It’s really happening. Go ahead and let yourself believe – just like the hopeless optimists believe every season – this could be the year. The Dodgers are putting together something special, and it feels wonderful.
Tonight the Dodgers sent the resurrected one, Rich Hill, to the mound with orders to complete the sweep of the snakes, and further cement the Dodgers’ big blue domination of the NL West. Hill did not disappoint.
He delivered seven strong innings of two hit ball with nine Ks, but there were only two problems. One of them was he surrendered a booming home run to Jake Lamb, and the other was the Dodgers could only muster one solo home run of their own (Logan Forsythe) in support.
Hill left after seven, and the Dodgers bullpen immediately proceeded to give up the ghost. That collapse was led by Luis Avilan, who gave up two more solo home runs. The Dodgers were down 3-1 before Hill and the Dodgers knew what happened. The skipper quick-yanked Avilan out of there and brought in Brandon Morrow, who quickly calmed everybody down, especially Arizona’s bats.
Josh Fields and his prospectin’ beard came in for the ninth, and then HE gave up a run. Folks at the stadium started heading for the parking lots and I started thinking of witty “you can’t win ’em all” headlines for the recap.
But this is one of those years of the improbable – and that means the impossible could happen. And it did.
The snakes brought in Fernando Rodney and his ridiculo-cap to close out the game, but the boys in blue weren’t going along with that plan.
Yasiel Puig led off with a strong single, and then Rodney fell to the Dodgers’ ninth inning “walk ’em all” spell. Rodney walked Joc Pederson. Then he walked Cody Bellinger. Things were suddenly getting interesting, and the crowd started to get a buzz on.
Logan Forsythe, he of the earlier home run, walked to bring Yasiel Puig home and the crowd started getting louder.
The Dodgers were only down by two and people were starting to believe. Corey Seager came up and belted a single up the middle to score Pederson and Bellinger! The score was tied and everyone was going bonkers!
Rodney was gone and some new shlump came in for the snakes to face Chris Taylor. First pitch – BANG! A sharp single to score Forsythe with the fifth and winning run.
Dodgers Win! Dodgers Sweep! Dodgers Steamroll! 5-4
This whole thing is getting so crazy, Kenta Maeda might just win tomorrow.
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.
Follow Me:
Why yank Hill after 95 pitches? To bring in a guy who shouldn’t even be on the bench, Avilan?, who has decided that Hatcher is his hero ! Roberts does some strange pitching choices. This was an important game for us to give more distance between 2nd place Arizona and us. We needed this game and Roberts made it much more difficult than it had to be. His batting lineups have been decent, but his bullpen choices have lost us several games this season.
Having said that, it was a mighty win that the bats pulled off with Seager and Taylor being very clutch today. Fernando Robbie’s ERA is higher than Avilan’s, I think.
I would’ve yanked Rodney after the second walk.
YF
Mattingly wouldn’t have !
Remember when he let Chris Perez walk the bases loaded?
And I think he might have walked in a run too.
Uhh, Hill was pulled in the bottom of the 7th because it was a 1-1 game and his spot was due to bat first. In that situation, anyone not named Kersh would be pinch hit for.
Hill was great yesterday; hopefully (as always), his blister didn’t flare up!
Whole thing could have been avoided if they had scored when they had the bags juiced and nobody out. Barnes, Puig and Thompson all K’d. Still a great comeback win and that is the most important thing. As far as Avilan, well with Dayton and Liberatore on the DL, along with Ryu, he was the only LH option against a lefty, Lamb. He hung a pitch and Lamb crushed it. Then the rookie crushed another hanger and we are down 3-1. Fields balking gave them another run and it looked like it was over. If nothing else these guys are very resilient. Now you also know why the Dodgers are scouting LH relief pitchers. All the relievers in the minors that are doing well throw from the right side. Hand of the Padres is being watched as is the guy in Detroit who is now their closer.
Michael
If Libertore is healthy they better get him up!
Avila has no options left, and that is probably the only reason he is up.
Surprisingly those were the first two HRs that Avilan has given up if I read his stats correctly, but opposing players have a 295 average against Avilan this year!
Both Kike and Puig left four runners on base.
It was ridiculous that non of players could get their bat on the ball, when the bases were loaded.
Of course Puig over swung and swung under the third strike, and Thompson and Barnes couldn’t make contact either.
That umpire wasn’t very good either last night.
He made Turner swing at a high inside ball, because of his terrible strike zone.
Great comeback obviously last night. Those kind of things happen when a team is having a magical year, could this be the year?
Some observations from last night:
Two nights in a row of nearly silent bats, not a good sign. In the post season, you face the better teams with the better pitching, can’t have stretches of silent bats.
Van Shyte hasn’t lost a beat, he picked up where he left off. Geez, really in that situation you take that kind of risk, GEEZ!
Apparently the Dbacks bullpen brought a bigger gas can last night than the Dodgers did.
Avilan is a dodger-killer. Ship Avilan and Hatcher off for a decent custodian, send cash along with the deal if that is what it takes.
There is a track record of Rodney getting torched by the Dodgers, the boys have done this to him a few times over the years, even in Rodney’s dominate years with the Mariners.
Can “Joe Buck” Davis be replaced with Vinny computer generated voice overs, please?
Is Ed Dinger just tired or has the league finally figured something out about him?
Go Dodgers!
Is Ed Dinger Cody?
Yeah he has gone a bit silent. A few days off will help. But if pitchers are making adjustments, now he needs to do the same thing. I wish they would just leave him at 1B. Swing away kid the job is yours.
Winner winner, dodger dog dinner!
I think Davis is a very good announcer. He is no Vinny, but I enjoy listening to him. I hope he stays.
Davis has grown on me a bit. I still think he drones on a little too much, but expecting anyone to be as great as Vinny was is a pipe dream. There was only 1 Scully, and he has retired. Davis has his own style, and yes, sometimes he sounds a lot like Joe Buck who I cannot stand. But he is a pretty good announcer otherwise. Orel on the other hand is really starting to be irritating.
The problem is that Orel and Joe are to much a like, and to buddy buddy.
That is why I like Nomar to be in the booth too.
But who ever makes the decisions, only wanted two guys in the booth.
The Dodgers are getting the breaks that some teams have to get, to win it all.
The Cubs got breaks like that all year last year, including in the last game of the World Series.
But teams also can have really good first halfs, and come back and not play well either.
I think we will be fine with the way Wood, Kershaw, and Hill are pitching right now.
I have to give the players credit for being patient with Rodney, especially Cody, because what he has been going through lately.
Corey had the biggest hit I think, and he didn’t have a good series, so it was good to see him get that hit, after he had two strikes.
And of course Taylor also had a big hit, and a big night too.
And that game meant quite a bit, because that was a two game swing, in the standings!
Would someone please relay this link ( https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/3dgq4b/when-rick-monday-saved-the-american-flag-from-being-burned-at-dodger-stadium ) to Dodgerpatch on Timmon’s blog?
Good article! I want to know what happened to Kirk Gibson’s home run ball!!!!
I’ve got it displayed in my trophy case.
Dang Box, I have to get up your way and have some eats at the Silver and Gold Inn on 4th. Damn good grub.
He sold it!
Good link. I saw that when I Google searched. I think I’d come across that before, too. Still, I’d be curious to know whatever happened to them. The dad’s probably dead. Who knows whatever became of the kid.
Another link that adds to the story but doesn’t tell us anything new about the perpetrators. A fun thing, What if Barry Bonds had grabbed the flag? Or several other athletes…
http://articles.latimes.com/1996-04-28/sports/sp-63771_1_dodger-stadium
Some people think that is why the Dodgers got Monday.
I think so. Walter O’Malley was nobody’s fool…
They got Monday and Mike Garman for Buckner, Ivan Dejesus, and Jeff Albert. They needed a CF because they had traded Wynn, and Baker was not really a CF. Campanis may have done it because of the flag saving incident, but I believe it was more out of need and having plenty of corner outfielders at the time. They had Reggie Smith in RF and Baker in left.
Bonds was not playing back then. His dad was, but Barry was still a kid. They traded for Monday because they needed a pure CF. They had plenty of corner OF’s, but no true CF because they had traded Jimmy Wynn to the Braves after the 1975 season. Baker started in CF in 1976, then that winter they traded Buckner to get Monday. Monday was the starter in CF the next 3 years. Rudy Law was opening day CF in 1980, and then Kenny Landreaux from 81 to 86.
For some reason I don’t remember much,about Rudy Law.
But if Buckner wouldn’t have hurt himself, I wouldn’t have traded him.
He was a good player, and a good hitter.
I was at the game when Buckner messed up his ankle. Law was a speedy Juan Pierre type player. Fast and a contact hitter. But he was pretty much blocked. I think he opened in CF in 1980 because Monday was nursing a hammy. Monday played more as the season wore on. By 1981, Monday was the back up to Kenny Landreaux. Buckner was a good hitter and won a batting title later in his career, but after the 76 season he was basically expendable because they had Baker and Smith in the corner spots and Buck was not a CF. His other position was 1st base, but no way he was going to displace Garvey
I remember Landreaux. That was more my Dodger fan formative years. I was too young for the 70s teams.
Who was the utility infielder for the Dodgers during the 80s that would drive Lasorda crazy with his basket catches in the outfield. Forget his name.
There was a thread recently about all time favorite Dodgers. Not sure if it was here or on Timmon’s site. It’d be fun to revisit that.
1. Gibson
2. Guerrero
3. Jay Johnstone
4. Jerry Reuss
5. Fernando
In no particular order.
Patch, you are thinking about Darrell Thomas. Wore #30 . Played infield and outfield and was actually a decent CF. My favorite Dodgers. Snider, Koufax, Drysdale, Moon, Wills, Garvey, Hodges, and Jay Johnstone. They got Landreaux in a trade with the Twins. They traded Mickey Hatcher for him….and got Hatcher back later to help win the 88 series.
I checked the minor league teams from yesterday. OKC got crushed, but Calhoun hit his 19th. Thing about that game was that Kyle Farmer played SS. Guess he is pretty versatile too. Down at Tulsa, Fernandez hit 2 HR’s, his 9th and 10th, but the surprise is Henry Ramos. Remember him? He was playing really well in spring and had a shot to make the team, then he got hurt. He is playing at Tulsa now and is hitting .520. He hit his 2nd HR last night and also had a double. LH hitter with good power. Could be help come September.
It is to bad Calhoun isn’t better on defense, because he would be the bat, to help the team more, then Verdugo.
But both Calhoun and Verdugo hit lefties well.
Calhoun would be passable as a 2nd baseman. He works hard on his defense and has improved some. Problem is, they really do not have room for him. Unless the DFA someone, or trade say Kike or one of the spare outfielders there really is no spot for the kid. Verdugo, if not traded at the deadline, will probably get a September look see, same with Calhoun. I also think Farmer might get a call too.
Michael
I think Calhoun is a special hitter
As you know he hits with power, but he doesn’t strike out a lot, and there are not a lot of power hitters, that make good contact too.
The problem with Vergudo is that he doesn’t hit with much power now, and he isn’t very fast, but they say he may gain more power, down the line.
Calhoun definitely has skills. Verdugo though hitting .349 has only 3 homers. More of a contact guy, he is also pretty young. But he is not speedy as you said. The have LH hitting options who have some pop.
Jonah
To bad his kids were not the same, maybe they would have held on to the Dodgers, if they were the same!
Peter ran the team for a long time. Peter’s kids did not want the team. They were leery of the estate taxes in California if they took over the team. Walter had handed the team over to Peter in the late 70’s. They sold the team in the 90’s. It was pretty complicated. I think Peter was discouraged by the rising salary’s and just the state of the game in general. I also think he wanted to enjoy his family a little more and try new things. He was trying to bring NFL football back to LA and was in a group that was trying to do that. My big bitch with the sale was that they sold the team to FOX and Rupert Murdock who had no real interest in the team.
Dodgers have apparently reached agreement with Kendall, their top pick.
http://m.dodgers.mlb.com/news/article/240978676/dodgers-agree-with-draft-pick-jeren-kendall/
Speaking of rudy Law, he has long been credited with originating the High Five, serious. I watched some documentary a number of years ago and they showed some tape of the original “high five”.
He and Baker started it I think.
It was Dusty, and Glen Burke, who first did the high five!
You are correct..I remember reading that not too long ago. Burke was later traded to the A’s. He a few years later came out as MLB’s first openly gay player. Burke passed away some years ago.
Turner isn’t playing in this game tonight!
Didn’t he just have a day off?
Utley is also playing tonight too.
I hope he starts hitting, because he hasn’t been hitting.
A little LA Dodger trivia, you can stump your friends with this. The year Baker, Smith, Garvey and Cey hit 30 homers, Baker hit his 30th the last day of the season at Dodger Stadium off James Rodney Richard. 2 other Dodger outfielders hit their only home runs of the year that day, who were they? I know because I was down the LF line near the foul pole that day.
Rudy Law played 8 years in the majors. The Dodgers traded him to the White Sox after the 1981 season for Cecil Espy. He hit over 300 for the Sox that year and stole 36 bases. In 1983 he stole 77 bases for the Sox and helped them to the playoffs. He played last in 1986 for the KC Royals.
Found this old pic of Rudy Law.
Good to know about Kendall, Jonah. Thanks!
Posted on Timmon’s site:
Per Heyman Kendall, Cooper and Wong all signed
Also Amaya. Full sweep.
Logan is hitting 183 against righties, and only has eleven extra base hits, in about 170 at bats.
He is hitting almost double that against lefties, but that is terrible against righties!
I know he has been hitting better lately, but he is more a singles hitter, with to many strike outs, for a singles hitter.
He is just heating up and hit a homer the other day. I think Roberts wants to keep Turner fresh and just not put a lot of strain on his knee and hammy. He is trying to keep all his players fresh right now. He knows Turner is not going to get 3 days off like the rest of the team next week. Wood added to the All-Star team to replace Kersh. Another reason Forsythe could be in there is he might have a pretty good career numbers against the Royals pitcher.
Glenn Burke died in 1995. He only played 4 years in the majors. He was traded to the A’s for Billy North in 1978.
The answer to the Dodger trivia question. In 1977 Dusty Baker hit his 30th HR of the season on the final day of the season at Dodger Stadium off of James Rodney Richard. He joined Reggie Smith, Steve Garvey and Ron Cey as the first time 4 LA Dodger players hit 30 plus HR’s. Who were the two outfielders who hit their only HR’s of the year in that same game?………..Glenn Burke, and Manny Mota. Although he would be activated at some point in the season the next two years, that HR was Mota’s last big league blast, and I was there.