Category Archives: Game Threads

For discussion of today’s game

Jun 18

Game 74, 2014

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

Colorado sends lefty Jorge De La Rosa and his 6-5, 4.12 ERA to the mound to face the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw, who is 6-2 with a 2.93 ERA.

Can the Dodgers finally be getting onto some kind of a roll? They’ve won 8 of their last 12 and 4 of 5 on this homestand.

This should affect the lineup: “Kemp is hitting .419 with three homers and 10 RBIs against De La Rosa. Adrian Gonzalez is right behind him against the Rockies left-hander at .361, also with three homers and 10 RBIs.” Maybe facing this guy will help Adrian break out of his slump.

Shortly after the game last night Hanley Ramirez tweeted the following:

Lineup when available.

Jun 17

Game 73, 2014

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

It’s the Rockies’ Jhoulys Chacin (1-4, 4.53 ERA) against the Dodgers’ Zack Greinke (8-3, 2.65 ERA). They faced one another on June 7 and neither got the decision, as the game went into extra innings and Brandon Barnes hit a walk-off triple in the 10th.

Chad Billingsley is going to have a second surgery, this one to repair his flexor tendon. “The flexor tendon runs alongside the ulnar collateral ligament that tore and was transplanted last year in a Tommy John procedure. If the flexor tendon tears further after an injection and rehab, it could compromise the repaired ligament,” so he decided on surgery rather than stem-cell injection and therapy. He should be ready for spring training next season.

Jun 16

Game 72, 2014

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

The Rockies pitch a kid making his second big league start, Tyler Matzek. The Dodgers counter with southpaw Hyun-Jin Ryu, who is 7-3 with a 3.33 ERA on the season. Young Mr. Matzek is a native of Mission Viejo and a 2009 first-round pick (11th overall) out of Capistrano Valley High School. He will be taking on the Dodgers in front of friends and family.

The Rockies have won five straight, including three come-from-behind wins against the Giants in San Francisco over the weekend, while the Dodgers took two of three from the D-Backs.

In case you missed it, Hall-of-Famer Tony Gwynn died earlier today of cancer of the salivary gland. The cancer first appeared in 2009 and then came back in 2012.

My first memory of Gwynn is as a point guard for San Diego State. When he played for SDSU the school was in the WAC, as was the U of Hawaii. You know how some guys do their best against particular teams? Gwynn seemed to be on top of his game whenever UH played SDSU, as did Marshall Faulk for the Aztecs in football.

Here’s Gwynn at SDSU:

Jun 15

Game 71, 2014

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

Josh Beckett (4-3, 2.35 ERA) takes the hill for the Dodgers against Bronson Arroyo (6-4, 4.22 ERA) of the D-Backs. Arroyo has been sneered at by some media folk for his hair and his guitar, but he’s a tough bird: apparently his arm has been hurting, but he’s never missed a start in his fifteen years in the bigs and doesn’t plan to now.

Jun 14

Game 70, 2014

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Diamondbacks at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, MLBN, SNLA Spanish

Dan Haren takes his record of 6-4 with a 3.49 ERA to the hill for the Dodgers. He’ll be facing Josh Collmenter, who is 4-3 with a 3.65 ERA.

If they had Uribear back this would almost be the season’s starting lineup. Juan is running curves (?) on the field and may be ready for a rehab assignment soon.

In other injury news, Chad Billingsley tore his flexor tendon on his way toward rehab outings in Albuquerque and will talk to reporters about his options today.

Jun 13

Game 69, 2014

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

Clayton Kershaw will start for the Dodgers, who have been bad-to-mediocre at home with a 13-19 record. Kershaw appears to be back to his usual brilliant self, however; he’s 5-2 with a 3.17 ERA; The rookie Chase Anderson will start for the D-Backs. He’s 5-0 with a 3.14 ERA.

Lineup when available.

Jun 11

Game 67, 2014

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Dodgers at Reds, 4:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

The Dodgers send out Hyun-Jin Ryu, who’s been spectacular on the road this season. He’s 5-0 with a 0.95 ERA away from Dodger Stadium. Overall, he’s 7-2 with a 3.08 ERA. The Reds counter with Johnny Cueto, a righty with a 5-5 W-L record and a 1.97 ERA. If you see that ERA and say “shouldn’t he be better than .500 in wins and losses?” you’d be right. Eleven of his thirteen starts this year have been quality ones. Either his bullpen has let him down or he’s gotten no decision in half of those starts.

Jun 10

Game 66, 2014

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Dodgers at Reds, 4:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

Josh Beckett (3-3, 2.57 ERA) goes for the Dodgers against Mike Leake (3-5, 3.29 ERA) of the Reds. In five career appearances (four starts) against the Dodgers, he is 2-2 with a 4.80 ERA. Another thing: in the last eight games the two teams have played, each team has won four. Six have been one-run affairs.

Bob Welch, who won 211 games in the major leagues for the Dodgers and As, died yesterday. He was only 57. Here’s Jon Weisman’s appreciation of the former pitcher.

Gordon and Puig are both in the lineup, so hopefully their respective hips are fully recovered.

Jun 09

Game 65, 2014

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Dodgers at Reds, 4:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA and ESPN (no blackout, supposedly)

Dan Haren has fallen on hard times recently, but he’s still got a 5-4 record and a 3.50 ERA. His opponent is LHP Tony Cingrani, who’s got a record of 2-6 with a 4.09 ERA. Cingrani had a good five innings last Wednesday against the Giants but gave up three runs after two outs in the sixth and lost the game.

I think we can assume that some of the Reds really look forward to facing Dan Haren:

Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips, right fielder Ryan Ludwick and shortstop Zack Cozart each have a pair of home runs in their careers against Haren. Phillips is 6-for-18 (.333) with five RBIs against the right-hander, Ludwick is 5-for-9 (.556) with four RBIs, and Cozart is 3-for-5 with four RBIs.

Puig and Gordon are still day-to-day. Apparently Gordon is more iffy than Puig, since Puig is in the lineup today.