Roki Sasaki (3-5, 5.40) vs. Gabriel Hughes (0-0, 0.00).
After defensive gaffes caused a dispiriting loss in last night's game, things seemed pretty bad in black and white. Maybe off of tonight's Rockies' starter, "Hues", we can take a more colorful approach.
Oh wait, Roki's pitching.
Fade to black.
Justin Wrobleski (10-2, 2.80) vs. Michael Lorenzen (3-9, 6.91).
While some Dodgers starters have been incredibly inconsistent (Roki Sasaki), or even completely absent (Blake Snell)--Justin Wrobleski has quietly gone out there and delivered. He leads the team in wins (one more than Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and two more than Shohei Ohtani). And though he won't be an 2026 All-Star, he clearly has contributed to the Dodgers' first-half success.
Let's give a toast to Justin as we near the break!
Eric Lauer (4-5, 4.84) vs. Kyle Freeland (2-7, 7.25).
This Dodgers-Rockies matchup isn't the most important sports event of the day, for sure. But after dropping the last game of the series with the Padres with a dud on national television, it's understandable if one feels the need for distraction.
Emmet Sheehan (4-5, 5.08) vs. JP Sears (1-1, 6.97).
Last night's victory put the Padres 15 games behind the Dodgers, in third place in the NL West (behind the Diamondbacks, who are 14 back). The Padres have lost eight in a row. And now they turn to a failed US retailer to save them.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto (8-5, 2.67) vs. Griffin Canning (1-5, 7.09).
The Dodgers once again turned the tables on the Padres, seemingly cruising to victory only to see those ideas get vaporized in a flash. Friday, it was at the hand of Teoscar Hernandez, whose light-hitting exploits of late became moot when he hit the game-winning, back-breaking grand slam to turn the Padres 3-0 lead into a 4-3 deficit.. That score held up, and the Dodgers won again over San Diego.
The numbers seem to favor the Dodgers based on the starting pitcher matchup. But who the heck knows, it's baseball! All I know is, I'll be there at the Stadium (with SoSG Orel!) to watch the fireworks.
Shohei Ohtani (8-2, 1.58) vs. Michael King (5-7, 3.55)
In yesterday's game, Roki Sasaki was useless, giving up six runs in the first three innings. Fernando Tatis Jr. hit the first pitch of the game for a double, and light-hitting Manny Machado pounded a two-run home run. Then in the next inning, Jackson Merrill had a solo shot, and Jake Cronenworth had a three-run home run, to put the Dodgers down by six.
And then, the Dodgers clawed their way back into this game, tying the game and then taking the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, and scoring 12 unanswered runs before ceding a run in the ninth to end the game, a 12-7 victory.
It was quite a beatdown, and the sold-out crowd would have been more into the comeback victory had they not been so distracted by Monkey D. Luffy and his giveaway hats.
Tonight, Shohei Ohtani takes the mound, having been pushed back a couple of days in his start. He's rested. Let's go.
Roki Sasaki (3-5, 4.88) vs. Randy Vasquez (6-6, 4.44).
Less than one week ago, the Padres were eight games back of the Dodgers.. San Diego is now 12 games back of the Dodgers, starting a four-game series at the Stadium.
Not to mention, the Padres are actually in second place in the division! No other divisional lead in baseball is more than 5.5 games.
Let's make this a series to celebrate with fireworks!
TBD vs. J.T. Ginn (6-4, 3.15).
Ginn? Yeah, that sounds good right about now, as we hope the Dodgers sweep (to go 8-1 on this road trip).
I'd name the Dodgers starter, but I'm too hungover (and, as of writing this Game Thread, has not been named yet).
