Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Game 107 Thread: August 1 vs. Giants, 7.10p

Dodgers start Mark Hendrickson, LHP (4-5, 4.58) vs. Tim Lincecum, RHP (6-2, 3.90).

Dodgers: 57-49 (2nd place NL West, 1.0 GB, L3)
Giants: 46-58 (5th and last place NL West, 11.0 GB, W1)

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

Dodgers: The ultimate swingman did a credible job in his start in Houston. He had allowed only one run when he left the game after five-plus innings, but the two runners he left for Rudy Seanez scored and Hendrickson settled for a no-decision. The only run that scored while he was pitching came home on a wild pitch. Hendrickson kept the ball in the park and his team in the game, so he figures to remain in the rotation at least until Randy Wolf returns from the disabled list.

Bonds and Friends: By now, everyone has a pretty good idea of what Lincecum is capable of, and he picked up some new numbers to prove it in his last start against the Braves. In just his 15th outing since joining the big club, Lincecum became the second-fastest pitcher in San Francisco history to record 100 strikeouts. He did it in 91 innings, striking out five batters on Thursday and throwing his sixth consecutive quality start. It was Lincecum's fourth win in his past five starts, but he lamented over a two-run homer he gave up in the fourth. The two runs were all Lincecum allowed over six innings, and the Giants weren't complaining as they have now won five of their last six games behind their star rookie.

COMMENTS:

  • The road team has won all 10 games in the Dodgers-Giants head-to-head matches this year. Having Mark Hendrickson on the mound tonight doesn't give us a lot of hope that this trend will change, despite a sold out crowd in attendance at the Ravine. The Dodgers looked positively listless last night, blowing the few scoring opportunities they had and scoring no runs in the game's final eight frames. +13 games over .500 seems like a distant memory.
  • The good news for the crowd, however, is that they likely will get to see the home run for which they've been waiting, triggering years of pent-up aggravation and boos that are waiting to spew forth like projectile vomit. That's right, Bengie Molina is on the cusp of hitting his 95th career home run, which would tie him for 125th place on the active HR list (along with Michael Barrett) and 728th on the all-time list. It could happen tonight--so you'd better watch.
  • And be ready to boo like hell.

10 comments:

Steve Sax said...

Rick Monday just said Ethier is batting ninth. Nice job, Rick.

Steve Sax said...

3-2 Giants in the seventh. Martinez leads off th bottom of the seventh by getting thrown out at second trying to stretch a double. Nice move.

Then Ethier comes up, swings early in the count, and flies out.

We have only three hits all night, and five last night. Are the Dodgers going to try and show some offense? Martin? Kemp? Ethier? Garciaparra? Anyone?

And when is Jeff Kent coming back?!?!

Steve Sax said...

Dodgers 3 through 6 slots: 1 for 23 this series.

2 RISP for Martin with none out and Martin taps back to the box. Russell, get the hell away from Alyssa Milano and start to play ball again.

Steve Sax said...

Well, they were 1-for-24 through Martin. Then Gonzo knocked home Furcal and Pierre. And Nomar's HR made it 6-4, which stood up to be the final score. Wow.

Messenger, who came in in the eighth and gave up the game-tying hit and 2-run HR, was acquired in the trade for Armando Benitez. Imagine that, Benitez is still reaping dividends for the Dodgers.

Good night, everybody!

Anonymous said...

Holy crap! That was a clutch hit by Nomar. Go blue!!!

Eric Karros said...

What a great feeling when you go to sleep with the Dodgers losing, wake up the next morning, check the score expecting to confirm the loss, and instead see a W!

Steve Sax said...

EK, are you having flashbacks of your career? Ha ha ha--

Yeah, it was a big win. I jumped up from the sofa and starting dancing around the living room in my boxers (now that's a pretty visual).

Eric Karros said...

Send me the youtube link

Steve Sax said...

There is no youtube link of me running around the living room in my boxers.

The internet would crash.

Unknown said...

Lincecum didn't take long to settle down and become a consistent performer. He was in the running for NL pitcher of the month: http://thenewsroom.com/details/561632?c_id=wom-bc-bh
- Brad from The Sports Desk at TheNewsRoom.com