Sunday, July 06, 2008

Game 88 Thread: July 6 @ Giants, 1p

Eric Stults (2-1, 2.21) vs. Matt Cain (5-6, 4.13).

COMMENTS: Today is "PG&E Solar Day" at AT&T Park. The Giants are giving out CFL light bulbs to their first 20,000 fans. For safety's sake, I hope they're giving out coupons for light bulbs, not actual light bulbs. Because—no offense, Giants faithful—a stadium full of projectile-wielding fans + unpopular opposing team = hijinks. Just ask Dodger fans!

Anyhoo, the Dodgers' July luck ran out yesterday after the bullpen couldn't protect a 2-1 lead. No first place for you! At least not for another day. Although Cain is a potential future Giants ace, for some reason he's 0-3 with a 4.88 ERA over six lifetime starts against the Dodgers. Which means he'll probably throw a no-hitter today.

Probable Dodger starter Stults came back to earth his last start, giving up four runs over 5 1/3 innings to Houston. A win today would give the Dodgers the series against the Giants and perhaps first place. A loss would prove the Giants aren't the NL West doormats we thought they would be. So what's it going to be, Dodgers? First place or doormats?

31 comments:

Steve Sax said...

Looks like everyone is busy today since the thread is empty. Stults had trouble in the first and is already in trouble in the second, wth men at second and third and one out, leadoff hitter Fred Lewis batting and a 1-1 tie.

Dodgers' lineup:
Kemp
Ethier
Martin
Loney
Dewitt
Young
LaRoche
Berroa
Stults

Steve Sax said...

Stults gets Lewis on a called third strike. Two out, and up comes the always dangerous Ray Durham

Steve Sax said...

Stults gets Durham to K, as well. That may help Eric's confidence, but he's still at 49 pitches through two frames.

Cain has 28 pitches through two.

Loney had the Dodgers' RBI in the first, doubling in Andre Ethier. Bengie Molina got the Giants even in the bottom of the first, sacrificing Fred Lewis in from third. 1-1 after two.

Steve Sax said...

Strangely, Berroa singles to start out the third inning!

Steve Sax said...

Stults singles, and an error moves both Berroa and Stults up!

Stults' batting averge jumped from .125 (30 points ahead of Mark Sweeney) to .222 (127 points ahead of Mark Sweeney).

Steve Sax said...

In play, run(s)

Kemp singles on a 1-2 pitch! Berroa scores, Stults to third. Don't get picked off this time, Matty! No outs.

Steve Sax said...

In play, run(s)

Now Andre Ethier takes an 0-1 pitch and sac flies to left. 3-1, Dodgers. One out, Kemp on first.

Steve Sax said...

Martin first pitch single. Still only one out, men on first and second. However, Loney is up...this smells like a GIDP...

Steve Sax said...

Loney flies out, men do not advance. Two away, and now DeWitt is DeBatter

Steve Sax said...

Double steal for Kemp and Martin, so Cain rounds out a 2-1 count and intentionaly walks DeWitt to load 'em.

Here comes Delwyn Young, looking to atone for last week's sole loss in Houston.

Steve Sax said...

Cain is pushing heat, two 93 mph fastballs have it 0-2, before a 94 mph fastball makes it a called strikeout. Delwyn, it would be nice if you tried to swing the damn bat every once in a while.

3-1 Dodgers, but it should have been sooooooo much more. Cain with 51 pitches through three.

Steve Sax said...

Stult gets through the third on seven pitches, which is no small feat given it's the heart of the lineup (Winn 3 - Molina 4 - Rowand 5). Well done, Eric! Stults at 57 pitches through three.

3-1 Dodgers after 3.

Steve Sax said...

Dodgers 7-8-9 (LaRoche, Berroa, Stults) go quietly on 11 pitches. On to the bottom of the fourth, 3-1.

Steve Sax said...

Wimbledon Mens' Final was awesome today, despite the rain delays. Way to go, Nadal!

Steve Sax said...

All Star Voting is complete. Here's what you need to know:

--NL West has NO representation, from any of the five teams. Yay.

--Milton Bradley gets on the team as the AL DH, replacing the injured David Ortiz

--Blah blah blah Yankees Cubs Red Sox blah blah blah.

Steve Sax said...

Rich Aurilia belts a solo home run that on gameday, looks like it ended up in that huge glove at SBC Pac Bell AT&T Park. 3-2 Dodgers, one out.

Stults is flustered, on the next pitch gives up a single to Burriss.

Steve Sax said...

Cain's got 2 HR and 3 RBI, they should let him swing away. He foul bunts the first two pitches.

Steve Sax said...

Cain K's on the fifth pitch. But now Lewis is up with a man still on first and two out.

Steve Sax said...

Stults gets out of it, Lewis makes the third out.

Okay, I gotta go to the market and get some brats to grill.

Laters for now

Steve Sax said...

Oh yeah, Go Dodgers! We're going to need more than three runs to win this game, that's for sure; this 3-2 lead won't hold.

karina said...

If someone is interested, Dodgers won 5-3. Interesting piece on the article posted on the team's website:

He sent out a Dodgers lineup with four rookies, a lineup with only two players who spent all of last season in the Major Leagues (All-Star Russell Martin and Andre Ethier) and with nobody earning more than $500,000 this year except for Kansas City castoff shortstop Angel Berroa, who was the graybeard at a listed age of 30.

So, don't trade the kids, Coletti!

Steve Sax said...

Hey Karina, thanks for the epigram. The game got close there at the end, with Saito a little shaky giving up a run and having the tying run at the plate. But despite that, he earned the save, Falkenbourg gets the win, Cain the loss. Great day for Free James Loney, who iced the game with his two-run double.

Unfortunately, AZ held off the Pads, so the Dodgers remain one half game back. However, this marks our third straight series win, and 7 wins in the last 10.

Steve Sax said...

BTW Orel, in response to your question, the Dodgers are neither first place, nor doormats. "(c) none of the above."

Eric Karros said...

I agree with (c), and actually spent some time analyzing Orel's question "So what's it going to be, Dodgers? First place or doormats?". I concluded it was just shorthand for "So what's it going to be, Dodgers? First place or (proving the Giants aren't) doormats?", only inadvertently implying that the Dodgers being doormats was one of the options.

I am making up for weekend inactivity by making useless comments this morning.

Steve Sax said...

EK, I totally agree with you. Orel's GT post has such awkward construction that it renders the ending sentence ambiguous. In theory, a win coupled with an AZ loss would have brought both first place AND proof that the Giants are indeed doormats, but Orel's use of the negative ("the Giants aren't the NL West doormats") makes it unclear whether he wants to prove, or disprove, the doormat theory.

I remain confused, which is my theme for the day.

Eric Karros said...

Actually Sax, I agree with Orel's use of the negative "aren't," as it is the scenario in which the Dodgers lose that he states would "prove the Giants aren't the NL West doormats we thought they would be" (granted, 'support' would have been a better word choice than 'prove,' but the spirit of the sentence is understood). The other scenario is where the Dodgers win, which would give them the chance at 1st place.

So the 2 opposing options do make sense to me; what confused me was the bait-and-switch in the Dodgers-losing scenario. A Dodger loss went from 'proving that the Giants aren't doormats' to a sentence construction that implied it's the Dodgers who would be the doormats.

By the way, given the level of scrutiny we are subjecting Orel's GT to, coupled with my writing skills compared to his, I think next time I write a GT I better stick to just posting photos.

Eric Karros said...

And by the way, now I see that the 2nd photo is a SF doormat. I thought it was the lid of a jewelry box or something.

Steve Sax said...

Wait a minute, I just realized that first picture is a lightbulb. I thought it was a waterslide.

Steve Sax said...

And further overanalyzing Orel's GT, let's assume that tonight we blow a nine-run lead in the ninth inning, only to get the winning run in the 16th after a Brave reliever walks in Delwyn Young with the bases loaded. Then, I suppose, we could be (d) all of the above, right?

(Assuming that (d) does not include (c), of course.)

karina said...

Eric, i wouldn't advice using images as GT. Words are way more accurate than pictures, so using pictures would bring more scrutiny to your posts. Eg: confusing the lightbulb with a waterslide, the doormat as a jewelry box...just saying...

Eric Karros said...

That's true Karina, although I bet I could write a GT that is confusinger than any photo out there.

And Sax, in the scenario you present, I think the question would no longer be "What's it going to be Dodgers, 1st place or doormats?" and instead become "why the hell did Torre stick with Proctor even after he gave up the first 6 runs!?!?"