Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Game 15 Thread: April 22 @ Astros, 5p

Randy Wolf (1-1, 3.93) vs. Roy Oswalt (0-1, 4.26).

COMMENTS: What do you get when you don't take your opposing starter (and his 6.23 ERA) seriously? Or when he starts out the game by giving up two walks and a run-scoring single, takes 33 pitches to finish the inning, and stakes you to a three-run lead? Or when you bat the red-hot, MLB-leading hit streaker Matt Kemp SEVENTH in the lineup, so he's left in the on-deck circle at game's end, having watched James Loney and Russell Martin each strike out with the bases loaded?

You get a big, embarrassing loss.

We'll see if Wolf, who had one bad first inning in an otherwise decent outing last Friday, can overcome Oswalt, who looked spotty himself when we saw him pitch in the World Baseball Classic semifinals. With luck, Torre has figured out the error of his ways and elevated Kemp (who tripled with one out in the fourth, with the Dodgers down 4-3, but was left stranded on third) back in the lineup. The Astros may not be the pushover that our NL West opponents have been, but the short porch in left should provide some easy pickings for our potent bats, right (in other words, Manny shouldn't have been the only one to go yard yesterday)? Let's get cracking!

142 comments:

Steve Sax said...

San Diego @ SF, scoreless through five, Zito is on the ropes with men at the corners and two out. Kevin Kouzmanoff is at the plate.

Steve Sax said...

Zito escapes the jam. 0-0, on to the bottom of the sixth.

SD has six hits and no runs. Chris Young of the Padres has given up one hit through five frames.

Steve Sax said...

SD 0, SF 0 through six

Booger said...

same at top of the 8th now.

Steve Sax said...

booger! Where have you been, dude?

Steve Sax said...

0-0. and Brian Wilson gets Brian Giles to strand the runner at second. On to the bottom of the 10th...

Steve Sax said...

Jody Gerut was stranded on second with one out...

Steve Sax said...

Bottom of the tenth in a tie ballgame, man on first with one out for the Giants.

This is tough, rooting for the Giants. Maybe I can root for this to be a forty-inning game instead.

Steve Sax said...

Torres steals second. Still one out, and Eugenio Velez and his .111 average are up.

Jimbo said...

Dodgers have to win the next two.

I realize the Dodgers will lose many more games throughout the season, but if they can best a team 2 out of three or, in the case of a four game series, break even, then a first-place finish should be solid.

Neeebs (The Original) said...

Gotta love the Booger.

Neeebs (The Original) said...

I want Mr. Customer to tell us that the Dodgers will win tonight. Because, you know, the Customer is always right. Right?

Steve Sax said...

Bengie Molina gets it done with two out in the tenth. SF 1, SD 0. That gives us a half-game more breathing room tonight...

Steve Sax said...

I wonder if Dr. Geek and Mr. Customer are the same person.

Somewhere, Robert Louis Stevenson weeps.

Steve Sax said...

Snakes beat the Rockies 2-0

Unknown said...

That game between the Friars and Gints begs the following question: has Barry Zito finally figured it out?

Anyway, some match up info:

vs. Oswalt

Furcal - .364 .385 .545 .930 (1 BB, 2 K, 1 3B) - Nice

Hudson - .154 .154 .154 .308 (3 K, 0 BB, 0 XBH) - Ugly

Manny - No Record - Interesting

Ethier - .200 .333 .400 .733 (0 K, 1 BB, 1 2B) - Small Sample, but mediocre

Loney - .333 .286 .333 .619 (0 K, 0 BB, 0 XBH, 1 GIDP, 1 SF) - Weird line

Russell - .000 .143 .000 .143 (1 K, 0 BB, 1 HBP) - Very ugly

Kemp - .000 .000 .000 .000 (0 K) - only 1 PA

Blake - No Record

We basically need 8 Furcals tonight.

Orel said...

Rafael Furcal, SS
Orlando Furcal, 2B
Manny Furcal, LF
Andre Furcal, RF
James Furcal, 1B
Russell Furcal, C
Matt Furcal, CF
Casey Furcal, 3B
Randy Wolf, P

Unknown said...

LOL @ Orel

Unknown said...

Man, I thought Rafael Wolf was pitching tonight.

Unknown said...

And Matty Kemp in the seven hole...again? Is there logic behind this? Someone needs to tell Joe the word is out on Kemp, lets not cheat him of PA's like he was last night.

Unknown said...

I'm telling you. All Furcals is what we need.

MattyA said...

Damn, Hudson is hotter than hot.

Unknown said...

Well, looks like we only have 2 Furcals today.

MattyA said...

I hate to keep hammering it home, but if Kemp's hitting in the 5 spot he's up there instead of Loney.

Unknown said...

Wolf has his issues, but the guy can punch out a ton of guys without much velocity.

Unknown said...

Well, Tejada appears to be off to his usual fast start.

MattyA said...

Come on! Don't give up that weak stuff!

Unknown said...

Seriously. Wolf is nasty when he is on.

MattyA said...

Seems like Wolf is on tonight (knock on wood).

Unknown said...

Perhaps Randy Furcal?

Unknown said...

Ok. Russ took a swing on the second pitch. I like that.

Dusto_Magnifico said...

Fire Joe Torre!

Unknown said...

Was that a typical Furcal easy play error?

MattyA said...

I don't know - I've got radio coverage only.

Unknown said...

Keppinger is raking so far this year. Hopefully Randy can do something with him.

Fred's Brim said...

Clemens on the Astros broadcast looking fat!

Fred's Brim said...

and hi everybody! i hope we can do some damage to Oswalt tonight

Steve Sax said...

Hey guys, I'm back, and it looks like I've just missed the Dodgers squandering runs in the first inning. We need O-Dog to reach and Manny to pop.

Steve Sax said...

Well, at least Manny bats leadoff next inning.

Unknown said...

Is Roy-O under orders to not swing?

MattyA said...

Nice quick inning, Randy!

Alex Cora said...

Hey all. Still 0-0? Come bats, lets get hot!

Alex Cora said...

Dude this aflac question is too tough.

Unknown said...

I like the pitch conservation Wolf. Now, lets see Manny send a message.

Unknown said...

Oswalt reached back for that one.

MattyA said...

All right, Andre!

Fred's Brim said...

i hate this stadium - every pop fly feels like a home run

Steve Sax said...

Well, at least Kemp bats leadoff next inning.

Unknown said...

Well Randy, ya grooved that one.

Unknown said...

If Michaels didn't suck, that double would have been a home run. Wolf straight up hung that.

Fred's Brim said...

Randy ain't foolin anybody right now

Orel said...

How many have we LOB so far?

Unknown said...

Well, he just made quick work of Pudge. Hopefully he just made 2 mistakes.

Fred's Brim said...

Michaels misses his drinkin buddy Pat Burrell

Steve Sax said...

Randy's doing what is expected of him: 4Ks, 2ER through four innings.

We need to score some runs here.

Unknown said...

That was too nasty.

Fred's Brim said...

cripes

Alex Cora said...

Dude this is bad. How can this team not produce with runners on and 2 outs?

Unknown said...

Yeesh. The LOB rate is killing me.

Steve Sax said...

we clearly have used up all of our runs on the homestand. we can't buy a run here.

Steve Sax said...

Well, at least we have Manny batting leadoff next inning.

Unknown said...

I wouldn't say that Sax. We scored 5 yesterday.

Alex Cora said...

YES DP!!!

Unknown said...

4-6-3 and its Manny time

Alex Cora said...

MANNYY!!! HITS IT OUT OF THE PARK!!

Alex Cora said...

OUt of the entire stadium!

Unknown said...

Oswalt is really reaching back when he pitches to Manny.

...and that's what he gets for it.

Steve Sax said...

see, it's all about Manny. 2-1 'Stros.

Steve Sax said...

Andre's going to hit a homer of his own...

MattyA said...

Nice call, Sax

Alex Cora said...

Ethier ties it up!!!! Anything you can do...

Unknown said...

Back to Back jacks. And Ethier goes the other way.

Unknown said...

Roy-O is actually throwing harder and getting hit harder.

Alex Cora said...

Come on Jmes, make it Three!

Alex Cora said...

Oops, ok, well, maybe not. Groundout.

Unknown said...

I'm waiting for video of Manny's shot on Gameday.

Steve Sax said...

Dudes, I SO CALLED the Ethier Home Run.

Steve Sax said...

thanks for the props, MattyA

Steve Sax said...

I'm heading out to the Hustler Casino as we speak

Steve Sax said...

Okay gents, see you on the other side

Unknown said...

Gameday posted it. Manny looked like a helicopter with that swing. Oswalt could only look back and admire.

Alex Cora said...

CASEY!!!! 4-2 Blue crew!

MattyA said...

Blake too! What an inning!

Unknown said...

According to Gameday, Kemp was f'ed on that inside called strike 3.

Anyone else notice that Manny started swinging at that pitch them moment it left Oswalt's hand? He read that thing like a book.

Unknown said...

Anyone else know the last time Oswalt let up 3 homers in a game, let alone a single inning?

Loney Fan said...

Aaaaaaannnnddd heeeerrrreee come the Dodgers!

Unknown said...

You can tell Roy was pissed. He snapped off 2 hooks on Wolf to strike him out

MattyA said...

Steiner just said Valverde's not available tonight because of a strained calf from last night

Alex Cora said...

That was a stirke to Berkman - what did Gameday say?

Fred's Brim said...

throw strikes!

Unknown said...

Gameday suggests that the last pitch to Berkman was on the black.

Fred's Brim said...

91! didnt think he could get it up that high

Fred's Brim said...

Randy's curve isnt curving much tonight

Unknown said...

Well, at least the Bison got to show off his arm. Too bad Randy couldn't hold the lead, because his count is way low.

Unknown said...

Randy's curve isn't the problem, it is the slider/change.

Fred's Brim said...

Oswalt hadn't given up 3 homers in an inning until tonight

Unknown said...

If Wolf gets a DP here, he should be good for the 8th.

Fred's Brim said...

good call, Ali!

Unknown said...

Wow. The predictive powers of SOSG tonight.

Shall I predict Russell's first dinger of the year?

Fred's Brim said...

yes please!

Fred's Brim said...

the second inning of relief for Sampson - will it spell trouble?

Unknown said...

In play, no out

Unknown said...

In play, run(s)!

Loney Fan said...

About time Loney!!

Unknown said...

Gameday says the ump is calling a lot of inside strikes to RHB.

PenosCabell said...

I hope that gets Loney going.

Unknown said...

Damn, I hate when my predictions go wrong.

Damon said...

there ya go free james

PenosCabell said...

That AB looked like Matt Kemp of old

Unknown said...

Caballo wasn't having much luck picking up that ball. Loney could have gone for 3.

PenosCabell said...

Alireza- youre right, Loney could have had a triple.

PenosCabell said...

Martin and Kemp wouldn't have gotten him in those weak hits

Unknown said...

Wow. Bellysario is setting up now?

PenosCabell said...

Excuse me while I go throw up

Unknown said...

Yeah. Torre is stupid. He could have kept Wolf in and made sure Berkman batted from his weaker side, but no.

Fred's Brim said...

fudge

Unknown said...

Oh goodness Ronald. Next time you do that, we send you to the Outback Walter Silva was working at.

NicJ said...

this game is pretty aggrivating.

Unknown said...

I am shaking my head and my fist at this.

PenosCabell said...

Damn you Belsario

Unknown said...

So question. Who will be the closer and who will be pinch hitting?

NicJ said...

Mmm.... I would hope a comeback is in order, but we really don't deserve this game.

PenosCabell said...

Those Valverde hilights are hilarious

Unknown said...

WHY SLAPPY?

Orel said...

This game has had a little of everything.

PenosCabell said...

That was wonderful Juan!

Unknown said...

Wow. Of all the ways to lead off an inning. A Juan Pierre pop up is not pretty. At least DeWitt is a HR threat.

Dusto_Magnifico said...

Thank god we have Juan Pierre.

PenosCabell said...

How many baserunners have the Dodgers left on today?

Unknown said...

Not quite sure Penos. Gameday says 16, but that includes duplication.

PenosCabell said...

Thanks Alireza.

karina said...

Epale everyone!

just coming back home, finding out we're winning!

karina said...

MY mistake :(

PenosCabell said...

I wish you were right

Unknown said...

I am thoroughly disgusted, particularly with the way Torre managed.

PenosCabell said...

That was depressing

Loney Fan said...

I'm going to cry into my beer now. Goodnight everyone.

koufax said...

where is hong-chi kuo in the eighth inning he hasnt pitched for a week?

Orel said...

Post-Game Thread is up.

Booger said...

Hey Sax,

i've been monitoring from a distance.

Orel said...

Hmmm, arm problems for Kuo? Just speculation on my part.

karina said...

I don't think it's wise to have Belisario as set-up. He needs to acclimate to the big leagues.