Apr 30

Game 20, 2022

Tigers at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: BS Detroit, MLBN (out-of-market only), SPNLA

The visiting Tigers give the ball to RHP Beau Brieske (0-1, 5.40 ERA); the 24-year-old will be making his second big league start. He’ll face the Dodgers’ LHP Clayton Kershaw (3-0, 2.65 ERA), who’s ten years older and fifteen years into a Hall of Fame career.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1940 The Dodgers tie the major league mark for consecutive wins from the beginning of the season with style as James ‘Tex’ Carleton no-hits the Reds, 3-0, for the team’s ninth straight victory since Opening Day.
  • 1944 In the first game of a doubleheader split, first baseman Phil Weintraub gets 11 RBIs, and player-manager Mel Ott scores six runs, drawing five walks in the Giants’ 26-8 rout of the Dodgers. Brooklyn wins the nightcap 5-4 in a game shortened due to darkness.
  • 1988 Dave Winfield ties the major league RBI record for April established by Dodger infielder Ron Cey in 1977 and matched by Dale Murphy of the Braves in 1985. The right fielder, who was on base at least once in every game, drives in his 28th and 29th runs of the month in the Yankees’ 15-3 rout of Texas in New York.

Lineups when available.

Apr 29

Game 19, 2022

Tigers at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: BS Detroit, SPNLA

Today is a battle of the grad students: two guys whose initials are TA face one another. The Tigers send out LHP Tyler Alexander (0-2, 7.20 ERA); he’ll face the Dodgers’ Tyler Anderson (1-0, 2.84 ERA). So far this year Alexander has pitched ten innings and given up 10 runs on fourteen hits. If there’s a bright side, it’s that he’s struck out eight while walking none in those ten innings. The Dodgers’ Anderson started the season in the bullpen but with Andrew Heaney’s trip to the IL he’s been asked to start. He has yet to go longer than 4 2/3 innings, but he got a win in relief of Tony Gonsolin on April 15.

The biggest news of the day is that MLB suspended former Dodger pitcher Trevor Bauer for two full seasons “for violating Major League Baseball’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy.” The Dodgers issued the following statement:

“Today, we were informed that MLB has concluded its investigation into allegations that have been made against Trevor Bauer, and the Commissioner has issued his decision regarding discipline. The Dodgers organization takes all allegations of this nature very seriously and does not condone or excuse any acts of domestic violence or sexual assault. We’ve cooperated fully with MLB’s investigation since it began, and we fully support MLB’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Child Abuse Policy, and the Commissioner’s enforcement of the Policy. We understand that Trevor has the right to appeal the Commissioner’s decision. Therefore, we will not comment further until the process is complete.”

As could be expected, Bauer subsequently announced that he will appeal. The MLBPA (the Player’s Union) hasn’t yet issued a statement.

On this day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1978 The Cardinals tie a franchise record for the quickest nine-inning game played in their history, taking only one-hour and thirty-three minutes to beat the Dodgers at Busch Stadium, 1-0. The contest marks the managerial debut of Ken Boyer, replacing Vern Rapp, the Redbird skipper fired four days ago.
  • 1994 Kirk Rueter becomes the first pitcher in 13 seasons to begin his major league career with a 10-0 record when the Expos beat San Diego at Olympic Stadium, 3-2. In 1981, Dodgers southpaw Fernando Valenzuela started the year with eight victories to improve his overall record to 10-0 for the Dodgers, somewhat similar to the Montreal left-hander, who started his streak last season with an 8-0 mark before winning his first two decisions this year.
  • 2005 Although Eric Gagne is on the disabled list and hasn’t thrown a pitch this season, he is suspended for two games and fined. The action is taken because after being ejected on April 6 for heckling home plate umpire Bill Hohn, MLB warned the Dodgers closer he was in violation of Rule 3.17, which states players on the disabled list may not take part in any activity during the game, the former Cy Young winner continued to dress and participate in game activities.

Here’s a terrifying note: on this day in 1930 (which should be called the Year of the Hitter — look it up) an average of 17+ runs a game is scored in the seven major league games played today. After the dust settles, players from 14 teams will cross the plate 123 times. On a sadder note, on this day in 1939 on a chilly Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium, Lou Gehrig comes to the plate in the fourth inning and singles off Washington hurler Ken Chase for his 2,721st and last hit, the most ever in franchise history. The ‘Iron Horse’s’ record will stand for over 70 years until Derek Jeter, another 35 year-old team captain, surpasses the mark in 2009.

Lineups when available.

Apr 27

Game 18, 2022

Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 12:40 PM PDT, TV: BS Arizona, SPNLA

The Dodgers hand the ball to LHP Julio Urías (1-1, 3.00 ERA). He’ll face the D-Backs’ RHP Zac Gallen (0-0, 1.00 ERA). Urías’s first start was awful; he only got through two innings and gave up six runs. In his two outings since he’s given up one run on three hits. Gallen went four scoreless innings in his first start and five innings while giving up one run in his next. Today will be his third start.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1981 Fernandomania continues to explode at Chavez Ravine when Dodger rookie sensation Fernando Valenzuela pitches his fourth shutout in five starts. The 20 year-old Mexican southpaw, who is batting over .400, beats the Giants, 5-0, and lowers his ERA to a microscopic 0.20.

  • 2004 At Dodger Stadium, Mike Piazza ties Carlton Fisk for the most career homers by a catcher as he hits Hideo Nomo’s sixth-inning pitch into the stands for his 351st round-tripper as a backstop. The homer, which was his 362nd overall, moves the Mets’ star past Yankees’ Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio on the all-time list.
  • 2007 On the night in which the ceremonial first pitch is thrown by his three sons, Trevor Hoffman is unable to hold on to a two run lead when the Dodgers score three in the ninth and eventually beat the Padres, 6-5. It’s ‘Trevor Time Desk Clock’ Night, and the usually reliable Padres closer blows the save, thanks to some shady defense, for the second consecutive game.
  • 2010 The suddenly streaking Mets win their sixth consecutive game with a doubleheader sweep of the Dodgers, 4-0 and 10-5. The victories mark the first time since August 28, 1971 that the club has taken both ends of a twin bill from L.A.

Lineups when available.

Apr 26

Game 17, 2022

Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 6:40 PM PDT, TV: BS Arizona Extra, MLBN (out-of-market only), SPNLA

The Dodgers’ RHP Tony Gonsolin (1-0, 0.69 ERA) brings his gaudy ERA to Chase Field to face the Diamondbacks’ RHP Zach Davies (1-1, 5.02 ERA). Gonsolin took a no-hitter into the sixth inning against the Braves in his last start when Manny Piña broke it up with a leadoff single. Davies gave up two runs on two hits in five innings in his last start against the Nationals and got the win.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 2001 After two and a half years in the post, Kevin Malone resigns as the general manager of the Dodgers. Despite having the league’s largest payroll, Los Angeles has failed to make the playoffs during his tenure.
  • 2008 Brad Penny’s 96-mph fastball is missed by Dodger batterymate Russell Martin and knocks out umpire Kerwin Danley. After the players are asked to leave the field, the home plate arbitrator, who lost consciousness briefly, is placed on a stretcher and leaves the Dodgers-Rockies game in an ambulance.
  • 2008 “We can’t tell you to survive the storms of life, we can tell you to dance in the rain, and you can do it. You really can do it. Very difficult, but possible.” – VIN SCULLY, delivering the commencement address at Pepperdine University. (Take note of the graduates’ headgear.)

    Vin Scully receives an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Pepperdine University in Malibu, the institution’s highest honor. The Dodgers’ Hall of Fame broadcaster delivers a stirring commencement address to the 2008 Class of Seaver College, telling the graduates that achieving dreams may be “very difficult, but possible”.

Lineups:

Apr 25

Game 16, 2022

Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 6:40 PM PDT, TV: BS Arizona, SPNLA

The Dodgers continue their road trip tonight with RHP Walker Buehler (1-1, 4.02 ERA) trying to get his second win and his ERA down. He’s gone no longer than 5 2/3 innings so far this season. He’ll face the D-Backs’ RHP Merrill Kelly (1-0, 0.59 ERA), who’s been increasing his innings in each start and got a win in the last one, giving up a run on six hits to the Nationals over 6 1/3 innings. That was the first run he’d given up this year.

Today in Dodgers history:

  • 1937 Cliff Melton becomes the first rookie to fan at least 10 batters in his major league debut, finishing with 13 strikeouts in a complete-game loss to the Braves at the Polo Grounds. The 25 year-old southpaw, who loses the 3-1 contest due to the poor defense of the Giants in the ninth inning, will hold the rookie record for K’s in his debut until Dodger freshman Karl Spooner whiffs 15 batters in his first major league start in 1954.
  • 1958 In front of 60,635 fans at the Los Angeles Coliseum, the Dodgers, who beat St. Louis, 5-2, set a National League record for the largest crowd to attend a night game during the regular season. The mark will be broken next season when 61,552 fans show up on Opening Night at the Coliseum to watch their team defeat the Redbirds again.
  • 1967 Jim Lefebvre commits three errors in the fourth frame, paving the way for the Braves’ 7-1 victory at Dodger Stadium. The Los Angeles third baseman commits a fourth error, booting Hank Aaron’s grounder in the top of the ninth inning.
  • 1975 LA hurler Andy Messersmith strokes three doubles at Candlestick Park. The trio of two-baggers contributes to the Dodgers’ 6-5 victory over San Francisco with the right-hander scoring two runs and driving in another en route to his victory.
  • 1976 During the fourth inning of the game being played at Dodger Stadium, Rick Monday becomes a national hero when he takes away an American Flag about to be set on fire by the two trespassers (a father and son) in the outfield. The Cubs’ 30 year-old fly chaser, who served six years in the Marine Reserves, will be presented the flag a month later in a pregame ceremony at Wrigley Field by L.A. executive Al Campanis as a gesture of patriotic thanks.

  • 1995 The 257-day strike ends when the Dodgers beat the Marlins 8-7. The work stoppage caused last season to end early, forced the cancellation of the World Series, and delayed the opening of this season.

Lineups when available.

Apr 24

Game 15, 2022

Dodgers at Padres, 1:10 PM PDT, TV: BS San Diego, MLBN (out-of-market only), SPNLA

No matter what position in the rotation these pitchers have, they’re aces. Today LHP Clayton Kershaw (2-0, 3.00 ERA) goes for the Dodgers while LHP Sean Manaea (2-1, 1.42 ERA) takes the ball for the Padres. Kershaw started out the year with seven innings of perfection before being pulled from the game, and his second start was good until the sixth when he gave up a home run, a single and double and came out. Then the bullpen let those two runners score. In Manaea’s three starts he’s given up just three runs.

This day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1958 At the Los Angeles Coliseum, Gene Fodge picks up his only major league victory when the Cubs beat the Dodgers, 15-2. Outfielder Lee Walls carries the day with three homers and eight RBIs.
  • 1962 Dodger southpaw Sandy Koufax ties his major league record, a mark he shares with Bob Feller, when he strikes out 18 batters in a nine-inning contest during the team’s 10-2 rout of the Cubs at Wrigley Field. In 1938, nineteen year-old right-hander Bob Feller established the record, whiffing 18 batters in the Indians’ 4-1 loss to the Tigers at Cleveland Stadium.
  • 1965 Casey Stengel wins his 3,000th game as a manager when his Amazin’ Mets score three runs in the top of the ninth inning to beat San Francisco at Candlestick Park, 7-6. The ‘Old Perfessor’, who served as the skipper for the Dodgers, Braves, and Yankees, won more than a third of his games (1,149) during his 12-year tenure with the Bronx Bombers.
  • 1998 Dodger backstop Mike Piazza ties a major league record, hitting his third grand slam of the month. The blast highlights a nine-run second inning which leads Los Angeles to a 12-4 victory over the visiting Cubs.

Also, in 2003 Chase Utley gets his first major league hit, blasting a third inning grand slam off Rockies starter Dennis Cook. The rookie second baseman’s big fly to right field contributes to the Phillies’ 9-1 victory at Veterans Stadium.

Lineups when available.

Apr 23

Game 14, 2022

Dodgers at Padres, 5:40 PM PDT, TV: BS San Diego, MLBN (out-of-market only), SPNLA

Lefty Tyler Anderson (1-0, 2.25 ERA) pitches for the Dodgers; he’ll face old friend RHP Yu Darvish (1-1, 6.28 ERA) of the Padres. Anderson has pitched four innings in each of his two games this season, both in relief of Tony Gonsolin. Today, with Andrew Heaney on the IL, he gets his first start of the year. Darvish has been up and down, as his W-L record and ERA show. In his first start he had a six-inning no-decision; in his next he got hammered and went only 1 2/3 innings, giving up nine runs on eight hits (leading me to ask why he was left in so long). Then in his third start he went 6 2/3 innings in which he gave up just one run on four hits.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1958 In a 7-6 loss to Chicago at the LA Coliseum, two Dodger mainstays from Brooklyn reach career milestones. First baseman Gil Hodges, who will finish his 18-year major league tenure with 370 home runs on his way to the Hall of Fame, hits his 300th career round-tripper, and Captain Pee Wee Reese, a future Hall of Fame shortstop himself, plays in his 2000th game.
  • 1999 Fernando Tatis becomes the only player in baseball history to hit two grand slams in one inning when he collects eight RBIs in one frame to breaks the old record of six. The Cardinal third baseman hits both off Dodger starter Chan Ho Park in an 11-run third of the team’s 12-5 victory at Chavez Ravine.
  • 2000 The Dodgers complete a sweep of the Reds to notch their 1,000th win over baseball’s oldest professional franchise. Since 1970, Los Angeles is the only National League franchise to play over .500 ball (120-115) in Cincinnati (Riverfront Stadium/Cinergy Field).

Lineups when available.

Apr 22

Game 13, 2022

Dodgers at Padres, 6:40 PM PDT, TV: BS San Diego, SPNLA

The Dodgers bus down Interstate 5 to San Diego, where they ask LHP Julio Urías (0-1, 3.86) to continue his bounceback from his first outing. He’ll face the Padres’ RHP Nick Martinez (0-1, 4.50 ERA), whose pattern so far this season is the opposite of Urías’s: he had an excellent first start and a bad second one.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1898 Today marks the first time two no-hitters occur on the same day when Orioles (NL) right-hander Jay Hughes and Reds southpaw Theodore Breitenstein keep their opponents hitless, beating the Beaneaters, 8-0, and the Pirates, 11-0, respectively. A double no-no on the same date will not happen again until June 29, 1990, when A’s Dave Stewart and Dodger Fernando Valenzuela accomplish the feat with gems against the Blue Jays and Cardinals.
  • 2007 The Red Sox become the fifth big-league team to hit four consecutive homers in an inning when Manny Ramirez, J.D. Drew, Mike Lowell, and Jason Varitek go deep with two outs in the third inning at Fenway off Yankee starter Chase Wright. J.D. Drew was also part of the quartet of the 2006 Dodgers, who were the fourth major league team to connect for four straight round-trippers in one frame.

Lineups when available.

Apr 20

Game 12, 2022

Braves at Dodgers, 12:10 PM PDT, TV: BS South, MLBN (out-of-market only), SPNLA

The Braves give the ball to RHP Charlie Morton (1-1, 6.10 ERA) while the Dodgers hand theirs to RHP Tony Gonsolin (0-0, 1.29 ERA). Morton beat the Reds in his first start and lost to San Diego in his second. His longest outing was his second at 5 1/3 innings. Gonsolin has made two starts and gone three innings against the Rockies and four against the Reds.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1999 A crowd of 37,317 fans enjoys a 3-2 victory over the Braves when LA surpasses the 100 million mark in attendance at Dodger Stadium. The ballpark opened in 1962, four seasons after the franchise moved from Brooklyn to the west coast.
  • 2011 Bud Selig announces MLB is taking over operations of the Dodgers because of concerns over team finances and the ability of Frank McCourt to run the franchise. Los Angeles is facing substantial debt payments, which the owner plans to meet by using funding from the club’s new $2.5 billion, 20-year media-rights deal with Fox Sports, but the Commissioner has withheld his approval of the agreement between the News Corp.’s media company and the team.
  • 2012 The Reds become the fifth major league team to record their 10,000th franchise victory with a 9-4 win over Chicago at Wrigley Field. Cincinnati joins the Giants, Cubs, Dodgers, Cardinals, and Braves in reaching the milestone.

Lineups when available.

Apr 19

Game 11, 2022

Braves at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: BS South, SPNLA, TBS (out-of-market only)

The visiting Braves give the ball to LHP Max Fried (0-2, 5.73 ERA). He’ll face the Dodgers’ RHP Walker Buehler (1-0, 3.38 ERA). Fried’s first two starts have been pretty bad: he gave up eight hits and five runs to the Reds on April 7 and seven runs and three hits to the Nats a week later. Buehler won his first start, going five innings, and had no decision in his second, in which he went 5 2/3 innings.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1890 The Brooklyn Bridegrooms, who will later be known as the Dodgers, play their first National League game. The former American Association team loses to the Beaneaters, who will become known as the Braves in 1912, at Boston’s South End Grounds, 15-9.
  • 1938 During the first inning, both Dodgers’ Ernie Koy and Phillies’ Emmett Mueller homer in their first major league at-bats. The pair of rookies will collectively hit a total 42 home runs during their nine seasons in the major leagues.
  • 1956 In the first major league game ever played in New Jersey, the Dodgers begin their Jersey City home game experiment with a 10-inning 5-4 victory over the Phillies at Roosevelt Stadium. A sparse crowd of 12,214, limited by inclement weather, sees Brooklyn backstop Roy Campanella tie the score in the tenth inning with his 1000th career hit, a double down the left field line.
  • 1968 Nolan Ryan makes quick work of the Dodgers when he strikes out the side on nine pitches in the top of the third inning of the Mets’ 3-2 loss at Shea Stadium. The 21 year-old New York fireballer, who will also accomplish the feat with the Angels in 1972, strikes out 11 batters in 7.1 frames, including Claude Osteen, Wes Parker, and Zoilo Versalles, the victims of his immaculate inning.
  • 2000 Veteran hurler Orel Hershiser ties a major league mark, equaled by 19 others, hitting four batters in one game. Astro Richard Hidalgo also ties a modern major league record by getting hit three times in a game, twice by Hershiser and a third time by Dodger reliever Matt Herges.
  • 2002 Mariners’ third baseman Jeff Cirillo ties the major league record for consecutive errorless games at the hot corner by playing his 99th contest without a miscue. John Wehner, a journeyman infielder with the Dodgers, Pirates, and Marlins, established the mark during a span of eight-plus seasons.

Lineups when available.