Tonight was the first of a three-game series against the big, bad Toronto Blue Jays. It was the Dodgers’ Japanese import, Kenta Maeda against Marcus Stroman and his five different pitches. It was also the first time for Dodgers fans to see Joey Bats and old friend, Russell Martin.
1st inning
Jays
With a man on second and two out, Edwin Encarnacion blistered a screamer down the third base line. Justin Turner took a full dive to his left and speared it. Inning over and no two-out run. It was classic shades of Ron Cey.
3rd inning
Marlins
Darwin Barney smacked what looked like a lead off double, dumping the ball deep into to the right field corner.
And then Puig happened!
Yasiel let fly with a 250 foot throw that landed right on the money for the tag at second base. It was a beautiful thing.
5th inning
Kenta Maeda report: No runs, one hit and 5Ks.
6th inning
Jays
Maeda was tagged by Jose Bautista for a two-run homer!
Those two runs were the first that Maeda allowed on the road.
7th inning Jays 2-0
Dodgers
With two out, the Dodgers got back to back doubles from Joc Pederson and Carl Crawford. Jays 2-1.
Chase Utley then ripped a single up the middle to bring in CC! Tie game.
7th inning Tie game 2-2
Jays
Things got tense when the Blue Jays loaded the bases and then manager Dave Roberts went through three pitchers.
Joe Blanton came on with two out and only needed one pitch to retire the reigning MVP, Josh Donaldson.
8th inning Tie game 2-2
Jays
Blanton’s fun was over as he gave up a 3-run bomb. Jays up 5-2.
9th inning Jays 5-2
Dodgers
Yasmani Grandal – walk
Howie Kendrick – Fly out.
Joc Pederson – single. Men on first and second.
Carl Crawford – A double play ball. Force out at second, but the ball was bobbled. Crawford safe at first. 2 out.
Men at the corners.
Chase Utley – Surprise bunt! Perfect placement and everybody safe. Bases loaded.
Corey Seager – Fly out.
Dodgers done 5-2.
Two measly runs were not going to win in Toronto, but then again, perhaps neither was this bullpen.
On the bright side, the boys kept the game close for most of the night.
Maeda pitched well, and great plays from his defense came through time and again.
Finally, the Dodgers did not fade away when they fell behind in the eighth, and battled back to load the bases in the ninth.
Veteran Chase Utley had a good idea with that bunt in the ninth, but the plan failed when Seager’s inexperience led him into a simple fly ball. The kid should learn from that, and execute better if a similar situation should arise.
We’ll do it all again tomorrow.
Kenta Maeda went 6 innings, with 2 hits, 2 runs, 4 walks and 7 K’s. It really was good enough to win. ERA 1.66
Doubles: Pederson, Crawford
Team with RISP: 3 for 6
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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They were terrible at hitting last season; why the hell did anyone think it would change this season? The bullpen was terrible last season, why the hell did anyone think it would change this season?
This team is terrible (average), just like last year, this should surprise no one.
I want to start selling air to our fan base, I’ll be a billionaire.
It’s not negativity, it’s stating the obvious, you can’t be excited about this disaster of a team.
Now tell us how you really feel….
Well stated!
Chili, been reading your comments, another voice of reason, been much needed, good stuff.
The team last year won the division. I wouldn’t call that “terrible” or “average”
But you are right about the situational hitting and the bullpen; both were blah last year and so far even more blah this year.
Bobby, Im just happy no one can mask the horrendous Bullpen we have now with comments about Joe fricken Blanton………..that’s seriously how bad this team has gotten.
“Well Joe Blanton……”…….seriously????? Kill me.
Definitely not a sexy topic
I do wonder when we’ll start to make some changes
Can you say with a straight face that was not an excellent pitch?
After the loss and 3 runs HR his ERA is still 2.77.
You are nuts!
Bobby I guess the front offices signing of Blanton didn’t impress you.
Toronto is one of my picks for the World Series. You gotta hit with them. We didn’t. Not all that surprising.
Like Rick, anything and everything I say will sound redundant. If this team hits, we can play with anyone. If we don’t, especially against the better teams, we won’t win often enough. And that especially true after Kershaw and Maeda’s 13 innings are completed. I still believe our pitching isn’t good enough, but truth be told they have been better than I thought they would be.
It’s interesting to see who it is that is now saying blow it up. I doubt we see FAZ do that, but I can see that happening before I see them really going for it. So, at this point I will say again what I’ve been saying – play the young hitters you traded for and play them every day.
Loving that mantra – “Play the young hitters you traded for and play them every day.”
Badger did you notice who he couldn’t part with, on his list to sell? MCCarthy and Anderson. I don’t trust this front office, with making this team from scratch. We will have a bunch of utility players, and still will have high risk injury prone pitchers.
Because we don’t have enough young pitchers, to make a rotation. And even the Cardinals will purchase a free agent that they need! Friedman and his bunch, are not Ivy League like the Cubbies guy!
Badger,
You are the one who keeps saying they are not trying to win this year and last year. Yes, they are trying, but it’s very difficult to have your cake and eat it too.
They are absolutely trying, but Theo had the right idea: Tank for 3 or 4 years and then win. The thing is, you would have bitched about that too because that’s what you do!
By the way, this team can still win 95!
I don’t understand your logic – on one hand, you want to blow the team up – trade all of the veterans and bring up the kids – tank this year – and then you say they will win 95? Is that with the vets or without them?
Who is it that wants to have it both ways?
Mark the Dodgers have never been as bad as the Cubs.
I cheer when Dodgers win and I bitch when they lose. What do I have to cheer about? Personally, I think I’d be cheering more had Colletti remained at the helm. But you all have heard that before from me.
Wow! 19th best team in MLB. THEY SUCK. How long will they suck? How long will Neddy Jr. be in charge?
The bullpen and offense may come or go, but at least Mark Timmons stays consistent with his bullshit and talking out of both sides of his ass. Timmons, you are working at looking like an idiot and a fool way too often. Come up for air and take a breath.
Rick asked this question too, so let me explain it:
If I were re-building the team, I would do it exactly how the Cubs were built. I would trade away every piece for prospects. The team would be horrible for 3 or 4 years, and you would get a bunch of top draft picks too. If FAZ had their choice, I’m sure they would do that too, but Guggs and Company, including Kasten, has told told the LA Fanbase that they are trying to win now as well.
I believe they they can win now, but it’s a tough balancing act. I have no problem with blowing this team up. What I have a problem with is trading away the farm. Most of you want to win now and would trade away the farm.
While I like A-Gon, from Jump Street, I have been against CC, A-Gon and Andre as foundations for the Dodgers – I would move them all in a heartbeat, but 2 or the 3 have little value.
A fool is in the eye of the beholder and if I am full of bullshit, at least I can get an ennema and get rid of it. You however can’t fix stupid – you are stuck with it for eternity!
Since the harping won’t get any more wins than bulllshit, I prefer bullshit. Besides, I can’t see paying big bucks to add outfielders and make room for them by DFAing Crawford and Ethier, just to try to add a bat and I haven’t seen too many infielders that were available that would add a better bat.
FAZ definetly waited too long to add pitching by putting all eggs in basket to re-sign Greinke.
Blanton gave up a home run on a decent pitch but he also put two runners on base prior to the home run.
Good point my Bum!
Bum I mean Joc’s last two at bats were good.
Bum Joc had a really good at bat, in his last at bat. I think that Roberts should put Cory back, to sixth in the line up, he was doing good there.
And did you see that swing from Puig? I think Roberts needs to move Puig down too. He will get his hits, but he is no RBI guy, and he isn’t good under pressure.
He needs a hypnotist, or something. Puig is trying hard, and being a better team mate, and is a good rightfielder, but he needs some help, especially with his impulse control.
Mark, I think you should run for office. You continue to kneecap those who disagree with you and you do it with cheap shot no sense bullshit. Aand as true blue and Rick just noted you talk out of both sides of of your mouth. Like so many on the political scene your trumpeting is just becoming noise
I’ve been very consistent with my take on this team and the people running it. So have others in here. The Dodgers, as currently constructed, are lacking in stability and the problem continues to manifest. Our record is a reflection of our play and it will continue like this until proper changes are applied. I think the good news is the other teams in the West appear to have similar issues. As I mentioned yesterday, SF and Arizona have the balls to go for it and when they do it will not be done with nibbling at the periphery marginal Major League players.
That game last night could easily have been worse. Turner saved Maeda from a loss with a diving catch robbing Encarnacion of an RBI double and Puig had another great play in right. He was also 0fer and is now down to .245.
Speaking if players named Yasiel, I was just being reading that there are concerns over Sierra’s lack of progress. Are our many, expensive purchases of Cuban players more bad investments? Still early, but Olivera is proving to be terrible. We got very lucky on that one. According to the LA Times we have spent a staggering $230 million on Cuban players and that does not count $40 million I taxes. Most are young, so there is time. But, our record so far is troubling. Olivera, Guerrero, Arruebarrena, and even Puig, are not producing as expected. $270 million? Damn.
95 wins. How can anyone see 95 wins out of this group? There are only a couple of teams in the NL capable of 95 wins and the Dodgers are not one of them.
Badger Maeda has saved this team with his pitching, so the team can do that for him. He is an competitor! And he has been really tough, when he has had runners, on base. I bet he would want to face Joey Bats again. I could see it in his face, when he was interviewed. He sure wanted to take that one pitch back. Badger he is a good picther, even if this front office, signed him. They got lucky, because he wasn’t on there list!
Crawford not producing is only half his problem. As long as he is around on his huge salary, younger, better players won’t get a chance to play. I’m sure they’ve tried to trade him by subsidizing most of his salary, so why not try this? Waive him, get him to agree to take the thirty-some million he has coming at a $2MM a year rate for 15 to 20 years. If he wants to catch on as a DH with some AL club for $500K a year, that’s fine. We can play our younger, better players who need it.
It’s not the money. The Dodgers piss away money like fans piss away $11 beer. The problem as I see it is Crawford can probably hit RH pitching better than Trayce Thompson can.
Crawford is ours. I still like the guy. He’s a hard worker that has had some bad luck with injuries. Things are going to get more interesting when Ethier and SVS get back. For now, I play Thompson and live with the results. But then, I’m not being asked by my boss to consider platooning.
I don’t understand why they didn’t get a good arm for the bullpen, or a couple of good arms for the bullpen, when the Dodgers were so close. Bullpen arms don’t cost as much, and that would have helped Kershaw, and Greinke. And that would have helped, when Anderson, and Wood, couldn’t pitch in the post season. That is what both the Giants and the Royals did, to compensate for there average starting pitching. Mark blamed everything on our hitting yesterday, but they did come back, and tied the game.
And our players, we’re facing a good pitcher, in there last at bats. And the Bluejays have one of the best, if not the best, power offensive line ups, in baseball. And the Bluejays big offensive line up, were facing Blanton. Our players, were facing the National’s former closer Storen.
And he was a good closer for the Nationals.
He was the type of arm, that the Dodgers should have gotten in the off season! This game was lost, only because of this front office, not the Dodger players!
The front office gave us such a terrible bullpen, that we were desperate that Blanton could be a set up guy.
They gave us so little, that we had to put our faith in Blanton, to set up! Everyone here, knows that Blanton, shouldn’t be a set up pitcher.
That sounds so crazy, because everyone here, were disgusted when they found out, that they signed Blanton, once the Chapman deal, was not to there liking. That was some effort from some of the best minds in baseball, as they are called, by some sports broadcasters.
Badger do you really trust this front office, to make a team from scratch? There biggest skill is numbers, not talent. I could never see this bunch, signing big free agents, like Theo has done!
To answer your question MJ, no, I don’t yet trust FAZ. I’m still hopeful the plan will eventually come together. But as you know, I have been critical of most the moves made. I do however see potential down the road.
Unfulfilled potential.
I’m so glad that Puig had a good time catching fish and hanging off a Toronto high-rise on the day off. We don’t want the poor guy to take his job too seriously. With all that relaxation, he goes 0-fer, hitting behind Agon. You guys let him off the hook too easily. With all the crap that this team is, he is at the top of the heap. We have a happy clubhouse, one that thinks it is better than it is. But they are a happy group with good chemistry and with Mr Rose-colored as the manager. How does good chemistry feel when you stink? A family that loses together loses together.
Kyle Farmer came off the dl, got 2 hits, hit 2d in the batting order ahead of Bellinger at Tulsa.Kyle Garlick at RC is hitting .321, got a hit and 2 walks hitting 3d in the lineup. Keep an eye on the Kyles.
Could it happen?
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/05/dodgers-considering-promoting-julio-urias.html
After last season, I said that Urias would be called up early this year and of course I was told how dumb that was.
Just like I talk out of both sides of my mouth. It’s a real talent few can master. I just can’t fathom how some of you can’t see that while I think FAZ is doing a great job with the road map they were given, I would have done it differently.
Some of you keep comparing Epstein to Friedman which is just out and out silly:
1. Ricketts hired Theo with the intent to blow up the team and compete in 2015 or 2016. There was no other agenda, except build the farm system;
2. Guggs hired Friedman with the intent to not blow up the team, but build the farm system while trying to win now.
It’s stupid to compare the two! I wonder how Theo would have done if he would not have traded for prospects and tanked for a few years to get draft picks.
What FAZ has done is remarkable given the circumstances. I like FAZ a lot – who I don’t like is Guggs and company. Badger is right (to a certain extent) about 2018. That’s really when the Dodgers should have been competitive again had they did what the Cubs did. They would have traded Kemp, Ethier and others and not traded for Gonzo and CC.
See, most of you blame FAZ and that is misplaced. You should blame Guggs. As it stands right now, FAZ had the team at a very competitive level while building a farm system second to none.
How is that talking out both sides of my mouth? It’s better than some of you who talk outta’ their ass!
So – let’s examine the 2018 hypothesis. Of the current roster, here’s who’s still here by 2018:
Grandal (last arb season)
Gonzalez (last season of contract)
Seager
Pederson
Puig (last season of contract)
Kike Hernandez
Trayce Thompson
Kershaw (last season before opt out)
Kazmir (if no opt out after 2016)
Maeda
Wood
Stripling
Hatcher (last arb season)
Baez
Libertore
Ryu (last season of contract)
Van Slyke
Yimi Garcia
McCarthy (last season of contract)
That’s it. So – are there enough position players in the minors to make up the difference? How many prospects flame out in the majors – you don’t expect them all to be stars, do you?
Assuming no additions, the rotation in 2018 looks like
Kershaw (last season?)
Ryu (if he comes back from labral tear – not easy, I know – I’ve had one)
McCarthy (If he comes back from Tommy John – 50% chance)
Urias?
DeLeon?
Holmes?
Cotton?
Position players –
1B – Gonzalez
2B – Johnson or Calhoun?
3B – ?
SS – Seager
C – Grandal
OF – Verdugo?
OF – Puig
OF – Pederson
1B/OF – Bellinger?
Of course, the Braintrust will likely fill in the gaps with fringe players/injury-prone guys – got to keep the payroll down and not sign big ticket free agents.
Frankly, I don’t see enough talent there to win – not all prospects become good major leaguers.
Don’t forget the Cubans. We’ve got some already here, but there are many more on the island.