Fresh off 9-3 homer fest victory over the Phillies last night which put the Dodgers in a virtual deadlock for First place in the NL West with “The Hated Ones.” The Dodgers this afternoon completed their three game series with the Phillies. Let’s get straight to the bad news. The Giants won earlier today 1-0 over the Marlins, so the Dodgers had to keep pace to stay atop the Division. By the way Don Mattingley lost on purpose.
The match-up was Scott Kazmir who was 9-5 with a 4.44 era vs. Jeremy Hellickson who was 9-7 with a 3.65 era. The Dodgers got the ball rolling in the first inning when Josh Reddick singled to deep right with one out. That hit must have felt like a monkey jumped off Reddicks back who has struggled since joining the club. Corey Seager then followed with a single of his own. AGon then doubled in Reddick for the Dodgers to take a 1-0 lead. For A Gon it was his 55th RBI of the season and the double marked this:
Gonzalez is one of 6 active players w/11 straight 20-doubles seasons — Cabrera, Ortiz, Cano, Kinsler, Markakis. Kendrick three 2B shy, too
— Eric Stephen (@ericstephen) August 10, 2016
Howie Kendrick struck out with the bases loaded in the first inning and the Dodgers settled for the 1-0 lead. After the first inning the Dodger bats went silent as Jeremy Hellickson retired 13 straight. The Phillies threatened in the third Inning off Kazmir when Aaron Altherr doubled after Hellickson singled to put runner on 2nd and 3rd with two outs. Scott Kazmir then buckled down and struck out Maikel Franco to get out of the jam.
In the sixth inning Reddick singled. Corey Seager was then hit by pitch in the wrist. Everyone help their collective breaths as the franchise was at stake. Reddick was on third and was caught stealing home to end the threat. Scott Kazmir ended up pitching six shut out innings. He was then lifted in the seventh inning after giving up a walk and a single to start the seventh. Grant Dayton was then called in. Freddy Galvis of the Phillies then launched a three run shot to left field as the Phillies took a 3-1 lead. Two the those runs are tagged on Kazmir who at least went deep in the game.
The Dodgers fought back in the bottom half of the seventh when Howie Kendrick doubled followed by a single by Rob Segedin which closed the gap 3-2.
In the Eighth inning Corey Seager doubled with one out.
Corey Seager, in 1st AB since getting hit on wrist by a fastball, doubles over the head of the CF. Dodgers exhale.
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) August 10, 2016
A Gon then came up and struck out. Yasmani Grandal then walked. The stage was set for Joc Pederson who grounded out to short. Josh Fields pitched a scoreless eighth for the Blue. In the ninth inning the Dodgers brought in Kenley Jansen to get the Phillies at bay.
The inning didn’t turn out so great. The inning started off with Carlos Ruiz walking. Pinch Hitter Odubel Herrera reached on an infield single. Freddy Galvis then was walked intentionally to load the bases with one out. Ryan Howard then came up to pinch hit and smacked a double off Jansen to score three runs to make the 6-2.
Ryan Howard with a bases-loaded pinch-double off Kenley Jansen. That's 3 hits in 5 AB for Howard vs. Jensen. (Small sample, I know.)
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) August 10, 2016
The game was pretty much out of reach at that point. The Dodgers lose 6-2 and fall one game back of the Giants. Kazmir drops to 9-6. The only homerun of the game was hit by Freddy Galvis which turned out to be the game winner.
The tie lasted for a day. The Dodgers will have Thursday off and start a three game series against the Pirates on Friday.
James Moya
Hi I’m James Moya. I am an avid Dodgers fan. I graduated Cal State Fullerton with a Bachelors in Communications. I used to freelance at the San Bernardino Sun. I’m excited about this opportunity to write for LA Dodger Report to gain experience. I’m a straight shooter on my opinions and I hope to get some good conversations going. My dream has always been to report on the Dodgers because Baseball is the National Past-time. I hope you enjoy the ride with me.
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Well that was short and not so sweet. Kazmir was not at fault even though he got the loss. Talk great about a guy and bam, he gives up a 3 run dinger to put the team in a hole…..I will no longer write anything positive about Grant Dayton.
Hey Mike. Before that inning Dayton pitched 5 innings giving up 0 hits. EVERY player has let the team down one way or the other. I never thought he would go the entire season without giving up a run, did you?
In my opinion, he is still worthwhile having, he just didn’t have his best stuff and neither did Kenley who put the game out of reach.
Dayton so far has K’d about half of the batters he’s faced.
Reddick may have turned the corner with his two hits today. AGon continues his hot hitting. Kazmir pitched very well. Those are all good things to remember from a loss.
Tomorrow is an off day so we will get em Friday.
Oh did I mention Sedgelin who came up with another clutch hit??
It was meant tongue in cheek. I like the guy. One bad pitch does not a season make and he is a great pickup. Segedin did well in spring and I really thought he was going to break camp with the big club since SVS was on the DL and Segedin could back up Gonzo.
Michael
Do you think Roberts should start trying to go with a rightie pitcher, if a rightie hitter, is hitting.
In that game aganist Boston, Roberts kept a leftie pitcher in, to pitch to two rightie batters, and that came back, to bite us then too.
I was looking at Reddicks stats, and he only has 28 RBIs for the season.
I was suprised about that, because that isn’t to much.
I thought he was more of a run producer then that.
54 ABs with runners in scoring position. Hard to drive ’em in at that rate.
Snider
Where did you get those stats?
Where did he bat in the order?
I thought that isn’t much, because Chase has more, and he bats lead off, and he doesn’t hit against lefties much
He was also on the disabled list for a while. He only played in 68 games for Oakland. So he has played in 75 games out of a possible 120 plus. He is making almost the same money as Puig.
That qualified him to play in LA. MJ, I looked him up on Baseball Reference and clicked on “splits.” It’s a very useful site as well. He batted third for the A’s.
Ok, look at his page on Dodgers.com….click on splits…scroll down and it shows AB and hits with RISP…also…..in his last 30 games he is hitting .220 with 3 HR’s and 9 RBI’s. Much worse production than we were getting out of Puig.
Michael
Thanks
I know where that is, but I didn’t know he was on the DL.
I didn’t even check is average with runners in scoring position.
I just took a quick look at his basic stats.
I guess I expected more, from the way, some had talked about him.
Galvis is a switch hitter so it would just have turned him around. I am not sure what his splits are, but he might not have any power LH. He hit 2 bombs in the series. Of more concern is Jansen letting the game get totally away in the 9th. He does not pitch well in non save situations, but that game was critical.
Yes I agree about Kenley.
I think the issue in the Boston game was that he should’ve left in Chavez, instead of going to Avilan who actually gave up hits that night to lefties while retiring righties. Go figure.
I’d put in a righty vs a righty if we’re doing a switch. But if the guy is doing very well (Chavez was that game), and the batter coming up is not a star, my preference would be to leave the guy in and bring in the LOOGY against people like Big Papi (who did come up a few batters later and got a hit anyways ….)
Well it does not look like we will be seeing Blister Hill anytime soon…….Nice pickup FAZ………..
That pitch Dayton threw for the HR was actually a ball! That SS was amazing today for Philly; his defense, athleticism, and then the HR, on an INSIDE PITCH!!! Gotta hand it to him, honestly.
I like Dayton; I think he’s a keeper. Look how he bounced back after that crushing HR
All good. We took 2 out of 3. Next up, Pitt. Let’s take 2 out of 3 again!
By the way, has anybody noticed our ridiculous OF in Ogden? Hansen, Peters, and Thomas??
Watch for those guys!! The future is ours, kids!
Bobby
You can’t give an inside pitch to someone the size of that Shortstop.
He isn’t that big, and most of his power, will be pulling the ball, whether he is batting leftie or rightie.
They should have pitched him, so he would hit the ball, to the farthest part of the field.
But that was just one game, so if Dayton learns from what happen, that is all we can ask.
The biggest problem in that game was Kenley.
I read a lot of comments, that said that Roberts shouldn’t have brought Kenley in, with the Dodgers not ahead in the game.
I don’t blame Roberts, because he was just having Kenley help out with the bullpen.
Because they have had to pitch way to many innings.
Kenley mostly only pitches one inning, so he can help.
The problem with losing that game, was because the Dodgers had just caught the Giants for part of the lead.
Only to be one game back, after just one day.
And against a team they should have beat.
I am hoping our FO targets Taijuan Walker. My uninformed opinion is he’s got better stuff than Holmes and he’s got some big league experience , and he’s in the doghouse right now. Sending him down to AAA after his DL stint was cold – they could have done that pre-DL with the way he was pitching.
If we can’t get him this year maybe in the offseason. We’ve got lots of ways to put together a package.
Even after the Dayton HR, we came back to 3-2 going into the bottom of the 9th. It felt like the momentum was turning back to us. All Broxton, I mean Jansen, had to do was hold ’em. It could have been a big win. But Kenley doesn’t seem to pitch well when the game somehow involves gaining ground against SF! I have no qualms about giving him the QO and letting him walk. We’ve got Montas anyway…. OH, well we have somebody with all the arms we have. Maybe Dayton or Baez! There aren’t many elite closers these days and Kenley ain’t one either!
How about Yadier Alvarez? He hits 150 MPH on the gun…. OK it’s 100, but that close to 150!
It looked like Kenley’s heart wasn’t in that game.
Non of his pitches were cutting.
It almost always looks to me, that Kenley should warm up more in the pen, before he comes into a game.
I am saying this, because it seems to take Kenley a couple of hitters, to really get his good fastball, and get his cutter, cutting really well.
But I have to admit the games that Kenley pitched in against the Red Sox, he looked really good.
Trevor Oakes went 7.1 innings at AAA last night and allowed 6 hits, 0 runs and 1 BB. He’s another guy who is a #4 or #5 starter workhorse.
Yasiel Sierra has been pitching very well since he came to AA as a reliever.
Can we have grumpy Scott back? The team seems to play better when he’s around.
Thank you Jimbo, I certainly agree. I’ve tried to tell everybody that when I complain, they win. I might have to bring back grumpy Scott if they start losing.
I want the team to beat the Pirates this week end.
We haven’t took a series against the Pirates, in a couple of years.
I can’t remember the name of that Pirates rookie pitcher, that we faced in Pittsburg, but I hope our guys get another crack at him, and can take this series.
The Giants are facing the Orioles, and I hope the Orioles’s players, bomb Madbum, and Cueto, if they are pitching in that series.
I would love to see Bumgarner’s ego, take a hit, with the Orioles big offense.
But more importantly, I want the Dodgers to keep on winning.
I think the fact that Hill hasn’t pitched in 25 days is something to be concerned with.
Hill has been on the DL as long, or almost as long, as Kershaw has.
And Hill is no Kershaw.
MJ, we all want the Dodgers to keep winning. How they have done that so far is believe me, beyond belief. But it boils down to consistent offense, and starting pitching. While the offense has been pretty steady, they do take a day off now and then. And that’s when you get games like yesterday. They had Hellickson on the ropes, they let him off, and they lost the game. Had they scored 2 or 3 runs instead of 1, that game takes on a whole new complexion. I think this team has done it with smoke and mirrors. Dave Roberts has done a great job, and the bull pen has been outstanding. But lets get real for a minute. Both the Dodgers and the Giants have 48 games left. 9 against each other. Those 9 games will be critical, starting with the next home stand. Does anyone here honestly think the Giants are going to continue to spiral down over the next 48 games? That team is full of winners. There are guys on that team with 3 rings, and they know what it takes to get there. They are not going to go quietly into the night with a whimper. The Dodgers are a gritty bunch. They play hard for their manager and he gets the most out of his players, especially those guys who are not in there everyday. He has a natural 2nd baseman playing LF most of the time, he has a guy leading off most of the time, who before this year was more a #3 hitter than leadoff man. They are being led by a rookie SS, a seemingly rejuvenated Gonzo, and a resurgent Turner and Grandal. Everybody else is chipping in now and then. They have done this with a record number of players on the DL. I for one bet Dave Roberts cannot wait for Sept 1 when he can look down the bench and not see the walking wounded. But…..and this is large, do you expect this bullpen with the strain it has already gone through to keep this up for 48 more games? At some point exhaustion should set in. Unless they start getting some serious innings out of this starting staff, they WILL flame out. I do not expect anything from Rich Hill. He was a stop gap pickup at best, and in my estimation another failed deadline deal by the FAZ master. I am not saying they should have given up the farm for Terhan, or Moore or even Archer, I am just saying why in the world did you get another pitcher who was already on the DL when you traded for him Here we are 10 days down the road, and this guy has not thrown a pitch yet. And for this rental you gave up 3 prospects??? DUMB.
I don’t know how far the bullpen can go. It doesn’t seem like they’ve ever been pushed this hard, at least since the days of Mike Marshall. KC’s bullpen threw a lot of innings last year and maybe it’s caught up to them this year. If Kershaw can come back all may yet work out, but I suspect he’ll be on a pitch limit as well.
And Jharel Cotten retired 26 consecutive batters at AAA the other night–does that prove anything?
Snider
Who knows?
Some said here, that Cotten was not much of a loss, and then
I hear Cotten throws eight innings, of a perfect game, on the next day.
Then I think about who was involved with this transaction, and it is Billy Beane, and his pupil, and Friedman.
Who do you think, came back with the best goods?
Michael
That is why I said that this is not the way to build a starting pitching rotation, even if we are close to first place.
I give most of the credit to Roberts, his coaches, and the players.