Carlos Frias allowed more earned runs in his fifth daytime start than in all the night starts of his career. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
Dodgers at Cubs, 11:20 a.m.
Kiké Hernandez, CF
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Justin Turner, 1B
Scott Van Slyke, RF
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Alex Guerrero, LF
Alberto Callaspo, 3B
A.J. Ellis, C
Carlos Frias, P
By Jon Weisman
The grand ol’ game of baseball has been primarily a night sport for decades and decades now — even Wrigley Field has been playing ‘neath the lights (when they’re working) for almost 30 years.
In his short MLB career, Carlos Frias has somehow defied that trend. The 25-year-old righty is making his 13th big-league start today — and his seventh in the sunshine.
Dodgers at Cubs, 5:05 p.m.
Kiké Hernandez, 2B
Joc Pederson, CF
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Andre Ethier, LF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Mike Bolsinger, P
By Jon Weisman
Long before the Dodgers allowed a run in the 10th inning Tuesday to lose at Chicago came this instantly celebrated as well as befuddling moment of Cubs fan Keith Hartley reaching out to catch a foul ball while holding — and still feeding — his baby son Isaac.
I was reasonably confident that the Dodgers would get credit for the out, because Hartley had so clearly reached into the field of play, interfering with first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. But the confidence that Hartley had in his ability to catch the ball — and, more to the point, not allow his son to be hurt — is the kind I’ll never experience. Man.
Here’s what Hartley had to say, via Jon Greenberg of ESPN.com:
“Baseball is not a new thing to me,” he said. “I didn’t want it to hit the ledge and hit him, so I wanted to make first contact, I think.”
More importantly, what was going through wife Kari’s head?
“I was a little bit nervous, a little bit scared he was going to drop the baby,” she said. “Fortunately he held on tight to both the ball and Isaac, so we were OK.”
I also wondered about Hartley not getting ejected from the ballpark, but the good-time, no-harm vibe prevailed.
Meanwhile, Dodger team photographer Jon SooHoo was in the right city, camera well and position to catch the catch. He spoke to Mark Newman of MLB.com Blogs Central about how it all happened. Give it a read …
* * *
Before Tuesday, the Cubs hadn’t shut out the Dodgers in an extra-inning game in Chicago for 99 years, nine months and seven days. The last extra-inning shutout by the Cubs against the Dodgers was September 16, 1915, when Hippo Vaughn outdueled Jeff Pfeffer at the West Side Grounds.
Do you know a Dodger fan who is about to celebrate a birthday, anniversary or promotion? Why not honor them in front of upwards of 50,000 people at Dodger Stadium?
You can do just that by displaying your message at Dodger Stadium on the Ribbon Board, located below the left-field Dodger Vision screen.
Ribbon Board messages can be purchased online for a cost of $75. This purchase will delight the recipient, and all proceeds go to the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation for its mission is to aide underserved youth in the greater L. A. area.
Ribbon Board message details:
The message will appear once during the game, at the end of the fifth inning.
In approximately six to eight weeks, you will receive a 5×7 color photo of the message.
Dodgers at Cubs, 5:05 p.m.
Yasiel Puig, RF
Joc Pederson, CF
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Yasmani Grandal, C
Andre Ethier, LF
Alberto Callaspo, 3B
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Zack Greinke, P
By Jon Weisman
The Dodgers have said that Cuban infielder Hector Olivera is in the equivalent of Spring Training as he plays his minor-league games this month. Now, they have the Spring Training injury to back that up.
Olivera has been placed on the Triple-A seven-day disabled list by Oklahoma City with a left hamstring strain, and Don Mattingly told reporters that Olivera would be going to Camelback Ranch for rehab.
The 30-year-old has a .387 on-base percentage and .581 slugging percentage in 31 plate appearances for Oklahoma City. He is 12 for 31 with a double, triple and home run. He has also been a man of action, striking out only three times and walking none.
I’m going to discuss the Dodger offense from a different direction than I typically do.
The 2015 Dodgers lead the National League in walks, home runs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, adjusted OPS and weighted runs created.
Despite this — and understandably, I’ll concede, given how inconsistent it has been for the past month — many have criticized the Dodger offense as incapable of generating runs in the pressure cooker of October.
Among other things, Los Angeles is the worst basestealing team around, and it gets less value from its baserunning than any NL team, according to Fangraphs. A hit-and-run dynamo, the Dodgers are not.
In contrast, you don’t get very far chatting about the World Champion San Francisco Giants without hearing praise for how their ability to manufacture runs carried them to the top.
So what I wanted to look at was how the rival Giants won the 2014 World Series, against a Kansas City Royals team that was also lauded for making things happen through smart, aggressive play on its way to the American League pennant. I’ve broken down every single run of last year’s Fall Classic — seven games, 57 runs — to see how important manufacturing runs was.
The Giants won’t get extra credit for drawing a walk or bashing extra-base hits. Rather, my question today is this: Where did bunting, stolen bases, productive outs and taking the extra base on a hit play a role? (The Royals’ performance in these areas will also be noted — after all, they were within 90 feet of sending Game 7 into extra innings.)
What I found was rather diverse — games where manufacturing runs was key, games where it was irrelevant and games in between. And then there was the small matter of Madison Bumgarner having the postseason of the century.
In 41 2/3 innings over the past month, Clayton Kershaw has allowed one earned run that wasn’t the result of a home run.
May 26 vs. Atlanta: seven innings, no runs
June 1 at Colorado: seven innings, two runs (two-run homer by Nolan Arenado)
June 6 vs. St. Louis: eight innings, no runs
June 12 at San Diego: 6 2/3 innings, one run (solo homer by Clint Barmes)
June 17 vs. Texas: six innings, four runs (two-run homer by Joey Gallo, fielder’s choice RBI by Rougned Odor, unearned run on RBI single by Odor)
June 22 at Chicago: seven innings, three runs (two-run homer by Kris Bryant, solo homer by Matt Sczur)
Over those six starts, Kershaw has given up 23 hits, walked nine and struck out 58.
For the year, Kershaw has pitched exactly 100 innings and allowed 11 homers, or 0.99 per nine innings, which is a career-high rate alongside his career-high 11.6 strikeouts per nine innings. Kershaw lives to challenge hitters, and really the only problem for him for the past month is that for all of five times in the past 30 days, hitters have met the challenge with a hearty handshake.
Kershaw on his highest HR rate since rookie year: "If you make a bad pitch you make a bad pitch. Hopefully, they just stay in the ballpark.”
Kershaw called his June 17 loss to Texas his most frustrating, but he might have found a topper in tonight’s 4-2 defeat at Wrigley Field, where Kershaw was sure he had Bryant struck out on an 0-2, two-out, 94 mph fastball in the third inning (right), only for it to be ruled a ball.
The next pitch was a 73 mph curve that didn’t give Kershaw the break he needed, literally or figuratively, and Bryant jumped on it for the first of his two home runs.
Kershaw then stewed while the lights at Wrigley Field went wonky in the sixth inning, which finally passed without the Cubs scoring, only for Chicago to tally what became the difference-making run in the seventh on Sczur’s home run.
On a night that Chicago turned three double plays against the Dodgers while also picking Yasiel Puig — the only runner in scoring position either team had — from second base, yeah, I’d say that had to be vexing.
Update: Ken Gurnick of MLB.com has more, including quotes from Kershaw.
From non-roster player … to valuable bench piece … to starting third baseman … to All-Star?
Each step of Justin Turner’s journey in the past 18 months has seemed improbable, but his showstopping offensive performance as a Dodger has turned the most unlikely step of all into potential reality.
Dodgers at Cubs, 5:05 p.m. Kershaw CCXXIV: Kershawmer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Yasiel Puig, RF
Joc Pederson, CF
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Scott Van Slyke, LF
Kiké Hernandez, SS
A.J. Ellis, C
Clayton Kershaw, P Note: A severe thunderstorm threat has created a potential weather delay for tonight’s game.
By Jon Weisman
Sidelined since April 26 by a shoulder ailment, Joel Peralta has been reinstated to the active roster by the Dodgers.
Peralta still carries a 0.00 ERA as a Dodger, having gone 5 2/3 shutout innings in April across seven games, allowing five baserunners while striking out four.
Los Angeles actually plans to make two roster additions today, and is optioning both Daniel Coulombe and Matt West back to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
West ate three innings for the Dodgers this weekend against the Giants, allowing no runs on three baserunners while striking out two. Coulombe, who has now completed four separate stints with the Dodgers this season, also pitched three innings vs. San Francisco, allowing three runs on five baserunners with three strikeouts.
Update: Though travel delays prevented him from arriving for pregame activities, the Dodgers have recalled lefty pitcher Ian Thomas from Oklahoma City.
Thomas has a 5.30 ERA in 18 2/3 innings with 14 strikeouts for Oklahoma City, including his most recent outing of six innings with one run allowed on June 17. Thomas allowed four runs in three innings during his lone Dodger appearance this year, June 2 at Colorado.
Two years ago this morning, the last-place Dodgers were 30-42 and 9 1/2 games out of first place in the National League West. That night, the Dodgers did something they would do 42 times in their next 50 games: win.
It was a summer that taught us all how quickly fortunes can change in this game, a lesson many forgot last year, when the Dodgers found themselves back in a 9 1/2-game hole. On June 22, 2014, the Dodgers were already in the process of coming back, but they were still 4 1/2 games out of the division lead.
So like ’em or not, this year’s Dodgers are ahead of the game. On the first Monday of summer, Los Angeles begins play 39-31, with a 1 1/2-game lead in the NL West. So the question isn’t whether they can come back, but whether they can stay ahead.
Kiké Hernandez and his minions took it to the next level Sunday on the flight to Chicago after the Dodgers’ 10-2 victory over San Francisco. Can Bananarama singing the national anthem at Dodger Stadium be far behind?
After all, on the day of the solstice, the Dodgers started out what they hope will be a cruel, cruel summer for the Giants with a 10-2 victory that increased Los Angeles’ lead in the National League West to 1 1/2 games.
Giants at Dodgers, 5:08 p.m.
Yasiel Puig, RF
Joc Pederson, CF
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Alex Guerrero, LF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Brett Anderson, P
By Jon Weisman
The College World Series has been a showcase for 2015 Dodger draftees Walker Buehler, Philip Pfeifer and Josh Sborz.
Sborz, a Virginia right-hander who has alternated between starting and relief in his three years there, pitched four shutout innings to close out a 5-4 victory Saturday over Florida, lifting the Cavaliers into the CWS championship round. Sborz has a streak of 23 consecutive scoreless innings, including nine in the CWS.
Josh Sborz’s nine shutout innings in College World Series:
June 13: three innings, one hit, one walk, five strikeouts, 40 pitches
June 15: two innings, no hits, no walks, no strikeouts, 20 pitches
June 20: four innings: three hits, one walk, two strikeouts, 54 pitches
Total: nine innings, four hits, two walks, seven strikeouts, 114 pitches
In the best-of-three CWS championship series beginning Monday, Virgina will play Vanderbilt, which features Buehler and Pfeifer in its starting rotation. Buehler allowed one run in 6 2/3 innings (89 pitches) Friday against Texas Christian, striking out eight, in pitching the Commodores to the final round.
That came three days after Pfeifer’s seven shutout innings (111 pitches) with seven strikeouts in a 1-0 Vandy victory over TCU. Pfeifer is scheduled to start Tuesday’s Game 2 on six days’ rest, with Buehler possibly taking Game 3 on four days’ rest if necessary Wednesday.
I’ll admit to being a bit at a loss for words as I start this.
In part, that’s because I’ve said just about everything I want to say about the irrelevance of regular-season performance against a specific opponent when it comes to October (“Winning opponents: It just doesn’t matter”) as well as the slippery meaning of “winning opponents” as a concept (“How the Dodgers lose for winning”) I’m not a big fan of repeating myself.
I’ve only tangentially addressed the emotional aspect of Dodger fans watching their team lose nine of its first 11 against the Giants in 2015, but there might not be a lot to add there either, other than to remind people that it’s only bad until it gets good again — and it could get good again at any moment.
One year ago today, the 2014 World Champions lost their sixth straight game. By June 30, their National League West lead — 9 1/2 games earlier in the month — was gone. June was miserable for San Francisco, and look how things ended there.
Anyway, I’ve begun writing this piece in the seventh inning, with the Dodgers down, 6-2, and I’m going down this face-the-negative path even though I truly believe the Dodgers could come back and win the game by the time I finish, because we’re talking about baseball, not systemic poverty.
I saw “Inside Out” today, and really, you have to see this movie, because besides being fantastic on its own terms, it describes, without even intending to, the emotional musical chairs of being a baseball fan. It’s such a reactionary activity, and so natural to embrace those extremes, even though sometimes, it does us little good.
The quandary Dodger fans are in is this — they’re not just battling the uncertainty of this season, they’re bearing the psychological weight of Potential Year 27 Without a Title. No Dodger fan below the age of 87 (i.e., someone who was at least 27 years old in June 1955) has had it worse than the current generation.
Each additional tick of the clock without a title doesn’t anesthetize you to the pain, it expands it. Each run allowed, each loss suffered, each opportunity wasted, makes relief and celebration seem that much farther away.
What I would suggest is that if a World Series title is truly the main goal (and why wouldn’t it be), then you have to be prepared to ride out the bad times that hammer every eventual champion sometime during the season. No team goes through 162 games unscathed. It just doesn’t happen.
Nine losses in 11 games against the Giants before June really are irrelevant as far as October. Miserable, yes, but irrelevant. I’ll always get a ton of pushback on that point, but the evidence is absolutely clear on my side. The Giants lost eight of their last 11 to the Dodgers in 2014, and who in San Francisco cares now?
On the other hand, if you’re someone who simply lives in the moment, and doesn’t attach larger significance to the lousy ones the Dodgers have been having this week, then I can’t help you, but you don’t need my help. You know that change is always on the horizon, and sunshine is always around the corner from the shadows.
Giants at Dodgers, 4:15 p.m.
Yasiel Puig, RF
Joc Pederson, CF
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Andre Ethier, LF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Carlos Frias, P
By Jon Weisman
Matt West was called up June 1 by the Dodgers but didn’t pitch before returning to Triple-A Oklahoma City. We’ll see if that goes any differently this time around for West, who has switcherooed in the Dodger bullpen with Josh Ravin.
In contrast to West, Ravin was pretty busy during his first Dodger (and MLB) stint, appearing in seven games — including four in the past six days. His week began well with a winning two shutout innings Sunday at San Diego, but he then allowed four runs (including two homers) in his past three outings.
Matt West
What we said about West on Wednesday is still true:
West most recently pitched two innings on Tuesday, allowing two runs. He had 10 strikeouts and a 0.87 ERA in 10 1/3 innings with Double-A Tulsa, followed by eight strikeouts and an 8.03 ERA in 12 1/3 innings with Oklahoma City.
Joel Peralta, one of three Dodger relievers to do a rehab inning Friday in Oklahoma City, could rejoin the active roster next week in Chicago, Don Mattingly told reporters today.
Next to the World Series title, 1965 will always be remembered most by Dodger fans for Sandy Koufax’s perfect game. In fact, Los Angeles came within a hair of having four no-hitters that season — including two one-hitters that took place 50 years ago this week.
What happens when three old friends in crisis fall into an unexpected love triangle? In The Catch, Maya, Henry and Daniel embark upon an emotional journey that forces them to confront unresolved pain, present-day traumas and powerful desires, leading them to question the very meaning of love and fulfillment. The Catch tells a tale of ordinary people seeking the extraordinary – or, if that’s asking too much, some damn peace of mind.
Thank You For Not ...
1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
2) personally attacking other commenters
3) baiting other commenters
4) arguing for the sake of arguing
5) discussing politics
6) using hyperbole when something less will suffice
7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
8) making the same point over and over again
9) typing "no-hitter" or "perfect game" to describe either in progress
10) being annoyed by the existence of this list
11) commenting under the obvious influence
12) claiming your opinion isn't allowed when it's just being disagreed with
Attendance
1991-2013
Dodgers at home: 1,028-812 (.558695)
When Jon attended: 338-267 (.558677)*
When Jon didn’t: 695-554 (.556)
* includes road games attended
2013
Dodgers at home: 51-35 (.593)
When Jon attended: 5-2 (.714)
When Jon didn’t: 46-33 (.582)
Note: I got so busy working for the Dodgers that in 2014, I stopped keeping track, much to my regret.
