Pitching, pitching, pitching. That’s what wins ballgames, series’, and ultimately, championships. It’s also what the Dodgers had an abundance of in Game 2 against the Chicago Cubs.
Clayton Kershaw retired 14 in a row before giving up a hit, and went on to finish with another excellent two innings.
In the eighth, the skipper brought in Kenley Jansen to get the final six outs. And he did. With authority.
Every precious, perfect Dodgers pitch was needed to make the single run, courtesy of Adrian Gonzalez, stand up to beat the Cubs.
Speaking of pitching, Rich Hill, he of not being allowed a no-hitter just for this occasion fame, takes the mound for the boys in blue. He weighs in with a very respectable ERA of 2.12 and 10.5 K’s per 9 innings, and a 1.00 WHIP.
This will be the first time the Cubs get a gander at Hill as a team, so this should work to his advantage. The learning curve will be steep for Cubs who haven’t faced Hill’s variety of release points and curving flightpaths.
The Cubs answer with Jake Arrieta, 3.10 ERA, 8.7K/9, and 1.08 WHIP.
For the curious, Adrian Gonzalez has a .286/.318/.476/.794 batting line against him.
Here are the starting lineups:
Cubs
1. Dexter Fowler, CF
2. Kris Bryant, 3B
3. Ben Zobrist, LF
4. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
5. Javier Baez, 2B
6. Jorge Soler, RF
7. Addison Russell, SS
8. Miguel Montero, C
9. Jake Arrieta, P
Dodgers
1. Chase Utley, 2B
2. Corey Seager, SS
3. Justin Turner, 3B
4. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
5. Josh Reddick, RF
6. Joc Pederson, CF
7. Yasmani Grandal, C
8. Andrew Toles, LF
9. Rich Hill, P
Forget about the friendly confines, deep dish pizza and ivy-covered walls, the series has shifted to Chavez Ravine and Chef Morito. PLAY BALL!
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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That almost all lefty lineup looks like a Yankee lineup.
Do we have the pitching to get to the WS? On paper you would think the Cubs do, because after Kershaw things go south pretty fast. But it is what it is.
Why Reddick in the 5th spot again … frustrating.
Maddon sat Heyward. Roberts should sit Reddick.
Well, it’s apples to oranges.
First, Heyward is a defensive wizard. Reddick? No so much.
Second, Reddick has hit .341 this year against RH pitching – Heyward hits .207 against LH pitching.
Third, Reddick is hitting .263 in the postseason, while Heyward is hitting .111.
Forth, Reddick is hitting .500 against Arrietta, while OPS’ing 1.750.
It looks to me that Roberts played the right guy. Ethier is still not 100%.
We don’t know about Ethier, but Puig went 2 for 2.
I thought Hill learned to not let the base runners to take him off his game.
Nope. And looks like he crossed up Grandal. The man is lucky he got out of that one.
Two Rookies Produced the Run.
We need more rookies.
This is why FAZ traded 3 for Hill. It will be nice if he can go 6, but I’m betting on 5!
Mark
Corey shut Bucks mouth, with his second hit, and two out RBI!
Yasmani just broke their backs!
Quality over quantity!
Most of you don’t know if you hate me or love me right about now!
Grandal set Arrietta up big time!
What an at bat!
Grandal fought off some pitches until Arrietta made a mistake.
Hey Norris and all you Grandal haters. ….
EAT SHIT!!!!! lol!!
I love it!!!
As a Grandal fan I think that is a pathetic statement.
It’s a joke!
Nobody is bigger fan of Grandal than me!
Justin Freaking Turner, too!
Yes Mark, we ALL know you are a Grandal fan 😉
Dodgerpatch, if it was indeed a joke then I am sorry. I am just tired of all the garbage that gets posted on the site by those on both sides of the FAZ discussion. I agree with what most of what FAZ is doing but I don’t get why some feel the need to repeatedly rub other posters noses in it simply because they disagree ala pitch framing and OBP/OPS versus strikeouts. I also feel that we could win out and some on here would still find something to complain about like not having done it the Dodger way.
I’m two IPAs in and felt like showing a little exuberance. I can gloat just a little, can’t I? ..especially with all the pessimism.
Inexcusable patch.
Given that you did absolutely nothing to influence that HR it seems ridiculous to gloat especially when it’s toward fans of the same team. But wherever. Didn’t you proclaim a high level of education? Go Hollywood and blame the alcohol!
Like I said in the prior thread, I just can’t understand why some of you can’t get on the Grandal train. All aboard!!
SQUIRREL!!
Blah, Blah, Blah…
Rich “Freaking” Hill!
Yasmani “Big Bopper” Grandal!
Arrietta leaving the game:
I don’t like seeing Howie go in there, because of his arm and defense.
Pay our lovable Ginger!
5-$80 Mil?
More?
At least 4/60 but his playoff performances may get him more. Overpay on the annual to keep the years down.
Hawkeye
I really think Turner will be a deal!
And he will also be better against lefties next year!
He has gotten better lately against them.
With the way Jansen has pitched in the post season is he more likely to come back or leave?
Jansen will go to highest bidder. Turner will give the Dodgers a shot to get it done before hitting the open market in my opinion.
Hawkeye
I agree with that.
Turner doesn’t want to go any where else, so this deal will happen.
I think so too.
I figure Jansen’s gone. He’s going to command a fortune, and Yankees, Cubs, and Nats among others need a closer
I’m paying Kenley. The Vagiants will break the bank going after Jansen, Chapman, or Melancon.
Hawkeye
I think everytime Kenley pitches in the post season, and turns in a good performance, more teams will want him.
Chapman does have problems, when runners are on base, because he has command problems, at times.
I saw one of Chapman’s pitches, only hit 98 on the radar, and that is because the bases were loaded, and he had to have better command, and it was his fastball.
But Jharel Cotton!
Prove me wrong Howie! Don’t like this move.
You need your best defensive players in, late in the game.
I feel Roberts feels obligated to get Howie into games.
And I don’t like it!
I agree 100%. We’ve seen Toles hit some lefties. I prefer the defense.
Heyward looks unplayable right now.
Most of the Cubs do. It’s been a team schneid for some time now. Again, let’s hope they stay asleep.
Pay that man too!
Hawkeye
Roberts moved Kike in left, and put Howie at second.
That tells me that Roberts does feel obligated to Howie, because he obviously knows Howie’s defense is a big liability.
Tells me he learned his lesson from game 1. Kike was coming in on a doubl-switch and it made sense to remove Utley. Rather than ask Howie where he prefers to play this time he put them in their proper locations.
Bum
Joc hit the other way, and I like that from Joc more then a HR!
Because Joc can make a bigger difference, by just doing that, when runners are in scoring position.
There is no defense for miles, around third.
And that was off a lefie
Some still can’t give credit to the Dodgers.
So be it!
Book ’em Dano!
2-1
Mark
If Blanton makes a better pitch there, the Dodgers would be three up!
Yep!
That was a great game. Everyone contributed. Let’s keep the comments on the nice side please.
Tim
Nice to hear from you.
I am always nice… as long as people don’t say stupid shit!
Peace!
You mean like your pal patch telling us to eat shit? And how about you and your continued condescending comments. Peace my ass.
I thought Corey would come back, and hit, after he hit that last ball hard, in Chicago.
And Corey did more!
I believe he had three hits, and he had an important two out RBI, for the first run of the game.
And Grandal made his very first hit with a runner in scoring position, really count.
Puig even gets two hits tonight, and Turner just hits another HR in the post season.
And Hill finally makes his trade worth it!
What a great team effort!
And all of this was against Arrietta
MJ, I am staying out of the fray and enjoying the ride. Will save evaluations for after the outcome. High Road!!!!!!!!
Tim
Great attitude!
Still good to hear from you.
Dodgers vs Indians with no score top of the 1st game 1 with 0 outs. Why is that showing on this crystal ball?
Living in Iowa City is like the Stuck in the Middle With You song. Clowns on left(of me Cubs fans), Jokers on the right(Cardinals fans).
OK I am not a Grandal hater or fan but I will admit that was one hell of an at bat.
Am I still asleep or did we really just shut the Cubs out again?
Brought to us at 5:02 across the pond. Good morning Wat!
Top of the morning Watford!
We are two wins away from the world series ?
Watford
It is that rapid eye moment state!
Great game!!! Everyone contributed. Urias, get us five innings.
Okay, I said play nice and Hawkeye quotes 70’s Steelers Wheel songs.
Game on!!!!!!
Thank You with the band. Just hover in my man cave and keeping my mouth shut until it’s over. I coached a fall ball team that was a bit different set up than my travel ball team so I got to pick the uniforms. All the Cardinals and Cubs fans got to watch their kids in Dodgers uniforms this fall.
Is that steely Dan?
Steelers Wheel. I was too lazy to get up and look at my Resevoiur Dogs sound track.
It was waaaay before reservoir dogs. I am that!!! Old.
Hehe
Rich Hill brought up perceived velocity, spin rate and vertical drop in his post-start press conference.
Advance statistics uber alles!
When Kike came in, they put him in LF and Howie at 2B, the opposite of game 1… interesting…..and probably better.
Definitely better.
Great win! And I really liked the fact that Hill struggled at the beginning and then started to get his curves to bend down.
It will be interesting tomorrow. The Cubs are going to come out swinging and going for it. We are likely to see another classic “all hands on deck” marathon tomorrow!
That’s probably what will happen, thought probably without Jansen I think.
The way Roberts manages, I wouldn’t be surprised to see both Jansen and Kershaw tomorrow if it’s close and we have a late lead and the chance to put the Cubs 3-1.
Sam Miller speculates 3 years, 63mm for Rich Hill on the market.
3 years is great. 21mm per not so much.
For me, 21 million is not too much if we can keep the years at no more than 3.
It’s a better investment than paying mediocre injury prone arms. But I think FAZ is past that. After this year it’s going to be a steady stream stream of young healthy arms for the next decade.
But Hill is injury prone. Hill has only started 20 or more games twice in his career. And one of those years was this year. Don’t you think he was pitching for the money? Sign him to a 3 year deal and he won’t make 30 starts over the next 3 years.
Got too feel good for Hill. From some things I’ve read and interviews I listened to, he had a lot of problems with Lou Pinella. Cliff Floyd basically said that Pinella damn near ruined his career. Had to feel good to beat the Cubs.
Hawkeye
I saw an interview with Pinella on TV not to long ago, and he sounded a little senile.
I’m not trying to make a case on the mental condition or capacity of Lou Piniella but when players look to blame things on others when it’s been 8 years removed or that person only coached you for 1 season (at the age of 34) seems to be a little odd.
What??? It’s been 8 years since Lou was anywhere close to Hill. Let’s see….was Lou with the Orioles, Red Sox, Indians, Angels, Yankees, Red Sox again and the A’s? Hill has been such a stud throughout his career that he has now pitched for 7 different organizations in the past 8 years. Hummmm.
Cliff Floyd…..He who played 13 seasons PRIOR to playing for Lou and played only 1 year with the Cubs. Let’s see he hit .244 with the Mets prior to joining the Cubs and with the Cubs (at the age of 34), he hit .284. Seems to me he needed Lou way before the age of 34. 2 years after leaving the Cubs he was out of baseball. Yep, blame it on Lou.
I read this article on Hill and thought you might like it. The guy that wrote it writes for SF and is a Dodger hater… I love the part where Hill talks about having multiple curve balls and what made him to decide to change his approach…Good read and I sense some jealousy….
http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2016/10/18/13308888/rich-hill-dodgers-nlcs-cubs-history-graphic-novel