Darwin Barney DFAd

Need to make room for Ronald Torreyes, so Darwin Barney got slapped down. Fare thee well, Darwin Barney:

SAN DIEGO -- The Dodgers on Friday acquired infielder Ronald Torreyes from Toronto for cash considerations and made room for him by designating infielder Darwin Barney for assignment.

Torreyes was optioned to Double-A Tulsa.

The moves come in conjunction with the promotion of Cuban infielder Hector Olivera from Tulsa to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Torreyes, 22, has a .299 career batting average with 18 home runs and 231 RBIs in 537 Minor League games over six seasons with the Reds (2010-11), Cubs (2012-13), Astros (2013-15) and Blue Jays (2015) organizations.

Post-Game 160 Thread: Dodgers Keep On Clinchiness

DODGERS 7, ROCKIES 4

With the Dodgers' third straight win, coupled with the Giants' 4-1 loss to the Padres, the Dodgers clinched the NL West by even more than last game. In fact, one might call the team's six-run sixth inning the most clinchiness move of all, what with 11 batters coming to the plate and incredibly opportunistic baserunning by Scott Van Slyke (who took second on his RBI single on a throwing error, as well as came around to score a second run (on the same play) on a bloop Justin Turner infield single) and station-to-station, smart play by Juan Uribe and Darwin Barney. How much more clinchy this team can get in its last two regular-season games, I don't know.

(But I do think now would be a good time to rest more starters than Matt Kemp and A.J. Ellis, right? Think about it, Donnie.)

In other news, St. Louis needed a comeback, extra-inning victory to keep ahead of Pittsburgh in the NL Central. The disaster scenario we want to avoid is Pittsburgh and St. Louis finishing with identical records, as this would make the two teams square off in a one-game playoff before the loser meets Madison Bumgarner and the Giants (strategically, the Cards and Pirates might not throw their respective #1 starters, but who knows). A St. Louis win + Pittsburgh loss tomorrow would settle things (and, force the Giants to play at Pittsburgh, where the Pirates are 51-30; if St. Louis wins, San Francisco has the head-to-head advantage so the game would be at Phone Park).

Post-Game 158 Thread: As Good As It Gets

DODGERS 4, GIANTS 2

The Giants tried everything tonight to stave off the Dodgers. They threw their snot-rocketing ace, Ashley Madison Bumgarner. They got chippy, with Ashley throwing inside on Yasiel Puig after ceding a leadoff HR to Justin Turner (Ashley started yipping while Puig was still down; Puig took umbrage; benches cleared to make sure that said umbrage was not returned to Ashley--no punches were thrown). And they battled back, taking advantage of Zack Greinke's momentary lapse (in an otherwise outstanding night) to hit a surprise two-run HR in the third inning, to make it a white-knuckle, 3-2 game.

But that lapse was as far as the Giants got in their feeble attempt to lower the level to a brawl. The Dodgers rose above a snotty ace and infantile behavior, not only turning the other cheek and refraining from doing anything stupid, but also taking care of business on the field. Thanks to the help of a number of key heroes, we beat the Giants handily and soundly, and the magic number is now 1 to win the division, with four games to go for us (three against the Rockies, and five games to go for San Francisco (four against the Padres after tomorrow). Nine possible outcomes, and only one has to go our way to win it all.

But before we get ahead of ourselves, let's talk about today's heroes:

• Zack Greinke, who aside from the HR had one hell of a game: 8.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB and 5 Ks. The 118-pitch evening was a bit much to ask, but Greinke proved why he's a better ace than the Giants' best gun tonight;
• Matt Kemp, whose first-inning, two-run HR to score the HBP Puig not only shut the Giants up, but proved to be the factor in our offense...that is, along with...
• Justin Turner, who set the game off with fireworks in the first inning with a leadoff HR, then gave the Dodgers some breathing room in the eighth inning with another solo Jack, this time with one out, to put the Dodgers up 4-2;
• Darwin Barney. Who? Yes, Barney was key, not so much for a PH performance that resulted in a ground out, but for a wonderful snag of a Joe Panik grounder at second base to get the first out in the ninth. This out was artful--Barney actually wipes his hand dry on his uniform before throwing Panik out at first--but it was also critical, as it helped calm Kenley Jansen, who allowed a Oyster Pubes single but earned his 44th save.

• And finally, Bruce Bochy, whom I often consider a great manager, but tonight confused me when he let Ashley Madison hit in the eighth inning. The Giants were down by only one run, and letting Ashley bat instead of putting in any one of 10,000 bench PH options seemed odd; Greinke struck out Ashley, who then was sent back out for the bottom of the eighth, only to have Turner take him yard again and extend the lead to two runs, and end Ashley's day. Ashley had 116 pitches on his own, and lasted only 7.1 IP; not sure why they didn't PH for him in the eighth.

Tonight was a great, great victory for the Dodgers, who probably weren't expected to beat the Giants on this evening. Instead, it's down to the series finale tomorrow, with Clayton Kershaw on the mound for the good guys, and a shot at clinching. I Kinnear the Giants fans' heartbeats racing already, as the Dodgers continue their Hunt for the divisional title. Winning tonight's game was probably...as good as it gets.

Go Dodgers!

Ashley Madison graffiti photo taken from a pylon on the Embarcadero in San Francisco, September 23, 2014

Post-Game 152 Thread: Missed It By That Much

ROCKIES 16, DODGERS 2

Making another entry in the annals of soul-destroying, confidence-eroding, early-career disastrous showings (see: Pederson, Joc), Don Mattingly made sure Carlos Frias was not only torched, but his ashes were smoldering and blown into the wind, before removing him from today's game. Mattingly let Frias struggle through 11 batters and six earned runs (which ballooned to 8 ER thanks to reliever Scott Elbert), inflating Frias' ERA to 6.58 and ruining any hope of self-confidence this young guy had. Way to go, Donnie!

With .116 batter Tim Federowicz behind the plate today (0-for-4), it wasn't like we were poised for victory. Darwin Barney and Miguel Rojas, both of whom also started today's game, eked out two late-game RBI. But it still sucks to lose such a close game.

Giants won, albeit barely, but as expected given Madison Bumgarner's start. So the lead is two games, with 10 to play. The Dodgers start a four-game series with the Chicago Cubs. Get ready for a 1-3 showing.

Post-Game 137 Thread: Ryu Defeats The Enemy

DODGERS 7, PADRES 1

The Dodgers looked to be traveling down a familiar road of late in Petco Park: low offensive production wasting a solid starting pitching effort, this time from Hyun-Jin Ryu, whose return from the DL was much needed: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB and 7 Ks. The Dodgers had scored one in the first on a Scott Van Slyke single to right, but gave the run right back in the bottom of the first inning. Then the Dodgers scored another run in the fifth off a Matt Kemp RBI single, but proceeded to squander a rally when SVS GIDPd to end the inning.

But this time, we broke through in the eighth inning. Adrian Gonzalez led off with a single and Kemp doubled him over to third. Carl Crawford walked, and then Juan Uribe (who also recently returned from the DL) moved everyone up 90 feet with a single to right (3-1 LA). Jesse Hahn came in to pitch and threw wild during an A.J. Ellis AB, allowing Kemp to score (Ellis would end up walking the bases loaded again). Darwin Barney then singled to right, scoring two to make it 6-1 Dodgers. All of this came with none out, so even though the inning ended poorly (Andre Ethier single but Ellis tagged at the plate, followed by Yasiel Puig and Hanley Ramirez Ks), at least we opened up a big lead this time; after going 1-for-900000 in the first two games, the Dodgers went 6-for-14 with RISP in this one.

Uribe added an RBI double in the ninth to make it 7-1, and Pedro Baez pithed two innings to have the lead hold up. Avoiding the sweep allowed us to keep 2.5 games ahead in the division (and make it a winning "road trip" of five games), before our series at home against Washington.

Welcome back, Ryu, and welcome back, Uribe!

seamless graphics work by SoSG Sax

Post-Game 121 Thread: Major Surprise

The H is for horse. I mean Haren!

DODGERS 4, BARVES 2

Who are you, Dan Haren? After pulling away for the title of "worst starting regular pitcher" for most of the season, Haren has suddenly thrown two consecutive QualityStart™s, and against good teams: the Angels and today the Barves. Mike Minor was saddled with the loss.

Down the stretch, Haren had help from a stable of relievers, including Wilson, Howell, League and Kenley. Offensively, Puig and Kemp contributed RBIs, but the Dodgers rode the bat and legs of Darwin Barney, who had a second-inning RBI and also created an insurance run in the eighth in a sequence that included an error and a wild pitch.

Dodgers for the win! Giants remain mired in second place. Good show!

Post-Game 120 Thread: Kevin Correia, Juggernaut?

DODGERS 6, BRAVES 2

Kevin Correia is tied for the AL lead (actually, the major league lead) in losses. But he's undefeated in the National League, having led the Dodgers to a 6-2 victory in the opening game of a four-game series in Atlanta. Wow, what a surprise! And not only did Correia pitch pretty well in his Dodgers debut (6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 5 Ks and 1 BB), he also went 2-for-2 with a run scored. Quite a powerhouse debut, Kevin! Well done.

Adrian Gonzalez has become an RBI machine, knocking in his 80th of the year with a sixth-inning single to tie the game at 1. Carl Crawford and Justin Turner added RBI that frame to make it 3-1. Then in the eighth inning, the Dodgers took advantage of shoddy Braves (wild) pitching and defending (A.J. Ellis had what seemed like a GIDP but the shortstop threw it away, forcing only one out and scoring two) to add three more runs. Carlos Frias allowed a run in the ninth, but other than that, a relatively easy victory for the Dodgers, which I wasn't expecting given the conditions.

Oh, and Darwin Barney made his Dodgers debut as well, PH in the seventh. He saw two pitches and grounded out to third. We will see if his Dodgers career evolves from here.

First-place lead stretches to five games over the idle Giants. Keep it up, boys!

Barney Sings "I Can't Hit, .233; I'm Now In Your Family"

In using the word "fortified" like Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs, the Dodgers claim they have "fortified" their infield with the acquisition of Cubs' infielder Darwin Barney:

LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers acquired middle infielder Darwin Barney and cash considerations from the Chicago Cubs on Monday for a player to be named or cash.

Barney provides additional infield depth, particularly at shortstop, where Miguel Rojas has been the backup and late-inning replacement for starter Hanley Ramirez.

Los Angeles' interest in Barney preceded the weekend meltdown by Erisbel Arruebarrena, the $25 million Cuban signing who precipitated a bench-clearing incident while on injury rehab with Triple-A Albuquerque. Arruebarrena, who has two cameo callups with the Dodgers this year, was optioned to Class A Rancho Cucamonga on Sunday.

Yeah, the Arruebarrena incident wasn't good. But Darwin Barney, whose career OPS+ of 70 is worse than a guy in a big purple dinosaur costume? That's not much better.

Yet, even as of yesterday, the Dodgers were busy preparing for Barney's arrival. Better send him right to the batting cages, stat.

UPDATE 5:51p PT: The PTBNL is Jonathan Martinez, RHP Class-A:

The #Dodgers are trading RHP Jonathan Martinez to the #Cubs as the player to be named later in the Darwin Barney trade.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 30, 2014

According to mlbtraderumors.com, "The 20-year-old was enjoying a strong season at Class A in the Midwest League, having pitched to a 3.47 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9 in 106 innings. He did not rank among the Dodgers’ top 30 prospects, per Baseball America."