Game 140 Thread: Sept 4 @ Pirates, 3.40p

Blake Snell (3-3, 2.41) vs. Paul Skenes (9-9, 2.05).

In yesterday's pathetic game (a 3-0 road loss), the Dodgers had bases loaded with none out in the second, and didn't score. Then they again had bases loaded in the fourth inning, and again didn't score. In fact, they went 0-for-7 with 10 LOB, and didn't score all game. And there you have it: a series loss to a last-place team, thanks to minimal RISP effort from the bottom of our lineup.

Much "credit" can be given to Andy Pages, 0-for-4 with 2 Ks, at least one of which was way out of the zone; Teoscar Hernandez, 0-for-4; Alex Freeland, 0-for-3 with a K; and Kiké Hernandez, 0-for-3 with a K. Pages' decision-making at the plate is incredibly frustrating to watch.

Alex Freeland is batting .190 with a .601 OPS / 69 OPS+ (0.2 WAR). Kiké Hernandez is batting .197 with a .605 OPS / 68 OPS+ (-0.3 WAR).

There's one school of thought that the Dodgers are just "pushing too hard." Possibly. But it's equally plausible that the Dodgers are not pushing at all; at least, the stats on the field from everyone 5-9 in the order certainly play that out. It seems like Nobody Wants This 2025 World Series title.

The only silver lining is that the Padres, losers of four straight (and swept by the Orioles!), also don't seem to want to win. We're still 2.5 games ahead of them in the West, and two games behind Philadelphia for the first-round playoff bye. The latter of which, we certainly don't deserve.

Game 139 Thread: Sept 3 @ Pirates, 3.40p

If this game is like yesterday's, it's gonna be torture.

Ohtani (1-1, 4.18) vs. Ashcraft (4-2, 2.58).

Our dispriting loss to the Pirates yesterday may have been allayed by the Padres' loss to the Orioles, allowing us to keep our lead of 2.5 games in the NL West (with 24 games to play). But we're now two full games behind the Phillies, who took the day off yesterday in the middle of their series with the Brewers (weird!), so we're still staring at having to play in the first round of the playoffs.

It would be great if Ohtani could right the ship here. After all, we've got Paul Skenes tomorrow.

Game 138 Thread: Sept 2 @ Pirates, 3.40p

Clayton Kershaw (9-2, 3.06) vs. Carmen Mlodzinski (3-7, 3.86).

The Dodgers now have a 2.5 game lead on the Padres in the NL West, but if they want to extend that lead (as well as try and make up ground against the red-hot Phillies for the #2 seed in the National League), they'd better start getting Bizet, starting with tonight's game in PNC Park.

Not to spoil Act IV, but if the Dodgers can slay Carmen, that would be a good start.

Game 27 Thread: April 26 vs Pirates, 6p

Sasaki vs Keller.

My god, this run of bad games is miserable.

Game 26 Thread: April 25 vs. Pirates, 7p

Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. TBD.

It's fitting to use this image and for this series, because frankly, the Dodgers' performace is absolutely the Pitts. Since going 8-0 to start the season, the Dodgers are actually a pedestrian 8-9, dropping four of their last six series (and barely squeaking past the Rangers, and then sweeping the Rockies).

It's all very disappointing, but the problems persist throughout the lineup. Our starting pitching is ravaged, with Tyler Glasnow befelled by both rain and cramps (I'm not kidding), and $182M signee Blake Snell unable to make it through a rehab period. Our bullpen, already incredibly overused only 1/6 of the way through the season, has given up leads late in games with chilling regularity.

And our bats are also spotty. Shohei Ohtani has returned from paternity leave with a newfound strikeout-prone swing. Mookie Betts, who went 3-for-5 against the Cubs Wednesday, is batting an uncharacteristically low .235.

On the other hand, the characteristic weaknesses in this lineup...are unfortunately playing right to form. Michael Conforto is batting .197. Max Muncy is batting .178 and looks totally lost out there, posting a career-high 36.5% strikeout rate. Andy Pages is batting .183.

And Austin "Free Pass" Barnes, with his career-low 9.1% defensive caught stealing rate, is batting .174. I honestly don't even know why he has a roster spot, even as a backup catcher.

The Dodgers are in third place in the NL West and look incredibly old and weak. We can't take another 137 games of this crap.

Games 116-118 Thread: August 9-11 vs. Pirates

Fri 8.9 7p: Flaherty vs. Keller
Sat 8.10 6p: Ryan vs. Skenes
Sun 8.11 1p: Glasnow vs. Falter

Well, that last series with the Phillies didn't go very well for the Dodgers, whose meltdown on Wednesday (including a Dave Roberts ejection) capped a series loss and brought the Dodgers to a 1-5 record against the likely 2024 National League Champion. Sure, Roberts was correct in disputing the bullshit interference call at third base. But to be fair, it's also Roberts to blame for pencilling in a lineup batting Kiké Hernandez (.209 BA) in cleanup, Austin Barnes handling catching, and Kevin Kiermaier (.188 BA) in centerfield.

And August doesn't get any easier as the month continues, with the Pirates having wild-card dreams of their own. Saturday starts the 2024 National League All-Star starter Paul Skenes, which should be a doozy. And right after the Sunday game, the Dodgers head out for a seven-day, seven-game road trip to Milwaukee and St. Louis.

I haven't even mentioned the Padres, coming on strong since the break, now only 2.5 games behind the Dodgers in the division. Yep, it's pretty miserable here in Chavez Ravine...except I will say this: I'm really looking forward to the return of Harvard-Westlake phenom Jack Flaherty to the mound tonight. Let's go, Dodgers!

Games 62-64 Thread: June 4-6 @ Pirates

Tues 6.4: Glasnow vs. Jones
Wed 6.5: Paxton vs. Skenes
Thu 6.6: Buehler vs. Falter
All games 3.40p

Paul Skenes is the hottest young prospect in baseball today, with a wicked 100 mph fastball that has the young Pirates pitcher referenced to Stephen Strasburg. And Skenes, from Fullerton CA, is worthy of the hype: after a late call-up likely due to service time manipulation, Skenes has gone 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA and has 30Ks in 22 innings.

And seriously, when you watch these highlights of Skenes shutting down the Cubs at Wrigley Field with some wicked movement, it's pretty impressive (from May 17, 2024):

It's too bad we won't have Max Muncy in the lineup, as Muncy is one of the few guys in the Dodgers' lineup who hunts fastballs. We'll see if the rest of the guys can keep up, but I'm guessing the bottom of our order goes pretty quickly.

Skenes is also known for being boyfriend to LSU gymnast (and NCAA champion) Olivia Dunne, who has a large social media following on multiple platforms. I'm sure this Wednesday game against the Dodgers will get the requisite amount of hype. We'll see how James Paxton (still undefeated at 5-0, with a 3.29 ERA) holds up under the pressure.

Oh yeah, and there are two other games bookending the Skenes showdown.

photo: Nuccio DiNuzzo / Getty Images

Series Thread (Games 84-87): Jul 3-6 vs. Pirates

Mon 7.3 7p: TBD vs. Keller
Tue 7.4 6p: TBD vs. Ortiz
Wed 7.5 7p: TBD vs. Bido
Thu 7.6 7p: TBD vs. Oviedo

Well, that last road trip didn't go very well. After winning two of three in Colorado and then drubbing the last-place Royals 9-3 in the first game of the series, Kansas Ciry raced to victory on Saturday's game and then thoroughly pummeled Tony Gonsolin in Sunday's game, a 9-1 KC victory.

The Dodgers now sit 3.0 games behind the Diamondbacks in second place, and though all is not yet lost, this Dodgers team looks to be completely ill-equipped to play against the younger, faster teams excelling under the new rules (like the division-leading Diamondbacks). I was listening to Sunday's game on the radio, and all Charley and Rick could say was how the Dodgers looked out-hustled and unhungry, all game long.

Austin Barnes started Sunday's game, which was an omen in itself. Barnes actually raised his average to .108 with a hit in his first at bat, but that doesn't change the fact that he is awful and the Dodgers have lost nine of the last 12 games in which Barnes has played. Why he's on the roster is beyond me. 2022 Futures Game participant and Dodgers minor leaguer Diego Cartaya is in AA ball batting .197, but that's still twice as good as Barnes.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers have NO starrters named for any of the four games this series (as of 10.30am Monday), which is concerning. There's at least one bullpen game in there, and our bullpen absolutely sucks. The Dodgers' ERA is 11th in the National League at 4.51, and with the only stalwart, Clayton Kershaw, dealing with shoulder inflammation, we are in for more hurt before the All-Star Break. Luckily for us, there's only six more games left to play, starting with four at home against the plundering sub-.500 Pirates.

Post-Game 24 Thread: Unlikely Avengers Pick Up Pummeled Thor

DODGERS 8, PIRATES 7

Sure, the Dodgers had five-run comeback victories last year. But this 2023 Dodger team is much different, starting with a 0-3 guy on the mound whose 6.58 ERA is pretty darn mortal. Noah Syndergaard had coughed up seven runs through four innings, rendering the Dodgers' 2-0 lead in the first useless, and the Dodgers were down 7-2 through four short innings.

But the Dodgers scrapped their way back, and even more exciting, it was done by some unlikely contributors. 25-year-old Michael Busch got his first MLB hit, an RBI single in the sixth, to make it 7-4 PIT. Austin Barnes and his whopping .057 batting average then tacked on a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to two runs.

And then Chris Taylor, who has been grinding his way out of a multiple-season slump, came up with a three-run HR to put the Dodgers in front for good.

Also making amazing contributions were the pitchers in the Dodgers' bullpen, which has been more porous than a Tulare Lake levee of late. But Victor Gonzalez (in his first appearance in over a year!), Evan Phillips, Yancy Almonte, Caleb Ferguson, and Shelby Miller each put in a full inning of scoreless work, to carry the Dodgers over the line and win this one, ending the Pirates' five-game win streak.

I could be critical of Trayce Thompson getting thrown out at home badly in the top of the ninth inning. Or complain about Mookie Betts (0-for-5 with 4 LOB) getting robbed of a three-run HR in the sixth by a nice play by Pirate left fielder Jack Suwinski. But I'll just take the win for now.

We've got Tony Gonsolin's 2023 debut this afternoon. Go Dodgers!

Series Thread (Games 24-26): Apr 25-27 @ Pirates

Tue 4.25 3.35p: Syndergaard (0-3, 4.91) vs Oviedo
Wed 4.26 3.35p: TBD Gonsolin (0-0, ---) vs. Contreras
Thu 4.27 9.35a: TBD Urias (3-2, 3.33) vs. Keller

Typically, the Dodgers have beaten up on the Pirates; from 2016-2021, the Dodgers had won every season series. But last year, the Dodgers went 1-5 against Pittsburgh. And this year, the Pirates are off to a scorching 16-7 start, including a seven-game win streak that has them atop the NL Central (tied with the Brewers).

Everyone's excited that the Dodgers' 48 HR ranks second in the majors (beyind Tampa Bay), or that our .787 team OPS is fourth in the majors (behind the Rays, Cubs, and Phillies). But don't let that distract you from the fact that we're a 12-11 team who has hovered aroudn the .500 mark all year (our peak was three games over .500 on April 6). Sure, that's good enough for first in the NL West, tied with the Snakes and a half-game ahead of the Padres. Given PNC Park has a sub-par HR factor (23rd in the league), my expectations are low.

Also want to shout out that I was considering attending this series, before life got in the way. Sigh.

Games 48-50 Thread: May 30 - June 1 vs. Pirates

Mon 5.30 7p: Buehler vs. Thompson
Tue 5.31 7p: Urias vs. TBD
Wed 6.1 5p: White vs. Quintana

Oh sure, a four-game sweep of the Diamondbacks (punctuated by a 3-1 victory on Sunday), leading to an 8-2 record on the longest road trip of the season, should be cause for celebration. Except that four of those wins came at the hands of the Diamondbacks (against whom we are 9-2 this season), and we failed to put away sweeps against both the sub-.500 Phillies and the sub-.500 Nationals on this same road trip. We probably should have gone 10-0, frankly. So it's hard to get super-excited when the competition is so poor.

Meanwhile, this series opens up with the Pirates (who won the series in Pittsburgh), before we get four against the Mets, the first real team we've seen in a while. The secret to earning a winning homestand probably rests upon a strong outing against the Pirates this series.

Oh, and to add insult to injury: I had tickets to Monday's game, to see Walker Buehler. And I can't go (my father is going to use the tickets, which is good). So yeah, I'm salty. Whoopee.

Post-Game 28 Thread: Animal Returns!

"Here we go again / I kinda want to score more than ten..."

DODGERS 11, PIRATES 1

Sure, it was just the second game of a series against a sub-.500 team that the Dodgers should have won anyway. But Justin Turner going 4-for-5 with 4 RBI was a welcome jolt for the team, coming off a 5-1 series-opening loss that gave an opposing pitcher his first win since 2019.

Tonight, the Dodgers restored balance to the force, notching huge offensive outbursts in the third inning (batting around, for five runs) and the seventh inning (four more runs), to maroon the Pirates and take home a very lopsided victory. Now 20-8 with a run differential of +80, the Dodgers now are on pace for an absurd +463 run differential for the season. Is this possible? With Justin Turner, whose average rose to .200 with this game, potentially joining the Dodgers' hit parade, it certainly is.

That said, remember back to April 24, when Cody Bellinger won NL Player of the Week? Yeah, well since then, Bellinger is 6-for-43 with a .140 BA and a meager .422 OPS. So let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here.

In the meantime, let's celebrate Justin Turner's outing, and hope it's a portent of things to come.

Welcome back, JT! (What took you?!)

Rubber match tomorrow morning, party peoples: 9.30am. As a reminder, the game thread for this series @Pirates can be found here.

Games 27-29 Thread: May 9-11 @ Pirates

Mon 5/9 3.30p: Urias vs. Quintana
Tue 5/10 3.30p: Gonsolin vs. Bry Wilson
Wed 5/11 9.30a: TBD vs. TBD

A sweep of the Cubs this past weekend pushed the Dodgers' winning streak to six in a row, and now Los Angeles is 1.5 games clear of the Padres and four games ahead of the Giants and Rockies. But with Blake Treinen out through the All-Star Break, we really need to be racking up these wins against lowly NL Central teams (like the 11-16 Pirates) in May, before the Dodgers' opponents get a lot more challenging next month (Mets, White Sox, Giants, Angels, Braves).

Series Thread (Games 119-121): August 16-18 vs. Pirates

Mon Aug 16 7p: TBD vs. Brault
Tues Aug 17 7p: Price vs. Crowe
Wed Aug 18 7p: TBD vs. Brubaker

Oh man, this is indeed the PITs. About three weeks ago, we were two out. Now, even after a 5-1 road trip back east, we're even worse, at four games back. And with the Giants not looking like they're going to slow down (they get a wearied Mets team for three, starting today), our divisional chances look pretty horrid. Not to mention we've only got one real starter named across the three-game series. Yikes.

Series Thread (Games 60-62): June 8-10 @ Pirates

Tue 6.8 4p: Buehler vs. Brubaker
Wed 6.9 4p: TBD vs. T Anderson
Thu 6.10 9.30a: Urias vs. M Keller

Dropping two of three in Atlanta bodes poorly for this series @ PNC Park. I thought we could take the series, but instead we couldn't establish any sort of momentum save one 8-run inning in the first game of the Braves series. Now, on to the Pirates, worst in the NL Centra (9.5 games out of first). But we're now three games out of first place in the NL West and fading fast, despite a league-leading run differential. Not feeling good here.

UPDATE 6/9: Dodgers win Game 1, 5-3. But it would have been closer, had Ke'Bryan Hayes' HR not been overturned after he forgot to step on first base:

Series Thread (Games 51-53): May 24-26 @ Pirates

this is a better song than it is a video

Fri 5.24 4p: Walker Buehler vs. TBD
Sat 5.25 4p: Hyun-Jin Ryu vs. Musgrove
Sun 5.26 10.30a: Kenta Maeda vs. Archer

The Pirates are coming off a losing series at home vs. Colorado. Okay, that's bad (salvaged by a 14-6 win Thursday). What's worse? Well, the Dodgers are coming off a disastrous meltdown in the second game against Tampa Bay, in which Dylan Floro and Caleb Ferguson joined forces to collectively shit the bed (not that they were in the same bed, per se). This came one night after Pedro Baez was hit by a wicked comebacker, expelling him from the game and now he's out indefinitely.

We ended up splitting that series against the Rays, but we fly into Pittsburgh with the weaknesses of our bullpen unveiled for everyone to see. So sure, we still hold the best record in the NL (32-18). But it's a worry.

It doesn't matter why we're known. We're just known.

Series Thread (Games 28-30): April 26-28 vs. Pirates

Fri 7p: Ryu vs. Archer
Sat 6p: Kershaw vs. Musgrove
Sun 1p: Rich Hill vs. Williams

Winning only one game in Chicago by the skin of our ass isn't very promising. But as SoSG Nomo reminded me over What's App, it was a winning road trip! Yeah, so there's that.

At least we're back home now, and tonight we face an alcoholic secret agent who is also a starting pitcher. I had tickets to tonight's game, but had other priorities. I hope tonight's game is at least...animated.

And who's that new guy pitching on Sunday?

Series Thread (Games 84-86): 7/2-4 vs Bucs

Mon, 7p: Alex Wood vs Nick Kingham DODGERS 17 (!!!), PIRATES 1
Tues, 7p: Ivan Nova vs Clayton Kershaw
Wed, 5p: Joe Musgrove vs Rich Hill

Series Thread (Games 60-62): 6/5-7 @ Bucs

Plaque from Truman; professional photoshop work from SoSG Sax

Tues 6/5: Ross Stripling vs. Joe Musgrove, 4p
Wed 6/6: Caleb Ferguson vs. Trevor Williams, 4p
Thu 6/7: Dennis Santana vs. Jameson Taillon, 9.30a

The Dodgers have won their last three (sweeping Colorado) and have not lost any of their last five series, going 11-5. And yet I see names like Caleb Ferguson (no MLB experience) and Dennis Santana (12.27 ERA, though one "win"), and I'm worried as all get out. The Bucs are above .500, unlike the Dodgers. Can we eke out another series win?

(We're up 2-0 in the first game, through two innings, thanks to a Joc Pederson HR which scored Matt Kemp. So that's a good start.)

late series post by Sax

Series Thread (Games 123-126): Aug 21-24 @ Pirates

Details to come!