Hiroki Kuroda (3-5, 3,49) vs. Jake Peavy (4-3, 2.91).
COMMENTS: Kuroda is coming off a complete game shutout masterpiece, painted against the red-hot canvas of the Chicago Cubs no less. Peavy, the Padres' ace and last year's Cy Young award winner, is coming off the DL (strained right elbow) for this start. Kuroda faced Johan Santana two outings ago and is probably not planning on visiting nearby Sycuan Casino (a Padres sponsor!), given the cards he has drawn lately for opposing pitchers. But I guarantee you this, Hiroki: even with the Dodgers' awful offense (third-worst OPS (.714) and fewest home runs (44) in the NL), if you can pitch another complete game shutout, SoSG promises that you'll get the win.
STAT OF THE DAY: Kuroda is one of only six NL pitchers with complete game shutouts in 2008, joining Cole Hamels (2), Brandon Webb, Ben Sheets, Braden Looper, and Tim Hudson. There have been 16 CGs in the NL this year (Sheets, Webb, and Hamels each have two).
95 comments:
I don't know if Gameday is accurate, but as of 11:44a PT the lineup appears to be:
Pierre, CF
Young, LF
Ethier, RF
Martin, C
Loney, 1B
DeWitt, 3B
Berroa, SS
Maza, 2B
Kuroda, P
Kemp must be serving his reduced suspension (now only two games). But this lineup has to make Kuroda even more pressured--there is no room for error on the mound, Hiroki!
Berroa-Maza-Kuroda. Three guys whose names end in "a". And three automatic outs.
Radio reception's for crap so it's Gameday for me today.
Pierrea singles!
Martina is up, JPa on second.
Pierre realizes he's going to have to do it all by himself. Steals third.
Pierrea on third...
Line out. Pierre stranded, just like the hanging-a joke.
And Martin lines out. Thus endeth the Dodgers' offensive threat—for the entire game.
AZ losing 4-2 in the top of the 8th, but they're threatening
Jody "I Hate Karina" Gerut greets Kuroda with a single.
Don't worry, the Mets will find a way to lose this one too.
Brian Giles with the 3-run HR. Game over.
Jesus Christ, Kuroda, just freakin' serve it up on a platter why don't you. 4-0 Padres. This will be our six straight winless series.
Holy crap, I turned my head and Kuroda has already thrown up the white flag. 4-0, no one out!
Is this the same guy who pitched a CG shutout last outing?
Someone tell Chan Ho Park to get out of Kuroda's uniform
Kuroda so far:
single
single
HR
HR
HBP
"Coaching visit to mound." That'll fix everything.
Hey! We got an out! It IS possible!
Kuroda: "You mean I have to pitch every week? I thought last game was the last of the season."
Guess all we can do is root for the Mets now.
SD on pace to win this game 40-0
5-0 after one inning. Kuroda will now proceed to pitch effectively for the next six innings.
Well at least the 7-8-9 batters were taken care of easily.
Man, this blows. I forgot there was a day game, had a nice leisurely lunch with two old high school friends, and I sign on to find this. The Padres suck! They have no offense at all, and we're going to get shellacked by them? Ugh.
Dodgers go down on nine pitches in the top of the second. Get back out there for your whupping, Hiroki!
Erin, we're losing this game because of YOUR leisurely lunch. How dare you.
On a half-serious note, if you didn't have lunch plans, Torre might have slotted you in the lineup in place of Berroa. Okay, maybe that wasn't all that serious.
11 pitches for HK in the second makes him almost as efficient. But he's still spotted Jake 5 runs.
I tell you what-- I'd take a Jake Peavy fastball to the ribs to get on base for this team. Would Berroa do the same?
Don't worry, I'm sure Jake will get them back. Not.
Meanwhile it's all tied up in New York. Thank you, Billy Wagner.
Arizona has scored two in the top of the ninth to tie the Mets. They still have two on with two outs and Reynolds up to bat. Way to go, Wagner.
I'm watching the Cubs game. They're down 2-1, they load the bases with two outs, and Piniella lets Zambrano bat for himself, even after Bobby Cox goes to a reliever. Zambrano swings at the first pitch, a pitch at his neck, and pops up to end the threat. Not so sure about that one, Lou.
Erin, if Peavy plunked you I'd charge the mound for you. But no actual punches would be thrown because this is, after all, baseball.
Thanks, Orel. I would appreciate the support.
Bil-ly Wag-ner! clap clap, clap clap clap
What sucks about being in a new place is when there is a thunderstorm warning and they show a map of the nearby counties, and you have no idea where the hell you are on that map.
Yeah, that wasn't exactly grammatically correct, but I'm not changing it.
Orel, if you charged the mound for Erin to avenge her plunking, would Jake Peavy:
a) spit his tobacco at you
b) leave his feet and try and kick you a la Chan Ho
c) beat you to a tar
d) it doesn't matter as you'd be avenging Erin, so any Peavy response is meaningless
The Tigers just swept the White Sox. Glad we're flying to Detroit next.
Hey, two of our three outs in the third were comebackers to Peavy!
And the third out was a fly out to Gerut...from Pierre of course.
Okay, I'm turning my head again, in the hopes that we'll score 5 to tie it up.
I was thinking of driving over to Detroit to see the Dodgers this weekend, but I just don't think it's going to happen, unfortunately. Too bad, since I would like to see Detroit's ballpark.
That looked grammatically A-OK with me.
Sax, (d). It would be a statement mound-charge.
We did a SoSG field trip to Comerica (before SoSG existed, actually). It's a nice ballpark in a sketchy neighborhood.
One of the friends I had lunch with today (we went to high school together in Florida) was passing through town on his way to Ann Arbor to do his residency at the University of Michigan. So there's a chance I'll go to visit him sometime in the next few weeks, and we'll see a game.
Sax, it's the friend of mine that you and AC met when we saw each other at Dodger Stadium.
Meanwhile, it is now 6-0, and here comes Park.
Mets had the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth but Damon Easley grounded out. Shea Stadium must be going apeshit right about now.
Erin, are you going to see the Hulk this weekend? Or at all?
I really don't think I'll be seeing the Hulk. I didn't see the first one, and I don't really like Ed Norton. So it just doesn't really interest me. We'll see if the girlfriend feels differently, but I don't think she does. Can I assume you'll be seeing it?
No, I'm not visiting Erin in Chicago this weekend, Orel.
Thank you Cleveland! Good night!
That called strike three to Young looked questionable on Gameday, but you can't ever really tell.
Erin, SoSG did indeed see Comerica; Orel, EK, and I went (am I missing anyone, Orel?).
Comerica was indeed in a sketch part of town, but it was a heck of a lot nicer than the old Tiger Stadium (currently abandoned and in total disrepair, sadly). I would recommend a visit.
I did a rimshot in my head for that one, Sax.
D'backs take a 5-4 lead.
Looks like the time off didn't affect Jake Peavy too badly.
Of course, it helps to come back and face this lineup.
I'll probably see it. But I'm really looking forward to WALL*E.
WALL*E intrigues me. There are large portions of it without any dialogue other than robot blips. I'll probably see that one, but I don't know if we'll have time to see a movie this weekend. Christine (the girlfriend--I'll address her by her name now) will be working very, very late on Friday, then probably have to work all day Saturday, and then we have to hang out with one of her coworkers on Saturday night, since it's that coworkers' last week. I think we'll spend Sunday recovering.
...coworker's last week.
But this lineup has so much experience and power in it!
12 consecutive outs without a baserunner (since Pierre in the first). Way to go, Dodgers! Way to choose a lineup, Joe!
I realize Joe Torre hasn't had the best choices to work with for parts of this season, but what do we think about the job he's done so far? I mean, he makes some strange choices, and keeps guys in the game who probably shouldn't be playing (I'm looking at you, Sweeney). But is that his choice or Ned Colletti's or Frank McCourt's? A lot of people don't think the manager can have that much impact, but I think he has a little more effect in the National League, at least.
Quadsevens, ladies and gentlemen!
Thank you Cleveland! Good night!
Don't forget to tip your servers.
And Arizona indeed took the win.
Meaning that we'll slip another game back after this debacle.
Yo peeps! AC in da house! Unfortunately the dodgers look pretty crappy from the score here. Maybe the rest of the team should be suspended with Kemp as well.
My god, we are hopeless at the plate. I blink, and we're out of the top of the inning each frame.
AC, the Dodgers are certainly suspending their offense.
And once again Torre brings Kuo in to pitch in a meaningless situation.
I'm starting to think Torre isn't really all that great.
Looks like they are going to sit Peavy - Time for the flood gates to open!!!!
Remember, Torre overused Proctor in New York, and he overuses Proctor in Los Angeles.
Torre has always been accused of being poor at managing the bullpen. We've definitely seen signs of that here.
Finally, Peavy's out. Six runs, but at least now we've got some semblance of a chance.
Nothing like a .182 batter (Berroa) to send up to the plate when you need runs...
Still hitting better than Andruw Jones.
And guess what, Berroa is nothing like a .182 batter! Many foul balls in the AB don't change the outcome: the third out of the inning, stranding Loney on first. With his third straight out of the day, Berroa is batting .167 now after that K.
It's funny, DeWitt batting sixth is 0-for-3 today, but to be fair he's batting like he's in the eight-hole with Berroa, Maza, and the pitcher behind him.
You are right AC; Jones is batting .165.
Kuo is looking wicked. Slowed it down against Gerut, then blew a 93 mph fastball by him. One bright spot, huh.
batting better than Jones is not something to brag about though...
Hey, is it Asian Dodger Pitcher Tribute Day at Petco today? Kuroda, Park, Kuo...maybe Chin-Lung Hu is in the wings for a surprise stint on the mound!
At this rate, neither his arm, nor his bat, would hurt.
I hope they let Kuo bat for himself here in the eighth. And that he rocks a two-run homer (yeah, like Maza will reach safely).
I know it's a long season, but games like this really make you think we have no chance.
Maza indeed reaches, but Torre subs Sweeney--who FLIES OUT AGAIN and is now batting .125. STOP THE SWEENEY MADNESS
The last time I swung a bat was almost 10 years ago in high school. I have a Dodgers hat and I think I can find some spikes. You think I can be a pinch hitter during the next homestand?
Five things that suck about today's lineup
1. Pierre at the leadoff (to quote SI, "no amount of speed will make a .316 OBP in the leadoff spot viable") (1-for-4 today)
2. Berroa in the seven-hole (0-for-3)
3. Maza in the eight-hole (1-for-3)
4. Sweeney PH in the eighth for Kuo (he flies out, implausibly lowering his average to .125)
5. Subbing Proctor for Kuo after two innings in which Kuo gave up one run but had 5 Ks
You know the game is out of reach when Charlie Steiner starts to complain about the "Express Line" always being the slowest in the middle of an inning. Gotta love radio broadcasts.
Q7: Yes. Suit up.
The only thing that's cheering me up right now is reading the game thread at Mets Blog.
Here we go! 10-run 9th!
Steiner is about to put on a top hat and tails and start tap dancing, there are probably so few people listening to him.
My god, we didn't score 10 runs. We didn't score one run. We suck.
i'm almost glad i missed the game because i had to work in this semi-strange gig...thanks the Lord they are playing Detroit this weekend, unless they manage to make the Tigers rotation as Cy Young worthy material, but i guess they're facing surprise rookie Armando Galarraga (i hope they're mistaken).
Watching Gameday, King James was the only hitter in the lineup who could collect a couple of hits, but of course there was no clutch and i'm not talking about DeWitt...we all have to remember the cup is half-filled.
I want to make some smarmy, inappropriate comment about a specific Dodger's cup (i.e., his jock) being half-filled at the plate.
But I won't stoop to that level.
I will! Dodgers are playing like a bunch of jock-sniffers!
Karina, what do you mean by semi-strange?
hmm, i grew up between boys and i know you can be more offensive than that!
it was semi strange, because i work freelance and this production company usually hires me a lot!, doing wardrobe and props, sometimes they call me to work as an extra in commercials and today i had to act...so i put on lots of makeup to disimulate my two days of flu and i did what i was told...it's also semi strange because it's the third commercial i do as an extra for the same client...
A professional actress in our midst! We look forward to your big-screen debut.
Good Times, Orel. I did appear on the big screen, i was an extra on three different sequences on the first feature film i ever worked in. I was also an extra on a music video i worked...
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