Holy Schmidt! Dodgers Win 7-5
by Eric Stephen on Jul 20, 2009 10:51 PM PDT
in Dodgers Game Recaps
Email
PrintAfter the first three batters of the game:
- Willy Taveras triple off the top of the wall in left
- Jerry Hairston, Jr double to the wall in left
- Joey Votto single (should have been an RBI double) to the wall in right
this game took on the look of a funeral. All the hope of Jason Schmidt's two-year comeback trail seemed to vanish, and instead of the 72-hole Tom Watson the Dodgers were getting British Open playoff Tom Watson. Then, Brandon Phillips hit an easy fly ball to right that was misplayed by Andre Ethier into another hit, and this game looked like a rout.
Schmidt was able to get out of the first inning down "only" 3-0, but with 36 pitches thrown it seemed Schmidt's start, if not his career, was coming to an abrupt end.
But the Dodgers came out swinging against Micah Owings, and scored four of their own in the first inning, started off by one of the coolest bunts you will ever see, a push bunt double by Rafael Furcal over the head of third baseman Edwin Encarnacion. Schmidt entered the second inning with a lead, but it didn't seem like the scoring was over by a long shot, especially since the first inning lasted roughly 50 minutes.
Then, a funny thing happened. Balls started to find gloves. Schmidt settled down. Reds' hitters got impatient. Improbably, Schmidt lasted through five innings, allowing only a hit and two walks over his final four innings. Schmidt, who said the felt almost like tonight was his first game in the big leagues, was happy to be back:
I wasn't worried about having to last five. The first inning was a little scary, I'll admit that. Its definitely not the way I wanted things to go, but it was nice to settle in. They scored some runs, and there were some great plays by a few guys out there that really helped me out.
Manny Ramirez provided more support for Schmidt by hitting a two-run home run in the second inning. The home run was the 537th of his career, passing Mickey Mantle for 15th place on the all-time home run list. Andre Ethier added a solo home run of his own in the fifth.
James McDonald pitched two perfect innings, and started a third inning of relief, but was pulled after allowing the first two batters to reach in the eighth, both of which later scored. Ramon Troncoso and Jonathan Broxton each pitched for their third straight game, but both were efficient, thowing only ten and eight pitches, respectively.
But the story tonight was Schmidt. Will he be effective going forward? Most likely not, but its not time to worry about that now. Tonight he got a win, after being injured for two years, and that is something we should all celebrate.
Randy Wolf faces Homer Bailey Tuesday night.
WP - Jason Schmidt (1-0): 5 IP, 5 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts
LP - Micah Owings (6-10): 5 IP, 9 hits, 7 runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts
Sv - Jonathan Broxton (23): 1 IP, 1 strikeout
35 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Red Sox are 5-12
In games not started by Lester, Beckett, Penny and Wakefield
by bhsportsguy on Jul 20, 2009 11:04 PM PDT up reply actions
The unearned runs call was right
in the top of the 8th, here’s the PBP:
Votto walked
Phillips singled, 1st and 2nd
Nix safe on error by Castro, Votto scores, Phillips to 3B
if a normal grounder is played here by Castro, it’s 1st & 3rd with 1 out.
Encarnacion GIDP
this would have ended the errorless inning, stranding Votto at 3B
Was wondering the exact same thing
thanks for the clarification
by Chad Moriyama on Jul 21, 2009 2:30 AM PDT up reply actions
So Castro's error was booting the ground or throwing error to second, not a throwing error to first?
If so, then the scoring of both runs is unearned. If it was a throwing error to first, then I think the scorer can’t assume the force at second instead when the fielder already made the choice not to throw there.
Yeah
it was letting a ground ball get past him. Official scorer assumed a force at 2B.
by Eric Stephen on Jul 21, 2009 8:38 AM PDT up reply actions
hello
i couldnt watch the game… what was jason shmidts velocity around tonight?
bad
85-88 on fastballs, and 82-84 on changeups. Not much of a difference. He mixed in some curves in the low 70s as well.
by Eric Stephen on Jul 20, 2009 11:14 PM PDT up reply actions
thanks
so he threw a 88 mph fastball that didnt sink as a result of his flyout to groundout ratio of 10-2 and a changeup which was as fast as his fastball on occasion.
how did he get through 5 innings allowing 3 runs!!!!!!!?
by matthewmafa on Jul 20, 2009 11:17 PM PDT up reply actions
guile, guts, moxie…choose your veterany word du jour. :)
by Eric Stephen on Jul 20, 2009 11:19 PM PDT up reply actions
Yep, and impatient
Schmidt faced 23 batters:
Two 1-pitch outs
Two 2-pitch ABs (one bloop single)
Six 3-pitch outs
Thank you, Cincy!
by Eric Stephen on Jul 20, 2009 11:25 PM PDT up reply actions
so that’s only 24 pitches covering three innings worth of outs (plus a single).
by Eric Stephen on Jul 20, 2009 11:26 PM PDT up reply actions
I would be disappointed if Jon Hart calls his sandwiches on rolls either subs or hoagies.
by Eric Stephen on Jul 21, 2009 8:24 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
rite before the game scully was talking about how the dodgers havent lost to cincy since like ’05. i told my husband “oh shit, we just got jinxed.” after the top of the 1st he was like, YOU jinxed us by saying scully jinxed us. So I said, “today you were explaining to me that their nickname is the comeback kids. So, they can come back.” After the 1st inning he just grabbed my hand and kissed and said “I love you baby!”
Jason better get fitted for body armor
it’s kind of like batting practice.
They should let him pitch with a screen.
by Eric Stephen on Jul 21, 2009 8:21 AM PDT up reply actions
If Torre sticks to his comment not to skip anyone's start over the off day
Schmidt’s next start will be against another .500-ish team, the Marlins, to close the homestand on Sunday. I think you can see Hanley Ramirez slavering from here. The Marlins have a team OPS of .720, compared to the Reds .710, 12th and 14th in the NL repsectively. (Dodgers are third at .763, for comparison.) It would be hard to cherry-pick two better starts for Schmidt to have to begin his comeback at the major-league level.
It's funny
because for so long Cincinatti seemed to be producing these sluggers year in and year out. Most are gone now, with little to show for it. Only the Josh Hamilton trade netted anything of consequence whereas guys like Dunn and Kearns (I thought he was good at the time) just exited without much ever happening. I guess the timing didn’t work out as Votto and Bruce were coming up as Dunn was exiting; but I can’t help but think trading Hamilton for Volquez was a mistake.
by Michael White on Jul 21, 2009 8:44 AM PDT up reply actions
Given how injury prone Hamilton is, I'm not sure it was.
They have a nice little core going forward in Votto/Bruce/Philips/Encarnacion – Encarnacion, Bruce, and Votto have all missed significant time this year. More surprisingly is that they have an excellent core of good young starters. Bruce will bounce back big next year. With the right moves this team can be competitive going forward.
I said at the time I thought the Hamilton for Volquez trade, even with Hamilton’s great year, wasn’t a good move for them because they have had so much trouble developing pitching.
Perhaps there is something systemic about their system (besides the ballpark) that is stunting their ability to develop pitchers, and Volquez might not have done anything in Texas anyway. In that case, no problem trading him away, but Texas would have a much larger problem on their hands.
by Eric Stephen on Jul 21, 2009 9:04 AM PDT up reply actions
something systemic about their system
Systems tend to have systemic qualities. :)
My gut feeling is that Nolan Ryan’s insistence on building up pitchers in the minors by having them throw more and more is not going to work out well. Does Nolan Ryan realize that his arm is probably an extreme outlier? We’ll see how many Ranger pitching prospects fall by the wayside, I guess.
haha…I didn’t even catch that slip up. :)
by Eric Stephen on Jul 21, 2009 9:20 AM PDT up reply actions
Dusty Baker + young pitchers used to = cries of abuse
But I haven’t heard anyone saying he’s killing the arms of Volquez, Cueto, or Bailey – they’re Pitches/IP ratios seem reasonable – and no one seems to blame Dusty for Volquez’s back and elbow problems. Did Dusty turn over a new leaf? GM have him on a leash regarding the young talent? Dusty overly blamed for previous pitchers’ injuries? A little bit of all the above?
Maybe Dusty is picking his battles…he agreed to lay off the pitchers as long as he got Willy Taveras. :)
by Eric Stephen on Jul 21, 2009 9:15 AM PDT up reply actions
I like Harang and, to a lesser extent, Arroyo.
by Eric Stephen on Jul 21, 2009 9:16 AM PDT up reply actions
Tonight's Red's starter Homer Bailey's full name is
David Dewitt Bailey.
It’s a sign. If Hudson is sitting again tonight, start Blake DeWitt at 2nd.
Eric S.
I’ll be at the stadium tonight and not in the game thread, otherwise I’d trot out the minor league baseball card of the Reds pitching coach the first time he visits the mound. Perhaps you can make some use of it, if it furthers whatever joke you already have planned.
Furcal bunt
anybody know where I could see a video of that bunt?
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on True Blue LA
Related FanShots on True Blue LA
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
- The Juice: Nelson Cruz matches career high eight RBIs, Pujols stays hot in Seattle
- Benches clear at Fenway as Red Sox-Rays rivalry heats up
- Keeping good company: Albert Pujols becomes fourth-youngest player to hit 450 home runs
- Giancarlo Stanton misses cutoff man, and Logan Morrison is thankful he did (Video)
- Snoop Dogg delivers memorable first pitch at U.S. Cellular Field
