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Diamondbacks at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Kershaw CXCI: Kershaw Kings Go
Dee Gordon, 2B
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Yasiel Puig, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, LF
Andre Ethier, CF
A.J. Ellis, C
Chone Figgins, 3B
Clayton Kershaw, P
Kershaw CXCI: Kershaw Kings Go
Dee Gordon, 2B
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Yasiel Puig, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, LF
Andre Ethier, CF
A.J. Ellis, C
Chone Figgins, 3B
Clayton Kershaw, P
By Jon Weisman
So, I was watching the Kings score their first goal tonight, and I was imagining what baseball would be like if, instead of a single batter standing 60 1/2 feet away from the pitcher, you had several batters at once each hacking away at a ball with their bats and the infielders hacking back at them.
Anyway …
Much was made early on of how the Dodgers fattened up on a weak Diamondbacks team, going 7-1 in their first eight matchups. On April 29, the Dodgers were 14-12 and the Diamondbacks 8-22. But since then, Arizona is 21-18 and the Dodgers 21-21. Meaning that Arizona is not the pushover it was originally believed to be.
Things change. And then they change again. Something to keep in mind.
* * *
Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. has an update on the rehab of Carl Crawford and Juan Uribe.
Chad Billingsley leaves the mound in his final appearance of 2012, on August 24 (Jill Weisleder/Los Angeles Dodgers)
By Jon Weisman
Chad Billingsley, aiming to recover from Tommy John surgery to repair his ulnar collateral ligament, now has a partial tear of his flexor tendon, per an examination Thursday by Dr. Neal ElAttrache.
Billingsley and Dr. ElAttrache are considering treatment options, according to the Dodgers’ public relations department, and further information will be released in the coming days.
The right-hander, who turns 30 on July 29, ranks 11th in Los Angeles Dodger history in adjusted ERA among pitchers with at least 1,000 innings.
A.J. Ellis last played for the Dodgers on May 24. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
A.J. Ellis will make his first appearance on the active roster since the day of Josh Beckett’s no-no, coming off the disabled list in time for tonight’s game. Tim Federowicz, who singled, doubled and homered with a sacrifice hit and sacrifice fly (.654 OPS) in 17 plate appearances while Ellis was out, will head back to Albuquerque.
Ellis was 4 for 23 with two singles, two doubles and eight walks (.648 OPS) in May.
— Jon Weisman
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Dodgers at Reds, 9:35 a.m.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Justin Turner, 3B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, LF
Andre Ethier, CF
Tim Federowicz, C
Miguel Rojas, SS
Zack Greinke, P
Dee Gordon, 2B
Justin Turner, 3B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, LF
Andre Ethier, CF
Tim Federowicz, C
Miguel Rojas, SS
Zack Greinke, P
By Jon Weisman
The Dodgers have reduced their early season problem of bases-empty walks, but it came back to bite them Wednesday in their 5-0 loss to Cincinnati — with two out and an 0-2 count no less.
In the bottom of the third inning in a scoreless game, Hyun-Jin Ryu had that advantage on the Reds and Billy Hamilton, but six pitches later, Hamilton had a free pass to first base. In his speedy case, that’s as good as an escort to second base, though after Hamilton stole second, Ryu had Todd Frazier down 1-2 and walked him as well.
Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips made Ryu pay with a double and a single, putting the Dodgers down 3-0.
Ryu has walked eight batters with the bases empty in 171 plate appearances. That ratio is fourth-best among Dodger starting pitchers, ahead of Josh Beckett. Two of the pitchers ahead of him, Zack Greinke and Dan Haren, have allowed more home runs with the bases empty than walks.
The Dodger lefty had benefited from a terrific defensive play the previous inning by Dee Gordon. One out after Phillips and Jay Bruce singled, Gordon ranged deep behind second to make an over-the-shoulder catch and doubled Phillips off second base. (Just earlier, Phillips had remained at second base out of overt respect for Yasiel Puig’s throwing arm.)
After that, @YasielPuig conquered his fear of snakes. (photo via @CincinnatiZoo) http://t.co/L63WlrDyBv pic.twitter.com/nLXNe6YBrw
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) June 11, 2014
Dodgers at Reds, 4:10 p.m.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Chone Figgins, 3B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, LF
Andre Ethier, CF
Miguel Rojas, SS
Drew Butera, C
Hyun-Jin Ryu, P
Dee Gordon, 2B
Chone Figgins, 3B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, LF
Andre Ethier, CF
Miguel Rojas, SS
Drew Butera, C
Hyun-Jin Ryu, P
By Jon Weisman
Yasiel Puig went to the zoo today. Youngest Master Weisman almost went to the zoo, but ended up miniature golfing instead.
Summer is a kids’ paradise …
* * *
Injury updates:
- Chad Billingsley was unable to pitch freely in his Tuesday bullpen session, and will meet with Dr. Neil ElAttrache on Thursday.
- Carl Crawford has seen improvement doesn’t have “the explosiveness” he is used to having, according to Manny Randhawa of MLB.com. Crawford is eligible to come off the disabled list Thursday, but still doesn’t have a minor-league rehab assignment scheduled.
- A.J. Ellis could be activated from the disabled list this week, without a rehab assignment, reports Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles, while Juan Uribe could go on a rehab journey in days as well. Uribe last played May 20.
- Update: Hanley Ramirez has been scratched with right AC joint irritation. Miguel Rojas will start at shortstop tonight.
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By Jon Weisman
It’s the award no player dreams of winning, until they go through a nightmare first.
But having been through that nightmare, Josh Beckett might have every right to become the National League’s next Comeback Player of the Year.
No hitters seem to be in the race at this point, though a couple of pitchers definitely are.
Dodgers at Reds, 4:10 p.m.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Yasiel Puig, RF
Matt Kemp, LF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, LF
Andre Ethier, CF
Justin Turner, 3B
Drew Butera, C
Josh Beckett, P
Dee Gordon, 2B
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Yasiel Puig, RF
Matt Kemp, LF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, LF
Andre Ethier, CF
Justin Turner, 3B
Drew Butera, C
Josh Beckett, P
By Jon Weisman
It’s looking stormy in Ohio this evening, and the start of tonight’s Dodgers-Reds game has been delayed. If there’s been a more weather-challenged Dodger season than this year’s, it’s not immediately coming to mind.
We’ve had questionable weather in Los Angeles, Sydney, Colorado, Minnesota, Washington, New York, Philadelphia, Colorado and Cincinnati — in short, every domeless spot the Dodgers have played so far in 2014 except San Francisco and San Diego.
Put another way, in every single road series to an open stadium east of California in 2014, the Dodgers have faced a weather delay.
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Clayton Kershaw on A.J. Ellis: “Who could have thought his vertical jump was high enough to hurt his ankle on that catcher’s mask?”
— Jon Weisman
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By Jon Weisman
Bob Welch was much more than a single strikeout of Reggie Jackson.
He pitched three one-hitters; I was at one of them, a 15-year-old trying to explain to the people he was with why the game was special. He pitched a shutout against the Reds in 1983 and homered off Mario Soto for the only run of the game. He had a 3.14 career ERA with the Dodgers, then moved on to Oakland and had a Cy Young Award-winning season when he won 27 games. After retiring, he became the pitching coach for the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks, who won the World Series.
He was also someone who shared his personal life and battle with addiction in the book, “Five O’Clock Comes Early,” and as recently as this year, he was sharing difficult details of his life so that it might be of help to others.
It was hard not to be a fan of Welch, long after he faced down Jackson from 60 feet, six inches away.
Nevertheless, that strikeout looms so large in the legacy of Welch, who has passed away at the age of 57. Before Jose Lima, before Orel Hershiser, before Jerry Reuss, before anyone, it might be the singular postseason pitching moment in my lifetime of following the Dodgers.
Here’s my chapter on that event, from 100 Things Dodgers …
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Van Slyke makes the catch next to Puig at the CF wall, and the pair then race each other back to the dugout.
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) June 10, 2014
Scott Van Slyke @ScottVanSlick has six homers in 71 at-bats off three pitchers in 2014.
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) June 10, 2014
Van Slyke’s six 2014 home runs have come in five different time zones.
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) June 10, 2014
Scott Van Slyke has the Dodgers’ first 3 3 3 4 day since Kevin Elster christened the Giants’ new ballpark in 2000. http://t.co/a7VpeJOKqr
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) June 10, 2014
Van Slyke was 270 feet away from the first 3 4 3 4 day in #Dodgers history (going back to at least 1914).
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) June 10, 2014
– Jon Weisman
By Jon Weisman
Yasiel Puig has widened his lead among outfielders in the latest National League All-Star balloting update.
Puig is now more than 200,000 votes ahead of second-palce Giancarlo Stanton and nearly 300,000 ahead of the next two outfielders, Carlos Gomez and Andrew McCutchen. Only Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowtizki has more NL votes than Puig.
The 23-year-old right fielder was out of the money when the initial tallies came in, but then surged to first place by about 50,000 votes last week.
Fans looking to see Puig start the game shouldn’t become complacent, however, as the voting can shift dramatically week to week.
Meanwhile, Adrian Gonzalez remains in first place among first basemen despite a 1-for-26 start to June, but Paul Goldschmidt is coming on. The Arizona slugger, who a week ago was in fourth place and more than 150,000 votes behind Gonzalez, has eliminated about a third of that deficit.
Dee Gordon, Juan Uribe and Hanley Ramirez all rank the same as last week. Gordon has increased his margin over Brandon Phillips of Cincinnati, but the Pirates’ Neil Walker reduced his gap from 165,000 votes to 121,000.
Two weeks ago, David Wright and Uribe were nearly even in third and fourth place among third basemen. But while Uribe has been sidelined with a hamstring injury, Wright has zoomed to the lead.
Dodgers at Reds, 4:10 p.m.
Chone Figgins, 2B
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Yasiel Puig, RF
Matt Kemp, LF
Scott Van Slyke, CF
Justin Turner, 3B
Jamie Romak, 1B
Tim Federowicz, C
Dan Haren, P
Chone Figgins, 2B
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Yasiel Puig, RF
Matt Kemp, LF
Scott Van Slyke, CF
Justin Turner, 3B
Jamie Romak, 1B
Tim Federowicz, C
Dan Haren, P
By Jon Weisman
Jamie Romak gets a surprising start at first base today at Cincinnati, as the Dodgers rest slumping Adrian Gonzalez, while keeping Scott Van Slyke in center field ahead of Andre Ethier.
Gonzalez has been such a mainstay at first base since coming over from Boston, and Van Slyke such a logical understudy, that you just don’t expect to see someone like Romak there. It got me wondering about other rare cameos at first base for the Dodgers — in particular, when Steve Garvey was around.
Garvey played nearly every game at first base for the Dodgers from 1974-82, but not every inning. Here’s who backed him up.
- 1974: Bill Buckner went 7 for 21 in six games at first base, while Gail Hopkins went 0 for 4 in two games and Tom Paciorek added two innings.
- 1975: Ken McMullen went 4 for 10 with a triple in three games, including starts on September 1 and 2.
- 1976: Garvey played all but six innings this year. On May 7, he was hit by a pitch in the eighth inning, and John Hale pinch-ran. Buckner moved over from left field to play first, and grounded out in the top of the ninth. Ed Goodson also played four defensive innings across three games.
- 1977: Four different subsitutes — Boog Powell (2 for 5 with a walk in four games), Ed Goodson (1 for 8 with a walk in five games), Rick Monday (0 for 5 in five games) and Joe Simpson (0 for 1). Goodson started on May 28, Powell on August 15.
- 1978: Garvey started alll 162 games, but it was a nice year for the backups. Pedro Guerrero went 4 for 7 with a triple in three games, Monday 1 for 3 and Vic Davalillo 1 for 1.
- 1979: Guerrero went 3 for 14 in eight games and became the first first baseman besides Garvey to homer since 1973. It was a late-September game that Garvey departed after two innings. Derrel Thomas and Gary Thomasson each got an inning at first base; Thomas went 0 for 1 at the plate.
- 1980: Guerrero sizzled at first base, going 3 for 4, while Thomasson struck out in his only at-bat as a first baseman. The 43-year-old Davalillo also picked up an inning in the last defensive appearance of his career.
- 1981: The Dodgers’ title year saw Mike Marshall, Jay Johnstone and Reggie Smith each go 1 for 4 at first base, while Guerrero went 0 for 1.
- 1982: In the final season before Garvey departed for San Diego, Marshall got the most playing time of anyone else at the position since 1973, going 8 for 28 with two homers and five walks. Monday went 2 for 10, and Garvey’s initial successor, Greg Brock, 0 for 4.
Innings by Dodger first basemen, 1974-82
Steve Garvey: 12,346 1/3 out of 12,724 1/3 (97.0 percent)
Mike Marshall: 90
Pedro Guerrero: 66
Bill Buckner: 49
Rick Monday: 44
Ed Goodson: 35
Ken McMullen: 19
Boog Powell: 15
Jay Johnstone: 13
Reggie Smith: 13
Gail Hopkins: 12
Greg Brock: 8 2/3
Vic Davalillo: 5 1/3
Gary Thomasson: 3
Tom Paciorek: 2
Joe Simpson: 2
Derrel Thomas: 1
* * *
Some trivia from Sunday’s game:
- Jamie Romak and Miguel Rojas became the first Dodgers to get their first MLB hits back to back since Wilkin Ruan and David Ross in Arizona on September 2, 2002, noted SportsNet LA. Ross later hit a home run off Mark Grace in that game.
- The Dodgers had their shortest victory since May 1, 1983 in Chicago, and their shortest complete game by a pitcher since Nick Willhite against the Mets on June 7, 1964 — 50 years and one day earlier. Via Dodgers PR.
- Clayton Kershaw “is the only pitcher in baseball dating back to at least 1914 with four consecutive starts with exactly nine strikeouts,” notes Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A.
The 15th Annual Jewish Community Day at Dodger Stadium will take place June 29, when the Dodgers take on the St. Louis Cardinals at 1:10 p.m.
The Dodgers are offering a special ticket package, which includes a voucher for a Dodgers-in-Hebrew baseball cap and a ticket to the game in the Reserve MVP or Preferred Reserve. The game also features a Kids’ Adrian Gonzalez Replica Jersey giveaway to the first 15,000 ticketed fans 14 and under in attendance.
Kosher food will be available to fans in the Left Field Reserve section, including kosher dogs, jalapeno kosher dogs and Italian beef sausages.
A limited number of tickets for Jewish Community Day are still available and can be purchased at www.dodgers.com/jewish or by calling 323-224-1421. In order to receive the commemorative item, fans must purchase the ticket package through the website by June 20.
— Emily Nuckols
