True Blue LA - June 16: Phillies 2, Dodgers 0Where The Dodger Dogs Are Always Grilledhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/49563/truebluela_fav.png2021-06-17T09:25:00-07:00http://www.truebluela.com/rss/stream/223021052021-06-17T09:25:00-07:002021-06-17T09:25:00-07:00Clayton Kershaw’s career, 100 walks at a time
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<img alt="Philadelphia Phillies v Los Angeles Dodgers" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/RmIVU5FHkoCst5Ec47VBJ3R0UFQ=/0x0:3120x2080/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69467352/1323963594.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Andrew McCutchen on Wednesday night was Kershaw’s 600th career walk</p> <p id="yO9Wp9">Clayton Kershaw walked <a href="https://www.thegoodphight.com/">Phillies</a> left fielder Andrew McCutchen in the fifth inning <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/2021/6/16/22537903/dodgers-offense-shutout-streak-over-zack-wheeler-clayton-kershaw-phillies-recap">on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium</a>, becoming <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/BB_p_active.shtml">the 12th active pitcher to walk 600 hitters</a>.</p>
<p id="eSITtz">While that sounds like a lot — he’s the 15th Dodger to walk that many — what’s more interesting is the progression throughout his career. Kershaw this season has 15 walks in 15 starts, and his <a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=all&qual=y&type=1&season=2021&month=33&season1=2021&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&startdate=2021-01-01&enddate=2021-12-31&sort=8,a">4.2-percent walk rate is the seventh-best in baseball</a>.</p>
<p id="bdifY0">Kershaw’s walk rate has been 4.7 percent or lower in seven of his last eight seasons. It’s a far cry from early Kershaw, whose 91 walks in 2009, his first qualified season as a starter, were the third-most in the National League.</p>
<p id="KdBoss">With that in mind, here’s a look at Kershaw’s career in 100-walk chunks.</p>
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<p id="j3hmtk">The 4.8-percent walk rate from walk 500 to 600 is the second-lowest of any 100-walk section, trailing only the stretch from May 28, 2014 to July 28, 2017, which included most of an MVP season, a 300-strikeout season and three other top-five Cy Young finishes. and produced a paltry 1.87 ERA.</p>
<p id="o5lVJO">Kershaw’s 548 strikeouts in between career walks 500 and 600 are his second-most of any 100-walk chunk, though his strikeout rate in the last 100-walk chunk is right in line with his rates in between walks 100 and 400.</p>
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https://www.truebluela.com/2021/6/17/22529958/clayton-kershaw-600-walks-career-breakdown-dodgersEric Stephen2021-06-16T22:26:14-07:002021-06-16T22:26:14-07:00Dodgers shut out for the first time in 140 games
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<figcaption>Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>LA held scoreless for the first time since September 14, 2019</p> <p id="2lt8Js">Zack Wheeler proved too much for the <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> to handle, dropping the series finale to the <a href="https://www.thegoodphight.com/">Phillies</a>, 2-0 on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. The loss snapped <a href="https://stathead.com/tiny/OAlIZ">a franchise-record streak of 139 games without the Dodgers being shutout</a>. The last time they didn’t score a run was September 14, 2019.</p>
<p id="sh7N4y">The Dodgers got two runners on all three odd innings, and worked four walks on the night against Wheeler, who entered the game with only six total walks in his last seven starts.</p>
<p id="tCCQ6z">But Wheeler kept up his recent run prevention prowess, holding the Dodgers to 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position while allowing no runs to score in his six innings. Wheeler in his last eight starts has a 1.25 ERA with 77 strikeouts.</p>
<p id="a2xNRP">Rhys Hoskins opened the scoring, snapping an 0-for-33 skid by launching a full-count slider from Clayton Kershaw into the left field pavilion in the first inning. A similarly long at-bat in the third inning gave the Phillies a second run, when JT Realmuto hit the eighth pitch into the gap in right center for a double to plate Odubel Herrera.</p>
<p id="F4dFd4">“The Realmuto double was the tough one there. You got to two outs in that inning, really wanted to be able to get out of that,” Kershaw said. “I just left that fastball middle.”</p>
<p id="kwGP85">That was all that Kershaw allowed, throwing a season-high 110 pitches while striking out nine in six innings for a third straight start.</p>
<p id="w1uaZ0">But last time out, on Friday against Texas, the Dodgers scored 12 runs, while on Wednesday they were blanked while Kershaw was in the game. What a difference five days makes.</p>
<h3 id="vXASKx">Notes</h3>
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<li id="b9J4Sr">The Dodgers fell to 20-3 (.870) this season when holding an opponent to two runs or less.</li>
<li id="egGSCy">Steven Souza Jr., just called up on Wednesday, started in right field and got one hit.</li>
<li id="6CAgXV">Philadelphia was 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position.</li>
<li id="hkuTdl">Lefty José Alvarado, acquired by the Phillies from the Rays in the three-team trade in December that sent Garrett Cleavinger to the Dodgers, struck out four and retired all six batters he faced in the seventh and eighth innings.</li>
<li id="Sp4UAB">Corey Seager, Cody Bellinger, and Max Muncy will accompany the Dodgers on the road trip. Seager will likely take batting practice on the field at some point over the weekend, and could start a minor league rehab assignment in the middle of next week, Dave Roberts said.</li>
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<h3 id="4hqnpb">Wednesday particulars</h3>
<p id="4TziI0"><strong>Home run</strong>: Rhys Hoskins (13)</p>
<p id="sgrHgf"><strong>WP — Zack Wheeler (5-3)</strong>: 6 IP, 5 hits, 4 walks, 6 strikeouts</p>
<p id="6asPoj"><strong>LP — Clayton Kershaw (8-6)</strong>: 6 IP, 8 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts</p>
<p id="b0jQvM"><strong>Sv — Hector Neris (10)</strong>: 1 IP, 2 HBP</p>
<h3 id="pThsgl">Up next</h3>
<p id="lr2vS6">The Dodgers are off on Thursday and will head to Phoenix for a weekend series against a <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a> team that has lost an astonishing 36 times in its last 41 games. Trevor Bauer starts the series opener on Friday night (6:40 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA).</p>
https://www.truebluela.com/2021/6/16/22537903/dodgers-offense-shutout-streak-over-zack-wheeler-clayton-kershaw-phillies-recapEric Stephen2021-06-16T18:49:00-07:002021-06-16T18:49:00-07:00Dodgers vs. Phillies Game III chat
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<figcaption>Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Kershaw vs. Wheeler</p> <p id="jj7oNV">The <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> try for a sweep of the <a href="https://www.thegoodphight.com/">Phillies</a> on Wednesday night in the final game of the homestand at Dodger Stadium.</p>
<p id="Y4dj8r">Scheduled off day for Justin Turner, with Dave Roberts utilizing the team off day Thursday to piggyback rest. Zach McKinstry starts at third base. The new guy, Steven Souza Jr., starts in right field in his first game with the Dodgers. Roberts said Souza would primarily play corner outfield.</p>
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<h3 id="cwFOzv">Game info</h3>
<p id="xI5Umd">Teams: Dodgers (41-26) at Phillies (32-33)</p>
<p id="mhmhlG">Location: Dodger Stadium</p>
<p id="zSYr2H">Time: 7:10 p.m.</p>
<p id="OuMrJW">TV: SportsNet LA, MLB Network (out of market)</p>
https://www.truebluela.com/2021/6/16/22537259/dodgers-phillies-game-threadEric Stephen2021-06-16T11:29:50-07:002021-06-16T11:29:50-07:00Steven Souza Jr. called up, Nate Jones DFA’d
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<p>LA active roster now has 13 pitchers, 13 position players</p> <p id="Ynp9g5">The <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> swapped a pair of veterans on the roster on Wednesday, calling up outfielder Steven Souza Jr. from Triple-A Oklahoma City, and designating pitcher Nate Jones for assignment.</p>
<p id="iurWFg">Souza hit .279/.444/.603, a 156 wRC+ with four doubles and six home runs in 22 games in Triple-A. Three of those homers came in one game, on May 30, when <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/2021/5/31/22460770/luke-raley-steven-souza-three-home-runs-dodgers-minors">both Souza and Luke Raley hit three long balls in the same contest</a>. Now, both are in Los Angeles.</p>
<p id="H5wRSP">Souza will wear uniform number 23 with the Dodgers.</p>
<p id="7jDxfc">On Tuesday night, Souza started in right field for Oklahoma City, but was pulled after three innings, coinciding with the timing of <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/2021/6/15/22530891/cody-bellinger-injured-list-left-hamstring-dodgers">when the Dodgers placed Cody Bellinger on the injured list</a>.</p>
<p id="g7QNRH">Souza has played exclusively outfield in his six major league seasons. He mixed in two games at first base as well this year in Triple-A, his first time at the position since 2011 in High-A.</p>
<p id="3JKFZe">The Dodgers <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/2021/3/31/22361111/dodgers-news-steven-souza-minor-league-contract">signed the 32-year-old on April 12</a> after he was released by the <a href="https://www.crawfishboxes.com">Astros</a>, for whom he played during spring training. His best year came in 2017 with the Rays, when he hit .239/.351/.459, a 121 wRC+ with 30 home runs.</p>
<p id="tXqDUZ">Injuries took their toll since then, limiting Souza to just 89 games between the majors and minors from 2018-2020. He missed time with a pectoral injury in 2018 and suffered a hamstring strain in 2020. But the most damaging with a gruesome left knee injury at the end of spring training in 2019 that knocked him out for the season. He had knee surgery to repair an ACL tear, LCL tear, partial PCL tear and posterior lateral capsule tear.</p>
<p id="27Uxs0">Just this morning, Souza weighed in on <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/2021/6/15/22535303/major-league-baseball-foreign-substance-ban-suspensions-rules-memo">MLB enforcing the ban on foreign substances</a>, presumably referring to Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow, who suffered a partial UCL tear that he <a href="https://twitter.com/BRWalkoff/status/1404928878456426498">blamed Tuesday on no longer using sunscreen and rosin to get a better grip on the baseball</a>.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">How does this sentence look? I got hurt because I was cheating, they can’t tell me not to cheat in the middle of the year, because then I might get hurt from cheating.</p>— Steven Souza (@SouzaJr) <a href="https://twitter.com/SouzaJr/status/1405216169359937540?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 16, 2021</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ok I hear some of you guys on sunscreen and rosin, and maybe the word Cheating is probably too far. That’s on me, but where is any responsibility gonna be taken?</p>— Steven Souza (@SouzaJr) <a href="https://twitter.com/SouzaJr/status/1405233438173679618?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 16, 2021</a>
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<p id="Uapmju">Jones, who was <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/2021/5/14/22436821/los-angeles-dodgers-nate-jones-mlb-news">signed by the Dodgers to a minor league deal on May 14</a>, and <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/2021/5/21/22448418/los-angeles-dodgers-nate-jones-mlb-news">called up to the majors a week later</a>, had a good start with the club, not allowing a walk in his first seven appearances with the club, and keeping his foes scoreless in five of his first six outings.</p>
<p id="9oE3F0">But last week was brutal for Jones, who allowed six runs while recording only five outs in his two games against the Pirates and Rangers, allowing three home runs. </p>
<p id="NJTyME">In eight games with the Dodgers, the 35-year-old right-hander had an 8.31 ERA and 8.24 FIP in 8⅓ innings. Combined with his numbers from the Braves earlier this season, Jones in 2021 has a 5.68 ERA and 8.53 FIP in 20 games and 19 innings, with seven home runs allowed.</p>
<p id="ZxHpX6">The move brings the Dodgers back in balance, with 13 pitchers and 13 position players on the active roster.</p>
https://www.truebluela.com/2021/6/16/22537113/steven-souza-jr-dodgers-roster-nate-jones-dfaEric Stephen