Aug 15

Game 122, 2018

Giants at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, NBCS BA, MLBN (out-of-market only)

LHP Derek Holland (6-8, 3.57 ERA) goes for the Giants in their attempt to sweep the Dodgers, who’ll counter with their fresh-off-the-DL lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu (3-0, 2.12 ERA). The Giants have won Holland’s last three starts, while Ryu has been shelved since May 2 with a left groin strain. He made two rehab starts and gave up seven hits and one earned run in nine innings.

MLB’s Will Leitch compiles a timeline of Puig’s on-field incidents over his career and concludes

We can argue all we want about Puig, what he’s like off the field, whether he rubs other players the wrong way. But on the field … the problems are rarely his fault, and the scuffles are usually started by other people. (And usually the Giants.) People always want to start something with Puig. But on the field, that’s on them, not him.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1914 Brooklyn’s Jake Daubert sets a National League record with four sacrifices in one game. The first baseman’s efforts aren’t enough when the Dodgers drop an 8-7 decision to Philadelphia at Ebbets Field.
  • 1926 When Babe Herman doubles with the bases loaded, three Dodgers wind up on third base. The runner on second rounds third but decides to go back as the runner from first reaches the same base, and a few seconds later Herman slides in to join his two teammates.
  • 1951 With one out in the top of the eighth inning and a runner on third base in a 1-1 tied game, Willie Mays, running at full speed, makes an incredible catch of Carl Furillo’s drive to deep centerfield. After grabbing the ball, the rookie outfielder turns counterclockwise and throws a perfect strike to home to nail a surprised Billy Cox at home to complete the double play. Some believe the catch, in the Giants’ eventual 3-1 Polo Grounds victory over the Dodgers, is the impetus for the beginning of the team’s incredible comeback from an 11.5 game deficit to win the National League pennant.
  • 2006 The Dodgers, with their 4-0 blanking of the Marlins, win their sixth consecutive game and 17th in the last 18 contests. The stretch is the team’s best run since the Brooklyn Superbas went 20-1 in 1899.

Lineup when available.


Jun 15

Game 68, 2018

Giants at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, NBC Bay Area

The two old rivals have already played 10 games against one another this season; the Giants hold a 6-4 edge. Tonight’s pitching matchup features the Giants’ LHP Derek Holland (4-6, 4.54 ERA) versus the Dodgers’ RHP Ross Stripling (5-1, 1.65 ERA). Holland’s last two starts have been excellent: he’s 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA in those games, and in his last outing he pitched five scoreless innings and gave up just three hits to the Nationals. Stripling may not be a revelation to the Dodgers, but he’s been the most consistent of their starters over the last two months as well as the healthiest.

R.I.P. Ed Roebuck, who pitched for both the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers. He started the awful ninth inning of the third game of the 1962 NL playoff series.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1938 In the first night game played in New York City, Johnny Vander Meer pitches his second consecutive no-hitter, beating the Dodgers at Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field, 6-0. Four days ago, the Reds’ southpaw held the Braves hitless in a 3-0 victory at Crosley Field.
  • 1951 The Cubs trade Andy Pafko along with Johnny Schmitz, Wayne Terwilliger, and Rube Walker to the Dodgers for Bruce Edwards, Joe Hatten, Eddie Miksis, and Gene Hermanski. The deal, which prevents the coveted ‘Handy Andy’ from going to the rival Giants, is the first of many to be made by Buzzy Bavasi, Brooklyn’s new general manager.
  • 1996 In the first inning of their 6-2 victory over the Braves, the Dodgers turn their first triple play in forty-seven years. After making a running, back-to-the-plate grab of Chipper Jones’s popup to short left with runners on first and second, Juan Castro throws to second baseman Delino Deshields to double up Marquis Grissom, then the ball is relayed to first baseman Eric Karros to get Mark Lemke, who was also running on the pitch.

Lineup when available.


Apr 27

Game 24, 2018

Dodgers at Giants, 7:15 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, NBC Bay Area

LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (3-0, 1.99 ERA) goes for the Dodgers this evening while the Giants send LHP Derek Holland (0-3, 4.98 ERA) to the mound. In his career Ryu is 4-3 with a 3.40 ERA at the Giants’ home park. Holland has made two starts against the Dodgers in his career and has come up winless in each. Ryu’s last start was stellar: he shut out the Nationals on two hits in seven innings. Holland was shelled by the Angels in his last outing: of the five hits he gave up in six innings, three were home runs.

News of note: Maeda has been striking out lefties at a 37% clip this season, compared to 17% last year. How come? He’s gone to a splitter as a changeup.


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.

Lineup when available.


Apr 06

Game Eight, 2018, PPD

Dodgers at Giants, 7:15 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, NBC Bay Area


Maeda-san! Save us! The Dodgers ask RHP Kenta Maeda (1-0, 0.00 ERA) to duplicate his results from his first start of the year against the Giants, when he went five innings and struck out ten. He’ll face LHP Derek Holland (0-1, 5.40 ERA), who lost in the game Maeda pitched, giving up five runs on three hits in five innings.

On this date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 2001 In the home opener at Veterans Stadium, Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Bunning’s number 14 jersey is retired. Kentucky’s Republican U.S. senator, who compiled a 224-184 record in his 17-year career pitching for the Tigers, Phillies, Pirates, and Dodgers, joins Richie Ashburn (1), Robin Roberts (36), Steve Carlton (32), and Mike Schmidt (20) as the fifth player to have his number retired by the Phillies.
  • 2004 Adrian Beltre becomes the 36th player in baseball history to hit 100 home runs before the age of 25. The Dodger third baseman joins Cal Ripken Jr. and Lou Gehrig to have exactly 100 homers on their 25th birthday.
  • 2016 The Padres, with their 7-0 loss at Petco Park, become the first team to be shut out in the first three games of the regular season, surpassing the dubious mark set by the Browns, who opened the 1943 campaign with 26 straight scoreless innings. San Diego also dropped their first two decisions of the three-game series against the Dodgers, 15-0 and 3-0.

Lineup when available.

Mar 31

Game Three, 2018

Giants at Dodgers, 6:10 PM PDT, TV: NBCS BA, SPNLA

The Giants try to take the third game of a four-game series behind LHP Derek Holland, a non-roster invitee who earned a spot in their rotation with a 4.05 ERA in six appearances this spring. Holland was 7-14 with a 6.20 ERA for the White Sox last year. He’ll face RHP Kenta Maeda, who went 13-6 for the Dodgers last season with a 4.22 ERA. In his two-year career in MLB he’s 3-1 with a 5.56 ERA against the Giants.

On this date in Dodgers’ history:

    1948 At Ebbets Field No. 2, the Dodgers play their first exhibition game at Dodgertown in Vero Beach, which will remain the team’s home for 61 years. Amidst much fanfare, including Governor Millard Caldwell throwing the ceremonial first pitch, Jackie Robinson homers in the first inning as Brooklyn beats its top farm club, the Montreal Royals, 5-4.

  • 1998 Mark McGwire hits the first of his historic seventy home runs when he goes deep off Ramon Martinez in the fifth inning of the Cardinals’ 6-0 victory over L.A. at Busch Stadium. The Redbirds’ first baseman becomes the first player in franchise history to hit a grand slam on Opening Day.

Alex Wood deserved better yesterday, as this video shows:

Lineup when available.

Shake up that lineup, Roberts! Barnes and Farmer make their first appearances of the season, Forsythe moves to 2B.

Oct 12

ALDS Games Four, NLDS Games Three, 2015

Early AL game: Royals at Astros, 10:00AM PT, TV: FS1

The Astros have a 2-1 lead and send rookie Lance McCullers out to try to win the series. The Royals send first-game (but only two innings thanks to rain) starter Yordano Ventura out to keep the Astros from doing that.

Late AL Game: Blue Jays at Rangers, 1:00PM PT, TV: FS1

The Rangers lead the series 2-1 and hope to win at home. They’ll send out Derek Holland, who’s been in 13 post-season games in his career. He and the Rangers will face R.A. Dickey and his knuckleball. This will be Dickey’s first postseason start.

Early NL Game: Cardinals at Cubs 3:00PM PT, TV: TBS

The series is tied 1-1. The Cubs like their chances in this game, and who wouldn’t? They send All Second-Half pitcher Jake Arrieta to the mound to face the Cardinals, who counter with Michael Wacha.

Late NL Game: Dodgers at Mets, 5:30PM PT, TV: TBS

First, I think this game is going to start on TNT rather than TBS unless the Cubs-Cards game is a blowout; I don’t believe the first game will come in under 2 1/2 hours as it would have to for there to be a seamless switch at 5:30PM PT.

Second, Utley. The latest word is that his appeal is “unlikely to be heard today.”

Utley’s representatives and the Major League Baseball Players’ Association asked for time to prepare their case, which would make Utley eligible to play until a hearing takes place.

Now, the game itself. The Dodgers send Brett Anderson to the hill in his second postseason appearance (2012 for the As), while the Mets send Matt Harvey and his “will he or won’t he throw more than 180 innings this year?” controversy (he wound up throwing 189 1/3 in the regular season) to the mound. Anderson was the best ground-ball pitcher in the big leagues this year, inducing them at a 66.3% rate. Harvey was 8-3 with a 2.23 ERA at home, far better than he was on the road.

This will be the first postseason game ever played at Citi Field; all previous Mets’ appearances were at Shea Stadium.

Lineup when available.

What? No Utley?

Also: