Monday, May 14, 2007

Game 39 Thread: May 14 vs. Cardinals, 7.10p

Dodgers start Brett Tomko, RHP (1-3, 4.33) vs. Brad Thompson, RHP (1-0, 4.03).

Dodgers: 23-15 (1st place NL West, 3.0 GA, W3)
Cardinals: 15-20 (5th place NL Central, 9.0 GB, L1)

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

Dodgers: Tomko had a no-hitter through 5 1/3 innings, but he lost a little luster when Mike Jacobs took him deep for a two-run shot. Nonetheless, Tomko finally got his first win. He struck out six and walked only two. Despite his record, four of his six outings have been quality starts, which isn't bad for a fifth starter.

Cardinals: No one knew exactly what to expect from Thompson in his first start of the season against the Rockies, but the right-hander was solid. Thompson went five innings and gave up one run, on a home run to Matt Holliday. Other than that, he had command of his sinker and threw a four-seam fastball for the first time this season. He'll get another chance to start against the Dodgers, who he's pitched three innings against without allowing a run.

COMMENTS:

  • Yeah! Second series sweep of the year! The Dodgers are dominant! Except, wait a minute, that was the Reds we just played. Scratch that euphoria--we were expected to have swept a series with the Reds (as we did twice last year). A nice bit of rallying in the eighth inning yesterday afternoon sealed the 10-5 victory, but we still had only one home run in the series (Kent's fourth of the year, with none on), which gives us 19 as a team, 14th in the NL. What could be worse?
  • Actually, let me tell you what could be worse (see, that wasn't a rhetorical question): The Cardinals, who at 17 home runs on the year are at 16th place. The defending world champions also have the lowest team batting average (.234), the second lowest OBP (.303) and the lowest OPS (.626). The Cards come into town to play a team with the league's second lowest ERA (3.19), which also leads the majors in strikeouts thrown (292--and the Angels are in second!). Bad batting meets excellent pitching...let's hope this series plays out as it should on paper. With Tomko on the mound tonight, anything can happen.
  • In other news, Albert Pujols is batting .248, 81 points below his career average of .329. Will Tomko be the remedy for his batting woes? And to get really petty, does Brad Thompson's picture look like a kid on Ritalin at a Baskin Robbins? He should be suing MLB.com, or at least get a new agent.
  • Finally, SoSG will be back at the Stadium tonight, field level, third-base side. Place your hat-shuffle bets now.

25 comments:

Orel said...

Hat shuffle: 3 wins. You heard it here first.

Steve Sax said...

Slowly snaking my way toward the game! Can't wait.

Steve Sax said...

It's time for dodger baseball!

Orel said...

Brett Tomko is being efficient tonight. That is, he's falling apart early.

Alex Cora said...

uh, what happened???

Alex Cora said...

Hey Brett, the game started at 7:10 pm.

Alex Cora said...

Pierre even pops up bunts. Hit the damn ball on the ground.

Orel said...

Down 3. Glad to see we're playing for ONE RUN.

Alex Cora said...

Duncan ALWAYS kills us. RU-DY RU-DY RU-DY!!!

Alex Cora said...

Yeah Brett, that was TODAY at 7:10pm. Dodger stadium.

Orel said...

Down 6-0 in the second. This isn't even funny.

Orel said...

Dear Cardinals,

We're sorry about your hard times. Please beat up on us until you feel better.

Love,
Dodgers

Steve Sax said...

Holy crap, the hat shuffle was 3. No way!

Steve Sax said...

Grady is actually walking out right now to pull tomko, but he's so slow it will take two batters.

Orel said...

Rudy "White Flag" Seanez!

Orel said...

Ha! What are the chances?

Steve Sax said...

Oh man, this is ugly. And I'm not just talking about the Sandlot 2.

Coca-Cola trivia wins.

Orel said...

Jeff Kent with the Shawn Green-esque useless solo homer.

Steve Sax said...

Blue wins.

Orel said...

Hooray, another meaningless solo homer!

Steve Sax said...

Juan Pierre can't say no to a rally-killer.

Steve Sax said...

Olmedo has a leadoff double, and he gets stranded there. 8-3 Cards.

Steve Sax said...

At least the bullpen was lights out tonight. Shouldn't Grady have pulled Tomko in the second while we still had a chance?

Before tonight the cards had only scored one other time in the first inning ALL YEAR!

Anonymous said...

Was there a game tonight?

Damon said...

Tomko should be in the pen