Postgame – Page 20 – Dodger Thoughts

Notes on a quiet night

On April 22, 2014

By Jon Weisman

You don’t set out to lose a game, but it’s hard for me not to take a game like Monday’s 7-0 loss to Cliff Lee and the Phillies as a write-off. When Lee is so dominant that he can retire 20 guys in a row, my first thought is … hopefully, the Dodgers will have their answer soon in Clayton Kershaw.

How effective was Lee? There were five balls hit to the outfield all night: a single to center, a single to left and three flies into Tony Gwynn Jr.’s glove. No putouts were recorded in left field or right field, and in fact, neither John Mayberry Jr. nor Marlon Byrd so much as touched a live ball in right field all night.
Two Dodger batters reached the outfield after the second inning: Justin Turner sixth-inning fly to center and Tim Federowicz’s eighth-inning single.
Still playing .600 ball this season, the Dodgers were able to reset most of their bullpen, with Kenley Jansen, J.P Howell, Brian Wilson, Chris Withrow and Chris Perez all getting a day off, thanks to Brandon League and Jose Dominguez eating up two innings.
League has retired 12 of the past 15 batters he has faced.
It’s just not that easy to play this game, no matter how much you might think it is. If it were easy, Paul Maholm wouldn’t walk the power-challenged Gwynn leading off the game, or lob a short throw way over Adrian Gonzalez’s head for a run-scoring error in the fifth.
Carlos Ruiz will always be Carlos Ruiz, huh? With two doubles, a homer and a walk, the 35-year-old Phillies catcher raised his career OPS against Los Angeles to .880 (.423 OBP, .458 slugging). That doesn’t include a .989 postseason OPS against the Dodgers (.472 OBP, .517 slugging).
Monday’s late innings brought us the 2014 debuts of Justin Turner at third base and Scott Van Slyke in center field. Adrian Gonzalez is the last Dodger to play every inning at his position this year.
The loss was the first for the Dodgers by more than two runs since April 5, ending a streak of 12 games in a row in which they were winning or could have won with one swing of the bat in the ninth inning.

This time, again

By Jon Weisman

On April 20, 2014

In Postgame

By Jon Weisman

When I posted my picks for the top 10 Dodger home runs of 2013, it was noted to me that Arizona’s Josh Collmenter gave up three of the 10 – which was surprising simply from a “What are the odds?” standpoint, as well as the fact that Collmenter allowed only eight in 92 innings last season.

Numbers from another planet

By Jon Weisman

On April 13, 2014

In Postgame

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By Jon Weisman

Some jottings before turning out the lights on the weekend, a most successful one for the Dodgers.

If someone had offered you a 9-4 start in a season that began with a cross-globe trip to Australia and was soon followed by injuries to Clayton Kershaw and Brian Wilson, I’m guessing you’d take that, right? Only surprising Milwaukee, winners of nine games in a row en route to a 10-2 record, has a better record in the Majors than the Dodgers.
The Dodgers’ offense roared this weekend in their three game sweep of Arizona, climaxing in today’s 8-6 victory (recapped here by Ken Gurnick of MLB.com), but it’s not that much of a surprise that the team would have an easier time scoring at Chase Field than Petco Park or even Dodger Stadium.
Similarly, Phoenix is going to be a tougher place to hold a lead, so don’t get too angry at the Dodger bullpen.
Not that I’m looking to take anything away from Adrian Gonzalez, who has an extra-base hit in eight consecutive games, one shy of a team record. Tied for the MLB lead in home runs at five until Mark Trumbo launched No. 6 today off Jamey Wright, Gonzalez is slugging .680 in 2014. Last year, Gonzalez hit his fifth home run in his 42nd start, May 25.
Tonight’s random trivia: The Dodgers have scored eight runs in two consecutive games. Only two seasons ago, they tallied exactly eight runs in three consecutive games.
Meet your MLB stolen base leader, Dee Gordon, with nine steals in 11 games. What a display he put on today. And in addition to his four steals, he also walked twice, raising his on-base percentage to .457, eighth in the Majors.
Also, this, from Jon SooHoo:
Meet your MLB co-leader in doubles, Juan Uribe, who has a .547 slugging percentage and a .358 OBP despite going the entire season to date without a walk. Yeah, I know — but don’t worry about it now.
You want to use a .154 batting average to judge Matt Kemp, be my guest. I’ll take the .829 OPS. After 31 plate appearances, Kemp has 14 total bases but has yet to hit a single.
Making his debut for Albuquerque today, Alex Guerrero had a three-run homer, double and single in four at-bats, as Christopher Jackson notes at Examiner.com.
One more note from the minors: Joc Pederson has a .511 on-base percentage and .714 slugging this season for the Isotopes. He has 13 hits, six of them for extra bases. But he has yet to drive in another runner. He has three RBI, each coming on a solo home run.
The Dodgers struck out 16 times today, tied for third-most in team history (the record of 20, you should recall, was set last year before Yasiel Puig hit his walkoff home run to beat Cincinnati, 1-0). Never before had the Dodgers struck out 16 times in a nine-inning game and won.
The Dodgers have now struck out 123 times in 13 games, or 9.46 times per game. a pace that would give them 1,533 strikeouts in their 162-game season. That would break the franchise record of 1,190 by more than 300. I guess I should be more worried about this, but I’m going to assume that it will taper off, unless you’re also willing to grant that all the superb offensive numbers will also stick.

No road rage for Ryu, Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

On April 11, 2014

In Postgame

By Jon Weisman

Well, that was a nice wire-to-wire victory for the Dodgers tonight.

As Los Angeles stomped the Arizona Diamondbacks, 6-0 in 141 minutes, allowing only two singles and two walks, these noteworthy feats emerged.

Hyun-Jin Ryu

Ryu allowed six earned runs in two innings at the Dodgers’ home opener a week ago. Here’s how far back you have to go to find more than six earned runs allowed by Ryu on the road:

Tonight at Arizona: seven innings, zero runs
March 30 at San Diego: seven innings, zero runs
March 23 at Arizona (in Sydney): five innings, zero runs
Sept. 24 at San Francisco: seven innings, one earned run
Sept. 16 at Arizona: eight innings, two earned runs
Aug. 19 at Miami: 7 1/3 innings, three earned runs
Aug. 8 at St. Louis: seven innings, one unearned run
Aug. 2 at Chicago Cubs: 5 1/3 innings, two earned runs

Ryu has pitched 21 consecutive shutout innings on the road and has a road ERA of 0.27 in his last 33 road innings.

Adrian Gonzalez

Gonzalez had five RBI tonight — four by the top of the third inning — to give him the 24th game of at least four RBI in his career and third game of at least five RBI. His career high of six RBI came against the Dodgers on May 19, 2010.

Hanley Ramirez

The Dodger shortstop had two doubles tonight, tying him for the MLB lead with six this season. One of three Dodgers to play all 100 innings his season, Ramirez has combined his new-found durability with a .383 on-base percentage and a .595 slugging percentage.

Dee Gordon

Two more hits for Gordon, whose OBP is now .439 while slugging .541. He also stole his fifth base, tying him for second in the Majors. Still, expect him to start Saturday’s game on the bench when the Dodgers face Arizona lefty Wade Miley.

Looking back at Wednesday’s roller-coaster ride

By Jon Weisman

On April 10, 2014

In Postgame, Transactions

See Jon SooHoo’s Wednesday photo gallery at LA Photog Blog.

By Jon Weisman

First, we’ll get the Kenley Jansen discussion out of the way. The Dodgers’ top reliever gave up a run for the second straight night (each one driven in by the Tigers’ Victor Martinez) and Wednesday, it cost the Dodgers with a 7-6 loss in the 10th, after Los Angeles had rousingly rallied for three runs in the ninth.

From Earl Bloom of MLB.com, in his game recap:

“He’s just a really good hitter,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. “Today, it looked like they [Jansen and catcher Drew Butera] were trying to go in under his hands, and just didn’t get it there.”

Mattingly did not sound concerned about his closer giving up a lead and a tie on consecutive nights against the heart of the Tigers’ powerful lineup, citing Yankees great Mariano Rivera as an example.

“When guys struggle, it’s usually two in a row,” Mattingly said. “I’ve seen Mo do it many times. He [Jansen] is healthy — I’m not worried.”

“It’s tough, man,” Jansen told Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. “He’s a tough hitter and kept battling. I feel like I executed, and one pitch I go in there and he took me deep. He kept fouling me off away and I tried to go in there to back him off,” Jansen explained. “Nothing I can do about it. It’s a tough series, but I can’t worry about this. I just have to go now to Arizona and get it back together.”

One other statistical oddity about Jansen, however coincidental, is this: His career ERA before June 1 is 3.81. His career ERA from June 1 on … 1.32. There are a variety of factors that could be playing into this — his past health concerns for one — but early season stumbles have not previously meant anything perilous.

But as much as everyone’s focus will be on what happened late in Wednesday’s game, there was also a pretty big moment early on.

Injured or not, Dodgers steppin’ up

By Jon Weisman

On April 8, 2014

In Postgame

By Jon Weisman

It might be going too far to say tonight’s Dodgers-Tigers game had a World Series atmosphere, but it definitely had the right kind of atmosphere.

It was festive, with 53,131 in attendance. A little hot — 79 degrees at first pitch — but not too hot.

It had a fall intensity. When Matt Kemp scored a go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh inning, he did it with his fist in the air.

And though the Dodgers might have been underdogs on paper, given that they were facing the 2013 American League Cy Young Award winner, they gave their fans a treat, scratching out a 3-2, 10-inning victory over Detroit.

Five Dodgers were on the 15-day disabled list entering Tuesday’s game against the Tigers, including their own Cy Young honoree in Clayton Kershaw. But everywhere you looked, Dodgers were stepping up.

Kershaw technically was eligible to come off the disabled list today, so what could have been his start was instead taken by Dan Haren. All Haren did was throw six innings and allow only a home run by Austin Jackson, a walk and two singles. That’s the only earned run Haren has allowed in 12 innings so far in 2014.

While Brian Wilson dazzles the denizens of Rancho Cucamonga with rehab innings, Chris Withrow — a candidate to begin the season in the minors — extended his streak of perfection to 17 batters in a row. During that streak, he has thrown 22 balls — averaging 1.3 pitches out of the strike zone per batter, while fanning nine. Chris Perez added a scoreless eighth in Wilson’s customary spot.

Fresh from the minor leagues to replace the injured A.J. Ellis, catcher Tim Federowicz made his first MLB appearance of 2014, had a double in three at-bats and threw out the potential go-ahead run attempting to steal in the ninth innings.

Add in Dee Gordon’s continued superb play at what was considered the Dodgers’ weakest position (not to mention Justin Turner’s game-tying sacrifice fly), and you have a team that’s impressively weathering the injury storm.

Perhaps nothing summarized the Dodgers’ concentrated effort than the way they set down Miguel Cabrera four times in a row, bookending the feat by doing so with runners on scoring position in the first and ninth innings. Kenley Jansen fanned the two-time Tiger MVP with pitches each clocking 98 mph.

Detroit certainly did its part to match the intensity, coming back twice from one-run deficits to tie, the second time with two out in the ninth on Victor Martinez’s RBI single to center field off Jansen.Carl C

But in the bottom of the 10th, the Dodgers were sparked by the mesmerizing pitcher-destroying mojo of another reserve, Chone Figgins. For the third time in five plate appearances this year, Figgins walked. He took all six pitches thrown at him by Joba Chamberlain, meaning that of the 32 pitches he has seen in 2014, he has swung at only seven. In his three walks, he has seen 19 pitches and swung at one.

Gordon popped out bunting, but then Carl Crawford (3 for 5) came up and sliced a ball down the line that left fielder Rajai Davis could not cut off, allowing Figgins to score the winning run all the way from first base and kick off the Dodgers’ first on-field celebration of 2014.

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Not a bad time for a Tuesday night in April.

Where are the Matt Kemp doubters tonight?

By Jon Weisman

On April 6, 2014

In Health/injuries, Pitching, Postgame, Uncategorized

By Jon Weisman

The tweets and comments you would see ridiculing Matt Kemp over the past year and a half were predictable, given the wave of negativity that can flourish online, but still plenty vexing.

Kemp would get torched for not being productive enough, regardless of how healthy he was. He would get torched for struggling to stay healthy at all.

His track record, seemingly, was worth nothing. The “What have you done for me lately?” gang never had it so good.

Tonight’s two home runs, two rousingly authoritative home runs in the Dodgers’ 6-2 romp over the Giants (recapped by Earl Bloom for MLB.com) don’t ensure that Kemp will regain his near-MVP form over the long haul. But it does put a spotlight on how silly it was for anyone to give up on him.

Kemp, who had played 399 consecutive games before the series of injuries began, could arguably be his own worst enemy — racing into walls, sliding awkwardly into home, trying to come back too soon. None of these plays spoke poorly of his desire or the fundamental talent he brings to the field.

As his comeback entered its most trying phase, over the winter when he couldn’t even run, the catcalls might have reached their peak. How frustrating it must have been for Kemp, to have to issue “Bull Durham”-esque “I’m just working” quotes for the most part because anytime he expressed a feeling about his true value, he risked being labeled selfish.

Maybe Kemp doesn’t want to sit on the bench. Maybe he doesn’t express that feeling well 100 percent of the time. Should that, or the injuries, have meant that he should be tossed aside like garbage?

Kemp had earned some rope, some patience, some faith, more than some people were willing to give him.

It was just one game of two homers tonight. It was just one series with 10 total bases, a walk and a 1.242 OPS. No one knows how many games he will play this year. But I bet more than a few people who doubted him are thinking twice now.

* * *

Tonight’s game generated one prize-winning bit of trivia. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Dodgers had their most hits since at least 1900 without a single. The Dodgers had three doubles and four homers, evaporating their previous record of three doubles and two homers on June 25, 2002 in a 4-0 win over the Rockies at Dodger Stadium.

Not only that, the Dodgers struck out no fewer than 16 batters — half by Zack Greinke, the last four of them on a called third strike.

Can’t remember when I last saw this many backward Ks in a row. pic.twitter.com/BBerWp5kek

— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) April 7, 2014

Chris Withrow added three more while nearly tying a record himself, using only 10 pitches to strike out the side. And how about Withrow this season? For a guy who was considered likely to start 2014 in the minors, allowing a single and a walk to the 17 batters he has faced while striking out eight looks pretty good.

Kenley Jansen also struck out the side in wrapping up the victory.

* * *

Yasiel Puig is day to day with a strained thumb ligament, according to MLB.com.

Uphill battles continue for Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

On April 6, 2014

In Health/injuries, Postgame

By Jon Weisman

Another deficit, another comeback attempt thwarted by a close play — in this case, A.J. Ellis removed by an inch at home plate from becoming the Dodgers’ third run in what ended up Saturday’s 7-2 loss to San Francisco (recapped by Ken Gurnick of MLB.com).

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In the past two games, Don Mattingly has used 10 relievers, who have combined to allow only two runs over 11 2/3 innings while striking out 14. But the Dodgers have been victimized by big innings — six runs in the first on Friday, four in the fifth on Saturday.

Paul Maholm was hanging with Madison Bumgarner until he faced Pablo Sandoval with two runners on in that fifth inning. With Jose Dominguez warming up in the bullpen, Maholm gave up a three-run home run. As if to illustrate the rock and hard place Mattingly arguably found himself between, Dominguez then entered the game and immediately gave up a home run to Buster Posey.

Maholm told Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. that the pitch to Sandoval was “a cutter that didn’t cut.”

Yasiel Puig didn’t come out for a relief outfielder, even though he injured his thumb on a head-first slide to first base. Still, the injury was enough for the Dodgers to have it X-rayed. There was no immediate word that Puig would have to miss a start, though he could obviously be the fourth outfielder tonight for the Dodgers when Zack Greinke challenges Matt Cain in a fine Sunday Night Baseball matchup.

Later, Brian Wilson was back on a mound, throwing a perfect inning with one strikeout for Rancho Cucamonga.

* * *

Jon SooHoo’s Saturday photos can be found at the LA Photog Blog.

Story of a team in comeback mode

By Jon Weisman

On April 4, 2014

In Postgame

By Jon Weisman

(Insert Karl Malden voice) You fall behind 8-0 in the top of the second inning. What’ll you do? What will you do?

You start hitting home runs. Adrian Gonzalez and Andre Ethier (pictured above) went back-to-back in the fourth inning to put the Dodgers on the board and raised bemused hopes of doubling the fun of the 4+1 game.

You string together some hits. The Dodgers had four in the fifth inning, including Matt Kemp’s first hit, double and RBI of the year, to score two more runs.

You get some phenomenal relief. Jose Dominguez, Brandon League, Chris Withrow and Jamey Wright combined for seven shutout innings from the third through the eighth, allowing one baserunner while striking out 10.

Perhaps surprisingly, you start running. Hardly in conservative mode, the Dodgers stole three bases (two by Dee Gordon, who also raised his on-base percentage to .476) while trailing big, and had a fourth before a safe call benefiting Hanley Ramirez was overturned.

If you count steals, walks and HBP, Dee Gordon has 15 bases this season off of 20 plate appearances.

— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) April 4, 2014

“I think we want to keep playing,” Dodger manager Don Mattingly said. “You want guys to be pretty sure (they’re going to be safe), but it’s part of us trying to take advantage. You can’t just quit playing.”

As a result, the Dodgers had more than one look at a game that might have seemed over before the smoke from the pregame fireworks faded. They scored those four runs and had at least one additional runner in scoring position in every inning from the third through the sixth.

Depending on your point of view, it either softens the blow of the way the game began or heightens the heartbreak.

Hyun-Jin Ryu retired the Giants’ first three hitters (Angel Pagan, Hunter Pence and Pablo Sandoval) with ease. Unfortunately, he faced nine players between Pence and Sandoval, in an excruciating, six-run first inning that featured three bloop hits, including one lost in the sun by Dee Gordon and Adrian Gonzalez for an infield double and another RBI hit by opposing pitcher Ryan Vogelsong.

In another peculiarly perverse circumstance, Ryu retired the first three hitters of the second inning as well, but the first reached on a Hanley Ramirez error, leaving the door open for two unearned runs to score, sending Ryu to his earliest exit as a Dodger.

“Overall, my physical condition was completely fine,” Ryu said. “I think the first walk (to Sandoval) in the first inning was critical and changed the face of the game. … Overall, I just should have pitched better.”

Said Mattingly: “He gave up hits. We didn’t help him (defensively), that’s for sure.”

But rather than send the fans home empty-handed, the Dodgers tried to climb back. Their best look at the game might have been in the bottom of the fifth, when they had cut the lead to 8-4 and had two runners on with one out. Juan Uribe, who had doubled in his last at-bat, hit a shot heading down the line, but third baseman Sandoval went to his knees to snag it.

From love-8, the Dodgers were that close to sending the tying run to the plate with the game barely half over.

Instead, they settled for a home opener that reminded them in equal parts of their fallibility and their resiliency.

I’d like to buy what Dee Gordon is selling

By Jon Weisman

On April 2, 2014

In Postgame

By Jon Weisman

With his walk and RBI double in tonight’s 5-1 Dodger victory over San Diego, converted second baseman Dee Gordon, the Dodgers’ weak link, is leading the team in batting average (.385), on-base percentage (.471), slugging percentage (.538) and OPS (1.009).

I don’t know — maybe Petco Park suits him. I know Dee is suiting me.

Yeah, it’s only been five games — four, actually, since Gordon didn’t play in the first. It’s still more success than most people hoped for.

* * *

Not to take anything away from Dan Haren, who pitched six innings with no earned runs and six strikeouts in his Dodger debut.

Dodger starting pitching in 2014: 29 2/3 innings, three runs, 0.91 ERA, seven walks, 30 strikeouts, 9.1 K/9.

— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) April 3, 2014

Life is just a bowl of everything

By Jon Weisman

On April 1, 2014

In Health/injuries, Postgame, Thinking out loud

By Jon Weisman

Sometimes life is like a baseball season, and sometimes a baseball season is like a single game, and sometimes a single game is like protecting a one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded and two out.

The Dodgers are living almost every thread of that journey at once, smack at the intersection of great expectations, fragile health and the narrow margins that life and baseball present.

Clayton Kershaw is out until at least May, maybe longer. Brian Wilson is following him to the disabled list. Zack Greinke is going from retiring the first 10 batters of a game to fighting to get through the bottom of the fifth. And Kenley Jansen is a closer extraordinaire who had to scrape out of a jam of his own making, giving up two hits and a walk before striking out Nick Hundley to cement the Dodgers’ 3-2 victory at San Diego.

It’s like balancing a book on your head while standing on the head of a pin. Sunday, it didn’t work. Tonight, it did.

They’ll keep teetering as long as the injuries keep coming, especially the one to their unparalleled ace, which I’m frankly still in denial about.

On the other hand, Yasiel Puig is smashing baseballs, Matt Kemp is close to a return, with Josh Beckett not far behind and Chad Billingsley steadily gaining speed.

Sometimes, your 3-4-5 hitters are 4 for 43 at the plate (with seven walks) through four games, and sometimes your easily dismissed No. 8 hitter is OPSing .962 and working through an eight-pitch at-bat for a decisive RBI single. Sometimes, life gives you lemons, and other times, life gives you both lemons and strawberries and grapes and mangoes.

No sweet without the sour, no sour without the sweet. Welcome back to baseball, welcome back to life.

Dodgers reflect on first tough loss

By Jon Weisman

On March 31, 2014

In Postgame

By Jon Weisman

Two innings away from a 3-0 start to the season, the Dodgers didn’t even get to the bottom of the ninth Sunday, surrendering Hyun-Jin Ryu’s impressive outing in a 3-1 loss to San Diego.

Brian Wilson shouldered the blame. The reliever, who allowed only one run with the Dodgers last year, matched that when he allowed a game-tying homer to pinch-hitter Seth Smith. Overall, Wilson gave up three in the bottom of the eighth — two earned, one unearned as the result of his own error.

“It’s a hard one to swallow,” Wilson said, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. “I wasn’t able to get ahead of the hitters and make the proper pitches. I’m not particularly used to having one of those nights. I just wasn’t able to get ahead, and they took advantage.”

Two victories in, Dodger ups and downs

By Jon Weisman

On March 22, 2014

In Postgame

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By Jon Weisman

Until the end, the Dodgers breezed in their second game of 2014, finally dispatching Arizona in a 7-5 victory, one in which they had 23 baserunners. Ken Gurnick recaps the particulars for MLB.com.

As the Dodgers completed their two-game sweep and prepared for a happy flight home, you could find that already, several players were already tasting both the ups and downs of the baseball season.

Read More

Van Slyke, Kershaw put on a show in ‘Opening Day Victory’

By Jon Weisman

On March 22, 2014

In Postgame

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By Jon Weisman

In a weirdly joyful way, Scott Van Slyke was the starter, Clayton Kershaw provided the middle relief and Chris Perez, Brian Wilson and Kenley Jansen were together the closer.

For fans of the theater, it made for a nice play in three acts, this 3-1 Opening Day victory (recapped here by Ken Gurnick of MLB.com) by the Dodgers over Arizona.

Overture

“It has been a marvelous week. The weather has been splendiferous.” – Vin #Dodgers

— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) March 22, 2014

Read More

Yasiel Puig turns spring struggles upside down Down Under

By Jon Weisman

On March 20, 2014

In Health/injuries, Postgame

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By Jon Weisman

Appropriately, it didn’t get talked about all that much, but you could still catch some people muttering and snickering about Yasiel Puig’s homerless sub-.150 Spring Training batting average.

Read More

Dodger Thoughts

Jon Weisman's outlet for dealing psychologically with the Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball and life

Category: Postgame (Page 20 of 21)

Notes on a quiet night

This time, again

Numbers from another planet

No road rage for Ryu, Dodgers

Looking back at Wednesday’s roller-coaster ride

Injured or not, Dodgers steppin’ up

Where are the Matt Kemp doubters tonight?

Uphill battles continue for Dodgers

Story of a team in comeback mode

I’d like to buy what Dee Gordon is selling

Life is just a bowl of everything

Dodgers reflect on first tough loss

Two victories in, Dodger ups and downs

Van Slyke, Kershaw put on a show in ‘Opening Day Victory’

Yasiel Puig turns spring struggles upside down Down Under

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