Sep 14

Game 150, 2019

Dodgers at Mets, 4:10 PM PDT, TV: MLBN (out-of-market only), SPNLA, WPIX

The Dodgers send out LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (12-5, 2.45 ERA), hoping that skipping a turn will help him get back on the Cy Young track he’d been on until his last four starts. In those starts he’s put up an unsightly 9.95 ERA while giving up 36 hits, five HRs, and seven walks in 19 innings. His opponent will be RHP Jacob deGrom (9-8, 2.70 ERA), last year’s Cy Young winner, whose won-loss record belies the way he’s pitched this season.

Here’s Gavin Lux’s go-ahead HR off the original outfield wall in Friday’s game:

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1951 Preacher Roe wins his 20th game of the season when the Dodgers beat the Pirates at Forbes Field, 3-1. The 36 year-old southpaw will finish the season with a 22-3 record.
  • 2002 Chin-Feng Chen becomes the first Taiwan-born player to appear in the major leagues as he walks and scores as a pinch-hitter for the Dodgers against the Rockies. The 24 year-old first baseman-outfielder played for the 1990 Taiwan team which won the Little League World Series.
  • 2008 Mets shortstop Jose Reyes, with his eighth-inning thievery in a 7-4 loss to the Braves at Shea Stadium, becomes the first player to have four straight seasons of 50 or more stolen bases playing for a New York area team, which also includes Yankees, Dodgers, and Giants. The accomplishment extends the infielder’s own record, as he is also the only Gotham major leaguer to achieve the feat for three consecutive years.

Also, in 1990 Mariner Ken Griffey and his son, Junior, become the first father and son to hit homers in the same major league game. The back-to-back blasts are given up by Angel hurler Kirk McCaskill.

Lineup:

Sep 01

Game 139, 2019

Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 1:10 PM PDT, TV: FS-A, SPNLA

RHP Ross Stripling (4-4, 3.64 ERA) is back from the IL and expected to pitch only two or three innings, after which he’ll give way to RHP Dustin May (1-3, 4.07 ERA). The Diamondbacks send rookie LHP Alex Young (6-3, 3.81 ERA) out to face them. Opponents are hitting a meager .217 against Young in his 11 appearances this season.

Here’s Smitty’s 13th HR of his rookie season, which gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead:

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1890 On Labor Day at Brooklyn’s Washington Park, the Bridegrooms, later to be known as the Dodgers, win all three games against Pittsburgh in the first tripleheader ever played. The home team sweeps the visiting Alleghenys, who will be renamed the Pirates next season, 10-9, 3-2, and 8-4.
  • 1953 The Cardinals tie a major league mark, hitting five homers in a 12-5 loss to Brooklyn at Ebbets Field. The solo shots hit by Stan Musial, Harry Elliot, Rip Repulski, and Steve Bilko (2), all off starter Preacher Roe, aren’t enough to offset the Dodgers’ 17-hit attack, which includes six doubles but no round-trippers.
  • 1969 At Dodger Stadium, Willie Davis ties the franchise record by hitting in 29 consecutive games with his second-inning single in LA’s 10-6 victory over New York. The mark was established by Zack Wheat in 1916.

Lineup when available.

Aug 27

Game 134, 2019

Dodgers at Padres, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: FSSD, MLBTV, SPNLA

RHP Walker Buehler (10-3, 3.16 ERA) takes his show on the road, where his ERA is two runs higher than it is at home. He’ll try to reduce that tonight facing RHP Cal Quantrill (6-4, 3.32 ERA), who is Canadian and thus probably not related to William Quantrill of Lawrence Massacre infamy. In Buehler’s last start he went seven scoreless innings against the Blue Jays but got no decision in a game the Dodgers won on a Muncy walk-off HR in the tenth inning. Quantrill has seen both relief and spot start duty this season, but in his last eight starts dating back to June he’s pitched well, posting a 2.22 ERA in those games.

Here’s the error in the sixth inning which gave the Padres the tying runs and led to the winning one:

May should have backed up, but in my view Pollock didn’t throw a fastball to Turner; he should have caught it.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1890 On Labor Day at Brooklyn’s Washington Park, the Bridegrooms, later to be known as the Dodgers, win all three games against Pittsburgh in the first tripleheader ever played. The home team sweeps the visiting Alleghenys, who will be renamed the Pirates next season, 10-9, 3-2, and 8-4.
  • 1953 The Cardinals tie a major league mark, hitting five homers in a 12-5 loss to Brooklyn at Ebbets Field. The solo shots hit by Stan Musial, Harry Elliot, Rip Repulski, and Steve Bilko (2), all off starter Preacher Roe, aren’t enough to offset the Dodgers’ 17-hit attack, which includes six doubles but no round-trippers.
  • 1969 At Dodger Stadium, Willie Davis ties the franchise record by hitting in 29 consecutive games with his second-inning single in LA’s 10-6 victory over New York. The mark was established by Zack Wheat in 1916.

Also, last year on this date the Dodgers acquired David Freese from the Pirates for minor leaguer Jesus Manuel Valdez.

Lineup when available.

Aug 20

Game 127, 2019

Blue Jays at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: SNET, SPNLA

RHP Sean Reid-Foley (2-3, 3.00 ERA) pitches for the Canadian team while LHP Clayton Kershaw (12-2, 2.63 ERA) does the same for the Dodgers. Reid-Foley may actually start the game or he may follow an “opener.” His last time out he gave up three runs in 3 1/3 innings, throwing 88 pitches while doing so. Kershaw got his 165th career win in his last start, shutting out the Marlins for seven innings and striking out ten with no walks.

Cody Bellinger being a mensch:

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1945 Dodger shortstop Tommy Brown becomes the youngest player (17 years, eight months, and 14 days) in major league history to hit a home run. The round-tripper by ‘Buckshot,’ who started his career as a 16 year-old high school student, will be the only run Brooklyn scores off 30 year-old Pirates southpaw Preacher Roe, who goes the distance in the 11-1 rout of the home team at Ebbets Field.
  • 1974 In an 18-8 rout of the Cubs, the Dodgers collect 24 hits and set a club record with 48 total bases, including Davey Lopes’ three home runs, double, and single. The Dodger second baseman’s 15 total bases are the most ever for a leadoff hitter.
  • 1978 In the visitors’ clubhouse at Shea Stadium, Dodger Blue becomes black and blue when Steve Garvey confronts teammate Don Sutton about a Washington Post story in which the pitcher is critical of him. After the right-hander confirms he had made the comments, the argument becomes physical when he makes an inappropriate remark about the first baseman’s wife.

Lineup when available.

Aug 05

Game 115, 2019

Cardinals at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: FS-M, SPNLA

RHP Michael Wacha (6-4, 5.15 ERA) goes for the Redbirds and RHP Tony Gonsolin (0-1, 5.63 ERA) pitches for the Dodgers. Wacha has bounced between the Cardinals’ rotation and bullpen this season for reasons of inconsistency and the emergence of Daniel Ponce de Leon as a starter. In two games with the Dodgers this season the 25-year-old Gonsolin has pitched eight innings. He’s given up nine hits, seven runs (five earned), one home run, no walks and six strikeouts.

Here are Muncy’s activities in Sunday’s game, including his walk-off double:

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1954 Stan Musial, in a 13-4 rout of the Dodgers in Brooklyn, paces the Cardinals attack, hitting two homers and driving in seven runs. The defeat is Preacher Roe’s first loss to St. Louis at Ebbets Field in four years.
  • 1969 With a titanic blast that clears the right-field pavilion, Willie Stargell becomes the first player to hit a home run completely out of Dodger Stadium. The 506-foot round-tripper helps the Pirates defeat LA, 11-3.

  • 1979 Don Sutton, surpassing Don Drysdale, becomes the Dodgers’ all-time strikeout leader with 2,487 when he fans six in an 8-1 victory over San Francisco at Chavez Ravine. After establishing the mark, and receiving a two-minute standing ovation that he acknowledges by tipping his cap, the right-hander is charged with an automatic ball due to running his fingers across his lips while thanking the crowd.
  • 1979 Outfielders Willie Mays (Giants, Mets) and Hack Wilson (Giants, Cubs, Dodgers, and Phillies) are enshrined into the Hall of Fame. Baseball administrator Warren Giles, who served as the president of the National League from 1951 to 1969, is also inducted during the Cooperstown ceremony.

Lineup when available.

Jul 07

Game 92, 2019

Padres at Dodgers, 1:10 PM PDT, TV: FSSD, MLBN, SPNLA

The Cosa Nostra Padres send LHP Joey Lucchesi (6-4, 3.91) to the hill to face Tyson’s the Dodgers’ RHP Ross Stripling (3-2, 3.45 ERA) in a day game at Dodger Stadium. Lucchesi has averaged about 5 2/3 innings per outing in this, his second year in the big leagues. He’s gotten into the sixth inning in each of his last two starts, giving up six runs and getting no decision in either of them. Stripling is making his third start replacing the injured Rich Hill. In his last outing he got into the fifth inning, giving up 4 runs on seven hits while striking out seven.

Here’s Maeda’s 6K performance in yesterday’s 7 2/3-inning effort:

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1953 The Dodgers set a major league mark for the most consecutive games with a home run by a team with at least one round-tripper in their 24 contests. Brooklyn starter Preacher Roe hits the record-breaking homer with a third-inning blast in the team’s 9-5 victory over Pittsburgh at Forbes Field. (Note: this record has been broken by seven teams since then, most recently in 2019 by the NY Yankees, who did it in 31 straight games ending July 1)
  • 1998 Jeff Shaw becomes the first player to participate in an All-Star Game wearing a uniform for a team he hasn’t yet played for when he works an inning, allowing three hits and a run pitching for the National League squad before appearing in a regular season game for the Dodgers. The 32 year-old closer, who posted a 1.81 ERA along with 23 saves in the first half of the season for the Reds, was traded three days ago by Cincinnati to Los Angeles for Paul Konerko and Dennys Reyes.
  • 2004 Kazuhisa Ishii tosses a one-hitter in the Dodgers’ 11-0 defeat of Arizona. The 30 year-old Japanese southpaw retires the first 12 batters he faces before issuing a leadoff walk to Luis Gonzalez, which is followed with a single by Shea Hillenbrand, but then the left-hander proceeds to mow down 15 consecutive D-Backs to finish his masterpiece.

Lineup:


Sep 14

Game 148, 2018

Dodgers at Cardinals, 5:15 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, FS-M

The visiting Dodgers send RHP Walker Buehler (6-5, 3.09 ERA) to the hill to face RHP Jack Flaherty (8-6, 2.92 ERA) of the Cards. Buehler lost his last start, giving up four runs in six innings to the Rockies. He went seven innings and gave up just three hits to St. Louis back on August 22 in a game the Dodgers lost thanks to the surrender of two ninth-inning home runs by the bullpen. The starter for the Cardinals in that game was this same Flaherty, who went six innings and gave up just one hit, a home run by Joc Pederson. He had five quality starts in August but hasn’t gotten out of the sixth inning in either of his September starts.

Wood to bullpen, Stripling to rotation. About Wood Roberts says

“Two reasons: No. 1 is that he’s done it before and he’s really flourished in that role, and we expect him to throw leverage innings and dominate. That’s probably the main reason. And we’re going to go with five starters.”

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1951 Preacher Roe wins his 20th game of the season when the Dodgers beat the Pirates at Forbes Field, 3-1. The 36 year-old southpaw will finish the season with a 22-3 record.
  • 2002 Chin-Feng Chen becomes the first Taiwan-born player to appear in the major leagues as he walks and scores as a pinch-hitter for the Dodgers against the Rockies. The 24 year-old first baseman-outfielder played for the 1990 Taiwan team which won the Little League World Series.
  • 2008 Mets shortstop Jose Reyes, with his eighth-inning thievery in a 7-4 loss to the Braves at Shea Stadium, becomes the first player to have four straight seasons of 50 or more stolen bases playing for a New York area team, which also includes Yankees, Dodgers, and Giants. The accomplishment extends the infielder’s own record, as he is also the only Gotham major leaguer to achieve the feat for three consecutive years.

Also, in 1990 Mariner Ken Griffey and his son, Junior, become the first father and son to hit homers in the same major league game. The back-to-back blasts are given up by Angel hurler Kirk McCaskill.

Lineup when available.


Sep 01

Game 136, 2018

Diamondbacks at Dodgers, 6:10 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, FS-A

The visiting D-Backs send Patrick Corbin (10-5, 3.15 ERA) to the mound today. He’ll face the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw, (6-5, 2.39 ERA). Corbin has made five straight quality starts and has gone 3-1 with a 2.70 ERA over that stretch. In three starts against the Dodgers this year he’s 1-0 with a 0.98 ERA; the Dodgers are hitting an anemic .115 in those games. Kershaw has made eight consecutive starts in which he’s given up fewer than three earned runs and has gone seven starts since his last loss. Moreover, he’s only given up three HRs since the All Star break. (Side note: take a look at the picture of Corbin at the link above: his face looks a lot like Greg Maddux to me. He should have such a career!)

The Dodgers acquired David Freese from the Pirates for minor leaguer Jesus Manuel Valdez.

Also, “Solo HRs are Us” should be the Dodgers’ motto this season. Fully 69% of their dingers have come with no one on base.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1890 On Labor Day at Brooklyn’s Washington Park, the Bridegrooms, later to be known as the Dodgers, win all three games against Pittsburgh in the first tripleheader ever played. The home team sweeps the visiting Alleghenys, who will be renamed the Pirates next season, 10-9, 3-2, and 8-4.
  • 1953 The Cardinals tie a major league mark, hitting five homers in a 12-5 loss to Brooklyn at Ebbets Field. The solo shots hit by Stan Musial, Harry Elliot, Rip Repulski, and Steve Bilko (2), all off starter Preacher Roe, aren’t enough to offset the Dodgers’ 17-hit attack, which includes six doubles but no round-trippers.
  • 1969 At Dodger Stadium, Willie Davis ties the franchise record by hitting in 29 consecutive games with his second-inning single in LA’s 10-6 victory over New York. The mark was established by Zack Wheat in 1916.

Today in personal history: in 1973 George Foreman knocked out José “King” Roman at the 2-minute mark of the first round at the Nippon Budokan arena in Tokyo. I was seated in the nosebleed seats, so far away when it ended we didn’t immediately have a clue it was over. I don’t think there were any big screen TVs showing the fight to those of us in the cheap seats at the time; that innovation came later.

Power shift has MLB managers’ pay in free fall, says Bob Nightengale.

Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch and Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who led their teams to the World Series a year ago, have contracts that expire after this season.

Lineup when available.


Aug 20

Game 126, 2018

Cardinals at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, FS-M, MLBN (out-of-market only)

It’s very hard to believe, but this is the first meeting of these two teams this season. The Dodgers’ LHP Alex Wood (7-6, 3.51 ERA) takes the hill to face the Card’s rookie LHP Austin Gomber (3-0, 2.89 ERA). Wood has given up no more than three earned runs in any of his last 11 starts, and he likes it at Dodger Stadium: he’s 17-7 with a 2.76 ERA there. Gomber is newly promoted from the bullpen; his first big league start was on July 24. His last three appearances in August have been starts. He shut out the Nationals in his last start, going six innings while giving up only three hits and striking out six.

On this day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1945 Dodger shortstop Tommy Brown becomes the youngest player (17 years, 8 months, and 14 days) in major league history to hit a home run. The round-tripper by ‘Buckshot’, who started his career as a 16 year-old high school student, will be the only run Brooklyn scores off 30 year-old Pirates southpaw Preacher Roe, who goes the distance in the 11-1 rout of the home team at Ebbets Field.
  • 1974 In an 18-8 rout of the Cubs, the Dodgers collect 24 hits and set a club record with 48 total bases, including Davey Lopes’ three home runs, double, and single. The Dodger second baseman’s 15 total bases are the most ever for a leadoff hitter.
  • 1978 In the visitors’ clubhouse at Shea Stadium, Dodger Blue becomes black and blue when Steve Garvey confronts teammate Don Sutton about a Washington Post story in which the pitcher is critical of him. After the right-hander confirms he had made the comments, the argument becomes physical when an inappropriate remark is made about the first baseman’s wife.

Humph! MLB’s latest power rankings have the Cardinals climbing from #14 to #8 and the Dodgers sliding from #6 to #11.

Here’s the backstory behind Caleb Ferguson’s rise from The Athletic.

Lineup:


Aug 05

Game 113, 2018

Astros at Dodgers, 1:10 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, ATTSportsnet-SW, MLBN (out-of-market only)

The Astros try to sweep this series with RHP Gerrit Cole (10-3, 2.55 ERA) taking the mound against the Dodgers’ RHP Walker Buehler (4-4, 3.65 ERA). The last time Cole pitched in Dodger Stadium was August of 2016; he was a Pirate then. He had an excellent June but a so-so July. Buehler spent time on the DL with a microfractured rib (is that what we used to call a cracked rib?) and hadn’t had a really good outing since he came back until his last start on July 31, when he went seven innings, gave up one earned run, struck out seven and walked none. He still got the loss as the Dodgers couldn’t score a single run in that game against the Brewers.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1954 Stan Musial, in a 13-4 rout of the Dodgers in Brooklyn, paces the Cardinals attack, hitting two homers and driving in seven runs. The defeat is Preacher Roe’s first loss to St. Louis at Ebbets Field in four years.
  • 1969 With a titanic blast that clears the right-field pavilion, Willie Stargell becomes the first player to hit a home run completely out of Dodger Stadium. The 506-foot round-tripper helps the Pirates defeat LA, 11-3.

  • 1979 Don Sutton, surpassing Don Drysdale, becomes the Dodgers’ all-time strikeout leader with 2,487 when he fans six in an 8-1 victory over San Francisco at Chavez Ravine. After establishing the mark, and receiving a two-minute standing ovation that he acknowledges by tipping his cap, the right-hander is charged with an automatic ball due to running his fingers across his lips while thanking the crowd.
  • 1979 Outfielders Willie Mays (Giants, Mets) and Hack Wilson (Giants, Cubs, Dodgers, and Phillies) are enshrined into the Hall of Fame. Baseball administrator Warren Giles, who served as the president of the National League from 1951 to 1969, is also inducted during the Cooperstown ceremony.

Lineup when available.


With all the interchangeable parts Dave Roberts has and uses, I’m thinking of calling him Casey Stengel II.