Kershaw, Dodgers Fall Short

by Eric Stephen on Jun 10, 2009 11:01 PM PDT in Dodgers Game Recaps

Judging from their performances tonight, you'd think Clayton Kershaw was the pitcher starting on three days rest and Kevin Correia was the one with five days off. Correia pitched excellently on three days rest, giving up one run and only three hits in six innings, as the Padres beat the Dodgers 3-1, to close out the Dodgers' nine-game homestand.

Clayton Kershaw couldn't find the strike zone from the start, and couldn't finish three innings. Leaving after throwing a whopping 84 pitches in 2.2 innings, Kershaw had the worst home start of his career:

Date	Opponent	Dec	IP	H	ER	BB	K	GmScr
Tonight	San Diego	L	2.2	5	3	4	2	34
9/7/08	Arizona	--	4.0	6	3	1	4	41
6/26/08	Colorado	L	4.0	6	2	4	3	41
6/20/08	Cleveland	--	5.0	4	4	3	5	45

The Dodger offense was also nearly nonexistant tonight, managing only five hits and a run off a beleaguered Padre pitching staff. The key play of the night was in the bottom of the seventh. With Matt Kemp batting with one out, a full count, and Russell Martin and Casey Blake on first and second base, respectively, Joe Torre called for a double steal (or perhaps even a run & hit play). Kemp struck out and, not surprisingly, Casey Blake was unable to inch closer to Rickey Henderson's stolen base record.

If there was one bright spot tonight, it was the magnificence of the Dodger bullpen. Jeff Weaver entered the game with the bases loaded, two outs, and a 2-0 count on pitcher Kevin Correia. He threw three straight strikes to end the inning, and the bulpen kept the Dodgers in the game all night. Weaver, Cory Wade, Ronald Belisario, and Ramon Troncoso combined to give up only one hit and one walk in 6.1 relief innings. The Dodger bullpen has a 3.40 ERA, sixth best in MLB.

The Dodgers have tomorrow off, letting fans concentrate on the exciting conference call that is the final 20 rounds on the MLB draft. A three game series in Texas starts Friday, as Hiroki Kuroda squares off against Derek Holland of the Rangers.

WP - Kevin Correia (3-4): 6 IP, 3 hits, 1 run, 4 strikeouts

LP - Clayton Kershaw (3-5): 2.2 IP, 5 hits, 3 runs, 4 walks, 2 strikeouts

Sv - Heath Bell (18): 1 IP, 1 hit

Box Score

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Comments

If the Dodgers can't hit at Texas. They can't hit anywhere.

by Tripon on Jun 10, 2009 11:05 PM PDT reply actions

whatever magical drink billy buckner had the other night..

correia had a sip of it.

Dodgers - 2008 NL West Champions
Cardinals - 2008 NFC Champions

by wongy on Jun 11, 2009 2:38 AM PDT reply actions

The run-and-hit was either an egregiously stupid call by the coaching staff, or Blake misread the sign; I hope it was the latter.

I’m surprised there wasn’t any discussion in the game thread about Furcal’s AB in the 8th innning and if he should have been sacrificing the two runners who representing the potential tying runs into scoring position. (He could even have tried to bunt for a hit and settle for a sac if that happened.) The old adage is “play to win on the road, play to tie at home.”

If Furcal sacrifices, the Dodgers are one single away from tying up the game. And it keeps the coaches from dreaming up risky base-running shenanigans.

by David Young on Jun 11, 2009 12:56 PM PDT reply actions

Torre address the Furcal non-bunt in the postgame…he said he wanted three chances to drive in the runs instead of two.

Which makes me think the play might have been a missed sign…either way, it was quite perplexing.

by Eric Stephen on Jun 11, 2009 1:28 PM PDT up reply actions

I read that later in your comment in the "No Need to Worry About Kershaw" article.

I think sacrifice or not with Furcal as the #7 hitter is arguable either way, but I perceive “sacrifice” as the old-school choice, so I was a little surprised Joe didn’t do it.

According to TangoTiger’s run-expectancy chart:
1st and 2nd, no out = 1.573 runs
2nd and 3rd, one out = 1.467 runs
difference of 1/10 of a run.

So I guess the tipping point is if you think your batter is bad enough to skew the first expectancy by more than 1/10 of a run, you should bunt?

Did no one ask Torre if he called for run-and-hit, or Blake misinterpreted a sign, or … ?

by David Young on Jun 11, 2009 3:10 PM PDT up reply actions

If they did ask, I didn’t see the answer.

by Eric Stephen on Jun 11, 2009 3:22 PM PDT up reply actions

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2012 Dodgers Payroll

Italics denote estimates
Pos	No	Player	2012 Salary
C	17	Ellis	$500,000	team control
1B	7	Loney	$6,375,000
2B	14	Ellis	$2,500,000
3B	5	Uribe	$8,000,000
SS	9	Gordon	$485,000	team control
LF	21	Rivera	$4,000,000
CF	27	Kemp	$10,000,000
RF	16	Ethier	$10,950,000

IF/OF	6	Hairston	$2,250,000
OF	10	Gwynn	$850,000
2B/3B	3	Kennedy	$800,000
C	18	Treanor	$850,000
IF	12	Sellers	$485,000	team control

SP	22	Kershaw	$6,000,000
SP	58	Billingsley	$9,000,000
SP	29	Lilly	$12,000,000
SP	35	Capuano	$3,000,000
SP	44	Harang	$3,000,000

CL	54	Guerra	$485,000	team control
RHP	74	Jansen	$500,000	team control
RHP	55	Guerrier	$4,750,000
RHP	60	Coffey	$1,000,000
RHP	66	MacDougal	$650,000
LHP	57	Elbert	$485,000	team control
RHP	36	Hawksworth	$500,000	team control

TJ	41	De La Rosa	$485,000	team control

		Manny	$8,087,432	deferred
		Andruw	$3,375,000	deferred
		Pierre	$3,050,000	deferred
		Furcal	$3,000,000	deferred
		Kuroda	$2,000,000	deferred
		Garland	$1,500,000	option buyout
		Blake	$1,250,000	option buyout

Totals			$112,162,432
For more detailed information, click here.
Players on 40-man roster used as roster fillers until moves are made. Current 40-man roster count: 40 (not including Belisario)

2012 Non-Roster Invitees

No	Player	Age*
63	Jose Ascanio rhp	27
61	Alberto Castillo lhp	36
56	Matt Chico lhp	29
33	John Grabow lhp	33
59	Angel Guzman rhp	30
47	Wil Ledezma lhp	31
72	Shane Lindsay rhp	27
62	Fernando Nieve rhp	29
73	Scott Rice lhp	30
70	Will Savage rhp	27
71	Ryan Tucker rhp	25
28	Jamey Wright rhp	37

30	Josh Bard c	34
82	Griff Erickson c	24
81	Matt Wallachc	26
67	Jeff Baisley 3b/1b	29
65	Luis Cruz ss/2b	28
37	Josh Fields 3b	29
64	Lance Zawadzki if	27
56	Cory Sullivan of	32

*Age on June 30, 2012
NRI count: 20 For more info, click here.

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