May 31

Game 57, 2023

Nationals at Dodgers, 1:10 PM PDT, TV: MASN 2, SPNLA

LHP Patrick Corbin (4-5, 4.88 ERA) takes the hill for the Nationals and RHP Noah Syndergaard (1-4, 6.27 ERA) does so for the Dodgers.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1937 In Game 1 of a Memorial Day doubleheader, Carl Hubbell’s consecutive-game winning streak, compiled over two seasons, ends at 24 when the Dodgers, led by Babe Phelps’ 5-for-6 performance, defeat the Giants at the Polo Grounds, 10-3. ‘King Carl’ is honored between games when the southpaw is presented with the National League’s 1936 MVP Award by Babe Ruth.
  • 1948 Tommy Lasorda, best known as the Dodgers’ Hall of Fame skipper, strikes out 25 batters and collects the game-winning hit when the Schenectady Blue Jays defeat the Amsterdam Rugmakers, 6-5, in 15 innings. The promising southpaw, who goes the distance in the CanAm minor-league contest played in McNearney Stadium, believes he probably threw more than 300 pitches during the game.
  • 1965 For the first time in history, an all-switch-hitting infield starts a big league game. In the nightcap of a twin bill, the Dodgers, with Wes Parker at first base, Jim Lefebvre at second, Maury Wills at shortstop, and Jim Gilliam at third, lose to the visiting Reds, 6-1.
  • 1968 Don Drysdale’s shutout streak stays intact when home plate umpire Harry Wendelstedt rules that Dick Dietz, who is hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the ninth inning, did not make an attempt to get out of the way of the right-hander’s delivery. The Giants catcher finishes the at-bat by popping up, and the next two batters also make outs to give ‘Big D” his fifth straight shutout, tying a major league established by White Sox hurler Doc White in 1904.
  • 2001 The Red Sox finally beat the Yankees in their eighth attempt, and for the first time in over a year since Pedro Martinez scoffed at the ‘Curse’. The right-hander was 7-1 with a 1.44 ERA when he said, “Wake up the Bambino and let me face him — I’ll drill him in the “%#$,” but after the comment he managed only seven more winless starts, making it first time he did not win in seven straight starts since the first seven major league appearances as a rookie with the Dodgers.
  • 2012 With their 6-2 victory, the Brewers beat LA at Chavez Ravine for the fourth consecutive day, making the Brew Crew the first visiting team to sweep a four-game series since the Rockies accomplished the feat in August, 1993. The victories also mark the first time the franchise has ever swept the Dodgers.

Lineups when available.

May 26

Game 52, 2023

Dodgers at Rays, 3:40 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports Sun, SPNLA

The Dodgers’ RHP Noah Syndergaard (1-3, 5.88 ERA) hopes to win a second consecutive game for the first time this season. In his way is the Rays’ LHP Jalen Beeks (1-2, 4.68 ERA), who’s been in the big leagues since 2018 and has a career record of 15-10 and a 4.15 ERA.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 2015 Clayton Kershaw pitched seven innings of four-hit ball and the Dodgers scored six runs in the fourth inning on doubles by Howie Kendrick, Andre Ethier and A.J. Ellis and went on to beat the Atlanta Braves 8-0.
  • 2019 Kenta Maeda got his sixth win of the season in a slugfest at PNC Park which the Dodgers won 11-7 over the Pirates.

Also, a very famous game took place on this date in 1959: Pirates’ hurler Harvey Haddix pitches 12 perfect innings but loses 1-0 to the Braves in the 13th inning. The heart-breaking winning run scores on a Don Hoak error, a sacrifice, a walk, and a two-bagger by Joe Adcock. To add insult to injury,

In 1991, the Committee for Statistical Accuracy in Baseball announced that a no-hitter would be redefined as “a game in which a pitcher or pitchers complete a game of nine innings or more without allowing a hit,” meaning Haddix’s gem no longer qualified. When he was made aware that one of the greatest games ever pitched no longer had a place in the record books, his response was simple: “It’s OK. I know what I did.”

Lineups when available.

May 20

Game 47, 2023

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

RHP Noah Syndergaard (1-3, 5.94 ERA) pitches for the Dodgers and RHP Miles Mikolas (2-1, 4.91 ERA) does so for the Cardinals. I notice on Mikolas’s player page at MLB that his nickname is 5280’s; I wonder what the backstory is.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1979 Don Sutton becomes the franchise’s winningest pitcher when he is credited with the victory, tossing eight innings in the Dodgers 6-4 victory over the Reds at Riverfront Stadium. The 34 year-old right-hander’s 210th win surpasses the team mark established in 1969 by Don Drysdale.

During yesterday’s game the Dodgers’ broadcasters mentioned the speed of Jordan Hicks’s pitches. Back in 2018 Cardinals reliever Jordan Hicks equals Aroldis Chapman’s mark for the fastest pitch known in baseball history when he throws a pair of pitches clocked at 105 mph in the team’s 5-1 victory over the Phillies at Busch Stadium. The 21-year-old Redbird rookie right-handed reliever had never appeared in a game above Class A before starting the season with St. Louis this year. As we all know, speed alone doesn’t make you successful; his career record is 8-15 with a 4.15 ERA and 20 saves, and he’s had his troubles this season as well.

Lineups when available.

May 15

Game 42, 2023

Twins at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports North, SPNLA

RHP Pablo López (2-2, 3.47 ERA) takes the mound for the visiting Twins and RHP Noah Syndergaard (1-3, 6.12 ERA) does so for the Dodgers. We’ll have to see whether Syndergaard’s cut finger has healed.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1919 After 12 scoreless innings at Ebbets Field, the Reds score ten runs in the 13th inning to beat Al Mamaux and the Dodgers, 10-0. Cincinnati starter Hod Eller, who tossed a no-hitter in his previous start, is the beneficiary of the blowout.

  • 1956 Sal Maglie, obtained on waivers by Cleveland last season from the Giants, is shipped to the Dodgers for a hundred dollars after impressing Brooklyn in an exhibition game. The ‘Barber’ will post a 13-5 record along with a 2.89 ERA for the eventual NL Champs, finishing second to teammate Don Newcombe in the balloting for both the Cy Young and MVP awards.
  • 1998 On the day the Marlins trade Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Charles Johnson, Jim Eisenreich, and Manuel Barrios to the Dodgers for Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile, the team hangs on to beat the Cardinals at Busch Stadium, 8-7. In the first inning, the Fish connect for nine consecutive hits, a franchise record, and score seven runs, all without the help of their recently departed teammates.

Lineups when available.

May 09

Game 37, 2023

Dodgers at Brewers, 4:40 PM PDT, TV: BS Wisconsin, SPNLA

RHP Noah Syndergaard (1-3, 6.32 ERA) takes the mound for the Dodgers and LHP Eric Lauer (3-3, 4.40 ERA) does the same for the Brew Crew.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1947 Philadelphia manager Ben Chapman, who admits he had been ‘kinda loud’ in leading his team in verbally abusing Jackie Robinson with racial slurs during yesterday’s game, sends word to the Brooklyn clubhouse that he would like to make amends by posing with the Dodger first baseman for the newspaper photographers. The orchestrated gesture, which Robinson agrees to, admitting later that is one of the hardest things he ever had to make himself do, is prompted by the bad press created by the Phillies manager’s intolerance and the wrath of Commissioner Chandler.

Also on this day: In 2015 with runners on second and third, the Pirates turn the first recorded 4-5-4 triple play in baseball history, recording all three outs entirely on the left side of the infield. The oddity occurs when Yadier Molina lines out to second baseman Neil Walker (1), who throws to third baseman Jung Ho Kang to double up Jhonny Peralta (2), who had strayed too far off the third, and then fields the third baseman’s return throw to triple up Jason Heywood at second base (3).

Lineups when available.

May 02

Game 31, 2023

Phillies at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, NBCSP, SPNLA

LHP Matt Strahm (2-2, 2.31 ERA) goes to the hill for the Phillies and LHP Julio Urías (3-3, 4.41 ERA) pitches for the Dodgers.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1912 At South End Grounds, the hometown Braves score ten runs in the first two innings and hold on to defeat the Superbas (Dodgers), 11-7. Brooklyn scores four runs in the bottom of the third to knock out Boston’s starter Buster Brown.
  • 1928 With the bases loaded and two out in the ninth inning, Giants’ manager John McGraw orders that Dodger rookie Del Bissonette be intentionally walked with the bases loaded by Larry Benton, forcing home a run. The strategy works when Harry Riconda strikes out, giving New York a 2-1 victory in the Polo Grounds contest.
  • 1958 George Weiss denies any reprisals, but the New York GM warns the National League there will be consequences, interpreted by some as a nationwide Yankees network, if teams continue to flood the market with games, trying to fill the void created when the Dodgers and Giants left the Big Apple. The Phillies have already committed to broadcast 78 of its games in NYC, with the Cardinals and Pirates making plans to show their home games in the Big Apple when they play against the West Coast teams.strong>1995 Hideo Nomo becomes the first Japanese native to play in the majors since Masanori Murakami appeared with the Giants in 1964. The 26-year-old right-hander from Osaka pitches five scoreless innings of one-hit ball but doesn’t win when the Dodgers blow a 3-0 lead, bowing to San Francisco at Candlestick Park, 4-3.
  • 2019 Noah Syndergaard homers en route to blanking the Reds at Citi Field, making it the seventh time in major league history that a pitcher’s round-tripper accounts for the game’s only run in a 1-0 shutout. ‘Thor’ becomes the first Met to accomplish the feat and the first since Dodger right-hander Bob Welch went deep for the only run in his complete-game victory in 1983.

One more notable event on this date: in 1917 southpaw Hippo Vaughn of Chicago and Reds righty Fred Toney throw no-hitters against one another through the first nine innings at Weeghman Park. The deadlock is broken in the top of the tenth with a one-out single by Larry Kopf, an error, and an infield hit by Jim Thorpe, and Toney then sets the Cubs down in order to preserve his extra-inning gem.

This Nike ad first appeared on this date in 1999:

Lineups when available.

Apr 30

Game 29, 2023

Cardinals at Dodgers , 1:10 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports Midwest, SPNLA

RHP Jake Woodford (1-2, 5.47 ERA) takes the hill for the Cardinals and RHP Noah Syndergaard (0-3, 6.58 ERA) does so for the Dodgers.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1940 The Dodgers tie the major league mark for consecutive wins from the beginning of the season with style as James ‘Tex’ Carleton no-hits the Reds, 3-0, for the team’s ninth straight victory since Opening Day.
  • 1944 In the first game of a doubleheader split, first baseman Phil Weintraub gets 11 RBIs, and player-manager Mel Ott scores six runs, drawing five walks in the Giants’ 26-8 rout of the Dodgers. Brooklyn wins the nightcap 5-4 in a game shortened due to darkness.
  • 1988 Dave Winfield ties the major league RBI record for April established by Dodger infielder Ron Cey in 1977 and matched by Dale Murphy of the Braves in 1985. The right fielder, who was on base at least once in every game, drives in his 28th and 29th runs of the month in the Yankees’ 15-3 rout of Texas in New York.

Sad news for the Cardinals’ radio listeners: Mike Shannon has died. He spent nine years playing for the team and 50 years broadcasting their games on radio.

Lineups when available.

Apr 19

Game 19, 2023

Mets at Dodgers, 12:10 PM PDT, TV: SNY, SPNLA

It’s the Mets’ RHP Max Scherzer (2-1, 3.72 ERA) versus the Dodgers’ RHP Noah Syndergaard (0-3, 4.91 ERA)

Today in Dodgers’ history,

  • 1890 The Brooklyn Bridegrooms, who will later be known as the Dodgers, play their first National League game. The former American Association team loses to the Beaneaters, who will become known as the Braves in 1912, at Boston’s South End Grounds, 15-9.
  • 1938 During the first inning, both Dodgers’ Ernie Koy and Phillies’ Emmett Mueller homer in their first major league at-bats. The pair of rookies will collectively hit a total 42 home runs during their nine seasons in the major leagues.
  • 1956 In the first major league game ever played in New Jersey, the Dodgers begin their Jersey City home game experiment with a 10-inning 5-4 victory over the Phillies at Roosevelt Stadium. A sparse crowd of 12,214, limited by inclement weather, sees Brooklyn backstop Roy Campanella tie the score in the tenth inning with his 1000th career hit, a double down the left field line.
  • 1968 Nolan Ryan makes quick work of the Dodgers when he strikes out the side on nine pitches in the top of the third inning of the Mets’ 3-2 loss at Shea Stadium. The 21 year-old New York fireballer, who will also accomplish the feat with the Angels in 1972, strikes out 11 batters in 7.1 frames, including Claude Osteen, Wes Parker, and Zoilo Versalles, the victims of his immaculate inning.
  • 2000 Veteran hurler Orel Hershiser ties a major league mark, equaled by 19 others, hitting four batters in one game. Astro Richard Hidalgo also ties a modern major league record by getting hit three times in a game, twice by Hershiser and a third time by Dodger reliever Matt Herges.
  • 2002 Mariners’ third baseman Jeff Cirillo ties the major league record for consecutive errorless games at the hot corner by playing his 99th contest without a miscue. John Wehner, a journeyman infielder with the Dodgers, Pirates, and Marlins, established the mark during a span of eight-plus seasons.

Lineups when available.

Apr 14

Game 14, 2023

Cubs at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: Marquee Sports Network, SPNLA

LHP Justin Steele (1-0, 0.75 ERA) pitches for the Cubs; Noah Syndergaard (0-1, 6.30 ERA) pitches for the Dodgers. Steele has given up just one run in 12 innings while striking out 11. He walked four in his last start, which harks back to last year when he had control issues and walked 50 batters in 119 innings. After a good first outing this season Syndergaard stumbled in his second, giving up six runs on eight hits over four innings.

The Cubs have lost the last 10 games they’ve played against the Dodgers, dating back nearly two years, and were outscored 60-25 in those 10 contests.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1931 At Braves Field, Jack Quinn becomes the oldest pitcher to start an Opening Day game. The 47 year-old Robin right-hander gives up six runs on nine runs in six innings of work, taking the loss when Brooklyn bows to Boston, 7-4.
  • 1968 Jim Bunning becomes the first pitcher since Cy Young to collect a thousand strikeouts in both leagues when he whiffs eight Dodgers during his first win for the Pirates, a 3-0 complete-game victory in Chavez Ravine. The 37 year-old right-hander, acquired from the Phillies in December, sent 1,406 American League batters back to the bench with a bat in their hands for nine seasons while pitching for the Tigers at the start of his Hall of Fame career.
  • 1993 After establishing the all-time career major league record last night with his 358th save, Cardinal reliever Lee Smith breaks the National League mark, recording his 301st in the Senior Circuit when he tosses a perfect 15th frame in the Cardinals’ 2-1 victory at Dodger Stadium. The right-handed reliever will extend the big league mark to 478, pitching for the Cubs (1980-1987), Red Sox (1988-1990), Cardinals (1990-1993), Yankees (1993), Orioles (1994), Angels (1995-1996), Reds (1996), and Expos (1997).
  • 2004 In the next game played after teammate Mike Mussina earns his 200th career victory, Kevin Brown, who the Yankees obtained from the Dodgers for Jeff Weaver and two minor-leaguers in an off-season trade, reaches the same plateau, beating the Devil Rays, 5-1. It is the first time in baseball history members of the same pitching staff have won their 200th career victory in consecutive starts.

Lineups when available.

Apr 02

Game Four, 2023

Diamondbacks at Dodgers, 1:10 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports Arizona Extra, SPNLA

My goodness. There were 11 runs, 13 hits, 5 walks and 17 strikeouts in Saturday’s game and it was played in 2 hours and 14 minutes.

RHP Zach Davies (2022: 2-5, 4.09 ERA) pitches for the Diamondbacks and RHP Noah Syndergaard (2022: 10-10, 3.94 ERA) pitches for the Dodgers in his debut with the team.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 2003 Todd Zeile homers in his first at-bat as a Yankee, becoming the only major leaguer to hit a home run for ten different teams, surpassing Tommy Davis, who went deep for nine different clubs. In addition to homering with the Bronx Bombers, the infielder has also gone deep for the Cardinals, Cubs, Phillies, Orioles, Dodgers, Marlins, Rangers, Mets, and Rockies.
  • 2007 For only the fourth time in major league history, a hurler under the age of 21 wins an Opening Day assignment when 20 year-old Venezuelan right-hander Felix Hernandez pitches eight strong innings in the Mariners’ 4-0 victory over the A’s at Safeco Field. Fernando Valenzuela of the Dodgers was the last pitcher ‘not of age’ to accomplish the feat, beating the Astros, 2-0, in 1981.
  • 2008 Third base ump Ed Montague tosses Larry Bowa for not staying within the boundaries of the coaching box although he warned the Dodger coach several times to follow the new edict put in place by MLB following the tragic death of Tulsa Drillers’ first base coach Mike Coolbaugh. The former infielder and manager’s behavior will lead to a three-game suspension for “inappropriate and aggressive conduct,” in which he had to be restrained by manager Joe Torre and bench coach Bob Schaefer in the sixth inning of the 3-2 victory over the Giants in Los Angeles.

In non-Dodger history, on this day in 1972 after playing a round of golf in West Palm Beach with his coaches on Easter Sunday, Mets manager and former Dodger Gil Hodges, two days shy of his 48th birthday, suffers a fatal heart attack. The club will name current first base coach and former Yankee skipper Yogi Berra to run the team when the strike-delayed season begins.

Lineups when available.