Apr 13

Game 9, 2016

Diamondbacks at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FS-A

Old friend Rubby De La Rosa has had horrid luck against the Dodgers, going 0-3 with an 11.21 ERA against them in his career. Overall he’s 22-25 with a 4.61 ERA in his five previous seasons in the big leagues. Alex Wood has similar career stats: he’s 26-27 with a 3.36 ERA in three previous seasons.

Lineup when available.

I hadn’t thought of getting both Kendrick’s and Utley’s bats in the lineup in quite this way, but…we also see Yasmani Grandal making his first start of the season after he came off the DL Tuesday.

Here are some highlights from Opening Day:

First, Mr. Puig at second base switching hands on the base.

Now, here are the two throws to get Castillo at home, Puig to Turner to Ellis.

Apr 09

Game 6, 2016

Dodgers at Giants, 1:05PM PT, TV: SPNLA, CSN-BA

The two aces go at one another for the first time this year: Kershaw (1-0, 0.00 ERA) against Bumgarner (1-0, 5.40 ERA). Kershaw is 9-3 with a 1.16 ERA in 14 starts at the Giants’ home park, while Bumgarner is 13-7 overall against the Dodgers with a 2.45 ERA in 22 appearances.

The Dodgers got 9 hits in Friday night’s game but only converted them into two runs. Had they gotten more young Stripling might have gotten a win for his efforts rather than a no-decision. They are still hitting well: Puig, Utley, Gonzalez, Seager, Ellis and Turner all singled and Pederson got a double. For the second night in a row the bullpen gave up the go-ahead or winning runs.

Lineup when available.


Hmm. Several unfamiliar faces in the lineup against MadBum. I wonder what the reasoning is.

Mar 22

Tibias, forearms, obliques, oh my!

Andre Ethier broke his lower leg (the tibia, for the purists) when he fouled a ball off it last Friday. He’ll be out 10-14 weeks. This means in all likelihood that Carl Crawford will be the Dodgers’ starting left-fielder for the first three months of the season.

That stinks.

So do all these injuries:

pitcher Frankie Montas had a rib removed and was placed on the 60-day disabled list. Brett Anderson suffered a bulging disk and had surgery. Hyun-Jin Ryu’s recovery from shoulder surgery has been slow and he won’t pitch in a spring game. Pitcher Josh Ravin broke his non-throwing left arm in an auto accident. Brandon McCarthy is still recovering from Tommy John surgery. Brandon Beachy (elbow) and Mike Bolsinger (oblique) have had their fifth-starter candidacies derailed by injuries.

Seager sprained his knee almost two weeks ago, but is expected back by Opening Day. Starter Alex Wood missed a start with forearm soreness. Julio Urias was slowed with slight groin tightness. Caleb Dirks never pitched because of a back injury.

Yasmani Grandal missed several games with strained forearms and came out of Monday’s game after aggravating the right one. Alex Guerrero missed a week with a twisted knee. Adrian Gonzalez missed a couple games with a bulging disk in his neck. Howie Kendrick missed a handful of games with a tight groin muscle. Justin Turner has been eased back slowly after offseason microfracture knee surgery. Crawford missed a game last week because of a sore back.

Other than that, Dodgers’ fans, it’s been a great spring training.

Oct 15

NLDS Game Five, 2015

Mets at Dodgers, 5:00PM PT, TV: TBS

“This one’s for all the marbles.” “Win or go home.” “There’s no tomorrow for one of these teams.”

Those are clichés for a reason: they’re all true. Banal, trite, and eye-roll inducing, but true.

The Dodgers ask Zack Greinke to do what he’s done all year: hold the other team to fewer than three runs as he did in all but two starts and score more than that themselves. The Dodgers will have to get those runs off Jacob deGrom, who’s got a 3.66 ERA in three regular season starts against them, which shows he can be reached. In Game One, though, he was nearly unhittable, striking out 13 in seven shutout innings.

Turner is probable to start while Grandal is 50-50.

Lineup when available.

Defense, defense! That’s the goal of this lineup, as Mr. Weisman sees it.

Sep 11

Game 140, 2015

Dodgers at D-Backs, 6:40PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FS-A

Alex Wood (10-9, 3.51 ERA) goes for the Dodgers against Robbie Ray (3-11, 3.72 ERA). Wood had his best outing as a Dodger in his last start, going seven scoreless innings against the Padres. Lefty Ray’s record doesn’t show it, but of his 18 starts this season, 8 have been quality ones.

Lineup when available.

Stack the lineup with right-handed hitters against the lefty.

Other news:

Sep 06

Game 136, 2015

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

Brett Anderson (8-8, 3.43 ERA) goes for the Dodgers, while Andrew Cashner (5-13, 4.15 ERA) pitches for the Padres. Anderson is looking for his third straight win and fourth in his last five starts. He’ll have to do it against a lineup he’s mostly never seen; the last time he faced the Padres was in 2009 when he was with Oakland. Cashner’s record is a little misleading; he’s had 22 unearned runs scored against him in his 26 starts.

Anderson is in uncharted territory. He’s pitched more innings (152 1/3) than he has since his rookie year in 2009 when he threw 175 1/3. He’s got more quality starts this year (16) than he’s ever had in a season. The difference is that he’s been healthy all year.

“It takes a while to get this body going,” Anderson joked. “I have to get here a little bit earlier than most guys and do my core stuff and back stuff. It’s not fun, but it’s one of those necessary evils. I’d rather not have to do it, but it’s the cards I was dealt with.”

Lineup:


Huh. Turner at second, Seager at third. Oh well, why not?

Sep 04

Game 134, 2015

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

The Dodgers start Mike Bolsinger (5-3, 2.38 ERA), back up from OKC. According to Mattingly he will remain in the rotation “beyond Friday.” His opponent will be James Shields (10-6, 3.78 ERA), who’s looking for his third win in his last four starts.

Justin Turner gets the day off at third base, and young Mr. Seager will replace him there. Jimmy Rollins is expected to play shortstop.

Lineup when available.

For scoreboard watchers: Giants at Rockies

Aug 26

Game 125, 2015

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

Two more lefties go against one another: Brett Anderson (7-8, 3.52 ERA) versus David Holmberg (1-3, 6.57 ERA). If this matchup looks familiar, there’s a reason: they faced one another back on August 15. The Dodgers came out ahead in that game 8-3, getting five hits and seven runs off Holmberg and driving him out of the game in just two innings. Puig, Hernandez and Turner all hit homers off him, and Gonzalez hit one off his successor. Anderson went six innings and gave up three earned runs to get the win.

Lineup when available.

Jul 25

Game 99, 2015

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

Righty Zach Lee, Los Angeles’ first-round pick in the 2010 Draft out of McKinney High School in Texas, will start for the Dodgers in his major league debut. He’s 7-3 with a 2.36 ERA in 12 starts this season for Triple-A Oklahoma City. Matt Harvey (8-7, 3.19 ERA) will start for the Mets. He’s walked at least four batters in each of his past three starts, two of them losses.

Scott Van Slyke made a heckuva play in the ninth inning of last night’s game:

Lineup when available.

A-Gon sits, Crawford gets his first start since his return from an extended stay on the DL this season, and Puig gets the day off. Puig’s about seven years younger than Ethier, so you’d think Andre would get the day off instead, but no. Mattingly works in mysterious ways.

Whoops. Updated lineup:

A-Gon says his neck is well enough to allow him to play, I guess, so Turner shifts to third base and Callaspo sits.

Jul 09

Game 87, 2015

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

Zack Greinke brings his 27 2/3 scoreless-inning streak to the game against Severino Gonzalez. Greinke is 7-2 with a 1.48 ERA and headed for the All Star Game. Rookie right-hander Gonzalez rejoins the Phillies’ rotation for Thursday night’s series finale against the Dodgers. He is 3-2 with an 8.28 ERA in six starts and has been unable to pitch more than 5 1/3 innings in any of them, but the Phillies would rather give him another look than right-hander Kevin Correia, whom they designated for assignment Tuesday.

Lineup when available.

Turner gets a night off, Puig drops down to sixth.