Game 140 Thread: Sept 3 vs. Cardinals, 7p

Tarik Skubal (8-7, 2.84) vs. Quinn Mathews (1-2, 5.03).

The Cards have been eating us alive this series, but maybe we can snack on Quinn today.

And maybe Shohei should rest. Really.

Game 139 Thread: Sep 2 vs. Cardinals, 7p

Yoshinobu Yamamoto (12-8, 2.56) vs. TBD.

After Eric Lauer helped serve up five home runs to the Cardinals in yesterday's debacle, let's see if Yoshi can keep it in the yard today.

My god, we are awful sometimes.

Game 138 Thread: Sept 1 vs. Cardinals, 7p

Playing Cards.

Eric Lauer (8-6, 4.78) vs. Michael McGreevy (5-9, 3.86).

We had sparks of offense in the final game of an otherwise disappointing 2-4 road trip, which served to waste some outstnading pitching performances throughout both series. Now we come back to Chavez Ravine--where Kyle Tucker is even worse, mind you--and see if we can maintain our thin hold on the second playoff spot (a half-game over the Braves, who inexplicably lost to the Giants in a makeup game Monday).

We'll see!

Post-Game 34 Thread: The Dodgers Actually Won A Game

DODGERS 4, CARDINALS 1

The Dodgers dropped yet another series, but avoided losing their fifth in a row (and getting swept in St. Louis) by gutting out another fine performance from Justin Wrobleski (6.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 K, 1 BB), who is now 5-0 with a 1.25 ERA. Wrobleski doesn't get a lot of Ks, but he seems to get out of trouble well enough thanks to ground-ball pitching with men on.

Speaking of ground balls, the Dodgers hit into four double plays this game, and went 4-for-10 with RISP. We had just enough to notch four runs, but still missed a lot of opportunies for more.

Off to Houston for more cheating.

Game 34 Thread: May 3 @ Cardinals, 11.15a

Justin Wrobleski (4-0, 1.50) vs. Dustin May (3-2, 5.28).

Four straight losses for the Dodgers, and today we face a former Dodger who was traded in the middle of 2025 (and has since gone 4-6 for two teams, with an ERA over 5). I would not be surprised if Dustin May comes to play today for St. Louis.

Game 32 Thread: May 1 @ Cardinals, 5.15p

Emmet Sheehan (2-0, 4.78) vs. Matthew Liberatore (0-1, 4.75).

The Dodgers' offense could probably use a priest, if not an outright confessional from some of its worst showings. I'd love it if the Cardinals could exorcise some of the bad habits and get us on the path back to righteous wins. This half-game lead in the NL West is making me very anxious.

Game 115 Thread: Aug 6 vs. Cardinals, 1p

Ohtani vs. Donovan.

Ha, you thought I had forgotten this Game Thread, right? No worries, I'll be watching this game.

Nice to see Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernandez opening up their individual cans of whoop-ass last night. Let's go!

Game 114 Thread: Aug 5 vs. Cardinals, 7p

Emmet Sheehan (2-2, 3.60) vs. Miles "Morales" Mikolas (6-8, 4.83).

My Spidey-Sense is tingling for tonight's matchup, and not just because of last night's heartbreaking 3-2 loss, showcasing a surprisingly decent start from Tyler Glasnow and disappointing innings from Anthony Banda and Brock Stewart. We got another relief pitcher at the deadline, and he did not deliver last night. Sigh.

Game 113 Thread: August 4 vs. Cardinals, 7p

Forecast is for Gray skies tonight in Los Angeles.

Tyler Glasnow (1-1, 3.38) vs. Sonny Gray (10-5. 4.38).

Finally, a game at a reasonable evening timeslot! And this time we face Sonny Gray and a Cardinals team whose .500 record (56-57) following a better-than-expected first half of the season ultimately made them a seller at the trade deadline (dealing Ryan Helsley, Phil Maton, and Steven Matz for prospects). It would be nice if we could take advantage of this and expand our divisional lead over the Padres by more than three games.

Game 66 Thread: June 8 @ Cards, 11a

Clayton Kershaw vs. Michael McGreevey.

The Dodgers have scored one run in two games against the Cardinals, leaving ducks on the pond all over the goddamn place. I'm depressed.

Game 65 Thread: June 7 @ Cardinals, 11a

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Yoshinobu Yamamoto (6-4, 2.39) vs. Erick Fedde (3-5, 3.82).

Last night was going to be a loss, anyway.

This morning? Let's at least put up a little bit of a fight, Dodger offense!

Game 64 Thread: June 6 @ Cardinals, 5p

Not the first time we've used this pun...but always good to feature Robin Wright Penn

Justin Wrobleski (1-1, 8.00) vs. Sonny Gray (6-1, 3.65).

Before the 2025 season began, all the talk about the St. Louis Cardinals was how they botched not trading Nolan Arenado and didn't make any other moves of note this offseason, in a totally winnable NL Central division. Well, they at least got the second half right--the Cardinals (34-28) are in second place in the NL Central, ahead of the Brewers and Reds (and behind the Cubs by five games), and only a half-game out of the last wild card spot.

This weekend's slate with the Dodgers features two early games following a tough-fought 4-3 homestand against division leaders, followed by an evening flight to St. Louis yesterday. I'm guessing we show up today a little gassed.

Post-Game 125 Thread: A Glimmer of Hope?

DODGERS 2, CARDINALS 1

Things weren't looking good for the Dodgers, coming out of Saturday's 5-2 loss to the Cardinals. Bobby Miller, in his return to the majors since struggling earlier this season, continued to struggle. Freddie Freeman ended the game with a defensive play that jammed his finger, knocking him out of today's season finale.

And yet, the Dodgers came away with a clutch 2-1 victory Sunday, which was neither expected nor easy. Shohei Ohtani broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning with his 39th home run, and Miguel Rojas tacked on an RBI single to make it 2-0 LA. And even though Lars Nootbar took Daniel Hudson yard in the eighth--AND the Dodgers' 6-9 hitters (Kevin Kiermaier, Kiké "Black Hole" Hernandez, base stealers' best friend Austin Barnes, and Nick Ahmed) went a combined 0-for-14 with 4 Ks--the Dodgers had just enough to eke out a victory for Clayton Kershaw, who went six scoreless in his best start of the year (4 H, 1 BB, 2 Ks, 70 pitches).

Kudos to Michael Kopech as well for picking up his 11th save of the year with a shutdown ninth, overcoming not only the Cardinals but also Barnes, who made an error with one out, throwing wild of first.

Don't get me started on Barnes (who has had one hit for the entire month of August, now appearing in eight games). I've been advised I need to be more optimistic.

And indeed, there was room for optimism following the Dodgers' victory today, after the Rays beat the Diamondbacks in extras (8-7 final, in 12), and the Rockies held on to beat the Padres 3-2. The Snakes were swept this weekend in Tampa, and the Padres lost two of three in Colorado. That leaves the Dodgers three games on San Diego and four games on Arizona, with 37 games to play.

Games 123-125 Thread: August 16-18 @ Cardinals

Fri 8.16 5.15p: TBD Wrobleski vs. Mikolas
Sat 8.17 4.15p: Glasnow Miller vs. Pallante
Sun 8.18 11.15a: Kershaw vs. S Gray

The dog days had better be over, because dropping two games against the Brewers, giving up an early lead due to just craptacular defensive play and/or lack of offense when it counts and/or bullpen meltdowns...just have to stop.

We've got 40 games left this season, and the Dodgers look like they're on fumes.

I know, we're tied for the most wins in the National League, and we sport the second-best record in the NL as well (the Phillies have one fewer loss). But the problem is that with our series split with the Brewers earlier this week, the Snakes and Padres are now tied for the wild card lead, and only two games behind us (not to mention, mere percentage points behind the Brewers. the NL Central leaders). All that to say: there's a very good likelihood we lose the division race, and fall to a wild-card spot.

St. Louis is reeling, 3-7 in their last 10 and falling into a tie with the Reds for second place in the NL Central, nine games behind Milwaukee. Seems like a perfect time for one of these two teams, the Dodgers or the Cardinals, to snap out of its funk and notch a series victory.

Somehow, I don't think it's going to be us.

UPDATE 8.17 11.26a: With yesterday's news that Tyler Glasnow has been moved to the 15-day IL with elbow tendinitis, Bobby Miller was called up from the minors (like yesterday's starter, Justin Wrobleski) to start today (Saturday). Miller is 1-2 with a 8.07 ERA this year, with a -0.8 WAR across seven appearances and 29.0 IP. (Miller has a 1.2 WAR for his career, with a 12-6 record and 4.58 ERA, but this year has been a challenge.)

Post-Game 6 Thread: Muncy Flips Script, Bat

DODGERS 5, CARDINALS 4

On Sunday Night Baseball, the Dodgers rallied back from a 4-0 deficit to take the 5-4 victory, punctuated by a mammoth no-doubt two-run home run by Max Muncy in the bottom of the eighth inning:

Here's another look:

On repeat. 🔁 pic.twitter.com/jJlEGrenm1

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 1, 2024

Pretty amazing, given the Dodgers were this close from being a .500 team, after dropping Game 3 of this series yesterday, thanks in large part to Joe Kelly's five-run (early Easter) egg. But even then, the Dodgers rallied back to tie it in the ninth, only to lose it in the tenth when Shohei Ohtani ended the game with a bases-loaded infield pop-up. That effort, as Muncy pointed out on the post-game interview, required St. Louis to burn a number of arms (including Giovanny Gallegos), which then left the Cardinals more vulnerable in Sunday's matchup.

Not that the Dodgers' pen was up to full strength, either. With Emmet Sheehan moved to the 60-day IL, the Dodgers optioned Kyle Hurt (2.2 IP, 0 BB and 3 Ks in Saturday's loss) and added Nabil Crismatt to the rotation just this morning. And the move paid off, with Crismatt (who got the win) going two scoreless innings with 0 BB and 3 Ks, on the back of a nasty changeup that fooled Wilson Contreras, Alec Burleson, and Brendan Donovan (all strikeouts). Daniel Hudson came in to record the save with a scoreless ninth, which was also great given Evan Phillips was unavailable after pitching the last two nights.

The big three weren't great in this game, with Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, and Freddie Freeman combining to go 1-for-11. Teoscar Hernandez went 2-for-4 with a HR and 2 RBI (the Dodgers' first two runs of their comeback win).

And credit has to go to Dave Roberts, who pulled Kike Hernandez (0-for-2) in the sixth to pinch hit Muncy, who went 2-for-2 and raised his average to .348. Roberts also slotted Chris Taylor fifth in the lineup today, and CT3 reached base four times (three walks and a run-scoring hit, plus the Dodgers' first stolen base of the year in the eighth). Our offense needs production from the top three, but in the cases where it doesn't happen, it's great that Roberts might be able to find the hot hand amongst the others. Today at least, Roberts was spot-on.

Dodgers take three of four from the Cardinals and move to 4-2, tied with the 3-1 Diamondbacks in the standings for the NL West lead.

Games 3-6 Thread: March 28-31 vs. Cardinals

Thursday March 28 1p: TBD vs. Miles Mikolas
Friday March 29 7p:
Saturday March 30 6p:
Sunday March 31 4p:

So I get it, it's "Traditional" Opening Day 2024, because the two games we played in Korea don't count. Except they do, in the standings. Well, cue the flyover for this four-game series against the Cardinals, anyway.

Sax here will be out of pocket for this series, so I'll leave it to you guys to tend bar. Don't ruin the joint while I'm gone!

Series Thread (Games 45-48): May 18-21 @ Cardinals

Thu 18 4.45p: Julio Urias vs. Wainwright
Fri 19 5.15p: Tony Gonsolin vs. Metz
Sat 20 4.15p: Noah Syndergaard vs. Mikolas
Sun 21 11.15a: Clayton Kershaw vs. Flaherty

Prior to Opening Day, everyone picked the Cardinals to win the NL Central (to be fair, that "everyone" also chose the Padres over the Dodgers in the NL West). And the Cardinals still might.

But their 17-26 record is curently worst in the National League, and they've got issues. Local product Jack Flaherty is not the 2019 ace they need him to be in 2023 (though he did come to life last start with 10 Ks). Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol doesn't like Tyler O'Neill's lack of hustle on the basepaths.

And by going 8-2 over the last 10, while the Pirates have falle back to earth and the Brewers scuffle around, the Cardinals are only 6.5 games out (the smallest distance to first place for all six MLB divisions).

Meanwhile, the Dodgers have won their last six series including going 5-1 at home this past week, the lone blemish being a rare loss for the bereaved Clayton Kershaw, for his first home loss since June 2021. But wait, there's more: in Wednesday's 7-3 victory over the Twins, we may have lost Dustin May for what's being called "at least a month," but will probably be a lot more. It's a flexor pronator strain, which in layman's terms is really fucking bad.

May's slot in the rotation isn't due for this four-game series in St. Louis, but everyone else's is. So here we go: a hot start to May, precariously set up for a let down. Sounds like a house of cards, no? Or at least a visit to one? Sigh.

Series Thread (Games 27-29): Apr 28-30 vs. Cardinals

Fri 4.28 7p: TBD vs. Flaherty
Sat 4.29 6p: TBD vs. Montgomery
Sun 4.30 1p: TBD vs. TBD

Friday's game marks a return to Dodger Stadium for Harvard-Westlake's own Jack Flaherty, who pitched the Wolverines to their only Southern Section Division 1 Championship in 2013 with a 1-0 vitory over Marina. Flaherty was one of three Harvard-Westlake pitching phenoms who would later play in the major leagues; in fact, all three pitchers (inlcuding the White Sox' Lucas Giolito and the Braves' Max Fried) started 2021 Opening Day for their respective teams.

Flaherty, who starts Friday for the Cardinals, is 0-0 with a 1.50 ERA in three starts @ Dodger Stadium, with 29 Ks over 18.0 IP. His 0.611 WHIP is the second-lowest across all 20 ballparks in which he has pitched, evidencing that he might be a little more fired up here at home. With the struggling Cardinals way back in the NL Central standings, I'm sure he has even more motivation to start this series off with a bang.

Let's welcome Flaherty back...but not be the best hosts possible. (But given we are a .500 team, I am sure we will be quite hospitable to St. Louis at least once this weekend.)

Games 151-153 Thread: Sep 23-25 vs. Cardinals

Fri 23 7p: Heaney vs. Quintana
Sat 24 6p: Kershaw vs. Montgomery
Sun 25 1p: Anderson vs. Wainwright

This series marks the return of all-time Dodger great Albert Pujols, who, after his legendary stint with the Dodgers, opted to play out one final year with the St. Louis Cardinals. Pujols is on 698 home runs (fourth all-time), and there is a chance he can get to 700 while playing at Chavez Ravine--which would be entirely fitting for the future Hall of Famer. (It is widely rumored that Pujols, always generous, may opt to give St. Louis a little bit of love on his HOF plaque, given that the Dodgers already have so much HOF representation.)

St Louis leads the NL Central by 7.5 games--but as the NL division leader with the weakest record, the Cardinals will likely have to play in the Wild Card Round before the NLDS. Should they advance, there's a chance these two teams could meet in the NLCS. Better not show the entire hand this series, right?

Welcome back to Dodger Stadium, Tio Albert!

Games 86-90 Thread: July 12-14 @ Cardinals; July 15-16 @ Angels

This picture is not an endorsement for this product. I just needed a unifying theme.

@STL Tues 12 4.45p: White vs. Liberatore
@STL Wed 13 4.45p: Gonsolin vs. Wainwright
@STL Thu 14 4.15p: Anderson vs. Hudson
@LAA Fri 15 6.30p: TBD vs. TBD
@LAA Sat 16 7p: TBD vs. TBD

I'm having to squish two series threads into one Game Thread due to travel. But I confess that I'm pretty damn giddy after a 10-1 homestand, punctuated by a crazy come-from-behind victory on Sunday afternoon in which Julio Urias shit a turd (down 5-0 with one out in the top of the first), only to see the Dodgers rally back to an 11-9 victory to sweep the hapless Cubs.

If we can play like this even with Max Muncy batting .162 and Cody Bellinger batting .211--wow, we've got a shot here.

And now the Dodgers have four All-Stars preparing for next Tuesday's All-Star Game: starters Mookie Betts and Trea Turner, and pitchers Clayton Kershaw and Tony Gonsolin. So let's enjoy these five last games before the break and everybody be cool, okay? Time for a tarot reading.