[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-5Pf8wY32I]
No more introduction really needed …
— Jon Weisman
Tag: Clayton Kershaw (Page 23 of 36)
By Jon Weisman
Catching up on some news and notes from recent days …
- Chris Perez discussed his mechanics issues with Pedro Moura of the Register. It’s worth it to read the whole piece to better understand Perez’s journey.
- Scott Van Slyke’s performance this season gets an in-depth analysis from Stuart Wallace at Gammons Daily.
- Alex Guerrero spoke in Albuquerque last week with Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. about how he’s doing and what he’s thinking.
- Erisbel Arruebarrena is now with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga after a tumultuous weekend. On a rehab assignment with Triple-A Albuquerque, Arruebarrena was a central figure in a 10-ejection brawl Saturday between the Isotopes and Reno, as Ken Gurnick of MLB.com notes. Arruebarrena was officially activated from the disabled list and optioned to Rancho the next day.
- MLB.com has updated its overall Top 100 Prospects list and its top 20 for the Dodgers. Recent draftees Grant Holmes and Alex Verdugo debuted at No. 4 and No. 10 with the Dodgers.
- Here’s an updated review of Dodger Stadium from Stadium Journeys. Food and beverage gets an improved score, and overall, writes Andrei Ojeda, “I really cannot say enough great things about the changes that have taken place the last couple of seasons, from the ownership to the amenities, all the way to the overall staff.”
- Clayton Kershaw joined Sandy Koufax as a winner of the Hickock Belt. For the backstory on what this is and what it means, go to Ernest Reyes at Blue Heaven.
- Kershaw will also be a guest on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” tonight. Here’s a clip from his appearance there a year ago.
- Former Dodger outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr. has been released by the Phillies.
By Jon Weisman
There’s a risk of taking Clayton Kershaw for granted, which I sincerely do not do. No matter my expectations, I genuinely take pleasure each and every time he fulfills and surpasses them, as he did in tonight’s 5-0 victory over San Francisco.
Coming off what — ridiculously — was his worst start since May, a seven-inning, three-run no decision at St. Louis, Kershaw came back and simply put the Giants to sleep. He went nine innings on 113 pitches, allowing two hits and one walk while striking out seven.
The lefty magician threw his ninth career shutout and third career two-hitter.
Kershaw went to ball three on the second and third batters he faced tonight. He gave up a 3-1 single to Gregor Blanco, and then, on a 3-2 pitch, induced a double-play grounder from Buster Posey. And that was all but it. Kershaw retired 25 of the last 28 batters, allowing only a single, a walk and a runner to reach base on an error, and went to ball three on merely six batters all game.
Since June 1, Kershaw has thrown 77 innings in 10 starts, allowing eight runs for a 0.94 ERA. He has allowed 39 hits, walked eight and struck out 95.
But while celebrating Kershaw without fail, we can risk overlooking some other players. And to that end, let me just say this: Isn’t it nice when Adrian Gonzalez gets on a roll?
Gonzalez had three more hits tonight, including two doubles (admittedly one that Hunter Pence lost in the sun, though it was still well-struck). Since the All-Star Break, Gonzalez has appeared rejuvenated, going 13 for 31 with four doubles, a homer and five walks. That’s a .486 on-base percentage and .645 slugging percentage. That’s good stuff.
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OK, so I ended up writing more about Kershaw than Gonzalez. Sometimes, it’s hard to ignore the best on the planet.
And I almost forgot to tell you. The Dodgers are in first place.
By Jon Weisman
In dropping their final two games at Pittsburgh while the Giants were scoring in the 14th inning Tuesday and the ninth inning Wednesday to defeat the Phillies, the Dodgers have fallen two games behind in the National League West standings. That figure will be 1 1/2 or 2 1/2 games after San Francisco plays a final game today at Philadelphia (and against Cole Hamels) beginning at 10:05 a.m. Pacific.
For the time being, this is the farthest back the Dodgers have been since June 27. Since going 16-6 to gain 10 games on the Giants between June 8-30 and move into first place in the division, the Dodgers are 8-10 in July.
Nevertheless, the Dodgers’ pitching is lined up about as well you could imagine for their three-game series at San Francisco that begins Friday, with Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu taking the mound and relievers Kenley Jansen and J.P. Howell off since Monday.
On top of everything else, the Giants will arrive in San Francisco well after the Dodgers have gotten there.
Greinke is scheduled to face Tim Lincecum, who picked up his first career save Tuesday and has been on a roll since throwing his second career no-hitter June 25. Lincecum has an ERA of 0.95 in his past 38 innings with 31 strikeouts against 28 baserunners. The batting average on balls in play against Lincecum during that time, however, is .140.
Saturday figures to pit Kershaw against Ryan Voglesong, who has a 3.99 ERA after allowing 11 hits to the 22 batters he faced in an abbreviated start Monday at Philadelphia — a game the Giants ended up winning, 7-4.
Sunday’s scheduled pitchers are Ryu and Yusmeiro Petit, who has mostly pitched in relief and would be making his seventh start of the season. Petit has a 6.32 ERA as a starter this season after allowing five runs in five innings at the top of Tuesday’s 14-inning game, his first start since May 31. Petit was replacing Matt Cain, who went on the disabled list Monday.
Madison Bumgarner and Tim Hudson, the Giants’ two best starting pitchers this season, will have pitched Wednesday and today and therefore should miss the Dodgers. Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles has a nice preview of the upcoming series.
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By Jon Weisman
Intentional? No. Irresponsible? That’s another story.
That was the sentiment from the Dodgers after Sunday’s roller-coaster 4-3 victory.
Adrian Gonzalez, who had the game-winning hit Sunday for the Dodgers, starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw and manager Don Mattingly talked about the key events.
By Jon Weisman
In their most emotional game of 2014, the Dodgers prevailed over St. Louis on Sunday, 4-3.
It was a game in which 2013 National League Championship Series hit-by-pitch victim Hanley Ramirez was drilled two more times by Cardinal pitchers, a day after Yasiel Puig was knocked out of action by an HBP. The latest one, which came in the ninth inning that saw the Dodgers deliver the tiebreaking run, looked serious enough to sideline Ramirez himself, but we’re awaiting reports as this was being published.
Ramirez was hit by an 0-2 pitch, which is a count that I’ve always found exonerated the pitcher (in this case, Trevor Rosenthal) from intent. You’re just too close to an out, especially in a tie game in the ninth, to give up a base voluntarily. It’s the same reason that I never felt Zack Greinke was trying to hit Carlos Quentin with his 1-2 pitch in early 2013.
Many Dodger fans online might not agree. In any case, the damage the Cardinal pitchers have been inflicting in the past nine months has been fairly ridiculous, which is why you can imagine Matt Holliday couldn’t have been too surprised by Clayton Kershaw’s first HBP of the year to start the bottom of the fourth.
Kershaw, whose efforts included his first career stolen base, eliminated Holliday from the basepaths on his very next pitch, thanks to a 4-6-3 double play, and seemed thoroughly in control, taking a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth. But Matt Carpenter, a thorn in his side with an 11-pitch at-bat in NLCS Game 6 last October, worked a 10-pitch walk, and the next batter, Peter Bourjos, hit a game-tying homer.
That evened the game and left Kershaw (seven innings, six hits, one walk, eight strikeouts) with a no-decision after winning eight consecutive starts. The tie was broken in the ninth by Adrian Gonzalez, who stranded two runners with two out in the seventh but this time delivered an RBI single that scored Miguel Rojas, pinch-running after A.J. Ellis led off the inning with a double.
Kenley Jansen retired the side in order on 12 pitches to close out the game.
By Jon Weisman
Two new giveaways celebrating the Josh Beckett and Clayton Kershaw no-hitters this year were recently announced by the Dodgers.
At the September 1 game at Dodger Stadium against Washington, the first 40,000 fans in attendance will receive a Josh Beckett no-hitter commemorative pin.
Likewise, a Clayton Kershaw no-hitter commemorative pin will be handed out to the first 40,000 fans in attendance at the September 22 game against San Francisco.
Tickets are available for purchase now at dodgers.com/nohitter or by calling (866) DODGERS.
The giveaways come in addition to the numerous promotions already on the schedule for the 2 1/2 months of regular-season play at Dodger Stadium. For more information, visit dodgers.com/promotions.
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By Jon Weisman
It was a majestic thing, Clayton Kershaw’s scoreless inning streak, because he glided through so much of it. Forty-one innings, only 11 runners reaching second base, only three of those reaching third. He was the sharpest knife through the most compliant butter. Resistance was futile and all that.
The last thing I expected was for the streak to end on a two-out, 1-2 pitch. I figured if anything, maybe someone would sneak a leadoff double through, and the guy would work his way home.
By Jon Weisman
Clayton Kershaw has a 36-inning scoreless streak, has allowed seven runs in seven weeks and will take over the MLB lead in ERA if he throws seven shutout innings against the worst offense of the past 30 to 50 years.
But he won’t have the lowest ERA on the mound when play at Dodger Stadium begins tonight.
Dodgers at Tigers, 10:08 a.m.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Hanley Ramirez, DH
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, LF
Andre Ethier, CF
Juan Uribe, 3B
A.J. Ellis, C
Miguel Rojas, SS
(Zack Greinke, P)
Dee Gordon, 2B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Hanley Ramirez, DH
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, LF
Andre Ethier, CF
Juan Uribe, 3B
A.J. Ellis, C
Miguel Rojas, SS
(Zack Greinke, P)
By Jon Weisman
Dodger ace Clayton Kershaw is scheduled to pitch his last game before the All-Star Break on Thursday. But Kershaw might not start the Dodgers’ first game after the All-Star Break on July 18, eight days later.
Don Mattingly told reporters in Detroit today that if Kershaw pitches two innings in Tuesday’s All-Star Game, that he would not open the Dodgers’ post-break schedule in St. Louis.
Whether that will happen remains to be seen.
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By Jon Weisman
Carl Crawford appears off to a healthy start in his rehab assignment at Albuquerque.
Testing for the third game in a row the left ankle that has had him on the disabled list for six weeks, Crawford stole a base, singled and tripled Monday for the Isotopes while playing the entire game, reports Christopher Jackson of Albuquerque Baseball Examiner.
“I haven’t seen anything that has been hampering him as far as the ankle,” Isotopes manager Damon Berryhill told Jackson. “He’s been explosive. He’s gotten good breaks on the ball in the outfield. I think his swing, he says it feels it good. He hasn’t complained about anything. I think he’s due to go six more (innings) here (Tuesday).”
Mike Petriello of Dodgers Digest has more. If the Dodgers keep Crawford to the estimated five or six games of rehab, that would mean activating him Thursday or Friday in Los Angeles. Earlier this week, Dodger manager Don Mattingly told Ken Gurnick of MLB.com that “not that worried” about how Crawford’s return will affect the Dodgers northward march in the standings. …
“We’ll deal with it when he gets here,” said Mattingly. “We’re playing good and I don’t expect too many changes messing with it.”
But Mattingly cautioned not to conclude that means Crawford won’t play.
“You never know what happens in five or six days,” he said. “Things tend to work themselves out.”
- The best opening of the day goes to Jeff Sullivan at Fangraphs: “The last time Clayton Kershaw allowed a run, his team was trailing the Giants in the National League West by seven and a half games.” With San Francisco losing Monday, the Dodgers have gained 8 1/2 games in the standings during Kershaw’s scoreless inning streak.
- You know this already, but it’s still painful to see Andrew Grant describe at True Blue L.A. how poorly the Dodgers have at the Home Run Derby.
- Corey Seager and Joc Pederson made the MLBPipeline.com First-Half All-Prospect team, as Jonathan Mayo chronicles for MLB.com.
- At Deadspin’s The Stacks, Alex Belth brought back this tremendous seven-year-old piece by John Schulian on Jim Brosnan — actually Schulian’s introduction of Brosnan for his induction into the Baseball Reliquary’s Shrine of the Eternals. Must-read piece on Brosnan, who died late last month.
Yasiel Puig, OF
Fangraphs WAR: 3.3, fourth in NL at his position
* * *
Dee Gordon, 2B
Fangraphs WAR: 2.7, first in NL at his position
* * *
Clayton Kershaw, P
Fangraphs WAR: 2.7, first in NL at his position
* * *
Zack Greinke, P
Fangraphs WAR: 2.0, 12th in NL at his position
— Jon Weisman
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Dodgers at Rockies, 1:10 p.m.
Yasiel Puig, RF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, LF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Andre Ethier, CF
A.J. Ellis, C
Miguel Rojas, 2B
Dan Haren, P
Yasiel Puig, RF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, LF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Andre Ethier, CF
A.J. Ellis, C
Miguel Rojas, 2B
Dan Haren, P
By Jon Weisman
Heading into today’s game, the 50-39 Dodgers are two games (.024) behind Milwaukee for the best record in the National League, their closest point since they were 12-7 on April 20.
Atlanta, winner of eight straight, is a half-game behind the Dodgers.
Let’s do this pregame notebook-style …
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By Jon Weisman
What’s the best part of Clayton Kershaw’s 36-inning scoreless streak, now the third-longest in Dodger history after his latest magical act, taming Coors Field in a 9-0 Dodger victory?
- That he’s struck out 35 percent of the batters he has faced?
- That opponents have an OPS against him – not batting average, but OPS – of .292?
- That 18 of the 36 innings have been perfect innings?
- That while opponents are batting .124 against him, Kershaw has hit .273 against his opponents?
For me, I think it’s this:
Happy birthday, America! You are beautiful: pic.twitter.com/YlxnhrXon7
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 4, 2014
Dodgers at Rockies, 5:10 p.m.
Kershaw CXCV: Kershawppalachian Spring
Dee Gordon, 2B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Scott Van Slyke, LF
Andre Ethier, CF
Juan Uribe, 3B
A.J. Ellis, C
Clayton Kershaw, P
Kershaw CXCV: Kershawppalachian Spring
Dee Gordon, 2B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Scott Van Slyke, LF
Andre Ethier, CF
Juan Uribe, 3B
A.J. Ellis, C
Clayton Kershaw, P
By Jon Weisman
Talking about Clayton Kershaw breaking Orel Hershiser’s scoreless inning record might just be a novelty at this point, but it would get more serious if he could get past the hitting-friendly environment of Coors Field tonight.
Seven shutout innings today, for example, would put Kershaw at 35, a top-five streak in Dodger history, tied with Don Sutton (1972) and Fernando Valenzuela (1981) and behind only Hershiser’s 59 in 1988 and Drysdale’s 58 in 1968.
Dan Szymborski of ESPN Insider has a lengthy analysis of the challenge facing Kershaw, and doesn’t put it out of the realm of possibility. Here’s his conclusion:
