Game 157, 2015

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Dodgers at Giants, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, CSN-BA

It’s Clayton Kershaw’s turn to try to advance the Dodgers into the postseason and turn out the lights on the Giants’ hopes of getting there. He’s 15-7 on the year with a 2.25 ERA, 1-2 with a 2.76 ERA against the Giants. He and his teammates will face Madison Bumgarner, who’s 18-8 with a 2.88 ERA, 2-1 with a 1.63 ERA against the Dodgers this season. Both of these pitchers have been excellent since the All Star break: Kershaw’s gone 9-1 with a 1.48 since then, while Bumgarner has been almost as good, going 9-3 with a 2.31 ERA. He’s also thrown three complete games in that span.

There are some other games of consequence being played today and tonight as well.

Lineup when available.

226 thoughts on “Game 157, 2015”

      • I’m sure he wants it, and time isn’t a problem, their first playoff game isn’t until the 9th (?)…

        • Yes, of course he will get another start, the issue may arise during the course of that game.

  4. So, Bochy said BadGums had bad luck yesterday. Homers by three of the Dodgers’ lesser power hitters was bad luck?

  5. Also from ESPN, but in a different post: “If the Dodgers can make up two games in their final five [on the Mets], they would open the playoffs Oct. 9 at Dodger Stadium.”

    • If Kershaw pitched like he did last night, I’m sorry – it doesn’t matter where Game 1 is. All it would take is 1 Dodger run in NY and suddenly HFA would be LA’s again.

  6. ESPN:

    The Dodgers will be making their ninth trip to the postseason since
    appearing in (and winning) their last World Series in 1988, all of which
    have come during the Wild Card era. That’s the most of any team without
    a World Series appearance over that span.

  7. Interesting point AJ made. Because there’s no bullpen, all the players were together for the long game last night, and he felt like it made them come together as a team.

  9. Kershaw at 294 strikeouts. Among Dodgers pitchers, only Sandy Koufax (three times) has ever had more in a single season.

  10. Hairston asked Kershaw about the 13 pitch at bat. Kershaw: I knew I didn’t
    have a chance, so I just spread out and tried to be as annoying as possible.

  12. Thanks, everybody for all season. On to the playoffs! I didn’t paint my nails blue, but I wore my Ebbets Field 1955 World Series Champions T-shirt tonight. It has a picture of Ebbets Field on it. I got it about 15 years ago.

  30. Okay. Clearly he starts the ninth. If he can get another strikeout or 2 or 3 in the ninth – he would be within shouting distance of 300. Even in a reduced start to warm up for the playoffs – he might still do it.

  36. Kershaw should bat with all those towels he wears in the dugout when he comes to the plate!

  56. At this rate Kenley’s last meaningful pitch of the regular season might well have been last Thursday.

    • It would be funny if he doesn’t pitch until tomorrow or later – potentially after the Dodgers clinch. My guess we see him in the ninth if it is 4-0 or even 5-0.

  58. 2 truckloads of topsoil and mulch won’t move themselves, so I’ve pressed record to watch (celebrate?!?) later

  67. have been out gardening, but just thought that this might be the game of the day on TV. just came inside in time to see both the HR’s!

  69. It appears Kershaw’s at bat meant Bochy left Bum in one inning too long. The 6th inning is the new 7th this year?

  79. Strikeouts to one pitch pop ups and two pitch ground outs: Na unh. Kersh and us are still besties.

      • Much better, thanks. I had to give myself a little “settle down” talk, and I just did the elliptical for the first inning, and cooked and ate dinner for the next few.

        • Good call on the elliptical. And then a nice dinner. Sounds like you are good to go! #notadoctor but sounding like I know what I’m talking about 🙂

  103. Bases loaded, none out, and we produce all of one run. One key hit and we could have been up by three. Giants fans have to be happy with that, Dodgers fans not. Was Kendrick’s grounder a potential DP?

  104. Oh, man, more runs would have been nice there. Steiner telling us Mattingly spoke to Rollins to tell him Seager was playing SS for the next several games. Then the kid strikes out. It figures.

  108. Ok………Let’s lace ’em up and try this again 24 hrs. later……..
    ….
    Glad to have Ki-que’s energy back…….

  109. Goodness. rainouts all over the East. The Jays can’t clinch and will have to play two against the Os, the Cards and Pirates will have to play a doubleheader and so will the Twins and Indians.

    • He had only 51 PA against lefties last year. Difference is that he is murdering righties again like he used to. And doing twice as well against leftiies (though still only 63 OPS+)

  114. From Grant Brisbee:

    Don Mattingly is weird, y’all.

    Consider his bunt fetish. He loves, loves, loves putting runners in scoring position with one out, even if it means sacrificing an out to the baseball gods. A wee, precious out. So fragile, so rare. Mattingly crushed the out’s skull against a rock and feasted on the syrup inside. He didn’t give a single damn.

    Contrast that with Bruce Bochy in the bottom of the 12th. After a leadoff single, Kelby Tomlinson came up. He’s fast and ostensibly bunty. Seems like a fella who can half-swing the stick. Mattingly was probably telling his fielders to crash and crash hard. Bunt’s-a-comin’.

    Except the bunt never came. And Tomlinson lined an opposite-field single to right, allowing the winning run to scamper to third. Good things can happen when the bunt is neglected. It’s not all double plays and pop-outs. The Giants won because they didn’t bunt; the Dodgers lost because they did.

    If you don’t care so much about the bunt, focus on the fact that Kenley Jansen warmed up four times without coming into the game. He’s the best pitcher on the team after Kershaw and Greinke. He can get outs. He can get strikeouts with a runner on third and one one, which, say, was the exact situation the Dodgers were in when they lost. If you need a primer on why Jansen should have been in there, some dingus wrote about it here:

    … when it comes to the Dodgers and Kenley Jansen, who is clearly the best reliever on the team (without a close runner-up), not using him in a tie game on the road is the same thing as saying, “Nah, that’s okay. Improving the odds of the game continuing isn’t as important as the closer getting a save opportunity that may or may not ever exist, even if it comes in a three-run game.” Yet, that’s what Don Mattingly does, without fail.

    • This is exactly what I was yelling at Mattingly about last night – bringing in KJ in the bottom of the 12th. (After earlier sighing heavily about calling for a bunt.) Granted, I was in the my kitchen, and he was in SF. But did he listen? No, he did not. Bochy is the smarter manager, sad to say.

    • I am no Mattingly fan, and his departure would not upset me. That said, many if not most major league managers would do exactly what he did last night. There is no guarantee that a different manager would be any better.

      • Hence my position that I have yet to like any manager the Dodgers have had or are likely to have in the future. I think Mattingly’s gone unless the Dodgers actually get to the World Series.

          • Their Series championships were simply not good enough for you, then? It sounds as if you think the ’63 Dodgers should have done better than just sweeping the Yanquis.

          • Every year is a new season, a new chance to win. Winning once, twice, whatever, does not make up for all the losses. You’re bandying words to pick a fight…

        • He has the personal backing of the owner, so unless he himself does something that clearly results in the Dodgers not making it that the FO can add to a list of grievances, I think he stays.

      • Rather strange performance on Donnie’s part. He might have outfoxed Bochy if he had only pulled the trigger and brought in Kenley in the 12th. I had assumed that he was going the conventional route and was only going to bring him in if and when the Dodgers got the lead. If he had gone the non-conventional route at the get go, he would have already used Kenley in the 9th. I hadn’t know that Kenley had been up four times already. A bit of a waste. Of course, Donnie only has to win one of the four so he may be taking a longer view, but even then, as you pointed out last night, Kenley seems to have rust issues and hadn’t been used in 4 days alredy.