Series Thread (Games 160-162): Sept 28-30 @ Gnats

Fri, 9/28 7:15p: Ryu vs. Bumgarner
Sat, 9/29 1:05p: Kershaw vs. Rodriguez
Sun, 9/30 12:05p: Buehler Hill vs. Suarez

(Quick note: I've paid so little attention to the Gnats this year that I have no idea who Rodriguez and Suarez are.)

Hey, remember last Saturday? 2.5 games up in the division with 7 to play? So cool, right? It's amazing what going 1-3 against out-of-contention division rivals will do to your spirits. (Not the spirits we've ingested since then, but those are in play this weekend too.) In that same span, the Rockies have gone 5-0 and now sit 1 game up in the division going into the final weekend.

But just how final will this final weekend be for our beloved, but, let's be honest, wholly mediocre 2018 Dodgers? Well, they'd have to be truly, spectacularly awful in San Francisco to miss the postseason entirely. They do have a 1 game lead on the Cardinals for the second Wild Card, so only getting swept by the Giants, combined with the Cardinals sweeping the Cubs, would mean the Dodgers season would end on Sunday. Not outside the realm of possibility, but let's think a little more positively. (SoSG Patron Saint of Positivity Karina and old friend Yvonne Carrasco would have it no other way.)

The best way for the Dodgers to play past Sunday is to JUST WIN, BABY! A sweep of the Gnats would guarantee a Wild Card spot and maaaayyybe secure a division win, if the red-hot Rockies pick this weekend to up and die. Two out of three isn't as great, but would guarantee at least a tiebreaker game with the Cards for the WC.

So, yeah, this season, which started with a river of shit, is coming to a potentially painful finish. But it could also be the start of something AMAZING. What are you going to do, not watch? Well, I mean yeah, you're not, because you don't have Spectrum. But you're going to at least pay attention, right?!

GO BLUE! (Pretty please?)

UPDATE 9/30 9a (Sax): With the Dodgers and Rockies tied after 161 games, Rich Hill will take the mound today for the Dodgers. Holy shit, I'm freaking out here.

228! 229!

Keep 'em coming.

227!

With one swing of the Mighty Turner's bat, the Dodgers come that much closer to a Wild Card.

But more importantly, they have reached 227 HOME RUNS FOR THE SEASON

To Justin and all the Sons, this one's for you.

In case you want to sing along...There's no place like home
With your family around you you're never alone
When ya know that your loved
You don't need to roam
Cause there's no place like home

Time's are changing everyday
We won't get by with those same old ways
(No-oooo)
Pulling together, we'll make it right
With help from our friends, I know we'll get by

Cause there's no place like home
With your family around you you're never alone
When you know that your loved
You don't need to roam
Cause there ain't no place like
(Better believe it)
There ain't no place like
(Better believe it)
Cause there ain't no place like
There's no place like home
"I mean no place child".

Series Thread (Games 157-159): Sept 24-26 @ Snakes

Mon Sept 24 6.30p: Kershaw vs. Ray
Tues Sept 25 6.30p: Buehler vs. Koch
Wed Sept 26 6.30p: Stripling vs. Greinke

The Snakes are already dead, proclaimed SoSG Orel in yesterday's GT. But that doesn't make these Snakes any less potent, as they still wield the power to shape the NL West division race with a strong showing against the Dodgers in the desert.

Everyone says the Dodgers have a creampuff schedule down the stretch, however we are only 7-9 this season vs. both the Diamondbacks and our next opponent, the Giants (we've feasted on Colorado and San Diego). And here's the math: if we go 3-3 for the remainder of the season, Colorado (against the Phillies and Nationals, both of whom have also been eliminated from postseason contention) just needs to go 5-2 to tie (we have the tiebreaker, but still). So it ain't over 'til it's over.

Don't let a "dead" snake fool you, Dodgers!

And make sure you tune in for what might be Clayton Kershaw's last regular season start as a Dodger (cries).

IT'S COMING

What... you may ask?

A NUMBER even more magical than our cherished and cursed FIVE.

One more dinger.

One more tater.

One more bomb.

And the Dodgers will reach a plateau so magical, we dare not even speak its name.

SonsOfSteveGarvey, in conjunction with

...and the estate of Marla Gibbs, will be covering this historic event with up-to-the-second real time analysis. Get your champagne and Charles Shaw wine ready, SOSG-maniacs. For there's "no place like home(r)".

Series Thread (Games 154-156): Sept 21-23 vs. Padres

This picture doesn't have anything to do with my GT, but I did think of this game when looking at the Padres' starter for Sunday.

Fri 9/21 7p: Stripling vs. Lauer
Sat 9/22 6p: Hill vs. Nix
Sun 9/23 1p: Ryu vs. Lucchesi

This is it, the last home series of the year! The Dodgers are coming off a head of steam, sweeping Colorado for the first three games of this short homestand, seizing a 2.5 game lead on the division with nine games left. Hackneyed articles about the Dodgers' bloated payroll be damned; we are now a "blue-collar" team, according to Mike Lupica of mlb.com. So we need to keep grinding away at our magic number, currently at 8 for the division title.

There's more baseball to play.

That said, we always seem to do poorly against the bad teams (exhibit a: 1-6 record vs. Cincinnati this season), so do you think we'll keep up the grinding against a team that's not even .400 on the season (61-92)?

Billie Jean King Joins Dodgers Ownership

The Los Angeles Dodgers today announced that social activists, tennis champions and longtime partners Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss have joined the team’s ownership group.

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 20, 2018

What an honor it is to be part of an⁩ organization with such a strong commitment to equality and inclusion. Let’s go, ⁦@Dodgers⁩! ⚾️ https://t.co/gVe7AVv8t8

— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) September 20, 2018

• Tennis icon Billie Jean King is joining the Dodgers ownership group (Bill Plaschke, LA Times)

This is unexpected and thrilling in equal measure — a move that helps us root for the Dodgers as an organization as opposed to merely a group of players. Welcome to the Blue, Billie Jean & Ilana!

Series Thread (Games 151-153): 9/17-19 vs Rox

Mon, 7p: Hyun-Jin Ryu vs Jon Gray
Tues, 7p: Clayton Kershaw vs Kyle Freeland
Wed, 7p: Walker Buehler vs Tyler Anderson

Three games against the team that's a half game up on us? It's crucial!

But what about that four-game series we just took from the team we're battling for the second wild card spot — wasn't that crucial too?

Well, it can't be as crucial as this series, so let's say it was critical.

But what about when we played the Rockies two weekends ago? And the Snakes three weekends ago? I heard those were crucial too!

OK, so maybe those were more like pressing series. But this series — it's crucial!

Also, we would be remiss if we didn't recognize that Tuesday is quite possibly Clayton Kershaw's last home start as a Dodger. What else is there to say but: Thank you for everything, Clayton! and (cries)

photo: Chris Carlson/AP

Wonderboy Lives!

And is feeling the love.

Series Thread (Games 147-150): Sept 13-16 @ Cardinals

Thurs 9/13 4.15p: Kershaw vs. Gomber
Fri 9/14 5.15p: Buehler vs. Flaherty
Sat 9/15 10a: Hill vs. Gant
Sun 9/16 5p: TBD vs. Wainwright

Look, I could write something about how this is a critical four-game series for the Dodgers, 1.0 games out of the NL West lead with only 16 to play (pending completion of the AZ@COL game on Wednesday 9/12). There's still time, anything can happen, blah blah blah.

But let's face it, this year is toast, having lost all momentum following an absolutely pathetic series loss (and almost sweep) in Cincinnati, which drops us to 1-6 on the season against one of the worst teams in baseball.

Whose breakout star is named after a muppet.

Instead, it's time to look critically at this team and accept the fact that, despite bringing almost everyone back from last year's NL-champion squad, and witnessing a few bright surprises in Max Muncy and Walker Buehler, we've seen regressions across the board for this team:

• CT3 is the king of Ks
• Turner, our rock-solid bat, spent most of the year injured
• Joc and Kike are worse than last year from the plate
• Yaz is not only a defensive liability, his cold streaks at the plate are death to the lineup
• Bellinger has struggled against the shift and, despite a good August (on which my brother can't stop reminding me), has been moribund all year
• Kemp had a surprising first half but has fallen to earth
• As has Chicken Strips and Wood
• Dozier is batting .193 with the Dodgers, which is shockingly even worse than Logiebear was
• Utley is old
• Kenley is not Kenley
• Kershaw, again injured, also doesn't have his best stuff this year
• Our bullpen is unreliable, and Pedro Baez is still there
• Charley Steiner is mixing up his calls
• Rick Monday still can't tell us the score of the game
• Dieter's organ is sounding more tinny than last year
• Digital bobbleheads are a stupid idea
• The new netting makes the outfield scoreboards difficult to read
• The hat shuffle is too fucking difficult with seven hats
• There are no dippin' dots in the future
• There are probably no playoffs in our future, either

On the flipside, though, there is a positive side of the ledger (as SoSG Dusty reminded me):

• We can get beer in our seats now

So I guess all is not lost, he says. I suppose he's right.

but it sure feels that way

(cries)

Series Thread (Games 144-146): Sept 10-12 @ Red Stockings

Monday 9/10 3.40p: Wood vs. Reed (that sounds kinda funny, huh)
Tuesday 9/11 3.40p: Ryu vs. Castillo
Wednesday 9/12 9.30a (ugh): TBD vs. DeSclafani

Did you know the Cincinnati Reds were originally called the Red Stockings? And if the kid in Nebraska who wrote the Wikipedia entry is to be believed, after an early dissolution and move to Boston (to make a team that eventually became the Atlanta Braves), the Cincinnati Red Stockings were "expelled from the league after the 1880 season, for 'violating' rules which had not yet gone into effect: namely, serving beer at games and allowing their park to be used on Sundays." Love the part about the beer violation; that gives the Reds more street cred in my book.

Street cred aside, however, we need the Dodgers to really take it to the Reds this week, and take advantage of drawing the third-worst team in the NL on our schedule in mid-September. We see two starters with losing records before DeSclafani on Wednesday, and he's 7-4 but with a 4.56 ERA. But you may recall, when the Reds visited us in Dodger Stadium in May, we were swept in the four-game series for the first time since 1976. So this may not be easy.

Since the third-place Diamondbacks are visiting NL West leader Colorado for a three-game set, this would be a perfect time for us to be stocking up some wins in the home stretch.

Series Thread (Games 141-143): Sept 7-9 @ Rockies

Friday 9/7 5.40p: Kershaw vs. Gray
Saturday 9/8 5p: Buehler vs. Freeland
Sunday 9/9 12p: Wood vs. Anderson

The last time we faced a divisional rival, we romped, taking three of four dramatic games vs. the Diamondbacks at home. Arizona entered the series in first place and exited the series in third place, allowing us a very brief stay at the top of the division, with happiness and momentum on our side.

And then, we went out and shit the bed vs. the Mets, ending with a comedy of errors and an inexplicably late yanking of our starting pitcher from the usually trigger-happy Dave Roberts.

Now we're in Colorado, against the division-leading Rockies, back 1.5 games. The 10-game road trip that starts tonight mandates that we get off to a strong start, because we end with four in St. Louis that won't be pretty (16 of the Dodgers' last 22 games are on the road). It's crunch time. Hope we brought our bats on this trip.

Series Thread (Games 138-140): Sept 3-5 vs. Mets

The Kempire Strikes Back...Twice

Monday 9/3 5p: Wood vs. deGrom L, 2-4
Tuesday 9/4 7p: Hill vs. Vargas W, 11-4
Wednesday 9/5 4.30p (?) Ryu vs. Wheeler

Coming off two consecutive 3-2 victories punctuated by two consecutive dramatic hits by Matt Kemp off of two consecutive misplaced pitches by Arizona reliever and pool defender Archie Bradley, the Dodgers now find themselves in first place, over Colorado by a half-game and Arizona by a full game.

That was one hell of a rip-roaring series, as we took three of four from the Diamondbacks, who came to Los Angeles in first place with momentum, and left in third place, battered and bruised.

Tonight's series doesn't start any easier, despite the fact that it's the 61-75 Mets. The opening game starts Jacob deGrom, whose 8-8 record belies his 1.68 ERA and 0.98 WHIP. But it's go time now: 25 games left in this short season. Let's go, Dodgers.

Show me what you got!

UPDATE 9/5: Okay, so we scorched the Mets 11-4 Tuesday night. I'm still pissed off at seeing our 4-2 loss on Monday. And now it seems the Mets only got the win through chicanery and deceit.

The Mets suck.

At-Game Recap: Kemp HR Lifts Dodgers To First Place

Went to the game last night and had a blast watching the Dodgers' dramatic comeback 3-2 victory over Arizona, putting us in a first place tie for the division. With apologies to Allan Malamud, here are some notes on a scorecard:

• Went to the game with my father and my brother-in-law and his wife. My brother-in-law is a Giants fan and wore a Giants spring training shirt to the game. I told him he was on his own.
• I know it was a sellout crowd (announced attendance, 52,394), but there was no line at the Kings Hawaiian Barbecue in left field. Had a lobster roll before the game and was pleasantly satisfied. This is becoming my go-to place.
• Took my position on the third base side, field level. Views were awesome as usual, despite that horrible netting which makes it more difficult to see the right-field scoreboard. Man, I love it here.
• Saw the brand new beer-delivery-in-seat guy, but I had already gone up to grab my second beer, so I didn't partake. Was excited to find out that you could get beer at the Michelada Express line, which saved me a long wait.
• The Dodgers looked woeful in those opening innings. I wasn't scared by Clayton Kershaw's two HRs yielded, as solo shots aren't deathblows and I knew Kershaw would settle. His line: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 Ks.
• What was pissing me off, though, were all the missed opportunities. In the third inning, the one-out double by Justin Turner, stranded when Manny Machado and Matt Kemp both struck out, was infuriating. But the following inning was worse: Second and third with one out, Austin Barnes taps back to the pitcher who nails David Freese at home, but Barnes was so useless on his FC, he didn't even take second base (Puig, at least, was smart enough to take third on the baserunning gaffe). It ended up being irrelevant since Kershaw grounded out for the final out, but still.
• I'm actually not sure why Brian Dozier was in the lineup (0-for-3 in the leadoff (?) spot, though he made a great defensive play). Or Austin Barnes (1-for-2 in the 8-hole). New addition David Freese batting fifth was weird, but he went 1-for-2 and also had some great grabs at first, so I'll take it.
• Got a text from my mom, who was up in loge, complaining that I wouldn't stoop to visit her from the snooty field level. As I went upstairs, I bumped into with Stan Kasten. "Hi Mr. Kasten, I'm enjoying the game!" I said. "I'm not," said Kasten, "because we're losing!" But I got a selfie with him as we went up the escalators.

• Said hello to my mom in the unremarkable fifth inning.
• Also said hi to SoSG Alex Cora, in the house!
• Then went back down to field level to see SoSG Orel, also in the house! He too was with a Giants fan, wearing said cap...who ended up liking the game after seeing the dramatic victory (probably doesn't get many of those up north). SoSG Orel was also sitting with SoSG regular Johnny Blanchard. Good to meet you, Johnny!
• Kenta Maeda was dealing in the eighth inning, with 2 Ks.
• The fateful bottom of the eighth played out like this. Turner singles to right, so I get excited. Machado works a ridiculous walk, which flustered Arizona reliever Archie Bradley. Kemp came up and after swinging late on two fastballs, watched a knuckle curve miss before slamming the fourth pitch into left center for a three-run HR. Why Bradley didn't throw more heat, I don't know; a second straight curve seems really stupid, and Kemp made him pay for that mistake. But Matt freaking Kemp? Who has had a horrible July / August, to balance out his torrid first half? HE hits the home run to take the lead? That was totally surprising.
• My father, ever the optimist, called the Kemp HR. I, on the other hand, ever the realist, was calling "anything but a GIDP, Matt!" I'm glad my dad was right.
• I did my part, though. I have a Dodgers cap from Sydney Australia (from the March 2014 games they played in that country to kick off the baseball season), and I like this hat but unfortunately it has not been good luck for Dodger games. So I turned it inside out for the late innings, and wore it upside down. It WORKED. That's good, as I like wearing that cap.
• I was also wearing a Real Madrid jersey (the away jersey, which is dark blue). It's a weird call; I almost always wear Dodger shirts to the game. I felt like we needed a change of pace, though. And maybe this worked as well.
• Kenley looked Kenley-esque last night, which was a nice change. Hopefully he's back?!
• My brother in law got shit from some fans for his shirt, and I told him he was on his own.

So with that 3-2 victory, we're now in a tie for first, with one more game in this series this afternoon, and 26 games to play in the season.

Let's get schwifty!