WELP

Dodgers announce that Corey Seager will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the rest of 2018

— Eric Stephen (@truebluela) April 30, 2018

Series Thread (Games 28-31): April 30 - May 3 @ Snakes

Mon 4/30, 6:40p: Ross Stripling vs. Zack Greinke ARI 8, LAD 5
Tues 5/1, 6.40p: Clayton Kershaw vs. Matt Koch ARI 4, LAD 3
Wed 5/2, 6.40p: Hyun-Jin Ryu vs. Zack Godley LAD 2, ARI 1
Thu 5/3, 12.40p: Alex Wood vs. Patrick Corbin LAD 5, ARI 2

April 2018 has been pretty depressing for the Dodgers, capped by a horrible performance in losing three of four in San Francisco this weekend. Between dropping the two series to the Marlins and Giants, we've also come away with even more injuries not to mention players like Cody Bellinger getting benched for lack of hustle.

The LAT's Houston Mitchell has already had enough (especially regarding the Bellinger benching. And if you're a Dodger fan watching any of these games, you've probably had enough, as well. This team lacks consistency, drive, batting with runners in scoring position, a decent bullpen, and Justin Turner.

We've got four games against the NL West leader, Arizona, who is seven full games ahead of us and on track to be something like 59 games ahead of us by year's end (my math may be off there). I'd like to think it's put-up-or-shut-up time, but that incentive certainly hasn't motivated Pedro Baez of late. So why would it motivate any of the rest of the Dodgers?

I"m depressed. (And anxious.)

Note: We are trying everything here at SoSG HQ, including bolding our starter but not the opposing pitcher. What the hell, why not. Better than trotting Pedro Baez out there each time.

Series Thread (Games 24-27), 4/27-29 @ Giants

Fri, 7p: Hyun-Jin Ryu vs Derek Holland Orange 6, Blue 4
Sat, 1p: Walker Buehler vs Chris Stratton Blue 15, Orange 6
Sat, 7p: Alex Wood vs Johnny Cueto Orange 8, Blue 3
Sun, 2p: Kenta Maeda vs Ty Blach Orange 4, Blue 2

WELP.

Donnie's Revenge is complete, the Marlins having taken two of three from us to boost their record to a scintillating 7-17. Meanwhile, the third-place Dodgers (11-12) visit the fourth-place Giants (11-13...how are we ahead of them in the standings?) in a series that includes a doubleheader that makes up for a rainout in San Francisco earlier this month.

The Dodgers went 12-17 last September, so maybe they're just getting their shitty month out of the way now? If so, brilliant plan, guys!

Series Thread (Games 21-23), April 23-25 vs Marlins

Monday 4/23: Garcia (1-0, 0.86) vs Buehler (0-0, 0.00) LAD 2, FLA 1

Tuesday 4/24: Peters (2-2, 6.98) vs Maeda (2-1, 3.77) FLA 3, LAD 2

Wednesday 4/25: Richards (0-2, 6.16)) vs Kershaw (1-3, 2.45) FLA 8, LAD 6 Boooooo-urns!


Welcome back to the show Walker Buehler!  His major league STARTING debut is tonight and the hype train is real.  Remember when Cody come up in April?  That turned out pretty good.  However the word on the street is that Buehler pitches two games then goes back down.  Nonetheless, here a glimpse of the future.

Its also welcome back Don Mattingly and company (including Miguel "let me save Kershaw's no hitter" Rojas).  He's dealt a raw deck by Jeter and the management - remember the lame duck manager status in LA?  De ja vu.  Welp, here's to getting well against a struggling team.  GO BLUE!

Series Thread (Games 18-20), April 20-22 vs. Nationals

• Friday 4/20 7p: Clayton Kershaw (1-2, 1.73) vs. Max Scherzer (3-1, 1.33) WSH 5, LAD 2
  
• Saturday 4/21 6p: Hyun-Jin Ryu (2-0, 2.87) vs. Stephen Strasburg (2-1, 3.08) LAD 4, WSH 0
  
• Sunday 4/22 5p: Alex Wood (0-2, 3.91) vs. Jeremy Hellickson (0-0, 3.86) LAD 4, WSH 3

After weeks of stumbling through the NL (and AL) West, and finally getting the groove back in San Diego (outscoring the Padres 30-10 in the three-game series!), we finally meet a formidable opponent from another division predicted to go to the playoffs...and they too are one game below .500. The Nationals have spent this year getting swept by the Mets and losing three of four to the Rockies, both of which came at home. But Bryce Harper is still mashing home runs (a league-leading 8 on the year), even when he breaks his bat in the process; and they are throwing two of their best arms against us in this series.

But we're rolling now too, right? Grandal is batting .352 with a 1.046 OPS; Matt Kemp is .347 and does look better at the plate than expected; and Corey Seager, 4-for-5 Wednesday vs. the Padres, finally looks locked in. Even Max Muncy got into the action with a 2-run HR on Wednesday; he's batting .400 with a 1.500 OPS, a small sample size, and a large waistline. Hey, we'll take it.

In personal news, I'll be at the Stadium tonight to watch the fireworks fly. It's set to 80's music. I'll be right at home.

Oh, and for all the rest of you: be careful out there.

Finally, some tips on what to do with pesky gNats (it's amazing what you learn when searching things on google):

Series Thread (Games 15-17), 4/16-18 @ Friars

Dodgers are so horrible the homiez at SoSG have already stopped game threads 2 weeks into the season.

—Spank

Mon, 7p: Hyun-Jin Ryu vs Robbie Erlin Dods 10, Pads 3
Tues, 7p: Alex Wood vs Bryan Mitchell DODGERS 7, PADRES 3 (12); Jansen BS, but Grandal and Farmer win it in the 12th
Wed, 7p: Kenta Maeda vs Tyson Ross LAD 13, SD 4 Sweep!

Series Thread (Games 12-14), 4/13-15 vs Snakes

Fri, 7p: Kenta Maeda vs Zack Greinke Snakes 8, Dodgers 7
Sat, 6p: Rich Hill vs Taijuan Walker Snakes 9, Dodgers 1
Sun, 1p: Clayton Kershaw vs Zack Godley Dodgers 7, Snakes 2

OH MY GOD WE SUCK WHY EVEN WATCH

Series Thread (Games 10-11), Apr 10-11 vs. A's

Dodgers and A's to meet in the first-ever Sewage Series.
4/10: Hyun-Jin Ryu vs. Sean Manaea, 7p LAD 4, OAK 0
4/11: Alex Wood vs. Daniel Mengden, 7p OAK 16, LAD 6

The Dodgers return home for a brief two-game set with the Athletics before *checks notes* another off day. Counting last Friday's rainout, that's four off days in the last eight days. Though, lately, maybe it's a good thing that the Dodgers are not playing more than they're playing.

They are coming off a win over the Giants on Sunday, which, hand to God, feels like a month ago. This season has started off super weird, so maybe this series will being some normalcy.

(Then again, I used a picture of actual shit for the series thread, so...*shrug*)

Not To Instill Panic...

But we're tied with them!

Marlins 2018 Starting Roster

Series Thread (Games 8-10): 4/6-8 @ Giants

Fri, 7:15p postponed until 4/28: Kenta Maeda vs Derek Holland
Sat, 1p: Rich Hill vs Chris Stratton SF 7, LAD 5 (14)
Sun 1p: Clayton Kershaw vs Ty Blach LAD 2, SF 1 (10)

Fear not, Dodger faithful! Our front office's extremely proactive off-season is about to pay off!

I know, it's hard to believe Stan Kasten loosened the purse strings so the Dodgers could trade a few scrub prospects for mega-slugger Giancarlo "Don't Call Me Mike" Stanton, but he did! Now Stanton is playing for the team he grew up rooting for!

And what luck we had when double threat Shohei Ohtani decided to pick the Dodgers to play for, joining his countryman Yu Darvish, who was signed when Friedman & Farhan dug in the couch cushions to find some spare change to shore up the rotation.

And thank god the Dodgers finally cut bait on deadweight Pedro Baez and re-invested in a real middle reliever, Brandon Morrow.

We're locked and loaded! It's going to be a great year, Dodger fans! Let's play — WAKES UP

DAMMIT

(cries)

Dodgers 4-for-4 on Free Chicken McNuggets

Yeah, sure, we ended up 2-2 this weekend with the Giants. But the upside of the Dodgers' impressive pitching display in the Opening Weekend four games?

When the Dodgers throw a shutout in the sixth inning, fans get a free six-piece Chicken McNuggets with any $1 purchase at McDonalds.

Dodgers at home = your chance at FREE Chicken McNuggets w/ purchase at participating @mcdonalds_socal. Download & register on the McD’s app! pic.twitter.com/f8XVsGgddN

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 26, 2017

And damned if I didn't get my free McNuggets after watching that crappy Opening Day:

McNuggets! I mean, it's not Free Shevacado, but I'll take it. (And I'll keep going, all year long, baby! I'm bankrupting McDonald's, with Clayton Kershaw's help!)

(Not sure if this works for away games.) UPDATE 4/3: Based on the Dodgers' shutout sixth last night vs. AZ, and the lack of that deal in my McDonald's app inbox, I am assuming it's not in play for away games. Drat.

Series Thread (Games 5-7): April 2-4 @ Diamondbacks

• Monday 4/2: Hyun-Jin Ryu vs. T Walker, 6.40p ARI 8, LAD 7 (15)
  
• Tuesday 4/3: Clayton Kershaw (0-1, 1.50) vs. Godley (N/A), 6.40p ARI 6, LAD 1
  
• Wednesday 4/4: Alex Wood (0-0, 0.00) vs. Tyler Corbin (1-0, 3.18), 12:40p ARI 3, LAD 0

In our opening series, we outscored the Giants 14-2 but we ended up splitting the four-game series, a mathematical improbability and honestly a pretty pathetic outcome. Though none of Saturday's starters ended the game with a batting average above .200, Sunday's game saw a number of players wake up and shatter the Mendoza line: Chris Taylor (2-for-5, now batting .267 in the leadoff spot); Yasiel Puig (3-for-4, .231); Yasmani Grandal (2-for-4, .400); and Kike Hernandez (2-for-4, .333). Cody Bellinger got his first hit of a year, a two-run HR in the sixth off of Josh Osich. And it was fun to finally spank a team on national television, driving Osich's ERA to 10.80 and Robert Gomez' ERA to 36.00.

And now we go to the valley of the Snakes, who beat the Rockies in their opening series two games to one, and got to spend Easter Sunday hanging out with their families and coloring dyed eggs. (What to do with those eggs?) The Diamondbacks' 2-1 record now leads the NL West, with the Dodgers a scant half-game behind.

These Snakes are happy! We can't score runs consistently, and we haven't rested! What could possibly go wrong?

Post-Game 4 Thread: Dodgers Outscore Giants 14-2 in Series, Escape with Split

DODGERS 9, GIANTS 0

Not much to recap — just wanted to use that title.

Игра 4 Тема: 1 апреля против Гигантов, 5:30p

Рич Хилл (0-0, -.--) против Криса Стрэттона (0-0, -.--)

Счастливой Пасхи!

Это также День дураков, но кажется, что Доджерс получил жестокие шутки с раннего пути. Две вялые потери, чтобы начать сезон. Хороший, ребята!

К счастью, вчера они отпустили нас от крючка и вернулись в колонну победы. Кента Маэда выглядела потрясающе, но его явная задняя боль в пятом была тревожной.

С обезьянами работает с их спины, теперь они могут сосредоточиться на получении победы сегодня вечером и избежать этой причудливой серии открытия с расколом.

Пойдем!