Mon 8.12 5p: Kershaw vs. Peralta Tue 8.13 5p: Stone vs. Rea Wed 8.14 5p: TBD vs. Montas Thu 8.15 11a: TBD vs. Myers
A HUGE welcome back to Mookie Betts, who returns to the Dodgers' lineup after getting breaking his hand on an inside pitch on June 16. The Dodgers are 43-29 with Mookie Betts in the lineup this year; without him, they're only 26-20.
(To be fair, according to ESPN: the Dodgers' 26-20 record stands up decently well against other teams who were hot going into mid-June: Orioles (24-25 since then); Guardians (25-25); Phillies (22-26); Yankees (20-26). But it still ain't great.)
And Mookie's return heralds some changes: Betts moves to right field, and will also drop a slot to bat second, behind Shohei Ohtani. Look, we need Betts and his 3.9 WAR (156 OPS+) back in the lineup, anywhere; I'm just hoping that he can still swing the bat effectively, because you never know how one recovers from a hand injury. If anyone can do it, though, it's the super-human Mookie Betts.
Meanwhile, the Brewers were supposed to be in a rebuilding year (losing Corbin Burnes, and then watching Craig Counsell skip town for Chicago)--and yet, here they are, 7.5 games up on the Cardinals to lead their division. And that's with Christian Yelich out with back issues, no less. The Brewers have a 91.0% chance of winning their division, according to FanGraphs today.
And the Dodgers? With only a 3.5-game lead over the surging Padres and stalwart Diamondbacks, we have only a 75.1% chance of winning our division. Sure, we still have the best odds of any team to win the World Series (16.5%; the Yankees are at 14.9% and the Phillies at 11.9%).
But it's crunch time, in August. And the Dodgers have to prove themselves now, with Mookie Betts back in the lineup.
146 comments:
GAME 1
MOOKIE BETTS IS BACK!!!
Shohei Ohtani DH
Mookie Betts RF
Freddie Freeman 1B
Hero Hernandez LF
Gavin Lux 2B
Will Smith C
Miggy Ro SS
K Hernandez 3B
Kevin Kiermaier CF
Clayton Kershaw LHP
Awesome lineup there, karen :)
slappy falling off the wayside batting 6th. had no idea his slump was that bad
Ohtani flies weakly to center...but here's Mookie!
@Spanky....that's why I went with the whole name and not Slappy. Hope it helps.
Oh man, Mookie swings way through strike 3 and falls to the dirt in a bad fashion. Ugh. Two out.
@karen, @ spank: Slappy has plummeted. He was OPSing .950 on May 1, and is now at .757--the lowest since coming back from Korea.
Freeman flies out, so it's a 1-2-3 inning for Peralta.
(gulp)
@karen...ahh ok. you're trying to will Smith to hit with a name change.
@saxy...damn. that's bad. never seen Smith in a slump like that. Dodgers need a new hitting coach.
looking like more RISP woes for the Dodgers here in the third...
WP advances Kiké, but now there's two outs for Mookie
MOOKIE!!!!
Mookie HR to put the Dodgers up 2-0!!!
Mookie!!!
Our boy is back!!!!
SHOHEI!!!!!
Ohtani-san!!
Luxy almost goes yard as well
4-0 LA
(Sorry, Lux flies out to center to lead off the sixth. But yes, Ohtani's two-run HR makes it 4-0 LA.)
Will Smith barely hits it back to Peralta in his AB. Geez.
Kershaw's line so far: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 Ks. Excellent!
4-0 LA, mid-6
I'm going for a run
Kershaw leaves with two out and a man on first, B6. Way to go, Kersh!
shit
Somebody get Joe Kelly the fuck off the mound
Joe Kelly has been a steaming pile of shit since he is return
Kelly has a 10.80 ERA in August
OUR BOY THE MOOKSTER!!!
Vesia with an awesome seventh!strikes out the sidep
little winning streak happening
CLAYTON'S FIRST WIN!!!
Let’s GOOOOOO! Big win for the good guys.
Padres eke out a 2-1 victory over the visiting Pirates. Sigh.
Snell had a no-hitter through six, but the Giants end up losing 1-0 in 10
Snakes win 5-4 over the visiting Rox.
Even though we didn't gain any ground last night on the NL West, I'm really happy with the outcome: Kershaw with a great start; Vesia with a great hold; Hudson with a great save; Mookie with three RBI in his return. Still worried about the bottom of our lineup, and hoping that Lux (who was robbed last night at the wall) stays hot for the remainder of the year, and that Slappy starts mashing again.
River Ryan to have Tommy John surgery. Either the Dodgers are drafting / buying damaged goods or their pitching philosophy needs to change. I'm not on the "it's the pitching clock faults" boat. power pitchers burn out their arms.
@spank: I'm bummed about River Ryan, but to be fair, I think we got him in a trade with the Padres where we gave up Matt Beaty. From MLB Trade Rumors, it was a total win for us:
The 25-year-old Ryan was an 11th-round pick by the Padres in 2021. He went to the Dodgers in a trade that now looks like a heist, sending first baseman/outfielder Matt Beaty back to San Diego. (Beaty played in 20 games with the Padres and hit .093/.170/.163 before being cut loose.)
GAME 2
Shohei Ohtani DH
MOOKIE BETTS RF
Freddie Freeman LF
Teoscar Heranandez LF
Gavin Lux 2B
Will Smith C
Miguel Rojas SS
Kiké Hernandez 3B
Andy Pages CF
Gavin Stone RHP
@saxy...thats right. he was traded for Mat Beaty. still though so many pitching injuries i still think a change needs to be made.
HEY SPANKY.....If you have more trouble with your computer Boys are also supposed to be on TBS tonight
Slappy hits a solo
thanks Karen. my pc is working good
Ohtani-san!!
Shohei hits a solo bomb
oh shit..Luxy!!
Luxy hits a 2 run homer
Pages!!
Pages hits second 2 run homer of inning!!!
Let’s go Pages! 7-1
WHO JUST MADE THAT GREAT CATCH IN RIGHT???
@karen...i didnt see that catch.
5 IN A ROW!!!!!!
@Spanky....It was just a pretty good catch mostly Mookie horsing around
winning streak
@karen...cool
Snakes already up 3-0 on the Rockies, and they aren’t even out of the first inning
Snakes up 6-1, B5
Padres up 8-0, B4
Unbelievable.
When will the Padres actually lose a game?!
10-3 Az on the Suarez GS. Geez
GAME 3
Shohei Ohtani DH
MOOKIE BETTS RF
Freddie Freeman 1B
T Hernandez LF
Gavin Lux 2B
K Hernandez 3B
Kevin Kiermaier CF
Austin Barnes C
Nick Ahmed SS
WALKER BUEHLER RHP
The Dodgers have gone 8-2 over their last 10 games. And they've actually LOST ground to both AZ and SD (both 9-1 over their last 10). Brutal.
3.0-game lead as we start our game tonight!
I hate this new commenting format
@Saxy...Hope I didn't jump the gun on the lineup. I thought you might be hung up at work
bases juiced
3-0 LA
Good start for us offensively, but we are gonna need it with Buehler walking the first two Brewers faced.
@karen: I TOTALLY appreciate you posting the lineup, whenever you want! Thanks tons 👍
Three straight walks. Get your shit together, Buehler!
holy shit kiermeyer
Oh we needed that double play. Wow
3-0 LA through one full
3-0 LA through one full
Buehler gives up a homerun
Walker Buehler sucks.
Tie game.
Tied at 3 through 2 full. Ugh
Tied at 3 through 2 full. Ugh
i feel bad for Buehler
I feel sorry for Walker, too. What a gigantic mess this game is so far
We have to use magic dust to get out of the fourth.
Down 4-3
Kike can’t convert. He sucks on both sides tonight
BOOOOOO
just had to let that out
BOOOOOO
GAME 4
With the Padres and D'backs only 2.5 games back, we field this starting lineup:
Ohtani DH
T Hernandez LF
Freeman 1B
Smith C
Lux 2B
Rojas SS
Heyward RF
Pages CF
K Hernandez who lost us the game yesterday 3B
Flaherty P
I'm sick and tired of all the platooning and moving players around different positions. the Dodgers are a team of utility players.
No Mookie
Finally RIP for Matthew Perry as 5 arrests a made including 2 doctors, his live-in personal assistant and a woman known as the Ketamine Queen.
First inning and so much pain already.
its crazy what the cops will do when your rich and famous
my power went out for a couple years hours. just came back on as i was about to call a taxi and head to a bar and gril to watch the game. saved my money
Flaherty gives up three in the first. Dodgers get two back in the second, and it would have been more if not for the black hole at the plate that is Kiké
3-3 on the Lux rbi single
I am so tired of watching Kiké marvel at his fly balls that land 100' short of the wall. Why didn't we DFA him instead of Rosario?
Top 2: Kiké ends the rally, stranding the tying run at second with a lazy fly ou.
Top 4: Heyward leads off the inning with a single, but Kiké GIDPs to end the inning.
STOP KIKÉ
3-3 tie through 4
Ohtani gets his first hit of the day, a single to lead off the fifth.
Let's see if Teoscar, who has been struggling lately, can actually do something this time
Nope. Teoscar pops out to second.
Teo is now 1-for-15 in this series
WP advances Shohei, so let's see if Freddie can cash this in
Freeman grounds out. Shohei is on third but it won't even matter
Slappy flies out.
Come on, guys. This is pathetic.
Flaherty got two quick outs but walked the light-hitting Joey Ortiz, so now he's back to the top of the order. Turang is 1-for-1 with a double already.
Turang singles. Runners at the corners, and now here's the Brewers' phenom, Jackson Chourio.
Flaherty Ks Chourio! Wow we needed that.
All tied up at 3, through five full
Lux with a leadoff walk in the sixth
Rojas singles. Two on, no out, T6
With Myers on the ropes, Heyward swings at the first pitch and flies to right. Come on, JayHey! One out. Lux advances to third, like it matters.
Pages lines out. Two out.
Here's Kiké. (cries)
Myers lifted for Elvis Peguero.
Holy shit, Kiké actually did something positive. Single scores Lux.
4-3 LA
clutch Kiki
Ohtani lines out. We go to the bottom of the sixth
Orel fricking called it! He called Peguero lets his first batter get a hit 50% of the time, and 50% of his inherited runners score. He was right on both counts. Wow
Teoscar singles to lead off the inning. Brewers go to their pen for Bryan Hudson. And he strikes out Freeman and then Contreras throws out Teoscar trying to steal.
Teo though the could steal when the ball got loose, but Contreras still gets him out as Teo was leaning back to first.
But it doesn't matter, Smith flies to right. Slappy is 1-for-4 today.
Ohh this doesn't look good
Vesia comes in and is not sharp, walking the first two batters. Ugh.
Big out there, Frelick pops to second. One out.
Vesia can't throw strikes, he's down 3-1 on Joey Ortiz
Vesia gets a very favorable call there to make the count full
He gets Ortiz to fly out to right for the second out. But now here's Turang.
Vesia Ks Turang! Wow we needed that.
4-3 LA through 7 full
That strikeout pitch was very high and outside the zone, too. Wow.
@SAXY...I have to rely on you to post scores, the last several times I jinxed it
Top 8: Lux flies to short. One out.
@karen: no worries! But I'm glad to help when I can... I think I can hang for at least a couple more innings...
It's very hot out.
leadoff double for the brews
@SAXY.....I have to take my grandcat (Jenn's kitty) to the vet at 2:30 so I'll probably miss the end of the game. And, oh yeah, it IS HOT!
fucking hell. unbelievable
Getting ugly in the 8th.
Maybe it's okay to miss the end of this one
bases juiced for brews
fuck. tied with a single. bases juiced still no outs
5-4 Brews now
Two ground balls off our pitcher. Insane.
another fielders choice another run
6-4
See, I just mention why I can't say the score and still I jinx it
Joe Kelly coming in to give up a homerun
@karen....thats how it goes.
Nice of Daniel Hudson to throw this game away for us.
This closer is filthy!
weak sauce. BOOOOOO
DAMN! I saw the end BOOOOO!!!!
Brutal. We deserve the loss.
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