Post-Game 156 Thread: Three Is A Magic Number

DODGERS 8, CUBS 5
PADRES 8, GIANTS 2

When this video gets to the second verse ("A man and a woman had a little baby; yes they did, they had three in the family; and that's a magic number"), I feel the good vibrations of the seventies warm me up all over.

Which is probably how Don Mattingly and the Dodgers felt, having survived "Bullpen Day" at Wrigley Field, starting Jamey Wright for two innings, then letting Carlos Frias take a turn, before parading in Chris Perez (who got the win, retiring four batters), Paco Rodriguez, Pedro Baez, and Kenley Jansen. Wright only lasted two innings and gave up three hits and 1 ER. Frias was a bit shakier (3.0 IP, 3 H and 3 ER), but nowhere near his last outing; plus he got out of a fifth-inning jam with the tying run on second by pulling off a big strikeout of Chris Valaika (Frias was actually seen on camera pumping himself up before the fateful pitch). Scattering only five Cubs runs over the course of the day, the Dodgers were able to actually survive throwing a spaghetti-like bullpen arms against the wall, just to see which ones could stick long enough to register 27 outs.

And that of course was due to the offensive heroics of the rest of the lineup, who seemed to take to the challenge by rising up. Yasiel Puig was 2-for-5 with 4 runs scored; Adrian Gonzalez was 2-for-5 with a run and an RBI; and Matt Kemp was 4-for-5 with a run and 4 RBI, two of which came on a third-inning HR to right field. Hanley Ramirez went 2-for-4, Carl Crawford went 2-for-5, A.J. Ellis got when 1-for-5 to raise his average (don't get me started). In fact, the only 0-fer in the starting lineup was Dee Gordon (0-for-5). All in all, a pretty good day with the bats: 16 hits in total in the victory.

What's more, the Padres took to their camouflage outfits and completed the sweep of the Giants, dropping Ryan Vogelsong and the Giants 8-2. According to MLB.com, "in eight games since their euphoric 9-0 rout of Los Angeles on Sept. 12, the Giants are batting .201 (52-for-259) with 14 runs scored. They've mustered two runs in five of those games and have been shut out twice."

So the Dodgers' magic number for winning the NL West is now three. And serendipitously enough, the Giants' magic number for securing a wild card spot (over Milwaukee; the Pirates are tied with the Giants for the two wild card spots) is also three. So three truly is a magic number.

Hat tip to Dusty for referencing this song (I think!) in the GT. I didn't see it until afterward, but it appears we're on the same wavelength. As Sons should be, I suppose.

Post-Game 145 Thread: Roberto Hernandez Is Not The Answer

PADRES 6, DODGERS 3

And I don't even know what the question is. But Roberto Hernandez came out tonight and gave up five runs in the first three innings, ending his night early as he handed the ball over to Yimi Garcia (two innings, no runs), Kevin Correia (two innings, no runs), Jamey Wright (okay, there was a run here; but hey, it's Jamey Wright), Brandon League and Chris Perez (split an inning of work with no runs). Take away Hernandez' bed shitting, and we would have won. Yeah, but if Woody had gone to the police, this would never have happened.

Look, I don't know where this PGT is going, as I'm still drunk. But if not for the fact that the end of the four-game win streak also coincided with the Giants' beating the venomless Diamondbacks, I might be okay with this loss. Clearly, Don Mattingly was, as he didn't go to the bullpen until after we were in a 5-0 hole.

We had our opportunities, none more poignant than two on, one out, in the bottom of the ninth (down by three, mind you): Dee Gordon Ks and Hanley Ramirez (who also had two errors in his 0-for-4 evening) flies out to center. 3-for-12 with RISP isn't good, nor is a loss to the sub-.500 Padres. But at least we took the game yesterday, which keeps us 2.5 games up on SF with 17 to play. One more with the Padres tomorrow...and then, it's showdown in SF.

Boy, I'd feel better about going into Phone Park with more than a three-game lead.

Oh, and Yasiel Puig got a hit, a leadoff infield single in the seventh. Whoop de frickin' doo.

Post-Game 112 Thread: The Black Hole Of 4 and 5

CUBS 7, DODGERS 3

As the movie poster says, "You can't escape the most powerful force in the universe." That may be true for Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, and Hyun-Jin Ryu; however, when we throw up Dan Haren or Josh Beckett this second half of the season, much like a black hole, you can't escape the suck.

Beckett had yet another non-quality start, this time going 4.0 IP before being pulled three batters into the fifth, having given up two more runs to put the Dodgers down 3-1. Beckett did have 6 Ks to go with his 3 BBs, but was as shakey as a pizza parlor and Mattingly had no choice but to go to the pen early...which proved fateful when Brandon League and Chris Perez combined to give up four runs in the last two innings to put the game out of reach. Not even Matt Kemp, who homered again and went 2-for-4 on the day, could claw back this deficit.

You might have heard this once or ten thousand times during the broadcasts, but when a last-place team comes out and spanks you Friday, and again Sunday (and our Saturday win was only due to extra-inning heroics), it doesn't give one a lot of confidence. Nor does the back half of our starting rotation, which seems universally catastrophic. Better fire up those waiver wire deals, Neddie.

Post-Game 102 Thread: Pirates Plunder Dodgers

PIRATES 12, DODGERS 7

It was almost a game. Pirates had two solo shots in the second; Dodgers return with two runs in the top of the third (Adrian Gonzalez and Andre Ethier RBI). Pirates get two more runs in the bottom of the third; A.J. Ellis knocks in two in the top of the sixth.

but with A.J. Ellis on second and one out, the Dodgers keep Paul Maholm (who took over for Josh Beckett in the fourth) to bat. Maholm Ks, and Dee Gordon flies out. And then immediately afterward, Maholm gives up two leadoff singles, is replaced by Jamey Wright, but the floodgates are open and the Pirates score four runs.

The Dodgers come back to make it 8-6, in the top of the seventh, with a two-run A-Gon shot. And we get one more back on a solo Scott Van Slyke shot in the eighth to make it 8-7.

And then Don Mattingly gets his second ill-fated idea of the night, to go to Chris Perez in the bottom of the eighth. Perez gets one out and then delivers four straight walks; Brandon League tries to relieve Perez and gives up two straight singles. 12-7 is the score through eight, and that's all she wrote.

Mattingly tried very, very hard to go with the freezing cold hand tonight, depending on Maholm and Perez to...screw things up. What a missed opportunity.

Post-Game 83 Thread: We're Going Streaking (Of A Different Sort)

Nine straight errorless games!

DODGERS 9, CARDINALS 1

Zack Greinke is back. After a rough start last outing, Greinke came back with 10 Ks over 7.0 IP, giving up only 4 H and 1 ER (a solo shot by Matt Carpenter) while walking none. Just another dominating performance, on national television (with Eric Karros doing the commentary!), no less.

The Dodgers blew the game open wider than Juan Uribe's jersey size in the second inning:

• Andre Ethier leadoff single;
• Justin Turner RBI double (Turner left the game with an apparent hamstring injury, so cross your fingers);
• A.J. Ellis RBI double scoring PR Miguel Rojas;
• wild pitch and ground out by Greinke (out #1);
• Dee Gordon RBI double;
• Yasiel Puig walk (and shitty no-possible-path-to-home-plate call that called Gordon out at home on a another wild pitch; out #2);
• Hanley Ramirez walk;
• Adrian Gonzalez RBI single;
• Matt Kemp RBI single;
• Ethier RBI double;
• Rojas ground out (out #3).

Throw in a couple more Ks from Paul Maholm in the eighth, and then another K in another shaky-as-hell ninth inning from Chris Perez, and the Dodgers have 13 Ks, a blowout victory, and their ninth straight errorless game. And I have to think the good defense correlates with the Dodgers' climb back to 1.5 GB the divisional lead.

Dudes, we are STREAKING! And everybody's doing it.

Post-Game 8 Thread: Kemp and Hanley Restore Order To The Ravine

DODGERS 6, GIANTS 2

After watching the Giants spoil the other two games of our opening homestand, Matt Kemp and Hanley Ramirez came out slugging, both knocking two HR each to drive the Dodgers to victory. Three of those four HR came at the hand of Matt Cain, who lasted only six innings and gave up five ER, raising his ERA to 5.73 on the season. Andre Ethier (0-for-2) added a sacrifice fly and the Dodgers rolled to a 6-2 win.

Zack Greinke was dealing for the Dodgers, lasting six innings in kind and giving up solo shots to Hunter Pence and Brandon Belt in the sixth. Chris Withrow, JP Howell, Chris Perez, and Kenley Jansen came in to nail down the final three innings (yielding two hits in aggregate), and the Dodgers narrow the gap to a half-game behind the Giants, who get the soft fleshy Diamondbacks on Wednesday while we host the AL-leading Detroit Tigers. Let's hope Yasiel Puig (scratched from Sunday's game) and his thumb get a clean MRI report (and stop diving headfirst into first, dammit! who do you think you are, Nick Punto?).

photos: Victor Decolongon / Getty Images

Sydney Takeaways

Mark Saxon goes through some of the things the Dodgers may have learned from their two games in Australia:

You can't make sweeping generalizations about two games of a season, but you can draw a hazy conclusion or two:

• The starting pitching, at least at the top, is strong. The Diamondbacks took a blow just before they came to Australia when they learned young lefty Patrick Corbin had an elbow injury. But remember, the Dodgers were without Zack Greinke, who stayed behind in Arizona after his spring was delayed by a sore calf. Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu got the Dodgers off to a roaring start in both games, giving up one run in 11 ⅔ innings combined. "When your pitching's this good, you really don't want to allow teams to get back in games," Mattingly sad.
• Which brings us to the biggest worry, once again: infield defense. Hanley Ramirez made a poor decision trying to step on second base to start a double play when he could have shoveled to Dee Gordon at least to get an out at second. Everybody was safe. Gordon dropped a liner right in his glove. Stopping balls hit up the middle is crucial and might become a long-term worry. Then again, the games were played on a lightning-fast infield, so perhaps we should withhold judgment.
• Second base could be fine. Gordon looked like a catalyst in Sunday's game, sparking almost all of the Dodgers' scoring action. "I'll do what I can to be the starting second baseman and show they can trust me to be the guy every day," Gordon said afterward. Justin Turner looks like a solid right-handed half of a Gordon-Turner platoon. The Dodgers can be patient and allow Alex Guerrero to develop at Triple-A as long as the platoon works. Good early signs.
• The bullpen should be good. Relief pitching was awful Sunday. The first five relievers in the game for the Dodgers gave up seven walks among them. Then again, some of those guys won't even be on the team in a week, as the Dodgers scramble to find roster spots for Greinke, Dan Haren, Brandon League and Carl Crawford. When the three top relievers, Kenley Jansen, Brian Wilson and Chris Perez, pitched in Saturday's game, it was lights-out. Jansen did allow a Mark Trumbo home run Sunday but cut him some slack. It was a non-save situation.

photo swiped from here