The Dodgers are hoping they won’t need their bullpen behind National League Championship Series Game 2 starter Clayton Kershaw, but in case they do …
• Kenley Jansen should be good to go after throwing only five pitches Friday.
• Brian Wilson figures to be sidelined after throwing 28 pitches.
• Ronald Belisario, who had a breezy nine-pitch inning, would probably start the eighth inning if needed – perhaps in combination with J.P. Howell, who threw 15. Howell might also be saved to face Carlos Beltran if the situation arises post-Kershaw.
• Edinson Volquez could be the multi-inning guy ahead of Chris Withrow, who threw 25 pitches Friday.
• Carlos Marmol lurks.
Andre Ethier, not surprisingly after playing 12 1/2 innings in his first start in four weeks, is not in today’s starting lineup. Skip Schumaker will start in center field.
However, A.J. Ellis will be back out there at catcher despite nearly five hours of intermittent crouching.
foul tip
At least Donnie spelled AJ with KFed fairly often. That’s one good move he’s made this year.
WBBsAs
It took long enough to realize that FedEx was more up to the job than Ramón Hernández, though.
foul tip
Which smelled more like a Nedism. PVL and such.
WBBsAs
I agree, it wasn’t Don alone.
Jon Weisman
Not having the Pac-12 Network will spare me any channel-switching dilemmas today.
btimmer
Larry Scott is not happy with that.
btimmer
I’ll be watching an Ivory Coast- Senegal World Cup qualifier before the game. So far, it’s all Elephants.
WBBsAs
Elephants > soccer
twaseverthus
I’m surprised to not see more grief over the decision to have MEllis bunt in the 12th with Crawford on 1st and no outs, as if there was a snowball’s chance in hell that Hanley wouldn’t be walked, putting Michael Young in a perfect DP situation. That, to me, is the far more unquestionably wrong move, between that and pinch-running Dee.
Jon Weisman
Oh, there’s grief.
Linkmeister
Not to say simmering anger, no, not at all. Mattingly is addicted to the sacrifice bunt.
scooplew
Yes he refuses to try a squeeze. With Ellis on third and Ramirez on first with one out in the 12th, that would have been an opportune time to squeeze with Young.
Bob_in_Vegas
definitely, if Young can handle the bunt
scooplew
Well, I just checked. Young hasn’t had a sacrifice bunt since 2003. He probably was rarely, if ever, asked to lay one down.
Bob_in_Vegas
I’d like to think the thought crossed Donnie’s mind.
Linkmeister
(In my best Jim Mora voice) “Thought? Who’s talking about ‘thought’?”
(Reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7fjDS0jKiE)
Casey Barker
At least Young got the flyball-just not deep enough.
scooplew
Lots and lots of grief.
Bob_in_Vegas
and not the “good” kind
Jon Weisman
Don Mattingly told reporters Saturday that Hanley Ramirez (sore ribs) could be a game-time scratch. http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/story/_/id/9812042/andre-ethier-los-angeles-dodgers-lineup-game-2-nlcs
foul tip
Well, if that happens, at least SL won’t have to worry about intentionally walking anybody.
Bob_in_Vegas
That’s one way to neutralize the opposition’s best hitter: hit him before he hits you.
David Farinella
If this were Diamondbacks Thoughts, we’d be talking about releasing Grienke because he didn’t knock down any of the Cards after Hanley got hit …
btimmer
Steve Lyons: scratched for 2014. https://twitter.com/SteveLyons12/status/389087226673381377
thescrounger
Any guesses why? I rather liked his input, thought he was much better than the froggy guy.
btimmer
I assume the Time-Warner channel wants to make its broadcasts different from Fox broadcasts.
thescrounger
That it is a company thing is encouraging. TW could very well hire him for next year.
Linkmeister
Oh please. We’re rid of him now, don’t throw him a life ring.
btimmer
That would mean 2015. He must know that TW doesn’t want him for 2014.
twaseverthus
That’s a real shame. I know he’s got plenty of detractors, but when it comes to analysis, he’s one of the best in the game – astute and frank. I can only hope Collins is gone too.
Bob_Hendley
He is frank.
WBBsAs
And, more often than not, irritating and obnoxious.
WBBsAs
Other than the Series win over the Barves, the best news of this post-season.
ASW1
Hanley Ramirez getting smoked in the ribs last night might just turn out to be more harmful to the Dodgers chances this postseason than simply losing game 1 of a 7 game series.
Bob_in_Vegas
Agree. Will the others step up — even if he’s in the lineup?
foul tip
How long will it take for some idiots to comment somewhere that the Cards hit him on purpose just for that reason?
Bumsrap
Maybe not intentionally but certainly trying to knock him off the plate so they can work the slider down and away and hope for an out be fine with walking him.
ASW1
Yeah – no way he hits him on purpose there but most likely trying to drive him off the plate so he’s not so comfortable up there – a *purpose pitch*, if you will. Well, it may end up serving much more of a purpose than was originally intended, which would be just fine with the Cardinals.
foul tip
Yeah, I know it wasn’t deliberate, ….no intent at all.
Just wondering what some commenters in some other places might say. Often they live down to expectations.
foul tip
Sonny Gray suffered a broken left thumb when hit by a drive off Prince Fielder’s bat in the 5th of Game 5.
And still pitched into the 6th.
Inquiring minds want to know: does this immediately qualify him for the Grittiness Hall of Fame ?
btimmer
It wasn’t his pitching hand and he doesn’t bat, so he probably didn’t notice it THAT much.
foul tip
Might have made fielding interesting.
Bob_in_Vegas
I pitched one inning of softball with a fractured wrist on my glove hand and ended up knocking down the return throws from the catcher. Luckily nothing was hit to me — but my style of fielding was always matador-like: get out of the way of the ball.
RBI
Hanley scratched. We are of finally underdogs now. Let’s go Dodgers!
ASW1
Not a promising development.
As long as the Dodgers can win this one today, then hopefully Hanley good to go by Monday night.
das411
so Shredder in the lineup instead of SpeeDee?
Bob_Hendley
Dee is an adventure in the field.
Jon Weisman
NPUT