Tag Archives: Sonny Gray

Oct 10

ALDS Games Three, 2023

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Houston at Minnesota, 1:07 PM PDT, TV: Fox

RHP Cristian Javier takes the Target Field mound for the Astros and RHP Sonny Gray does so for the Twins. The Series is tied at one game apiece.

Baltimore at Texas, 5:03 PM PDT, TV: Fox

RHP Dean Kremer goes to the hill at Globe Life Field for the Orioles and old friend RHP Nathan Eovaldi does the same for the Rangers. The Rangers lead the Series two games to none.

Today in baseball history:

  • 1924 With the score tied at 3-3 and one out in the bottom of the 12th in Game 7 of the World Series, Senators’ backstop Muddy Ruel lifts a high catchable foul pop-up, which Giant catcher Hank Gowdy misses when he stumbles over his mask. Given a second chance, Ruel then doubles and eventually scores the winning run, making the Senators World Champs.
  • 1951 In Game 6 of the Fall Classic, the Yankees become World Champions for the 14th time in franchise history when they beat the Giants in the Bronx ballpark contest, 4-3. Hank Bauer delivers the signature blow, a three-run triple hit in the sixth inning off Game 1 winner Dave Koslo.
  • 1956 In Game 7 of the World Series, Johnny Kucks, allowing just three singles, blanks Brooklyn, 9-0, to give the Yankees their 17th World Championship in franchise history. In the last postseason game played at Ebbets Field, the 24-year-old right-hander ends the game by striking out Jackie Robinson, which turns out to be the Dodger infielder’s final major league at-bat when he decides to retire after being traded to the Giants in the off-season.
  • 1957 Starting Game 7 on just two days rest, Lew Burdette pitches the Braves to a World Championship as he blanks the Bronx Bombers at Yankee Stadium, 5-0. The 30-year-old right-hander, named the Series MVP, tosses 24 consecutive scoreless innings and posts a 0.64 ERA in his three Fall classic victories.
  • 1968 Bob Gibson, who sets the mark for total strikeouts (35) in a World Series, goes the distance in his eighth consecutive World Series game, losing Game 7 to Detroit, 4-1. The only time the St. Louis Cardinal right-hander, who will compile a 1.89 postseason ERA, didn’t finish a Fall Classic contest was in his first appearance in 1964 when he tossed eight innings against the Yankees.
  • 2019 After compiling a .497 winning percentage in his two seasons at the helm, the Phillies fire their manager Gabe Kapler. The dismissal marks the eighth managerial vacancy of 2019; skippers are needed by the Mets, Pirates, Angels, Royals, Cubs, Padres, and the Giants, who will hire the former Philadelphia pilot next month as their 37th manager to replace the retiring Bruce Bochy.
Oct 04

Wild Card Games Two, 2023

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FYI: All series are available in the U.S. on MLB.TV with authentication to a participating Pay TV provider. Games are available live internationally (except in Canada). Full game archives are available approximately 90 minutes after the game ends.

Texas at Tampa Bay, 12:08 PM PDT, TV: ABC

RHP Nathan Eovaldi goes for the Rangers against RHP Zach Eflin of the Rays.

Rangers – Rays preview

Toronto at Minnesota, 1:38 PM PDT, TV: ESPN

The Jays’ RHP José Berríos faces off against the Twins’ RHP Sonny Gray.

Blue Jays – Twins preview

Arizona at Milwaukee, 4:08 PM PDT, TV: ESPN2

The D-Backs hand the ball to RHP Zac Gallen and the Brewers give theirs to RHP Freddy Peralta.

Diamondbacks – Brewers preview

Miami at Philadelphia, 5:08 PM PDT, TV: ESPN

LHP Braxton Garrett takes the ball for the Marlins and RHP Aaron Nola does so for the Phillies.

Marlins – Phillies preview

Today in baseball history:

  • 1916 Reds right-hander Christy Mathewson faces Mordecai Brown of the Cubs in the career finale for each pitcher, marking the first time two future Hall of Famers have made their final appearance in the same game. Both Cooperstown-bound hurlers go the distance in Cincinnati’s 10-8 victory at Chicago’s Weeghman Park.
  • 1951 In Game 1 of the World Series, the first all-black outfield in major league history makes its appearance when Monte Irvin, Willie Mays, and Hank Thompson take the field for the Giants at Yankee Stadium. In a curious move, Leo Durocher replaces the previously injured right fielder Don Mueller with Hank Thompson, a third baseman by trade, using veteran outfielder Bobby Thomson at the hot corner.
  • 1955 After more than half a century of futility, the Dodgers finally win a World Championship, thanks to Johnny Podres’ 2-0 shutout of the Yankees in the Bronx. The turning point of the historic contest proves to be an outstanding catch by defensive replacement Sandy Amoros in the sixth inning that robs Yogi Berra of an extra-base hit with two on, resulting in a rally-robbing double play.

  • 2006 At Shea Stadium, Russell Martin’s double kills a promising two-on and none-out rally as both Dodgers runners become outs at home in the Mets’ eventual 6-5 victory in Game 1 of the NLDS. Jeff Kent and J.D. Drew both try to score, but the relay from right fielder Shawn Green to second baseman Jose Valentin to Paul Lo Duca allows the catcher to tag each runner during their headfirst slides into the plate.

  • 2008 The Dodgers complete a three-game NLDS sweep of Chicago with a 3-1 victory, winning their first postseason series since 1998. The stunning loss in the playoffs extends the World Series drought for the Cubs into another century.
  • 2015 Clayton Kershaw strikes out Melvin Upton to end the third inning of LA’s 6-3 victory over the Padres at Chavez Ravine, becoming the 34th pitcher to record 300 strikeouts in a season, joining Sandy Koufax, who accomplished the feat three times in the 1960’s, as the only the second Dodger to reach the mark. The 27-year-old southpaw is the first pitcher in 13 years to achieve the milestone since Diamondback teammates Curt Schilling (316) and Randy Johnson (334) surpassed the plateau in 2002.
  • 2015 MLB schedules all games to start simultaneously at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time to add more drama to the regular season’s final day. The scheduling, similar to the English Premier League’s “Survival Sunday,” also evens the playing field by limiting teams’ ability to rest potential playoff starters based on the results of contests played earlier in the day.
May 17

Game 44, 2023

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Twins at Dodgers, 12:10 PM PDT, TV: BS North, SPNLA

RHP Sonny Gray (4-0, 1.39 ERA) climbs the hill for the Twins and RHP Dustin May (4-1, 2.68 ERA) pitches for the Dodgers.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1947 At Forbes Field, Hank Greenberg asks Jackie Robinson if the Dodger infielder was hurt in a collision with him at first base earlier in the game and then tells the embattled Brooklyn rookie, “Stick in there. You’re doing fine. Keep your chin up.” Jackie will remark to the writers a few days later that his “diamond hero” is Hank Greenberg, knowing that the Pirates’ first baseman, who due to the bigotry endured as a Jew, can appreciate his difficulty of facing racial injustice every day as the first black player in the major leagues this century.
  • 1978 Pinch-hitting for Davey Lopes in the Los Angeles 10-1 rout of the Pirates, Lee Lacy goes deep in the bottom of the eighth inning off Will McEnaney at Dodger Stadium. The utility player becomes the first player in major league history to homer in three consecutive at-bats as a pinch hitter.
  • 1992 Using only 21 dates, the Blue Jays reach the one-million mark in attendance sooner than any team in major league history. The 1991 Blue Jays and the 1981 Dodgers shared the previous record.

Lineups when available.

Aug 10

Game 110, 2020

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Twins at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: BSSN, SPNLA

RHP Sonny Gray (6-3, 3.19 ERA) pitches for the visitors this evening and RHP Ryan Pepiot (1-0, 2.76 ERA) does the same for the Dodgers. In Gray’s last start he went five scoreless innings and gave up just one hit but got no decision in a game which blew up after he left: The Jays got three runs in the sixth and six in the eighth and won 9-3. Pepiot has been in four games for the Dodgers, all starts in this his rookie season. He got his first win in his last game, the first one in which he went as many as five innings. He gave up four hits and one run in that one.

On this day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1979 Dodger hurler Don Sutton sets a franchise record with his 50th shutout, blanking San Francisco at Candlestick Park, 9-0. The 34 year-old right-hander had previously shared the mark with Don Drysdale. (Ed. note: 50! In his twelfth year [now fifteenth] Clayton Kershaw has a career total of 15! In fact, Kershaw hasn’t thrown a complete game since 2017, which shows how the management of pitchers has changed.)
  • 1995 The first forfeit in the majors in sixteen years occurs when the fans for the third time during the night throw promotional souvenir baseballs onto the Dodger Stadium field. At the time of the decision to halt the game, Los Angeles is trailing the Cardinals, 2-1 with one out in the bottom of the ninth.

August 10 is a good day for pitchers: in 1971 at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park, Juan Marichal records his 50th career shutout as the Giants blank the Expos, 1-0. The Dominican hurler’s ninth inning double helps to build the winning run.

Lineups when available.

Sep 18

Game 149, 2021

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Dodgers at Reds, 11:10 AM PDT, TV: Bally Sports Ohio, SPNLA

The Dodgers give the ball to RHP Max Scherzer (14-4, 2.17 ERA), while the Reds hand theirs to RHP Sonny Gray (7-7, 3.80 ERA).

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1964 Willie Davis broke a 16-inning, 3–3 stalemate between the Phillies and Dodgers at Dodger Stadium with a walk-off steal of home. With two outs in the bottom of the 16th, Davis reached on an infield single, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch by Philadelphia’s Jack Baldschun, then stole home on reliever Morrie Steevens.
  • 1984 The Tigers, with a 3-0 victory over Milwaukee, clinch the American League East title to become only the fourth team in major league history to lead from start to finish of a season. The 1923 Giants, 1927 Yankees, and the 1955 Dodgers also led their circuits from wire to wire.
  • 2006 The Dodgers, who are last in the National League in homers, hit four consecutive home runs in an inning when Jeff Kent, J.D. Drew, Russell Martin, and Marlon Anderson all go deep in the bottom of the ninth to tie the Padres, 9-9. The improbable feat, which had been accomplished only by the 1964 Twins, 1963 Indians, and the 1961 Braves, leads to Nomar Garciaparra’s walk-off two-run homer in the tenth and sole possession of first place when Los Angeles beat the Friars, 11-10.

Lineup when available.

Apr 17

Game 20, 2019

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Reds at Dodgers, 12:10 PM PDT, TV: FS-O, SPNLA

The Reds ask RHP Sonny Gray (0-2, 2.03 ERA) to salvage one game of this three-game set. He’ll face RHP Walker Buehler (1-0, 8.25 ERA), who’s been alternating good and bad games so far; if the pattern holds today he should be good.

Here’s Verdugo’s 2-run double in the 7th inning of Tuesday’s game:

On this date in Dodgers history:

  • 1955 Roberto Clemente singles off Dodger pitcher Johnny Podres in his first major league at-bat. The Pirates’ rookie, who will die in a plane crash attempting to bring relief aid to earthquake-stricken Nicaragua in 1972, will collect exactly 3,000 hits during his 18-year major league career, all with Pittsburgh.
  • 1956 Luis Aparicio, Don Drysdale, and Frank Robinson play in their first major league games, respectively, for the White Sox, Dodgers, and Reds. The trio of debuts marks the first time that three future Hall of Famers have made their initial appearance on the same day.
  • 1988 The Braves beat the Dodgers, 3-1, after breaking the National League record with ten losses to start the season. The team will drop 27 of its first 39 decisions, costing Chuck Tanner his job as the Atlanta manager.
  • 2013 Clayton Kershaw becomes the second fastest Dodger to strike out 1,000 batters when he throws a second-inning 93-mph fastball past San Diego first baseman Yonder Alonso. The 25 year-old southpaw reaches the milestone in 970 career innings, 15.2 more than needed by Hideo Nomo, who established the team mark in 2003.

Also in baseball history on this day: in 1969 Bill Stoneman pitched a no-hitter for the Expos in the ninth game of their existence, and in 1976 Mike Schmidt hit four consecutive home runs in a ten-inning 18-16 Phillies’ win over the Cubs.

Lineup when available.


Oct 17

ALCS Game Four, 2017

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Astros at Yankees, 2:00 PM PT, TV: FS1

Despite yesterday’s resounding win, the Yankees are still down a game in this series. Today RHP Lance McCullers (7-4, 4.25 ERA) takes the hill for the Astros versus the Yankees’ RHP Sonny Gray (10-12, 3.55 ERA). This will be McCullers’ third postseason appearance; he went 6 1/3 innings in a start against the Royals in the 2015 ALDS and he pitched 3 innings of relief last week against the Red Sox, giving up two runs on three hits. Gray will be making his fourth postseason appearance; he started two games for the As in 2013 and started Game One of this year’s ALDS, going just 3 1/3 innings against the Indians while giving up three runs on three hits and four walks.

Today in Astros’ history:

  • 2004 In Game 4 of the NLCS at Minute Maid Park, Carlos Beltran goes deep in the seventh inning, giving the Astros an eventual 6-5 victory over the Cardinals. With the round-trippers, the Houston center fielder sets a new postseason record, hitting a homer in five consecutive play-off games, and ties Barry Bonds’ 2002 mark with a total of eight play-off round tippers.
  • 2005 The juiced Minute Maid Park crowd, anticipating the Astros’ first National League crown, after the first two batters are quickly retired, is ‘pulperized’ when Albert Pujols hits a two out three-run ninth inning homer. A two-strike single stroked by David Eckstein and a walk worked out by Jim Edmonds set the stage for the Cardinals’ dramatic 5-4 comeback.

Today in Yankees’ history:

  • 1964 The Yankees, who finished with a 99-63 record, fire Yogi Berra after the team drops the World Series to the Cardinals in seven games. The 39 year-old dismissed skipper will join the crosstown Mets as a coach, becoming team’s the manager in 1972, following Gil Hodges’ unexpected death in spring training. At the same time Johnny Keane, who had been rumored in August to be replaced as the Cardinals’ manager by Leo Durocher before the Redbirds surged to win the World Series, surprises team owner Gussie Busch and GM Bob Howsam with a letter of resignation that he had written at the end of September during the height of the pennant race with Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Cincinnati. The former St. Louis skipper will take the Yankee job, which opens as the result of the firing of Yogi Berra.
  • 1985 Billy Martin, who had become the team’s skipper for the fourth time after the Yankees fired Yogi Berra in April, is replaced by Lou Piniella. “Billy the Kid’ piloted the 97-64 Bronx Bombers to a second place finish, ending the season two games behind Toronto.
  • 2000 David Justice’s three-run homer propels the Yankees to their record 37th American League pennant in a come-from-behind victory over the Mariners, 9-7. The victory sets up a Subway Series in New York for the first time in 44 years.
  • 2003 Early editions of the N.Y. Post include an editorial claiming the Yankees lose to Boston and couldn’t get the job done in Game 7 of the ALCS. Although the Bronx Bombers did trail the Red Sox, the team rallies to beat their arch rival in 11 innings, 6-5.
Oct 05

ALDS Games One, 2017

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First Game: Red Sox at Astros, 1:00 PM PT, TV: MLBN

Boston got LHP Chris Sale last offseason for precisely this moment: to pitch Game One of a playoff series. He went 17-8 with a 2.90 ERA this season, striking out 308 along the way. This is his first postseason start. He’ll face RHP Justin Verlander, who came to the Astros from the Tigers at the trade deadline, waiving a no-trade clause to do so. He was 15-8 with a 3.36 ERA between his two teams, and he’s been in the postseason a lot; this will be his 17th playoff start.

Second Game: Yankees at Indians, 4:30 PM PT, TV: FS1

The Yankees start RHP Sonny Gray (10-12, 3.55 ERA), whom they got from the As at the trade deadline. He wasn’t quite as good (4-7) for them as he had been for his former team (6-5), but he’s had two postseason starts in his past. He’ll face RHP Trevor Bauer (17-9, 4.19 ERA), a surprise starter over their Cy Young candidate Corey Kluber.

Today in baseball history: From Mickey Owen’s passed ball to Al Gionfriddo’s catch to Mickey Mantle’s knee injury to Glenn Burke’s invention of the high five, a lot has happened on the fifth day of October in baseball.

Jul 28

Game 101, 2015

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Athletics at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, MLBN, CSNCA

Here’s an interesting note which may or may not be taken as true (that’s why they’re called rumors): the Dodgers may listen to trade offers for Yasiel Puig. That’s the hook for the entire post, and there’s not much else there other than what we already knew: the team is unlikely to give up either Seager or Urias but it wants/needs starting pitching. The author thinks it unlikely they’d move Puig, and in fact the same site reported two days ago that the team had assured him he wasn’t on the block. However, that same day Ken Gurnick of MLB reported there had been no such assurances.

I can’t see trading Puig. He’s an excellent outfielder with a lot of potential upside and he’s cheap. He’s being paid $4.5M this year and the Dodgers control his future for three more years for just $19.5M. That’s less than one Crawford-year.

In other trade news of note within the division, the Rockies traded Troy Tulowitzki to the Blue Jays for Jose Reyes and three pitching prospects. Since neither team needed a shortstop, why they swapped them must have had more to do with money (Tulo’s owed $113.7M over the next five years) than anything else. None of the other three teams in the division have made any deals yet, at least not ones made public. The next time we see the Angels they’ll have old friend Shane Victorino with them, as he was traded by the Red Sox today.

In tonight’s game it will be Brett Anderson (5-5, 3.33 ERA) going for the Dodgers against his former team, which trots out ace Sonny Gray (10-4, 2.30 ERA). Anderson says and the team agrees that his Achilles tendon is fine now after causing him to leave his last start early. Gray has cooled off some recently. He’s 2-1 with a 3.95 ERA and .232 opponents’ batting average over his last six starts after going 5-3 with a 1.37 ERA and .190 opponents’ batting average over his previous nine starts.

Lineup when available.