True Blue LA - May 13: Nationals 6, Dodgers 2Where The Dodger Dogs Are Always Grilledhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/49563/truebluela_fav.png2013-05-13T22:25:31-07:00http://www.truebluela.com/rss/stream/40922732013-05-13T22:25:31-07:002013-05-13T22:25:31-07:00Nationals 6, Dodgers 2
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<figcaption>USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The loss snapped a five-game home winning streak the Dodgers had over the Nationals.</p> <p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> had a brief respite from losing there for a bit, but Monday night provided a harsh reminder that the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.fishstripes.com/">Marlins</a> are no longer in town. The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.federalbaseball.com/">Nationals</a> roughed up <span>Josh Beckett</span> en route to an easy 6-1 win over the Dodgers in the opener of a three-game series at Dodger Stadium.</p>
<p>Beckett had his shortest outing of the season, throwing 68 pitches in just three innings. It was the latest in a series of stinkers for Beckett, who has allowed 21 runs in 24 innings since Apr. 14, what could be described as his one truly good start of the year.</p>
<p>Beckett allowed four runs on three hits and two walks in his three innings, continuing a disturbing trend for the Dodgers. In 2012, the Dodgers had five what I would call 'blow up' starts from their starting pitchers, a start of less than five innings and with more runs allowed than innings pitched. The Dodgers <a target="_blank" href="http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/YKTK6">already have six such starts this season</a>, including two by Beckett, and five in their last 13 games.</p>
<p>After the game, manager Don Mattingly told reporters that Beckett has been dealing with a groin issue that was bothering him, and that contributed to removing Beckett after three innings on Monday.</p>
<p>The Dodgers plated single runs in the fifth and the eighth innings off <span>Jordan Zimmermann</span>, which was an accomplishment in itself since he had allowed one run in 24 innings over his previous three starts combined. Zimmermann became the first seven-game winner in the majors.</p>
<h3>Notes</h3>
<ul>
<li> <span>Matt Kemp</span> singled in the eighth inning to extend his hitting streak to 12 games, the longest Dodgers hitting streak without a home run <a target="_blank" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?t=b&id=podsesc01&year=2010#983-994-sum">since Scott Podsednik hit in 12 straight games in 2010</a>.<br>
</li>
<li> <span>Adrian Gonzalez</span> went 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.</li>
<li> <span>Carl Crawford</span> went 2-for-4 and has at least one hit in each of his last 10 starts.</li>
<li> <span>A.J. Ellis</span> extended his streak of seasons with a triple to three.</li>
<li> <span>Scott Elbert</span> pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts in his second minor league rehab game with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga on Monday, mirroring his appearance on Friday night.<br>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Up next</h3>
<p>The tables turn on Tuesday night, as the Dodgers get to send a currently good pitcher to the mound in <span>Clayton Kershaw</span>, while the Nationals send out someone who used to be good in <span>Dan Haren</span>.</p>
<h3>Monday's particulars</h3>
<p><b>Home runs</b>: none</p>
<p><b>WP - Jordan Zimmermann (7-1)</b>: 7... IP, 9 hits, 2 runs, 5 strikeouts</p>
<p><b>LP - Josh Beckett (0-5)</b>: 3 IP, 3 hits, 4 runs (2 earned), 2 walks, 5 strikeouts</p>
https://www.truebluela.com/2013/5/13/4329142/josh-beckett-dodgers-nationalsEric Stephen2013-05-13T15:54:05-07:002013-05-13T15:54:05-07:00Gonzalez back in lineup vs. Nats
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<img alt=""My neck feels kind of like if you do this."" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/AnprHm8Nd94jbHBZpqKBkgKzwO4=/0x190:4000x2857/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/13106581/168532819.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>"My neck feels kind of like if you do this." | Harry How</figcaption>
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<p>The first baseman will try to help the Dodgers to their sixth consecutive home win over the Nationals.</p> <p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> look for their third straight victory on Monday night as they open a series against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.federalbaseball.com/">Nationals</a> at Dodger Stadium, and will do so with <span>Adrian Gonzalez</span> back in the lineup at first base.</p>
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<h2>Starting Lineups</h2>
<table class="sbnu-legacy-content-table" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2"><tbody>
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<td colspan="2" align="center" bgcolor="#ba122b" width="125"><font color="#ffffff"><b>Nationals</b></font></td>
<td colspan="2" align="center" bgcolor="#157dec" width="125"><font color="#ffffff"><b>Dodgers</b></font></td>
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<td>CF</td>
<td>Span (L)</td>
<td>LF</td>
<td>Crawford (L)<br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>LF</td>
<td>Lombardozzi (S)</td>
<td>SS</td>
<td>Gordon (L)</td>
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<td>RF</td>
<td>Harper (L)</td>
<td>1B</td>
<td>Gonzalez (L)<br>
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<td>3B</td>
<td>Zimmerman</td>
<td>CF</td>
<td>Kemp</td>
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<td>1B</td>
<td>LaRoche (L)</td>
<td>RF</td>
<td>Ethier (L)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>SS</td>
<td>Desmond</td>
<td>C</td>
<td>Ellis<br>
</td>
</tr>
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<td>2B</td>
<td>Espinosa (S)</td>
<td>2B</td>
<td>Schumaker (L)</td>
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<td>C</td>
<td>Suzuki</td>
<td>3B</td>
<td>Punto (S)<br>
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<td>P</td>
<td>Zimmermann</td>
<td>P</td>
<td>Beckett<br>
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</tbody></table>
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<p>Gonzalez sat out Sunday, still dealing with a muscular strain in his neck that caused him to leave Saturday night's game after seven innings. Gonzalez, who injured his neck on May 1, has missed three games with the injury, left two others early, and pinch hit in another game that he did not start.</p>
<p>But since the injury Gonzalez is hitting .421 (8-for-19) with a double, a home run, and six runs batted in, and he has a nine-game hitting streak.</p>
<p>"That's the one thing. It doesn't really bother me when I hit," Gonzalez said on Saturday. "Just throwing, running for fly balls, running with my head up, that hurts, especially going back. But even moving forward with my head up it hurts. With fly balls it's hard for me to go hard or even go comfortably."</p>
<p><span>Scott Van Slyke</span> filled in nicely at first base for Gonzalez on Sunday with a home run and an RBI single.</p>
<p>The Dodgers have beaten the Nationals five straight times at Dodger Stadium.</p>
<h3>Game info</h3>
<p>Time: 7:10 p.m.</p>
<p>TV: Prime Ticket</p>
<p><a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2013_05_13_wasmlb_lanmlb_1&mode=gameday" target="_blank">MLB Gameday</a></p>
https://www.truebluela.com/2013/5/13/4328168/adrian-gonzalez-dodgers-nationalsEric Stephen2013-05-13T11:00:10-07:002013-05-13T11:00:10-07:00Contenders from the east: the Nats come to town
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<figcaption>Bearded Bryce and the Nats hit town on Monday. | Greg Fiume</figcaption>
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<p>The Washington Nationals come to Los Angeles Monday and the team that many prognosticators placed first in the NL East find themselves in second place with a 20-17 record, but trailing the Atlanta Braves by only one game in their division. </p> <p>As recently as the end of April, the Nats were 4 1/2 games off the pace, and briefly found themselves in third place, five games out, earlier in that month.</p>
<p>Washington was riding a five-game winning streak before dropping two in a row at home to the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/">Chicago Cubs</a> to complete their latest homestand, but this club represents a solid playoff contender and one would think them to be a truer challenge for the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> than the recently departed <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.fishstripes.com/">Miami Marlins</a>.</p>
<p>The Nats are doing it with pitching for the most part, sporting the third-best team ERA in the National League, while the offense, despite <span>Bryce Harper's</span> Herculean heroics, has sputtered along with the second-worst OBP and third-worst OPS (11th in Slugging %) in the loop. Contrast that offense to the Dodgers who lead the senior circuit in OBP but combine that with the second-worst slugging % to put them in 10th in OPS.</p>
<p>Old Friends: <span>Jayson Werth, </span><span class="sbn-auto-link">manager Davey Johnson.</span><span><br></span></p>
<p>Disabled List: <span>Christian Garcia</span> and Werth both inhabit the 15-day DL.</p>
<p>Catcher: <span>Kurt Suzuki</span> starts about 2/3 of the time and <span>Wilson Ramos</span> is the backup backstop. They combine to be a slightly better than league-average batter this season so far.</p>
<p>First Base: A notorious slow-starter with a career triple-slash line for April of .214/.306/.389, <span>Adam LaRoche</span> continues a familiar pattern with an even worse .209/.296/.318 start to 2013.</p>
<p>Second Base: <span>Danny Espinosa</span> gets the starts here and he beats out LaRoche for the most offensive futility from a Nats starter: .196/.230/.364.</p>
<p>Third Base: The mighty <span>Ryan Zimmerman</span> mans the hot corner, but has been limited to 22 starts so far in 2013 due to a DL trip with a hamstring injury. His TSL looks a lot like some of the struggling Dodgers middle-of-the-order bats, but Zimmerman is quite likely just a dormant slugger about to erupt at any morment.</p>
<p>Shortstop: 27-year old <span>Ian Desmond</span> is doing it all at the plate except walking -.300/.310/.550 - while providing roughly average play at the key defensive position.</p>
<p>Left Field: You may have heard of Bryce Harper. One year after <span>Mike Trout</span> had an age-20 season for the ages, Harper is trying to best him. This is a superstar TSL for sure: .302/.383/.629. I think the kid can hit a little.</p>
<p>Center Field: Washington traded for <span>Denard Span</span> in the offseason to provide solid defense and a league-average bat. He's done about that and stolen five bases in six attempts this season as well, bring his career totals to 95 steals at a 77% success rate, 82% success since 2010.</p>
<p>Right Field: Werth finally hit the DL on Saturday after last having played back on May 2. Since then he's been nursing - you guessed it - a strained hamstring. <span>Tyler Moore</span> or <span>Roger Bernadina</span> are the most likely starters here until Werth returns. This is the third season of the seven-year, $126M free agent contract Werth signed with the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.federalbaseball.com/">Nationals</a> and so far he has hit .256/.345/.406/.751 for a 106 OPS+. Ouch.</p>
<p>Bench: <span>Steve Lombardozzi</span>, Moore and Bernadina play the most, <span>Eury Perez</span> and <span>Chad Tracy</span> (the ex-Diamondback, not the son of old friend Jim Tracy) fill out the roster. There's not of offense coming from this group as Nats subs have combined for a paltry .152/.188/.197 TSL off the bench. The Dodgers bench production of .188/.255/.282/ looks robust in comparison.</p>
<p>Starting Pitching: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.truebluela.com/2013/5/13/4325602/dodgers-vs-nationals-tv-schedule-starting-pitchers">Eric discusses the pitching matchups here</a>. Spoiler: <span>Stephen Strasburg</span> is not scheduled to appear.</p>
<p>Bullpen: <span>Rafael Soriano</span> is the closer and he's racked up 12 saves while keeping runners off base with an 0.875 WHIP. <span>Drew Storen</span>, <span>Tyler Clippard</span>, <span>Ryan Mattheus</span>, <span>Craig Stammen</span>, and Henry Rodriguez are the live-armed right-handed relievers, while <span>Zach Duke</span> is the sole southpaw. However, Duke is not a LOOGY, having accrued 15 innings in his nine appearances, and at this point seems to be the mop-up man. This should please <span>Andre Ethier</span> in the late innings.</p>
<p>The weather is warming up in LA and one of these offense's sluggers should start warming up too. Dodger fans are hoping it is the home team and not the visitors from the east.</p>
https://www.truebluela.com/2013/5/13/4325790/contenders-from-the-east-the-nats-come-to-townDavid Young2013-05-13T09:30:03-07:002013-05-13T09:30:03-07:00Dodgers-Nationals pitching matchups
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<figcaption>USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The Dodgers finish off their homestand with a three-game series against the Nationals beginning Monday night at Dodger Stadium.</p> <p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> put their two-game winning streak on the line beginning on Monday as they welcome the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.federalbaseball.com/">Nationals</a> to Chavez Ravine, completing their nine-game homestand. Here is a look at the television schedule and starting pitching matchups for all three games at Dodger Stadium.</p>
<h3>Monday, 7:10 p.m. (Prime Ticket)</h3>
<p><span>Josh Beckett</span> gets the start in the opener on Monday night, looking for consecutive quality starts for the first time all season. Beckett has a 5.13 ERA in seven starts, but on the plus side has yet to allow a home run in two May starts. <span>Jordan Zimmermann</span> has been magnificent this season at 6-1 with a 1.59 ERA, and starts Monday for Washington. Zimmermann has allowed nine runs in seven starts this season, including just one run in 24 innings over his last three starts.</p>
<h3>Tuesday, 7:10 p.m. (KCAL)</h3>
<p><span>Clayton Kershaw</span> has a 2.27 ERA in his last six starts but only one win to show for it during that span. Kershaw has allowed one earned run in each of his last two starts. <span>Dan Haren</span> hasn't struck out more than five in any one start this season, but is 3-0 with a 3.15 ERA in his last three starts.</p>
<h3>Wednesday, 7:10 p.m. (Prime Ticket)</h3>
<p>We will find out Monday whether or not <span>Zack Greinke</span> starts the series finale. If so, his return to the mound will be 34 days after breaking his collarbone. If not, <span>Matt Magill</span> makes his fourth major league start. Left-handed pitcher <span>Ross Detwiler</span> has a 2.53 ERA but is 2-3 on the season.</p>
https://www.truebluela.com/2013/5/13/4325602/dodgers-vs-nationals-tv-schedule-starting-pitchersEric Stephen