Series Thread (Games 44-46): 5/18-20 @ Nats

Sat, 11:05 AM: Ross Stripling vs Tanner Roark (Game 1 of doubleheader caused by rain 5/18). We won! (we won) We won! (we won)
Game 2, 5:05 PM: Rich Hill vs Max Scherzer We won! (we won) We won! (we won)
Sun, 10:35 PM: Alex Wood vs Stephen Strasburg We swept! (we swept) We swept! (we swept)

NLCS Game 6 Thread: Oct. 22 @ Cubs, 5p

Clayton Kershaw vs Kyle Kendricks

NLCS Game 4 Thread: Oct 19 vs Cubs, 5 pm

Uh, I'm running out of things to complain about.  Mrs. Cora and I were at the game last night and the place was going bananas.  It was fun to see the stadium rocking.  Everyone was in their seats and the concession lines were relatively empty during game play.  It is always nice to see the stadium come alive during the postseason.  On the superstition front, I have now worn the same Dodger shirt for the last 2 wins as well as the new lucky Dodger socks.  Now the question is to wash or not to wash?  The things we do for our team!

While we are up 2-1 in a best of 7 series, like anything,  there is always something to complain about.   Right?  For example, why is Roberts starting the youngest pitcher in postseason history?  Is Kenley's arm going to fall off after another 2 inning stint?  Why is postseason parking pricing DOUBLE than during the regular season?  Uh, um.  Why is Roberts ... uh, oh wait I got it ... wearing the pullover jacket and not the postseason sweater?    Keep giving me things to complain about, it seems to be working!

Go Blue!


...on FS1

NLCS Game 3 Thread: Oct 18 vs Cubs, 5 pm

Superstitious? Us? No. Is that why I am doing the game thread again today? Is that why this game thread is scheduled for the same time as the last one? Is that also why I will continue to question Roberts again? Send Hill out again with that nagging blister? Keep Kiké on the roster instead of Culberson? Use Kenley again for 2 innings? Sorry I'm being a Debbie Downer, but if it ain't broke....

Go Blue!

NLCS Game 2 Thread: Oct 16 @ Cubs, 5p

Down-to-the-wire post may help the Dodger juju. Watching these last games, it only reminds me that I can never be a manager. I questioned every move that Roberts initiated. Put Ruiz in after burning Barnes? Kenley in the 7th for three innings? Kershaw to close? And with every move, Roberts proved me wrong. So I will continue to question Roberts, as long as we keep winning. So let's get through these Cubs. Kershaw to pitch on short rest? Roberts has got to be kidding. Right? Right???

Go Blue

NLCS Game 1 Thread: Oct 15 @ Cubs, 5p

Thanks to loyal SoSG reader Orlando Zepeda for the good-luck charm!

Kenta Maeda vs Jon Lester.

—Bill Shaikin

It's official...the masses do not have faith. BUT they do not know the power of The Cliff Beefpile Rally Thong™. The rally thong was solely responsible for the Dodgers' stirring comeback against the Nationals in the NLDS and it knows its work isn't done.

Now it's true the Dodgers are struggling against lefties, and Lester is one of the best out there. But this is also a seven-game series, and Lester is the Cubs' only lefty starter. It's also true the Cubs have great lefty relievers HOLY SMOKES MAYBE THE BILLS AND CHAD ARE RIGHT (cries)

(takes drink, clears throat) Sorry about that — it's too easy to doubt our team. I would know, having tossed in the towel when the Nats had a 2-1 NLDS lead. But they play the games for a reason, as they say (who is "they"?) and the Boys in Blue haven't disappointed yet. GO BLUE!

NLDS Game 5 Thread: Oct 13 @ Nationals, 5p

What's that strange thing on Chase Utley's face? Is that a...smile?

Rich Hill vs Max Scherzer.

• Rally thong? Check.
  
• High hopes? Check.
  
• Scared to death? Check.

After Game 1, the thought of a Game 5 would have been ridiculous. After Game 4, it's the high point of our season. Clayton Kershaw's gutty performance on Tuesday paved the way for Rich Hill, who has never started a game on three days' rest hasn't pitched on three days' rest since 2009. Julio Urias stands in the wings, ready to step in should Hill falter.

In a season (and post-season) filled with ups and downs, who knows where today's game will leave us. Riding high in September, shot down in October? Or celebrating into the rest of this month? Whichever it is, it's always better sharing it with fellow Dodger fans like you!

NLDS Game 4 Thread: Oct 11 vs. Nationals, 2p

somebody vs somebody else

Shit, I guess I gotta do one of these threads, no?

Anyhoo, after a gutty Game 1 victory, every aspect of the Dodgers' game has been laid bare: The starters are toast, the bats can't hit lefties (and barely righties) and even Kenley Jansen imploded in a non-save situation yesterday.

On the other hand, the middle relief has been great. Who would have guessed that after the first half of the season?

It's the last gasp, folks. Once more chance for the rally thong to work its magic. One more chance for Dodger fans to postpone crushing disappointment for another day.

Series Thread (Games 160-162): Sept 30-Oct 2 @ Giants

Stay strong. Don't cry. *cries*
This is it, you guys. The final three games with this legendary voice bringing us the pure poetry of baseball. Last weekend was our farewell to him, this weekend is Vin's farewell to us. It is sure to be magnificent.

Beyond the emotion of Vin's final call, the actual games in this series are not entirely devoid of intrigue. The division is wrapped up, but the Dodgers still have a very slim chance to overtake the Nationals for home field advantage in the NLDS. More importantly though, they can play the role of spoiler for the Giants, knocking them out of the 2nd Wild Card spot (with some assistance from...*sigh*...the Cardinals).

Pull up a chair...

9/30, 7:15p: Rich Hill vs. Ashley Madison

10/1, 1p: Clayton Kershaw vs. TBD Ty Blach

10/2, 12p: Kenta Maeda vs. TBD (on no days rest) Matt Moore

Series Thread (Games 157-159): Sept 27-29 @ Padres

9/27, 7p: Kenta Maeda vs Paul Clemens
PADRES 7, DODGERS 1

9/28, 7p: Jose De Leon vs Luis Perdomo
PADRES 6, DODGERS 5

9/29, 6p: Brett Anderson vs Christian Friedrich
DODGERS 9, PADRES 4

Series Thread (Games 153-156): Sept 22-25 vs Rockies

9/22, 7p: Brett Anderson vs Tyler Chatwood
DODGERS 7, ROCKIES 4

9/23, 7p: Scott Kazmir vs Jon Gray
DODGERS 5, ROCKIES 2. Dodgers win on Vin Scully Appreciation Day!

9/24, 6p: Clayton Kershaw vs Chad Bettis
DODGERS 14, ROCKIES 1. Magic number = 1!

9/25, 1p: Rich Hill Brandon McCarthy vs Tyler Anderson
DODGERS 4, ROCKIES 3 (10). Seager game-tying HR in the 9th. Culberson walkoff HR in the 10th. NL champs fourth year in a row!

Series Thread (Games 150-152): Sept 19-21 vs Giants

This never gets old. Especially when we're in first place!

9/19, 7p: Clayton Kershaw vs. Madison Bumgarner
DODGERS 2, GIANTS 1. Dodgers walk off in the 9th!

9/20, 7p: Rich Hill vs Johnny Cueto
GIANTS 2, DODGERS 0

9/21, 7p: Kenta Maeda vs Matt Moore
DODGERS 9, GIANTS 3. Magic number = 5!

Is there a better argument for appreciating the present than this?

Dodgers vs. Giants! First place vs. second place! 13 games left! 5-game lead! Magic number at 9! Vin's storied career coming to an end!

(cries)

Enjoy it, folks. Who knows what the future holds...and here's a little blast from the past, back when Game 1's grizzled veteran starters were wee lads:

Photoshop by @akaTheConman

Series Thread (Games 146-149): Sept 15-18 @ Snakes

This snake was not a Dodger.

Th 9/15, 6.30p: Rich Hill (12-3, 1.80) vs. Archie Bradley (6-9, 5.10)
DIAMONDBACKS 7, DODGERS 3

Fr 9/16, 6.30p: Kenta Maeda (14-9, 3.28) vs. Zack Greinke (12-6, 4.54)
DODGERS 3, DIAMONDBACKS 2

Sa 9/17, 5p: Bud Norris (6-10, 5.05) Brock Stewart vs. Shelby Miller (2-11, 7.12)
DODGERS 6, DIAMONDBACKS 2

Su 9/18, 1p: TBD Jose De Leon vs. Robbie Ray (8-13, 4.55)
DIAMONDBACKS 10, DODGERS 9 (12)

Dodgers open the series in Arizona with a magic number of 13, following the Dodgers' series win vs. the Yankees, coupled with the Giants getting swept by the Padres in San Francisco. The Dodgers' offense was a little toothless in the last two games, but benefitted from two Yankees miscues to take the 2-0 lead. We face right-handed starters in the first three games of this series, so let's hope we get the bats back again and whittle that magic number down further.

unfortunately, animals were indeed hurt in that picture; however, none of the Sons were responsible

Series Thread (Games 143-145): Sept 12-14 @ Yankees

Baseball stadium or church? You decide.

9/12, 4p: Jose De Leon vs Bryan Mitchell
DODGERS 8, YANKEES 2

9/13, 4p: Julio Urias vs CC Sabathia
YANKEES 3, DODGERS 0

9/14, 1p: Clayton Kershaw vs Michael Pineda
DODGERS 2, YANKEES 0 Magic number: 13 [Sax]

Series Thread (Games 140-142): Sept. 9-11 @ Marlins

This guy. 'Nuff said.
9/9, 4p: Clayton Kershaw vs Jose Fernandez
MARLINS 4, DODGERS 1: Kershaw: 3 innings, 5 Ks, takes the loss--but we're happy to have him back [Sax]

9/10, 4p: Rich Hill vs. Tom Koehler
DODGERS 5, MARLINS 0: Rich Hill with a perfect seven-inning sort-of game; Pederson 2 HR [Sax]

9/11, 10a: Kenta Maeda vs. Jose Urena
MARLINS 3, DODGERS 0. Ugh [Orel]

Series Thread (Games 137-139): Sept 5-7 vs D'backs

Yeah, you knew we were going to use this picture....

9/5, 5p: Kenta Maeda vs Zack Greinke
DODGERS 10, DIAMONDBACKS 2. AGon: 2-run HR; Joc HR, Seager 3-run HR, Turner HR, Grandal HR, all in 5th off Greinke; Maeda: 6.1 IP, 1 R, 8 K, 1 BB

9/6, 7p: Ross Stripling vs Shelby Miller
DODGERS 5, DIAMONDBACKS 2

9/7, 7p: Brock Stewart vs Robby Ray
DODGERS 3, DIAMONDBACKS 1. Dodgers' first sweep after the All-Star break

photo by @thkbleu

Series Thread (Games 134-136): Sept 2-4 vs Padres

Puig's back!

9/2, 7p: Julio Urias (5-2, 3.71) vs Clayton Richard (1-3, 3.51)
PADRES 4, DODGERS 2

9/3, 6p: Rich Hill (10-3, 2.09) vs Luis Perdomo (7-7, 5.84)
DODGERS 5, PADRES 1

9/4, 1p: Jose De Leon (0-0, -.--) vs Christian Friedrich (4-10, 4.84)
DODGERS 7, PADRES 4. De Leon (W): 6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 9 K, 0 BB. Puig: 3-run HR

The Dodgers start this series in first place by 2.5 games, thanks to the Giants' second straight loss to the Cubs on Friday. Joining the team for this homestand are some new old faces, such as Puig, and just plain new faces, like De Leon. This is the soft part of the schedule — time to strike!

photo by @scottkilleen

Series Thread (Games 131-133): August 29-31 @ Rockies

Can we keep on rolling over the Rockies?

8/29, 5:30p: Kenta Maeda (13-7, 3.37) vs. Jon Gray (8-6, 4.61)
ROCKIES 8, DODGERS 1

8/30, 5:30p: Rich Hill (10-3, 2.09) vs. Tyler Anderson (4-5, 3.69)
RAINED OUT

8/31 GAME 1, 12n: TBD Ross Stripling (3-5, 4.13) vs. Tyler Anderson (4-5, 3.69)
ROCKIES 7, DODGERS 0

8/31 GAME 2, 5p: Rich Hill (10-3, 2.09) Bud Norris vs. Jeff Hoffman (0-2, 8.10)
DODGERS 10, ROCKIES 8. Dodgers, down 8-2 to start the 8th, score 8 runs over the last two innings — capped by Andrew Toles' two-out grand slam in the 9th. Holy shit! [Orel]

After taking two of three from the rival Giants and potential playoff opponent Cubs, the Dodgers appear to be plugging along, with today's playoff odds at 98%. But aside from the first game of the homestand, the wins didn't come from continued potency of our offense. Let's see if a three-game series at Coors Field provides that remedy to our bats.

Series Thread (Games 128-130), Aug 26-28 vs. Cubs

8/26, 7p: Bud Norris vs Mike Montgomery
CUBS 6, DODGERS 4 (10)

8/27, 1p: Julio Urias vs Jason Hammel
DODGERS 3, CUBS 2. Urias: 6.0 IP, 1 R, 8 K

8/28, 1p: Kenta Maeda TBD Brock Stewart vs Jon Lester
DODGERS 1, CUBS 0

Series Thread (Games 125-127), Aug 23-25 vs. Giants

Make sure to talk really slowly the next three days, when near any giants.

8/23, 7p: Kenta Maeda (12-7, 3.29) vs. Ashley Madison (12-7, 2.25)
DODGERS 9, GIANTS 5 Toles, Segedin both get their second HRs

8/24, 7p: the mythical Rich Hill (9-3, 2.25--IF he actually exists) vs. Johnny Cueto (14-3, 2.90)
DODGERS 1, GIANTS 0 Turner solo HR; Rich Hill done good (6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 3 Ks, 0 BB)

8/25, 7p: TBD Ross Stripling (3-4, 4.04) vs. Matt Moore (7-10, 4.18)
GIANTS 4, DODGERS 0 Matt Moore fell short of a complete-game shutout. That's all the history books will say.

The Dodgers enter this series with a meager one-game lead over the Giants in the NL West, yet our playoff odds are 94% vs. only 78% for our opponents. (We also have a 8.1% WS win percentage; SF has a 3.0% projection.) Looking at our starters for this series, however, you can't feel good about those playoff odds, especially with two of our three named starters currently sitting in the "vaporware" category.

But who knows, maybe the offense will pick up from yesterday's pummeling of the Reds. But just in case it goes pear-shaped and we get bludgeoned at home, the Dodgers have wisely scheduled a Health Care Appreciation Night on Wednesday (in between Dodgers headphones and Corey Seager bobblehead giveaways), just to make sure that medics will be on staff.

Now let's go get some giants.

Pretty generic face on this bobblehead (sorry, Corey!)

UPDATE 8/24: I'm usually not a fan of reporters making themselves the story, but if it's about slumping Giants, I can make an exception. Dylan Hernandez of the LAT caused the Giants' downward spiral, according to Brandon Belt.