Oct 08

NLDS Game Three, 2020

Braves vs Marlins, 11:08 AM PDT, TV: FS1

Atlanta leads the series 2-0.

The Braves hand the ball to RHP Kyle Wright, who’ll be making his first postseason appearance. He last pitched on September 25 against the Red Sox; he gave up two runs in 6 2/3 innings. That was the longest outing of his short career. He’ll face the Marlins’ RHP Sixto Sánchez. who went five scoreless innings against the Cubs in the Marlins’ Wild Card Series.

The second NLDS game will be the Dodgers vs Padres, 6:08 PM PDT, TV: MLBN

Los Angeles leads the series 2-0.

The Dodgers haven’t named a starter as of 8:25 PM HST, but my guess would be RHP Tony Gonsolin or LHP Julio Urias, since they’ve both started this season. The Padres will send out LHP rookie Adrian Morejon, who will make his first postseason start. He pitched three innings in two appearances against the Cardinals in the Wild Card Series.

Here are nine of the best reactions to Bellinger’s catch.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1929 In front of 50,000 fans at Wrigley Field, surprise starter Howard Ehmke establishes a new World Series record, striking out 13 Cubs en route to a 3-1 A’s victory in Game 1 of the Fall Classic. The mark will last for 34 years until Dodger hurler Carl Erskine fans 14 Yankees in 1953.
  • 1956 Don Larsen pitches the first perfect game in World Series history, defeating the Dodgers, 2-0 in Game 5 of the Fall Classic at Yankee Stadium. The 27 year-old right-hander, who had a poor start in Game 2 because of a lack of control, throws only 97 pitches, striking out pinch-hitter Dale Mitchell looking for the final out.

  • 1957 Club President Walter O’Malley makes it official, announcing the Dodgers will play in Los Angeles next season. The club’s departure from Brooklyn corresponds with the massive social shift taking place in the borough that finds many of its former residents leaving for the suburbs of Long Island.
  • 1959 Chicago’s speed and quickness weren’t enough to overcome Los Angeles’ hitting and pitching as the ‘Go-Go Sox’ drop a 9-3 decision, losing the World Series in six games to the Dodgers, who win their first championship representing the City of Angels. In the Comiskey Park, LA’s Chuck Essegian sets a record with his ninth-inning shot off of Ray Moore to become the first player to hit two pinch-hit homers in the Fall Classic.
  • 1966 The Orioles managed only three hits off Claude Osteen, but Paul Blair’s fifth-inning 430-foot home run proves to be the difference as Baltimore beats the Dodgers in Game 3 of the World Series, 1-0. Wally Bunker throws a six-hitter to get the victory in the first Fall Classic game ever played in Baltimore.
  • 1977 In Game 4 of the NLCS played at Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium, Dodger hurler Tommy John goes the distance and beats Steve Carlton and the Phillies, 4-1. The LA southpaw considers this pennant-clinching performance the best game he has ever pitched in the major leagues.
  • 1995 After dropping the first two games of the series, the Mariners make a dramatic comeback in Game 5 to beat the Yankees with a 6-5 extra-inning victory to capture the ALDS. Ken Griffey Jr. ties a major league record when he hits his fifth home run in the postseason series, an eighth-inning round-tripper off David Cone, equaling the mark Reggie Jackson established in 1977 when he went deep five times in the World Series against the Dodgers.

  • 2009 A ninth-inning error by left fielder Matt Holliday with the bases empty and two-out leads to the Dodgers’ stunning 3-2 walk-off victory and gives LA a commanding 2-0 game advantage in the NLDS. After the crucial miscue on the sinking line drive, Cardinals’ closer Ryan Franklin gives up RBI singles to Ronnie Belliard and pinch-hitter Mark Loretta to complete the improbable two-run comeback rally.

Today in Padres’ history:

  • 2002 The Tigers select their former All-Star shortstop Alan Trammell (1977-1996) to manage the faltering franchise. The California native had been a coach with the Padres for the last three seasons.
  • 2006 In the inaugural season in their new ballpark, the Cardinals beat the Padres 6-2 at Busch Stadium to take the NLDS playoff three games to one. The Redbirds advance to the championship series for the third consecutive season when Chris Carpenter gets the win, earning his second victory in the best-of-five series.

Lineups when available.

Padres’ lineup:

Dodgers’ lineup:

Oct 02

NL Wild Card Series 2020, Game Three

The early game is between the Marlins and the Cubs originally scheduled for yesterday before the rains came.

Marlins at Cubs, 11:08 AM PDT, TV: ABC

The pitchers remain Darvish for the Cubs and Sanchez for the Marlins, as previewed below.

The Cubs have frequently been in action on October 2. The Marlins have rarely made news on that date.

The later game is a result of the Padres’ furious late-inning comeback in Game Two, in which they scored nine runs after the fifth inning and held on to win 11-9.

Cardinals at Padres, 4:08 PM PDT, TV: ESPN

The Cardinals send RHP Jack Flaherty to the mound in this elimination game; the Padres haven’t yet announced their starter as of 11:00 AM PDT. Flaherty finished 2019 strong but had an uneven 2020, going 4-3 with a 4.91 ERA in just 40 innings. His longest stretch of the season was 7 innings in his first start of the season; he only made it to the 6th once after that.

Here’s some of the Cardinals’ history on October 2. The Padres haven’t done as much on this date.

Oct 01

NL Wild Card Series, Game Two

Reds at Braves, 9:08 AM PDT, TV: ESPN

RHP Luis Castillo pitches for the Reds and RHP Ian Anderson (not the Jethro Tull guitar and flute guy) for the Braves. Castillo had a great September going (4-0, 1.26 ERA) until Saturday the 26th, when he gave up four runs in four innings. Anderson was 3-2 with a 1.95 ERA in six starts in this, his rookie season. Among his outings were six innings of one-hit ball against the mighty Yankees in August and seven innings of one-hit ball against the WS Champion Nationals.

Marlins at Cubs, 11:08 AM PDT, TV: ABC

The Marlins’ RHP Sixto Sánchez is a rookie who started off with a bang; five starts in which he posted a 1.69 ERA followed by two in which he ran up an 11.57 ERA. He’ll face the Cubs’ RHP Yu Darvish, an old friend of Dodgers fans. He’s been an ace for the Cubs since 2019; his postseason record is 2-4 with a 5.81 ERA. Much of his poor ERA was built in 2017 when he was with the Dodgers and he went only 3.1 innings in two games against the Astros in the World Series. In light of what has since surfaced about the Astros and sign-stealing, it may be that Darvish’s travails in that Series were not all of his own making.

Cardinals at Padres, 4:08 PM PDT, TV: ESPN2

RHP Adam Wainwright makes his 28th postseason appearance and 15th start for the Cardinals; he’s 4-5 with a 2.81 ERA over those games. He’ll face RHP Zach Davies of the Padres. Davies has been consistent all season: he gave up no more than three earned runs in any of his twelve starts.

Brewers at Dodgers, 7:08 PM PDT, TV: ESPN

The Brewers send RHP Brandon Woodruff out to face the Dodgers’ LHP Clayton Kershaw. Woodruff was 3-5 with a 3.05 ERA this year, but his last start was his best. He went eight scoreless innings against the Cardinals in a must-win game on September 26. Kershaw had a 6-2 and 2.16 ERA season, although his last start was forgettable. He went just four innings, gave up eight hits and four runs (only one earned) last Friday against the Angels.

On this date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1944 Dixie Walker, an outfielder on the seventh-place Dodgers, wins the National League batting crown with a .357 batting average, finishing ten points higher than runner-up Stan Musial. In 1947, the ‘People’s Cherce’s younger brother, Harry ‘the Hat’, will also lead the Senior Circuit, hitting .363 in the year when he is traded, after playing ten games for St. Louis, to Philadelphia.
  • 1946 The Dodgers and Cardinals, who both finished the season with a 96-58 record, play the first game of a best-of-three series to determine the National League’s championship, marking the first time in major league history a playoff is needed to send a team to the World Series. St. Louis wins today’s Sportsman’s Park contest, 4-2, and will clinch the pennant in Game 2, beating the Brooklyn at Ebbets Field, 8-4.
  • 1950 On the last day of the season, Pee Wee Reese, ignoring second base ump Frank Dascoli’s directive to slow down when his high outfield fly becomes stuck between the screen and the right field wall, continues sprinting around the bases at full speed, crossing home plate with the tying run in a game the team needs to win to finish tied with Philadelphia for the NL flag. The Dodgers shortstop’s unusual inside-the-park homer, due to an odd ground rule, will be the only run Robin Roberts allows in the Phillies’ pennant clinching 4-1 victory at Ebbets Field.
  • 1950 After they retire today, Burt Shotton of the Dodgers and the A’s Connie Mack will become the last managers to wear street clothes. Although no edict specifically mandates a skipper must wear a uniform, there is now a rule that states that a person not wearing a uniform, except medical personnel, isn’t allowed on the field of play during a game.
  • 1950 In the season finale, Robin Roberts, in the first of his six consecutive 20-win seasons, becomes the first Phillies right-hander to win twenty games for the team since Grover Cleveland Alexander accomplished the feat with a total of 30 victories in 1917. The complete-game, ten-inning 4-1 Ebbets Field victory over the Dodgers hurled by the Whiz Kid from Springfield (IL) clinches Philadelphia’s first NL pennant since 1915.
  • 1951 The Giants’ 3-1 victory over the Dodgers in the first game of the National League playoffs is the first major league contest to be televised coast-to-coast. CBS, who obtained rights to the game, transmits the picture from Ebbets Field, but has to get the signal from ABC, who had made previous arrangements with WOR-TV, the New York station which carried Brooklyn’s regular season games.
  • 1955 After losing the first two contests in the Bronx, the Dodgers even the World Series at a pair of games apiece when they defeat the Yankees at Ebbets Field, 8-5. Brooklyn will make it three victories in a row tomorrow with a 5-3 victory over the Bronx Bombers, but it will take a dramatic Game 7 for the ‘Bums’ to capture their first World Championship.
  • 1961 The Wrigley Field on the West Coast hosts its last professional baseball game when the Angels, who will play at Dodger Stadium next season, are defeated by Cleveland, 8-5, in front of 9,868 fans at the 36 year-old ballpark, which will be torn down in five years to make room for an eventual public playground and senior center. In addition to being the home for the American League expansion team, the venue housed the PCL’s Angels from 1925 through 1957 and served as the location for the 1960 television series Home Run Derby.
  • 1974 At the Astrodome, Mike Marshall establishes the major league mark for the most appearances by a pitcher when he throws two innings in the Dodgers’ 8-5 victory over Houston. With his 106 appearances, the right-handed reliever appears in 65% of the games that his team played this season.
  • 1993 Mike Piazza plates Jose Offerman with a first-inning single to set a new team mark for runs driven in by a rookie with 107. The 24 year-old Dodgers catcher breaks the franchise record for rookie RBIs established by Del Bissonette, a freshman first baseman who played with Brooklyn in 1928.
  • 2009 The Rockies’ 9-2 win over Milwaukee assures the team of a wild card berth in the postseason, and puts the team in position to still win the NL West by sweeping the Dodgers this weekend in L.A. Although the team was 12 games under .500 on June 3, today’s victory, their 91st – a club record – puts Colorado 23 games over .500, another first in the 17 year history of franchise.

Brewers’ lineup:

Dodgers’ lineup: