Tag Archives: Walker Buehler

Jun 09

Game 66, 2019

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Dodgers at Giants, 1:05 PM PDT, TV: NBCS Bay Area, SPNLA

RHP Walker Buehler (6-1, 3.69 ERA) takes the hill for the Dodgers against the Giants’ LHP Madison Bumgarner (3-5, 4.05 ERA). Buehler’s last start might have been his best of the season: he went eight innings, gave up two hits, struck out 11 and walked none, getting the win against the D-Backs. Bumgarner pitched well against the Mets last time out, going six innings without figuring in the decision. He’s 15-12 lifetime against the Dodgers with a 2.56 ERA; today will be his 35th career start against them.

Here are Seager’s four hits in Saturday’s game:

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1919 Dodger standout pitcher Rube Marquard breaks his leg running the bases, ending his season with a record of 3-3. The hard-throwing southpaw will finish his 18-year Hall of Fame career in 1925, after compiling a 201-177 record along with an ERA of 3.08.
  • 1973 Rightfielder Rusty Staub becomes the pivot man in a very unusual double play during a 4-2 Mets victory against the Dodgers at Shea Stadium. Racing in from the outfield, ‘Le Grand Orange’ gets a throw near second base from first baseman John Milner and tags Davey Lopes, who was picked-off from first, and then throws home to nail Tom Paciorek trying to score from second during the P-1B-SS-1B-2B-1B-2B-RF-C rundown.
  • 1990 Eddie Murray ties Mickey Mantle’s major league mark, hitting a homer from both sides of the plate for the tenth time in his career. The switch-hitting first baseman’s second home run of the game, batting left-handed against Eric Show, proves to be the eventual winning run in the Dodgers’ 5-4 victory over San Diego in the 11th inning at Jack Murphy Stadium.

Lineup when available.


Jun 03

Game 61, 2019

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Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 6:40 PM PDT, TV: FS-A, SPNLA

The Dodgers’ RHP Walker Buehler (5-1, 4.03 ERA) takes the hill at Chase Field against the Diamondbacks’ RHP Robbie Ray (4-2, 3.59 ERA). Buehler struggled against the Mets his last time out, giving up five runs on seven hits in five innings, but before that he’d had four consecutive quality starts. Ray also struggled in his last outing against the Rockies, giving up five runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings. He’s 4-0 in his last eight starts against the Dodgers.

Houston Mitchell of the LA Times looks at the history and concludes that Cody Bellinger is having the best season in Dodgers history. He uses OPS+ to prove it.


Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1969 Tom Seaver strikes out 14 batters in eight innings en route to the Mets’ 5-2 win over LA at Shea Stadium. The victory, fueled by Ed Kranepool’s two home runs, improves the second-place team’s record to 24-23, the latest they have been above .500 in franchise history.
  • 1989 In a 22-inning game played at the Astrodome, Houston beats the Dodgers, 5-4, when Rafael Ramirez’ run-scoring single plates Bill Doran to end the contest at 2:50 a.m., seven hours and 14-minutes after it started. The longest game in National League history features L.A. center fielder John Shelby going 0-for-10 and southpaw Fernando Valenzuela finishing the game at first base.

Lineup when available.

May 29

Game 56, 2019

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Mets at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: SNY, SPNLA

The Mets send RHP Noah Syndergaard (3-4, 4.93 ERA) to the mound to face the Dodgers’ RHP Walker Buehler (5-1, 3.58 ERA). Syndergaard is not having a good season, whether due to mechanics as his manager thinks or due to “mental issues” as the pitcher himself thinks. Either way, he’s not been very good. He’s got a 5.02 ERA in his last nine starts (he’s made 11 this season). Buehler, on the other hand, has steadily improved his ERA (and W-L record) since his first three starts of the year, and even with a less-than-effective start against Cincinnati on May 18 when he gave up four runs (one earned) he’s given up just two earned runs in his last 19 innings while striking out 20 and walking just two.

Cody Bellinger = Babe Ruth? Maybe statistically.

Why can you get mahi-mahi tacos, crispy coconut shrimp, clam chowder, tri-tip nachos and a burrito packed with steak, shrimp and avocado at Petco Park in addition to the usual stadium chow? Mostly, more kitchens.

On this date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1905 According to legend, Dodger hurler Elmer Stricklett introduces the spitball, helping Brooklyn to beat the Giants, 4-3. Prior to the 1921 season, the spitball will be totally banned, except for 17 existing spitballers who are allowed to keep throwing the slippery pitch legally until they are retired, including Burleigh Grimes, who will be the last player to legally throw a doctored pitch before retiring in 1934.
  • 1928 At Ebbets Field, Bill Terry hits for the cycle to pace the Giants to a 12-5 victory over the Robins (Dodgers). The New York first baseman is the first player in major league history to include a grand slam as part of the cycle.
  • 1956 In a 10-1 loss to the Dodgers at Forbes Field, Dale Long is held hitless by Don Newcombe, ending his consecutive-game home run streak. The Pirates’ first baseman had established a new major league mark by homering in the last eight Pittsburgh contests.
  • 1979 At Dodger Stadium, Dusty Baker, Rick Sutcliffe, Steve Garvey, Gary Thomasson, Derrel Thomas, Joe Ferguson, and Davey Lopes set a team record by hitting seven home runs as the Dodgers crush the Reds, 17-6.
  • 2000 At the age of 104, Fred Roberts, the oldest living Dodger fan, makes his first visit to Dodger Stadium. Wearing a jersey with the number 104, the World War I veteran cheers as Shawn Green’s sixth inning grand slam helps to beat Al Leiter and the Mets, 4-1.

Lineup when available.


May 24

Game 51, 2019

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Dodgers at Pirates, 4:05 PM PDT, ATT Sportsnet PIT, SPNLA

RHP Walker Buehler (4-1, 3.83 ERA) takes the mound in Steel City at the confluence of the Allegheny, Ohio and Monongahela rivers. His opponent will be the dreaded TBD. Buehler went six strong innings his last time out but took the loss as the Dodgers couldn’t score a run. TBD is RHP Michael Feliz (2-0, 4.63 ERA), who’s not made a start all year and whose longest stint in any of his 11 appearances is 1 2/3 innings.

Kyle Garlick has been recalled and Joe Kelly has been placed on the bereavement list.

Speaking of Kelly, here’s some analysis of his difficulties so far this season from the LA Times. In another article about a member of the bullpen, Pedro Baez discusses his newly-found confidence in his changeup and what it’s done for his effectiveness.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1941 ‘Big Poison’ Paul Waner is signed by the Braves after being released by Brooklyn. The former Dodger joins his brother ‘Little Poison’ Lloyd on the Boston roster.
  • 1947 Carl Furillo hits a three-run homer as a pinch-hitter in the first frame of the Dodgers’ 4-3 ten-inning loss to Philadelphia at Ebbets Field. The unusual substitution occurs when Phillies manager Ben Chapman uses his right-handed starter Al Jurisch to pitch only to Brooklyn’s first two hitters, Pee Wee Reese and Jackie Robinson, and then brings in southpaw Oscar Judd, who had been warming up from the start of the game, to face the next three lefty hitters, Pete Reiser, Dixie Walker, and Gene Hermanski, the batter replaced by Furillo.
  • 1973 In a 19-inning marathon, LA outfielder Willie Davis collects six hits in a 7-3 loss to the Mets at Dodger Stadium. The two clubs establish a National League mark by hitting into a combined nine double plays.
  • 2000 Sixteen Dodger players and three coaches are suspended by the commissioner’s office for going into the stands during the Wrigley Field scuffle with fans on May 16. The suspensions totaling 60 games for players and 24 games for coaches is the harshest penalty ever handed down by major league baseball.

Lineup when available.



May 19

Game 48, 2019

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Dodgers at Reds, 1:10 PM PDT, TV: FS-O, SPNLA

The Dodgers’ give LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (5-1, 1.72 ERA) the ball in hopes he’ll continue his hot pitching. In his last two starts he’s shut out Atlanta and given up just one hit in eight innings against Washington. His control has been remarkable: he’s struck out 54 in 51 2/3 innings this season and walked three. He’ll face the Reds’ RHP Tanner Roark (3-2, 3.50 ERA), who in his last three starts has surrendered four, three and eight hits and won two of three decisions.

Buehler pitched pretty well in Saturday’s game, as shown in this video, but his teammates didn’t hit much behind him.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1988 Mike Marshall had three hits and Kirk Gibson had two as the Dodgers defeated El Presidente, Dennis Martinez, and shut out the Montreal Expos 2-0.

Lineup when available.


May 18

Game 47, 2019

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Dodgers at Reds, 1:10 PM PDT, TV: FS-O, SPNLA

RHP Walker Buehler (4-0, 4.15 ERA) is on the bump for the Dodgers and RHP Tyler Mahle (0-5, 3.97 ERA) pitches for the Reds. Buehler has improved in virtually every start after a shortened spring training. His last time out he went seven scoreless innings and gave up just four hits to the Nats, only to see the bullpen give up five runs in the 8th and lose the game. Mahle has pitched well at times but appears to be a victim of the dreaded “one bad inning” disease.

The Reds’ Eugenio Suarez had a little fun after chasing a pop foul to the stands yesterday:

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1929 In the doubleheader played at Philadelphia’s Baker Bowl, the teams combine to score a record fifty runs when the Dodgers outlast the Phillies, 20-16, before dropping the nightcap to the home team 8-6. In the opener, Brooklyn’s Johnny Frederick crosses the plate five times, giving him the major league mark of scoring eight runs in two consecutive games.
  • 1931 Dodgers’ outfielder Babe Herman hits for the cycle for the first of two times this season. In 1933, as a member of the Cubs, he will again hit for the cycle, making him and Bob Meusel the only major leaguers to have accomplished the feat three times since 1900.
  • 1942 Night games in New York are banned for the duration of WW II, leaving fans in the dark about the status of the All-Star Game scheduled to be played at the Polo Grounds on the evening of Monday, July 6. The prohibition of nighttime tilts, announced by NYC Police Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine, will change the starting times for 28 contests involving the Dodgers and Giants. (The first night game at Yankee Stadium will be played in 1946.)
  • 1998 With a 6-3 victory over the Orioles, the Devil Rays become only the second expansion team in major league history to sweep an away four-game series. The 1993 Colorado Rockies, who did it against the Dodgers, is the other team to accomplish this feat.

Another historical note: In 2004 At the age of 40, southpaw Randy Johnson becomes the oldest pitcher to throw a perfect game when the Diamondbacks beat the Braves, 2-0. The ‘Big Unit’ joins Cy Young, Jim Bunning, Hideo Nomo, and Nolan Ryan as the only hurlers to throw no-hitters in both leagues and creates the longest time span between no-no’s, having first accomplished the feat against the Tigers in June of 1990.

Lineup:


May 11

Game 42, 2019

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Nationals at Dodgers, 6:10 PM PDT, TV: KTLA, MASN 2, MLBN (out-of-market only), SPNLA

The redoubtable RHP Max Scherzer (1-4, 3.78 ERA) takes the hill to face the Dodgers’ RHP Walker Buehler (4-0, 4.95 ERA). The Nats are 1-7 when Scherzer has started this season; they’re not scoring many runs when he pitches. Buehler’s first start of the year was horrible; he lasted just three innings and gave up five runs, leaving him with an ERA of 15.00. Every outing since has caused his ERA to drop. At this point in the season he’s having trouble the third time through the opponents’ batting order; they’re hitting .196 the first two times through and .409 the third.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1963 Sandy Koufax takes a perfect game into the eighth inning before walking Ed Bailey on a 3-and-2 pitch, but will finish the Dodger Stadium contest with the second of four career no-hitters, blanking the Giants, 8-0. The Los Angeles southpaw beats San Francisco ace Juan Marichal, who will also author a no-hitter next month.

Three years ago tonight’s starter had a history-making performance: In 2016 Max Scherzer ties a major league mark when he strikes out 20 batters in a nine-inning game, joining Roger Clemens (1986, 1996 Red Sox), Kerry Wood (1998 Cubs), and Randy Johnson (2001 Diamondbacks). The 31 year-old right-hander, who goes the distance in Washington’s 3-2 victory over the Tigers at Nationals Park, has an opportunity to establish a new record with two out in the ninth, but James McCann grounds into a force out at second base to end the contest.

Lineup when available.


May 07

Game 38, 2019

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Braves at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: FSSE, SPNLA

The Braves give the ball to LHP Max Fried (4-1, 2.11 ERA) and the Dodgers do the same to LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (3-1, 2.55 ERA). Fried limited the Padres to one run on four hits with seven strikeouts over seven innings in his best start of the season last time out. Ryu went eight innings against the Giants his last time out, giving up one run on four hits, no walks and six strikeouts. He leads the majors with 0.5 walks per nine innings.

From Monday’s game wrapup:

Buehler is 12-5 in his 30 career starts. No drafted Dodgers pitcher has won that many games in that few starts, including fellow first-rounders Clayton Kershaw, Bob Welch or Chad Billingsley.

In franchise history, only Kenta Maeda, Don Newcombe, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Kaz Ishii and Hideo Nomo rank ahead of Buehler for wins in the first 30 Major League starts, and each played professionally previously in Asia or, in Newcombe’s case, the Negro Leagues.

Additionally, Buehler has limited the opposition to a .195 batting average in those 30 starts, sixth in MLB all-time behind Jose Fernandez (.181), Vida Blue (.181), Nomo (.185), Juan Guzman (.192) and Matt Harvey (.195).

Bellinger won’t play first base for the forseeable future due to the potential for injury when diving for balls. (What, he won’t dive for balls in right field?) Pollock won’t play for six more weeks; he has a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) line in his left arm to transmit antibiotics and cannot play baseball until it’s removed. The antibiotics are to fight the staph infection in his elbow which took him into surgery last week. This particular problem is bizarre; read the whole story.

Buehler struck out eight in Monday’s game:

On this date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1959 At the Los Angeles Coliseum, the Yankees defeat the Dodgers, 6-2, in an exhibition game played to benefit Roy Campanella, who was paralyzed in an auto accident prior to the team moving to the West Coast in 1958. The game, which draws the largest crowd ever for a baseball game, 93,103 fans with another estimated 15,000 turned away from the sellout, begins with an emotional ceremony in which Pee Wee Reese pushes the wheelchair-bound catcher into the darkened stadium that is totally illuminated by fans holding candles or matches.
  • 1960 The Sherry boys become the tenth pair of siblings to appear as batterymates in a major league game when Norm replaces John Roseboro behind the plate in the top of the eighth to catch Larry, who is starting his first inning in relief. The backstop will hit a two-out home run in the bottom of the 11th inning, assuring his brother of a victory in the Dodgers’ 3-2 walk-off win over Philadelphia.
  • 1969 Willie Davis, furious with the Wrigley Field Bleacher Bums because of their continual verbal abuse of him, tells his Dodgers teammates that he wants to hit a home run in the middle of the group, which he does in the sixth inning to tie the score. The LA center fielder exacts a bit more revenge on the heckling horde when his 12th-inning two-run round-tripper proves to be the difference in the 4-2 defeat of the Cubs.
  • 1970 At Shea Stadium, Wes Parker hits a triple off Jim McAndrew to beat the Mets in the tenth inning, 7-4. The three-bagger completes the cycle for the Dodger first baseman.
  • 1991 Darryl Strawberry returns to New York as a Dodger with mixed results. A crowd of 49,118 mostly booing fans watches him hit a two-run home run, and they cheer when he makes the last out of the game with the potential tying and winning runs on base in the 6-5 Mets victory.
  • 2009 The Dodgers fail to improve upon their 13-game winning streak at home to open the season–the victorious span surpassed the 1911 Tigers to set a new major league mark. The 11-9 loss to Washington comes on the same day the team learns about Manny Ramirez, the club’s most productive hitter, being suspended for 50 games after testing positive for a banned substance.
  • 2009 Major League Baseball suspends Manny Ramirez for fifty games after he tests positive for the use of a banned substance. The 36 year-old Dodgers outfielder, who will not be eligible to return to the team until July 3, apologizes to the fans, explaining he did not take steroids, but was given a medication which a doctor thought was okay to be prescribed.
  • 2011 After a first-inning walk in the Dodgers’ 4-2 loss to the Mets, Andre Ethier goes 0-for-4, ending his 30-game hitting streak. The L.A. outfielder falls one game short of the franchise record set in 1969 by Willie Davis, who enjoyed a 31-game hitting streak that season.
  • 2014 Adrian Beltre becomes the fifth player in major league history to hit 100 home runs for three different teams when he goes deep in the Rangers’ 9-2 loss to Colorado at Globe Life Park in Arlington. The 35 year-old third baseman, who joins Alex Rodriguez, Jim Thome, Darrell Evans, and Reggie Jackson in accomplishing the feat, hit 147 homers for the Dodgers (1998-2004) and 103 with the Mariners (2005-09).

Lineup when available.


May 06

Game 37, 2019

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Braves at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: FSSE, SPNLA

RHP Kevin Gausman (1-2, 4.83 ERA) takes the hill for the Braves. He’ll face the Dodgers’ RHP Walker Buehler (3-0, 5.22 ERA). Gausman started last Friday but was tossed from the game for “intentionally throwing” behind Jose Urena of the Marlins after only 28 pitches. His short stint between starts pushes the Braves’ rotation back a day. Buehler’s ERA and WHIP (1.193) are both up while his strikeouts are down from last year, but he’s still winning.

It wasn’t just the Padres’ Renfroe hitting a grand slam yesterday. There were four other ones hit on Sunday as well.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1937 Dodgers and Giants fans attending afternoon ball games at both the Polo Grounds and Ebbets Field are thrilled to have the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the Hindenburg when the passenger airship appears over New York, nearing the end of its maiden voyage of the season from Germany. A few hours later, the majestic German zeppelin will explode on a landing strip in Lakehurst, N.J., killing 36 of its passengers.
  • 1947 In a small office high up behind home plate at Ebbets Field, National League president Ford Frick meets with seven Cardinal players individually, revealing he is aware of their secret plan to strike as a protest to Jackie Robinson playing for the Dodgers. The usually non-confrontational leader of the Senior Circuit makes his position clear about their planned boycott, telling the Redbird conspirators they will encounter quick retribution from his office that will include suspensions from baseball.
  • 1978 After going deep as a pinch hitter on May 2, Lee Lacy becomes the first major leaguer to pinch-hit home runs in consecutive at-bats. The Dodgers’ super sub will make it three in a row on May 17.
  • 2009 With a 10-3 victory over Washington, the Dodgers break the major league mark for consecutive victories at home to open a season with their 13th straight win in L.A. The previous record of 12 was established in 1911 by the Tigers.
  • 2015 Bob Uecker, along with fellow broadcasters Joe Block and Jeff Levering, longtime engineer Kent Sommerfeld, and his assistant, Mary Burns, become trapped for several innings as the result of a broken lock on the Miller Park’s radio broadcast booth door. A crew of workmen, using a ladder positioned on the loge level, climbed into the booth to remove the door from its hinges, while the announcers’ play-by-play continued to detail the action of Brewers and Dodgers game on the field.

    “People who are listening to the ballgame, I know what you’re thinking. He’s ready for the home. He’s cooked. It’s finally happened. He’s seeing ladders and doors without handles.” – BOB UECKER, explaining being trapped for several innings by a broken lock on the radio broadcast booth’s door.

Lineup:


Apr 30

Game 32, 2019

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Dodgers at Giants, 6:45 PM PDT, TV: NBCS Bay Area, SPNLA

RHP Walker Buehler (2-0, 5.25 ERA) takes the hill for the Dodgers, while his mound opponent will be LHP Drew Pomeranz (1-2, 3.65 ERA) of the Giants. Blue-gloved Buehler (see photo at link above) pitched 5 2/3 innings of good baseball his last time out but then hung a curve ball which Javy Baez hit for a three-run homer. Pomeranz went six scoreless innings against the Blue Jays in his last start.

Ken Gurnick of MLB.com has written an excellent story about the Dodgers’ pitching heritage, from Branch Rickey and the days of 26 farm clubs all the way up to Kershaw and Buehler today.

Beginning in 1940 (a span of almost 80 seasons), the Dodgers’ staff has ranked either first or second in the NL in ERA 40 times, including last year, when it ranked first. Pitching is the Dodgers’ brand.

Their pitchers have won 12 Cy Young Awards (no other team has more than seven), a string that started with the late Don Newcombe in the award’s inaugural season of 1956 and includes three plaques each for Koufax (‘63, ‘65, ‘66) and his protégé, Kershaw (‘11, ‘13, ‘14). The other five winners were Don Drysdale (‘62), Mike Marshall (‘74), Fernando Valenzuela (‘81), Hershiser (‘88), and Gagne (‘03).

Five additional Cy Youngs were won elsewhere by pitchers trained in the Dodgers’ farm system — three by Pedro Martinez (1997 NL, ‘99 AL, 2000 AL) and one each by Rick Sutcliffe (‘84 NL) and Bob Welch (‘90 AL).

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.

A.J. Pollock has an elbow infection and is likely headed to the IL. This is the same elbow he’s broken twice before, and it has a plate and screws in it.

Lineup when available.