Hi, Bob Timmermann, sitting in for Jon for a few days. He’s off in the Middle East making a movie about a courageous Iranian journalist.
Oh, he’s not. But he’s on a vacation that requires a great deal of courage.
Anyway, I was out of town myself. But I’m back. And here’s how we can sum up tonight:
- Yasiel Puig moved to the cleanup spot. He went 3 for 4, but didn’t drive in a run.
- Clayton Kershaw held the first place Diamondbacks to one run over seven innings.
- The Dodgers led 3-1 in the 8th and had the bases loaded with no outs with Jerry Hairston, who was 3 for 3 on the night at bat. Hairston bounced into a 5-2-3 DP, a call which likely no one agreed with.
- Brandon League could not hold a 3-1 league, giving up three straight hits, then a walk, and then an infield hit by Willie Bloomquist to score two runs. Peter Moylan was called in to stop the bleeding, but he had to face Paul Goldschmidt, who singled in another run to make it 5-3.
- But, there was hope in the bottom of the ninth. Juan Uribe led off with a home run off of Arizona closer Heath Bell. Tim Federowicz doubled to right as Gerardo Parra, the archnemesis of the Dodgers, couldn’t quite catch the ball.
- Skip Schumaker, of 15-game hitting streak fame, sacrificed pinch runner Scott Van Slyke to third and reached first himself when Martin Prado couldn’t come up with the ball. Schumaker’s hitting streak lives another day! First and third and nobody out.
- It was Nick Punto’s turn to be the hero. But he popped out to short left.
- Then it Mark Ellis’ chances to be a hero. He had already homered. He was 3 for 4 against Bell in his career. As soon as you could say “small sample size warning,” Ellis struck out.
- But there was still Adrian Gonzalez, the Dodgers best hitter over the course of the season with runners in scoring position. All Gonzalez could do was bounce back to Bell, who knocked the ball down and threw to first in time to send the Dodgers down to a 5-4 loss, their sixth in seven games against Arizona this season.
- Yasiel Puig watched from the on deck circle.
And yet, we’ll probably still watch tomorrow.
Anonymous
Did anyone listen to the post-game show? What on earth did DM say?
Linkmeister
Publicly he backs League. What else can he do? Throw him off the team with his 3-year contract due?
Anonymous
But why not pull him when he’s so clearly struggling? This is a sincere question.
Linkmeister
Nobody getting warm in the pen, I guess. League’s game to save or blow.
Anonymous
Thanks.
Anonymous
Just found this. “If I could say there’s been one dominant guy, that’d be a different story. But there hasn’t been one dominant guy. Kenley has been the best,” Mattingly said, surveying the wreckage of the latest bullpen breakdown.
Mattingly turned to Jansen in the eighth, playing the percentages. He gave Jansen the matchups that looked best on paper (Willie Bloomquist, Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Ross) and Jansen retired the side on 13 pitches.
Jansen’s history against the Diamondbacks’ next hitters – Miguel Montero (2 for 6) and Martin Prado (3 for 3, two home runs) – were not as good so Mattingly left them for League.
“If you want to play SABR-metrics there … the guys Kenley got are the guys he gets better than Brandon,” Mattingly said. “We even talked about it before the game. The eighth and ninth (innings) were up in the air depending on who was up.”
The closer role has been seemingly up in the air for weeks with Mattingly sticking with League despite his 6.00 ERA and 28 hits in 24 innings and Jansen having just enough pratfalls not to look like a ninth-inning must. As he has before, Mattingly wouldn’t discuss a potential change “12 minutes after the game.”
“For the most part, Brandon’s been saving games,” Mattingly said. “Tonight’s numbers say go with Brandon (in the ninth).”
Anonymous
And yes, thanks Bob. I, too, will be back tomorrow. Glutton for you-know-what.
J.R.
Thanks Bob. I’m afraid a cleanout of Ned, Donnie, and Neds worst contracts are in order.
Anonymous
I hate you brandon league with a passion.
Anonymous
I was surprised Kershaw was PH for in the 7th.
.
Kershaw has hit into DP’s 3 times in 4 opportunities this season.
Anonymous
I guess we’re now tied with the Cubs for most blown saves in the National you-know-what.
Make that the MLB.
Anonymous
When last I left our team, they had a 3-1 lead in the 7th. I checked in and saw it 5-3 and thought “Rule 1 Violation Bullpen!!!!!”
Then I read more and qualified “bullpen” with “League!”
Yes, we should expect a “Closer” to be able to get 3 outs with giving up two runs. But it’s also the offense’s fault . . . again. Too many opportunities wasted. And we all know the adage about wasting.
Let’s face it — whenever the bullpen is brought in, we’re gonna be wanting as many runs as possible . . . and then some!!!!
Look at this homestand and how bright the start was . . . and now back to .500.
Anonymous
I wish I’d stopped watching.
Anonymous
You can blame the offense all you want, but if your “Closer” can’t get three outs before giving up three runs, then you don’t have a closer. The bright stars on this team just aren’t enough to overcome the black holes.
Eric Enders
Mattingly’s comments after the game were more frustrating than the game itself. Talk about someone who refuses to learn from his mistakes, or even acknowledge them.
Probably the happiest guy in town right now is Clint Fagan. He blows a call in spectacular fashion that probably ended up costing the Dodgers the game, but gets off the hook because the Mattingly/League duo came along an inning later and blew the game even worse.
Anonymous
Still around tomorrow, I guess
Jack Rosenberg
Although Puig didn’t drive in a run, he also didn’t score. Seems like the only time he does is when he hits a home run. Rest of the lineup continues to fail.
Anonymous
Although Puig’s on-base percentage is over .500, the only four runs he has scored were on his four home runs. No one has driven him in. Period.
Anonymous
NPUT