37,715 people showed up to Dodger Stadium tonight, plus 50 players and a bevy of coaches and trainers, but the only person who mattered was one Clifton Phifer Lee. The Philly Phifer tossed eight shutout innings, allowing only four hits and striking out 10. At one point he retired 20 straight.
The silver lining? AGon extended his hitting streak to 16 games. League pitched another two scoreless innings. Sign that man to an extension!
Paul Maholm (0-1, 4.97) vs. Cliff Lee (2-2, 4.00).
Step right up to Cliff's Amusement Park, which has historically been full of nauseating moments for the Dodgers. Lee's career ERA of 1.70 (across seven games) is the third best among all opponents lifetime, behind only the Giants and the Phillies themselves. And the Phillies have been Dodger killers in recent years, particularly in the playoffs.
On the positive side, we've got Paul Maholm pitching. Just kidding! On the positive side, Lee has not gotten offensive support from his team this year; in his last outing, Lee walked one and struck out 13 over nine innings...but lost 1-0. According to MLB.com, Lee's 3.87 run support average since 2011 is the seventh lowest in baseball.
But we can still hope! Mattingly will likely be strategic in picking his horses from the Dodgers' outfield carousel. And Adrian Gonzalez, riding his 15-game hitting streak with a double yesterday, will still bring his dragon swing. I mean, it's been a roller-coaster year for the Dodgers already, but just think what would happen if yesterday's hero Yasiel Puig gets a load of a Cliff hanger.....and with that, I'll ask you to tune in for tonight's game.
Zack Greinke (10-3, 3.21) vs. Cliff Lee (10-5, 3.18).
Sure, the Dodgers are scorching hot — not even Vin Scully himself has seen a stretch like this — and the Phillies are 14 games below .500, but if anyone can stop the Blue, it might be Cliff Lee. Clifton Phifer has a 2-1 record with a 1.40 ERA lifetime against the Dodgers. Who else is looking forward to Puig vs. Lee?
With a successful road trip, the Dodgers, 7.5 games ahead of the D'bags, can bring their road winning percentage closer to their home mark. They're 37-25 at Dodger Stadium and 33-25 on the road. Hope this trip is a happy one, boys!
photo by Mark J. Terrill/AP
Cliff Lee (9-2, 2.51 ERA) vs. Hyun-Jin Ryu (6-3, 2.85)
Well, that happened. The Phillies offense ripped through a succession of Dodger pitchers like Spanky through a cooler of Steel Reserve tall boys, leaving us all hung over and asking what happened last night. But because today is another day, like an embarrassing one-night stand we take the walk of shame down to Chavez Ravine, try to clear the cobwebs, and get one back.
Dodgers have two choices: come out strong like last night never happened, or go for the hair of the dog that bit them. Cliff Lee is 7-0 with a 2.00 ERA in his last 10 starts. Ryu is winless in four starts this month. Strong chance this team hits the Bloody Marys early, starts checking Facebook to make sure no embarrassing photos from the night before were posted, and tries to figure out which bar they left their Visa card.
How can one game removed from being on a six-game win streak feel so bad? On the bright side, there's always Skip Schumaker, who was the only Dodger pitcher last night not to give up a run. Read that last sentence a few times to yourself and let it soak in.
Dodgers tickets
photo: Jonathan Hsieh
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, April 13, 2013
"Carlos Quentin, who gets hit by more pitches than Don Draper, is a motherfucking assclown," Colletti said. "With all due respect to Vin Scully, what Quentin pulled was pure bullshit. Dude dives at the plate more than Louie Anderson at a Las Vegas buffet. Gotta put on your big-boy pants and learn to take a HBP or two."
Quentin refused to elaborate on what Zack Greinke allegedly said to provoke his attack. Replays showed Greinke had the opportunity to utter two, maybe three syllables before Quentin charged at him like a rhino on a meth bender.
In his eighth year in the majors, the 240-pound Quentin has a history of being a dipshit trigger-happy hothead. In 2008 with the White Sox, he broke his wrist after punching his bat while facing Cliff Lee. Yes, this is a man who attacks his own equipment.
The Padres open a three-game stand at Dodger Stadium on Monday. Quentin has appealed the eight-game suspension handed down by the commissioner's office, meaning he will be eligible to play if the appeal ruling is not handed down this weekend.
Asked if Quentin would be welcome at Dodger Stadium, Matt Kemp replied, "We'll see, bitch."
Added Dodgers President and CEO Stan Kasten, "Go fuck yourself, San Diego."
OFFICIAL:
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 3, 2012@dodgers today acquired starting pitcher Joe Blanton from@phillies for a player to be named later.
UPDATE:
Source:
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) August 3, 2012#Dodgers awarded the claiming rights on Cliff Lee. It remains unlikely that they ultimately obtain him from#Phillies.@mlbonfox
While the Dodgers might not have unlimited resources, the new ownership group clearly intends to make the organization of the big spenders in baseball, taking full advantage of their television market to establish something like Yankees West. If the Dodgers run out an opening day payroll of $175 million next year, I don’t think anyone would be too terribly surprised.
Based on the contracts currently on the books, the Dodgers have $135 million already allocated to players under team control for 2013, while A.J. Ellis is their only significant arbitration eligible player. So, if their payroll target was $175 million (which, keep in mind, is a number I pulled out of thin air, and may not actually represent their budget), that would leave them about $35 million to spend to fill out the roster, meaning they could take Cliff Lee's contract and still have enough left to buy a new first baseman. While Lee's contract would be a budget buster for most organizations, it might not prevent the Dodgers from making further upgrades in other areas as well.
And from MLBTR:
Teams have two business days to claim players off of waivers, which suggests Lee hit the waiver wire yesterday, when the August waiver period opened.
So if anything interesting is going to happen, it's going to happen soon. But we're not holding our breath.
