Category Archives: Game Threads

For discussion of today’s game

Jun 29

Game 84, 2014

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Cardinals at Dodgers, 1:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, MLBN

Clayton Kershaw brings his 21 1/3 straight scoreless innings streak to the game along with his 8-2 W-L record and his 2.24 ERA. The Cardinals counter with Shelby Miller, who is 7-6 with a 3.75 ERA on the year. Miller left his last start after 2 2/3 innings with back stiffness, however, so the Cardinals are hoping he can go deeper but keeping their bullpen ready.

Of interest: The Dodgers have played nine straight games without committing an error, their best defensive stretch of the season.

Jun 28

Game 83, 2014

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Cardinals at Dodgers, 4:15PM PT, TV: Fox

Zack Greinke (9-4, 2.89 ERA) and Lance Lynn (8-4, 2.90 ERA) are two of the league’s leading righthanders. They face off against one another this afternoon on national television. Lynn last pitched against the Rockies and gave up three hits and no runs in 8 innings. Greinke is coming off what might be his worst outing of the year, giving up five runs and eleven hits to the Royals in 5 2/3 innings.

Lineup when available.

Jun 27

Game 82, 2014

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Jon Weisman has put together a “40 Greatest Hits of the First Half” video collection. See it here.

I’m not sure I believe this, but the Dodgers have won the regular-season series over the Cardinals each year since 2011. It surely doesn’t feel like it.

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

It’ll be Carlos Martinez (1-3, 4.33 ERA) for the Cards and Hyun-Jin Ryu (9-3, 3.06 ERA) for the Dodgers tonight. This will be Martinez’s third start of the year; as noted yesterday, the injuries to the Cardinals’ regular starters have forced them to pull guys out of the pen. Ryu is on somewhat of a roll: he’s 6-1 with a 3.12 ERA since May 21.

Jun 26

Game 81, 2014

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

Adam Wainwright (he of the 10-3, 2.08 ERA record) goes for the Redbirds. The Dodgers send Josh Beckett (5-4, 2.28 ERA) out to meet him. Wainwright’s ERA is second in all of baseball, Beckett’s is fifth. (Kershaw’s is 2.24, but he hasn’t got the number of innings to match the one-inning-per-team’s-games requirement yet — he’s got 72.1 innings, and the Dodgers have played 80 games.)

Who’s gonna pitch for the Cards the rest of the series? Good question.

Joe Kelly, Michael Wacha and Jaime Garcia are already missing because of injury, and St. Louis had to use five relief pitchers after Miller exited. There is no official word on whether Miller will be available for his next start.

That means that Carlos Martinez (three career starts) and Marco Gonzales (moved from Double-A to the Majors on Wednesday for his first start) might need to hold down spots in the rotation.

Lineup when available.

Jun 25

Game 80, 2014

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Dodgers at Royals, 5:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

James Shields (8-3, 3.70 ERA) will pitch for the Royals, and Dan Haren (7-4, 3.62 ERA) goes for the Dodgers. Each guy has been hit with the home run bug recently. In Shields’ last game he gave up two dingers for four runs, while Haren had given up ten HRS in seven starts prior to his last one, and he didn’t improve. He gave up two to Seth Smith of the Padres that night.

History: In 267 career starts, Shields has never faced the Dodgers, while Haren owns a 5-2 record and a 2.77 ERA against the Royals in 11 career starts.

There’s no word yet on whether Hanley Ramirez’s shoulder will allow him to play.

Lineup when available.

Jun 24

Game 79, 2014

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Dodgers at Royals, 5:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, MLBN (free game, possibly subject to blackout)

This will be Kershaw’s first outing since his no-hitter. He’s 7-2 with a 2.52 ERA. He’ll face Danny Duffy, who’s had four straight starts in which he’s given up fewer than three runs and two of them none. He’s 4-6 with a 2.80 ERA. Kershaw has never faced the Royals and Duffy has never faced the Dodgers.

In news of the Dodgers’ minor leaguers, Corey Seager and Julio Urias have been selected for the MLB Futures Game to be played on July 13 at Target Field in Minneapolis as part of the All-Star Game festivities.

Lineup when available.

In personnel news via Twitter: “Don Mattingly confirmed Hanley Ramirez is out of lineup because of the right AC Joint irritation that forced a cortisone shot in Cincy.”

Jun 23

Game 78, 2014

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Dodgers at Royals, 5:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

Zack Greinke returns to the stadium where he began his big league career and where he has a 36-28 record and a 3.48 ERA over 111 appearances. He’ll be facing Jeremy Guthrie, who has a 4-6 record with a 3.86 ERA. Guthrie’s spent his entire career in the AL thus has never faced the Dodgers at all, while Greinke has pitched two games against the Royals, both in 2012 and neither of which resulted in a decision.

Mattingly says he’ll rotate Ramirez, Gonzalez and Puig in the DH spot for the three games in the AL park.

Lineup when available.

Jun 22

Game 77, 2014

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Dodgers at Padres, 1:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSSD

Hyun-Jin Ryu goes for the Dodgers against old acquaintance Eric Stults. Ryu has an 8-3 record with a 3.18 ERA this season. Past history with the Padres? He’s 1-0 with a 0.68 ERA in two career starts. Stults has had a miserable year so far: he’s 2-9 with a 5.76 ERA, and he’s given up 15 dingers in 75 innings.

Jun 21

Game 76, 2014

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Dodgers at Padres, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, MLB free game

Josh Beckett deserves better than his 4-4 won-loss record. He’s got a 2.49 ERA and his last loss was his defense’s fault. He pitches for the Dodgers at Petco Park tonight. The Padres counter with Tyson Ross, who’s 6-6 with a 3.27 ERA. His last outing wasn’t good; he walked seven in 5 2/3 innings and lost.

Lineup when available. Puig is day-to-day with a sore hip, apparently a recurrence of the flexor problem he had last week. Uribe is scheduled to play infield at Rancho Cucamonga tonight.

Jun 20

Game 75, 2014

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Dodgers at Padres, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSSD

The Padres send out Ian Kennedy tonight. He’s 5-8 with a 3.72 ERA. The Dodgers counter with Dan Haren. He’s 7-4 with a 3.54 ERA, but he’s been having trouble with the long ball. He’s given up ten HRs in his last seven starts.

“The Dodgers’ last homestand was their first with a winning record this season. They began it 13-19 at Dodger Stadium and finished 17-20.” Also, they’ve won three straight. They haven’t had a winning streak longer than three games all season long. Can they expand it tonight?

Kershaw talked to ESPN about his no-hitter one day later.

Lineup when available.