Dodgers Look To Avoid Sweep In Boston
by Eric Stephen on Jun 20, 2010 12:30 PM PDT
in Dodgers Game Previews
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PrintThe Dodgers, now losers of three straight games, are in salvage mode tonight, trying to win one of the three games in Boston (hey, it worked for the Lakers!). The Dodgers are 2-2 in salvage games this season, the final game of a three-game series after losing the first two.
Hiroki Kuroda takes the hill for the Dodgers, having not given up a run in his last two starts. Kuroda doesn't have many high-strikeout games in his career, but he was working on something special Tuesday in Cincinnati. He struck out seven in the first four innings, a total bested by Kuroda only four times in his career. before the rains came. The rain delay lasted two hours, 24 minutes, but amazingly Kuroda continued to pitch, finishing one more inning to qualify for the win. The 12-inning scoreless streak is the second-longest streak of his career, behind a 16-inning streak in July 2008.
Clay Buchholz gets the call for the Red Sox, looking to continue his winning ways. He is 6-1 with a 1.84 ERA in his last seven starts, and has not given up more than three runs in a start since May 8. Among starting pitchers with enough innings to qualify for the rate stats leaderboard, Kuroda ranks 12th in MLB with a 53.2% ground ball rate, while Buchholz is 21st with a 51.2% rate. Only 3.9% of the fly balls allowed by Buchholz have turned into home runs, the seventh-lowest rate in baseball.
Designated "Hitters"
Last season, Manny Ramirez was serving his suspension during interleague play, and as a result he did not start as designated hitter in any of the Dodgers' nine games in American League ballparks. This season, Manny is with the team, and as a result the Dodgers have an actual potent hitter in the DH spot for their six games, in Boston and Anaheim. Yesterday, Manny hit a home run, only the fifth home run by a Dodger designated hitter in the nearly 14 years of interleague play, a span of 129 games:
| Home Runs by Dodger Designated Hitters | |||||
| Date | Designated Hitter | Opp | Pitcher | Inning | Result |
| Saturday | Manny Ramirez | Bos | Tim Wakefield | 6th | L, 5-4 |
| 6/22/07 | Luis Gonzalez | TB | Andy Sonnanstine | 2nd | W, 6-3 |
| 6/12/04 | Olmedo Saenz | Bos | Matt Malaska | 6th | W, 14-5 |
| 6/29/03 | Mike Kinkade | Ana | Troy Percival | 9th | L, 3-1 |
| 6/16/01 | Chad Krueter | Ana | Jarrod Washburn | 6th | L, 6-5 |
It should be noted that Russell Martin hit a home run in Detroit on June 15, 2008, in a game he started at DH, but when he hit the home run he had already moved to catcher in the game.
One-Run Losses in AL Parks
The Dodgers lost 5-4 yesterday, on the surface just a standard one-run game. However, it was the ninth straight time a one-run game in an American League park has not gone the Dodgers' way. The last time the Dodgers won a one-run game in an AL park was June 15, 2003, a 4-3 win in Cleveland, which came a day after the infamous Paul LoDuca / Milton Bradley tiff on Fox over Bradley showboating after a home run by unfastening his batting gloves (ah, the good old days). Here is a look at all the one-run games in AL parks in the seven years since:
| One-Run Losses in AL Parks | |
| Date | Result |
| Saturday | Bos, 5-4 |
| 6/25/09 | CWS, 6-5 |
| 6/19/09 | Ana, 5-4 |
| 6/15/08 | Det, 5-4 |
| 6/23/07 | TB, 4-3 |
| 6/17/06 | Oak, 5-4 |
| 6/19/05 | CWS, 4-3 |
| 6/14/05 | KC, 3-2 |
| 6/11/04 | Bos, 2-1 |
It should be noted that the Dodgers' foibles in American League parks isn't confined to narrow defeats. During that same period, the Dodgers have also lost 33 of 48 games decided by two or more runs.
Notes
- Condolences on Father's Day go out to Rafael Furcal, whose father passed away this morning in the Dominican Republic three weeks after being kicked in the chest by a horse, reported Enrique Rojas of ESPN.com.
- Left-handers have no hits in 22 at-bats against Hong-Chih Kuo with 11 strikeouts this season, but it's important to note that right-handers only have nine hits in 50 at-bats against him, hitting .180/.226/.320
- Garret Anderson has five hits in nine at-bats against Buchholz, hitting two home runs in 2008. Anderson is the only Dodger to have faced Buchholz
- Tonight is the first time this season the Dodgers are on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball, but they will be on three times in a four-week span, including home games next Sunday against the Yankees and July 11 against the Cubs. The Dodgers were 2-1 on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball last season.
- The Red Sox have won 23 of their last 31 games
Game Time: 5pm
TV: ESPN
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How many more times in the next caledar year
do you think that you will post a graph that has both Mike Kinkade and Chad Krueter? I’m guessing this will be it! Boy, life was hard in the yard when those are the options at DH. :)
DH
Obviously, when Reed Johnson is playing, it makes good sense that Manny is DH and Johnson LF. When, like yesterday, however, Garret Anderson is playing, does it make the same sense that Manny is DH and GA LF? Who is actually better in LF? I guess it may allow Manny to play every day without rest, though he shouldn’t need the same rest if playing just one day in the field with a day off to follow, though. Thoughts?
I’d rather Manny get the rest of not playing the field as often as possible.
by Eric Stephen on Jun 20, 2010 1:06 PM PDT up reply actions
Always makes sense for Manny to rest his legs as much as possible
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Guys with at least 3 games as a DH for the Dodgers
Killer Tomato 18
Dave Hansen 11
Mike Piazza, Gary Sheffield, Russell Martin 7
Shawn Green 6
Brian Jordan 5
Ron Coomer, JD Drew, Mark Loretta 4
Eric Karros and Paul Konerko 3
The list with 1 and 2 games is funny some of the names are: Jim Eisenreich, Mitch Jones, Jason Grabowski, Brett Butler, Chad Krueter, Mike Kinkade, Jeff Reboulet, Antonio Perez.
When I compiled it, I missed about 8 games somewhere, so this is not the Gospel! But it is close
Red Sox lineup
Scutaro SS
Pedroia 2B
Ortiz DH
Youkilis 1B
Martinez C
Beltre 3B
Nava LF
Cameron CF
McDonald RF
Buchholz P
Good Fathers Day story I'd hate to see buried in the last thread.
I wanted to give a shout out to my Dad on Fathers Day.
He doesn’t read TBLA, although I have told him about it and emailed the link! I realized how much I loved the Dodgers when I realized how much HE loved the Dodgers. We were in St Louis sitting in the resturaunt that is in the National Bowling Hall of Fame one Saturday afternoon. I was 12. The Dodgers were playing the Cardinals. The NBHOF is right across the street from the old Busch Stadium. My dad, who didn’t curse a whole lot in front of me until I was in High School, drops his spoon and says, "Fuck Me!" I asked him what’s up and he says, "Don Drysdale and Vin Scully are eating lunch right over your shoulder." He stared at them for probably 45 seconds. I took that as my cue to go over and ask for an autograph. Bad move when someone is eating, but I was 12! DD asked me, "Who sent ya, kid?" I said "no one." He said, "How in the hell do you know who we are then?" I told them my Dad told me. They both signed a napkin for me. Sweet ass shit.
When we went to leave, my Dad asked for the check and the waiter said, "Mr Scully took care of it."
Unbelieveable. I thought you guys would like it. Good Dad’s Day story.
Happy Fathers Day, Pops! Go Blue
by keithc13 on Jun 20, 2010 11:58 AM PDT reply actions
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
I'd say most of us are Dodger fans because of our fathers.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
I guess I was actually 14 when that happened
It was the same weekend I got Pedro Guerrero’s autograph on the sidewalk and realized that all baseball players weren’t 6’5" and 235 lbs! I was almost as tall as he was.
Carlos Santana
with another home run, hitting 393. Meanwhile Matt Weiters is sucking, and Posey is playing 1st base. Best young catcher in baseball? To Soon? Sure, but still an impressive start to his major league career.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
35 plate appearances. 7 extra base hits. 7 walks. 3 ks. Ya, thats quality. Other than Heyward, i would take him over any other hitting prospect that has debuted in the last few years, even if he doesnt stay at catcher.
by UCLADodger32 on Jun 20, 2010 2:43 PM PDT up reply actions
Sorry to hear about Rafy's father.
I had just assumed he was ill, dying because he was kicked by a horse is hard.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
I gotta hand it to you
When you turn on a guy, you really napalm those bridges, with no looking back.
by Eric Stephen on Jun 20, 2010 3:07 PM PDT up reply actions
Buchholz
had two bad back to back games in early May. Those have pretty much been the only below average games for him all year. Nice to see the Sox get paid back with the patience they showed with him.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Pimentel with another scoreless game
Only one earned run in his last six starts.
Pimentel/De La Rosa combined to strike out nine with zero walks.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Cool Father's Day moment in Toronto
Blue Jays lost 9-6, but John McDonald had missed some games after losing his father. He had his first AB since coming back in the 9th inning today, and slammed a HR.
Ethier moves up to 2nd
Kemp CF
Ethier RF
Ramirez DH
Loney 1B
Anderson LF
Blake 3B
Martin C
DeWitt 2B
Carroll SS
Kuroda, P
Isn’t he saving anything for his return to Anaheim on Tuesday?
by Eric Stephen on Jun 20, 2010 2:01 PM PDT up reply actions
Tally of draft picks signed
2nd: Ralston Cash (close, but not yet announced)
3rd: Leon Landry
4th: James Baldwin
5th: Jacob Lemmerman
8th: Michael Dean
9th: Steven Domecus
13th: Jesse Bosnik
14th: Alex Mcree
16th: Andrew Pevsner (per BA, via Chad Moriyama)
23rd: BJ Larosa
24th: Andrew Edge
25th: Jeremy Gilmore
27th: Yimy Rodriguez
28th: Mike Drowne
29th: John Patterson
34th: Joe Lincoln
46th: Bret Montgomery
Makes sense
that picks 1, 6, 7, 11 and 12 are not signed yet. All are facing decisions re college commitments or being eligible in just 2 years.
Remember when I wrote 4-0 Orioles? Good times.
6-4 Padres Bot 3
Rox have a rough 9th
4 runs for Brewers, now Milwaukee leads 5-1
by Eric Stephen on Jun 20, 2010 2:36 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
Matt Kemp about to be interviewed on MLB Network
by Eric Stephen on Jun 20, 2010 2:56 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
I forgot to check back after going back to MLB Network.
by Eric Stephen on Jun 20, 2010 3:10 PM PDT up reply actions
Played a second shot from the fairway
into triple bogey 7, then had to hit his first shot again (lying 3) after he couldn’t find his ball within the 5 minute limit, which led to a double bogey and now he just hit the ball over the cliff.
Porcello
for some reason, when I saw Phil’s note in the last thread about Porcello getting optioned to the minors, for some reason I was thinking of Scherzer and figured he got optioned for the second time. ’Tis a weird form of dyslexia on my part.
If getting sent down works for Porcello as it did for Scherzer...
… he’ll be okay.
Carlos Monasterios went to the Charlie Haeger school of interview answering
from Dylan Hernandez:
Monasterios said that nothing is wrong with the nail on his index finger…he added that the small blood blister on that finger didn’t hinder him at all.
That’ll be the last time Monk gives an interview this year. Ng will put a horse head on his bed tomorrow morning.
That’s the benefit of flying chartered planes. Do you have any idea how hard it is to check equine baggage when flying commercial?
by Eric Stephen on Jun 20, 2010 3:22 PM PDT up reply actions
MLB Network ballpark cam
is showing Dodgers taking infield practice right now, and Manny is taking grounders at 3B with Blake and Belliard.
Padres pulling away from Baltimore
from Orioles beat reporter Brittany Ghiroli:
Padres Garland is the 20th opposing starter in 23 games to toss a quality start against the Orioles
Tough times for the Orioles
Is MLB At Bat
with gameday Audio any good? Is the radio feed live?
I know these are dumb questions, but I’m thinking about getting it for me and my Dad for Dads day.
Thanks
well worth it. The audio might be up to 10-20 seconds behind at times, but just the ability to hear all those games makes it worth it IMO
by Eric Stephen on Jun 20, 2010 3:41 PM PDT up reply actions
I'm almost certain radio is free if you buy the app.
You have to pay for monthly MLB.tv if you are going to watch games on your phone. There is a daily free game you can watch, though.
by Tommy Told Me To Bleed Blue on Jun 20, 2010 3:40 PM PDT reply actions
You also...
Get the option of 3 or 4 different feeds of audio. You could probably even listen to Fernando if you wanted to.
by Tommy Told Me To Bleed Blue on Jun 20, 2010 3:43 PM PDT up reply actions
I'm a little addicted
to my iphone these days. It’s my only way to keep up with the Dodgers consistently. It’s tough not living in California.
by Tommy Told Me To Bleed Blue on Jun 20, 2010 3:44 PM PDT reply actions
I need to get my wife
a dodger cap. We are going to see them play at Busch next month. I love to torture her and make us as obsenely blue as possible. Last time we were on the kiss kam.
by Tommy Told Me To Bleed Blue on Jun 20, 2010 3:47 PM PDT reply actions
I have been to Busch every year for the last 5 to watch the Dodgers
but not going this year. Boooooooooo!!!!!!!
Tulsa here.
My wife and I got married in Eureka Springs. She loves that artsy little town.
by Tommy Told Me To Bleed Blue on Jun 20, 2010 3:52 PM PDT up reply actions
It's cool
Weird town with some weird folks, but it is pretty up there. We get all of our decent football players from Tulsa now. Our Offensive Coordinator is from Tulsa.
My buddy's cousin
just hit a homer for the OU team.
by Tommy Told Me To Bleed Blue on Jun 20, 2010 3:58 PM PDT up reply actions
Do you guys
ever buy Dodger gear through the Dodger website?
by Tommy Told Me To Bleed Blue on Jun 20, 2010 3:49 PM PDT up reply actions
Occasionally, yes
Living in SoCal though, there are a lot more options in stores. But sometimes the MLB shop will have some good deals.
by Eric Stephen on Jun 20, 2010 4:02 PM PDT up reply actions
I found a rhinestone Dodger cap on ebay....
I may have to get this. ack!
by Tommy Told Me To Bleed Blue on Jun 20, 2010 4:03 PM PDT up reply actions
Just for Eric
I changed my picture from my daughter and her friend to me holding her. It is a bad picture (from my Mom’s cell phone). It is me with my hat on backwards! Suck it Eric!
:)
You need to know
that if you are dicussing hats on here, make sure Eric is out on a date or has a family obligation. Because, unless you are talking about buying an actual game camp he will hate on you! :)
Per Dylan H:
Charlie Haeger and Claudio Vargas are the two most likely candidates to start for the Dodgers on Thursday, Manager Joe Torre said
extra day for Padilla and Kuroda (first two games on NYY series)
by Eric Stephen on Jun 20, 2010 4:08 PM PDT up reply actions
The Dodgers are playing the Yankees? I thought that the Dodgers would really be promoting this haven’t really seen anything from this so far.
It’s been a stealth, mostly viral campaign :)
by Eric Stephen on Jun 20, 2010 4:09 PM PDT up reply actions
It makes sense to me to have the “bullpen game” or whatever against the Angels’ offense rather than the Yankees.
by Eric Stephen on Jun 20, 2010 4:11 PM PDT up reply actions
Are there any teams that have a tougher interleague schedule than the Dodgers?
by Tommy Told Me To Bleed Blue on Jun 20, 2010 4:13 PM PDT up reply actions
Ken Rosenthal
was on Fox Sports radio this morning talking about our schedule vs the Giants and the Madres. He was going to give it yesterday during the game, but they didn’t get to it. He didn’t say a lot about it, just that our schedule is way harder than theirs is this year.
Haha. It’s a sacrifice. I have to meet her halfway. If she feels stylish with rhinestones that’s her problem.
by Tommy Told Me To Bleed Blue on Jun 20, 2010 4:07 PM PDT reply actions
I would roll the dice with Vargas.
by Tommy Told Me To Bleed Blue on Jun 20, 2010 4:08 PM PDT reply actions
44-118 plus Anthony Rendon. Thats not too bad.
by UCLADodger32 on Jun 20, 2010 4:15 PM PDT up reply actions
Ya. Hes pretty fantabulous. Next years draft is pretty stacked, especially with college pitching.
by UCLADodger32 on Jun 20, 2010 4:17 PM PDT up reply actions
I heard the draft is only 28 players deep though, sadly.
Kidding.
by Eric Stephen on Jun 20, 2010 4:18 PM PDT up reply actions
Who knows. Bell hasnt had a terrific year, especially from a plate discipline standpoint. Rendon would probably force him off of that position eventually.
by UCLADodger32 on Jun 20, 2010 4:21 PM PDT up reply actions
So if Zach Lee stays at LSU
I will be pumped. Not only will I hate him because of his college choice, but I will have this as well. Sweet.
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