Scherzer Shuts Down Dodgers
by Eric Stephen on Sep 2, 2009 10:17 PM PDT
in Dodgers Game Recaps
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PrintMax Scherzer was stingy tonight, holding the Dodgers to a single run, and Arizona parlayed a big fifth inning to a 4-1 win at Dodger Stadium. Scherzer did not allow a run through his first seven innings, and ended up allowing just seven hits and a walk to go with his four strikeouts.
The lone Dodger run came courtesy of a Manny Ramirez RBI single in the eighth inning. The Dodgers managed to get the tying run to the plate in the form of Matt Kemp, but Kemp flew out to end the threat.
Chad Billingsley started off great, retiring the first 13 batters of the game. Then, a one out double in the fifth by catcher Miguel Montero ended the perfect game, and it was followed by a titanic home run by Brandon Allen that traveled halfway up the pavilion in right field. After the home run, a series of seeing-eye singles and a missed strikeout call brought home two more runs for the Diamondbacks.
Billingsley's struggles over the last few months can be explained by the big inning:
| Starts | IP | W-L | ERA | FIP | WHIP | BB/9 | K/9 | HR/9 | Inn Started | 1-2-3 IP | 2+ run IP | 3+ run IP |
| First 14 |
92.2 | 9-3 | 2.72 | 2.86 | 1.230 | 3.79 | 9.03 | 0.29 | 96 | 32 (33.3%) | 10 (10.4%) | 2 (2.1%) |
| Last 14 | 80.0 | 3-6 | 5.18 | 4.43 | 1.350 | 3.71 | 6.98 | 1.13 | 84 | 34 (40.5%) | 14 (16.7%) | 5 (6.0%) |
Billingsley's strikeout rate is down and his home run rate is up, but he has still managed more 1-2-3 innings during his rough patch than earlier in the season. The key was that in the first 14 starts, he gave up exactly three runs in an inning only twice, and never more than that. In his last 14 starts, Billingsley has had two innings of three runs, two innings of four runs, and a six-run inning.
Still, with the Dodger offense running on fumes at this point, it really doesn't matter how many runs the pitching gives up.
Andre Ethier did manage three hits tonight, including his team-leading 36th double of the season.
Doug Mientkiewicz made his first appearance since April 16, getting a pinch hit single in the sixth inning to bring his batting average to an even .500 (three hits in six at-bats).
Tomorrow, Jon Garland will make the start that he has been scheduled to make for some time, only now it will be as a Dodger and not a Diamondback. Billy Buckner pitches for the Diamondbacks.
WP - Max Scherzer (9-8): 7.2 IP, 7 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts
LP - Chad Billingsley (12-9): 6 IP, 6 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), 1 walk, 5 strikeouts
Sv - Juan Gutierrez (3): a 1-2-3 inning
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that and everything else can almost certainly be explained by one thing...
…his back, no matter how much we wants to deny it…
today it was poor positioning
on the sherzer single he was playing up the middle for some odd reason… and against drew he was also up the middle in the 5th.. otherwise i didnt see anything bad about his D… just the throw and positioning
Against a pitcher, its common to play up the middle because they don’t pull the ball very often.
by Eric Stephen on Sep 2, 2009 10:25 PM PDT up reply actions
no you put the 2nd basemen up the middle...
not the shortstop against a right hand batting pitcher
More often than not, he’s not going to pull it, and will be late on a fastball and ground more up the middle and to the right side.
by Eric Stephen on Sep 2, 2009 10:27 PM PDT up reply actions
so its not like furcal will have a chance anyway
it will be hudsons groundball….
it was bad positioning by furcal obviusly
Thome..
When the playoffs roll around and the dodgers need some offense in the lineup, will joe be like fuck this…. i need some power in the lineup and replace loney (if hes still in his funk) with Thome?
if joe wants to win, he’d put the best lineup out there, wouldnt he?
yeah
but thome has rarely played 1st base
hes been a DH for the last couple of years
and his back injuries are a major factor
thome may be a much better hitter than loney
but loney is much better at 1st cause
hes got the speed and quickness needed for the position….
thats the only time i've ever heard James complimented with the adjectives speed and quickness : )
William Doolittle at your service, a.k.a. will do.
I'm home now. Thanks for asking.
I am amazed by how bad they were tonight. Bad luck too but more bad play.
by delias man on Sep 2, 2009 10:57 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
good, Those are the best they have
I wondered if Torre gave up during the game with the relievers used tonight but they did great anyways.
by delias man on Sep 2, 2009 11:10 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
Ohman might not be called up.
Waiting for his turn to be activated from the 60-day disabled list is left-hander Will Ohman, who was sidelined by shoulder problems May 28 and hasn’t pitched in the majors since.
Torre said that with George Sherrill, Hong-Chih Kuo and Scott Elbert on the roster, the Dodgers might not need another left-hander.
“It’s disappointing,” Ohman said. Referring to how he pitched in triple A on a minor league rehabilitation assignment, he said, “I didn’t go to Albuquerque because I wanted to spend time in New Mexico.”
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-dodgers-fyi3-2009sep03,0,5490075.story
We made another no name look like Cy Young. It’s getting pretty dark, every day it’s just hoping we can snap out of our funk and put some runs up on the board and it just isn’t happening. Maybe we just aren’t that good and this is who we are, that’s how I’m beginning to feel.
I don’t understand how people can say this? We’re right up there with the other 2 top teams in the NL, and there are still 25+ games in the season to start firing on all cylinders again.
Panic mode kicks in if your team gives up a grand slam to James Loney in Game 2 of the NLDS. :)
You wanna know how great baseball is? The greatest basketball player ever left his sport to play baseball.
The dodger pitching is alright it's the pitch calling that's got to change
Sorry for all those that feel Russell Martin is the best but it would be better if Augmus would catch Bills, Clayton the rest of the season. Vets can rub Martins predictable pitch calling after first 3 innings,
Paul D. Kelley
BN is a myopic site
by so.cal.native1952 on Sep 3, 2009 7:03 AM PDT reply actions
i've never even thought about that,,,
maybe so,,,
A guy claiming to be the remote control airplane
operator which flew during the game Monday called into the Kevin and Bean show this morning. He seemed pretty pleased with himself.
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