The Dodgers scored 5 runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 1-1 tie and beat the White Sox 6-1 in the first game of this short two game set. It was technically another come from behind win since the boys in blue were losing 1-0. Joc Pederson’s bases loaded HBP and Austin Barnes’ pinch-hit two-run single were the big blows in that frame. Alex Wood tossed seven strong innings and the Dodgers earned their 50 home win. The Dodgers are now 50 games above .500 improving to 84-34.
The game began with a pitching duel between Wood and Miguel Gonzalez. Wood got off to a shaky and annoying start as Tim Anderson took him deep on the very first pitch of the ball game in the top of the first inning. Wood would allow four more hits over the first two frames, but just the one run.
White Sox 1 6 0
Dodgers 6 9 0
WP-Morrow-5-0
LP-Minaya-1-1
HR-Anderson-14
Gonzalez pitched just as well, matching Wood strike for strike. The Dodgers would tie the game in the bottom of the sixth when Cody Bellinger beat out an infield dribbler towards first Yasmani Grandal’s opposite field single advanced Bellinger to second. Yasiel Puig would walk to load the bases and Logan Forsythe’s sacrifice fly would bring the tying run home. Unfortunately Grandal would get caught off second base as the throw back to the infield was cut off. Grandal was tagged out at second as he tried to return to the bag. This happens after the run scores (there was two outs), so the game is tied.
The Dodgers fought off a Chicago rally in the top of the seventh. Wood allowed a lead-off double to Leury Garcia and he advanced to third on a Yoan Moncada grounder. Adam Engel‘s grounder was a tough one but Justin Turner’s reflexes are just too good for that ball to get by him. Our dreamy red head makes a great stop, looks the runner back to third and throws out Engel. Then Wood strikes out pinch-hitter Alen Hanson to end the frame as he pumps his fist while walking off the mound.
Both starters pitched well. Wood allowed just one earned run on six hits across seven innings. He struck out six and walked none while making 79 pitches. Gonzalez tossed six frames of one-run ball allowing just five hits and striking out four. Neither hurler was involved in the decision.
Move to the bottom of the eighth. With the game tied at 1-1, right hander Juan Minaya was called in from the Chicago bullpen. Turner started the rally with a single to left. After a force out Bellinger stole second and Grandal walked. Aaron Bummer the new Chicago pitcher walked Yasiel Puig to load the bases. Jake Petricka gets Forsythe to ground into a 5-2 force out at the plate. With two outs Joc is hit in the hip by a pitch. That forces in a run and gives the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. Austin Barnes comes off the bench and singles in two runs to put the Dodgers up 4-1. After Christ Taylor’s infield single, Corey Seager’s ground ball single plates two more runs and the Dodgers take a 6-1 lead.
The Dodger bullpen had little trouble with the Chicago bats the final two frames of the game. Brandon Morrow pitched a scoreless eighth inning. Josh Fields recorded two outs in the top of the ninth and left hander Tony Cingrani recorded the final out to end the game. Dodgers win!
The Dodgers now have an 18.5 game lead in the NL West and the magic number to clinch is now at 26. The boys in blue wrap up the home stand on Wednesday evening as Yu Darvish makes his Dodger Stadium debut. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM PST.
No Dodger game can end without Puig making another fantastic catch in right field. He did this one in the ninth inning. Check it out…..
Joc seems to be playing himself right out of the lineup. He just can’t seem to right his ship as we’ve seen Puig do, and even Grandal. Seems more than likely he’ll be wearing a different uniform in the near future.
Fields had no control tonight. After the first batter, I said to myself, ‘pull him’. And, they did, after the 2nd batter. I really like Cingrani’s stuff. This guy could be aces for us. Too bad they pulled Wood before he could get the win.
Near future would probably be in the off season. They would not trade him now. But this off season they might.
I’m actually a bit worried about Taylor too. It looks like the pitchers are throwing him slider after curveball, with an occasional show me fastball low. He hadn’t been dealing too well with this type of pitching ….
He did not square up a thing last night. But he is still over .300 and getting on base. I will worry if he goes into a lengthy slump.
Fifty games over .500!
Taylor has to come back to earth in some degree. Gonzalez maybe can pick up the slack. Forsythe is showing signs, as is Grandal.
Peterson looks cluelesss.
We make every team we play look bad. Of course the White Sox are 45-71, they ARE bad. Seems like every team we play is under .500. Anyway, at the rate we are going (.712) we will blow through the playoffs losing only 3 games on the way to our first World Championship since I turned 40. Wow, that seems lIke a long time ago.
Let the good times roll.
Badger
We seem to have more problems with pitchers that change the speed of their pitches, better.
Like the White Sox’s starter last night, who’s top velocity was about 91, 92.
It WAS a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away! In a year where the improbable has happened the impossible has happened……..Vince Scully,
Grandal showed again last night he still is lousy with runners in scoring position where he is barely hitting .200. He did good in that at bat and took the pitch to left. Joc does look lost up there. A send down might help him.
MJ referenced this article on “the other blog” so I’m posting the link here for her.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2017/08/14/los-angeles-dodgers-best-season-ever/564337001/
Wow, I looked at the lineup last night and was seriously concerned when I saw Forshyte and Joc hitting back to back. Well we survived that lineup but I realized whenever I see Joc coming up to bat in a clutch situation (or any situation at this point) I always exclaim “Oh F*#& not again”. So I decided Joc needs an irish sounding name, so “O’Foc” seems more than appropriate.
“Please Doc Roberts no more lineups with both Forshyte and O’Foc in it, especially batting (or outing as it were) back to back, you can’t keep living on this high wire and keep getting away with it!”
Shame that Wood didn’t get the win last night, he was pretty dominate all night following his first pitch.
I am kind of surprised that you guys are on Forsythe, because he actually hit his usual single up the middle last night, and he did hit a sac fly to tie the game last night.
And the difference in those two instances, Forsythe swung at the first pitch to hit that single up the middle, and he swung at the third pitch, after being up 2 0, to hit the sac fly to tie the game.
That is one reason I am not that impressed with his high OBA , because I think that may be part of the reason, he isn’t hitting that well, and he also has 83 strikes outs, and that is far to many strike outs, for a singles hitter.
But maybe Forsythe is changing his approach, since he did better, earlier in his counts, last night
It is Darvish’s first start at Dodger stadium tonight, I hope he has his command tonight, and is able to go at least 6 or 7.
He is fun to watch, when he has his command!
Putting on the FAZ glasses:
Forsythe makes $7 million. He’s already got 1.3 WAR which is worth $9.75 million. There are 44 games to go. Brilliant pickup. We can make a decision on the option following what we see in the coming weeks.
Pederson. 3.4 WAR last year. Team controlled for 3 more years. Half million a year. Even with his negative WAR this year we are WAY ahead in cost effectiveness. We can address centerfield later. Maybe float his name this coming off season. For now, with a freaking 18.5 game lead, we can afford to give him the remaining 44 games to get it together.
Life is good. Confidence is high.
Here you go with that pointless WAR stat again. The point is:
1. Second base; Forsythe $8 MM: OR: Kike, Barnes, Taylor, Farmer: Less than $4 MM for all four!
2. Centerfield; Joc; OR: Verdugo; Toles; Kike; Taylor: Less than $4 MM for all four!
3. And THREE of those players are in your CHEAP coverage options FOR BOTH POSITIONS!
4. Covering both those positions for less than $4 MM AND not paying both Forsythe AND Joc means he can carry a couple of extra pitchers.
PLUS. It saves a bunch of money off our payroll penalty tax. And FAZ loves to save money…
Agree with you on this: let’s wait
in a 5 game series, Forsythe could easily come up with a huge 2 out, 2 run single on the road in game 3, and we’ll all love him. Joc could hit a gigantic HR vs. Scherzer again, and we could love him and want him staying forever.
CT3 or Wood could suck in round 1, and we would say “damn, we knew they’d become who they really were.”
Badger
Jonah does make a good point about Taylor being cheaper then Forsythe, and Taylor is a much better player then Forsythe, and Taylor is younger!
Taylor not only is even more versatile then Forsythe, he is a better hitter with speed, so why would you pay Forsythe 8 million next year to play second base, when you have a much cheaper option with Taylor, and a few more players on the team, that can easily play second!
I do agree nothing will probably be done this year, and Forsythe does hit lefties, and plays good defense at both second and third, so he is good to have around for now.
Next year I would like to see Toles get a better chance, to try to be more then a platoon player, and to be able to face lefties more, if he can come back healthy, and he can come back without favoring his knee.
Joc has been given more chances then most young players would get, to play on a team like the Dodgers, and he has not done much, to be able to hit consistently, in the almost three years he has been with the team.
Players today, have to put in more work in the off season, to keep up with everyone else, and Joc seems to come to spring training every year, without even having his swing down!
I’m not advocating for Forsythe. I think we can do better, including putting Taylor out there. I’m only trying to view the guy through the FAZ lense. There is a reason they brought him here. He was a 3+ WAR player just last year. He won’t be jettisoned mid season. It’s not like we are desperate and need to make a move.
Who was that hot Philly pitcher a lot of the fans wanted the Dodgers to trade for in July 2014? And some people said they demanded Joc, Seager, and Urias for him. They may have asked but most likely they would have settled for one or two of them and some other prospects. Just speculation, but wouldn’t it be interesting if we had traded Joc and several of those players we have since traded for non-entities? Yeah, and if I’d played the right numbers on the Mega Million Lottery Friday night, I guarantee I wouldn’t be thinking about baseball….
Hamels, but they did not demand those 3….they asked and were politely told nada. I think if you look at who they eventually traded for, the Dodgers probably could have gotten him for one of those guys and a few lower level players, but we will never know since it never happened. I like the Darvish trade better.
Somebody on the other blog came up with a very interesting thought: Can Forsythe play the outfield? Platooning him and Puig might give us the best of both worlds. But expecting him to match Puig’s defense is a no go….
“Pointless WAR stat”
You miss the point.
It may be pointless to you, but I guaranf’ntee you it is NOT pointless to FAZ. Didn’t you see me put on my FAZ glasses? Those guys worship at the alter of Wins Above Replacement. It’s quite meaningful to them.
Platoon two right handers. Ground breaking
I understand all of us wanting to improve the club, I do too, but damn guys, we’re 50 games over .500. We may very well be the most successful NL team for the last 100 years. I think we’re gonna ride this pony to the finish line.
The pitcher you refer to is of course Cole Hamels. He finished that two months with Texas 7-1 pitched and 13.1 innings of 0.9 WHIP in the postseason. Could we have used him in Game 3? Oh hell yes. And yes, it’s possible they asked for 1 or even 2 Top 5 prospects, but they settled for a package led by a prospect that wasn’t in the Top 25. Those debates, led by Timmons and catbox, were ludicrous.
It shouldn’t be news to anybody that all the highly rated prospects do not become successful at the Major League level, one out of three or four if we’re lucky. And looking at it from the other side of the equation, if you trade four pretty good prospects, probably only one will come back to haunt you. So if we had traded Joc and three pitchers who I’ve forgotten already, if Mr. Hamels had helped us to a World Series ring in 2014, we’d be saying, “Joc who?”
How about this:
Joc, De Leon, and a Zach Lee.
We retroactively win the NL pennant and play the Royals, who we no doubt sweep.
Make it so Mr Wizard.
Jonah
Forsythe has played in the outfield, because he was really just an utility player, until he made the Rays everyday line up.
But I don’t think he could play anything but left in the outfield.
Not really a problem. Against right handed pitchers, Puig plays RF, Utley 2nd base. Against left handed pitchers, Forsythe 2nd base, Kike RF.
That works.
How about against RHers an outfield of Ethier, Bellinger and Puig with Gonzalez and Utley on the infield right side.
Jonah
You forgot Kike plays center for Joc.
Bellinger to RF; Turner to 1st; Barnes to 3rd; Or Grandal on 1st. Grandal is a switch hitter.
There is always a way….
That was me. My thinking was that Kike would be in the lineup in place of Joc and Barnes could be playing 2B in place of Utley. Kike in right would make sense also.
If Kike were hitting a lick it would make sense, but he is having almost as bad a month as Grandal and Joc. Now that Segedin is back, he can switch to LF, he has played there before, put Adrian at first and Bellinger in RF.
Michael
I think it would be better to have Farmer up here, instead of Segedin!
Segedin is been out on the DL almost all year, and Farmer is not just a catcher.
With the great team we have, none of the farmhands will get to play much. But we need to see what both of them are capable of, for next year. I think Segedin is closer to the point where we might lose him to another team than Farmer is.
Makes sense MJ. Segedin was hitting .328 at AAA in 17 games with 2 homers and 10 RBI’s. But he is also multipositional playing 1st, 3rd and the outfield. He also has more MLB experience than most of the players they have at AAA, so that factors into the decision also. And he might be up to be showcased for an off season trade. Only FAZ knows for sure.
Yes, fully agreed. Farmer, not Segedin, but no reason to have another catcher who won’t play except being a PH. Segedin theoretically would be more useful but he has not been impressive at all to me.
http://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/sports/update-andre-ethier-and-adrian-gonzalez-play-for-rancho-cucamonga/article_ddb42dfe-81d6-11e7-ab38-03f1c4ef86bf.html
Badger
In ThinkBlueLA they have a pretty good article about what Agone did in that one game where he went zero for 4, in his at bats.
They say he was hitting the ball well, and should have probably a game winning HR.
We can all speculate on where to play guys, who to sit and all sorts of options. But Puig is going to play everyday when a righty is out there because he is hitting over .270 against them with 20 homers. He is second on the team with 21 dingers to Bellinger’s 34. Forsythe was their big trade chip in the off season. He is going to play as long as they feel they are getting their money’s worth from him. Although many fans have basically given up on Pederson, which is pretty much earned to this point, his manager, hitting coach, and the organization have not. When they do, we will all know about it. Talk of Verdugo coming up at this point in time is a waste of breath until you see the FO make some roster moves to clear space for the guy. My gut feeling is they wait until spring to see what he can do. Putting him on the roster and expecting him to contribute in the playoffs is wishful thinking. It took them two years to figure out how awful all we fans knew Hatcher was. So they are not going to just jump the gun and trade anyone without some sort of plan as to who is replacing him. I would venture a guess that the FO is not really all that excited about what they have gotten out of Forsythe and I could see a non tender in his future. Right now in my mind he is # 3 on the depth chart at second. I would put Taylor and Utley in front of him. Maybe even Barnes, who I would love to see with an every day job. The future is close. We will see how it all plays out.
Toronto DFAed J P Howell. He has been injured most of the season but has done pretty well in 3 appearances totaling 2+innings since he came back. Is this a possible FAZ pickup?
A comparison of 3 players capable of playing second base:
Name AtBats Average OPS HR
Barnes 146 .295 .935 6
Forsythe 253 .237 .674 3
Kike 233 .219 .764 10
Defense not considered, hopefully they can all do as well. By any other criteria, especially money considerations, the new guy rates last.
You forgot Utley…….236 .233 .732 7..
I assumed Utley would not be back next year. But then, I had assumed he wouldn’t be back this year…..
I went into this year calling for FAZ to get rid of Barnes and get a better second catcher. Boy, was I wrong about him. At this point I start yelling that they have to get him off the bench and in the lineup, somewhere, almost every day. Barnes is too good to be the second catcher. Maybe he should be the third catcher and everyday second baseman. Hey, FAZ, we need a second catcher…
Uh, recall Farmer…..mission accomplished.
Nice article on Puig in OC Register from JP Hoornstra. Joc looks a lot worse in comparison. I think Roberts and FAZ are getting close to sending him down to AAA; the minors season is almost over and It’s not too late to get Joc back up.
Bellinger gets a day off. Two actually with the off day coming up. Good move.
Joc definitely looks totally lost up there. I sent him a twitter note and told him I see him pulling OFF the ball instead of striding into it. Doubt he will read it, but at least I tried.
Michael
Why don’t you ask Joc why he stares at his bat, when he is out of the batters box, on a little time out.
Have you ever noticed that Joc does that?
Joc needs September to come quickly.
That is when he got hot last year.
Yep, he does it every time. Might be sending mental messages telling it to meet the ball. He hit .298 last September with 7 homers.
I read that OCR article and didn’t see anything about sending Joc down. Is that your interpretation YF or have you read stuff?
Peterson looks awful at the plate.
With regard to performance and salaries, there’s a HUGE difference between cost and value. I think the front office favors evaluating in the context of the latter
That’s his own idea. Nothing has been said about Joc going out one way or another.
The “other site” indicated Kike is playing LF today and Taylor is CF. They wonder what is going on. They are seeing if Taylor is OK in CF because Bellinger MIGHT be in LF. Another nail in Joc’s coffin….
Strange lineup tonight…
Taylor
Seager
Turner
Hernandez (Kike hitting cleanup????? Roberts has a hunch???)
Forsythe
Barnes
Puig
Segedin (Another hunch???)
Darvish
Jonah
Segedin has been out on DL all year, I think Farmer would be a better choice, but I don’t think Farmer plays in the outfielder.
I know Farmer played shortstop at AAA once or a few times.
This might be Segedin’s good-bye kiss…. 40 man roster positions are as precious as gold. If Segedin doesn’t show something and quickly, they might DFA or trade him and he wouldn’t bring much in return.. I would not at all be surprised for them to DFA Segedin when they bring Agon up.
They will probably just send Segedin down when Agone comes up on Friday, or this weekend, like you also said..
Jonah
Michael is not going to like Kike in the clean up position.
No, I am totally in on a guy hitting >217 batting clean up followed by a guy hitting .237. Isn’t that how champions are built?
Hit a nice HR in the 4 spot tonight!
He does hit lefty’s and at that he is consistent, but I wish he was more consistent against every body.
They want to give Joc and Bellinger a couple days off, for different reasons I’m sure. Too bad for Darvish – he’s got to bring his A game; this lineup is not going to score much.
One never knows….
Joc doesn’t play much against lefties, and we are facing a leftie tonight.
Today is Darvish’s birthday
They had an article in the LA times about Darvish.
Lasorda went to Japan and to Darvish’s house, and tried to recruit Darvish, when Darvish was a senior in high school.
Darvish went and saw Lasorda at Dodger stadium, a little after he came over to the Dodgers.
And Lasorda said that Darvish remembered the meeting more then Lasorda did!
And that surprises you????? LaSordid probably doesn’t remember where he orders pizza from….
By the way, does Darvish speak Farsi as well as Japanese and English?
Jonah
Good question but I don’t know.
I don’t know when he learned English either.
But I would think he learned Farsi , before he learned English.
Jonah
I know it is hard for Lasorda to stay awake, but he is never late for dinnner, except in his Slimfast days.
Maybe he’s been having Joc over for dinner…
A little respect for the skipper gang. He is not a young man anymore. And since I am pushing 70 myself, a little respect for us aged and infirm. Game time, I am outa here.
Darvish was not sharp at all and not throwing that 97 MPH heater he had last time. 3 dingers will not make MJ happy……..