In the first game of the post-Puig-double -bird era, the Dodgers offense got started early against the Indians by manufacturing their first run of the day in the second inning. Yasmani Grandal walked, advanced on a Chris Taylor double, and he was knocked in by Joc Pederson.
Then the Dodgers pulled off a successful double steal, with Chris Taylor came home to make it 2-0, Dodgers.
The skipper got a bit greedy and tried for another double steal in the same inning. That one didn’t play out so well.
Meanwhile, Brandon McCarthy was mastering the Indians lineup. He threw five shut out innings, only giving up one hit.
However, McCarthys luck didn’t hold up. He was lifted in the sixth when he gave up back to back hits to the Indians’ numbers one and two hitters. Grant Dayton replaced McCarthy and gave up a sacrifice fly to score the runner from third, but that was all. Dodgers, 2-1
Josh Fields and his moonshinin’ beard grooved a fastball perfectly for depositing into the seats behind right field. The game was tied before you could say “rev’nooer”. He then proceeded to give up mile-deep foul balls, mile-deep fly outs, and walks. The guy just gambled, leaving fields in for the third out. It paid off this time.
In the eighth, the skipper once again pulled the right strings. He pinch-hit Enrique Hernandez, the Banana Kid, who came up big with a solo home run to put the Dodgers back in the lead 3-2.
It looked like Yasmani Grandal grounded into an inning-ending double-play, but the second baseman was nowhere near the bag when he took the throw. They went to review and the Dodgers won. The inning stayed alive, and the boys picked up an extra run in the deal, to lead 4-2.
That brought up Chris Taylor, who promptly singled, scoring Justin Turner and Cody Bellinger to give the doctors a 6-2 lead.
Those extra runs came in handy, because in their half of the eighth, back to back doubles off of Luis Avilan made the score 6-3. The skipper called for Pedro Baez to face Edwin Encarnacion with a man on third. Baez gave up a check swing single for an RBI, and followed that with a big double to right field.
Deuces wild! It was two out, two on, and the Dodgers trying to hold on to a two-run lead. Baez finally got a pop up to end the threat and allow the Dodgers to breathe again.
Kenley Jansen came in to hold down the fort in the ninth.
Indian #1: 5-3
Indian #2: K (swinging)
Indian #3: 4-3
Dodgers Win 6-4! Six in a row!
Don’t look now, but: Justin Turner is on a 10-game hitting streak.
Oscar Martinez
I was born in the shadow of Dodger Stadium and immediately drenched in Dodger Blue. Chavez Ravine is my baseball cathedral, Vin Scully was the golden voice of summer all my life, and Tommy Lasorda remains the greatest Dodgers manager ever. My favorite things are coffee, beer, and the Dodgers beating the Giants. I also blog about my baseball card hobby at All Trade Bait, All the Time.
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Nice AB by Kike. Beating Miller 2 nights in a row not that easy. Fields is leaving the ball right in the whack me zone lately. Grandal calls for way too many fastballs up. Dodgers draft Logan Whites son, he is a catcher. If Gonzo is the File Cabinet….Grandal is now the Piano Man. Two nights in a row Orel has said he runs like he has a piano on his back. Thompson over the Mendoza line finally and hit his 5th homer. Kenley is just plain nasty. I think Puig should rescind his protest and take the 1 game suspension. They win on my birthday ! Newk’s 91st birthday today too.
Michael
Happy belated birthday!
Thank you MJ, Much appreciated.
Just a really good team right now.
The depth is paying off. Especially with SVS heating up and Trace Thompson showing signs.
Now get Forsythe back going…..
Happy Bday!
Thanks Bobby..I appreciate it……did you say Happy Birthday to our president too????????
Lots to like about this game, in my view:
1. More running and with some purpose. Heaven knows they need the practice.
2. Joc shortening his swing with 2 stikes and got an RBI against the left side of the shift. The first base coach was all nods and smiles as he congratulated Joc on the RBI. Maybe the adjustments they are making is to allow Joc to hit against the shift while maintaining his balance to beat out dribblers.
3. Some part of me thinks that Seager and Turner need to be in the lineup together – they seem to hit better when both are in the lineup.
4. Baez seemed to be doing better at recovering and not overthinking stuff when bad things happen.
5. Getting to Miller both nights is good for the team overall. Like Puig last night, Kike was late but did not rush his swing, and let the 94mph heater bounce off the meat of the bat for a home run.
I think we are getting to the level of Dodgers baseball that I like. It’s only June, but the coaches seem to be getting through and most of the players are doing things with a purpose.
Almost feels like a 80’s Dodgers game, except that we used too many pitchers.
YF
And Kenley seems to be pitching better this year, without having to worry about a contract year.
And he is more valuable to this team, then then the three or four outs, that he makes.
Depth schmepth. Grandal’s inning ending double play that was inexplicably bungled by Gonzalez cost the Indians 3 runs. That was the game and it was a gift. To keep winning streaks alive you have to have some luck.
They have replay now. The second base ump blew it. Everyone but him could see the guy was nowhere near the base. On that great play at first by Bellinger, the first base ump was completely caught out of position and blew the call. The home plate ump had a bad night. Overall one of the worst nights by a blue crew I’ve seen in a while. Replay saved us. Now, about that 84% strike zone.
It’s not the depth, it’s the coaching. Our young players are improving. The team is improving.
It’s the coaching, because if you attribute any success to depth, you’d have to grudgingly concede that the front office that put this team together isn’t quite the bungling duo of malfeasance and incompetence that the FAZophobe side has been advocating for the last several years.
Same thing with the alleged bad umpiring.
“The Dodgers have the best record in the National League?….oh, they just got lucky with some bad calls.”
When you’ve staked your position so heavily on the premise that this front office is bad – for years-, it gets harder and harder to reconcile the team’s success against your own manufactured reality.
The team’s top RBI “Butter and Egg Man” the last several years is on the shelf indefinitely? no problem.
In fact, it’s almost better because now Roberts has an easier time finding a spot for Chris Taylor, a guy acquired in an under-the-radar trade.
The team’s #2 starter last year is struggling? No problem. There are almost too many quality starters able to take his place.
These are nice depthy problems to have.
Second best record in baseball, the third highest run differential, by far the best pitching staff in the game, one of the best farm systems in the game (but this organization is still ridiculed because they apparently drafted too many right handed pitchers – laughable).
The team isn’t perfect. Another righty bat and a more consistent offense would be nice…another lefty reliever…but a person can always quibble.
oh BTW, anyone notice McBrittle had another solid game last night?
“But he only went 5 1/3!!”
Yeah, whatever.
Says the man who has staked his position as vehemently as those he criticizes.
I’ve said ALL ALONG – it might work. But most of the real studs on this team were already here when FAZ came aboard. You’ve already forgotten the team that went 46-10 in 2013. That was fun. Came up short though. 2014 – 94 wins. That too was an exciting season.
Stop with the lectures every time the Dodgers do something good. They’ve been good for some time now. They’re SUPPOSED to be good. We’d like to see great.
@ Patch
Not again 🙁
Why can’t you just enjoy the current performance? Particularly the guy who up to now is the teams’s MVP: Cody Bellinger.
Artieboy
I think we all should enjoy with the way the team is playing right now, I know I am.
But I understand that most Dodger fans tried to keep themselves honest, because like Vinny has said, the Dodgers don’t do anything easily, so it is hard at times, to get over excited.
Never. I enjoy arguing almost as much as I enjoy the Dodgers. I can’t rest so long as there are FAZ apostates spreading disinformation.
To your point (because, again, I can’t resist) couldn’t I make a similar if equally valid argument: that we should just enjoy that the Dodgers are doing well rather than nitpick – or bitterly criticize – this organization over flaws?
…good to read about Joc’s good at bat last night. I think Turner Ward is a good coach. Hopefully he’s making headway with Joc’s approach. ….good to see Puig hit a fastball out last night, too. Hopefully he regains his fastball hitting mojo that he had when he first came up.
Well said.
Dodgerpatch
I know everyone thinks it is better without Agone, but if Agone could get feeling well enough, he would still be a better bat in this line up, then Joc and Logan.
But that is only if he felt well enough, and was healthy enough.
But the way both Joc and Logan are hitting right now, Agone before locking his back up, was hitting much better, then Logan and Joc are, right now.
Because It doesn’t seem like Logan is having very good at bats.
He often lets himself get down with two strikes early in his at bats, and he seems to let to many good pitches go by.
And it is good Joc is making consistent contact, but he isn’t making hard contact most of the time.
But at least he did make contact when the runners were on base yesterday, like everyone has said.
And that just shows why strike outs, are not the same as other outs, and they shouldn’t be valued that way.
Yeah, but even if Agon was healthy, Joc and Forsythe would still be playing because Bellinger or Taylor aren’t really true center fielders, and Forsythe is the starting second baseman. Agon on the DL makes making the lineup easier. Joc and Forsythe have to work through their issues, and I think they can.
btw….saw a pick of Forsythe with a lip piercing. He should be cut.
I’m not sure who these “quality starters” referred to by patch actually are. If you check the stats, and I recommend doing that at least occasionally, you will see the Dodgers currently rank 21st in quality starts. This pitching staff is not getting it done with quality starts. Washington is. Boston is. Hell even Arizona is. The dbacks, with their injury problems, are 9th in QS. We are getting it done with stellar bullpen work. Our pen is 3rd in MLB with a 2.85 ERA. Our starters are second in ERA, 12th in innings pitched. What has been constructed here is Kershaw followed by the 6 man 5 inning wonders. It appears to be working, though the question of sustainability remains. We are 40% through the season and the revolving DL door looks darn good so far. Can it last til November? Yeah, sure, absolutely maybe.
Forsythe is hitting now? I must have missed it. Stat sheet says 3 for his last 13. Also says 3 for his last 38, so, compared to to the 7 days before the 3 hits, I guess he’s improved some.
Badger
Are bullpen innings are not bad this year though, if it is true what Joe and Orel said on the broadcast, yesterday.
” It appears to be working..”
Key phrase.
I suppose in a perfect and traditional baseball world it would be ideal to have five starters who went 7 innings, followed by the traditional setup guy and the traditional closer as part of a bullpen that had the traditional loogy and the traditional mop up guy. I just think the five inning phenomenon with the Dodgers SPs are partly a product of the pitchers they have – they don’t have “workhorses,” for better or worse-, but more so a change in the philosophy in staff management.
There’s a greater realization that most SPs have statistically more trouble with the batting order the third time around. Rather than expect the SP to get through it a third time, an organization could place more emphasis on a relief core than can handle the extra pitching load and allow a manager to go with a fresh horse when the SP is statistically most vulnerable. I think the Dodgers bullpen is built around this philosophy. So rather than the mop up guy being an afterthought and the worst pitcher on the staff, this middle relief role is actually now very important. …and they have to be solid multi-inning pitchers. Wood was originally designated as middle relief earlier in the year. Stripling is no slouch.
I just don’t know that Quality Starts is a particularly important stat. It’d be nice, I suppose, to have “workhorses” who gave quality starts consistently, but there are different ways to skin a cat (where did that phrase ever come from?), and there are different ways to construct a successful pitching staff.
I could suggest (argue) that we could take your concern about relief core wear and tear and apply it to starting pitching. Maybe the shortened innings and the revolving DL door with 6-7 starting pitchers is also a way to help ensure the staff is fresh and healthy come playoff time. Look at it that way.
Ok, that explanation makes sense.
The QS is not necessarily a key stat to those who don’t need quality starters as badly. Frankly I’d rather see the guys we pay $16 million+ go 7 with 3 earned or less. The definition of quality in Quality Start comes up short in my opinion. 3 earned in 6 is a 4.5 ERA. Not quality in my playbook. Of course I prefer not going to the pen for 4 innings night after night. But again, it’s working.
I get the strategy. I’ve already said that a number of times. Will these guys make it to October ready to pitch their best games of the season? We all hope so. But for 4 straight years we’ve come up short. I’m just being honest when I say I don’t think this team is significantly better than the last 4. But I said that before Bellinger came up looking like Babe Ruth and Wood suddenly doing things he’s never done before. And then McCarthy. 30 starts from him? Really?
If these guys keep it going, this could be the team to beat. I’m a Dodgers fan. So far so good.
Hill has not had a quality start since Moby Dick was a minnow.
Hill doesn’t look right. Kinda pale and puffy around the eyes. Very doughboy-like.
Hill’s gotta go to the pen or the DL.
Doesn’t look right in nearly every sense.
Hill has gotta go period…….he sucks.
Badger
Those are dark circles around his eyes, from worry I bet.
Badger
Jonah wanted me to tell you, he had Campbell’s vegetarian soup in your honor.
One thing I am beginning to believe. I am almost positive that Rich Hill is going to end up being the pitching version of Carl Crawford. The guy is beyond mediocre. If he was what the big wigs thought he would be, the Dodgers would not have been in a 5-0 hole. The offense bails this guy out game after game. He might go 5 today. It is the 5th now and he is over 100 pitches. Bullpen gets at least 4 innings again today. No outs, 2 on…..he is toast.. after 4 innings and 2 runners on belong to him…..I really cannot stand this guy.
The pitching version of Carl Crawford? You mean the 4 time All Star 39 WAR Carl Crawford? Or just the guy who fell apart at the end.
I think I know which one you mean. The one who doesn’t earn his paycheck.
The latter obviously…no way FAZOMANIACS can spin this in a positive direction……that was about as pitiful a performance as I have seen in a long time……
That homer was off Stripling, but the onus is on Hill…..7 runs in 4 innings??? The guy is WORTHLESS>……
He must not be pitching well in his bullpens sessions either.
I think even Maeda has pitched better.
Wonderful story on potential sleeper (note bene: I know NOTHING) and Dodgers 13th round pick, Marshall Kasowski:
http://www.baseballamerica.com/draft/car-wreck-puts-kasowski-right-path-draft/#likzeht51ZcBm2TS.97
Good story. Hope he succeeds.
I wonder what Michael Norris thinks about Rich Hill.
What do YOU think of Rich Hill?
Nothing new with Hatcher, he comes in and gives up HR, on his first pitch.
Yep, just taking up roster space……he is horrible.
I think Hill nailed it himself:
Even though Roberts suggested Hill is allowing mistakes to compound on the mound. Hill said the issue was not mental. The issue was “sucking.” Hill went on to say:
“It’s no fun to go out there and suck.”
It’s probably wrong and too easy to say he’s thinking about the blister problem, so instead I’ll boil it down to:
The optimist would say, just wait for Hill to regress to his form in last years playoff and the form for the A’s just before the trade.
The pessimist would say Hill is regressing to his career form and that the times I cited are outliers.
I’m an optimist!
If I told you what I really thought, there would be more expletives on this page than Yasiel Puig double digit salutes. His performance, or so called performance has been less than inspiring all year. The phrase during the Revolutionary War was not worth a Continental………Rich Hill is lower than Whale excrement. Want to end a winning streak..Just send him out to the mound. Hill’s ERA is now over 5. Spin that in a positive light oh ye FAZOPHITES>
His LOB% increased to 79.7 from 79.2 this year over last. Apparently you don’t realize the nuanced importance of LOB%. He has sound fundamentals.
At least his contract wasn’t a five year deal.
Still a brilliant signing. 🙂
Oh Patch, you are soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo wrong. It was DUMB on so many levels…..and continues to be dumb……and wasteful….Money could have been better spent.
Jerry West is joining the Clippers……….that is just wrong on so many levels. Lakers should have never let Jerry leave the organization. They have not been the same since Kupchak took over…..
No room for West. Magic sucks all that air.
Anderson, MCarthy, Latos, Kazmir, Hill. Add up the money, add up the WAR and what conclusion do you get? About $100 million spent and about $80 million to go – and so far about 3.nothing WAR. They need to do better.
Probably not, but I put that on ownership. Magic and Jerry usually got along. Dodger site is blowing up with criticism of Hill today. They need to do a LOT better, not to mention the young arms they have given up the last 2 years, Holmes, Fontas, Cotton, Dejong, and Deleon….not much value in return.
This is why I don’t want the FAZ to do any more trades unless it’s a low level churn trade. The record is not awful, but that’s about all one can say.
That is, if you forget about Dee Gordon, Matt Kemp and Chase Utley.
never can forget those…..
What Dodger site?
I’ll take a guess:
http://www.complainabouttheverygoodDodgers.com
My very worst Badger impersonation…..to the tune of Go See Cal…….If you want to stop a streak Go See Hill………..sorry… I could not help myself………The picture on my gravitar is none other than Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart. Robert E. Lees outstanding cavalry officer and his eyes when seeking the enemy…..Really only failed Lee once…and it was a lulu. Was out of contact for way too long at the Battle of Gettysburg. Lee had no clue what he was up against…if he had, he might not have engaged a much larger entrenched force.
Stuart had a negative War. He was out of the killing game at 31.
yeah, but what a spiffy dresser!
That’s true. And no one should underestimate the importance of spiff.
Rockies CRUSHING the Gnats…..back we go to 2nd….
Stripling optioned to OKC, no replacement named yet…