The Dodgers dropped their fourth straight spring contest, falling 5-3 to the Giants at Camelback Ranch. The Dodgers dropped to 2-6 this spring.
I don't put a ton of weight on spring training stats, especially early in camp, but Charley Steiner on tonight's radio broadcast said something that made me want to check the stats. He said that with so many substitutions early in spring training, if you want to know how your team is doing to check the score after four innings. That has generally been when the starters have been replaced by subs through the first eight games. So I decided to look it up.
Dodgers This Spring | |||
Date | Opp | First 4 Inn | Innings 5-9 |
2/26 | @LAA | 1-2 | 0-2 |
2/26 | @SF | 1-8 | 2-0 |
2/27 | LAA | 3-0 | 2-0 |
2/28 | CWS | 2-1 | 4-4 |
3/1 | @Cle | 0-1 | 1-1 |
3/2 | KC | 3-0 | 2-11 |
3/3 | @Cin | 0-3 | 1-0 |
Tonight | SF | 1-1 | 2-4 |
Totals | 11-16 | 14-22 |
There hasn't been too much difference one way or another, and outside of the game against Kansas City the Dodgers have actually done better after the fourth inning. But again, it's spring and it's early. I just thought it was interesting.
Jon Garland made his first appearance of the spring, and pitched well. He allowed just one hit in his three innings, throwing a total of 37 pitches, while striking out two. However, an unearned run did score on that hit, by Travis Ishikawa, as Matt Kemp threw the ball into the stands in an attempt to get Cody Ross at third base. Ross, who reached base after getting hit by a pitch, scored on the play. Garland said his performance "was pretty darned good considering it was my first outing," as he joined Steiner during the game. Then again, Garland also said the Dodgers have "a great lineup," so we might need to invest in salt granules.
Notes
- Jerry Sands walked and singled tonight. After starting his first spring training 0-for-4, all Sands has done is reach base in his last seven plate appearances, with a home run, three singles, and three walks. Just your standard .500/.636/.875 line (yes, I know it's early, and all of 11 PA)
- The Giants hit a pair of home runs: Thomas Neal went deep off the second pitch thrown by Matt Guerrier, and Buster Posey cranked a ball opposite field of the right field wall off Ron Mahay
- Juan Uribe's history with Manny Mota helped steer the infielder to the Dodgers this winter, writes Dylan Hernandez in his profile of Uribe in the Los Angeles Times
- Ted Lilly, in addition to having a "hunger" to win, is also a scary driver, as we learn in Ken Gurnick's feature on the lefty on MLB.com.
- I completely missed this last night, but Tony Jackson of ESPN LA thinks Mike MacDougal "appears at the moment to be a clear favorite to land one of those [open bullpen] spots." That seems a bit presumptuous, but who knows? Thanks to Mike Petriello of Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness for the link.
- Kenley Jansen in his very brief pitching career has rarely failed on the baseball field, but today he fell on his face, literally. Jansen slipped during fielding drills earlier today and was helped off the field, per Gurnick.
- Marcus Thames, who started at DH tonight, joined Steiner in the ninth inning, and the two got to talking about a restaurant called The Little Dooey in Thames' hometown of Starkville, Mississippi, and now I am hungry for barbecue
After a pair of night games, the Dodgers are back at Camelback Ranch tomorrow afternoon with a game against the Reds. Clayton Kershaw makes his second start of the spring, and will be opposed on the mound by leg-kicking honorary Rockette Bronson Arroyo. Scheduled to follow Kershaw on the mound for the Dodgers are Lance Cormier, Jon Huber, Roman Colon, Oscar Villarreal, and Wilkin De La Rosa. After Arroyo, the Reds are expected to have Logan Ondrusek, Jose Arredondo, Jordon Smith, Scott Carroll, and Jeremy Horst.