Jon Weisman – Page 34 – Dodger Thoughts

By Jon Weisman

So, no surprise Clayton Kershaw was in a great mood as he met reporters tonight. Even with a no-decision.

“That was incredible,” Kershaw said of the Dodgers’ 2-1 comeback win over the Giants. “That was such a fun game to be a part of. We know that their bullpen has had struggles. Our bullpen did a great job of keeping it at one run and gave ourselves a chance in the ninth inning.”

Go ahead and look: Dodger rally stuns Giants in ninth

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By Jon Weisman

After the Giants’ starter told the Dodger outfielder not to look at him, the Giants’ relievers only made him want to look away.

Trailing 1-0 in the ninth inning, the Dodgers rallied against the beleaguered San Francisco bullpen, parlaying three singles and a walkoff Adrian Gonzalez double into a 2-1 victory that put them a season-high six games up on the Giants with 12 to play. Magic number: seven.

A seventh-inning brouhaha (minus the haha) between Madison Bumgarner and Yasiel Puig on the edge of the first-base line added another layer of intensity to the Dodger-Giant rivalry, a prelude to a victory almost as cathartic as it was important.

San Francisco had one base hit that went past the infield tonight in Los Angeles, and it had nothing to do with the outcome.

Instead, what happened within the infield made the difference for 8 1/2 innings.

Taking the equivalent of a Big Wheel ride around the bases, the Giants motored their only run on an infield single, stolen base, error and wild pitch.

With two out, Eduardo Nunez hit the equivalent of an errant miniature-golf tee shot to Kershaw’s left. Three starts into his return from a disk herniation, Kershaw lunged but couldn’t reach it. Chase Utley charged to glove it, but couldn’t get a desperate throw to first in time, despite Nunez’s head-first, dirt-burst slide.

With two out and two strikes on Angel Pagan, after nearly being picked off by Kershaw, Nunez took off for second. Yasmani Grandal’s throw sliced like a screwball, out of Utley’s reach at second, allowing Nunez to slide in safely and then scamper to third.

One foul ball later, Kershaw bounced a slider in the dirt in front of home plate and through Grandal, and for the low, low investment of that 60-foot single, Nunez had earned 360 feet of bases and the shutout-breaking run.

"Nunez has had home runs inside the park in his career. It looks like he had a home run under the park as he takes his position." – Vin

— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) September 20, 2016

That unearned run was the only mole on the Kershaw visage in his six innings. With the Dodgers trailing 1-0, he left for a pinch-hitter, having allowed three hits and a walk (his 10th of the season, compared with seven strikeouts on the night and 162 strikeouts in 2016).

But the Dodgers couldn’t make half the dent in Bumgarner that he made in them. Only Yasiel Puig had a hit against the Giants’ lefty, though Grandal and pinch-hitter Rob Segedin were hit by pitches.

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The biggest noise came at the end of the seventh, when Puig hit a cue shot near the first-base line that Bumgarner turned into the final out of the inning. Reflexively, after yelling “Expletive yeah!” when the out was made, Bumgarner was angry at Puig,

“Don’t look at me,” Bumgarner said while looking directly at Puig, winning the approval of the Irony Committee. Benches cleared, but little came of it.

Except Bumgarner didn’t throw another pitch. Though he has crossed 100 pitches in his past four starts, Bruce Bochy decided that 97 of them to 24 batters with 10 strikeouts was enough for Bumgarner tonight, using a pinch-hitter in the top of the eighth and turning the game over to what has become a notorious bullpen.

With two out in the bottom of the eighth, pinch-hitter Carlos Ruiz got the Dodgers’ second hit, but nothing came of it after Derek Law retired Howie Kendrick on a fly to right.

In the bottom of the ninth, magic pixie dream hitter Andrew Toles came off the bench and singled sharply to right.

Javier Lopez replaced Law. Corey Seager, one strike away from his fourth whiff of the game, drilled a grounder past a diving Joe Panik for another single, pushing Toles within 90 feet of tying the game.

Hunter Strickland replaced Lopez. Justin Turner, also with two strikes against him, shot a third straight Dodger single to right, scoring Toles.

Gonzalez came up, and he rocked a ball to the wall in right center. Tagging up for a potential catch, Seager shifted into forward gear when right fielder Hunter Pence came up empty, and roared around the bases for the winning run and the biggest celebration at Dodger Stadium this year.

#VinTop20: No. 6, Roy Campanella tribute

Previously:
No. 7, Don Larsen’s perfect game
No. 8, Monday captures the flag
No. 9, ‘We go to Chicago!’
No. 10, Clayton Kershaw’s no-hitter
No. 11, Joe Ferguson’s throw
No. 12, Fernandomania begins
No. 13, ‘The Squeeze!’
No. 14, Nomo’s No-No
No. 15, the 4+1 Game
No. 16, Don Drysdale’s streak stays alive
No. 17, Mike Piazza, Giant-slayer
No. 18, Yasiel Puig’s first slam
No. 19, Manny’s Bobbleslam
No. 20, Mark McGwire hits it way, way out

In Broadcasting, History

Between now and Vin Scully Appreciation Day on September 23, the Dodgers are revealing the results of the fan vote ranking Scully’s top 20 Dodger calls of all time, one at each home game. Here’s No. 6: the 1959 Coliseum tribute to Roy Campanella.

— Jon Weisman

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Dodgers call up Micah Johnson

In Pregame, Transactions

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

Giants at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Kershaw CCLXI: Kershully
Howie Kendrick, LF
Kiké Hernández, CF
Corey Seager, SS
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian González, 1B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Chase Utley, 2B
Clayton Kershaw, P

By Jon Weisman

Micah Johnson, who was on the Dodgers’ roster early this year but hasn’t been in the big leagues since April 10, was recalled by Los Angeles before tonight’s series opener against the Giants.

The 25-year-old Johnson, who stole 84 bases in the minors in 2013, gives the Dodgers an extra pinch-running option off the bench, as well as fielding depth. He played second, third, center and left for Triple-A Oklahoma City this year.

Vin Scully on the Dodgers-Giants rivalry

In Broadcasting, Other teams

By Jon Weisman

This morning, Vin Scully spoke on a conference call with the national media. Given the series beginning tonight at Dodger Stadium and the fact that he will call his final game October 2 in San Francisco, several questions circled around the Dodgers-Giants rivalry.

Here’s a sampling of what he had to say …

Sharing a memory of Giants broadcaster Russ Hodges:

With Russ, when I was back in New York, I can actually remember one night in his kitchen harmonizing with Russ and Ernie Harwell, one of the beautiful memories in my entire life.

On broadcasting Dodgers-Giants games in San Francisco, starting in 1958:

First of all, when we arrived at Seals Stadium, they did not really have any kind of a radio booth. We didn’t televise. So we actually were one row behind the regular fans, and once they realized that we were doing, for instance, a beer commercial live, why, they’d start hollering, just good-naturedly, but they’d start hollering the names of all the other brands of beer that they could possibly think of. So that taught us to record all the commercials rather than be heckled by the fans. And (also), in all honesty, I’d be doing the game at Seals Stadium, and a fellow would turn around and just say to me, “Do you have a match?” It was that informal and that close. So that was an experience. But it was new, it was exciting, and the fans were fun.

At Candlestick, the wind was a nightmare, but I also thought that the surroundings affected the personality of the audience. I could be completely wrong, but it was cold and raw, windy, and I think the people in the stands were unhappy and sometimes would take their unhappiness out. I mean, we actually had one or two players, if I remember correctly, go up into the stands over somebody making some terrible remark.

But once they moved to AT&T Park, it’s completely different. The fans are good-natured, they’re happy, they’re fair, they’re wonderful. And although I certainly know nothing about mass psychology and all that stuff, I think the weather at Candlestick kind of embittered the fan, and the weather at AT&T has made it a wonderful party atmosphere. No meanness at all.

On the essence of the Dodgers-Giants rivalry:

Potential NL playoff tickets go on sale at 10 a.m.

In Tickets

Tickets for potential National League Wild Card, Division Series and Championship Games at Dodger Stadium go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. today.

Dates for potential games can be found here. Click here for pricing information.

— Jon Weisman

In a career so improbable, the impossible has happened: We have to bid Vin Scully farewell

Click here to read the entire story.

In Uncategorized

Our Dodger Insider tribute to Vin Scully hits the Dodger Stadium stands tonight — distributed free at the autogates (one per vehicle) and at Fan Services booths (for those who arrive via alternate transportation) through September 24, and then to every fan with the special commemorative cover on Fan Appreciation Day, September 25.

To lead off our salute to the beloved broadcaster during his final homestand with the Dodgers (sigh), here’s my piece trying to capture what he has meant to his listeners for the past 67 seasons — and what happens for us now, as we confront the reality of his upcoming departure.

— Jon Weisman

#PitchtoGoldschmidt worked for Dodgers in 2016

In Other teams

By Jon Weisman

As if to remind us not to get too cocky, Paul Goldschmidt scored the winning run Sunday against the Dodgers, in the last of the 173 innings they played against Arizona this year.

Nevertheless, the agony of wondering why the Dodgers would ever pitch to Goldschmidt took a vacation in 2016.

Goldschmidt, whose 1.085 OPS against the Dodgers from 2012-15 was the highest of any National League West batter, had only a .265 on-base percentage and .368 slugging percentage (.633 OPS) against Los Angeles this year.

In 83 plate appearances, the Dodgers walked him six times and took their chances 77 others. In those 77, they got 61 outs, including a sacrifice fly.

Dodgers make massive comeback before falling

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By Jon Weisman

Not only did the Dodgers make their most sudden comeback in a season filled with them, they did it against left-handed pitching.

Trailing by six runs before they got their first baserunner, and down 7-1 in the sixth inning, the Dodgers battled back to take a 9-7 lead … only to fall in 12 innings, 10-9.

The Dodgers’ six-run sixth matched their second-highest tally in one inning this year — and represented the biggest single-inning deficit they’ve erased all year.

Great Lakes wins Midwest League title

In Minor leagues

Photo: Great Lakes Loons

By Jon Weisman

From the start of the Midwest League regular season through the end of the playoffs today, the Great Lakes Loons won 72 games and lost 78.

But the Dodgers’ Single-A affiliate is the champion of the league.

Twice rallying from three-run deficits today, Great Lakes won Game 4 of the Midwest League Finals, 9-8, to take the crown.

Dodgers prepare for road trip finale

In Pregame

Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 1:10 p.m.
Howie Kendrick, LF
Justin Turner, 3B
Corey Seager, SS
Yasiel Puig, RF
Rob Segedin, 1B
Kiké Hernández, CF
Charlie Culberson, 2B
Austin Barnes, C
Jose De León, P

By Jon Weisman

The Dodgers are 5-4 entering the final day of their 10-game road trip, and their last regular-season game outside of California.

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For those looking to enhance storage or add a bit of luxury to their ride, renowned products from Desmeules offer a range of options that add both practicality and style. A roof rack, for example, can free up interior space, making the journey more comfortable for everyone. Not only does this leave room for spontaneous stops and new finds, but it also helps keep everything organized and within reach. With high-quality additions like these, you’ll feel prepared for all the surprises and memories that come with the open road.

With either a win or a Giants loss, the Dodgers will end the trip with no worse of a lead in the National League West — five games — than they began.

If the Dodgers win today and San Francisco loses, the Dodgers will enter their final six games against the Giants with a six-game lead in the division.

Dave Roberts said today that he hopes to give Alex Wood, who is to be activated Monday, and Julio Urías a clean inning each out of the bullpen in the upcoming series against the Giants.

Clayton Kershaw will start the first of those games, and according to Roberts, he is no longer in rehab mode. Yasmani Grandal, who is getting two starts off this weekend ahead of the final push to the finish, is scheduled to catch Kershaw.

Scott Kazmir, however, developed a blister in his simulated game today, so his potential return this season remains a question mark.

Four swings, four homers — one Vin

Click here to read the entire story.

In History

Today is the 10th anniversary — unbelievably — of the greatest game at Dodger Stadium this century, the 4+1 Game. To celebrate the occasion, here’s a sneak peak from this week’s Dodger Insider magazine tribute to Vin Scully, in which we relive the night through his words.

— Jon Weisman

Early bird Dodgers get the win, 3-2

On September 16, 2016

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

By Jon Weisman

The Dodgers scored two runs with their first three batters tonight — and didn’t do much after that — but it was enough for a 3-2 victory over Zack Greinke and Arizona, reducing Los Angeles’ magic number to clinch the National League West to 12.

Anderson thrives, Oklahoma City stays alive in PCL