Kershaw's Scoreless Inning Streak: Hershiser's Record In Sights?

Clayton Kershaw is amazing, possibly even more so on his current run of 36 scoreless innings. Well, even back when he had only 28 consecutive scoreless innings, Dan Szymborski thought Kershaw had a pretty good chance to catch Hershiser anyway (link insider only):

This year, Kershaw has held the opposition scoreless in 88.7 percent of the innings he's pitched. Going back to the start of 2013, that figure is 86.5 percent. By reference, even with the 59-inning scoreless streak included, Hershiser held the opposing team scoreless in only 82 percent of his innings pitched in 1988. While Hershiser was one of the best pitchers in baseball, he did it through impeccable location and command of his wide variety of pitches. With a fastball that can hit the 90s and a curve that violates Einstein's theory of special relativity, Kershaw more directly dominates hitters.

Assuming the 86.5 percent figure holds up on a per-inning basis, Kershaw's chances of throwing another 31 scoreless innings would be about 1.1 percent, a 1-in-100 shot. The good news is that his actual shot is better than that. No player's abilities are truly static; there's at least some variation in these underlying probabilities. Even factoring out luck, it's unlikely that Kershaw's "true" abilities are always going to be exactly those of a pitcher who holds the opposition scoreless in 86.5 percent of innings. During the course of 31 innings, having a game in which the curve is really on or the opposing hitters are seeing the ball well doesn't really even out, as it typically will over the long term. When we're talking only four (or at most five) starts, ZiPS sees Kershaw's underlying ability being a range, somewhere unknown between 77 and 95 percent.

That's good news for Kershaw, because catching a record is all about the upside. If his abilities are greater than usual over the next 31 innings, each incremental improvement significantly increases his chances. If Kershaw's underlying probability of holding the opposing team scoreless is actually 90 percent, that probability of catching Hershiser becomes 3.8 percent. If he's pitching well enough that he has a 93 percent chance of escaping each inning unscathed, his record chances become 10.5 percent.

All told, because of the uncertainty of any player's abilities at any given moment, the whole distribution comes out to an estimated 5.1 percent probability of Kershaw getting to 59 consecutive scoreless innings. Kershaw's next four starts are almost certainly going to be against the Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals and the Giants.

Going into Coors Field is always tough, but if he survives Friday's trip to Denver with the streak intact, the Padres and Cardinals have two of the worst offenses in baseball, and the Giants' run-scoring has disappeared in the ether so impressively that they may get their own Vegas show.

When I include updated projections for these team offenses, Kershaw's projected probability of 59 scoreless innings increases slightly, to 5.4 percent. Considering the difficulty of the achievement, a 1-in-19 chance is very impressive.

Matching a difficult feat is never easy -- it wouldn't be difficult if it was, after all -- but the thing about great players is they make the nearly impossible possible. While Hershiser's biggest imprint in baseball's record books will most likely still stand at the end of the 2014 season, Kershaw is baseball's best chance at making the publishers restock on white-out.

As long as we keep winning games...that's all I ask.

ESPN's Keith Law Would Have Made It Five Dodger All-Stars

It's funny to think of Hyun-Jin Ryu being snuck anywhere. But Keith Law of ESPN would have snuck Hyun-Jin Ryu on the 2014 NL All-Star team, ahead of Tyson Ross (link insider only):

Tyson Ross [being selected] over Stephen Strasburg: Ross is the token Padre, and that's a stupid, stupid rule; if you're a team GM or owner and don't want to see your club shut out of the All-Star Game, try getting better players. Meanwhile, the NL leader in strikeouts gets left home, and it's not like this is Strasburg's first time having success in the majors.

He has gotten very little help from his defense, with a .348 BABIP, but he's also been uncharacteristically bad this year with men on base, giving up a .311/.354/.439 line that's well above his career norm. If you're looking only at 2014 and only at ERA (or ERA and won-lost record), he doesn't look like an All-Star. If you're looking at the things he can control, and at his history beyond this season, he clearly belongs. And he has the fame factor in his corner, too; people might tune in just to watch him pitch.

I might also have tried to sneak Hyun-Jin Ryu on to the roster; he's top-10 in the NL in fWAR, getting great results with his new curveball, and having a Korean-born player in the game would give the game's ratings in Korea an enormous boost.

Nice to see Ryu getting some love out there. Next year, Hyun-Jin!

Vin Scully, on Pinch-Miking for Mel Allen

We don't get TWC at SoSG Worldwide Headquarters, so we apologize for the lack of new Vin transcriptions this season. But we've dipped into the archives (OK, last year's games) to bring you some fresh transcriptions we haven't run yet.

Mel Allen and Mickey Mantle.

Vin Scully, from the fourth inning of the Yankees-Dodgers game on July 31, 2013:

I always remember the 1963 season for one reason, and I should say the World Series. Course, the season was great, too.

One ball, no strikes. One and one.

I remember going to Yankee Stadium, sitting in the dugout, talking to the manager, Ralph Houk. And he got talking about Sandy Koufax.

And Ralph said, "How good is that kid?"

Whoop, ball two.

And I said to him, "Ralph, I just hope on the national stage he can show you how good he is."

And he shook his head and said, "Okay, we'll see."

Well, Sandy struck out fifteen in that game. He beat Whitey Ford in Game Four to complete it, and the Dodgers swept the Yankees.

But I'll always remember Houk wondering, "Well, how good is he?" [small laugh] Fifteen strikeouts later.

A drive to left, Crawford reaches up to snare it, and we have one away.

People have always asked me over the years, and I tell it now, 'cause the Dodgers are playing the Yankees, about the biggest home runs I ever saw.

One of course would be Bobby Thomson's home run, the Giants beating the Dodgers way back in '51. Another one, Henry Aaron's home run that broke Babe Ruth's record. We were in Atlanta to watch that one. And then of course Kirk Gibson's home run here.

One more — and there's a line drive by the diving Uribe. So Soriano blisters one for a single. No score in the fourth, and Vernon Wells coming up.

In 1963, Dodgers and Yankees are going to meet in the World Series. Mel Allen, the great Yankee broadcaster, had a bad throat. It happens to all of us. And in September of '63, the doctors told Mel, "Whatever you do, stay subdued." You know he had that great call, "Going, going, gone," for a big home run.

And all through September, he did just that, getting ready for the World Series. And for three games — three games — he was subdued, kept his voice down.

Vernon Wells a flare...a leaping catch by Schumaker, back to first goes Soriano. Well, if the Schu fits, play it, and Schumaker comes up with a big play on that flare by Wells. Little looper heading to right field, that would have been a big play had he not made it, but he did, so the batter will be Lillibridge. Up and at 'em.

Anyway, it was the fourth game of the World Series, 1963, Dodgers are winning one to nothing, Koufax and Whitey Ford. Doesn't get much better than that. And Mel is on the air, and Mickey Mantle came up and hit a home run against Sandy Koufax to tie up the game one-one.

And when Mantle hit the ball, everything went for broke. Mel forgot all about the cautions about his voice and everything else, and he gave it a great — whoops! The pickoff. Soriano is hung out to dry.

So Kershaw, who has a great move to first, just has him exposed, Schumaker handles the tag. We'll get back to Koufax and Mantle and the '63 Series, no score.

[commercial break]

Anyway, when Mantle hit that home run, and Mel Allen gave that great call, but it was too loud and too hard for his throat, and he just came apart.

Check swing, no swing, one ball, one strike.

Tom Gallery was the head of NBC Sports in those days. Mel tried to speak after calling the home run and nothing really would come out. I was supposed to go down to the clubhouse if the Yankees lost and I would do the Dodgers' celebration. You've seen that all the time.

Gonzalez fouls it away, one and two.

However, Gallery tapped Mel on the shoulder, pointed to me as if to say, "Give the microphone to Vin."

And I felt awful.

I'm telling you my heart was broken for Mel. I thought here on the world stage in this great moment, after a big home run by Mickey Mantle, and you can't speak anymore?

That was a valuable lesson for me. There but for the grace of God go I. It could happen at any time, anywhere. So that one strikes a particular chord in my heart. Mantle's home run here.

Then again it's only fifty years ago.

Two and two the count to Gonzalez. No score, bottom of the fourth inning. Kuroda deals, and down goes Adrian. Three strikeouts for Hiroki. He'd gotten Crawford twice and Gonzalez. Ball just seems to die. That might be that shuuto, that reverse screwball.

Hanley Ramirez, with an eleven-game hitting streak, grounded out in the second inning.

And fastball, strike. Kershaw has not walked anybody. Clayton has struck out two. Kuroda has not walked out anybody until Schumaker in the third. He has struck out two. The starting pitchers tonight come in with the identical record, ten wins and six losses.

One ball and one strike. Popped in the air foul, out of play. One and two the count.

You wanted to pick up a thread of the World Series between the Yankees and the Dodgers. And you were talking about '63. 1977, Yankees win, and remember, that was the series when Reggie Jackson hit three home runs in one game. It was Game Six.

Look out! So Ramirez strikes out, four strikeouts for Kuroda. He is really coming back to cast a spell on the Dodgers, and at the end of four, no score.

Post-Game 91 Thread: Dodgers Rock Stupid Sexy Flande(rs)

DODGERS 8, ROCKIES 2

The Dodgers made like Homer Simpson and hated on Yohan "Ned" Flande(rs) today, touching Neddie up for five runs in a fifth inning that was bookended by at-bats by Josh Beckett, who led off with a double. Following that were, in no particular order, two walks, four singles and a HBP.

Beckett pitched effectively if not particularly deep into the game, requiring four relievers to finish up after that big fifth. In the end it was AGon leading the way with three RBI and Kemp with two. Over the four-game series in Denver, the Dodgers outscored the Rockies 27-12.

Off-day tomorrow, then the Dodgers fly to Detroit for a weird two-game set against the Tigers, who are just trotting out Verlander and Scherzer. Let's enjoy first place while we can.

Your 2014 Dodger All Stars!

Game 91 Thread: July 5 @ Rockies

Josh Beckett (5-5 2.37) vs Yohan Flande (0-1 6.10)

Ok ladies and gents, this is it!  The day when millions of people gather around the television to see who got selected to the big dance!  Selection Sunday!  Oh wait, its not THAT selection Sunday and its not March?  In any case, today the Dodgers go for the series win with Josh "I'm reborn" Beckett taking the mound versus the Rockies Yohan Flande, owner of a 6.10 ERA.  We also find out who, if any Dodger, gets to goto the All Star game in Minnesota.  In other news Arruebarrena has a hip flexor strain and was placed on the DL.  Triunfel gets called back up.  How many infielders are going to get hurt and where did Stan Conte put that bubble wrap? At least we get a day of rest tomorrow before heading out to Detroit.  Lets Go Blue!

Post-Game 90 Thread: Return to Harenhell

It got ugly in Colorado today.

ROCKIES 8, DODGERS 7

Why am I writing this? The GoT reference is SoSG Nomo's invention, but here we are. Despite being staked to an early 2-0 lead, Dan Haren was flayed for eight earned over 5 1/3 innings today.

The game was well out of reach until the seventh, when the Dodgers put the Needle to the Rockies...to make it barely out of reach. In a rare confluence of bad relief with good bats, the top of the seventh featured four walks (one intentional), a wild pitch, a passed ball, two doubles and two singles.

But the crucial at-bat was Uribe coming up with the bases loaded and no out — his RBI GIDP pulled the Dodgers to within one, and no closer.

Giants won tonight, so the Dodgers' first-place lead is pared back to half a game. Tomorrow's Dodgers-Rockies game decides a Denver series victory or split. Arya ready?

UPDATE 5:57a 7/7/14 (Sax): Gotta call mention to this amazing play (or at least, recovery) by Yasiel Puig, for the catch out and double play:

Game 90 Thread: July 5 @ Rockies, 1p

Ms. Perry brought the Dodgers good luck yesterday. We're not stupid.

Dan Haren (8-4, 3.57) vs. Jorge De La Rosa (8-6, 4.86).

Today's battle of eight-game winners pits two pitchers coming off strong victories. Haren one-hit Cleveland over seven innings his last time out, retiring 13 straight in one stretch. De La Rosa held the first-place Brewers to four runs over six innings in a Colorado victory.

If you believe in momentum, the Dodgers have won seven of their past eight games against the Rockies, and a win today would give them three straight victories — no #tetraphobia to worry about yet. So kick back, crack open a beer and fire up your California Grills as you root for the Boys in Blue. Happy long weekend!

Time To Pull HanRammy?

July 3, 2014: Dylan Hernandez writes a feature in which Hanley Ramirez, probably injured, still wants to play:

Hanley Ramirez, with his offensive production and defensive range limited by a body that is betraying him, nonetheless insisted on playing Friday.

"I can still help this team win games," Ramirez said. [...]

Still, he didn't want to be placed on the 15-day disabled list.

"They want me to take it easy," he said, "I can't do it."

To be cleared to play, Ramirez had to show trainers in a pregame workout he could run at full speed.

Ramirez made it sound as if the strained left calf and irritated right shoulder that were responsible for his recent absences hadn't completely healed. Manager Don Mattingly said Ramirez wouldn't play every game leading up to the All-Star break and probably would be the team's designated hitter for both games of their upcoming two-game set against the Detroit Tigers.

July 4, 2014: Hanley is hit on the other hand during a 9-0 blowout victory. Ramirez leaves the game early...but still. Shouldn't we be resting Ramirez, at this point?

DENVER -- Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez is "fine," manager Don Mattingly said after removing him for precautionary reasons because he was struck on the back of the left hand by a pitch from Rockies starter Jair Jurrjens.

No X-rays were taken and none are planned, the club announced.

"He could have stayed in," Mattingly said Friday night after the Dodgers' 9-0 victory over the Rockies. "I was going to give him a day off tomorrow, but now he'll play."

Ramirez initially stayed in the game, stole second base and scored on Scott Van Slyke's three-run homer.

But with an eight-run lead, Erisbel Arruebarrena took over for Ramirez at shortstop, as he did the night before in the bottom of the eighth inning.

I've watched games where Hanley is shaking Stan Conte off like he's an overweight groupie in a nightclub (not that I have experience with this; nor am I necessarily calling Conte overweight). But logic has to prevail here; let's rest Hanley for 15 days, using the All-Star break as a bonus, and get him back for the second half healthier and more able to produce.

Post-Game 89 Thread: Bang Bang

DODGERS 9, ROCKIES 0

You want fireworks? The Dodgers were happy to comply, starting with Kershaw's continued masterfulness. He pitched eight shutout innings, extending his scoreless streak to 36 innings, third behind Orel's 59 and Drysdale's 58. Kershaw also went 2 for 4 with an RBI at the plate. #howcanbradpennybebetterthanboth

The bats showed up, too, early and often. Puig hit a two-run rocket in the first, followed by an Ethier RBI triple. SVS put it out of reach with a three-run Roman candle in the fifth.

You want defense? Uribe made some noise with the leather. And the cherry (bomb) on top is that the Giants lost again, giving the Dodgers their largest first-place lead of the season at 1.5 games.

The only bummers of the evening: Hanley was hit on the hand again. He's fine. Newly activated Rockies starter Jair Jurrjens went to the hospital for "breathing issues" after coming out of the game in the fifth. Best wishes to him. UPDATE: He's fine.

They may not be able to find that elusive fourth consecutive victory, but it's a Happy Fourth of July for the Blue!

@sosgsosg boys Boys boys, we got the "W" knit picking not allowed

— Steve Garvey (@SteveGarvey6) July 5, 2014

Game 89 Thread: July 4 @ Rockies, 5p

Clayton Kershaw (9-2, 2.04) vs. Jair Jurrjens (where the hell has this guy been?)

Happy Fourth of July, everyone. Though the number four has clearly not been kind to the Dodgers this season as the team is still in pursuit of the elusive four-game win streak. But hey, we always have Katy Perry to find solace in, right? God bless America.

Do you ever feel
Like a Diamondback
Stinking up the West
We'll pee in your pool again

Kung Fu Panda never feels
Feels so paper-thin
Like a house of pancakes
One cake from caving in

Do you ever feel
Already buried deep
Sixteen games back
Trades but nothing seems to help the pen

Do you know that there's
Still a chance for Blue
'Cause there's a spark in Ryu
You just gotta

Ignite Yasiel
And let him slide
Just own the Gnats
Get that fourth straight win

'Cause Clayton, you're a firework
Come on show them what you're worth
Make them go, "Oh, oh, oh"
As you strike out thirteen in a row

Clayton, you're a firework
Come on let your curveball work
Make them go, "No, no, no"
Golden sombrer-oh-oh-oh

Mattingly Madness

Okay, I know this goes all the way back to Wednesday July 2's game, in which the Dodgers lost 5-4 to the Indians and lost their first series in almost a month. But even with last night's win, it sticks in my craw because of coach Don Mattingly's bizarre coaching decisions (or lack of decisions), that possibly cost us the game.

The eighth inning saw the Dodgers cough up a 3-2 lead and turn it into a 5-3 deficit thanks to Brian Wilson's +5 ERA. Wilson has looked better of late, but he has been extremely unreliable all year and this was just another example of his volatility. Scott Van Slyke had a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth to make it 5-4, and then Chris Perez had an unremarkable top of the ninth.

Bottom of the ninth, two outs, and Hanley Ramirez PH for A.J. Ellis and works a walk. Fine, take your base, HanRam. But for some reason, even with Drew Butera available to pinch-run (Butera would have to sub for Ellis anyway on defense, should the game continue), Mattingly inexplicably left Ramirez out there on first to run for himself. If not Butera, what about any of the other pitchers? Or how about Manny Mota, for pete's sake? Ramirez, battling a tight calf muscle, has been discussed as fit for a DL stint. Why are we expecting him to run the bases when rallying and down by a single run?

On the radio show, even Rick Monday and Charley Steiner couldn't understand this move. And sure enough, Andre Ethier blooped a double into shallow left, but instead of a healthy and fit runner on first pressing to score from home, we had HanRam limping around the bases, barely making it to third. Blink of an eye later, and Matt Kemp had flied out to end the game, with 2 RISP.

The Dodgers haven't won a game this year when trailing after eight innings. This is the kind of managerial incompetence that is going to keep us from winning games late. Come on, Donnie. Put us in positions to win!

Post-Game Thread 88: Gritty Greinke

With a facial expression oozing of grit

DODGERS 3, ROCKIES 2

The Dodgers are 0-31 when trailing after eight innings. But when tied after eight innings, we're a much more inspiring...1-6.

Make that 2-6, baby! With the Rockies' Justin Morneau tripling off of Zack Greinke to tie the game at 2 in the eighth, Greinke settled down and got Troy Tulowitzki to fly out, and Nolan Arenado to strike out, to end the inning. Juan Uribe came up in the top of the ninth inning and singled in Matt Kemp from second to give the Dodgers a 3-2 lead. And the Kenley Jansen had a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his 26th save in 29 chances.

Adrian Gonzalez and A.J. Ellis also had RBI tonight, but Greinke was the star with eight innings of two-run ball (2 BB, 8 Ks), not to mention two great defensive plays (a 1-3 DP in the second inning, and a sweet stab off a liner to end the sixth). Greinke (11-4) not only won the game for us today, he also put us back into first place thanks to Ashley Madison and the Giants' loss; Bumgarner is now 0-3 over his past four home starts, and the Giants have lost 17 of their last 22. Hello again, first place!

I don't mean to be unpatriotic, but this is a national tragedy. And the outfit is bad, too.

photos: Justin Edmonds / Getty Images

Game 88 Thread: July 3 @ Rockies, 5p

Roger that, Dinger.

Zack Greinke (10-4, 2.78) vs. Franklin Morales (4-4, 5.75).

Zack Greinke, stopper? Per STATS LLC via ESPN, "He's gone 13-2 with a 1.98 ERA in 19 starts following a Dodgers defeat since joining them in December 2012." However, Greinke also has a lifetime Coors Field ERA of 4.38. However, the Rockies have lost five series in a row, starting with the series they lost in which they got no-hit by Clayton Kershaw at Dodger Stadium.

So the probabilities of this matchup aren't exactly clear. What is exactly clear? How annoying it is that the Rockies (and MLB) allow Dinger to do his schtick behind home plate while the opposing team's pitcher is at work. It's bullshit! Kill Dinger Now!

Post-Game 87 Thread: Ryu Can't Do It All

"I am, I am, I am Superman."

CLE 5, LAD 4

What's a pitcher to do? Hyun-Jin Ryu struck out eight over seven innings, allowing two runs, while going 2 for 2 at the plate with an RBI. He left the Dodgers with a 3-2 lead in the eighth, but Brian Wilson finally had the implosion everyone but Don Mattingly saw coming, allowing Cleveland to take a 5-3 lead.

Scott Van Slyke (who threw out Asdrubal Cabrera at home in the fifth) made it closer with a solo homer in the eighth, but Matt Kemp flied out with two on to end the game. Dodgers go 4-3 on the homestand and leave for Colorado a half game behind the Giants, who lost again.

Game 87 Thread: July 2 vs. Cleveland, 12p

Hyun-Jin Ryu (9-4, 3.12) vs. Trevor Bauer (2-4, 4.39)

Lunch time baseball! While a noon Dodger game with almost zero TV coverage might draw a SLIGHTLY smaller audience than yesterday's Team USA World Cup game, it's still a fun diversion from work.

The Dodgers look to bounce back from last night's dumpster fire and start another three-game winning streak. A win will bring their interleague record to 9-5(!!!).

Who's hungry?

What A Difference A Day Makes

One day after climbing the mountain, and reaching first place all alone after three weeks of grinding Giants down, the Dodgers lost one game to the Indians. And yet, if you listen to ESPN.com's Mark Saxon, the naivete of Dee Gordon and Yasiel Puig, coupled with the brittleness of veterans Josh Beckett and Dan Haren, is enough to fall right back into second-place depths of despair:

LOS ANGELES -- Don Mattingly said Tuesday night's 10-3 loss to the Cleveland Indians "just shows us that we've still got a lot to continue to work on." He mentioned a plethora of "teaching opportunities."

Such opportunities probably include explaining to Dee Gordon that taking off from third base on a shallow fly ball to left with nobody out might not be the smartest base-running play and that attempting to swipe second with nobody out in the sixth with your team trailing by four also might not be the right call.

While he was in a teaching mood, Mattingly probably pointed out to Yasiel Puig a couple of overeager running plays, one of which proved successful, the other turned into the tail end of a bizarre triple play.

But what Tuesday really showed the Dodgers is how tenuous life can be when you're relying on two aging starting pitchers to hold up the back of your rotation.

Granted, every start Josh Beckett and Dan Haren have made this season for the Dodgers has ranged between "serviceable" and "historically brilliant." Without their contributions, the Dodgers would still be flopping around many games out of first place and dogged by the "underachiever" label.

But earlier this season, Haren, 33 and with a chronic bad back, said, "I feel discomfort 24 hours a day, seven days a week pretty much, at this point of my career," and the 2,000 career innings suddenly seem to be catching up to Beckett, 34.

It's one game. Gordon and Puig make one scratch one's head sometimes too often, true (STOP BUNTING, DEE). But Haren just had a great outing and 1-0 victory, and if I'm not mistaken, Beckett just notched a no-hitter a short time ago. It's one day. Let's just get back to winning, and there won't have to be this despair.

Post-Game 86 Thread: Again, Fantastic Four Denied

Just a matter of time before this Four gets Byrned.

CLEVELAND 10, DODGERS 3

We just can't win our fourth in a row. The sixth time was not the charm for us, as Josh Beckett gave up three runs in the first and two more runs in the third, putting us in a 5-2 hole (we inched back two runs in the bottom of the first, off a skillfully-tweeted Adrian Gonzalez HR):

"How 'bout that Gonzalez homer?!"

— Sons of Steve Garvey (@sosgsosg) July 2, 2014

(Brilliant.)

But any hope of a Dodgers comeback, and overcoming this curse of the fourth consecutive win, was lost in the bottom of the fourth. With none out and already having scored one run in the inning, we had Yasiel Puig on first and Dee Gordon on third, and Gonzalez at the plate. Gonzalez then unbelievably flied into a 7-2-4 triple play, which not even Don Mattingly's meek challenge call could overcome.

Jamey Wright gave up two more runs in the sixth, and Paul Maholm gave up three more runs in his two innings of slop, but who the hell is counting at that point. It's amazing how all the confidence of June evaporated in the first game in July, but here we are: back in second place, and struggling to figure out why we have tetraphobia. I just hope we figure it out before Friday...the Fourth of July.

Game 86 Thread: July 1 vs. Indians, 7p

Josh Beckett (5-4, 2.02) vs. Justin Masterson (4-5, 5.03)

It seems like just yesterday that we heralded the onset of another attempt at the elusive four-game win streak. Today, we stand on the precipice of doing just that. Thus a repetition of the now-talismanic Game Thread image.

And who better to tee off on than Justin Masterson? Per MLB's game preview:

Masterson's start was pushed back two days after it was revealed he has been bothered by a sore knee all season. The struggling sinkerballer's up-and-down year continued when he gave up five runs on seven hits in four innings vs. the D-backs.

Problem is, though, Josh Beckett has been suffering "general soreness." Apparently nothing specific, and nothing related to his arm or last year's surgery, but something the team is monitoring. If he can't go, sounds like Red Patterson would be called into action. In that case, you may be seeing Will Ferrell's image again soon.

Don't make Will angry.

Clint Robinson, The Spotlight Is Yours

Nice piece on Clint Robinson by the LAT's Dylan Hernandez, who discusses Robinson's long path to his first hit (and quite a meaningful one at that, a game-winning RBI!):

But the two months Manager Don Mattingly's team spent chasing the Giants was nothing compared to how long Robinson waited for to live a dream.

"Twenty-nine years and counting," Robinson said. "I have so many emotions right now, it's kind of hard to even put words together."

Robinson is from Dothan, Ala., which is known more for producing peanuts than baseball players. He attended nearby Troy University, out of which he was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 25th round of the 2007 draft.

He has spent the majority of time since then bouncing around minor league outposts such as Idaho Falls and Northwest Arkansas.

He reached the major leagues two years ago with the Royals, at 27. He had only four at-bats, all as a pinch-hitter. He struck out twice.

"It was a lot faster than it is now," Robinson said. "I look back on that and it's a blur."

Robinson said he never considered walking away from the game.

"Everybody wants to talk about being 29 years old and being in the minor leagues for eight years, but I really enjoy my job," he said. "I still get paid to come to the ballpark every day and play baseball. Everybody says it's a grind in the minor leagues, but it's still something I love to do."

Robinson signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers over the off-season and played well in spring training, batting .308. At the time, Mattingly said Robinson's left-handed swing reminded him of former American League batting champion John Olerud's.

Until Robinson was called up to the major leagues Wednesday, he was in Albuquerque with the Dodgers' triple-A affiliate.

None of his first three plate appearances with the Dodgers resulted in hits, though he drew a walk and scored a run Saturday in the team's victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Robinson's moment came as the Dodgers were locked in a scoreless tie with the Indians. With men at the corners, Robinson was called to pinch-hit for Dan Haren, who pitched seven innings and gave up only one infield hit.

Robinson slapped Indians starter Corey Kluber's full-count offering into center field.

"Man, that feels good," Robinson said he told himself as he reached first base.

It felt good to us Dodger fans as well, Clint, as we took sole possession of first place! Way to go!

photo: Mike McGinnis / Getty Images North America