Thursday, June 30, 2022

Games 75-78 Thread: June 30 - July 3 vs. Padres

Thu 30 7p: White vs. Musgrove
Fri 1 7p: Gonsolin vs. Snell
Sat 2 4.15p: Anderson vs. Darvish
Sun 3 1p: Kershaw vs. Gore

Dodgers meet the Padres for four games at home. Let's do this.

Both teams have injuries keeping major pieces out of their lineups. But it's the top two teams in the division, so the games are still important, even in July.

GO DODGERS!

Monday, June 27, 2022

Games 72-74 Thread: June 27-29 @ Rockies

Mon 27: Tyler Anderson vs. Kuhl
Tue 28: Clayton Kershaw vs. Freeland
Wed 29: Julio Urias vs Márquez
All games 5.40p

After beating the Braves in a hard-fought rubber match on Sunday, notching the series victory (not to mention the Dodgers' first extra-inning win all year!), the Dodgers depart Atlant having left behind a lot of tears.

Freddie Freeman left some tears on the field, as well as at Friday's pre-game press conference. Daniel Hudson unfortunately left a tear on the field as well, tearing his left ACL late in Saturday's game. So I sincerely hope that our next stop on this road trip, to Colorado, is tear-free.

The Dodgers are now 5-1 on this roadtrip, which is a nice turnaround from a pretty bad June (12-10). Let's keep it rolling, Dodgers!

Friday, June 24, 2022

Games 69-71 Thread: June 24-26 @ Braves

Fri 24 4.15p: Urias vs. Anderson
Sat 25 4.15p: Heaney vs. Fried
Sun 26 4p: Gonsolin vs. Strider

Five home runs on Thursday! 26 total runs in the three-game sweep! Max Muncy with his first three-hit game of the season!

Yes, it's cause for joyous celebration. Except that this was against the Reds, 0-7 against the Dodgers this year and dead last in the entire National League. So the real test of this roadtip comes with these three games in Atlanta, whom we beat twice at home earlier this season (ironically, right after the Cincinnati sweep, making me question the creativity of the MLB scheduling team).

Max Fried on Saturday is no joke: 7-2 with a 2.77 ERA. And the Braves have won 18 of 21 including three of four over the visiting Giants this week, while the Dodgers have been basically playing .500 ball for almost the last month, save this Cincinnati series. On top of all that, the Dodgers' red hot 1B Freddie Freeman has already said his return to Atlanta will be emotional, especially with a ring ceremony on the weekend schedule.

Freddie will be shedding some tears. Hopefully Dodger fans will have some tears of joy this weekend, as well.

Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Games 66-68 Thread: June 21-23 @ Reds

Tue 6.21 3.40p: Gonsolin vs. Mahle
Wed 6.22 3.40p: Anderson vs. Castillo
Thu 6.23 9.30a: Kershaw vs. Greene

A little premature to call the season (especially pre-All Star Break, and with the Dodgers in first place by a half-game). But on the other hand, dropping the last series to the Guardians evidenced how poor this team really is: a combined 5-for-34 with RISP. What's worse, everyone treats their at bats with a runner on base like they're playing beer-league softball: wild hacks out of the zone leading to strikeouts; impatient swings early in the count; lack of positional hitting to advance the runner (I'm looking at you, Will Smith).

It's absolutely awful to watch. Not that I did, after watching us drop our fifth extra-inning game on Friday night (Dodgers are 0-5 in extras). The Dodgers' hitting coaches, Brnt Brown and Robert Van Scoyoc, are simply not doing their job. The Dodgers need to learn how to knock some runs in rather than just swing for the fences (we had 29 strikeouts in the three games, including 13 on Sunday).

And with Mookie out with a cracked rib, I think this season may be over before we even get to the break. 25 more games to go until the break, including this nine-game road trip (Cincinnati, Atlanta, and Colorado). This road trip will tell all.

Friday, June 17, 2022

Games 63-65 Thread: June 17-19 vs. Guardians

We interrupt the Pixar Inside Out running GT theme for this photo (and honestly, two wins in a row isn't enough to merit "Joy").

Fri 6.17 7p: Clayton Kershaw (4-1, 2.12) vs. Plesac (2-4, 4.70)
Sat 6.18 4.15p: Julio Urias (3-6, 2.80) vs. Quantrill (4-3, 3.38)
Sun 6.19 1p: TBD vs. Justin Bieber (Baby, Peaches, Love Yourself)

Two wins, and almost a no-hitter by Tyler Anderson, over the Angels earlier this week. But remember, this was a team that recently lost 14 in a row. And even with those wins, the Dodgers' idle Monday and Thursday still had us fall behind the first-place Padres, who swept the Cubs at Wrigley and now lead us by a half-game entering play today (Padres play the Rockies, so that's another three wins for San Diego).

The Cleveland Guardians' first visit to Dodger Stadium could present another series-winning opportunity for the snakebit Dodgers...if we can get Gamora of the same from Will Smith (a three-run HR on Wednesday) and Mookie Betts (a key insurance solo HR on Tuesday).

Cue up the Awesome Mix! This is happening!

Tuesday, June 14, 2022

Games 61-62 Thread: June 14-15 vs. Angels

Tue 6.14: Gonsolin vs. Syndergaard
Wed 6.15: Anderson vs. Detmers
both games 7p first pitch

Swept by the Giants. Chris Taylor bloodied at the left field wall. Mookie Betts, 1-for-his-last-22 and 2-for-his-last-31. Walker Buehler, out for eight weeks with elbow issues. Only one winning series in the last four series played (four wins in the last 13 games).

Oh yeah, and now we are TIED for the divisional lead with the Padres, who beat the Cubs Monday.

This Dodgers team is going nowhere, fast. Gone are the hopes for a major-league record win number. This team is either too old to handle the aggressive schedule, or lacking a sense of urgency to compete offensively, or just absolutely lost. Two games against the Angels aren't going to help much.

Sadness. Indeed.

Friday, June 10, 2022

Games 58-60 Thread: June 10-12 @ Giants

Fri 6.10 7p: Walker Buehler vs. Junis
Sat 6.11 4p: Julio Urias vs. TBD
Sun 6.12 1p: TBD (Clayton Kershaw?) vs. Rodon

Hot off a series victory over the Chicago White Sox (which only came after a close 11-9 victory in the rubber match Thursday afternoon, in a game which had the Dodgers' win percentage at 6% at one point), the Dodgers go up to Birdshit Park for a weekend series againt the third-place Giants, 6.5 games back of first. The Dodgers certainly haven't looked good of late, dropping the last homestand 2-5 and then limping to the series victory at Comiskey Park.

Mookie Betts went 0-for-6 Thursday with 2 Ks and 9 LOB (egads!), and Justin Turner also had a 0-for-3 day with 2 BB and a K. But surprisingly, Max Muncy rejoined the lineup following a rehab stint in Rnacho Cucamonga, and he did great: 2-for-5 with 5 RBI, including a three-run HR, to lift his average to .159 (he's gaining on you, Bellinger!). So maybe there's hope for the Dodgers, with a resurgent batter with a penchant for deliveing balls to the ocean?

We've got two starters going who have notable this year for their short starts. And then we've got Clayton Kershaw pencilled in for his return off the IL on Sunday. So I'm still terrified with fear.

Tuesday, June 07, 2022

Games 55-57 Thread: June 7-9 @ White Sox

Tue 6.7 5p: Mitch White vs. Kopech
Wed 6.8 5p: Tony Gonsolin vs. Cueto
Thu 6.9 11a: Tyler Anderson vs. Cease

We may as well continue through the Pixar Inside Out characters, now that we limped to a putrid 2-5 homestand by dropping all three games to the Pirates, before stumbling to a split against the Mets. Oh sure, we took the first two games against a weakened NYM lineup. But in both Saturday and Sunday's game, the Dodgers gave up leads (4-1 and 2-1) in order to choke away a sweep and settle for a split.

I was there Saturday night to see Walker Buehler implode to his shortest start of his career (2.1 IP, 5 ER, 2 HR). The LAT's Dylan Hernandez blames Julio Urias' short start for Sunday's loss, but in actuality the overworked bullpen is also the by-product of a shortened spring training plus the way Andrew Friedman has constructed the lineup, as well as how Dave Roberts chooses to execute the moves. And so, Brusdar Graterol gave up a three-run HR on Saturday, and then was responsible for a blown save and three more earned runs in Sunday's loss.

And let's not forget the offending offense. Will "Slappy" Smith may have had a home run late yesterday, but his game-ended K with a runner in scoring position was almost fated; he shoudln't be batting cleanup with his woeful .227 average. Justin Turner and Cody Bellinger are both batting below .240 as well, and they combined to go 1-for-8 yesterday with two Ks. And Gavin Lux was 0-for-4 in the nine-hole.

The Mets were our first big test this year. We got a C grade, maybe a C+; and this is when they don't even have Max Scherzer or Jacob deGrom in their lineup. It was a pretty disgusting homestand. Will a day off, and some road games, snap this team out of it?

Thursday, June 02, 2022

Games 51-54 Thread: June 2-5 vs. Mets

Thu Jun 2: Gonsolin vs. T Walker
Fri Jun 3: Anderson vs. Bassitt
Sat Jun 4: Buehler vs. Peterson
Sun Jun 5: Urias vs. TBD
All games 7p except Sunday 6/5 @ 1p

After the bedshitting that was getting swept at home by the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates (winners of five out of six games this year), the Dodgers should be thoroughly embarrassed. Especially the offense, whose situational hitting absolutely stunk (a combined 6-for-28 with RISP); the baserunning, with runners getting thrown out trying to pop-up slide (Gavin Lux), or stretching for an extra base in vain (Chris Taylor), or getting picked off (so many people I can't list them all), or not tagging up properly and getting thrown out at home (again, Gavin Lux). We were awful for that series.

And our reward is now hosting the best team in the National League, the Mets, who are getting it done despite injuries to their top starters Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer. They've got players stepping up in the moment, not cowering under the bed.

And meanwhile, we just sucked. Swinging at first pitches when Pirate pitchers were wavering. Blowing saves that negated comebacks. Spotting the Pirates four runs before the seats were even warm.

Oh, I'm pissed off. This Pirates series was f'ing embarrassing.

Get your shit together, Dodgers!