Corey Seager returned and Brandon McCarthy was on the mound for the Dodgers. The game went for 16 innings, so let’s get right to the recap.
1st inning
Dodgers
Chase Utley with a lead off double!
Corey Seager picked up right where he left off before coming down with a three-day case of stomach flu. His RBI single put the Dodgers ahead 1-0
2nd inning Dodgers 1-0
Nationals
Six up, six down for McCarthy.
3rd inning 1-0
Cardinals
Sloppy inning. Walks and a Joc Pederson error led to two runs for the redbirds.
4th inning Cards 2-1
Nationals
McCarthy back to a 1,2,3 inning.
5th inning Cards 2-1
Dodgers
Corey Seager led off the inning with – you guessed it – another base hit.
Cards
Another 1,2,3 inning for McCarthy.
6th inning Cards 2-1
Dodgers
Howie Kendrick kept his hitting streak alive at 14, tying the game at 2-2 in style – with a home run!
Cards
McCarthy came into the inning having only given up one very unlucky two-run single.
He only needed seven pitches to put the red birds away this time.
7th inning Tie score 2-2
Dodgers
Corey Seager led off with his fourth hit of the game! Again the Dodgers left him standing there.
Cards
After a pitch sailed about two feet off the plate, McCarthy and Yasmani Grandal met on the mound. They called for the trainer, who appeared to work on a leg cramp. McCarthy was done.
Adam Liberatore in.
He got into a tight squeeze with the bases loaded and two out, but a broken Cardinals bat saved him.
8th inning Tie 2-2
Joe Blanton in.
With some help from a running, leaping, and bubble blowing Joc Pederson, he got the job done.
9th inning 2-2
Dodgers
Justin Turner got a hold of one and jacked it out over the CF fence to break the tie and get Kenley Jansen up in the bullpen.
Cardinals
With two out, Jansen gave up a Jeff Gyorko home run to tie the game. 3-3
Extra innings
11th inning 3-3
Cards
Grant Dayton came in for his Dodgers debut to face no less than the heart of the Birds’ order.
1,2,3 inning. Job done.
12 inning 3-3
Cardinals
A blazing fastball, 2 Ks and two innings scoreless for Dayton.
HBP (really a jersey grazed by pitch) was his only baserunner.
13th inning 3-3
Dodgers
Austin Barnes came in to pinch run and was moved to second by a Joc sac.
Yasiel Puig came in to PH and received a respectable chorus of “Boo” from the Cards fans.
He popped up, to what I suspect was an equal round of boos from Dodgers fans.
Cards
Pedro Baez in. Job done.
15th inning 3-3
Cardinals
Believe it or not, they played long enough to bring Bud Norris in. It took a while, but job done.
16th inning 3-3
Walk off home run by Matt Adams.
Dodgers lose 4-3
Corey Seager had a very good first game back after missing three with a stomach flu. It was his third career 4-hit game.
Trouble was, nobody else wearing Dodger blue was hitting when it mattered – WRISP. Even JT’s ninth inning home run was with nobody on. And then the Dodgers proceeded to not. hit. again.
Brandon McCarthy was nails today, and he deserved to win. With the exception of that one unlucky inning, his fastball was very effective, and he used it to paint the corners. At 85 pitches in just over six innings, it was his longest outing of the year. Too bad he was done in by that leg cramp.
As we mentioned in last night’s recap, the Dodgers’ bullpen is losing ground against opponents. This time it Jansen giving up a run, and blowing the save.
For extra grief, the Giants lost their sixth straight, so the Dodgers blew a chance to gain a full game in the standings.
McCarthy went 6 1/3 innings with 1 hit 2 runs 4 Ks, 3 walks. ERA 1.51
Team with RISP: 1 for 13 I don’t even wanna talk about it.
Dodgers 1 for 13 with RISP.
Again.
Dodgerrick
That is true about not getting hits with runners in scoring position, but a team has to play well, in every facet of the game, when they are playing good teams.
We had a couple of problems, making routine plays.
The Cardinals had better numbers with runners in scoring position, but they didn’t have as many hits either.
And it always seems they have good numbers with runners on, almost every year.
I don’t think they had those type of numbers last year, but they seem to do well, in that facet of the game.
Our players, at the top of the order had problems, getting hit with runners on, but the bottom part of our order, doesn’t seem to do much at all.
Grandal had some hits, and Scott had one hit, but we need some players, toward the bottom half of the order, to be able to hit, and make productive outs.
Usually after the fifth hitter, the rest of the order, go down quickly.
I don’t understand why Roberts didn’t keep Agone batting third, and Turner batting fourth.
Even with Agone’s lack of speed, I think the order would be more productive.
Also Norris can’t react so much to the bad calls from the umpire, he just needs to pitch where he thinks is the umpires strike zone is, even if an umpire is bad.
In the last couple of games, Norris has got upset at the umpire, and soon after that, he has gotten hit.
He needs to not try to run off the mound, when he thinks he has strike three, because that doesn’t help.
And when he gets upset at the umpire, he seems to have a let down in his concentration.
And because of this, he seems to gives up hits, after he had pitched well, up to then.
And I don’t think it is fair to get on our offense, in a tough game, when they gave Kenley the ball, with the lead.
When any of these relief pitchers come in, or start with a new hitter, they need to watch there first pitches.
Because hitters are looking to jump a pitcher, on there first pitch, especially when if it is a fastball around the plate.
And I would have thought that Kenley would have been more careful, with the former Padre player, that has saw Kenley a lot.
Mark told me that Kenley was pitching higher then 92 last night, but what I saw, he pitched mostly 92, to his first two hitters.
He might have hit 93, but maybe once.
But this has been a pattern with Kenley, when he comes in to pitch, that is why I am looking at his velocities.
And if you remember, Kenley wasn’t even able to strike even one hitter out, in last night’s game.
I am going to watch that ninth inning again, if I remember to turn to it in time.
Does Kenley ever blow a save with less that two outs? I don’t understand how he struggles so much with the last out – most of the time it seems like he has two strikes on the guy although tonight that wasn’t the case.
Chapman where are you????
I doubt Gyorko would have pulled 105 mph into the bleachers.
Jason
It was good to see Chapman throw a ball past Belt, on Belt’s third strike, in the game that the Giants played, against the Yankees yesterday.
A blown save is a terrible thing but we must remember what the real problem is here– Not Scoring Runs. If we scored 5 runs a game, most of these other problems wouldn’t be noticed.
1 for 13 WRISP says it all. If you can’t score you don’t win. Dodgers need additional pitching, but they also need a new bat or two.
A catcher who can hit (Lucroy?) would be nice. And an outfielder who can do the same. Always liked Pederson, but like Mark likes to say, doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is insanity. Every time I see Joc swinging for the fences when all he needs is a basehit, I want to strangle him. Choke up a little, and hit the ball where it’s pitched. Even Barry Bonds choked up.
Regarding Jansen, there is something wrong. Last night he missed his spot when Jerko (intentional misspelling) took him deep. But overall it seems to me that Jansen has lost the bite on his cutter. In past years I believe he was striking out about 13 per 9. Now I believe it’s about a strikeout per inning.
Also getting tired of watching Agon swinging at pitches out of the strike zone. I thought he was supposed to be a disciplined, professional hitter. He also hits into the shift too often. He needs to go the other way a lot more. And he can’t justify trying to pull for more power, because whatever power he had is gone. Maybe the Dodgers should make a run at Longoria if he can also play first base, and see if they can unload Agon. Given his power outage (probably caused by his chronic neck problems), it may be that unloading Gonzo is easier said than done.
That’s enough for now, although I could go on and on. Pardon any mistakes (if any) in this post. Doing it on my iPhone.
Brooklyn
Agone didn’t look good in that game, but he still has hit in the most runs, besides Turner, since he had those two days off.
And really, Agone hits more balls to the left side, to avoid the shift, then any other Dodger, except Cory.
His power is gone, but he just had a bad game yesterday.
And Agone, is still good, at getting hits, with runners in scoring position.
And he always shortens his swing, to get runners home, anyway he can.
And about Kenley, he didn’t even strike one hitter out last night.
And his velocity was down with the first two hitters.
Brooklyn
That is what I use all the time.
Brooklyn
I feel the same way when I see Joc swing like that.
I thought when Joc came back, he would try to cut that swing down, but after that first good at bat, he is back to doing the same thing.
I get mad because Joc has been told, to cut his swing down, by people who played the game, and from baseball people.
And he should have learned that last year, when he couldn’t hit most of the season.
But he worked his old hitting coach, who taught him, that big swing, in the off season, and all that is different with Joc’s swing, is that he isn’t picking his leg up, to use as a hitting mechanism.
He came to spring training, and told the new hitting instructor, that he had already fixed his swing, so the new hitting instructor only really helped Joc with a game plan, on how to attack the pitcher, that he is facing.
Maybe all of the unofficial comparisons to Mariano Rivera are getting to Kenley’s head – he thinks his cutty is invincible too. One fact remains true though, his cutter simply isn’t cutting it! (pun intended, sorry I had to!!)
Dayton looked good.
I got nothin else.
Badger
Dayton isn’t the type of relief pitcher, this front office likes, because he isn’t a hit and miss guy.
But the Giants have had relief pitchers, like this, in there bullpen, in the last few years.
And usually the Giants bullpen, has been quite good.
I think the Giants closer, is there biggest problem.
But anyways, Dayton pitched a really good two innings, considering that was his first day, in the bigs.
He didn’t allow a run, and I don’t think he walked anyone.
I really hate losing to the Cardinals, especially in extra innings games, because it reminds me of the post season disasters that we have had, in the past.
And it is especially hard to watch Kenley blow a game, when the rest of the bullpen, did there jobs.
Kenley only has to pitch one inning, he needs to keep his concentration, and make sure his pitches are where they should be.
And especially on the first pitch, and a hitter, that has seen Kenley a lot.
I guess Jerko was two for six, against Kenley, in his career.
MJ: Dayton may very well be the swing and miss guy. 85 K’s in 48’s gives the indication he might be. True that’s in AA & AAA this year but as you said he did look good in the two innings he pitched last night.
Let’s give him a chance before we label the guy. I didn’t see him on TV but followed the game on my computer.
They have a strike zone on the screen and it looked like his pitches basically were close to the edges. Not down the middle like a Baez or a Hatcher who throw much harder.
Point is who would you rather have in a pressure situation if you only had three choices? Dayton, Baez or Hatcher? I know what my choice would be.
Richie
Dayton has to be a good pitcher, with good command, to be successful in these high leverage situations, especially because he doesn’t have a top fastball, or great stuff.
And that is Hatcher and Baez’s problems, they are not pitchers, there throwers.
But Dayton did have some good hit and miss swings, on a couple of hitters last night.
Dayton did look good. I liked what I saw.
Normally I’d agree with all the facts of runners left in scoring position, but after all that, we were 1 out away from winning, with our all star closer on the mound. This is on him. A tight, 3-2 game at StL is a playoff game. He needs to put that away. And now not only did he ruin last night’s game, he may have ruined the next 2 games as well because our bullpen threw 7 unnecessary innings.
Agree about Joc up there; it’s not fun to watch him hit. I have no issues trading Joc and letting Toles play CF. Toles looks like he can play a good CF, and I’m sure he could hit more than .222. When Trayce returns, he also can play a similarly good CF, and I’m sure he can hit .ver .222! Hell, who would have thought our most reliable outfielder is 2b Howie Kendrick.
This is a bizarre team. And we’re 4 games out of first. And we’re in the wild card hunt. What a frustrating time.
Bobby
That is a really good point about the wear and tear on the bullpen, because Kenley couldn’t get the job done.
Especially after the rest of the bullpen, pitched well, and
didn’t let one run score, before Kenley came in the game.
There is no question the Dodgers still have a problem with hitting when Runners are in Scoring Position, but nevertheless, they were leading after a clutch HR by Justin Turner in the 9th and Kenley cutout the team’s heart. This is all on Kenley. Yes, they should have driven in more runs, but we were set to win. It would have been a huge win and morale boost and now they are deflated and the pen is tired. This is why teams get swept.
This was a monumental loss on all levels.
Maybe reminding Kenley how the other half lives might get his attention. I think I would bring him into pitch in the 6th or 7th innings, maybe with runners on base, to let him see how good he usually has it.
Wondering
I think it isn’t to much to ask Kenley pitch one clean inning.
The other relief pitchers last night, and over the entire season, have pitched many more innings, then Kenley is asked to pitch.
And last night, Libertore pitched in a much higher leverage situation then Kenley had to pitch in.
And both Libertore and Blanton, have pitched in more innings then Kenley, and have pitched in more high leverage situations, then Kenley has, this year.
Mark
I was wrong about Kenley’s velocities, he did throw 94, and 95, you were right.
I don’t think his cutter was cutting to much.
It was bad that when Kenley’s cutter really cut, it cut inside to Jerko, to give Jerko a nice inside pitch to pull for that HR.
I watched that inning again, but Kenley does seem to come in, and doesn’t have his top velocity, when he first comes in.
But velocity is nothing, if his cutter isn’t cutting.
Maybe that was why he didn’t strike one hitter out.
Well, lets see, who do we blame this one on?? I think this was a team loss. The whole team blew this one. They left runners stranded, and found the most inopportune times to swing at dead air. I do not throw Norris under the bus, he made 1 bad pitch. Pederson’s error led to a run, but his glove saved a sure double from happening too. Kenley blew 2 saves all of last year. He has 5 this year and 2 in the last 6 games. Obviously he is a bum…………well some here will say that. The problem, and we all know this is lack of hitting in the clutch. Man in scoring position less than 2 outs, you need to score that guy. I see all sorts of rumors out there about getting a outfielder who can hit. 2 most mentioned names are Carlos Gonzalez, and Jay Bruce. The Lucroy-Braun rumors have subsided. The Archer rumors are picking up. What they have to give up for him, well most say at least 2 of their top prospects. Holmes-Deleon-Bellinger….at least that is what the pundits are saying. I think that even though Archer is highly thought of, he is in the middle of a terrible season….5-13 with an ERA north of 4. I send maybe 1 of the top guys, not 2, and a lower tier prospect. As for the 2 outfielders, well, I do not see them trading inter division with the Rocks for the simple fact that he would probably murder Rockies pitching. And they have a lot of games left. Bruce I do not think is the answer…..he does not hit well in LA…….Guys coming off the DL soon should give a lift. Kike is on a re-hab assignment now. If Puig were to WAKE up, the problem would be diminished……
To me Bruce is a similar player to Andre…I say wait and hope Andre can return sometime this season…
Even if Andre is cleared to play by mid August, he clearly would not be game ready until September. He is not even doing baseball related exercises yet. His last checkup said his leg is not healing as quickly as they hoped. Hoping for Andre is not an option. He would be very rusty, and hoping his bat would be even half as good as last year is wishful thinking. I do not trade for either if Thompson, Kike, get healthy, then you are pretty set in the OF. Thompson, Pederson, Puig is one of the BEST defensive OF”s in the game.
Michael
About Kenley, after he has blown these important saves, he needs to address the problems, he has been having, getting the job done.
He has cost us four games in the standing, just with three of his blown saves.
They may be the best defensively, but they are not providing enough offense.
Michael
Joc has to make the routine plays, when he is not doing anything with his bat.
That’s a given, and he tried to make up for it by swinging too hard and going after bad pitches. But he misses that ball late in the game, it is over. He is not perfect, but he is the BEST fielding OF on the team. And I overlook his occasional misplay. He did not cost the team the game on that play. He put them in a hole, but he saved their ass later…….By the way, Seager leads the team pretty much in errors…..
Michael
Shortstop’s have many more chances to field a ball, then a centerfielder.
And players in the shortstop position, usually have the more errors because of that.
Joc doesn’t even have productive at bats, and has trouble making contact.
And there are many players, that can play great defense in centerfield, but can’t hit.
His first AB off the DL he had a 2 run single….He hit the ball last night, just not hard….as far as SS having more plays, well yeah, but you go double figures at SS you have issues, and I have seen Seager blow some pretty routine plays. I am not saying the guy is terrible, but he makes bad throws when he does not need to. Joc’s glove is one of his biggest assets along with his power. You are frustrated at Joc, I get that, but he was FAR from the reason they dropped that game. Grandal had 2 hits when no one was on….but when men were on base, he struck out…like I said, team loss…quit focusing on 1 guy
Michael
When does Joc not swing from his heels?
He does not do it all the time. He does it a lot, but not every at bat. His approach with 2 strikes has been a lot better this year. Is he a polished hitter? No…..but he is better than what was on the bench……..TOLES
3-4 since the all star break 🙁
Boy…..that’s comin out hot……Giants have lost 6 in a row…we should be 2 out if those blown saves were not blown…
Michael
We would be tied with the Giants right now, if Kenley hadn’t blown that save against the Giants at there place.
That was when Agone hit that HR to put us ahead, much like Turner did last night.
It really sucks to lose to the Cardinals, of all teams, especially like we did last night.
If is the biggest 2 letter word in the dictionary. If they had played well early, If Turner had been hitting all year. Means zilch in the real world. They are 4 out, with more questions than a high school final exam. That they are where they are is close to being miraculous. If Kershaw was healthy, they might have 5 more wins than they do now. Smoke and mirrors my friend. Even if they get to the playoffs, does this look like a championship team to you?? Shades of the 88 team. But they do not have a leader like Gibson. Nor a pitching staff with a true ace right now. Even if Kersh comes back say 3 or 4 weeks from now, it will be like spring all over for him. He won’t be KERSH right away. They are forced into a position where Friedman not only has to make a trade to stay where he is, he has to make an impact trade,, be it for an arm,, or a hitter. What he has right now is a collection of bench players working in concert. You have a guy playing LF most of the time who is a career infielder. You have 2 catchers, neither of which is a great hitter. Your bench consists of the great collection of BANJO hitters with no real power threat, SVS normally would be but he has 1 dinger…..same as Maeda……They are extremely lucky that the Giants came out of the break playing WORSE than they are. We have been lucky. How long will that last? The Giants have the pitching to turn it around pretty fast. And even though they have been losing,, their offense is still pretty good. They almost came back from 8 down against the Sox and they tied the Yanks before losing last night…….and you can bet the Giants will not stand pat at the deadline….and so far Sabean has been much better at getting good players at the deadline than the Dodgers have
I’m not talking about trades right now.
The things you mentioned can’t be fixed now.
But Kenley can still find out what he is doing wrong, and address it.
Kenley made 1 bad pitch last night…..he missed his spot. That stuff happens. He was throwing hard……same thing on the blown save in AZ….bad location to a good hitter. There is nothing wrong with Kenley. He is making good pitches, sometimes good pitches get hit. Norris made 1 bad pitch and it was ballgame over. The fault lies with an offense that is terrible in the clutch…..had they scored when they had the chances, game would not even have been close….
The Giants don’t usually get big time players, at the trade deadline.
But the players they do get, fit in really well for them.
I have the attitude, that I want this team to do well, in spite of what the front office has done.
And Kenley needs to do better, in these type of situations.
I don’t think that is to much to ask.
And you also mentioned his blown saves too.
Michael
Who was hitting after Grandal? Joc hit after Grandal
And I didn’t say Joc lost the game. I said Joc made an error on a routine play, that cost us a run.
I blame this loss on Kenley.
Pence is chopped liver?? They got Pence, we got Victorino….Pederson was up after Grandal……point is neither was productive…and bud, there is nothing wrong with Kenley’s attitude or his approach. They are different people Liberatore was a fringe player. He is doing what he needs to do. And who closes if not Kenley? The guy blows a game and the whole world goes nuts….
And there many people that are tired of having no one able to hit at the back of the line up.
And not even having good at bats, or productive at bats.
We can afford to have another position, not making any offensive contributions.
Michael
Look at what the rest of the bullpen have had to do, on a daily basis.
Kenley is asked to only pitch one clean inning.
Look at the concentration that Libertore has, when he pitches.
The rest of the bullpen that pitched before Kenley, did there job, and some, in much higher leverage situations, then Kenley had to pitch in.
And Kenley hasn’t pitched as much as the other pitchers in the pen.
And he is getting paid more money, to get the job done too.
That pitch thrown by Kenley, to Jerko last night, wasn’t a good pitch.
A fastball thrown on the inner portion on the plate, is easily pulled out of the park, like it was last night.
And Jerko had seen Kenley a lot, and had two hits in six at bats, aganist Kenley.
Oh and it is spelled Gyorko…..and coming into the game he was and is the Red Birds hottest hitter….so give the guy some credit…he hit a bad pitch which is his job.
And most of the time he has, He has also gone stretches where he has not pitched when the rest of the pen has….he saved a game in DC…….wow, you want frippen perfection? Try gymnastics………the guy is still the best option out of the pen…….when the game is on the line….you want Howell??
Michael
I was watching that Yankee game too.
Both the Yankees and the Giants, we’re only one for ten, with runners in scoring position, in the eighth inning, so it isn’t just the Dodgers.
What is the definition of “nagging’?
Nagging: hectoring – to persistently badger
Damn. I’m a nag? Leave it alone Mark.
We held a good team to 4 runs in 16 innings and we did it on the road. Yeah, the bats are consistent in only one category- WRISP. We haven’t been stellar at that for some time now. Losing that one hurts, but it can’t be all that surprising.
Nothing has changed from my Lazy Boy – I don’t trade any of our young studs, I play them. De Leon, come on up. Unfortunately we don’t really have any young stud hitters, but we should in a year or so. Bellinger, Verdugo, Diaz, they should be ready by ’18.
Trade Kenley for a young SS whiz for all I care. He’s gonna walk anyway.
I have an idea that might help the team. How about, the first batter that doesn’t produce when he’s up with runners in scoring position is automatically hitting eighth next game. If another player qualifies that game, he goes to eighth and the first player moves up to seventh, etc. You’d be surprised how much grown men would concentrate to NOT win those honors.
We have no real leadoff hitter, so bat him first and everyone else 8th.
I don’t blame the loss on Kenley. It was team effort. The inability of the Dodgers to plate runs makes bad outings like last night possible. If the Dodgers had put a few more runs on the board Kenley would never have been in a position to blow the save. And the lack of offense is one of the prime contributors to the heavy workload on the bullpen. Sure, the inability of pitchers to go deeper into games is a primary contributor to that workload, but so too is the lack of offense that leads to all the tight games that the Dodgers play.
And for those who don’t know yet, Dayton was sent down today and replaced by Stripling. Guessing that the Dodgers did it to add a fresh arm to the bullpen after last nights fiasco. Guessing that there will be more moves between now and Tuesday. Our pitcher for Tuesday is TBD. Who knows, maybe De Leon gets the call. I believe he last pitched on Wednesday. And it appears that unless we get Archer in a deal between now and Tuesday, we will be facing him on that day.
Stripling is most likely the TBD starter for next week
Odd they would then call him up now. A reliever would seem to be more useful.
Good post Brooklyn. I was at last night’s game. It was frustrating to watch them leave guys on base all night. Wacha wasn’t fooling anyone other than Pederson and Gonzalez. There was just enough wind coming in from RF to keep Howie’s ball from being a 3-run Hr in the 1st inning.
Dayton was impressive. I’m disappointed to see him sent down today. At least at first glance, he’s an upgrade over Avilan and Hatcher which isn’t saying much. He changed speeds nicely. Coleman made a few guys look silly with his offspeed stuff.
More Toles, less Joc and Trayce. Joc booting that ball in CF was just as costly as the HR Kenley gave up. You could tell Kenley wasn’t sharp by all the balls Hazelbaker was fouling off. Yes, Kenley did hit 95 on the radar.
Funny thing happened when Coleman came in to pitch. The scoreboard had him listed as Cotton and some clown started heckling him and calling him Cotton. I kept telling the people around me he wasn’t Cotton. It was like the scoreboard operator couldn’t make an error in their eyes. Finally, I said Cotton isn’t white, doesn’t throw side-arm, and isn’t even on the 25 man roster. After two outs it got corrected on the scoreboard.
MJ, I respect your passion. I just disagree with your observations. We obviously look at things differently. But that’s ok. You have a passion for the team, which is great..
Was about to post when I suddenly got a message from my MLB at Bat app that Agon hit a HR. That was while I was watching the game on MLB.tv, and Adrian was stepping up to the plate. Was fun watching the at bat knowing what was going to happen. I’m sure most of you know there’s a delay when you watch games streamed on MLB.tv.
Nice to see Pederson just hit the ball to center with a couple of runners aboard. Meanwhile, Andrew Toles looks like he deserves a shot at breaking into the lineup. Don’t know if he can keep it up, but his speed would be welcome if he can get on board to use it. Looks he can throw also.