True Blue LA - NLDS Game 1: Dodgers 9, Diamondbacks 5Where The Dodger Dogs Are Always Grilledhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/49563/truebluela_fav.png2017-10-07T00:46:59-07:00http://www.truebluela.com/rss/stream/162036932017-10-07T00:46:59-07:002017-10-07T00:46:59-07:00Kershaw allows record-tying 4 HR in Game 1 win
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<img alt="Arizona Diamondbacks v Los Angeles Dodgers - Game One" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3P2Owl-TRRbWR2RaPxeVhxpJ3qo=/0x0:3122x2081/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/57044669/858501300.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Maxx Wolfson/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p id="5qx0bK">LOS ANGELES — <span>Clayton Kershaw</span> picked up his first career home playoff win in most bizarre fashion on Friday night, in the <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a>’ 9-5 win over the <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a> in Game 1 of the NLDS at Dodger Stadium.</p>
<p id="vjLjcu">Staked to a 7-1 lead, Kershaw allowed a solo home run in the sixth inning and two more in the seventh, tying an MLB record with four home runs allowed in a postseason game.</p>
<p id="ZVJWvw">Up 7-2 through six innings, Kershaw was at 92 pitches, with the bottom of the order (6-7-8) due up for Arizona. Kershaw, who made his last start of the regular season on Saturday, was pitching on five days rest, and since he won’t be starting a potential Game 4 of this series — manager <span>Dave Roberts</span> reiterated that after Friday’s Game 1 — his next start would be on at least five days rest. </p>
<p id="Av38mi">That played into the decision to send Kershaw back out for the seventh inning.</p>
<p id="xwdxm4">“For him, that part of the order, I felt good with him going back out there,” Roberts said. “Obviously there was some hard contact from that part of the order.”</p>
<p id="8dX0xW">That hard contact came from <span>Ketel Marte</span> and <span>Jeff Mathis</span>, both hitting home runs into the left field seats near the Dodgers bullpen, where <span>Tony Watson</span> was warming up to replace Kershaw.</p>
<p id="fSJBYu">“It just wasn’t coming out as good as I would have liked it to that last inning,” Kershaw said. “I just didn’t have much left, I don’t know.”</p>
<p id="ligPpY">Buoyed by the Dodgers offense, whose nine runs scored were the most they have scored in the playoffs since Game 1 of the 2014 NLDS, Kershaw’s four home runs ultimately weren’t a hindrance.</p>
<p id="spQbD5">“I thought he was outstanding and challenged guys, pitching with the lead like he should,” said <span>Justin Turner</span>, who drove in five runs in the win. “He gave up four solo homers, but who cares. When you have a lead like that, it’s about attacking guys, not giving up free bases and pounding the zone.</p>
<aside id="fw7Q3C"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Dodgers overcome Diamondbacks’ solo effort to take Game 1","url":"https://www.truebluela.com/2017/10/6/16440096/nlds-game-1-justin-turner-yasiel-puig-dodgers-offense-diamondbacks-recap"}]}'></div></aside><p id="Z1u2gE">“I thought he was spectacular for us tonight.”</p>
<p id="f6d7vs">Since returning from the disabled list, Kershaw has a 3.83 ERA in seven starts, with nine home runs allowed, and opposing batters are hitting .265/.315/.444 against him. Kershaw says his back is fine, and did Roberts.</p>
<p id="D9ABB8">“I think that he’s strong,” Roberts said. “I think he’s healthy, and ever since he’s come back, he’s continuing to get better.”</p>
<p id="AWLhdS">Kershaw was 0-3 with three no-decisions in his previous six playoff starts at Dodger Stadium.</p>
<p id="hQklvU">“With the intensity of playoff games, there is more riding on each pitch. Mentally, you try to focus that much harder on every single pitch and just let the moment try to take over every single time. That can be taxing, for sure,” Kershaw said. “No excuses. I gave up too many home runs tonight. Maybe some of that played a factor, I don’t know.</p>
<p id="luM8eE">“Right now my preparation is for a potential Game 5 or hopefully Game 1 of the next series,” he added. “Until something changes, that’s what I’m going with.”</p>
<h3 id="cB7vxD">Up next</h3>
<p id="XvFMM2">The Dodgers try for their first 2-0 series lead since the 2009 NLDS on Saturday night in Game 2, with <span>Rich Hill</span> on the mound for the 6:08 p.m. PT start. Everyday <span>Robbie Ray</span> starts for the Diamondbacks.</p>
https://www.truebluela.com/2017/10/7/16440482/clayton-kershaw-home-runs-mlb-record-dodgers-diamondbacks-nlds-game-1Eric Stephen2017-10-06T23:09:44-07:002017-10-06T23:09:44-07:00Dodgers overcome Diamondbacks’ solo effort to take Game 1
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<img alt="Arizona Diamondbacks v Los Angeles Dodgers - Game One" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QmatyPNptQ6-9mTyiiYSNOVfrT4=/0x0:4023x2682/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/57044457/858481298.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Harry How/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Turner ties Dodgers postseason RBI record in win</p> <p id="ejJIlM">LOS ANGELES — <span>Justin Turner</span> homered and drove in five runs to counter the <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a>’ power display as the <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> won Game 1 of their National League Division Series, 9-5 on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.</p>
<p id="KY9syE">The Dodgers offense was enough to offset the four home runs Arizona hit off <span>Clayton Kershaw</span>, tying an <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/tiny/9B31k">MLB record for home runs allowed by a single pitcher in a postseason game</a>. The previous eight pitchers to give up four long balls all their team lose.</p>
<p id="W2tt2b">Kershaw got the win on Friday, just as he did on June 19 this year against the <a href="https://www.amazinavenue.com/">Mets</a>, the only other time he has allowed four home runs in a start. Kershaw allowed a career-high 23 home runs during the regular season, seven more than any other year.</p>
<p id="P7TQt0">It helped that all four home runs were solo shots, including back-to-back shots by <span>Ketel Marte</span> and <span>Jeff Mathis</span> that ended Kershaw’s night with one out in the seventh inning. That followed a home run by <span>J.D. Martinez</span> in the sixth.</p>
<p id="e5dk7T">Since the start of 2013, <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/2017/10/6/16413816/clayton-kershaw-game-1-nlds-preview-dodgers-diamondbacks">Kershaw in his 13 postseason starts has a 2.53 ERA in the first five innings</a>, and a 12.32 from the sixth inning on.</p>
<h3 id="t7E0G1">First things first</h3>
<p id="c1vRM1">The Dodgers outscored their opponents 92-81 in the first inning in 2017, their third-worst inning — in the seventh and eighth innings, they outscored other teams by 10 runs each. From Aug. 29-31 at Chase Field in Phoenix, the Diamondbacks outscored the Dodgers 10-0 in the first inning in a three-game sweep, one of two sweeps by Arizona in a nine-day span.</p>
<p id="KWJzEo">“We <em>were</em> playing our worst baseball of the season at that point,” Turner said Thursday.</p>
<p id="kgTtf1">After Chris Taylor singled to open the game, <span>Corey Seager</span> walked to set the stage for Turner, who hit the Dodgers’ first three-run home run in the postseason since <span>Howie Kendrick</span> in Game 3 of the 2015 NLDS.</p>
<p id="5w355Y">Turner added RBI singles in the fifth and eighth innings. He was 3-for-4 with a walk on the night, and in his career is 19-for-40 (.475) in Division Series play, the highest batting average of anyone with at least 40 plate appearances in this round.</p>
<p id="hEFBox">Turner’s five RBI <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/tiny/S5VdK">tied a Dodgers franchise record for a postseason game</a>, matching Davey Loeps in Game 1 of the 1978 World Series and <span>Pedro Guerrero</span> in Game 6 of the 1981 World Series.</p>
<h3 id="jHFdxS">Short night</h3>
<p id="RiGQBR"><span>Taijuan Walker</span> allowed four runs and threw a whopping 48 pitches in the first inning, his only inning of the night. That included 38 pitches before he recorded his first out of the night.</p>
<p id="YKso0u">He delivered the shortest postseason start against the Dodgers — by outs recorded — <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/tiny/b7poq">since Ron Darling in Game 7 of the 1988 NLCS</a>. Darling actually pitched into the second inning in that game, but all five batters he faced in that frame scored.</p>
<p id="LpnGsC">The last starting pitcher in the postseason to never see the second inning against the Dodgers was Whitey Ford in Game 4 of the 1953 World Series.</p>
<h3 id="TGztGH">Extra, extra</h3>
<p id="Nk5zaE"><span>Yasiel Puig</span> delivered an RBI double in that four-run first inning, then added a leadoff triple in the seventh inning. Puig’s insurance run was stranded 90 feet away with the Dodgers up three runs at the time, but at the very least it did produce this lasting moment:</p>
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<p lang="fr" dir="ltr">Puig's crazy tongue <a href="https://t.co/AzIARtDILg">pic.twitter.com/AzIARtDILg</a></p>— Ryan Walton (@RyanWaltonSBN) <a href="https://twitter.com/RyanWaltonSBN/status/916535410922184705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2017</a>
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<p id="iZA9P7">Puig is the <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/tiny/DuNOi">fifth Dodger ever with a double and a triple in a postseason game</a>, joining <span>Hanley Ramirez</span>, <span>Andre Ethier</span>, Mike Marshall and Mariano Duncan.</p>
<p id="yxL2in">Seager added a triple in the eighth inning, <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/tiny/G63k8">giving the Dodgers two triples in a postseason game for the sixth time ever</a>.</p>
<h3 id="KZBIOK">Game 1 particulars</h3>
<p id="JnYkgl"><strong>Home runs</strong>: Justin Turner (1); <span>A.J. Pollock</span> (1), J.D. Martinez (1), <span>Ketel Marte</span> (1), Jeff Mathis (1)</p>
<p id="cXif8p"><strong>WP - Clayton Kershaw (1-0)</strong>: 6⅓ IP, 5 hits, 4 runs, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts</p>
<p id="vJ3sYt"><strong>LP - Taijuan Walker (0-1)</strong>: 1 IP, 4 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts</p>
https://www.truebluela.com/2017/10/6/16440096/nlds-game-1-justin-turner-yasiel-puig-dodgers-offense-diamondbacks-recapEric Stephen2017-10-06T21:42:31-07:002017-10-06T21:42:31-07:00NLDS Game 1 chat
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<img alt="Arizona Diamondbacks v Los Angeles Dodgers - Game One" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/uPnL5oPAzTVs4XrHXCjY3aih9HE=/0x0:2876x1917/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/57044045/858497608.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p id="IUxfbW">Keep the conversation going here...</p>
https://www.truebluela.com/2017/10/6/16440476/nlds-game-1-chatEric Stephen2017-10-06T16:43:54-07:002017-10-06T16:43:54-07:00Forsythe starts Game 1 at 2B
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<img alt="MLB: San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Dodgers" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xGUnnMoKh4vbNmW7YeZDGczx_Ds=/0x0:3059x2039/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/57041891/usa_today_10312767.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p id="F9Vrcw">LOS ANGELES — Facing right-hander <span>Taijuan Walker</span> in Game 1 of the NLDS, the <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> have their usual lineup against righties on Friday night, with one slight exception. <span>Logan Forsythe</span> starts at second base in the opener.</p>
<p id="Wce91o">Forsythe hit just .190/.315/.262 against right-handed pitching this season, and split time at second base with <span>Chase Utley</span>, who hit .242/.327/.407 against righties in 2017.</p>
<p id="a7eRT5">But the Dodgers have judicious in giving rest to the 38-year-old Utley rather than have a straight platoon at second base. In September, Utley started 15 games at the position and Forsythe started 13 times, including eight times against right-handed pitchers. Forsythe also started five times at third base in the final month, and once at shortstop.</p>
<p id="36XyZD">“Part of it is there is a tick better defense from Logan, and we have our ace on the mound,” manager <span>Dave Roberts</span> said. “It’s also a benefit for him to start a game, to get into the flow of the postseason, as opposed to coming off the bench and taking his first postseason at-bat off the bench.”</p>
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<h3 id="NizB5Q">Hot corner </h3>
<p id="oduWe2"><span>Jake Lamb</span> isn’t in the Game 1 lineup for the <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a>. He has never started against <span>Clayton Kershaw</span> in his career. <span>Adam Rosales</span> gets the call at third base on Friday, but Lambe will be someone to watch in this series.</p>
<p id="1NPzfv">Lamb is a career .159/.256/.301 hitter against left-handed pitchers, including .144/.269/.288 with five home runs in 156 plate appearances this season. But against Dodgers southpaws in 2017, the lefty-batting Lamb is 7-for-27 with three home runs, a double, and five walks, hitting .259/.375/.630.</p>
<p id="8kLwBR">Lamb was 4-for-5 in Arizona’s win on Wednesday in the NL wild card game, including a single against left-hander <span>Tyler Anderson</span>.</p>
<p id="iL1Mq9">“You’re walking off a game where you get four hits and you’re right in the middle of everything – versus lefties and righties, it just didn't matter,” Diamondbacks manager <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.azcentral.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Fmlb%2Fdiamondbacks%2F2017%2F10%2F05%2Fjake-lamb-vs-clayton-kershaw-tough-call-torey-lovullo%2F738352001%2F%3FhootPostID%3D5e1261b8a5269c83b32cc8e1551b78f4&referrer=sbnation.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.truebluela.com%2F2017%2F10%2F6%2F16433256%2Fdodgers-diamondbacks-lineups-logan-forsythe-nlds-game-1" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Torey Lovullo told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic on Thursday</a>. “(He’s) one of our main performers and offensive catalysts all year long, so I’ve got to figure some things out.”</p>
<h3 id="frVwzQ">D-backs roster</h3>
<p id="UHTTep">Arizona went with 14 position players and 11 pitchers on their NLDS roster. After carrying three catchers in the wild card game, the Diamondbacks have two catchers for this series, with <span>Chris Herrmann</span> inactive.</p>
<p id="SRD33c">The biggest surprise addition might be first baseman <span>Christian Walker</span>, a right-handed bat off the bench for Arizona. The 26-year-old hit .309/.382/.597 with 32 home runs in Triple-A Reno. Walker had just 15 plate appearances in the majors this year, going 3-for-12 with two home runs, a walk and two hit by pitches in September.</p>
<p id="RWHsd1">Walker was drafted by the Dodgers in the 49th round in 2009 out of high school, but he did not sign, choosing instead to play college baseball at South Carolina.</p>
https://www.truebluela.com/2017/10/6/16433256/dodgers-diamondbacks-lineups-logan-forsythe-nlds-game-1Eric Stephen2017-10-06T12:33:04-07:002017-10-06T12:33:04-07:00Dodgers need Clayton Kershaw to be the best
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<img alt="MLB: NLDS- Los Angeles Dodgers Workout" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/z2Ujn9-Ay2DVHdZY-eojQfQeLd0=/0x0:2480x1653/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/57034975/usa_today_10329576.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p id="M0qoCz">LOS ANGELES — The <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> open their 2017 postseason with their best-laid plan, sending <span>Clayton Kershaw</span> to the mound in Game 1 of the NLDS against the <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a> on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.</p>
<p id="Erk7Og">Kershaw is widely considered the best pitcher in baseball, and has been for some time. He has the best career ERA (2.36) among starting pitchers in the live ball era. But his postseason ERA is 4.55 in 18 career games, including 15 starts. Since the start of 2013, Kershaw has a 4.28 ERA in 12 playoff starts plus one NLDS-clinching save.</p>
<p id="640MBk">That’s not good enough.</p>
<p id="kD6Kvb">Thursday’s announcement that <span>Alex Wood</span> is <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/2017/10/5/16431920/alex-wood-game-4-start-nlds-dodgers-diamondbacks">“set in stone” to pitch a potential Game 4</a> meant a likely end to Kershaw’s streak of four straight years of pitching on three days rest in the NLDS. </p>
<p id="zLwJTD">“Logic says that any pitcher that's used to routine and going on regular rest is probably stronger and has a best chance of success,” manager <span>Dave Roberts</span> said on Thursday.</p>
<p id="rqcn73">Kershaw wasn’t thinking about Game 4 on Thursday.</p>
<p id="1NoxZ9">“I think that's the most important thing for me is to just focus on tomorrow,” Kershaw said. “Usually how that stuff happens is when Game 4 rolls around, things change. But it really sounds like that's not going to happen this year. But I'll worry about that when it happens.”</p>
<p id="h09pUm">In Kershaw’s 12 playoff starts over the last four years, his ERA in the first five innings is 2.59. </p>
<p id="B3rNMC">Afterward, it is 11.57. The peripheral numbers have been much better, but it doesn’t make the losses any less real.</p>
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<p id="lG3c7e">Kershaw in two starts against Arizona this season has allowed one total run in 15⅓ innings, with 19 strikeouts and three walks. Both were at Dodger Stadium, <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/tiny/sG42d">where he hasn’t lost to Arizona since Aug. 30, 2012</a>.</p>
<p id="0lNlsZ">This is the 20th meeting between the Dodgers and Diamondbacks this season, their most times facing a single opponent in one year since 1961, when they played the other seven National League teams 22 times each.</p>
<p id="JkNHlN">“There are no secrets, for sure. I think when it comes down to it, you just go out there and try to compete and just be better than them. You're not going to out think them,” Kershaw said. “You're not going to out this or that. They know what you do. I know what they do. At the end of the day, you have to go out there and compete.”</p>
<h3 id="7Edcvj">Game 1 info</h3>
<p id="BlelM4">Time: 7:31 p.m. PT</p>
<p id="Hj3ju6">TV: TBS (Brian Anderson, Dennis Eckersley, Joe Simpson, Lauren Shehadi) </p>
<p id="yPFn80">Online: <a href="http://www.tbs.com">TBScom and the Watch TBS app</a></p>
<p id="9rI2R4">Local radio: AM 570 (Charley Steiner, Rick Monday)</p>
<p id="tjdiJO">National radio: ESPN Radio (Dan Shulman, Aaron Boone)</p>
https://www.truebluela.com/2017/10/6/16413816/clayton-kershaw-game-1-nlds-preview-dodgers-diamondbacksEric Stephen2017-10-06T11:00:02-07:002017-10-06T11:00:02-07:00Reflective Ethier ‘locked in’ for another playoff run
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<img alt="MLB: Los Angeles Dodgers at Philadelphia Phillies" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/SPG45HPWIJXnNKhsJNCuH_p6h4Y=/0x0:3827x2551/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/57036965/usa_today_10296709.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p id="1l4I6h">LOS ANGELES — For a second straight season, <span>Andre Ethier</span> made <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/2017/10/6/16434890/dodgers-nlds-roster-2017-pedro-baez-kyle-farmer">the Dodgers playoff roster</a> after missing the first five months of the season with an injury.</p>
<p id="qmWBRZ">Last year a broken right tibia sidelined Ethier until September, and this season it was a bad back. Since his return from the disabled list in 2017, Ethier hit .235/.316/.441 with two home runs, a double, and four walks in the season’s final month.</p>
<p id="gajpWJ">His primary role in October will be as left-handed bat off the bench. He has a career .286/.394/.479 mark in 165 plate appearances as a pinch hitter, including .299/.400/.506 in 90 plate appearances since the start of 2014. Ethier had a pinch-hit home run in Game 1 of the 2016 NLCS at Wrigley Field.</p>
<p id="GyCr97">“It’s a tough role, one of the toughest in baseball,” manager <span>Dave Roberts</span> said. “To have done that obviously that helps him.”</p>
<p id="ChVDtE">In the final season of a five-year contract, Ethier has received several prolonged ovations from Dodgers fans over the last month, including at Petco Park in San Diego, where the team began September.</p>
<p id="LpxHoC">“It’s been a long two summers of going through these injuries and trying to fight to get back on the field. It’s been a long 12 years of playing for this organization and in front of these fans,” Ethier said. “To be for the most part forgotten because I wasn’t on the field, then to come back and them embracing me was pretty special to me.”</p>
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<p id="Ig5crq">Ethier is the dean of the Dodgers, having debuted in 2006. In eight of his 12 seasons, the Dodgers have made the playoffs. His 43 postseason games are the fifth-most in franchise history, and by the end of the NLDS could move into second place.</p>
<p id="8XuZhA">Former shortstop Bill Russell played 18 seasons for the Dodgers (1969-86), tied for the most in franchise history with Hall of Fame outfielder Zack Wheat. Russell tops the list with 49 postseason games, all starts.</p>
<p id="sQo0G6">“I was joking around this week with someone else,” Ethier said. “I’ve probably been in the most playoff series in baseball without winning a World Series.”</p>
<p id="yKtVSB">Ethier’s 1,455 regular season games played <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/leaders_most_gamesnows.shtml">ranks 21st among active players who have never played in a World Series</a>. His seven postseason series losses ranks second, trailing only former teammate <span>Russell Martin</span> — who debuted three days after Ethier in 2006 — with nine*.</p>
<p id="c8mJqa"><em>*It’s really eight series losses for Martin, plus the 2014 NL wild card game with Pittsburgh.</em></p>
<p id="M8C35q">“It’s nice being in there, but I think Bill Russell had a World Series or two in there to show for all of those playoff games,” Ethier said. “If I pass him, we know we have a pretty good chance to get there.”</p>
<p id="ePdhp0">Ethier has started 26 of his 43 playoff games, and figures to be more of a reserve this season, as he was in 2016. Last year, Ethier played in eight of the Dodgers’ 11 playoff games, but started none.</p>
<p id="e7zUqQ">In regular season play, Ethier <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/LAD/bat.shtml">ranks eighth all-time in franchise history in doubles (303)</a>, 12th in home runs (162), 13th in RBI (687), 14th in games played and 17th in hits (1,367).</p>
<p id="iO93mB">“I try to stay in the moment and not try to focus on that stuff. I don’t look at the stats until the end of the season, and I don’t look at an accumulation of my numbers,” he said. “I just try to prepare, and stay in the moment. I’ll gladly reflect on all this stuff at the end, and enjoy it. Right now, I try to take a more workman’s attitude to what I do, and stay locked in.”</p>
https://www.truebluela.com/2017/10/6/16417606/andre-ethier-dodgers-roster-playoff-leaderboardEric Stephen2017-10-06T06:00:02-07:002017-10-06T06:00:02-07:00Don Newcombe & Maury Wills to throw ceremonial first pitches
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<img alt="Los Angeles Dodgers Introduce Dave Roberts" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZkHV9nKG3aBgDsPriX7yjVXEy2M=/0x0:3000x2000/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/57028231/499465826.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p id="PB8HZE">LOS ANGELES — A pair of former National League Most Valuable Players will throw out ceremonial first pitches before the first two games of the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium.</p>
<p id="GflzlU">Before Game 1 on Friday night, Don Newcombe will do the honors. Winner of the first Cy Young Award in 1956, Newcombe also captured NL MVP honors that season. Now 91 years young, Newcombe is now a special advisor with the team and is a fixture around the ballpark throughout the season.</p>
<p id="Jj1qC1">On Saturday, Maury Wills will throw the ceremonial first pitch before Game 2. Wills, who won the NL MVP in 1962, holds <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> franchise records for stolen bases in a season (104, in 1962) and career (490). Wills turned 84 on Monday.</p>
<h3 id="YTh09h">Dodger Stadium info</h3>
<p id="yRKFX0">Before both Friday and Saturday’s games, parking lot and stadium gates open roughly three hours before game time. Before Game 1, gates will open at 4:30 p.m. PT, and before Game 2 the gates will open at 3:10 p.m.</p>
<p id="81DbRb">Parking at Dodger Stadium during the NLDS is $15 if purchased in advance, and $25 if purchased at the gate.</p>
<h3 id="Nr3o9a">National anthem</h3>
<p id="EQ86Jb">Prior to Game 1, Isabela Moner will sing the national anthem. Pregame festivities begin at 7:01 p.m. with a scheduled first pitch time of 7:31 p.m.</p>
<p id="KTRDtO">Elliott Yamin will sing the anthem before Game 2 on Saturday, with pregame things starting at 5:48 p.m., 20 minutes before the scheduled first pitch.</p>
https://www.truebluela.com/2017/10/6/16407820/2017-nlds-dodger-stadium-parking-times-first-pitch-don-newcombe-maury-willsEric Stephen