This is the city. Washington, July 19. We are on assignment. The details of the case:
• Bryce Harper tags up at second base to try to advance to third base on a fly ball. Yasiel Puig catches the ball and throws it. The throw is high, hard and accurate. Juan Uribe tags Harper before Harper reaches the base. Umpire rules Harper safe. No citation issued.
• Harper scores one batter later on a wild pitch. Coincidence, we are asked to believe. The batter, Ian Desmond, doubles to cover up the crime.
• Hanley Ramirez hits two-run homer in third inning off Stephen Strasburg – to put Dodgers ahead, 2-1. Vigilante justice.
• Nationals load bases against Ricky Nolasco with none out in bottom of fourth, but none score. Dodgers put on six baserunners combined in first, second and fourth innings, but none score. Tit for tat.
• Puig hits sky-high fly to the wall in left field to lead off the top of the fifth. Harper catches it.
• Jayson Werth gets a one-out, two-strike hit in the bottom of the sixth to put runners at first base and third. Desmond hits a bloop single to center field to tie the game. Runs keep scoring with Desmond at the plate. Investigating connection.
• Jose Dominguez relieves Nolasco. He induces Dodgers’ third double play in the first six innings to prevent further damage in the sixth.
• Puig (0 for 4) disappears with a Washington runner on second base and two out in the bottom of the seventh. APB is issued. Surveillance footage reveals Puig made spectacular catch running into padded wall in right-field foul territory.
• With two out and none on in the bottom of the eighth, Don Mattingly removes Paco Rodriguez, who has retired all four batters he has faced on 15 pitches (including a Harper strikeout), to put in Ronald Belisario to face Werth. The aforementioned Mattingly double-switches Puig out of the game in the process, replacing him with one Jared Michael “Skip” Schumaker. In short, Mattingly has sacrificed Puig out of a fear that Rodriguez will give up a run with two out and the bases empty. Inside job afoot?
• Werth flies out against Belisario to end the eighth inning. But the mystery remains.
• Andre Ethier golfs solo tiebreaking home run in ninth inning off reliever Rafael Soriano. It is Ethier’s first home run in 107 at-bats since June 11. Where did his power go? Why did it suddenly return. The timing is eerily timely.
• Kenley Jansen replaces Belisario and strikes out Wilson Ramos to end a perfect ninth inning and the game.
It was a tense case. But the Dodgers were ruled the winners of the game. The Nationals were sentenced to defeat. Los Angeles will sleep peacefully tonight.
Anonymous
I always liked that show as a kid – cool recap.
Anonymous
Ian Kennedy going up against that weirdo molester Gaudin – can’t root for either one of these creeps.
Anonymous
The Dodgers were working the day shift out of robbery. My captain’s name is Mattingly. My name is Ethier. I carry a bat.
KT
I beat your mother had a loud bark…Was he calling her a bitch? ^_^
Anonymous
What character did Virginia Gregg play this week?
Anonymous
Eric Stevens noted that Andy Messersmith started the last pre-asg game and the frst post-asg game in 1975
Anonymous
Drysdale started three of the Dodgers first six games in 1965.
Anonymous
first, third, and sixth
Mackenzie Astin
Nice work, Weisman.
KT
Great creative write up Jon
Anonymous
Recap is pure genius Jon! Just got back from the park. Called both shots, much to the dismay of my companion, who has Natitude.
KT
check out my gif’s of the Puig catch and of the throw if you didn’t see it well…they are in the previous thread
Anonymous
Saw it and passed it along to my companion. Thanks. As you might imagine, they didn’t show that particular replay on the scoreboard.
KT
figured…I screen captured my TV for the still shot
Anonymous
Here is the write-up of the play from the WaPo:
Harper lined a double into the right field corner to lead off the second. Werth followed with a flyball to right, pushing Puig back a few steps. Harper crouched into a modified sprinter’s stance on second, looking over his right shoulder. Puig’s feet pitter-pattered as he waited for the ball to descend. The moment lacked only a cinematic score.
Puig unleashed a preposterous throw. The ball sliced through the air on a spectacular arc, carrying from deep right to third base. Uribe summoned the courage to stand in the path of a baseball moving with roughly the force of a meteorite. The ball thudded into his glove as Harper dived headfirst. Uribe tagged Harper’s lower left leg before Harper’s fingers touched the bag, but umpire Eric Cooper signaled safe.
Anonymous
write-up of Puig’s catch available?
Anonymous
Puig squelched a minor Nationals rally in the seventh when he crashed into the side wall in right field with two outs to snag Anthony Rendon’s flyball. The catch would make any highlight reel, but it was not even his most remarkable defensive play of the night.
Anonymous
TY
Jack Dawkins
This is my second favorite dragnet episode ever. My favorite case? This: http://www.youtube.com/results?num=20&q=dragnet%20tonight%20show&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=w1
Jack Dawkins
Btw, as much as I enjoyed the TV dragnet, I loved the radio version more. I used to listen to it on KNX driving home at night.
Anonymous
When I was a wee lad, my grandfather Bruce used to have us listen to Masterpiece Theater on KNX late at night when we were off fishing/ camping out etc. Great stuff.
Anonymous
I could pick that up when I stayed in the mountains by Vegas . . . and sometimes even in town.
Anonymous
This Gaudin creep has a 3-hit shutout going through 7. I can smell 1st place.
Anonymous
Gaudin yanked for a pinch hitter (Jeff Francoeur) after 92 pitches.
Anonymous
KT posted a link to Puig’s great catch of a deep foul ball to right field; but even better,imo, is Paco’s reaction which was in KT’s link as well. In case you haven’t seen either one or both:
http://www.mlbgifs.com/2013/07/yasiel-puig-makes-a-catch-hurts-the-wall-leaves-paco-rodriguez-floored/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium
Puig hit the wall hard on this play which may be why he was taken out of the game on a double switch.
Anonymous
dodgers.com on the catch:
Puig contributed on defense to help Rodriguez work out of trouble in
the seventh after the left-hander took over for Dominguez with a runner
on first and one out. A groundout moved the runner to second before
Anthony Rendon hit a deep drive down the right-field line. Puig, who
hurt his left hip crashing into a wall at Colorado earlier this month,
launched himself into another one as he snagged the drive in foul
territory.
“If it’s not a home run, I’ll catch it,” Puig said through a translator.
Puig came out of the game on a double-switch in the eighth, but Mattingly said he wasn’t injured on the catch.
“That’s a tough play, and he hits that thing basically full speed,
kind of reckless,” Mattingly said. “That’s a great play. But you always
hold your breath when guys go into walls.”
Anonymous
Dodger’s moved Marmol up to AA today.
Anonymous
Probably to move him farther from LA
Anonymous
funny; but I think the team fully expects Marmol to pitch for the Dodgers sometime in August.
Anonymous
I know you’re right, but the sarcasm keeps me from thinking about the truth.
Anonymous
Dbacks shut out for only the 2nd time this season.
Love it that Dodgers took this 1st one and now have Greinke and Kershaw going to close out this series.
One and a half back.
Anonymous
G’night
Linkmeister
I’m late to the recap but not unappreciative. Well done, Jon.
Do I remember rightly that Harry Morgan as Colonel Blake used to use the term “bullpucky” on M*A*S*H?
Jack Dawkins
Heads up, Johnny Mandel, who wrote the theme to Mash has his big band Saturday the 27th at Catalina’s. he gets all the best sidemen in LA to play. Its an amazing band. If you like big band jazz, dont miss. Id reserve today.
Anonymous
For what it’s worth, during batting practice, I was pretty sure that I spotted a bearded Chad Billingsley shagging flyballs in rightfield. This seemed odd, and he was wearing a windbreaker over his jersey, so I could not see his number on the back. But he was hanging out with the pitchers, and his huge legs seemed a giveaway. And then, after catching a few balls, he took the glove off his left hand and threw the balls back in with his left. This seemed a telltale sign of someone not throwing a lot yet. But he was out there.
Anonymous
Brilliant!
Anonymous
I actually watched Dragnet and an Adam-12 episode last week, the latter included a bartender who had a bad feeling–“you know, that same feeling I get when the Dodgers lose a doubleheader.”
Anonymous
I personally would love for you to recap games like you did here more often. Once a week at least.
Anonymous
Washington fans were delighted with the umpire calling fan favorite Harper safe. If this play had been in LA, would an umpire likewise want to give the local fans the same delight on a play that was close enough to call either way, by calling Harper out?
Anonymous
Given the performance of this team (much below fan expectations), the hopes that fans place in Harper (even if some think he plays out of control), and the notion that they wanted to start off on the right foot going into the 2nd half (after the game they started compiling lists of players to unload) an out call might have resulted in mass suicide.
Anonymous
Given the number of elected officials in DC that pull for the Nationals….
Anonymous
Of course, they all pull for their home teams…
KT
close enough…did you see my screen capture?
Anonymous
Yes, but i didn’t want to make your point that the call was bad. You already did that quite well.
KT
Dodgers lineup at Washington:
Ellis 2B
Puig RF
Gonzalez 1B
Ramirez SS
Uribe 3B
Ethier CF
Van Slyke LF
Federowicz C
Greinke P
Anonymous
Great post, Jon.
Jon Weisman
Nput
Nathan M
This made my day