Dodgers Aim For Sweep of Reds
by Eric Stephen on Jul 22, 2009 3:54 PM PDT
in Dodgers Game Previews
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PrintThe Dodgers have had six opportunities to sweep a series (of three games or longer) this season, and they have finished the job five times. They enter tonight's game against the Reds with the chance to win their 12th straight game against Cincinnati at Dodger Stadium.
John Labombarda of Elias Sports Bureau tells us "the club's 11-game home winning streak over the Reds is the longest home winning streak against one opponent since the Dodgers won 11-in-a-row against the Pirates over the 1977 and ‘78 seasons. Los Angeles won 12 in a row at home over the Phillies in 1958 and ’59."
Chad Billingsley is coming off of the worst start of his career (nine hits and six runs while getting only five outs, a game score of 13). Tonight we will see if Billingsley was able to correct the mechanical flaws in his delivery or if the concerns of having a 6.55 ERA over his last six starts will continue.
The Reds will start Bronson Arroyo tonight, who has struggled this season (5.07 ERA, 5.50 FIP, 4.92 x-FIP), but has been very good in his last two outings, allowing no runs in 16 innings.
Matt Kemp is hitting .415/.508/.660 in July, with 12 runs and 14 RBI in 15 games.
James Loney has seven home runs this year, yet none at home. Willie Davis had 11 home runs in 1969, all on the road, and as far as I can tell that is the most home runs by an LA Dodger all on the road.
I thought this tidbit from Mark Sheldon of MLB.com was cool:
Reds manager Dusty Baker visited on Tuesday with former Dodgers star Tommy Davis, whom he has long admired. "That's why I wear No. 12," said Baker. Davis wore No. 12 for the Dodgers in the 1960s.
Get your guesses in for tonight's "Clogging The Bases" here.
Game Time: 7:10pm
TV: Prime Ticket (check out Jon Weisman on "Dodgers Live," between 6:30 and 7pm, promoting his book)
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Reds lineup
per John Fay:
Dickerson rf
Taveras cf
Votto 1b
Phillips 2b
Nix lf
Encarnacion 3b
Hairston ss
Hanigan c
Arroyo p
I can do FanShots from my phone, but for some reason can’t post regular stories (for some reason, the browser won’t let type for main stories…weird.
by Eric Stephen on Jul 22, 2009 4:14 PM PDT up reply actions
I liked this info from the notes
Active Players, Highest Career BA vs. Reds
(minimum 50 PA)
James Loney .460 (23/50)
Kevin Kouzmanoff .417
Lyle Overbay .409
Manny Ramirez .403 (25/62)
Clint Barmes .400
my guess
I think you have the right players, but switch Loney & Martin, and Pierre & Bills.
by Eric Stephen on Jul 22, 2009 4:20 PM PDT up reply actions
Actually, they might do the Martin 2nd thing again with Hudson 3rd…who knows?
by Eric Stephen on Jul 22, 2009 4:21 PM PDT up reply actions
Dodger Lineup
Furcal, SS
Hudson, 2B
Ethier, RF
Blake, 3B
Loney, 1B
Kemp, CF
Martin, C
Billingsley, P
Yes
I’ll find the exact rule in a bit…it would probably result in someone being out of turn…
by Eric Stephen on Jul 22, 2009 4:42 PM PDT up reply actions
Rule 4.01
Rule 4.01 Comment: Obvious errors in the batting order, which are noticed by the umpire-in-chief before he calls "Play" for the start of the game, should be called to the attention of the manager or captain of the team in error, so the correction can be made before the game starts. For example, if a manager has inadvertently listed only eight men in the batting order, or has listed two players with the same last name but without an identifying initial and the errors are noticed by the umpire before he calls "play," he shall cause such error or errors to be corrected before he calls "play" to start the game. Teams should not be "trapped" later by some mistake that obviously was inadvertent and which can be corrected before the game starts.
by Eric Stephen on Jul 22, 2009 4:51 PM PDT up reply actions
Per Beto Duran:
Manny’s wrist is swollen, trouble putting hand in glove, but he plans to still play Friday (and bowl Thursday).
That was quite the odyssey Homer Bailey had yesterday
The only tension in the stadium yesterday was in waiting for reports on mano de Manny.
he said they should trade lester for halladay cause lester has a lot of service time remaining beofre free agency
kershaw is a free agent in like 2015
Last night was my first opportunity to wear my Father's Day gift to DS
A Matt Kemp jersey. Sure enough, what does he do in his first PA? Sweet it was.
Did you say, “that’s why they call him…” then point to your shirt?
by Eric Stephen on Jul 22, 2009 4:58 PM PDT up reply actions
mlbtraderumors.com
6:49pm: ESPN’s Peter Gammons says the Dodgers are still in the mix for Halladay. Pros for the Dodgers are a number of Single-A and Double-A prospects and the willingness to take on Halladay’s contract. Cons are a lack of near-ready pitching prospects, and absence of Toronto scouts at Dodger games.
Cons are dodgers lack near ready pitching prospects… Mcdonald, elbert and lindblom? are they not near ready pitching prospects and also wasnt there a scout at the dodgers game on saturday when kershaw pitched 7 scoreless innings???
However, the L.A. Daily News reports, “A Blue Jays scout was in attendance Saturday when Clayton Kershaw pitched for the Dodgers.”
http://www.dailynews.com/dodgers/ci_12880522
Silverwidow mentioned this article on Monday, I think.
This article from the Toronto Sun says:
"Jays scout Steve Springer has been from class-A Great Lakes to triple-A Albuquerque watching prospects in the L.A. system like shortstop Tony Abreu, third baseman Joshua Bell, shortstop Devrais Gordon and right-hander Ethan Martin. "
Link
I Would Like To Think...
…the Dodgers are just feigning interest in Halladay to drive up the price any potential suitors (like the Phillies) would have to pay. Could our front office be that clever?
Interest in Halladay is very real
I think they’re just haggling over the quality/quantity of the minor leaguers that would get shipped.
Would it be funny (in the long run) if
Halladay was acquired, imploded in his first career playoff game ever, but the Dodgers won the NLDS anyway behind stellar start from Billingsley and Kershaw?
I guess that would be funny in the moment if Halladay had been acquired acquired by the Cards or Phils.
I think that sort of ploy is more effective with division rivals
Is that what Sabean did to Colletti with Juan Pierre?
they are of course getting quite frustrated at mccovey chronicles
we need to start linking more pictures lol, some of them are actually quite humorous
O.A.
Questions for the night
How long will Arroyo’s scoreless streak last?
Will Abreu make it 13 in a row?
Will Loney continue to batter the Reds?
Will Billz throw his first good game since being attached to the all-star game?
Can the Dodgers continue their mastery over the Reds?
Will the dikes hold while little dutch boy VanDenHurk is on the mound Saturday?
It'll be ironic
if we send a shitload of prospects to Toronto, some of them might go back to Vegas for AAA.
Jair Jurrjens has a one-hitter through 6
While the Braves have scored four against Lincecum. The Braves have seven hits with each of their first seven batters in the lineup having exactly one.
Bronson Arroyo
has a Rockette-quality leg kick in his delivery:
I wonder if he still has the glove ARod bitch-slapped in the 2004 ALCS.
Arroyo
I HATE Arroyo. Despise the man. Why? Because of that ridiculous leg kick that looks like something from Monty Python’s “Ministry of Silly Walks” sketch. I think he would be more endearing to me if he had a normal leg kick but drowned puppies for fun.
by CanuckDodger on Jul 22, 2009 6:25 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
From May 1 – present, Kershaw is 8-3, 1.89 ERA, and opposing hitters hit .176 / .296 / .242 / .538 against him. For 75% of the season to date, Kershaw is putting up some awesome numbers, the best on the staff. (The 5 1/3 IP / start could use a little work.) And he’s only 21. It should obviously make no sense to lose that from your staff, which is why Kershaw for Halladay rumors are just equine by-products.
Not sure why I qualified that to since May 1. I mean, the kid’s season ERA is under 3, and the opposing batters’ are .193 / .308 / .287 / .594.
Halladay this year, 2.74, .249 / .274 / .351 .626
those numbers suggest
kershaw is already a better pitcher then roy hallday
plus.. roy halladay has never been on a contending team and he has never pitched in the playoffs so how does anyone know how he will react
plus.. roy halladay has never been on a contending team and he has never pitched in the playoffs so how does anyone know how he will reactsabathia didnt do well in the playoffs last year
did anyone read the article on don mattinglys son on Espn
first i though it was preston but then found out it was his other son
The comments in the Gould article in the other thread are pretty funny.
They should tell him that college pitchers are abused
If The Dodgers Decided To Become Sellers...
…and were to put Kershaw on the trading block the way that Toronto has invited offers for Halladay, the offers the Dodgers would receive from teams for Kershaw would make the offers teams are making for Halladay look like a box of garage sale trinkets.
So many people just don’t understand that “trade value” isn’t just about how good a player is right now. That may not even be the most important thing. Other factors are player salary and the amount of time before the player can become a free agent.
I thought this quote from the LA Times (linked by Underdog/Dashiell):
Told by reporters that he was listed in the lineup, Ramirez turned to the manager’s office and shouted “change the lineup, Joe.”
The funniest part of that (emboldened) is that Manny’s locker is almost directly next to where the lineup is posted in the clubhouse, so the fact that reporters had to tell Manny about the lineup is classic.
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