True Blue LA - October 3: Dodgers 2, Padres 1Where The Dodger Dogs Are Always Grilledhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/49563/truebluela_fav.png2015-10-03T22:20:15-07:00http://www.truebluela.com/rss/stream/92115382015-10-03T22:20:15-07:002015-10-03T22:20:15-07:00Notes: Jansen, Puig, Greinke, home field
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<figcaption>Victor Decolongon/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>LOS ANGELES -- <span>Zack Greinke</span> already has one Cy Young Award to his credit, capturing the 2009 American League honor with the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.royalsreview.com/">Royals</a>. Six years later, he leads the majors in ERA and WHIP, finishing 19-3 in his third year with the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a>.</p>
<p>Greinke compared the two seasons.</p>
<p>"Last time I was more dominating, in 2009. This year, it was the whole team. There were hardly any errors behind me all season," Greinke said. "For the most part, we've made the plays without making mistakes."</p>
<p>Greinke finished with a 1.66 ERA, allowing only 41 earned runs in his 32 starts, but also allowed just two unearned runs all year, thanks to a good defense behind him. If there were no unearned runs and only runs allowed, Greinke's RA would be 1.74 (Jake Arrieta's would be 2.04, in case you were wondering).</p>
<p>Greinke struck out 200 batters on the nose this season, 23.7 percent of his batters faced. He struck out 242 with the Royals in 2009, a 26.4-percent rate.</p>
<p>"This year I haven't really paid much attention to strikeouts at all. In years past, it would have been a bigger deal," Greinke said. "I'm just trying to get outs. That's all I was paying attention to."</p>
<p>"[ERA titles and strikeouts] aren't the things that Zack worries about," manager Don Mattingly said. "For him it's about making pitches and executing his game plan. Those are the kinds of things that are important to him."</p>
<h4>What a relief</h4>
<p><span>Kenley Jansen</span> recorded the save with a scoreless ninth inning, and when he struck out <span>Yangervis Solarte</span> to open the frame it was Jansen's 80th strikeout of the year, against only eight walks.</p>
<p>Jansen is the <a target="_blank" href="http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/y2dAB">first Dodgers pitcher with five seasons of at least 80 strikeouts in relief</a>.</p>
<h4>Puig returns</h4>
<p>It's hard to judge anything based on one game, but <span>Yasiel Puig</span> if anything in his first game back never really got up to full speed, which is probably to be expected after missing 34 games with a left hamstring strain, something that wasn't bothering him on Saturday.</p>
<p>"He's saying no. The only thing we can do is trust the player when he says he's 100 percent," Mattingly said. "We didn't really see him at full speed tonight."</p>
<p>Puig was 1-for-3, and had one of the Dodgers' five hits on the night. He won't start on Sunday, but will probably enter at some point during the game. Again, it's hard to judge anything off of just one game, but Puig would have to improve quite a bit over the next six days to return to any sort of regular role for the NLDS.</p>
<p>"He looked like a guy who hasn't played that much," Mattingly said. "He got a hit, and we didn't get many. Today was about facing live pitching."</p>
<h4>Home field</h4>
<p>The Dodgers now have home field advantage in the NLDS, meaning they won't have to travel until next Sunday, Oct. 11.</p>
<p>"As much as anything, to know where our travel is going to be, with a lot of things going on that we don't know," Mattingly said. "It just solidifies some of the variables and simplifies things."</p>
<p>Greinke, who finished his season 10-1 with a 1.46 ERA at Dodger Stadium, weighed in as well.</p>
<p>"It's not the deciding factor. I don't know if it's the NFL or NBA where it's a huge, huge deal, but it helps," he said. "Pitching at home is a little bit more comfortable. But I felt good pitching in New York also. It's a pretty nice park to be in, and a pretty comfortable place to pitch in."</p>
<h4>Up next</h4>
<p><span>Clayton Kershaw</span> takes the mound in Sunday's regular season finale, needing six strikeouts to become the first major league pitcher with 300 strikeouts in a season since 2002. <span>Frank Garces</span> will start for the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.gaslampball.com/">Padres</a>.</p>
<p>A player will likely manage Sunday's game, though Mattingly didn't say who it would be.</p>
<p>"It will depend on who plays," Mattingly said.</p>
<p>Greinke had no interest in managing, and when asked who his candidate to manage Sunday, he only said, "Donnie."</p>
https://www.truebluela.com/2015/10/3/9448257/yasiel-puig-zack-greinke-kenley-jansen-dodgers-notesEric Stephen2015-10-03T20:20:09-07:002015-10-03T20:20:09-07:00Greinke ends historic regular season on high note
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<p>LOS ANGELES -- Saturday night saw an old fashioned pitchers' duel at Dodger Stadium, with <span>Zack Greinke</span> and the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> narrowly edging <span>Robbie Erlin</span> and the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.gaslampball.com/">Padres</a> 2-1 in the middle game of the final 2015 regular season weekend series at Dodger Stadium.</p>
<p>The win clinched home field advantage for the Dodgers over the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.amazinavenue.com/">Mets</a> in the National League Division Series, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.truebluela.com/2015/10/3/9447693/2015-nlds-schedule-mets-dodgers">which will begin on Friday, Oct. 9 at Dodger Stadium</a>.</p>
<p>Greinke matched his season high with eight innings, allowing only a solo home run to catcher <span>Austin Hedges</span>. Greinke struck out eight to give him an even 200 strikeouts on the season, joining <span>Clayton Kershaw</span> as the second Dodgers teammates each with consecutive 200-strikeout seasons.</p>
<p>Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale turned the trick for four straight seasons, from 1962-65.</p>
<p>Erlin was stingy in his own right, allowing a solo home run to <span>Justin Turner</span> in the first inning but not much else over his seven innings, allowing only five hits with no walks and four strikeouts.</p>
<p>The difference came in the fourth inning, when the Dodgers were able to string together a couple of singles to open the fourth inning, by <span>Howie Kendrick</span> and Turner, to put runners at the corners. <span>Adrian Gonzalez</span> followed with a double play, one of three hit into by the Dodgers on Saturday, but this one scored a run.</p>
<p>Greinke made it hold up, allowing one or zero run for the 21st time in 32 starts this season.</p>
<p>He lasted six innings in all 32 of his starts in 2015, and had 30 quality starts, the first Dodgers pitcher to do so in 46 years, and the first in the majors since Felx Hernandez in 2010.</p>
<p>Greinke's regular season was truly remarkable, finishing with 200 strikeouts and just 40 walks in his 222⅔ innings, leading the majors with a 1.66 ERA that is the lowest in the majors since <span>Greg Maddux</span> put up a 1.63 mark in 1995.</p>
<p>Greinke ends his season with the second-lowest ERA in Dodgers history (but the best ERA+, roughly 226), <a target="_blank" href="http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/ey9wy">trailing only Rube Marquard's 1.58 ERA in 1916</a>, and the <a target="_blank" href="http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/Y53gs">lowest WHIP (0.844) in the 132-year history of the franchise</a>.</p>
<h4>Saturday particulars</h4>
<p><b>Home runs</b>: Justin Turner (16); Austin Hedges (3)</p>
<p><b>WP - Zack Greinke (19-3)</b>: 8 IP, 4 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts</p>
<p><b>LP - Robbie Erlin (1-2)</b>: 7 IP, 5 hits, 2 runs, 4 strikeouts</p>
<p><b>Sv - <span>Kenley Jansen</span> (36)</b>: 1 IP, 1 hit, 1 strikeout</p>
https://www.truebluela.com/2015/10/3/9447875/zack-greinke-great-dodgers-padres-recapEric Stephen2015-10-03T20:20:06-07:002015-10-03T20:20:06-07:00Dodgers get home field advantage over Mets in NLDS
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<figcaption>Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Los Angeles and New York are meeting in the postseason for the first time since 2006.</p> <p>LOS ANGELES -- The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> beat the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.gaslampball.com/">Padres</a> on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium for their third straight win, and coupled with the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.amazinavenue.com/">Mets</a> getting swept in a doubleheader by the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.federalbaseball.com/">Nationals</a> at home in New York, Los Angeles has secured home field advantage over New York in the National League Division Series.</p>
<p>The NLDS will begin at Dodger Stadium on Friday, Oct. 9, with game times to be announced at a later date.</p>
<p>The Dodgers (91-70) now lead the Mets (89-72) by two games with one to play, ensuring a better record than New York, which was needed because the Mets held the tiebreaker over the Dodgers by virtue of winning four of their seven meetings this season.</p>
<p>The Dodgers enter Sunday with a 54-26 record at Dodger Stadium, needing a win on Sunday to set a Los Angeles franchise mark for best home record. A win would also tie the Dodgers with St. Louis for the best home record in the majors in 2015.</p>
<p>The Dodgers tied for the best road record in the majors in 2013 (45-36) and had the best outright road record in 2014 (49-32), but this year were 37-44 away from home.</p>
<p>The Mets are 48-32 at Citi Field this season, and 41-40 away from home, one of just eight teams in baseball with a winning road record in 2015.</p>
<p>New York won two of three games at Dodger Stadium from July 3-5 this season, and the two teams split four games at Citi Field from July 23-26.</p>
<h4>NLDS schedule</h4>
<p><i>Game times to be determined at a later date</i>.</p>
<p>Game 1: Friday, Oct. 9 at Dodger Stadium<br>Game 2: Saturday, Oct. 10 at Dodger Stadium<br>Game 3: Monday, Oct. 12 at Citi Field<br>Game 4*: Tuesday, Oct. 13 at Citi Field<br>Game 5*: Thursday, Oct. 15 at Dodger Stadium<br>*if necessary</p>
<p>The entire National League playoffs will be televised on TBS.</p>
https://www.truebluela.com/2015/10/3/9447693/2015-nlds-schedule-mets-dodgersEric Stephen2015-10-03T17:18:44-07:002015-10-03T17:18:44-07:00Van Slyke sidelined with wrist injury
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<figcaption>Christian Petersen/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>LOS ANGELES -- <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> outfielder <span>Scott Van Slyke</span> is dealing with inflammation in his right wrist, putting his availability for the National League Division Series in doubt. He won't play in the final two regular season games against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.gaslampball.com/">Padres</a>.</p>
<p>"He's in a splint today and tomorrow. We'll find out in those days in between [Sunday and the NLDS] just what he can do," manager Don Mattingly said on Saturday. "This thing is something he's been playing with a little bit, and it crept back up on him again. His lack of success may have something to do with that wrist."</p>
<p>Van Slyke is hitting .239/.317/.383 with six home runs and 14 doubles in 253 plate appearances this season, and just .224/.306/.327 since the All-Star break, including six hits in his last 35 at-bats in September.</p>
<p>Van Slyke <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/kengurnick/status/650178077784305664">got a cortisone shot</a> and hasn't taken batting practice in recent days.</p>
<p>The wrist was also bothering him into the last road trip, and got worst in the last few days.</p>
<p>"He was getting better in San Francisco," Mattingly said. "This is not the first time his wrist has been an issue this year.</p>
<p>"Right now we're trying to get this fire put out, and see if that inflammation goes away."</p>
<p>Van Slyke could find himself on the outside looking in come Friday when NLDS rosters are due, especially if <span>Yasiel Puig</span> shows he is ready in the final two days of the season after getting activated from the disabled list after missing over five weeks. But Mattingly downplayed any NLDS talk still six days away.</p>
<p>"This is a couple days to see what he can do," Mattingly said. "We haven't set any rosters yet."</p>
https://www.truebluela.com/2015/10/3/9447375/scottt-van-slyke-wrist-inflammation-cortison-shot-dodgersEric Stephen2015-10-03T14:33:00-07:002015-10-03T14:33:00-07:00Puig activated from DL, starting in RF
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<figcaption>Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>LOS ANGELES -- The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> activated outfielder <span>Yasiel Puig</span> from the disabled list for the final two games of the regular season against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.gaslampball.com/">Padres</a>, after he missed 34 games with a strained right hamstring strain.</p>
<p>Puig is starting and batting sixth against left-hander <span>Robbie Erlin</span>, who starts for the Padres. Manager Don Mattingly said he would start Saturday but not Sunday, though Puig will likely pinch hit or enter the regular season finale in a double switch.</p>
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<h4>Starting Lineups <br>
</h4>
<table class="sbnu-legacy-content-table" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td colspan="2" align="center" bgcolor="#996600" width="125"><font color="#ffff33"><b>Padres</b></font></td>
<td colspan="2" align="center" bgcolor="#1e90ff" width="125"><font color="#ffffff"><b>Dodgers</b></font></td>
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<td>2B</td>
<td>Spangenberg (L)</td>
<td>CF</td>
<td>Hernandez</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>CF</td>
<td>M.Upton</td>
<td>2B</td>
<td>Kendrick</td>
</tr>
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<td>3B</td>
<td>Solarte (S)</td>
<td>3B</td>
<td>Turner</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>SS</td>
<td>Gyorko</td>
<td>1B</td>
<td>Gonzalez (L)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1B</td>
<td>Wallace (L)<br>
</td>
<td>LF</td>
<td>Ruggiano</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>LF</td>
<td>Amarista (L)</td>
<td>RF</td>
<td>Puig</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>C</td>
<td>Hedges</td>
<td>C</td>
<td>Grandal (S)<br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>RF</td>
<td>Jankowski (L)</td>
<td>SS</td>
<td>Rollins (S)<br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>P</td>
<td>Erlin (L)</td>
<td>P</td>
<td>Greinke</td>
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</tbody>
</table>
<span><b>Location</b>: Dodger Stadium<br> <b>Time</b>: 6:10 p.m. PT<br> <b>TV</b>: SportsNet LA<br></span>
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<p>This has been an injury-plagued season for Puig, who is hitting .256/.324/.440 with 11 home runs in 77 games. He missed 39 games earlier in the season, including all of May, with a strained <i>left</i> hamstring.</p>
<p>Puig does have an active 10-game hitting streak entering Saturday's game, hitting .342/.390/.526 during the streak, though his last start was Aug. 27.</p>
<p>Against the southpaw Erlin, <span>Justin Ruggiano</span> is in left field for the Dodgers, batting fifth, and <span>Kiké Hernandez</span> remains in center field, moving up to leadoff.</p>
<p><span>Jimmy Rollins</span>, batting .303/.345/.461 as a right-handed batter this season, starts at shortstop, batting eighth.</p>
<p>With the activation of Puig, the Dodgers have 39 active players on the roster.</p>
https://www.truebluela.com/2015/10/3/9446885/yasiel-puig-activated-disabled-list-dodgersEric Stephen2015-10-03T10:58:25-07:002015-10-03T10:58:25-07:00Greinke chases Dodgers records in final start
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<figcaption>Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p><span>Zack Greinke</span> will end his regular season on Saturday night with a start against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.gaslampball.com/">Padres</a>, putting the final touches on one of the great pitching seasons in <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> history.</p>
<p>Greinke enters play with a 1.68 ERA, leading likely Cy Young Award winner <span>Jake Arrieta</span> (1.77) in a close race. Greinke will lead the majors in ERA barring a blow-up start; if he allows three earned runs, he needs at least 4⅓ innings.</p>
<p>If he allows four earned runs, Greinke needs at least 9⅓ innings, something that won't happen even though this will be more of a full start for Greinke rather than a tune-up since the right-hander skipped a start on Sept. 23 with a sore right calf.</p>
<p>The last time Greinke allowed four earned runs at Dodger Stadium was June 1, 2014, against Pittsburgh.</p>
<p>He has allowed four runs this season to the Padres. In four starts.</p>
<p>Greinke has allowed more than three earned runs just twice all season, and on Saturday looks for his 30th quality start of the year, something not done by a Dodgers pitcher since 1969, when Claude Osteen had 31 and Bill Singer 30. The last MLB pitcher with 30 quality starts in a season was <span>Felix Hernandez</span> in 2010 for the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.lookoutlanding.com/">Mariners</a>.</p>
<p>Greinke has lasted at least six innings in all 31 starts this season.</p>
<p>With eight strikeouts on Saturday, Greinke would reach 200 on the season for the second straight year and the fifth time in his career. Should Greinke reach 200, he would join <span>Clayton Kershaw</span> as just the second pair of Dodgers teammates each with 200 strikeouts in back-to-back seasons, joining Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale (1962-1965).</p>
<p>Since joining the Dodgers, Greinke is 27-5 with a 2.18 ERA in 45 starts at Dodger Stadium, with 290 strikeouts and 53 walks in 301⅔ innings, including 9-1 with a 1.48 ERA in 16 home starts this season.</p>
<p>No Dodgers pitcher <a target="_blank" href="http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/C7fKB">has ever had an adjusted ERA+ of 200 or higher</a>, topping out at 197 by Clayton Kershaw in 2014. Greinke, who had a 205 ERA+ in his American League Cy Young Award-winning season in 2009 with Kansas City, enters Saturday with a 223 ERA+.</p>
<p>Greinke would need 13⅓ innings to pass Rube Marquard (1916) for the <a target="_blank" href="http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/ey9wy">best raw ERA in Dodgers franchise history</a> (1.58), but should Greinke keep or lower his current 1.68 mark he would hold the second-best ERA in club history.</p>
<p>Greinke is also leading the majors in WHIP at 0.852, narrowly ahead of Koufax (.855 in 1965) and Kershaw (.857 in 2014) for <a target="_blank" href="http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/Y53gs">the lowest in a season in Dodgers history</a>.</p>
<h4>Game info</h4>
<p>Time: 6:10 p.m. PT</p>
<p>TV: SportsNet LA</p>
https://www.truebluela.com/2015/10/3/9445877/zack-greinke-dodgers-padres-previewEric Stephen2015-10-01T19:43:31-07:002015-10-01T19:43:31-07:00Dodgers-Padres probable pitchers
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<figcaption>Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> close out their regular season schedule the same way they started it, with a three-game series at home against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.gaslampball.com/">Padres</a>. Here is a look at the weekend starting pitching matchups between the two National League West rivals.</p>
<h4>Friday, 7:10 p.m. PT (SportsNet LA, MLB Network)</h4>
<p><span>Alex Wood</span> makes his 12th start as a Dodger and his fifth start at Dodger Stadium, where he has 21 strikeouts and four walks and a 2.36 ERA. Casey Kelly, who was once traded for <span>Adrian Gonzalez</span>, makes his third game and second start since joining the Padres in September. Kelly, 25, has allowed seven runs on 11 hits in seven innings in his brief major league stint this season, with four strikeouts and a walk.</p>
<h4>Saturday, 6:10 p.m. (SportsNet LA)</h4>
<p><span>Zack Greinke</span> gets one more shot to add to his Cy Young case, looking to lower his 1.48 home ERA on the season (his ERA on the road is 1.88), and looking to become the first Dodgers pitcher in 46 years to have 30 quality starts in one season. <span>Robbie Erlin</span>, who put up a 6.46 ERA in 24 starts with Triple-A El Paso this season, makes his third start of the month for the Padres, having allowed seven runs in three innings at Coors Field and pitching seven scoreless innings at home on Sept. 26 against Arizona.</p>
<h4>Sunday, 12:10 p.m. (SportsNet LA)</h4>
<p>Every game across baseball will start at roughly the same time on the regular season's final day, with <span>Clayton Kershaw</span> getting a tuneup start needing six strikeouts to reach 300. In two starts against San Diego this season, Kershaw struck out 20 of his 53 batters faced, a 37.7-percent strikeout rate. If he is able to sustain that rate on Sunday, Kershaw will need to face 16 batters.</p>
<p><span>James Shields</span> starts for the Padres, making for an opening day rematch. Shields has struggled down the stretch with a 4.65 ERA and seven home runs allowed in five starts, and is tied with <span>Kyle Kendrick</span> for the major league lead with 33 home runs allowed in 2015.</p>
https://www.truebluela.com/2015/10/1/9437671/dodgers-padres-schedule-starting-pitchersEric Stephen