Game 16-18 Thread: April 12-14 vs. Padres

Strangely, these colors almost match the uniforms!

Fri 4.12 7p: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-1, 4.09) vs. Michael King (2-0, 3.14)
Sat 4.13 6p: Gavin Stone (0-1, 7.88) vs. Matt Waldron (0-1, 3.86)
Sun 4.14 4p: James Paxton (3-0, 1.64) vs. Yu Darvish (0-1, 3.86)

The Dodgers and Padres go back at it, after splitting two games in Korea to kick off the season. Since then, the Padres are off to a more tepid start, but they did take a series from the Cubs (albeit, playing at home), which is something the Dodgers couldn't do at Wrigley last week.

Jake Cronenworth is batting .304 with a .883 OPS, and Jurickson Profar is batting .333 with a 1.012 OPS. But their stars Fernando Tatis (batting .263), Xander Bogaerts (.237), and Manny Machado (.220) haven't come to life yet...though I expect them to bring their A-games to Chavez Ravine.

Saturday is Brusdar Graterol Bobblehead night, and the Dodgers' PR team is so excited, they referenced the wrong opponent on the ad (the Nationals come unto town Monday 4/15):

Graterol is on the 60-day IL with shoulder inflammation, so we won't see him in this homestand anyway.

Post-Game 57 Thread: Syndergaard Sucks, Bullpen Follows Suit

Noah Syndergaard, pitching in today's game

NATIONALS 10, DODGERS 6

The Dodgers took the field today against Washington hoping for a sweep. But by throwing Noah Syndergaard out there on the mound, there was no way that was going to happen, crystallized by Syndergaard's horrible outing (5.0 IP, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 3 HR) and emphasized by bullpen failures from Brusdar Graterol (hit batsman and error preceding a three-run HR from Luis Garcia) and Phil Bickford (a two-run Keibert Ruiz HR, lofting Bickford's ERA to 6.92). With pitching this bad, there's no hope.

Syndergaard's ERA is 6.54 now and he's 1-4 on the year. I don't even know why that guy gets a start every five days. If he can't even beat the Nationals--seriously.

The Dodgers had some constructive moments offensively--Mookie Betts had two solo HR, and Will Smith had a home run as well. And we stole six bases (Chris Taylor 2; Freddie Freeman 2; Miguel Rojas 2). But we also went 2-for-14 with RISP, leaving 11 on base all game. With Max Muncy batting fifth and going 0-for-4 (and the bottom of our lineup just a black hole), it just shows that when we can't hit the home run, we are awful at moving players station to station.

We drop the final game of the series to the team with the worst record in the National League. And Friday, we get a real opponent in the visiting New York Yankees.

Go shake this shitshow off, Dodgers.

Post-Game 41 Thread: And That Sweep Makes It Five Out of Six

Unlike San Diego, I'm staying classy.

DODGERS 4, PADRES 0

There's a joke in here somwhere about a whale's vagina--but let's just agree to disagree. What is not in dispute, though, is that the Los Angeles Dodgers just swept the San Diego Padres, sending the mothers of the world home happy, on the heels of the Dodgers' third shutout of the year.

Credit to Mookie Betts for his two-run homer in the third, and Miguel Vargas for his two-run double in the sixth. But the real credit for this game, and this series, was the pitching: Tony Gonsolin (5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 BB and 6 Ks) was great, but Yency Almonte, Victor González, Brusdar Gratrol, and Justin Bruihl held down the fort with only 1 H and 4 Ks across the remaining four innings. This built upon a solid bullpen showing on Saturday (Caleb Ferguson striking out Jake Cronenworth to ice the 4-2 victory), which was preceded by another 4-2 victory on Friday where Dodger relievers Ferguson and Evan Phillips shut the door on the Friars.

This Dodgers bullpen, which was pretty horrible in April, has seemed to have turned a corner here in May. The Dodgers have now won five in a row and 13 of their last 15, and at 26-15 have the best record in the National League.

I don't know if the Dodgers are actually this good, or if this is just because we've beaten the Padres five of the last six times this season. Either way, though, I'll take it.

Post-Game 4 Thread: Dodgers Decide To Hit Only Every Other Game

We keep forgetting situational hitting like today's farce, and we'll see a lot more sad Thor faces this season.

D'BACKS 2, DODGERS 1

Wasting a great effort from Noah "Thor" Syndergaard in his first Dodgers appearance, the Dodgers went 0-for-6 with RISP to split the series with a scrappy but overmatched Arizona team that had no business stealing two wins out of four. Not that the Dodgers' four measly hits all game helped any--and that includes a first-inning HR from Will Smith that seemed to get things on the right foot this afternoon. But that was the only run the Dodgers scored, leaving eight on base all game--and it was a frustrating disaster to watch (in my first game of the year at the Stadium).

Today's pathetic RISP performance echoed Friday's turd, another 2-1 loss that wasted another great starting effort (Dsustin May: 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB and 4 Ks), when the Dodgers went 0-for-7 with RISP and had 12 LOB. Chris Taylor went 0-for-7 in two games this series and looked overmatched at the plate, which is a huge concern after his poor performance last year; he's on track to be Cody Bellinger 2.0 at this rate. Will Smith, JD Martinez, and Trayce Thompson each had two strikeouts (the latter two also going 0-for-4 today), and Thompson, last night's hero, looked as bad as CT3 from the plate today.

Dodgers highlights, besides the Smith HR in the first, included Mookie Betts nailing a Ketel Marte at home on a Lourdes Gurriel Jr single to right, preserving the tie. However, Brusdar Graterol--who looked crappy all inning in the top of the ninth--couldn't escape from a jam of his own creation, when a drag bunt up the first-base line inexplicably evaded his glove on what would have ended the inning. Instead, now down 2-1, the Dodgers went feebly in the ninth: PH Austin Barnes Kd on three pitches; Chris Taylor Ks on a foul tip; and PH Jason Heyward grounds to first to end the game.

The quick 2:32 game time wasn't a lot of consolation when watching the Dodgers' half innings fly by in the blink of an eye. We're better than this. This wasn't a good start.