The Dodgers came off an important split against the snakes to stay within 7 games of the division. Now the Dodgers play a three game set against the Padres in Monterrey, Mexico. Fernando Valenzuela threw the first pitch. Walker Buehler and the bullpen combined for a no-hitter against the hapless Padres. The Dodgers improve to 15-17. Two more against the Padres this weekend, so the Dodgers can cure their ills. Rich Hill should be back on Sunday. Buehler is here to stay will Hyun-Jin Ryu on the mend. Logan is close to being back. Justin Turner could be back in a few weeks.
Adam Liberatore takes the 9th for #Dodgers with #nohitter on the line
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) May 5, 2018
The Dodgers started off the game right. Chris Taylor started off with a walk. Enrique Hernandez then singled. Matt Kemp then singled in a run. In the 2nd inning the Dodgers got back on the attack. Chris Taylor hit a home run followed by a home run by Kiki Hernandez. The crowd erupted in elation when those home runs occur. The Dodgers led 3-0. Cody Bellinger rested tonight.
Dave Roberts: “Tonight is the night it turns.”
— Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) May 2, 2018
The tweet went out before Wednesdays game against the Diamondbacks so something occurred. The Padres didn’t really hit any balls hard. This was the 13th no-hitter in Dodgers history and the first combined in history for the Dodgers. Buehler went six innings. In the top of the 6th, Alex Verdugo singled in a run to make the score 4-0. The bullpen should be proud because I thought they would blow it.
Tony Cingrani came in during the 7th inning and got into some trouble. He was able to get out of trouble. Yimi Garcia came in during the 8th and shut down the Padres. Going in to 9th, the Dodgers brought in Adam Liberatore. Liberatore came through to complete the no-hitter.
#Dodgers Dave Roberts on pulling Walker Buehler from #nohitter: "I think of the ones from Stripling to Rich Hill. This one was probably the easiest. It was the easiest. With where he was in his pitch count, essentially the highest point he’s ever been up to, with 3 innings …"
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) May 5, 2018
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 fun to watch. Davis is still a boring snob. Orel is about as exciting as watching a casket warp. Buehler was nails, Cingrani was lucky, Garcia looked good as did Liberatore. Kemps hit traveled 200 feet straight up, Taylor has struck out 38 times this year. That is 23 times MORE than Joc. They should have scored a lot more runs, and Utley runs better at 38 than I did at 25. And the blind squirrel is heading towards his normal year……has been pitiful the last 10 games……
Grandal hitting below the Mendoza line for the last 10 games. Let’s see if he can adjust quickly. History says no.
Meanwhile Farmer makes a couple of nifty plays at 3rd. Why didn’t we just go to him, who was hitting well, when Turner went down? All depth is useless if the FO have no idea how to use real depth and keeps insisting on giving tryouts to has-been, half season wonders (with other clubs I might add) and injury re-treads.
Michael
Taylor has twice the at bats, that Joc has this year, and Joc actually has more major league at bats, then Taylor does.
This is only the second year, that Taylor has been an everyday player.
And Joc struck out plenty of times, in his first two major league seaaons, when he was playing everyday, and especially when he was leading off.
I don’t think Taylor should lead off, but Joc is not a good measure to Taylor.
MJ, first off do not assume what I am implying. I was not comparing anyone. I was simply stating that Taylor is striking out way too much. To have 23 more K’s than Joc at this point in the season is just not very good. Taylor has more at bats than anyone on the team. The only guy close is Bellinger. As a matter of fact, the only guys over 100 are Seager, Taylor and Bellinger. The team as a whole is striking out way too much, but since FO’s and managers do not think this is a bad thing anymore, they place little emphasis on it. Pederson, to his credit has cut his K’s down this year. Here is a real telling stat. In less than half the at bats Taylor has, Pederson has drawn more walks…14-10. I watched Taylor closely last night, he is taking too many good pitches for strikes and swinging at pitches he cannot hit out of the zone. And I also think Taylor is not a very good leadoff hitter…..At the rate he is going, Taylor will easily eclipse his total from last year of 142.
Michael
When you mention another’s player’s numbers, to another player’s numbers, you are comparing the two players.
That is a fact, not an assumption.
Joc has not hit at the top of the order much at all, like Taylor has, and pitchers don’t like to walk anyone, at the top of the order.
And Taylor has hit five HRs, and that leads the team now.
But I agree with you, Taylor isn’t getting on base, like a lead off hitter should.
Taylor should stop thinking he’s the second coming of Forsythe. No one, especially the Dodgers, needs a Forsythe 2.0.
To be honest I think, comparing, Farmer and Forsythe, I think Farmer plays better defense at 3rd and has more power and better approach at the plate.
Taylor is not the prototypical leadoff guy but then prototypical doesn’t really mean anything in today’s game does it. .350 would be nice, and we know he’s capable of it. He’s an attacker. Would like to see a higher contact rate, especially with 2 strikes.
I am no historian, but I recall MJ getting into a bit of back and forth a couple of years ago with some (since departed FAZophiles) over Urias. MJ (god bless her) was all over the decision to “conserve Urias innings” at AAA, when Urias really should be pitching those innings at the MLB level.
Granted, Buehler is a bit older than Urias, but I for one do not believe the Dodgers did Urias any favors by babying him, eye-lid surgery and all.
With Ryu’s injury and recovery schedule, we may actually be looking at a limited Buehler as a ROOGY and a fresh Ryu as our 4th playoff starter. Thar could work actually, assuming Taylor gets back on track (or Verdugo goes on a tear and replaces Taylor as lead off man and CF), and both Turner abd Jansen gets back to their all star form. Kenley Jansen is still the key, in my opinion.
YF
The Dodgers use to break their young starters in, by using them in the bullpen, at the major league level.
Fernando was only 19 when he came up to pitch, and he pitched in the bullpen, the first year he came up.
But your right about Buehler, because Buehler was a college player, that pitched in the college World Series, so he older and more experienced then Urias was.
But I think a kid growing up in Mexico, as compared to the US, are more experienced with life, then kids in the US, so I think kids in Mexico, are usually more mature then kids from the US.
Because I think most kids in the US have it better, then kids in Mexico.
First off MJ, In 1980 late in the year when Fernando came up, he pitched 18 innings in 10 games, all in relief. From then on he was a starter. All 25 games he pitched in during 1981 were starts. He had basically a cup of coffee in 80. He was a replacement starter because Jerry Ruess went down with an injury and the rest is history. Not all kids in the US have it better. Most, yes. But there are a lot of children here who live in poverty much as most of Mexico does. If you don’t believe that, just go to the Appalachian mountain area of West Virginia, or Flint Michigan, and areas of Los Angeles or any other major city. You cannot compare the two countries. They have a whole different set of life problems facing them. A lot of American youth are pampered brats. But there are some good ones too. But not everyone has it easy. You can bet that Mexican kids from wealthy families have more education and options than your average Mexican child. Fernando lived in what was basically a village. Education wise he had very little. His family lived in a very small house. But you can go to any distressed Latin nation and find the same types of kids. They get jobs at early ages because it is necessary, not because they want to. Mariano Rivera helped his father on his fishing boat. Most Mexican kids experience with life is totally different than a kid in the US. Especially in the big cities. We have come to expect a lot in this country. Free education through the 12th grade…..good food and living conditions. But poor kids here still do not get to experience all those things. The drop out rate in this country is an embarrassment. Drugs, gangs, there are a lot of contributors to the problems. But our kids have just as many obstacles to over come as any in the world. Whether or not they choose the options that they have is on them. There are a lot of good kids here, and some very bad ones. Depending on how much actual parenting they get, some become very solid people, others, not so much. By 17, I was a lot more mature than a lot of my friends simply from the things that I experienced growing up. By 21, I had seen too much.
Michael
I don’t even know why you wrote this response to me
I said when Fernando first came up, he pitched in the pen, why are you repeating exactly what I just said?
I was at the first game, that Fernando came into to pitch, so I am very aware when Fernando first came up, and when he pitched.
And I never said every kid in the US had it better, I said most!
And for your information, there is no middle class, in Mexico, like we have in the US, so there is only the poor, and the rich, in Mexico.
And if most of the people in Mexico had it that good, they wouldn’t be trying to come to the US.
And for your information, most of the people that are living in the US illegally right now, are people that over stayed their visa, not people coming over the border, from Mexico.
Michael and MJ, my comment was simply that in 2017, when we (supposedly) had no room for another starter, Urias should have been pitching out of the bullpen at the MLB level out of spring training. He had already pitched a bunch of innings as a starter and a relieverin 2016 (which was a bad move in my opinion – he should have been kept as a long man consistently), and then because he had success doing different things, they kept messing around with his schedule. hope Urias comes back stronger from his surgery like Walker has so far. Urias is still only 21 years old.
YF
I didn’t take it any other way, but what you just said.
And I totally agree with what you said.
Gerrit Cole. 16K complete game shutouot victory. That is seven quality starts in a row. Workhorses sometimes turn into Cy Young candidates, but they are rarely found off the scrap heap. Or rather, the best of the scrap heap turns into work horses, and the best of the work horses turn into aces. If you never look for and pay for the work horses, you are just left with the rest of the scraps, and over the long term, there is really no money saved, and what you have lost is opportunity and time. That’s something the FBZ hasn’t really realized yet. They only think in the short term and fail to adequately factor in the “what if” factors over time, and this is why they have been passed by.
Cole would have cost more than the Dodgers were willing to pay. Who knows what they offered, but the Pirates got good players in return. You are right about what FAZ values. For most it’s a bromidic snooze fest watching them work, but some still love what it is they do. And that is a current theme elsewhere in our commonwealth. Different strokes.
It was the Padres, but now 6 games back with a show of life. We are about 1/5 through the season and Buehler now with 16 innings, a pace for less than 100 innings. Is there any reason why he can’t stay in the rotation, with his turn on the 10 day sometime in late summer? By the way, I just read Urias is about ready to throw off a mound. He says he feels great and the medical staff is encouraged, but, can we trust them?
Hill may not pitch tomorrow because of the damp weather. Turner still a couple weeks away.
This is the breed of baller I would like to see more of in Dodger Blue
https://thinkbluepc.com/2016/12/21/dodgers-prospects-a-closer-look-at-tim-locastro/
There is also an excellent article there regarding our pitching depth.
I don’t think things are as bleak as they have appeared. If our guys can heal up by mid summer, there could be enough, along with another Darvish trade, to pull this off. Glass half full.
Time to send Buehler back to the minors.
Someone echoed what I have been pleading with all season, let Farmer play 3rd-efing-base!!! What’s it take for these idiots to see what they already have got? For God’s sake!!!
I think it is safe to say that the Dodgers will definitely win the WS this season (if they get to play the Padres every game the rest of the season, all rounds of the playoffs and in the WS, that’s all it will take).
Grandmal returning to earth (and his norm) as predicted. The only guy/gal that has ever thought that Grandmal is the best thing going is The Child Abusing Molester.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure I won a push-up bet with him about Grandal. He said he would hit .275 with 25 home runs. That year Yasmani hit .234 with 16 home runs. The man to whom you refer has been wrong about a lot of things over the years. If Grandal could hit .250 I would be pleasantly surprised. His dWAR remains astonishingly positive. I still think passed balls should count as errors but as long as they don’t, his d will continue to fool the SABR dudes. He is what he is, and I hope he is trade bait. I think Will Smith is better defensively. So is Ruiz.
By the way, DJ Peters is hitting .293 with an .880 OPS at AA. Want to include him with Grandal for Machado? I think if we dump Grandal’s salary we may could still slip under $197mm with Machado. It would be close.
I’ve read that there’s a fair amount of unaccounted for money in Maeda’s contract with regard to the LT. Thus, getting close may be getting over.
If that makes any sense….
Actually, it does.
Those Dodgers! Three wins in a row. Who do they think they are, a major league baseball team?
For me its fun seeing Verdugo hustle. But it is painful seeing Kemp run. Is Puig expected back next week?
Pretty sure the OKC Dodgers would win a series with the Padres, hell the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (are they still the Quakes, I went to the Quakes game on that stadium’s Opening Night, a number of years ago).
Yes they are still the Quakes. Nice stadium.
True
It really felt like two AAA teams playing last night.
And the Padres next two starting pitchers, have eras that are quite high.
Verdugo with a sacrifice to bring up Squirrel? Bad idea.
Yup. Batting Grandal 3rd is stupid. The only people not noticing that Grandal is reverting back to his prolonged slumping ways is the Dodgers SABR geniuses.
Another BS. We lead the league. Gotta fix that.
Grandal in the 3 hole. Is there anyone other than Roberts who thinks that is a good idea?
Hudson. No thanks.