Friday, May 11, 2007

Game 36 Thread: May 11 vs. Reds, 7.40p

Dodgers start Randy Wolf, LHP (3-3, 4.61) vs. Bronson Arroyo, RHP (2-2, 2.85).

Dodgers: 20-15 (1st place NL West, 1.5 GA, L1)
Reds: 15-20 (6th and last place NL Central, 9.5 GB, W1)

From Dodgers.com, the scouting report on the starters:

Dodgers: Wolf got off to another shaky beginning, allowing a first-inning run to the Braves, then had to pitch out of a third-inning jam and was lifted after loading the bases in the sixth inning. He was charged with only one run after Rudy Seanez put out the sixth-inning fire. Wolf kept the ball in the park and had good enough stuff to strike out eight in 5 1/3 innings.

Reds: A rough sixth inning, in which he threw 48 pitches, made Arroyo's outing Sunday afternoon look less impressive. But, the right-hander retired nine straight batters he faced and struck out seven in 5 2/3 innings to earn his second victory of the season. After going winless in five starts, Arroyo earned his first victory of 2007 in Tuesday's 11-2 thumping of the Astros. While the offense supported Arroyo, he returned the favor by throwing seven strong innings.

COMMENTS:

  • The Reds come into town with Adam Dunn's incredible 45 strikeouts in his 33 games. He is on pace for 220 strikeouts on the year, which would shatter his previous records. With Dunn having lead the majors in K's for each of the past three years, rumor has it he is serious about putting some more distance between himself and AL leader B.J. Upton (38 Ks on the year) this weekend. We're rooting for you, Adam! (To be fair, Dunn alone has as many home runs as Luis Gonzalez, Jeff Kent, Nomar Garciaparra, and Russell Martin--combined.)
  • Coming off a 3-4 roadtrip, the Dodgers should consider themselves lucky to still be in first place in the NL West. Pitching has largely been solid from the makeshift starting rotation, but the offense that continues to sputter, not only at the front end (Nomar, Gonzalez) but also at the back end (Betemit, Valdez, and Martinez). Grady Little would never be considered a knee-jerk reactionary, but even his slow processing speed has caught up to the fact that we need to shake up this moribund lineup. And was painfully evident in yesterday's shutout to Florida, wasting a terrific outing by Derek Lowe--you can't win if you can't score.
  • Speaking of scoring, SoSG will be at the game tonight--reserved deck for the game, then on the field after the game for fireworks night. Keep an eye out for us--you can't miss us. Seriously. Come up and say hi.

UPDATE 5.38p:

I checked twice, and you're seeing what I'm seeing: a lineup that looks exactly like the same lineup that has not produced at all for the Dodgers. What happened to all that "guess we need to change the scenery" drivel we heard earlier from Grady Little? Guess Grady boarded that plane from Florida, had a couple of vodka tonics, and fell asleep instead of addressing our offensive woes. Randy Wolf has got to feel pretty crappy right now. The lineup, from ITD (MLB):

Furcal, SS
Pierre, CF
Nomar, 1B
Kent, 2B
Gonzalez, LF
Martin, C
Ethier, RF
LaRoche, 3B
Wolf, P

16 comments:

Steve Sax said...

We are at the game, and it's cold.

Alex Cora said...

Martin warmed that up in a hurry. Still with the bases loaed, we never seem to really clear them all...

Steve Sax said...

2 wins the hat shuffle.

Orel said...

Ground-rule double prevents Pierre from scoring. Bummer.

Orel said...

Instead of the hat shuffle I like the idea of a hat scuffle. Casquillo y casquillo.

Steve Sax said...

Coca-cola trivia...and we have another winner!

Steve Sax said...

White wins the car race.

Orel said...

What does the Coca-Cola winner get nowadays? They used to give out free Cokes to the entire section, but I don't think they do that anymore.

Alex Cora said...

Uh oh, LaRoche has a case of the Betemits.

Orel said...

Saito likes to make things interesting.

Lasorda said...

Hey, how have the t-shirts worked out? Last I heard, 2-0 in bottom of 9th.

Lasorda said...

Umm, make that top of the 9th.

Orel said...

Sammmmmy!

Alex Cora said...

Woohoo! Go Sammy! Go Blue!

Alex Cora said...

Hey Larry King is there.

Steve Sax said...

I just got home. Fireworks show was good, not great. Dodgers win was great despite the fact the dodgers had no offense for seven innings. Go Blue!