Aug 27

Game 129, 2017

Brewers at Dodgers, 1:10 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSWI, MLBN (out-of-market only)

The Brewers send RHP Jimmy (Big Sweat) Nelson (9-6, 3.79 ERA) out to face the Dodgers’ RHP Yu (Yu-san) Darvish (8-9, 3.83 ERA) in the rubber match of the three-game series.

The Dodgers faced Nelson on June 2 at Miller Park, when he threw eight shutout innings and struck out 11 but got no decision in a game the Dodgers won, 2-1, in 12 innings. Darvish is 2-0 with a 2.50 ERA over 18 innings in the three starts he’s made as a Dodger. He’s never faced the Brewers.

The Dodgers reinstate Darvish and add Fields to the 10-day DL retroactively with lower back strain.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1992 Kevin Gross, retiring 22 of the final 23 batters he faces on his wife’s birthday, no-hits the Giants at Dodger Stadium, 2-0. The LA right-hander’s no-no averts the team from being swept in a four-game series at home against the Giants for the first time in 69 years.
  • 2013 Clayton Kershaw blanks the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, 5-0, giving the Dodgers their first double-digit winning streak since 2006. The team’s 42 victories in their last fifty games, including a 25-3 mark since the All-Star break, equals the 1941 Yankees and 1942 Cardinals for the best record for that span of games since 1900.

John Henry of the Red Sox has recently advocated the renaming of Yawkey Way outside Fenway Park in Boston. Here’s one of the reasons why: in 1946 a committee formed to study integration, which includes Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey, delivers its secretive report during an Owners’ Meeting. It defends the covert color barrier which exists in professional baseball. The absurd reasons given to why blacks shouldn’t be allowed to play in the big leagues include an absence of skills due to inferior training and lack of fundamentals and the need to respect Negro League contracts, but another lesser known motivation may have been profit as revealed later in the report, “The Negro leagues rent their parks in many cities from clubs in Organized Baseball (and) Club owners in the major leagues are reluctant to give up revenues amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars every year” as well as the fear white fans would be driven away if black players attracted more minorities to the ballpark.

Lineup when available.

Jun 02

Game 56, 2017

Dodgers at Brewers, 5:10 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSWI

LHP Clayton Kershaw (7-2, 2.37 ERA) will start against RHP Jimmy Nelson (3-3, 3.83 ERA).

Kershaw’s last outing was very unlike him; he lasted only 4 1/3 innings and gave up 11 hits (three of them HRs) and four runs. Eric Sogard is the only Brewers batter with a previous at-bat against Kershaw, and he’s 0-3. Nelson went seven innings and gave up only one run to the D-backs his last time out. His record should probably be better, but the Brewers have scored three or fewer runs in five of Nelson’s 10 starts.

May awards to the Dodgers: Alex Wood is NL Pitcher of the Month and Cody Bellinger is NL Rookie of the Month.

McCarthy left the game with a blister on his right index finger.

This day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1995 Hideo Nomo, limiting the Mets to one run on two hits in 8+ innings of work, picks up his first major league win, a 2-1 decision at Dodger Stadium. The 26 year-old former Japanese All-Star was signed by L.A. in the off-season.

Lineup when available.

Jul 10

Game 88, 2015

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

Mike Bolsinger had success early in the season for the Dodgers, but his last five starts have been less than scintillating. He’s gone no further than 5 1/3 innings in any of them and is 0-2 during that stretch. Overall he’s 4-3 with a 3.09 ERA. The Brewers send out Jimmy Nelson, who’s 6-8 with a 4.50 ERA but has also had trouble getting deep into games recently: he hasn’t gotten past the sixth inning in five of his last seven starts.

Lineup:

Hmm. Nelson’s righthanded, so I can only assume Ethier is tired. Or perhaps Guerrero’s numbers are better than his against Nelson?

Kershaw came in third in the ASG Final Vote count, so he’s going to sit in LA or go home to Texas for a few days, I imagine.

Aug 15

Game 124, 2014

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

These two teams faced each other last weekend in Milwaukee and the home team won two of three, including one against Zack Greinke, tonight’s starter for the Dodgers. In that game he threw six innings, gave up four earned runs on eight hits, and continued a rather unhappy streak: In seven starts against his former teams (Brewers, Angels, Royals) he’s lost them all. However, he’s still 12-8 with a 2.84 ERA this season.

The Brewers send out Jimmy Nelson, who also pitched in last weekend’s series. He went six innings, giving up eight hits and two runs while losing to Kershaw on Sunday. Overall he’s 2-3 with a 4.00 ERA this year.

Hanley Ramirez isn’t swinging a bat yet, but he has done a little throwing. The Brewers’ Ryan Braun has a nerve problem in a hand, but he expects to play tonight. Another note: it’s hard to believe, but the Brewers’ K-Rod (Francisco Rodriguez) needs one save to tie Rollie Fingers at No. 11 on the all-time saves list with 341. Man, it seems like only a couple of years ago he was a 20-year-old kid pitching for the Angels in the 2002 World Series.

Lineup when available.

Aug 10

Game 119, 2014

Dodgers at Brewers, 11:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, TBS

Clayton Kershaw v. Jimmy Nelson. It looks like a mismatch, but “that’s why they play the games.” The veteran Kershaw is 13-2 with a 1.82 ERA, while the rookie Nelson is 2-2 with a 4.20 ERA. The kid has had three straight quality starts, though.

In personnel news, Hanley Ramirez is probably headed for the DL with an oblique injury. The Dodgers acquired RHP Kevin Correia from the Twins for a player to be named later or cash. Correia is 5-13 with a 4.94 ERA this season for the Twins, who are in last place in the AL Central. He was once an All-Star who went to the game in 2011 while with the Pirates. He’s 74-91 with a 4.53 ERA in his twelve-year career.

As expected, the Dodgers placed SS Hanley Ramirez on 15-day disabled list with a right oblique strain and recalled INF Darwin Barney from Albuquerque.

Lineup when available.