Dodgers Look To Wrap Up Division Today
by Eric Stephen on Sep 27, 2009 6:00 AM PDT
in Game Previews
18 comments
| Team | W-L | GB |
| Dodgers | 93-62 | --- |
| Rockies | 87-68 | 6 |
Sure, the Dodgers have clinched a playoff berth, but they are just getting started. Their magic number to clinch the National League West is just one, so a win this morning against Pittsburgh would get the job done. Either one Dodger win or Rockies' loss would assure the Dodgers of at least a tie for the division. But since a tie between the two teams would assure that both are in the playoffs, the division goes to the team that wins the tiebreaker. The first tiebreaker happens to be head-to-head record, and the Dodgers have already clinched the season series against the Rockies, winning 12 of their 15 match ups.
Clayton Kershaw takes the mound for his first start in 23 days. Kershaw, who struck out four Nationals in two hitless innings of relief Tuesday night, will be on a pitch count today, likely around 70 pitches or so. This will be Kershaw's 50th start as a Dodger. My, how time flies.
Daniel McCutchen, who allowed four runs in five innings at Dodger Stadium last week, gets the start for the Pirates.
Ronnie Belliard last night had three hits and three runs scored, including his fifth home run since joining the Dodgers. He is hitting .333/.385/.625 in 22 games in blue.
Casey Blake, originally in the lineup Saturday, was scratched because Joe Torre "took him out of the lineup because he didn't want to risk him re-injuring his left hamstring on the rain-soaked field," per Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times. With a storm still in the Pittsburgh area and rain likely today, I wouldn't be surprised if Blake sits again.
In former Dodger news, Delwyn Young is in the worst slump if his young career. He has seven hits in his last 76 at-bats, and is hitting .092/.169/.145 since August 26. Andy LaRoche, on the other hand, homered last night, and is hitting .279/.343/.459 in September.
Happy 32nd birthday Vicente Padilla. May you enjoy these next eight days, the final eight days you will be on the active roster for the Dodgers.
**********
Check out Xeifrank's simulation of today's game here.
Don't forget to RSVP for True Blue LA Day at Dodger Stadium, on the next-to-last day of the regular season, October 3 against the Rockies. There are five tickets left.
Get your guesses in for our today's "One, Two, Three Strikes, You're Out," here.
Game Time: 10:35am
TV: Prime Ticket
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From the Dodger notes
I had two items I was going to include in some posts this week, but both are in today’s notes. Here is #1:
A sign of the Dodgers’ good health, good fortune, and consistent play on the field is the fact that they have seven players on the roster with 500 or more plate appearances – Andre Ethier, Rafael Furcal, Matt Kemp, James Loney, Russell Martin, Orlando Hudson, and Casey Blake. The last time Los Angeles had seven players with at least 500 trips to the plate was in 1999 when Raul Mondesi, Gary Sheffield, Eric Karros, Adrian Beltre, Mark Grudzielanek, Eric Young, and Devon White accomplished the feat.
Going back to include Brooklyn as well, the Dodgers have 12 teams that have had seven guys with 500 PA.
That 1974 team had the club record with 6 guys with 600 PA, but I don’t think Martin (570) or Blake (555) will join the 600 club this week.
by Eric Stephen on Sep 27, 2009 7:48 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Dodger notes
The 2nd thing I wanted to mention:
Andre Ethier has 75 extra-base hits this season, the fourth-highest single-season total in Los Angeles Dodger history. The only L.A. Dodgers with more extra base hits in a season are Shawn Green (84 in 2001), Adrian Beltre (81 in 2004) and Raul Mondesi (77 in 1997).
I was waiting for Ethier to get hot so I could mention it as he got closer to Green’s 84 XBH :)
by Eric Stephen on Sep 27, 2009 7:49 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Pirates lineup
from Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
A McCutchen CF
LaRoche 3B
Jones RF
Milledge LF
Diaz C
Pearce 1B
Cruz SS
Bixler 2B
D. McCutchen P
by Eric Stephen on Sep 27, 2009 7:53 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
From Dylan Hernandez in the Times:
Backup catcher Brad Ausmus pinch-ran for Thome and later wondered aloud if he, like Torre, had made history that night.
“When was the last time a 40-year-old pinch-ran for a 39-year-old?” he asked. “That’s what I want to know.”
There have only been 14 instances of a 40+ year old pinch runner in LA Dodger history. The last time someone so old pinch ran for someone so old was July 6, 1978, when Vic Davalillo (41) pinch ran for Manny Mota (40).
by Eric Stephen on Sep 27, 2009 8:23 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Dodgers lineup - Manny rests (as does Blake)
from Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Furcal SS
Pierre LF
Ethier RF
Kemp CF
Loney 1B
Belliard 3B
Martin C
Hudson 2B
Kershaw P
by Eric Stephen on Sep 27, 2009 8:31 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Thanks for the early lineup updates. I am rerunning my sim (100K games) with the exact lineups for today. It’s changing the odds quite a bit.
vr, Xei
by Xeifrank on Sep 27, 2009 9:16 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
not very good at the whole link posting thing, but this shit is hilarious! hitler rants about the giants lost season lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOJy6z3d90A
4+1=awesome
by grizzlyadams on Sep 27, 2009 8:51 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
True Blue get together
Are we meeting somewhere before the game, or do we just meet at our seats?
by mleadman on Sep 27, 2009 9:08 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Marty,
We’ll work that out this week.
by Eric Stephen on Sep 27, 2009 9:15 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Torre confirmed in the pregame show that the Dodgers would use a 4-man rotation in the first round, and noted that there is a bit of a safety net because you can use either the game 1 or game 2 starter in game 5 with full rest, so “you’re not locked in there.”
by Eric Stephen on Sep 27, 2009 9:14 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Wishing I could go hang out with you guys. But it least I can watch it from home. I wish they would clinch at home.
by Skunkburner on Sep 27, 2009 9:36 AM PDT via mobile reply actions 0 recs
Does anybody know if Martin is a Super Two?
by pdotmac1 on Sep 27, 2009 9:49 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
He will be a Super 3! :)
He was a super two, along with Ethier, last offseason.
by Eric Stephen on Sep 27, 2009 9:50 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I’m a little confused on how that all works.
They both have two years left under team control, or 3?
by pdotmac1 on Sep 27, 2009 9:51 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
They are both under club control through the 2012 season.
by Eric Stephen on Sep 27, 2009 9:55 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Super Twos are players with more than two, but less than three years of service time, and are the top 17% of such players. The only other requirement is that the player must have at least 86 days of service time in the immediate previous season.
Those players have four years of arbitration rather than three. They also have “only” two pre-arb years, but in reality they have close to three because they were on the roster for most of 2006 (since May).
It’s close to getting 7 years of club control instead of 6.
by Eric Stephen on Sep 27, 2009 9:58 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
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