.

        Thirty-four pitches in all.”

  14. Greinke giving the ASG the Joc Pederson treatment – 1 HR, 1 walk and 4 strikeouts in 2 innings. Lots of pitches – 39 – so I’m guessing he is done.

  18. Whatever the merits of going after Papelbon, MLBTR says, in so many words, that Amaro’s influence is overrated in whatever trade decisions Philly makes:

    “In the course of addressing Papelbon’s comments, which touched upon the decision-making process of the front office’s highest levels, Amaro said that there was internal clarity about how deadline decisions would be handled. Namely, current president Pat Gillick holds final authority, with incoming replacement Andy MacPhail serving more of an advisory function at present.”

    HOF baseball executive Gillick may be tough. But he is on the way out. So…?

    Amaro again: “Really, Pat is the one who ultimately will make the ultimate decisions.”

    Really, glad he ultimately cleared that up.

    http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/07/phillies-amaro-papelbon-harang-hamels-utley.html

    • Papelbon makes the decision here. He has a no-trade clause, and will not go anywhere that he won’t be the “closer.”

  19. Random Dodger stats picked up over the last few days:

    “They are 9-26 (.257) when trailing entering the seventh inning his season. Among National League teams, only the Padres (12-40, .231) have more wins and only the Cardinals (7-20, .259) have a better winning percentage in that situation this season.The Dodgers were 2-54 (.036) when trailing entering the seventh in 2014.”

    and

    “In late and close situations, defined as seventh inning or later either leading by a run, tied, or with the tying run on base, at bat or on deck, the Dodgers this season are hitting .245/.325/.411, third in the majors in both OPS and OPS+ (118) in that situation.”

    http://www.truebluela.com/2015/7/12/8940973/dodgers-comebacks

    So, while RISP failures are highly visible–and do have a big impact–they’re not the whole story, which is brighter. And things are relative.

    • As usual only a couple of comments on the post, with the rest just community banter. He deserves a lot better.

      • Yeah. In large part comments at DoDi are a waste of everyone’s time. In the limited amount I’ve seen, relatively few actually deal with baseball with many more off in the weeds, not just off topic. Puzzling why KT from Dodger Thoughts seems to comment there, apparently nowhere else.

        • Reading the posts almost always gives me the feeling the writer was being forced to write against his will. It’s a cooperative effort from 4 guys who used to have blogs of their own. Mike P was a lot better before he got married, now his time apparently isn’t his own. Chad had other interests before DD and he barely makes an effort when it’s his turn to post on DD. The only guy with enthusiasm is completely devoted to minor league prospects. He would make more money writing Science Fiction than Prospect Fiction. Pie in the sky that simply blows away.

        • Hard to figure why any normal person would go to comments at DD or TBLA. They’re not baseball fans there, they’re… well, crazy. KT goes to TBLA too, I don’t think the crazies like him from what I read. (Tried it once, never again)

  21. Best showing ever for a Dodger in this thing, after several outright embarrassments.

      • Obviously. But if MLB is going to have it–and it is–and the Dodgers are going to be in it–and they are–then it’s far better to be competitive than not.

        Due to its broad appeal, MLB would no more discontinue the HR derby than the NBA would its 3-point and slam-dunk events.

        Wouldn’t be surprising if the HR derby gets higher TV ratings than some actual all-star games.

        This year’s format is more “watchable” (as in will get higher ratings), at least.

    • Zack may invoke his icy serial killer stare upon taking the mound and scare all batters so badly they won’t even get in the box. Is there a process to forfeit ABs in an MLB all-star game ? ;-])

      One of the tweets under this story reads: “When asked how his day at school went, Greinke reportedly replied “Good” and went into his bedroom, closing the door behind him..”

      If that’s surprising, the writer likely never raised a teenager.

      Actually, a malevolent staring contest between Zack and legendary former Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt probably would be too close to call, likely require extra innings.

      She used hers to great effect, often never saying a word to the hapless player. Amazing how many times that player started playing much better…

  28. SI’s Jay Jaffe looks at buyers/sellers in the NL. He doubts the Dodgers will go for Hamels or Cueto, but might spring for innings-eaters like Mets lefty Jon Niese, Red Sox righty Clay Buchholz and White Sox righty Jeff Samardzija, whose names he says have been mentioned as ones the Dodgers are looking at.

  29. Word is the Pads will talk James Shields. I sure like his looks, hope the FO is thinking along those lines. Another player the Pads will talk that I like is their catcher, Derek Norris. I know we don’t need him badly but I see a lot there to like.

    • The Pads will not shop Shields to the Dodgers without a massive overpay. Norris is pretty good, but the Dodgers already have a front-line catcher and a decent backup, and a pretty good prospect in Austin Barnes. Meanwhile, it looks as if the Padres’ strategy of loading up on star players has backfired on them, and probably left their farm system fallow.

      • I already conceded we did not really need Norris. I think they are more likely to deal with the Dodgers than some other Western Division Clubs, cite Kemp/Grandal et al. All clubs will demand an overpay from Dodgers. If the FO wants Shields, they WILL find a way to get him…

        • I think (and hope) Cueto is a likelier target because, since he will be a free agent at year’s end, he will not require the same level of prospects that Hamels would.

          • Cueto would be nice. Both would be better. Haven’t you noticed, this FO tends to do things in a BIG way…

    • They passed on Shields once and hard to imagine them taking on his backloaded contract, which would pay him $21 million a year over the next three years.

    • Really enjoying the book that I picked up on the 2013 Filibusteros (“Big Data Baseball”). I find the writer to be a little melodramatic, but it tells how they used big data to try to improve their performance and provides some insights on how our FO looks at things.

  31. I saw very little baseball this weekend as we spent it in Monterey with very poor WiFi. I was pleased to see today’s result, though.

    • Spent the weekend myself in a similar situation (with a friend visiting from Monterey!).

  36. Well Link – is this the quietest game thread this year? Brings down our lofty standards of 100 or more comments!

  42. Even Turner’s outs are liners clear to the CF wall.
    Turner and Pederson’s at bats cost them 20 pitches…

  48. I will be in and out of today’s conversation as it is a brilliantly warm Sunday afternoon here and may be away from the computer throughout the afternoon.

    • It’s brilliantly warm here this afternoon, as usual, which is why I will be indoors with the computer. Triple digit temperatures aren’t for old men…

  49. This lineup – even though it still has 6 out of 8 regulars (not counting Anderson) – somehow feels like a last game of the season, or first game after clinching a playoff spot type feel to it.

    • Really? Ellis is just getting his twice a week start (day game after the night game). He has an OPS of 1.208 in his last 7 starts. Quique filling in for Dre is hitting OPS .911 over his last 7 starts. Hasn’t started since July 5 so good chance to get him off the bench.