Gather the clans, order pizza and batten down the pavilions. It’s the Dodgers versus the Giants, up in the bay.
You wouldn’t know the Dodgers were the visiting team, as Pantone 294 (the traveling group of Dodgers fans) made their 903 count presence known right from the lead off double by Joc Pederson. Unfortunately, it takes more than loud chants to score runs, and the Dodgers left Pederson stranded on second.
The boys got a couple more base runners in the second, but came up short again.
The Dodgers kept on pushing and in the third inning Yasmani Grandal smacked a gapper deep into right center field to score Corey Seager from first. Dodgers 1-0
The Hated Ones came back in their half of the inning to tie it with two outs, extend the inning, and push McCarthy’s pitch count up. He was at 45 pitches after three.
The Giants weren’t done peppering McCarthy, who started the fourth inning with single, single, double, a single and confusion on the infield that finally ended with the Giants up 4-1 with no outs. After a sac fly it was 5-1 and the offensively challenged Dodgers were reeling in the San Francisco wind.
In the sixth, after 95 pitches and another Giants run, the skipper finally pulled a tired and ineffective McCarthy.
It was 6-1 in the 7th and the Dodgers were looking for their first offensive beat since the 3rd inning. But that didn’t happen, so they went to the stretch needing a miracle.
After the stretch the Pantone 294 group opened their giant LA flag in the outfield stands and the crowd woke up. Unfortunately, it takes more than a big, blue flag to score runs, and while the Dodgers remained helpless at the plate, Grant Dayton dealt a fat one to Buster Posey. It was 7-1. When the score reached 8-1, Roberts threw in the towel and brought out the rag, Chris Hatcher.
Hatcher actually struck out the side in the eighth, but it seemed like everyone stopped caring by this point. It was cold and windy, the seagulls were waiting for the field, and everyone was sleepwalking.
The Dodgers managed a couple of base runners in the ninth, because the Giants bullpen stinks, and Chris Taylor brought in a run to make it 8-2. Then PH Franklin Gutierrez knocked in a run to make it 8-3 and force the Giants to go to their closer in what should have been a laugher.
Scott Van Slyke came up, and a passed ball brought in Chris Taylor. 8-4
Joc Pederson struck out to end the game. They now look to Rich Hill to stop the losing streak.
Bring on the Marching and Chowder Society: Chris Taylor had three hits, an RBI and scored a run tonight!
McCarthy went 5 2/3 with 8 hits, 6 runs, 1 walk, 5 Ks. ERA 4.15
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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Ok, 538 was wrong. Put the brooms away.
Sure got quiet in here. Not much to say when’re you swallow the olive against a last place club. Oh wait, they aren’t in the cellar anymore. They’ve won 4 straight.
Strange happenings in that one. Dribblers finding holes, Posey’s dinger with a 2% chance of being a home run finds the seats and that play mcGurney bungled in middle of the diamond. Odd night.
Taylor with a good game. Hatcher looked good. Not much else memorable about that game.
Montas pitched 2 last night. Struck out 3. Schebler still with an .858 OPS. Cotton has disappeared.
Blister Hill on the bump. Does he go 6?
Six pitches maybe. FAZ is guilty of criminal stupidity when it comes to talent evaluation. And so too the stupid bastards who hired him. May they all rot in Hell. SOON!!!!!
Badger
Of course Hatcher looked good!
He always pitches well, when we are down by four or five runs!
Do we just keep him on the roster, to pitch in mop up games, or do we have someone better, that can pitch under some pressure?
He isn’t a pitcher he is a thrower, with good stuff, that continually makes the same mistakes.
And he isn’t an young pitcher either.
There has to be a better pitcher in our minor league system, that will appreciate being on the major league roster, and will pitch well, to stay on the major league roster, unlike Hatcher has done.
He is a bad example for the other players, that think if they perform well, they will get that chance, because he hasn’t done anything to be on the major league roster, but have no options left!
$5.38 wrong? Surely you jest! I thought they were perfect, always right. I never trust pimps and touts.
More great moments from our b̶e̶l̶o̶v̶e̶d̶ Dodgers….
Sound fundamentals is not what they usta was. They should write a new “Dodger Way to Play Baseball”.
Isn’t FAZ doing that now? By the way, who is the Dodger Computer Coach? They must have a coach on the bench whose duty it is to watch a laptop or tablet for instructional emails from FAZ on when to pinch hit or change pitchers, reposition an outfielder or send a runner home. No embarrassing videos like the above when the FAZarola is in charge…
Jonah
Yes they have a bench coach that does that.
I can’t remember his last name, but I believe Bob is his first name.
“Isn’t FAZ doing that now?”
Yeah, I suppose they are.
I prefer the old way to do it. On every pitch everybdefender takes a step, on every ball in play, all 9 players move to cover a base or back it up. Run the bases heads up, know how to bunt, hit behind runners, protect with 2 strikes…. none of that prevents a player from swinging out of his shoes on strike 1. I’m down with that. But if you miss, you need to then think about, and be able to, hit the ball where it is pitched. We don’t do that particularly well.
AGon playing today. Another roster churn about to take place. I am still not comfortable with how this team is being operated.
The way Cody is trending, he could well be the chosen sacrifice when Agon is activated. (Why does that seem like the wrong verb for Agon?)
And I have no beef with that. He came up, he did well, the pitchers started showing him where his weaknesses are, let him go down to OKC and think about it awhile. He’ll be back.
That’s so 2012.
FAZ is collaborating with Elon Musk to develop an implantable computer chip in each players brains that will receive signals from FAZ and control their actions on the field based on a machine learning algorithm developed by Zaidi. It will will calculate the best action on the field for each potential scenario and improve reaction times by a few microseconds.
In the meantime, why don’t they use the dog shock collars to control the players? That’ll work for his sock puppet manager too…
RFID. Lucent. 666 5th Ave. Lucifer. Jared Kushner owns the temple. Jared. Very Damien like. Lucent. They use an operating system called “Inferno”. These Luciferian elites love flaunting it. Glad to see you’re reading up on it patch.
Hill will be lucky to go 5 if we are lucky. I shut that game off after they score 4 to go up 5-1. Not much chance of coming back when they let a guy who was throwing cookies up there all night beat them. Cody has a bad case of Puig’s disease. Chasing pitches he has no chance of hitting and looking bad doing it. You could see the frustration on his face. If he would cut down on his swing and back away from the plate about 2 inches he might have a shot at those. His toes are almost on the outline of the batters box. He also would be better swinging at the pitches right down the middle that he let go. Grandal stretched his hitting streak to 9. Taylor woke his bat up after a slumber of a few games. The rest of the night was very forgettable. Kemp…4-4 last night.
But this is only Corey’s second year, and this is Puig’s fifth year.
He said Cody, not Corey. But I get your point in either case.
Jonah
Oh thanks, and I’m sorry, but both Corey and Cody, did strike out.
And to many strike outs, don’t score runners on base, or move runners up, or cause the offense, to be productive.
Our players try to do to much, against Cain, instead of just trying to get a hit, like the Giants did.
It does not matter what year it is. Sorry, that is not the criteria. Puig started doing that in his second year. He is a lot better now at laying off those pitches than he used to be. And I said Cody not Corey, get your players right. Bellinger is right on top of the plate. No way he can handle those pitches in on his hands. Corey has struck out 32 times already this year and a large majority of those is swinging at that low outside pitch away from him. He has also struck out looking a lot. Bellinger struck out 12 times in his last 20 at bats. Or something like that Joe said. 2nd year man, rookie, 5 year vet, it makes not one damn bit of difference what year they are in. Puig has struck out over 30 times too. The whole team strikes out too much. Grandal, Gonzo, SVS, all those guys are K machines. You keep laying that year thing as an excuse. It is not the year, it is the pitchers finding a hitters weakness and pitching to it. Puig has had that hole in his swing since he arrived. Just took the pitchers a while to find it. With all the video and data they have plus the fact that all teams track tendency’s and pitch location, there is so much information out there it is ridiculous. I have seen Corey flail away at the outside pitch down and away all year, and he did it some last year too. They all swing for the down’s. Corey does choke up on the bat a little. So that helps him. Puig, Pederson, Bellinger, Grandal, all of them have swings that are long. So no MJ, how long that they have been in the majors makes not one damn bit of difference. The difference is the great players adjust and quit doing the same thing over and over. The not so great do not.
Read this at DD:
“Bellinger and Pederson for Trout, COME ON DO IT FRAUDMAN”
Reply:
“Put Urias in there too, fuggit”
And the Angels still wouldn’t do it.
Best part of that post is “FRAUDMAN”. I love it. I might use it sometimes.
Michael
I corrected my self, and Puig didn’t try to get better, until this year.
And sorry experience makes a big difference and anyone would agree with that!
And you are right those other players are striking out too, but they have better over all stats, then Puig and Joc has, too!
And by the way, experience makes a big difference!
And how can anyone compare these two kids, to Puig.
Puig has never bothered to make the effort, to get better, until this year, that is on him, and no one else!
Jonah
If you enjoyed the stuff that Badger posted from comments, on Dodgers Digest, you should read the comments at the end of almost any Dodger’s article, in the LA Times.
You are like a dog with a bone. And you are wrong. Length of service makes no difference at all. What makes a difference is ADJUSTING to how you are being pitched. Joc has been working on that since spring training. It has not worked out for him yet. Puig has been doing the same thing with mixed results. It worked early for Puig, but not right now. Joc’s DL stay slowed his progress some. He has good at bats and he has bad. But how long they have been playing does not make one bit of difference. They all are different players with different skill sets. And they all have a propensity to strike out. With Corey right now, he is swinging at a lot of pitches out of the zone, and he leads the team in strikeouts. Puig is right behind. Even though he is not chasing the low and away pitch as much, he has taken quite a few 3rd strikes that are right down Broadway. Cody has been mimicking Puig’s troubles by swinging at pitches on his hands that he has no chance of hitting. In Denver, he went after quite a few that were low and away. But the Giants book says pitch him inside. You have your opinion and I have mine. I do not agree with you one damn bit. Probably because there are no statistics that would back your opinion up. Players strike out more today because there is not the stigma on striking out in this era that there was years ago. When I played, I hated to strike out. And I adjusted at bat to at bat. Great players do that. Mediocre and average players do not. They just go for the downs and never make the change.
SF has become a snake pit for the Dodgers. They have not been able to win there over the last few years, and don’t look now, but the Giants are only 6 games behind the Dodgers.
Wrong title, Oscar. It should be “Dodgers Blow Up In San Francisco”.
I had a feeling that McCarthy wasn’t going to be as good as he had.
He said he wasn’t sharp, and that is the DL crap causing that, but did McCarthy pitch at SF this year?
I can’t remember if he did, I know Ryu and Wood did, and I believe Kershaw did.
I know the biggest difference is that the Giants delivered with runners, in scoring position.
Dayton has given up three HRs now, I believe.
It seems like the only team that doesn’t hit Cain is us, from what the broadcasters said.
That sounds like hitters are trying to do to much, instead of getting just a hit.
Dayton sent to OKC to open a roster spot for Mr Blister
I’m still struggling with Chili’s multipost excursion into surreallism and extended metaphor.
Yeah, think Cody’s struggling.
Yesterday was everything that’s great about Baseball. A dreadful pitcher (2017 Matt Cain) totally shutting down the Dodgers. A bloop single, a two-run grounder single to the shortstop, a pop-fly that went out for Posey.
Whether we approve the genre or not, Chili’s excursion was done well.
To each his own Jonah.
Thanks Jonah.
I thought it was quite appropriate. Sometimes it is helpful to ‘draw a picture.’
I consumed my MAC Kool-Aid last evening and I was seeing Nolan Ryan out there in Blue. Brandon, I mean Nolan was mowing them down. We were up 4-1 until Nolan Ryan left the game.
Now it’s on to today……Going to drink my HILL Kool-Aid tonight. It’s amazing how drinking FAZ’s concoction that the game looks so much different. Love my Dodger Blue Kool-Aid.
Chili lost his mind temporarily. It happens to everyone occasionally.
The bounces definitely went their way yesterday. That too happens occasionally. Today perhaps they bounce our way. Cloudy and cool, which should help Blister Boy. Throw strikes and go 6 Rich.
Badger
I am sorry I woke Chili up, from his great, escape!
Badger
I don’t feel confident about Hill today.
But I guess that is understandable, because Hill has not pitched two games in a row well yet, and that wasn’t at the major league level, either.
I think they could have had a better defensive alignment, yesterday too.
They should have had Kike play left, and Taylor play third, and have Chase play second, and have Bellinger at first.
That would have put only one player, out of their regular position, and Taylor is a much better infielder, then Kike is.
I didn’t see the pop fly that Chase dropped in Colorado, but people said, it should have been caught.
And people think Bellinger would have fielded Crawford’s hit for a double, last night too.
I don’t believe we are in any way better with Utley in the lineup. The Blue grool-aid that Chili consumes might help my perspective with that.
Did you read my post on Hill’s outing last Wednesday?
Badger
I don’t think I did.
But I did read that Hill gave up to many walks, in his last game.
I also wanted to read the article about Joc that you read.
The Hill post is right here on this thread. I don’t recall where I read the info on Joc.
Bluto
You can say that all you want, but the Giants hitters, just didn’t try to do to much, when runners were in scoring, position.
And they were much more successful then the Dodgers were, because of that.
And this has been the second egg laid, by the Dodgers, against Cain, this year.
Okay?
Are you sure that’s an egg?
Jonah
That picture is to vivid, for me!
Ryu starting Thursdays opener with the Marlins.
Michael
I hope Ryu does well!
Hill threw 68 pitches at Rancho last Wednesday. Only 35 were strikes. He walked 3 in 5 innings. 5 days off to recover from that outing. If he can’t command the strike zone any better than that tonight, he won’t last long.
http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2017_05_10_rcqafa_sjgafa_1&t=g_box&sid=t526
Guys, Chili is getting the right idea. Quit taking yourselves and the Dodgers, (You have ABSOLUTELY NO control of them) too seriously, the idea of a blog is to have fun (and make money for the owner). If you let a bunch of immature, overgrown kids making more money than you will ever see in your lifetime make you happy or sad, then for damn sure you’re drinking some kind of Azule Kool Ade and you deserve whatever feelings you let yourself have. Viva Azule Kool Ade!
Chili is no more buying the FAZ Way to Play Baseball than Freudy is. He talks of Blue Kool Aid but knows most here ain’t drinking it. That’s what the Timmons crowd is consuming. They love the FAZ over there, right?
Badger
I do think I got my answer from Chili after all, even though it was longer, then I thought, it would be.
The difference in the perception, is so unbelievable.
But some are just so uninformed, but Chili isn’t one of those people.
I know that, I recognize satire when I see it. I am applauding his making fun of their stupid antics and taking what fun he could from the subject. Don’t be so serious.
I know you want to go over there and look. It’s killing you. All of that lively banter, and all of those opportunities to hurl snide insults at Timmons. You do realize he’s holding court over there, right? He’s the king. He’s God. His word is unquestioned. He is worshiped. ……and there’s no one to “speak truth to power.”
Exactly.
Some of my posts make the headlines over on the site where they all pat each other on the ass……or maybe they all are kissing one narcissistic guys ass. Hard to tell from a distance.
I don’t bother looking, but I assume AC, Bum, catbox and the other FAZophants that no longer post here went with the felon and are sucking up his service to self b.s. there. I hear from a few old posters now and then via email that tell me he hasn’t changed. Why would he? You counter him you get censored.
That doesn’t speak well of the people who trailed along with him. Shows their true character.
What? That they’re not bitter, petty A-holes?
Always Compete is perhaps my favorite poster, and Timmons has him writing articles over there, which I think is great. He’s incredibly knowledgeable about the game, from a personal level having had his son advance through the minors, to his knowledge and analysis of the prospects in the Dodgers minor league system. There is not a single person that I know of who knows more about the Dodgers organization and baseball and is able to articulately share it.
Dodgerrick is very intelligent and almost equally knowledgeable. He and AC ..and Timmons have great debates. What separates those discussions from the ones that emanate from here is that they are civil and polite, well written, – they actually have something intelligent to say – and they all operate from a level of respect.
…Compare and contrast that with Chile’s multi post opus on Kool Aid bottles. Man, that was bizarre!
Some people like Fords, others prefer Chevrolet, doesn’t make them bad people. I retract my statement as to their character. We’ll chalk it up to a difference in taste. Guess they’re finding something there they didn’t find here. Congrats to them on that.
DP-
Please tell us again what you bring to this site. Every one of your posts are condescending towards someone here. You do exactly what you claim that others on this site use to do.
Can you say hypocrite?
You, along with Timmons were the first people to start with the name calling. That’s what classless, weak-minded condescending folks do.
Now I think it’s time that you go back home and never venture out of the yard again. I think I hear your Daddy calling you home……. you must have forgotten to kiss something.
I’m sorry I disparaged your Kool Aid parable.
https://youtu.be/_fjEViOF4JE
Modification of post:
That doesn’t speak well of the people who trailed along with him.
̶S̶h̶o̶w̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶i̶r̶ ̶t̶r̶u̶e̶ ̶c̶h̶a̶r̶a̶c̶t̶e̶r̶.̶
The Indians have designated righty Carlos Frias. FAZ casts his lure….
He must suck worse now because the Indians are hurting for pitching.
You think that will stop FAZ? He fixates on flawed pitchers.
I will agree with FAZ on one thing: Starting pitchers are outrageously overpriced. I most strongly disagree with him that the way to operate under those conditions is to save a very little bit of money by buying pitchers who are/were injured and have a record for being that way a lot. I think I’d concentrate on buying the best hitters and just outscore the opposition, using rookies, 4AAAA pitchers, and those few that can be had at a reasonable cost. Those type of pitchers are doing damn well pitching against us….
Badger, do you want to post on Timmons site? I can get you on there with a new identity, not that he’ll have much trouble seeing through your disguise when you start posting.
Jonah
Now that last phrase was funny!
No. I don’t. I don’t have any interest in supporting that guy jonah. It surprises me so many do after he told us who he is.
Some pitchers are worth every penny they’re paid – if you buy the whole wins above replacement plan. All organizations are doing it now. The cost of WAR is complicated, relative and constantly changing, but if you take a consensus average, teams are willing to pay about $7.7 million for every additional WAR point. They now have “Surplus Value” charts. Guys like Harper and Trout make the team $70 million in surplus value. I talked about this a while back when were discussing getting players on their way up. For a guy like Greinke to earn his money he has to put up around 4-5 WAR. Same for Kershaw and Price. All 3 will do it IF they pitch all year. Keeping your stars on the field is the key to them being cost effective. For the organization to be successful, you have to blend in the guys like Harper, Trout, Goldschmidt, and Machado. We’ve got a few now. None of them are FAZ guys, but hopefully they will hit on some of the young players they are choosing. Hopefully. So far? ………………
New Post:::::
I have been a Dodger fan for over 60 years. Started following them seriously after they moved to LA from Brooklyn. Listened to every game I could on my transistor radio, and collected all their baseball cards. Learned the game, played the game, and loved the game. Shagged balls at Arroyo Seco Park for Larry and Norm Sherry before they would leave for Vero. Have lived through all the ownerships and GM’s the team has had since they moved here. Each one had a different way of doing business, and that’s what it is now, a business profiting from a sport. Free agency has been great for the players and not so much for the fans who get attached to their favorites. Have seen the game itself evolve from the old style hardball to what it is today. Rules changes, lowering the mound, designated hitters. All the stuff that makes the game what it is today. Seen guys go from making 10,000 a year to guys making 30 million. Actually on the 59 team there were players making less than 10 grand. I have seen teams full of stars and some that were definitely star less. Modern Stadiums, and 2 grand old gals of the past who have had face lifts. Hard to believe that Dodger Stadium is the 3rd Oldest ball park in the majors. Anyway, Bavasi did business his way, which worked well in that era. He traded players who were stars when he felt that they no longer were contributing. He had a pretty productive farm system, and when he did make a big trade the pieces coming back usually produced in Dodger blue and became part of something good. FAZ is the product of a different way of thinking, and evaluating talent. Saber Metric’s, match ups and tendency’s are his tools. Low risk high reward signings are his fall back plan. Not trading away all your talent for high priced stars is another. That one I agree with. But once in a while you need to trade quality to get quality. He has signed guys and traded for guys coming off some sort of success. Hill, Kazmir, McCarthy all fit that profile. Anderson did not, but Zaidi saw something in him when he was with the A’s, so boom, he was a Dodger. A vast majority of their moves and trades have acquired players from their former franchises. A’s or Ray’s we have had a bunch. He has loaded the team with mostly journey man pitchers, coming off of decent seasons and made them the bulk of the rotation. He has his ACE, but the Ace has been here a long time. He has been lucky in that the ace has stayed ace like, and his signings have had moderate success. But he shuffles players like a poker dealer does cards. The best thing that has happened to FAZ is the 10 day DL. Now he can take the 7 starters he has on the major league roster and rotate them on and off at will. Since most, except CK, Wood and Urias are injury prone anyway, it is the perfect cover for a mediocre bunch. His BP at times has been stellar, but a bad outing will get you sent to the minors if your name is not Hatcher, Romo, or Baez. Chances of Jansen going down are ZERO. He shuffles position players the same way. I feel sorry for Toles because he was really showing a lot of improvement and heart out there. But a lot of this would be unnecessary if he had signed or traded for a decent starter in the first place. Less anxiety over who would pitch next and less TBD pitchers would be nice. There are no quick fixes right now. There is no panic in the FO, nor does there seem to be any urgency shown by the players. FAZ seems content with what he has right now. Roberts likes the over all team effort as he put it. But sooner or later they are going to have to put their foot on the gas pedal and speed things up. They also need to learn how to win in SF.
Solid post Bear. Why don’t you write for the Report?
Not sure I have the patience for that. Sometimes I get on a roll though like today. Just the thought hit me how different talent is evaluated. It is like the argument MJ and I had running about strikeouts. She is a passionate fan for sure, but does not look at what the FO looks at. Like you posted not too long ago, the FO values power and OBP, otherwise Grandal would be out of a job.