Game 66 Thread: June 8 vs. Cards, 11a

Clayton Kershaw vs. Michael McGreevey.

The Dodgers have scored one run in two games against the Cardinals, leaving ducks on the pond all over the goddamn place. I'm depressed.

Game 65 Thread: June 7 @ Cardinals, 11a

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Yoshinobu Yamamoto (6-4, 2.39) vs. Erick Fedde (3-5, 3.82).

Last night was going to be a loss, anyway.

This morning? Let's at least put up a little bit of a fight, Dodger offense!

Keeping a Promise to Vin, 2025 Edition

Vin Scully, from 2008:

Normally on the telecast we talk about "This Day in Baseball." I don't mean to sound grumpy or grouchy, but I can't believe what I didn't hear. I listened to the news on the radio for about an hour and fifteen minutes today—did not hear one word about what this day really means. June the 6th, 1944. Do the names Omaha, or Utah, Gold, Juno, Sword, do they mean anything? They're the beaches at Normandy. Sure, today was D-Day, the invasion of Europe, when thousands of soldiers gave their lives so that we could be free. I'll be darned if I saw any real publicity about it at all. Please don't let that happen again next year. Please? Yeah, this day.

♦

Vin Scully, from 2009:

It's about quarter of nine in Los Angeles. That makes it about quarter of six on the beaches at Normandy, in France. And 1944, June the sixth, tomorrow, that was the invasion of Europe.

We heard the names: Sword, Gold, Juno, Utah and Omaha. Those were the names of the beaches as the British, Canadians and the United States invaded Europe.

Let's go back to this one.

At quarter of six on the beaches of Normandy sixty-five years ago, something like forty thousand fell in the invasion that was called Operation Overlord. The bloodiest beach was Omaha.

And then of course there was that area called Pointe du Hoc. You probably saw that in the movie The Guns of Navarone, where the GIs had to try and climb thirty-foot cliffs and the Germans were on top of the cliffs shooting down at them.

So, do us older guys a favor. If you have children, would you please take time out tomorrow and tell them the sacrifice that was made sixty-five years ago?

Freedom is not free. Boy, a lot of fellas gave their lives so that we could be sitting here watching a baseball game.

Please don't forget it.

♦

Vin Scully, from 2010:

...but I think we've been friends long enough, you'll understand.

Today, to me, is a far more important day than a baseball game. It is extremely important for those of us who have lived through it to make sure the kids in the country are extremely aware of it. And what took place on this day, June the sixth, 1944.

Oh yeah, you could just sum it up and say oh sure, Allied forces invaded Normandy. There is so much more, as Troy Glaus checks in. Ely's pitch, fastball inside, ball one.

First of all, "D-Day." The "D" in front of "Day" doesn't mean anything. It just meant the day of a military operation.

The one-oh pitch on the way, outside.

And it used to be D-Day for any military operation, but as the years have gone by, when you say "D-Day," they're talking about this day in 1944.

The two-oh pitch, fouled away.

It actually had two names. It was Operation Overlord and Operation Neptune. Overlord was the complete plan. Neptune was the assault phase.

The two-one pitch to Troy Glaus, waved at and missed, two and two.

Now before they could invade, they had to supposedly soften up the area. In April and May, Allied air forces lost twelve thousand men and over two thousand airplanes just trying to get things ready for the invasion.

Two-two, Glaus takes inside, ball three.

And then the day came, June the sixth, 1944. There were five beaches involved, in the, I think it was the Cotentin Peninsula.

Here's the three-two pitch and Glaus swings and misses and strikes out. One away.

Basically the Canadians had three beaches. They had Sword, Gold and Juno. And the United States forces had two beaches, Utah and Omaha. And of all five beaches, without a doubt, the bloodiest was Omaha.

Now, while the ground forces were going on, again, there were huge battles in the air. And there were over fifteen thousand killed, Allied, in the battle in the air.

The one-oh pitch, inside to Eric Hinske, who is hitting .323. Two and oh the count.

When D-Day finally concluded, when you include all of the people involved, the enemy, the Germans, and the Allied forces — and the pitch to Hinske inside — 425,000 men were killed.

As far as casualties are concerned — well, I shouldn't say just killed. The three-oh pitch, that's high, ball four. That included dead, wounded and missing in action.

For the United States, on D-Day, there were twenty-five hundred Americans killed, about several thousand seriously wounded and MIA.

And what is left of that gray day if we don't talk about it, if we don't convince the kids to take a moment and realize the unbelievable sacrifice that was made on this day? We would be really guilty.

The pitch at the plate is whacked to center. Kemp has a play and Matt makes the catch, and Hinske goes back to first base.

Well, I tell you what, until...you make the trip over to Normandy, there are twenty-seven cemeteries, from Normandy straight up towards Belgium. There are 77,000 Germans buried along the way. Ninety-three hundred Americans have left themselves over there. Seventeen thousand Britons, over five thousand Canadians and another 650 Polish soldiers.

That's what they did and that's what happened on this day.

The pitch at the plate, ground ball by the diving Carroll into left field, so Melky Cabrera a single and that'll bring up Tim Hudson.

So anyway, I realize it's an intrusion, maybe you don't want to hear about something negative, but that's not negative. Any time we talk about a sacrifice in baseball, you can just about break down and laugh. The sacrifices that were made on this day in 1944, heartbreaking but at the same time inspirational.

So if you have children, please don't let the day go by. 1944, D-Day. The invasion of Western Europe.

Okay, let's get to the ballgame. Here's Hudson, two out, two on, no score, second inning....

Game 64 Thread: June 6 @ Cardinals, 5p

Not the first time we've used this pun...but always good to feature Robin Wright Penn

Justin Wrobleski (1-1, 8.00) vs. Sonny Gray (6-1, 3.65).

Before the 2025 season began, all the talk about the St. Louis Cardinals was how they botched not trading Nolan Arenado and didn't make any other moves of note this offseason, in a totally winnable NL Central division. Well, they at least got the second half right--the Cardinals (34-28) are in second place in the NL Central, ahead of the Brewers and Reds (and behind the Cubs by five games), and only a half-game out of the last wild card spot.

This weekend's slate with the Dodgers features two early games following a tough-fought 4-3 homestand against division leaders, followed by an evening flight to St. Louis yesterday. I'm guessing we show up today a little gassed.

Game 63 Thread: June 5 vs. Mets, 1p

Last night's game recap.

Landon Knack vs. David Peterson.

With yesterday's pathetic outing (Tony "Catman" Gonsolin giving up an early lead again, and an offense that forgot to show up, in a 6-1 loss), the Dodgers now have dropped the season series to the Mets, an outcome that might have implications this postseason.

That, of course, assumes we actually limp our way through the next four months and actually make the postseason, something that should happen but doesn't look assured, watching last night's debacle.

Landon Knack is on the mound for today's afternoon delight.

(cries)

Game 62 Thread: June 4 vs. Mets, 7p

Will the Dodgers can Griffin today?

Tony Gonsolin (3-1, 5.23) vs. Griffin Canning (5-2, 3.23).

The Dodgers tied the series yesterday, after losing in extras on Monday to the Mets. With the Mets taking two of three from us in New York last month, we'll need to win these last two games (starting today) in order to wield the home-field advantage over the Mets.

(And we have no starter named for Thursday.)

(cries)

Post-Game 61 Thread: Surprise!

DODGERS 6, METS 5 (10)

Max Muncy with a two-run HR in the first, and then a game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth? Then Tanner Scott in for the tenth, and he strikes out Juan Soto and Pete Alonso, en route to a scoreless inning?

Maybe I wasn't surprised to see Freddie Freeman walk it off with a double to left field, scoring Tommy Edman as the winning run, for the Dodgers' fifth walkoff win of the season.

But what a victory! I'll take it.

Game 61 Thread: June 3 vs. Mets, 7p

Clayton Kershaw (0-0, 4.91) vs. Tyler Megill (4-4, 3.52).

I'm telling you, we can't compete against these big-spending teams.

Game 60 Thread: June 2 vs Mets, 7p

Dustin May vs. Paul Blackburn.

After a disappointing start by Yoshinobu Yamamoto yesterday, which effectively thwarted the Dodgers' plans for a series sweep against the Yankees, we go right up against the best team in the National League (to be fair, tied with the Cubs, and ahead of us by a game). The big-spending Mets are going to be a tough opponent for a scrappy team like the Dodgers. Let's hope Dustin May brings his A-game for the opener.

Game 59 Thread: June 1 vs. Yankees, 4p

Yoshinobu Yamamoto (6-3, 1.97) vs. Ryan Yarbrough (2-0, 3.06).

The Yankees have only made one error in the first two games of this series.

But there's still one more game to play.

Post-Game 58 Thread: Dodgers Rout Yankees And It Was Really Fun

DODGERS 18, YANKEES 2

I didn't get a chance to see SoSG Dusty at this game, which was pretty much the only disappointing part of what was otherwise an outstanding afternoon at the Stadium. My anxiety level was high, knowing Landon Knack was on the mound for the Dodgers, and my nerves were already fried having had awful traffic luck getting to Chavez Ravine (the crossing guards really need to let cars flow too, and not just pedestrians; or install some damn bridges for god's sake, Frank McCourt!).

Knack worked out of a leadoff walk to Trent Grisham in the first by getting Aaron Judge to ground into a double play, and then Cody Bellinger flied out to end the top of the first.

And then, it was on.

Four singles in the first five batters, including a solid RBI single from Max Muncy, put the Dodgers up 2-0. A sacrifice fly from Michael Conforto stretched the lead to three, and a hot shot off the bat of Tommy Edman tied up Yankees third baseman Jorbit Vivas and scored Muncy, for a 4-0 lead.

One inning later, the Dodgers had Will Warren on the ropes, knocking him out of the game on a three-run HR by Muncy. But it dind't stop there: a two-out walk to Conforto, a RBI double by Edman, and then a surprising two-run HR from Hyeseong Kim stretched the lead to 10-0 thorugh two frames. The Dodgers batted around in both of the first two innings, posting two very crooked numbers. And it kept getting silly.

Aaron Judge did have two solo HR this game, which was great for the reigning AL MVP. Max Muncy, on the other hand, had two three-run HRs this game, as well as an RBI single, to total 7 RBI on the day. Muncy went 3-for-6 and raised his batting average to .220. His .723 OPS at the completion of this game may have gotten him all the way back to replacement level (he had an OPS+ of 94 entering tonight's game), and if Muncy can break out of his year-long slump at last, that would be incredible for the bottom of our lineup.

Pages, another bat who has gotten really hot in the last 2-3 weeks, notched a HR of his own in the seventh to extend the lead to 15-1, and, following Judge's second HR, rookie Dalton Rushing came out in the eighth inning and hit his first major-league HR to make it 18-2 (a three-run shot off of Yankees position player Pablo Reyes).

Knack ended up earning the win with a 6.0 IP, 5 H performance (3 BB, 6 Ks). Anthony Banda had an impressive 2 K seventh inning; Chris Stratton gave up only one run in the eighth; and position player Kike Hernandez pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the Dodgers. Knack's great starting effort, one night after Tony Gonsolin went six innings on his own, helped rest that Dodgers bullpen that has worked more than any other pen in baseball this year.

The Dodgers also had some sweet defensive play from Hyeseong Kim, in the third inning with an unassisted double play that douvbled Austin Wells off second with Kim diving to tag the second-base bag before Wells got back, and then an amazing strike from centerfield (where Kim had shifted to start the sixth inning), nailing Judge at second when Judge tried to stretch a leadoff single to a double (and instead, was nailed with a perfect throw and tag by Edman). No issues with Judge trying to make something happen there for the Yankees, but credit to the Dodgers for shutting that effort down quickly.

So that's the second straight game the Dodgers have taken from the Yankees on national television, with tomorrow's game also nationally televised (this time, on ESPN). It was a wonderful time for me, sipping that huge can of Michelob Ultra, and enjoying the fireworks on the field.

Let's go, Dodgers!

Game 58 Thread: May 31 vs. Yankees, 4p

Max, Fried.

Landon Knack (2-2, 5.22) vs. Will Warren (3-2, 4.09).

The Dodgers overcame their national-TV curse and actually won last night's game, staging a furious six-run comeback from 5-2 in the sixth inning to take the lead 6-5 off of Max Fried, and then extend the lead to 8-5 off of Andy Pages' two-run RBI single. The outcome was totally surprising, given Dodgers starter Tony Gonsolin was serving up meatballs (four HR, in fact) to the Yankees' lineup--but to Gonsolin's credit, he hung in there through 6.0 IP, outdueling Yankees ace Fried and earning the victory.

We're going to need a lot of the same formula tonight, given Landon Knack's penchant for meatballs of his own, not to mention this game is also nationally-televised (this time on Fox, rather than Apple TV+). My expectations are very low for tonight's game, but I'd sure like to see a win.

SoSG Sax and Dusty will both be at today's game, so please give a shout if you're going to be there! Let's go, Dodgers!

Game 57 Thread: May 30 vs. Yankees, 7p

Tony Gonsolin (2-1, 4.68) vs. Max Fried (7-0, 1.29).

A rematch with the New York Yankees, whom we vanquished in the 2024 World Series, at Dodger Stadium? Yep, I certainly like Game 1 of this series...though going up against Harvard-Westlake Wolverine Max Fried isn't going to be easy. Fried is off to a blistering start with the Yankees, who picked him up this offseason while other teams thought he might be soft (according to Buster Olney on his Baseball Tonight podcast). But in one of the toughest cities to in which to play baseball, Fried is sporting a 2.6 WAR is tied for fifth in the majors this season.

Hmm, now I'm a little nervous. Maybe I'll go watch a movie to calm the nerves.

Just How Bad Is Tanner Scott So Far?

Tanner Scott just blew his MLB-leading fifth save with the Dodgers yesterday, instantly turning a 4-2 lead in the eighth inning into a tie game that grew into a 7-4 defeat. Scott, a much-ballyhooed free agent pickup this offseason, has a 3.28 ERA, which is in line with his career ERA (3.55). And he has 10 saves this year.

Many Dodger fans have been frustrated by Scott, but he still boasts a 0.2 WAR this year. And positive WAR is better than nothing.

An interesting comparison case is Devin Williams, who was the Yankees' big relief pitcher pickup this offseason. With a career WAR of 8.2 (which rivals Scott's 9.1 career WAR over 9 years, two more than Williams), Williams has also lost the closer role this year thanks to a bevy of shaky performances.

Williams has only blown one save this year. But he has only 5 saves on the season, and his 6.75 ERA translates to a -0.7 WAR this year, much worse than Scott's.

With so many of the Dodgers' high-leverage arms on the IL, we have no choice but to trot Tanner Scott out there and hope for the best. It's not a great strategy--we lost an opportunity to sweep the Guardians yesterday and instead finished the roadtrip with a mediocre 3-3 record--but it may be all we've got for now.

Yikes.

Game 56 Thread: May 28 @ Guardians, 10a

Wait a second, Slade is now with the Guardians? Holy crossover, Batman!

Clayton Kershaw (0-0, 7.50) vs. Slade Cecconi (1-1. 3.27).

Clayton Kershaw looked like he was off to a promising start last week against the Mets, when a rain delay cut short his outing (2.0 IP, ) ER, 1 BB and 1 K). Rain is in the forecast for Wednesday in Cleveland (thanks to SoSG reader karen for that headsup!). Let's hope Kershaw can continue his progression back from injury today, without Mother Nature getting in the way.

To be fair, it looks like the Guardians will let anyone join their team.

Game 55 Thread: May 27 @ Guardians, 3p

Today's opposing starting pitcher (with a huge assumption on the gender preferences of the insect).

Dustin May (2-4, 4.09) vs. Tanner Bibee (4-4, 3.57).

Last night, out of the spotlight of nationally-broadcast television, felt like the type of road game the Dodgers should be playing: solid pitching that goes relatively deep with efficiency (Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB and 7 Ks across 88 pitches); power hitting (Shohei Ohtani and Will Smith solo HRs) as well as timely hitting (4-for-8 with RISP, including a nice two-out rally in the sixth with Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman RBI singles); and only one error (this time, not from Max Muncy!).

The Guardians are solid: behind the Tigers in the AL Central, but in the first wild card position in the American League. Tanner Bibee has also been solid for the Guardians, while Dustin May has shown flashes of brilliance in 2025 but a lack of consistency between starts. Let's see how today plays out.

Game 54 Thread: May 26 @ Guardians, 3p

Yoshinobu Yamamoto (5-3, 1.86) vs. Gavin Williams (4-2. 3.94).

Finally, we are out of the nationally-televised game spotlight, and I think that's a Groot thing for the Dodgers, who seem to put their worst foot forward on the big stage. Sunday's debacle in New York was another example of this, with the 3-1 defeat showing an inept offense throughout the game, not to mention four errors defensively.

The worst error of which came from Max Muncy, who cost us a run Sunday and almost cost us the game on Friday against the Mets as well (obstructing the vision of the runner on third on a sacrifice fly). Muncy is now batting .210 with a woeful .670 OPS, and it's time to really consider options at third base. I'm sure Muncy is looking at the recent departures of Austin Barnes and Chris Taylor and has a keen understanding that we can't wait much longer for him to play to his potential. It would be awesome to see him turn it around on this road trip, starting with tonight's game in Cleveland.

Game 53 Thread: May 26 @ Mets, 4p

Landon Knack (2-1, 6.17) vs. Kodai Senga (4-3, 1.43).

The last time we faced the Mets in a key series (2024 NLCS), Tommy Edman stepped up big time to help us earn the series victory. In this 2025 regular-season series, Edman is 2-for-7 with a run scored. We're going to need a lot more from Edman, batting .237 on the year with a .758 OPS, especialy given the mediocrity of the bottom of our lineup--especially since we're trotting Landon Knack out there today, ahead of a beleaguered bullpen staff.

Let's go, Tommy Tanks!

Game 52 Thread: May 24 @ Mets, 4p

How I watched last night's game, rather than AppleTV+.

Gonsolin vs Peterson.

At least I can actually watch tonight's game!

Game 51 Thread: May 23 @ Mets, 4p

Tonight's opposing pitcher.

Clayton Kershaw (0-0, 11.25) vs. Griffin Canning (5-1, 2.47).

The Mets, the highest-payroll team (active 26-man roster) in MLB, have spent a lot of money to put their formidable offensive lineup on the field. $765M-man Juan Soto is only batting .243 but has a .804 OPS (131 OPS+), and he's not even the second-best OPS+ player on his team: Francisco Lindor has a 136 OPS+. And then there's Pete Alonso, who is having a resurgent year with a league-leading 16 doubles, 9 HR, batting .292 with a .931 OPS (165 OPS+).

Honestly, what is a scrappy, small-market team like the Dodgers supposed to do?