Post-Game 81 Thread: Dodgers Win A Duel

DODGERS 1, CARDINALS 0

Brian Wilson just won his first game this year. On his own bobblehead night. That's weird.

Josh Beckett just outdueled Adam Wainwright. Beckett went 7.0 IP with 0 ER and 4 H (2 BB, 4 Ks). Wainwright succumbed in the eighth inning when Juan Uribe had a leadoff single, Drew Butera sacrificed Uribe to second, and Miguel Rojas and PH Justin Turner had consecutive singles to score Uribe. Wainwright, who didn't allow a hit until the sixth inning, settled down and struck out Dee Gordon and Yasiel Puig. But it was too late, the Dodgers had broken through with one run.

Don't really understand all this Uribe/Pooh stuff, but I'm going with it.

Kenley Jansen came out for the ninth and struck out Nutshot, but then allowed a one-out single to Matt Adams, who was lifted for PR Peter Bourjos. However, Butera and Rojas combined to catch Bourjos stealing after Bourjos overslid the bag and was tagged out (a call that was upheld on review). The Dodgers had already benefitted from an earlier review call, when Matt Kemp threw home to catch Allan Craig at home for the third out in the top of the seventh.

So a lot went the Dodgers way tonight...notwithstanding the outcome of the Reds @ Giants game up north. At the halfway point of the season, the Dodgers look to finally be getting some momentum?! We'll take it!

Post-NLCS Game 4 Thread: The Nutshot Strikes Back

CARDINALS 4, DODGERS 2

Ricky Nolasco rolled through his first inning of work with six pitches. His next inning allowed a baserunner but then he got out of it.

But in the third inning, the things came off the rails, capped by a two-run shot deep to left off the bat of Matt Holliday, 2009 Dodgers NLCS hero. After years of doing NOTHING in Dodger Stadium, off of Ricky Nolasco, Holliday finally got lucky.

Holliday's HR proved to be the difference in a game where the Dodgers just couldn't get anything started at the plate. Juan Uribe was swinging early but not often; his 0-for-4 tonight has him batting .118. Hanley Ramirez looked pained with each swing in his 0-for-3 night, and you can hardly blame the guy with a fractured rib. Yasiel Puig kept it rolling: 2-for-3 with an RBI, but a key GIDP in the ninth inning to erase Andre Ethier's leadoff single, the Dodgers' last chance for a comeback.

Like all the other games in this series, the Dodgers outhit their opponent (8 to 6), but lost. And our RISP was mediocre (2-for-6), but St. Louis' was worse (2-for-10). And yet, the Cardinals won and took a 3-1 lead in the NLCS.

Disgusting and sad outcome this evening, but take some solace: the Cardinals were up 3-1 in the NLCS on an NL West team last year, as well. And we all know how that one turned out.

image swiped from here

Here We Go Again!

Sorry, You Have Us Mixed Up With Matt Holliday

Deadspin: A.J. Ellis Hits Walk-Off Single For Dodgers, Teammates Take Turns Punching Him In The Nuts

Our second walkoff game from this weekend provoked this post over on Deadspin. Look, Gawker Media guys: we are familiar with nutshots. And this one was more about a jersey strip than a nutshot (save Chris Capuano at the end around 0:31).

And by the way, "disincentivizing" is so not a word, it hurts.

Welcome to the Dodgers, Shane Victorino

"Moth goes where?"

'@dodgers acquire @shanevictorino from PHI in exchange for Josh Lindblom, Ethan Martin & a player to be named later or cash considerations.

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 31, 2012

photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

Matt LOL-liday Strikes Again

Yet another reason why Holliday hates playing the Dodgers:
Boop!

More Holliday hijinks at SoSG:

• Oh Moth-er
• Holliday on Ice

World Series Game 2 Thread: Rangers @ Cardinals, 5p

"One! Singular sensation!"

Colby Lewis (1-1, 3.86) vs. Jaime Garcia (0-2, 5.74).

So where's all that vaunted offense? I didn't swallow all that hype about Pujols and Hamilton and Freese and Cruz just to watch six solid innings from each starter and largely effective bullpens. I want to see slugging and stolen bases and weeping pitchers. Hit it!

AP photo

Oh Moth-er

"I SAID THERE'S A MOTH IN YOUR EAR."

From "Matt Holliday gets moth stuck in ear" at ESPN.com:

This was a different sort of injury bug for Matt Holliday.

In a bizarre episode, a moth got stuck deep in Holliday's right ear, forcing the St. Louis Cardinals star to walk off the field while the Los Angeles Dodgers batted in the eighth inning Monday night.

With two outs, Holliday called time in left field and started toward the dugout holding his ear. Cardinals trainer Barry Weinberg met Holliday and tried to help.

"He had a moth fly into his ear, deep into his ear. I don't even know what happened to it," St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said moments after his team's 2-1 loss.

Team spokesman Brian Bartow said Holliday was taken into a dark room and trainers put a light by his ear, trying to lure the insect out. That didn't work, so they used a utensil to get the moth, which was still alive, out of Holliday's ear.

Holliday was not available for comment after the game but appeared to be OK, Bartow said. Corey Patterson replaced Holliday in the field.

Home Run Derby Thread, 5p

This year's participants:

• Jose Bautista, Blue Jays
• Robinson Cano, Yankees
• Prince Fielder, Brewers
• Adrian Gonzalez, Red Sox
• Matt Holliday, Cardinals
• Matt Kemp, Dodgers
• David Ortiz, Red Sox
• Rickie Weeks, Brewers

This is what Matt Kemp will be wearing @ The Home Run Derby (VSIMH)
Home Run Derby balls to have real gold (MLB.com)

From "Dodgers' Kemp adds Derby to All-Star itinerary" by Ken Gurnick at Dodgers.com:

Kemp said one of the benefits of being named to participate is the chance to bring a personal batting-practice pitcher. He's chosen Rob Flippo, now in his 10th season as the club's bullpen catcher and batting-practice thrower.

"It's funny, for the past three years I've been telling Flip that if I ever go, I'm taking him with me, and it's finally happening," Kemp said. "He's excited, too. He's always the one throwing to me, getting me ready every game."

UPDATE from Sax (5:15p): Gotta love ESPN's web coverage of this event, which clearly isn't being moderated (see below):

Bank Holliday

The Cardinals have signed Matt Holliday, who turns 30 next week, to a seven-year, $120 million contract. The Mets just signed 31-year-old Jason Bay to a four-year, $66-million deal that could vest to $80 million over five years. Will these deals prove to be good investments or eventual albatrosses?

Can You Say Todd Helton?

From "Cards Offer Most Lucrative Deal In Team History To Holliday" at MLBTR:

The Cardinals have offered Matt Holliday a deal which would pay him $16MM per year and could extend through eight seasons, writes Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

$16 million a year for eight seasons? For a player who will be 30 years old at the beginning of next season? This is insanity, I tells ya! Complain all you want about Ned Colletti's shackles, but at least he isn't (still) making offers that could hamstring his team well into the next decade.

On the plus side, here's a major deal the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets or Phillies aren't involved in. Oh, and congrats to Holliday — guess that one error doesn't hurt so much now, does it?

photo by Danny Moloshok/Reuters

"Matt Holliday's Bad Day"

Via Diamond Notes comes this animated celebration of the most pivotal moment of the Dodgers' NLDS:

Bravo, EB aka "blueeyedgal"!

The Best Deadspin Halloween 2009 Costume

Where have I seen this image before?

Oooooooh, yeah. That's right!

Thanks to Deadspin (and Scott S.) for brightening my day.

More like a RENTAL HOLLIDAY

I was flipping through my Sports Illustrated issue for Oct 12, 2009, and ran across this advertisement. You know who I was thinking about when I saw it. Ouch.

Move Over, Buckner

Back in a gentler time (April 2008), this fearless blogger posted one of my prized possessions: a picture of the famous Bill Buckner error signed by losing pitcher Bob Stanley.

During the pre-Jon and Kate divorce era, I defied "all sports fans to come up with a signed piece of memorabilia more representative of abject failure. (Delino, 2008)" I'm not sure if any major playoff errors come to mind...but if anyone can find Game 2's glorious E7 signed by any member of the Cardinals, give me a holler. I'll be at Game 2 and Game 6 next week, wearing a slightly oversized Brooklyn cap.

Artistic Rendering

Holliday on Ice