Saturday, June 06, 2015

Game 56 Thread: June 6 vs. Cards, 7p

Clayton Kershaw (4-3, 3.73) vs. Jaime Garcia (1-2, 2.70)

Fifty-five games in as we head into the meat of June, the Dodgers find themselves at a crossroads, a mere statistically insignificant .5 games ahead of the Hated Ones. Things could go either way at this point.

With the pitching, Frias and Anderson have been mostly successful in keeping the Dodgers in games they pitch, but the bats have failed them in those games. The rotation needs some help, stat, as there is a big question mark around whether these guys can keep up the solid pitching all season as the summer grind picks up.

On the offensive side of things, it has really been hit or miss. The Dodger bats seem cat-like: asleep for games at a time then a sudden awakening only to settle back into a warm nap on the window ledge soon after. Having so many different bats rotated in and out can't help that need for consistency. Hell, last night at the Yard I was forced to watch this lineup at one point:

Pederson
Rollins
Heisey
Grandal
Ethier
Callaspo
Schebler
Hernandez
Anderson

(cries)

Two big things are happening soon, though, that could provide a needed spark to both team and fans: 1) Yasiel Puig is likely to return as early as today. We need his energy, his bat, and his athleticism in the outfield. And heck, I just miss the fella. 2) Beginning Tuesday, Charter Cable will begin showing the Dodger games! While this doesn't solve the viewership problem for all, it helps many of us finally be able to access the games.

It's a long season and there's plenty of time to kick it into high gear. A third of the way through, this could go either way.

62 comments:

spank said...

(cries)

Steve Sax said...

Thanks DB for a great GT

Dusty Baker said...

Sir Barton
Gallant Fox
Omaha
War Admiral
Whirlaway
Count Fleet
Assault
Citation
Secretariat
Seattle Slew
Affirmed
American Pharaoh

Dusty Baker said...

Pederson CF
Heisey LF
Puig RF
Turner 1B
Hernandez 2B
Rollins SS
Callaspo 3B
Ellis C
Kershaw P

Dusty Baker said...

What a fucking shite lineup. Hernandez CANNOT play 2B. I watched live last night and he looked like I did when I was eight in pee wee league, throwing grass in the air and tossing my glove up and catching it over and over between (and during) plays. No A-Gon vs Cards? Right. No Guerrero instead of Heisey? Nonetheless, headed to the Yard now.

Steve Sax said...

Puig is back!!

Steve Sax said...

American Pharaoh it is!

Fred's Brim said...

@Dusty I agree wholeheartedly about your disgust with the lineups. I don't have a specific opinion on Hernandez but I really don't understand the lineup jostling every single day. It feels like every night has somebody resting or being platooned for dubious reasons. It's like they are playing for something down the road, like they are thinking "just gotta make it to August." I know they are all smarter than I am but playing this lineup like it's an NBA roster playing for a 2-month playoff season isn't the way I would do it. I know a few people are hurt (although it's nice to see Puig's name again) but it feels like every lineup is at 60% (or less like tonight) when it doesn't have to be.

Fred's Brim said...

3 pitches, Jimmy?

Fred's Brim said...

Callaspo with a shave

Fred's Brim said...

and a grounder to short

karen said...

Beautiful breaker to K Kozma.

Dusty Baker said...

Jesus shit Clay looks good tonight here at the Yard. PLEASE score some runs for the brother, offense.

Fred's Brim said...

Clayton seems to have good stuff tonight, plus he got through the 4th unscathed

Fred's Brim said...

Agreed, karen and DB. The classic slider is in the building and it is eating up righties

Fred's Brim said...

high strike to Puig, 2 Ks in his return

Fred's Brim said...

Johnny Cash's daddy was a sonovabitch

Fred's Brim said...

it's so much fun when we face lefties
SVS needs to fix his back and quick

Fred's Brim said...

godDAMN we are a boring lineup

Fred's Brim said...

Vin into his D-Day story

Fred's Brim said...

Clayton mad about a walk to Molina

Fred's Brim said...

Carpenter out after Clayton hit him in the 1st on the back of the arm

karen said...

Kid K knocks Carpenter out of the game.


(hehe)

Fred's Brim said...

Hernandez with his second soft single of the night

Fred's Brim said...

wow, Jimmy doubling up on his outs now

Fred's Brim said...

Callaspo hits it about as far as he can

Fred's Brim said...

great plays by JT and Clayton

Fred's Brim said...

good inning for Clayton

Fred's Brim said...

AJ may as well step to the plate without a bat

Fred's Brim said...

Joc Ks

Fred's Brim said...

wow, leadoff double by Heisey

Fred's Brim said...

wow, Vin says it's the first runner for either team to get to the boobs

Fred's Brim said...

Puig still swinging at minor league pitches

karen said...

WELCOME HOME YASIEL!!!

Fred's Brim said...

YES Puig with an RBI double!

spank said...

that was nice

Fred's Brim said...

Puig running very aggressively scores on Turners liner that was nearly caught at second, should have been a double play

Fred's Brim said...

nice double play

Orel said...

Puig is back!

Fred's Brim said...

Somebody on the field, Dusty I assume

karen said...

Matty hit only his 2nd homer tonight.

Fred's Brim said...

great 8th for Clayton, 106 pitches. Gotta think Donnie will let him go out for the 9th but with Kenley ready to go if things get dicey

Fred's Brim said...

I wish Matty was in the AL so I could still root for him

karen said...

Yeah, I wasn't sure I should point that out because I still think he's going to come back to haunt us.

karen said...

Here comes Kenley....

Steve Sax said...

Ok. 2-0 LA going to the ninth.

Fred's Brim said...

Great work, Clayton

Steve Sax said...

One out

karen said...

What a great story about JD Salinger.

Steve Sax said...

Nice job Ellis! Two out

Fred's Brim said...

Nice work, AJ

Fred's Brim said...

Dusty's on the field again. That's what you get when you force him to drink Montejo

karen said...

Vinny gets so pissed when someone runs out on the field. It always cracks me up because he's always so Zen all the rest of the time.

Fred's Brim said...

Attaboy Kenley!

WOOOP!

Steve Sax said...

Way to go! Finally got a win!

karen said...

Caught looking. Great game tonight. We keep our lead, Yasiel is back and Kid K looked great.

Fred's Brim said...

hopefully this the start of a dominant run by Clayton

karen said...

Night kids!

Orel said...

Good job, everybody!

Steve Sax said...

PGT up!

Steve Sax said...

Oh yeah, and for DB 5:08p: this clarifies things. American "Pharoah" it is, incorrectly!

Neeebs (The Original) said...

FB 8:59....took me a bit to get it