I keep thinking what a shame it is it isn’t October. Dodgers 6, Phillies 5.
Category: Dodgers (Page 55 of 70)
Philadelphia won’t soon forget Elian Herrera.
For the second straight evening, the Dodgers’ utility star drove in the winning run, delivering a two-out, two-strike, two-run double in the eighth inning to give Los Angeles what it needed for a 2-1 victory over Philadelphia and winless Cliff Lee.
Lee had allowed three baserunners and struck out 12 before the eighth inning — and the Dodgers did him the additional favor of having two baserunners thrown out at third base to begin that frame. (Following a leadoff double, Matt Treanor couldn’t make it to third on a Tony Gwynn Jr. bunt, and then Gwynn himself was thrown out trying to take two bases on a single by pinch-hitter Bobby Abreu.)
But after Dee Gordon singled, Herrera doubled to deep left-center, driving in the tying and go-ahead runs. Josh Lindblom and Kenley Jansen then closed the door on Philadelphia.
Herrera has twin .377 on-base and slugging percentages for the Dodgers now. Lee fell to 0-3 despite a 2.92 ERA on the year.
The Dodgers stayed close thanks to Chad Billingsley, who threw seven innings of one-run ball to set himself up for another blistering critique from the fans the next time he fails to impress. In the first inning, Billingsley allowed a leadoff double, an RBI single and a walk before escaping on a to-the-wall fly to right. After that, however, the righthander permitted only four baserunners over his final six innings, despite striking out only three of 28 batters he faced in the game.
Sadly, Tommy Lasorda doesn’t just give heart attacks, he gets them. Best wishes to the former Dodger manager, who is recovering at a New York hospital.
“Doctors inserted a stent to correct a blocked artery in Lasorda’s heart,” the Dodgers said in a press release. “He is resting comfortably and in stable condition.”
“The doctors confirmed I do bleed Dodger Blue,” Lasorda joked. “I’m looking forward to being back at the stadium to cheer on the Dodgers.”
Update: Dylan Hernandez of the Times reports that Javy Guerra had knee surgery this morning and is expected to be sidelined from four to six weeks.
Dodgers at Phillies, 4:05 p.m.
Dee Gordon, SS
Elian Herrera, 3B
Juan Rivera, 1B
Andre Ethier, RF
Alex Castellanos, LF
Jerry Hairston Jr., 2B
Matt Treanor, C
Tony Gwynn Jr., CF
Chad Billingsley, P
So, having Jonathan Quick is like having Clayton Kershaw pitching at his best in every game you play — is that right?
As Harvard-Westlake righthanded pitcher Lucas Giolito fell into the teens of the 2012 MLB draft, I began to wonder – and I’m not sure why this didn’t occur to me sooner – whether the Dodgers might go after him.
Giolito had been projected as a potential No. 1 overall pick this year before he came up with an elbow injury that hinted at the potential need for Tommy John surgery down the road. That poses a fear factor, but I wasn’t sure it would be enough to dissuade prep pitching fan and occasional daredevil drafter Logan White of the Dodgers.
As it happened, only two slots before the Dodgers’ selection at No. 18, Giolito was plucked by the Washington Nationals, who will potentially line him up with post-TJ ace Stephen Strasburg. And so came a different sort of twist. For the first time since James Loney in 2002, White began his draft with a position player and the intention of keeping him there: 6-foot-3 Corey Seager of Northwest Cabarrus High in Concord, North Carolina – the younger brother of Seattle third baseman Kyle Seager.
“(Seager) has similar pure hitting ability while projecting to hit for more power and a better frame,” than his brother, writes John Manuel of Baseball America. “Seager has a chance to play shortstop as a pro but likely slides to third base and has the pop to fit the profile. He has a smooth, powerful swing, and the consensus was he’d have to go out in the first round to keep him from attending South Carolina.”
Here’s ESPN.com’s take: “Corey is bigger and more physical than his brother. Corey could be a tough sign here with a strong commitment to South Carolina, but you have to think the Dodgers are confident they can get him signed. Seager is a very projectable athlete that plays shortstop now but projects to move to third base, where his above-average hands, smooth feet and plus arm will make him an above-average defender. He shows an advanced feel for hitting with a sweet swing from the left side and average present raw power that could be plus as he fills out his broad shoulders, giving him All-Star upside if he develops as scouts project.”
Though it will be years before Seager is big-league ready, assuming that day comes, I’m sure many Dodger fans are heartened to finally see the team draft some offensive help. White is typically adamant about taking the best player available, and if he thought an infielder was that guy, well, that gives me some amount of optimism.
With their second pick, coming in the supplemental round before round two, the Dodgers went with another infielder with major-league bloodlines: Jesmuel Valentin of the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy. Conor Massey of Baseball America did a story in May about the son of one-time Dodger Jose Valentin.
“Jesmuel has a similar build to his father at 5-foot-10 and 175 pounds,” Massey wrote. “He’s primarily a shortstop, but plays a lot of second base in deference to his high school teammate at Puerto Rico Baseball Academy, Carlos Correa. He’s a smooth defender with a strong arm and is an average runner with good instincts on the bases. Valentin said he doesn’t particularly care which position he plays—which must run in the family.”
What an exciting, rewarding finish to tonight’s Dodger game for fans scarred by their trips to Philadelphia in the past several years.
With the score tied 3-3, oft-maligned shortstop Dee Gordon’s second hit of the game was a triple to lead off the ninth inning. Listening to the play in my car, I had dreams of him rounding the bases for a game-winning inside-the-park home run, but I had barely had time to be disappointed that he only made it to third base, because Elian Herrera hit the very next pitch from Jonathan Papelbon for a single to score Gordon and break the tie.
The bottom of the ninth began with the Dodgers leading by the same score that they marked the start of the final frame of the heartbreaking Game 4 of the 2009 National League Championship series. The echo reverberated in my brain. Kenley Jansen struck out the first batter, but the second hit a sinking line drive, recalling a similar ninth-inning shot by Gary Carter off Orel Hershiser that turned around Game 1 of the 1988 NLCS.
Herrera, the hero from Nowhereville finding himself in center field tonight only because Tony Gwynn Jr. was a mid-day scratch, came charging in and glided into a dive, snaring the ball without a care in the world. Two out.
Jansen then went 3-1 to Hector Luna, moving within one pitch of putting the tying run on base. But Jansen blew Luna away on two cutters, and the Dodgers had a big win in Philadelphia, 4-3.
The reaction to the Dodgers’ recent losing stretch (six of seven, eight of 11) has been predictable and understandable, if unpleasant. Insecurities about the team have come out, and there’s a reason those insecurities are there. The 2012 Dodgers barely looked like a playoff team with Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp at full strength. With Kemp on the disabled list, Kershaw struggling to avoid the meltdown inning and other problems materializing, it’s understandable to wonder how long they can hold things together. Put them in a stadium that’s not far from a chamber of horrors for Los Angeles, and tempers are going to be short and not sweet.
We can all see the weaknesses. And so when they overcome them, it’s just so damn pleasing.
Last year, on June 4, Clayton Kershaw allowed six runs in 6 2/3 innings in Cincinnati. In his next start, he allowed six runs in six innings at Colorado.
His ERA on June 9 last year stood at 3.44.
Admittedly, his strikeout rate is down in 2012, which is not fun to contemplate, but contrary to popular recollection, Kershaw was hittable in the first half of last season. His Cy Young run began June 14, when he began a streak in which he allowed 24 earned runs in his final 19 starts.
Dodgers at Phillies, 4:05 p.m.
Kershaw CXXVIII: Kershmokey and the Bandit
Dee Gordon, SS
Elian Herrera, CF
Andre Ethier, RF
Juan Rivera, 1B
Bobby Abreu, LF
A.J. Ellis, C
Jerry Hairston Jr., 2B
Adam Kennedy, 3B
Clayton Kershaw, P
We expected a busy day because of the MLB Draft, set to begin at 4 p.m. Mark Appel is expected by many to be the third overall No. 1 pick from Stanford this year, following Andrew Luck in the NFL and Nneka Ogwumike in the WNBA.
However, the Dodgers made it even newsier by not only activating Juan Rivera but issuing a promotion — long-awaited by many of us — to strikeout-mad reliever Shawn Tolleson. Javy Guerra has gone on the disabled list with right knee inflammation, Scott Van Slyke has been optioned to Albuquerque and Matt Guerrier has moved to the 60-day disabled list.
Tolleson’s childhood buddy, Clayton Kershaw, is looking to avoid losing three consecutive starts for the first time in his career against a team he is 0-4 lifetime against with a 5.18 ERA (and 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings).
One potential new concern: Tony Gwynn Jr. was in the original Dodger starting lineup against Phillies righty Vance Worley announced today but was later scratched without an immediate explanation.
Update: Dylan Hernandez of the Times reports that Gwynn has a tight hamstring. How cliche …
It’s a struggle right now, but I’d rather have a struggling team with 33 wins banked in 54 games than a team with fewer.
When I looked online for a video for “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams,” I had no idea this is what I would end up with. This should give you something else to talk about besides the Dodgers in this woeful week.
Nathan Eovaldi pitched well enough to win in his 2012 Dodger debut, throwing six shutout innings after giving up a two-run homer to Ryan Braun in the first inning, and finishing with five baserunners allowed in seven frames.
But in his first start of 2012, Michael Fiers pitched a little better, allowing only one run on five baserunners in seven innings.
That left the Dodgers trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth, which began with newly activated Matt Kemp lacing a double to left-center against Milwaukee closer John Axford to end a nine-pitch at-bat. Axford hit Andre Ethier (2 for 3 with an RBI double) with the next pitch.
In a way, though, hitting Ethier was like a well-placed intentional walk. Jerry Hairston Jr. tried to bunt, went to two strikes, then hit into a double play. With A.J. Ellis on deck, the Brewers smartly went after James Loney, who grounded out to end the game.
Fiers (89 pitches) and Eovaldi (90) maintained a quick pace in a game that was in the eighth inning when it hit the two-hour mark.
Brewers at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Tony Gwynn Jr., LF
Ivan De Jesus Jr., 2B
Matt Kemp, CF
Andre Ethier, RF
Jerry Hairston Jr., 3B
James Loney, 1B
A.J. Ellis, C
Dee Gordon, SS
Nathan Eovaldi, P
The Vin Scully bobblehead will be given away August 30. Individual game tickets are not available. “The only way to guarantee tickets to this game, and the Sandy Koufax Bobblehead game on August 7, is with a season ticket plan or the 10-game Flex Plan,” say the Dodgers. More information here.
Cody Ransom doesn’t have many good memories of Dodger Stadium. It was his ninth-inning error on October 2, 2004 that helped keep the Dodgers’ comeback hopes alive long enough for Steve Finley to hit his division-winning grand slam. Ransom had struck out in four of five career at-bats at Chavez Ravine going into tonight’s game, then struck out three more times and grounded into a double play this evening.
But when Ransom does produce against the Dodgers, he makes it count. His only home run of 2011 beat Clayton Kershaw last August, and he made two big defensive plays in the bottom of the ninth tonight, shorthopping a Dee Gordon grounder on the run and diving for another by Tony Gwynn Jr. to create a force play, that helped preserve Milwaukee’s 3-2 victory over the Dodgers.
The Brewers broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning with two unearned runs that followed a leadoff error charged to Aaron Harang when his throw to first base pulled James Loney off the bag – at least according to first base umpire Todd Tichenor. Replays showed otherwise. A walk, RBI single (the last of Milwaukee’s four hits), sacrifice and sacrifice fly followed, and that was enough.
The final run might have been prevented had Javy Guerra thrown to third on the sacrifice instead of going for a 1-6-3 double play and only succeeding on the 1-6 part, but such is life.
The good news for the Dodgers is that Matt Kemp, who homered in both his rehabilitation appearances with Albuquerque, is expected to be activated before Tuesday’s game.
