The winning ways continued for the Dodgers on Friday night as they defeated the Cardinals 8-4. The Dodgers scored their most runs at home since well….2015. The previous high this year was 7 runs against the Giants in April. Ross Stripling didn’t pitch great, but pitched well enough to beat his old college buddy Michael Wacha. Defense was the Cardinal’s undoing as they committed 4 errors last night en route to the loss. The Cardinals have a great hitting team this year, but their defense is one of the worst in the majors. The Dodger’s defense is normally tight as a drum.
Speaking of drumming, the Cardinals are more than likely going to beat on Scott Kazmir like a drum unless the Dodgers score a lot of runs. Eight might not even be enough this time. The Dodgers are certainly not going to score eight runs off of the Dominican tsunami.
Dodgers Lineup
Utley 2B
Seager SS
Turner 3B
Gonzalez 1B
Grandal C
Pederson CF
Puig RF
Crawford LF
Kazmir P
Carlos Martinez-2-1 vs. Scott Kazmir-2-3
Game time – 6:10 PM – TV- SNLA
That’s what they call 24-year old right hander Carlos Martinez. He throws 100 mph heaters, and you can bet he’ll be on point tonight with those blazing fastballs. Last season he was 14-7 with a 3.01 ERA with 184 whiffs in 179.2 innings pitched. This season he is 4-2 with a 2.61 ERA in six starts. He has struck out 30 and walked 11 across 38 frames. He’s posted an FIP of 3.82 and allowed 6.2 hits per nine innings so he has been pretty good this season.
In his career Martinez is 2-1 with a 2.89 ERA against the Dodgers and is 1-0 with a 1.46 ERA at Dodger Stadium. The current Dodgers have never been able to hit Martinez. They’re batting just .204 (11 for 54) with one home run and a .603 OPS against. Yasiel Puig is 3 for 7, and had three hits last night including a home run so that probably means he won’t be in the lineup tonight.
Martinez vs. Dodgers
| Name | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | SH | SF | IBB | HBP | GDP |
| Adrian Gonzalez | 17 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | .083 | .294 | .083 | .377 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A.J. Ellis | 11 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | .222 | .364 | .556 | .919 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Yasiel Puig | 9 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .429 | .556 | .429 | .984 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Yasmani Grandal | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .167 | .167 | .167 | .333 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joc Pederson | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | .000 | .333 | .000 | .333 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chase Utley | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | .200 | .000 | .200 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Carl Crawford | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 | .500 | .500 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Enrique Hernandez | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Howie Kendrick | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Clayton Kershaw | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | .500 | .000 | .500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Charlie Culberson | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 2.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 67 | 54 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 13 | .204 | .343 | .259 | .603 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
The Dodgers will give the ball to left hander Scott Kazmir, who has been utterly horrendous this season. Adrian wrote a nice article about him and the Dodger’s conundrum with his contract. Who knows what the problem is with Kazmir this season because he has never been this bad. He is 2-3 with a 5.54 ERA in 7 starts. He’s giving up home runs at a record pace and has allowed 9.9 hits per nine. That’s a problem because this Cardinal’s team hits them a lot. The Cardinals are number one in the league with 52 home runs and 196 RBIs. The Dodgers have hit 30 home runs. You do the math.
Kazmir has faced the Cardinals just twice in his career. He is 1-0 with a 4.09 ERA. Not much to go on as far as the numbers go. The Cards are 9 for 21 (.429) with two home runs. Matt Holliday has hit both and is 4 for 9 against Kazmir.
Kazmir vs. Cardinals
| Name | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | SH | SF | IBB | HBP | GDP |
| Matt Holliday | 11 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | .444 | .545 | 1.111 | 1.657 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brandon Moss | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .500 | .500 | .500 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ruben Tejada | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .500 | .500 | .500 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Eric Fryer | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 2.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Yadier Molina | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Adam Wainwright | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 24 | 21 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | .429 | .500 | .714 | 1.214 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Stat of the day- Puig is hitting .378 (17 for 45) with one home run against the Cardinals during the regular season.
Can the Dodgers continue their winning ways on this home stand? Can Kazmir allow less than 5 runs in a start? Will the Cardinals keep making errors? Will I say something silly on twitter? I guess you’ll just have to tune in here after the game to find out my lovely little Ladodgerreportians.
Go Blue!
Pleased put this guy on the DL already.
You never know. Kazmir might toss a gem tonight! Then again we could be down by 5 after 3 innings.
What’s the over/under?
7.5 Dodgers -109.
Mets don’t hit nor do they score against LHP.
They won’t give us 4 unearned tonight. Dodgers 4+ St Louis 5-
Badger did you mean the Cardinals, and not the Mets. They say that Lefties hit Kazmir better then righties, because of his change up.
Hello MJ, and keep in mind the Cards are right towards the top in HR’s and Kazmir has allowed 9 HR’s in only 37.1 innings this year so far….
PDF thanks, believe me, I wasn’t trying to down play Kazmir’s performances, believe me! I had just heard that. But I think most of the Cardinals lefties, hit lefties well too.
Yep. Meant Cards.
…..”the Cardinals are more than likely going to beat on Scott Kazmir like a drum unless the Dodgers score a lot of runs.”
So, the Dodgers win 8 – 0 or lose 0 – 8?
Bum that isn’t like you to say anything negative. I don’t trust Kazmir either, as you know. And Crawford scares me more with his defense, and his arm.
MJ, I was just having fun with Scott at his expense, I will admit.
Bum you got everybody talking after that!
Bumsrap, I fully agree and said so on the Dodgers.com comment board. And Crawfull being in the lineup instead of Trayce is nothing short of a CIVIC DISGRACE to fans and team as well
Agree with PDF. The fact that Crawford gets so many chances is moronic. Dave Roberts proving to be as dumb or as big a puppet as Donnie was.
Bobby, my neighbor and I talked about this last night while at the gym. It’s probably a directive from the FO NERDS who are making the lineups according to what my neighbor says. And Freidman has a bias towards Crawford from their days at TB. If you have been watching some resent games you and all of us can see that Trayce Thompson deserves to be in LF.. Recall his 2 RBI hit came off a RHP and so did his walk off HR the other night. Trayce did not get to big leagues being only able to face or hit LHP
Agreed, it is disgusting having a manager named Charlie McCarthy but what choice do we or he have? It was written in stone that the Dodger “manager” was going to be a yes man. If Roberts had declined, as some candidates probably did, they would simply find someone who would play toady. For him, it was a chance to get into a fairly exclusive group, the pay is good and future employment opportunities are guaranteed. He might go home and throw up every night but he had to take it. A foot in the door…
True. Can’t fault Dave for taking the job. One of the most prestigious jobs in all of sports.
I wish we had a camera on Farhan and Friedman throughout the game. I’d bet we’d see them making hand signs ala a 3rd base coach and relaying those signs to the dugout to Roberts who relays it to the 3b coach who relays it to the hitter who thinks “WTF is going on here???” or to the fielders to make some zany shift and think “WTF is going on here???”
Yep. and my neighbor has the perfect name for this FO….NERDS!!!!!!!!!! who never played any baseball in their lives and Dave Roberts is a great baseball man so he plays the hands he is dealt. But as my neighbor told me yesterday, if he were Roberts he would have told FO,, ‘hey i will work with you, BUT I WANT TO MAKE OUT MY OWN LINEUPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!’
Actually Friedman went to Tulane on a baseball scholarship. Not saying that qualifies him to manage, but he played.
Nah, they use email…
Bobby I love that idea about a camera! You never hardly see them in public! When the bullpen was losing game after game, I really wanted to see there faces, when it happened!
We shouldn’t get on Roberts so much. When people wanted Joc to play in every game, if that would have happened, then Thompson would have never got a chance to play much! It is because Roberts did try to getThompson as much playing time, as he could, Thompson was ready when he got his chance. And I am not saying that I want Crawford playing over Thompson, but Roberts does deserve more credit, then he is getting, for doing that.
We know that Woods can pitch at Dodger Stadium. (actually most pitchers fall into that category)
But can Kazmir? I don’t know how many more meltdowns I can take. He needs to show me something.
That’s for sure YF!
I think sometimes fans that are never in the clubhouse or responsible for keeping 25 players involved and sharp can have a perspective on who should play and who should sit that is different from an insiders perspective.
I want to see what a regular lineup of Trace, Joc, and Puig 90% of the time. That desire does not have to deal with players that all want to play or have to consider data that says that Crawford might do better than Trace against a 100 mph fastball from the right side.
Bum your pretty reasonable.
On the Dodger pre show, they said that Martinez pitches 95, to 96. I hope there right!
Meanwhile, Ryu will start tomorrow for Rancho Cucamonga. He’ll start with 2 innings as he builds up his arm/shoulder
I wish Puig would never get another hit, in between the third base man, and the shortstop.
Maybe he would finally stop trying to pull the ball all the time!
Bobby I read that, that is real good news.
Today at AAA: Urias 6ip, 3hits, 0runs, 2bb, 6k. He’s currently at 22 consecutive scoreless innings, and his ERA is now down to 1.25
He’s ready
Bobby when do you think we will see Urias up on the big team?
I bet June, when his arbitration year is extended to the following year
Unless he’s absolutely necessary, it’d be a smart business move to let him wait a couple more weeks
A few random thoughts:
1 – Glad to see Kaz off to a great start tonight
2 – I have no doubt that the Braintrust does more than give Roberts stats before each game/series
3 – No baseball player wants to platoon. Historically, a few platoons work – but no team platoons 6 or 7 positions
4 – Crawford looks like he is done
5 – We have no evidence that Thompson is a long term answer as a regular OF. Defensively, he isn’t (at least at this point). I would remind everyone that a month ago, Kike was the guy that everyone wanted to play every day after he got off to a hot start. He is now hitting .200 and in the last week is 0 for 10.
That is why I don’t like Crawford to play. He is a liability on defense, and especially with his arm. That should have been a close play.
A few observations:
1. Dave Roberts is a puppet of FAZ That’s silly! People usually mock what they don’t understand. There is a lot of that here. FAZ gets mocked for that very reason.
2. KAZ should be on the DL He’s pitching pretty good for a guy who is hurt. BTW, KAZ currently has a better ERA than the #2 he replaced.
3. Corey will have a few errors Don’t sweat it. He’s solid… and learning!
4. Carl Crawford has to be on the team until Andre Comes back. The Dodgers need a LH bat to go with RH Hernandez, Puig, Kendrick and Thompson. Nobody wants Crawfish off the team more than me, but you can’t do it until Andre comes back. It makes no sense to cut him now… even if Thompson would have cut the runner down at home. Man, CC has a horrible arm!
5. The Dodgers have to call up Urias, even if it’s just to spot start. They can use him somewhere without hurting him. It’s hurting his development even more pitching to chumps!
“People usually mock what they don’t understand”. REALLY??
You are so much smarter and better informed than the rest of us. What bulls**t.
I agree with everything else you posted here. Urias needs to pitch in the majors now. Seager will be fine defensively. Ethier will be back – and maybe Crawford will be gone – but if not, Thompson will be sent down.
YES they do!
First of all, where did I say I was smarter? Better informed? I agree with that! I do have access to a few things most people don’t. 15 years of writing a blog gave me a few contacts that I pinch every now and then.
But, I am not smarter – ask my wife!
All I can say is that this team is starting to play like I thought they could. Starting! I think there is a lot more in the tank!
BTW, ask around baseball among baseball professionals: The way people on this board feel about FAZ is 180 degrees from what they think.
As I have posted before, there are many ways to win at baseball and many ways to construct a winning team. Not only SABRguys know how to do it. The past few champion teams (KC, SF) are teams that SABRguys have never respected. Theo Epstein has used SABRmetrics and built champions, but so has Brain Sabien of the Giants.
All of the data is helpful – the scouts and computers both have something to offer. It’s not just one or the other.
But I am sick of the superior attitude that the SABRphiles have toward other baseball fans – the fact that you can dream up a stat like WAR doesn’t mean that you know any more about how to select a good baseball player than a scout with 30 years in the game.
So – the best Dodger farmhands are guys drafted by the prior regime. The few Dodgers on the 25 man roster that the team developed were drafted by the prior regime. The best players on the team were obtained by the prior regime.
The new management has only been in charge for a couple of years and we don’t know whether they will be successful or not. The moves that they have made thus far have not been impressive to my eyes.
Badger thinks that the Braintrust is aiming for 2018 – I think that is optimistic. They will have several young pitchers up from the minors by then. But
1 – the only position players on the 25 man roster who will still be here are Gonzalez (1 more year), Grandal, Seager and Pederson and Thompson
2 – the only pitchers will be Kershaw (1 more year), Kazmir, Stripling, Wood and a few relievers
3 – the farm system is pitching heavy and position-player light – Verdugo and Bellinger are only 2 guys – who plays the rest of the positions?
4 – the Cubans that they keep signing don’t look like much so far
5 – the Braintrust is not going to use the Dodgers’ cash advantage to sign great free agents
6 – the Dodgers are going to become Oakland South – every time a player gets good he will walk away for more $$ or get traded for prospects, just like in Oakland, Tampa or any of the other places from which the Braintrust hails
Being a Dodger fan could get very depressing – ask any Oakland As fan
I follow your logic Rick. Most everything you’ve said here I agree with.
I think there will be differences between Oakland and LA. I hope to be more like the Cubs eventually. The difference between LA and Oakland will always be about $100 million. What will we do with it? Remains to be seen. There is no practical reason for the Dodgers to drop payroll to Oakland levels. I’m hopeful that once the former regimes unwanted players are gone, these FAZ guys will get down to the real business of taking seriously what it requires to get to a World Series and win it. I want to believe they do what they do well, but I can’t say signing guys like Anderson and McCarthy, and their first deadline move being Latos instead of Hamels tells me they were serious about ’15. Looking at our roster now doesn’t tell me they are serious about this year either. Maybe they know the Cubs, and a few other teams hands are just better this year. Seeing what other teams have done with their rosters, would you go all in on this Dodgers team? Of course not. And that is why I keep saying ’18.
This is what I know about the system of analytics being used today – we didn’t need them to know guys like Mantle and Mays, Koufax and Gibson were great players. All the stats of those guys we grew up watching have been retrofitted with WAR numbers and guess what? Everyone of them by today’s analytic standards have superior numbers. Duh.
We are now being asked to embrace analytics. I’m ok with that. But I also know if a guy hits .300 with a .400 OBP, or hits 40 home runs with 100 RBI’s, I don’t have to look at 10 different saber numbers to know they will be good. And I sure don’t need to hear the continued self-righteous bullshit that spews forth from certain saber supporters. But, as we are stuck with analytics, we are stuck with the Pecksniffian posters that will continue to remind us of their genius. It’s been going on for as long as there has been blogs that provide the launching pad for ego rocket boosters.
Hang in there. We’ve already lost many expressions of reason in here. They are now voices in the wilderness. Yours is a breath of fresh air. I ask you to please keep speaking.
Dodgerrick,if this braintrust front office will let Kershaw walk what about Seager when he is eligible for free agency.
Kazmir pitching a fantastic game so far today.
And Crawford’s throw from shallow left center was as soft as the Lakers defense this past year!
Kazmir has looked good. Hopefully he doesn’t implode.
Scott don’t tempt fate.
This is really good for Kazmir’s confidence. He is actually throwing 93 at times tonight. Part of his problem was when he allowed to many runs, he started pitching defensively. But really great game, by Kazmir!
I just felt Seager would get a hit there. Whatever it is, I get this feeling he’ll be a big clutch type hitter for us during his career here. That’s why it shocked me that he wasn’t clutch in the playoffs last year, especially in game 5. One big hit by him would have iced it for us. Oh well.
The Cardinals always use that excuse, about the mound. But is usually to just slow the game down for there pitchers.
And just think Bobby, he missed most of spring training!
Now the Cardinals kind of feel like Kershaw felt, when Carperter, kept on fouling off, all of Kershaw’s pitches. Not as bad, but great at bat, from Agone!
KAZ is throwing 94 in the 9th. WOW!
I don’t blame Roberts for leaving him in. He was pushing it and it didn’t work, but I’m OK with that!
Roberts was just trying to in still more confidence in Kazmir, by leaving him in, to finish the game. And Roberts didn’t leave Kazmir, in to long, to let him, and the Dodgers, lose the game.
Roberts got right out there, after the HR. I think Roberts, and his bench coach, and coaches, have done a good job. Like I have been saying, I see improvement, in almost every game they play.
I understand why he did it. I wouldn’t have. 8 innings and well over 100 pitches was enough for a guy like Kazmir. You had a 4 run lead. Let the bullpen do their job. Instead we end up having to use Jansen.
Roberts is in his expected learning curve. It’s going to take a while before he is really good at this. I think he has the potential.
I was hoping theyd take Kaz out earlier, just because that pitch count was so high. He had that wrist or whatever issue, so it would have been nice to save him a bit after a brilliant 8
Then again, maybe they’re stat padding for Kenley?? (joke)